A black-tie Persian wedding, with florals and rentals by Bella Mia

If you consider yourself a black-tie Parisian aficionado, this one is for you. The Westgate Hotel already carries a magical Parisian setting; it is one of the few downtown San Diego properties where European formality is the native language of the room rather than something you have to build. Cherine and Andy’s wedding leaned into that entirely, and Bella Mia was brought in to design the florals and supply the rentals that carried the look from the Sofreh to the last table.

The wedding

Cherine and Andy’s celebration was planned by RBCO Events, and it was a Persian wedding at full scale: a Sofreh Aghd ceremony, black tie, and a seated reception inside the Westgate’s gilded rooms. RBCO brought us in with a clear brief: florals that would honor the Sofreh rather than compete with it, and a reception that felt as formal as the building it was in. The couple wanted abundance, but abundance with restraint, which in a room like the Westgate’s is the only kind that works.

The florals

The ceremony centered on a lush, asymmetric floral design built around the Sofreh, which was styled by Taraneh Ajdar. Keeping the arrangement asymmetric was the key decision: a Sofreh is read by its guests, every item on the spread has meaning, and a symmetrical wall of flowers would have turned it into a backdrop. Building the florals to one side and low across the front let the spread stay the subject and the flowers stay the frame.

From there the reception carried crystal candelabras and centerpieces with eye-catching pops of cool water roses and an abundance of florals down the tables. Cool Water roses bring a soft lavender into an otherwise white and green palette, and against the Westgate’s gold and crystal that single cool note is what kept the tables from reading as heavy. Candlelight did the rest.

The rentals

The crystal candelabras and the tabletop pieces beneath them came from Bella Mia’s own rental collection, which meant the florals and the hardware they sat on were designed together rather than matched after the fact. For a planner, that is the practical advantage of one vendor handling both: one delivery, one setup crew, one strike at the end of the night, and no gap between what the flowers needed and what the table could hold.

The moment that mattered

At a Sofreh Aghd, the guests do not watch from a distance. They gather close, the sugar cones are held over the couple, and the whole room leans in. Every floral decision at the ceremony was made for that moment: nothing tall enough to block a sightline, nothing wide enough to keep a guest from stepping in. When the room closed in around Cherine and Andy, the flowers were exactly where they needed to be, and nowhere they didn’t.

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