Having met during their junior year of high school, Amelia Wallace and Nobu Cardenas are a friends-turned-sweethearts romance come to life. It’s fitting then that when it came time to plan their vegan wedding eight years later, the Los Angeles couple turned to the dreamlike world of Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel—adding just enough of their own quirks (and cats) to make it unmistakably theirs.
Held at the Grass Room by Marvimon in downtown Los Angeles, their celebration—exactly two years after their proposal—was whimsical, pink-hued, and entirely vegan. “We wanted to stay in LA since we’re born-and-raised here,” said Amelia, a communications manager at a nonprofit. “I’ve always been a big fan of Wes Anderson, especially his eye for colors, details, and the whimsy of it all.”
Mary Costa
Mary Costa
Their wedding planner Kate Wright helped the couple curate a lively European feel in the middle of the bustling city with pops of pink and plenty of fun for everyone invited. The couple’s florist, Lizbeth Molina of Rawfinery, brought life to the wooden tables with Japanese ikebana-style arrangements throughout, focusing on sustainable and recyclable materials.
From the latte bar serving matcha and espresso-based drinks to a choreographed father-daughter hip-hop dance—a sweet callback to Amelia’s days on the high school dance team—every moment was crafted with intention and charm. Their cocktail hour featured a keyboard-fueled ‘80s Japanese City Pop playlist—Nobu is Japanese and Mexican—and guests later jammed to indie and pop standouts.
After 10 years together and a long engagement that let them savor the process, Amelia and Nobu finally made it official in a way that felt like the truest extension of their relationship: warm, quirky, elegant, and entirely their own. Their rings—hers adorned with opal and moonstone, his surrounded by tungsten—glistened under the shining Southern California sky. The whole day felt like stepping into a pink, glittering dream, blending vintage whimsy with kitschy personal flair. Exactly the kind of vision Wes Anderson might set up—if he were lucky enough to meet Amelia and Nobu first.
Mary Costa
Mary Costa
The style
Amelia wore a vegan-leather pink shoe from Circus NY by Sam Edelman, a dreamy ruffled Odylyne the Ceremony dress from Loho Bride, and later changed into a shorter Selkie party dress and sneakers for dancing. Nobu wore a soft blue suit with a playful patterned tie.
Mary Costa
The personal touches
Guests found their names and table numbers at the welcome wall lined with pink keychains—another nod to the couple’s Grand Budapest Hotel theme. And of course, there were nods throughout to their beloved cat companions: subtle visuals (such as the menus featuring drawings of Steve, Kahlo, and Soba) and cocktail names (Kahlo’s Killer Margarita, anyone?) ensured their animals were honored guests in spirit.
Mary Costa
The cake
The high school sweethearts sliced into a stunningly pink, two-tiered Victorian cake featuring the flavors of their favorite lattes—Mexican hot chocolate and matcha—and dotted with maraschino cherries from local bakery Just What I Kneaded.
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Mary Costa
The menu
Dinner was pure Italian comfort, all courtesy of Chef Natalia at TasteBuds, featuring polpettine sliders, risotto-stuffed mushrooms, creamy tofu-miso alfredo, wild mushroom ragout over soft polenta, and freshly baked potato focaccia—plus a buffet of roasted vegetables and broccolini with lemon zest. The couple, both longtime vegans (Amelia since college in 2017, Nobu shortly after), also made sure the dessert table delivered with chocolate amaretti cookies and chocolate espresso pots de crème.
Mary Costa
Mary Costa
Mary Costa
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Aruka Sanchir (@ruukes) is a writer based in Los Angeles, CA.
