A San Francisco Wedding with James Bond Style and Bachata
Diana (she/her) and Carly’s (she/her) San Francisco wedding began with a friendship that stretched across years and continents. What started at a party called Mango eventually became a love story built on care packages, long distance, and the kind of connection that kept finding its way back. In September 2025, they celebrated with 85 of their closest family and friends in a black and white wedding inspired by old Hollywood glamour, hints of coral, and Carly’s love of James Bond.
How did your story unfold?
Carly and I met at a gay party in San Francisco 15 years ago called Mango. We were both single at the time and there to meet new people. Carly approached me, and we became friends straight away. We started doing weekly yoga, movie nights, and dinners together.
A few years later, my work moved me to Europe, where I ended up staying for the next eight years. Carly and I stayed friends the entire time. She would send me care packages with Hot Cheetos, candy, and fun slippers. Whenever I came back to California to visit family, I always made sure to stop by and see her.
Then, on one of my last visits home, Carly told me she had feelings for me. I was surprised, but not shocked, because I knew we had always shared something special. But I also knew it wasn’t our time yet. I went back to Europe for another year before realizing that I loved her and wanted to explore a romantic relationship.
We did long distance for a while, and then I moved back to San Francisco so we could really be together. She proposed the following year, and we’ve been in bridal bliss ever since.
It was always my dream to have a wedding with a white dress, so I went to Turkey to have a custom dress made. I was the visionary for the wedding, and Carly was the executor. We’re the best team, and on September 19, 2025, we had our dream wedding surrounded by our closest family and friends.
We’ve now been friends for more than 10 years and together for four. I’m so glad we met that one day at the bar by the bathroom. You just never know where you’ll meet your soulmate and partner for life.
How long were you engaged, and did the timing feel right?
We were engaged for two years. We did go to City Hall to get married civilly in the year in between, but we don’t count that as our main wedding day, as we really wanted to have the bigger wedding with our loved ones.
We both feel like two years was the perfect amount of time. It gave us space to plan everything thoughtfully and manage finances accordingly.
What was wedding planning like, and how did you divide it all up?
Diana: The wedding planning was so much fun! I am very Type A and have project management experience, so I thoroughly enjoyed the planning process. I made decks for everything, including one for each vendor, so everyone could clearly see our vision. I used Google Sheets for budget management and Keynote for all the visual decks.
I managed the budget and all the admin, while Carly helped bring everything to life by thinking of fun ways to make our wedding unique. For example, she had the vision to have a magician during cocktail hour, as well as a sticker machine with custom stickers tailored to us. She also came up with the idea of doing merch, which I then helped execute by working on the designs and pricing.
We honestly worked so well together and each had our own strengths throughout the entire wedding planning process.
How did you land on your guest list, and what size felt right?
We always knew we wanted our wedding to be 100 guests max. We wanted it to feel intimate, but we both have family and friends we love, so we also wanted to invite as many people as possible within our budget.
We invited 100 guests and expected there would be around a 20% drop due to people not being able to make it. We ended up with 85 people, which felt perfect.
Where did the inspiration for your wedding style begin?
Diana: The inspiration started with me, as I had always wanted black and white with hints of coral. I remember being a little girl and telling my sister that I wanted coral to be my wedding color.
I found lots of inspiration for an all black guest wedding, which was super helpful visually when creating decks for us and for our vendors, including Hyegraph Invitations for our stationery, Made and True for signage, and Abi’s Flowers for florals.
Then, Carly is a huge James Bond fan, so we found really fun ways to use that as our north star throughout the design process, from our invitations to the merch, tables, and menus.
We wanted it to feel all black, yet sleek, sexy, classy, and timeless. The James Bond inspiration was really easy to work with and helped guide us through every step, and our vendors brought it all to life so beautifully, from our ceremony at Palace of Fine Arts to our reception at Golden Gate Club.
What was the process of writing your vows like?
We wrote our own vows. Carly had been working on hers for several months before the wedding, so she was done early. I, on the other hand, didn’t write mine until the week before.
I was dealing with my mom’s passing, so it was a bit harder for me to get started, but I think it turned out well. Carly’s vows were shorter and made every single person cry, which is ironic because I’m usually the writer.
What did your wedding day look like from beginning to end?
Our wedding day was magical. Carly booked me a room at the Beacon Grand Hotel, where I got ready that morning with my sister and two cousins while Captured by Miriam documented everything. Carly got ready at our apartment, which is 10 minutes from the venue.
Our ceremony was at 4pm at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. It’s such a beautiful park with a Roman-style structure built in 1915. It has an iconic rotunda and is so lovely. We had four flower boys walk down the aisle, and then our goddaughter danced before me. It was amazing. There were lots of tears during the ceremony, but the weather was perfect and we felt so much love.
We rented Golden State Trolley to take all of our guests, and us, to our reception venue about two miles up the road at the Golden Gate Club. We had an outdoor cocktail hour in the courtyard with an all female mariachi band by Dinorah Entertainment, a magician, and oven fire pizza.
Then it was time to head inside. I changed into a second dress, and Carly changed into a black tux. We made an epic entrance, shared a perfect first dance, and then moved into dinner, speeches, and partying.
For our late night snack, we had McDonald’s, and our sign said “a late night snack from the Mrs & Mrs” using the famous yellow arches. That detail was especially meaningful to us because my mom passed away the month before our wedding, which was incredibly hard and emotional. Ironically, she was one of the first women to ever work at McDonald’s. I had a photo of her displayed on the table so she could be there with us. It felt super special.
The wedding ended at 11, and then a smaller group headed to Afterbar for a nightcap.
What moments from the day stand out most when you look back?
Diana: For Carly, her favorite moments were watching me walk down the aisle at the Palace of Fine Arts and dancing the night away with our friends and family.
For me, it was also walking down the aisle and seeing the sea of our loved ones dressed in all black, looking gorgeous, and then seeing my wife waiting for me at the end in her beautiful white jacket tux by Robert Paul. She was going for the James Bond look and she absolutely nailed it. She looked perfect.
I’d also say our first dance. We did a special bachata dance, which is my favorite Latin dance, and it was perfect.
Were there any family traditions or meaningful ways you honored loved ones during the day?
We’re not religious, so there wasn’t anything we included in that sense. For family, though, we tried to incorporate my mom as much as possible.
She had been sick for a while and unfortunately passed away exactly one month before our wedding. I really wanted to make sure I honored her and included her throughout the day. I had a little chain made with her photo and a hanging charm that said “with me today and always,” which I kept inside my bouquet alongside florals by Abi’s Flowers.
At the reception, held at the Golden Gate Club, I placed that chain with her photo on a pink flower in its own vase on the table where she would have sat. I call her my butterfly now, so I also added a pink butterfly sticker to the table number sign.
For the ceremony at the Palace of Fine Arts, I had an empty chair in the front where she would have sat, and we draped her jewelry over it because she loved her jewels and beads. We chose pieces that fit the vibe, and it felt perfect.
When I walked down the aisle, I stopped and kneeled by her chair and had a moment with her before going up to marry Carly. It was so special.
Photography Captured by Miriam
Cake Mazzetti’s Bakery
Ceremony Coordinator Awe Planner
Ceremony Venue Palace of Fine Arts
Florist Abi’s Flowers
Hair & Makeup Patricia Andazola
Live Music Dinorah Entertainment & Nicole Maria
Signage Made and True
Stationery Hyegraph Invitations
Suit Designer Robert Paul
Transport Golden State Trolley
Venue Golden Gate Club
Videography Junior Films
