When fashion designer Ariel Rezek opened up her Raya account, she didn’t intend on coming across documentary photographer Lindsay Apatow. “Due to a glitch in the system, my profile, which wasn’t supposed to appear in searches for women, somehow showed up on Lindsay’s page,” shares Ariel, the founder of Rezek Studio. “It kind of felt like the universe was stepping in. I was intrigued and flattered, and from that very first message, there was an instant connection.” The Los Angeles-based pair would not both be in the city for the following two months, so they first built a genuine friendship through conversation. “That made our eventual meeting all the more meaningful,” she says.
Lindsay says she knew by their third date that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Ariel. “I could hardly wait to propose,” she says. “By the third month of dating, I already knew the exact kind of diamond ring she loved. I had the ring in my hands by the sixth month, originally planning to propose on our one-year anniversary.” However, Lindsay could hardly hold back her excitement and decided to pop the question a month earlier when the couple went on a birthday trip for Ariel to The Parker Palm Springs in April 2023. “It felt like the perfect opportunity. We’d always talked about wanting our proposal to be something private—something just for us,” says Lindsay. “So, on the morning of her birthday—with the ring safely stashed under my pillow all night—I asked her to marry me before she’d even had her first sip of coffee. And we’ve been celebrating ever since.”
When it came to choosing their wedding location, Ariel already had a venue in mind. “I have had photos of Tony Duquette’s Dawnridge Estate saved on my computer since 2018 when it was a location option for Rezek Studio’s first campaign,” she says. “It didn’t happen, but I always had it in the back of my mind as a beautiful place to one day get married. As soon as we got engaged, we had a tour planned within days.” The couple fell in love with the estate’s maximalist design, bold color, and Art Deco touches. “Stepping into Dawnridge felt like stepping into another world without leaving Los Angeles, and this was the feeling we wanted to create for our wedding guests. A night full of surprises, magic, whimsy, and romance,” shares Ariel. The to-be-weds knew it was a perfect match and set the date for June 2, 2025. They also tasked Melissa Sullivan of Studio Sully with planning the celebration. “We knew she was the perfect person to bring that dream to life… she just gets it,” says Ariel. “Every detail, no matter how big or small, was executed with care, creativity, and so much heart.”