Cory & Doug: A Malibu Beachside Wedding
Photography by Purity Weddings
Cory and Doug first met on Match.com. “I wanted to start a blog about dating in Los Angeles and vowed to go on a date with anyone who asked. Well, Doug was the first person to ask, and consequently became my first and last Match date. The blog was quickly forgotten! Our first meet up was at a Coffee Bean. Doug had used unflattering photos on his Match profile so that when he showed up people were pleasantly surprised. It worked, I was very surprised and instantly smitten.”
Conversely, Doug got a misguided first impression of Cory because he had decided to play around with his wardrobe at work that day and wore a collared shirt and tie, an outfit he had never worn before and would never wear again. “Conversation was easy, and we had a lot in common, from our shared excitement over Fruit Ninja, close relationships with our families, and travels to Thailand.” Doug called Cory the very next day to ask him on a real date. The real date was dinner at a French Market at The Los Angeles Farmer's Market.
“People talk about the moment that they knew, but for us it was more of an inkling from the beginning, a feeling that we were each other's person and the longer we were together, the more sure we were until one day we just knew.” The sparks were there from the start of the relationship, so Doug and Cory continued seeing each other for years following their first encounter. As their relationship progressed, the topic of marriage inevitably came up. Knowing that their futures were heading in the same direction, and certain of their commitment, getting engaged was the natural next step.
Doug and Cory went to Santa Barbara for a quick weekend getaway, where they had first escaped for a vacation 8-years prior. “While we were out at dinner, my brother drove up from Los Angeles, snuck into our room and decorated it with candles, lanterns, twinkly lights—the whole thing. When we returned to the hotel, Doug stopped at the front desk to buy a bottle of wine and some ice cream, not knowing there were about two dozen lit candles unattended upstairs. I was freaking out while the front desk person left to get us a couple spoons, imagining that his decorations were going to burn down the entire hotel!”
Wine and ice cream in hand, they finally rushed up to the room. Upon opening the door, Doug was so surprised that he turned around and walked back out saying, "Oops! Wrong room!" Once back inside, he kept asking, "What is happening?" While Cory forgot everything he had planned to say. “Word of advice, always write it down!” Cory explained. “Eventually I squeaked out something like, ‘I love you, will you marry me?’” and Doug responded, "Of course I'll marry you, but what is happening?"
Returning home from Santa Barbara, Doug and Cory began planning their dream wedding. Finding the perfect venue at Gladstone’s Malibu, Doug and Cory wanted their celebration to be beachy, but elegant. Gathering 75 of their closest family and friends, the two planned a 4 day event to provide plenty of time to celebrate with everyone. “We got ready together in our hotel suite, and had the wedding party join us for champagne, photos and hair a few hours before. Our wedding party consisted of our siblings, whom we are very close with.” After getting ready, the grooms went to the venue with their wedding party to spy on their guests arriving from afar. After a bit of champaign, their guests took their seats as music played signifying the beginning of the ceremony.
In the presence of their friends and family, Cory and Doug walked down the aisle to say their vows. Cory’s vows including a bit of humor, “I promise to always be the one to kill spiders so you don't have to, be the one to jump out of bed to check for strangers when we hear a strange noise, and when the apocalypse comes, i promise to stay behind to distract the zombies so you can get away.”
And Doug’s vows in response, “I promise to have kids with you, even though I don't know how and I'm scared.” With laughter and some tears, Doug and Cory exchanged rings and sealed their commitment with a kiss.
Cory and Doug continued to celebrate their wedding day with a cocktail hour set to Live French Cafe music, dinner and dancing. The occasion was filled with joy and was a night they will never forget.
“The best piece of advice we were given was to focus on each other and nothing else. You can almost guarantee something will go wrong or not as expected, or there will be some family drama. However, as long as you just focus on the other person and remember the day is about the two of you, nothing else will matter.”
Following the wedding, Doug and Cory flew to Bora Bora for their honeymoon. “We wanted to do nothing but lounge by a pool, eat good food and take in beauty everywhere we looked, and Bora Bora delivered! Another important criteria when we were trying to decide where to go, was that they treated gay couples the same as any other couple. I read blog after blog that said Tahiti was extremely gay friendly and it definitely was. We stayed at The St. Regis, in an overwater bungalow for 7 nights. Our favorite memory from our honeymoon was the day our private Tahitian tour guide took us out on the boat for the day, to swim with sharks and sting rays, and the tropical fish.”
Vendors
Ceremony and Reception — Gladstone’s Malibu
Photography & Videography — Purity Weddings (instagram)
Wedding Coordinator — Melanie Embry, Wedding coordinator for Gladstone's, Malibu
Florals — Clare Ashbrook from Smith + Lily
Ceremony & Reception Music — Olivia Morreale Music / Quartet.
DJ/MC — Mike Falkow from @Lediskonights
PhotoBooth — @Lediskonights
Hair & Make-Up — Mothers, flower girl, and best woman by Amber Munoz, owner of Rose Room Salon in Brentwood.
Cake — Susie Cakes
Groom's Style
Attire — Custom Suits by Enzo, Beverly Hills
Shoe Designer — Charles Tyrwhitt of London
Wedding Ring — Doug's wedding ring is Cartier, Cory's wedding ring is a gold band that his Grandfather wore when he married Cory’s Grandmother, and Cory’s Father wore when he married Cory's mother. When Cory's dad passed away in 2016 it was passed to him and he wore it to marry Doug.
