Grace Ormonde has one of the top Bridal magazines in the country - Wedding Style. The current issue features my clients John and Carla and their fabulous wedding at The Montage Resort and Spa in Laguna Beach. John and Carla took time out of their busy schedules last week to have dinner with Ingrid and I and the project team that made their wedding so spectacular. Special thanks to Jeannie Savage (for getting us all together) and her husband John, Christopher Aldama, Alex and Julie Hill and the fabulous Jaime Synder. When we do a great job for our clients, they become friends for life. Thank you John and Carla for the opportunity to be a part of your family of friends.
I Just Proposed To Her
Laguna Beach, California
August, 2006
When you work in the gaming industry, it's refreshing to meet someone who says from the outset she's "not in the mood to just play games." That's what real estate broker Carla Massone told John Redmond, President and CEO of MGM Grand Resorts, during their first, dinner date in Las Vegas.
"We talked about everything they tell you you're not supposed to talk about," Carla recalls. Mutual friends had introduced the two more than a month prior in Laguna Beach. "I didn't know that they were setting us up," admits Carla.
John was instantly impressed by Carla's maturity and her "zest for life." It wasn't long before the widowed father of three considered making her his wife, but when he asked his children what they thought of him proposing during a family trip to Hawaii, his youngest son, 14-year-old Brian, said, "I don't know, Dad."
"I was surprised," John reflects, "so I didn't do anything then."
Meanwhile, Carla plotted to kidnap John for a weekend at the Four Seasons Resort, The Biltmore in Santa Barbara. As they were seated at their table overlooking the water at La Marina, their waiter warned that there might be some commotion because the man at the next table intended to propose. Carla says she has no idea if that ever transpired.
John explains, "When we went out to dinner that night, I just proposed to her. I didn't have a ring or anything."
The couple was less spontaneous when it came to planning their non-traditional beach wedding. After considering Hawaii and Mexico, they opted to celebrate their union in Laguna Beach. "We never considered a Vegas wedding," says Carla, explaining, "we both love the beach we wanted a wedding that was fun, casual, romantic and comfortable."
Almost all of their 123 guests arrived Thursday to enjoy golf, spa treatments and the pool at the Montage Resort & Spa, as well as to join the couple for a welcome dinner at the nearby Ristorante Rumari.
John didn't see Carla again until 4 p.m. the next afternoon and as she walked down the aisle a video camera caught his audible reaction—"absolutely stunning." During the ceremony, they presented gifts to three special wedding party members. Brian and his siblings, Jonathan and Shannon, received watches engraved: "We Love You, Dad and Carla."
The party moved to another lawn for Calypso music, sushi and cocktails while the waterview lawn was transformed for the reception featuring a bountiful buffet and a seven-piece band that got everyone dancing. Carla still gets emotional when she talks about the surprise speech made by John's children. After praising their dad and expressing their joy at his happiness, they said, "Now, we have our new Mom."
Carla and John saw their guests off before departing Sunday for a five-night honeymoon—the longest time they'd spent alone together—at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka'upulehu on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Even though they're building a new home there, Carla and John spend as much time as possible leaving Las Vegas. "We try to do things as a family; we do a lot of traveling," says John. Brian, he reveals, is the "most attached to Carla" of all.
