A Coachella Valley Wedding That Put Accessibility First

Tiffany and Michael Garafola met in the Fall of 2010. Michael was running a wheelchair basketball program as the adaptive program coordinator at UCLA and Tiffany was attending the event as a board member for a non-profit that supports individuals with spinal cord injuries and disorders called the Triumph Foundation. The two were introduced through mutual friends and they maintained a friendship for many years before dating. “I honestly don’t know how he was still single when we met, but I’m so grateful he was,” Tiffany says. “Once we started dating, we both knew pretty early on that we’d met the person we were going to spend the rest of our lives with.” 

Tiffany is a wedding photographer, so Michael set up a ruse in December 2017 with a fellow photographer to invite Tiffany to a branding shoot at a rented property in the Hollywood Hills. As Tiffany was snapping some shots, the couple’s song “You’re So Cool” by Hans Zimmer came on through the house speakers. As she turned around, Michael wheeled out onto the deck to ask her to be his wife.

Tiffany and Michael wanted to have a small wedding that felt like a destination wedding for their 50 wedding guests without being too far from home. But, finding a fully accessible venue was a challenge. “Every day Michael has to face accessibility challenges and while he has an amazing attitude and is great at adapting, I really wanted to make sure that our wedding day was the one day where he didn’t have to deal with any of that,” Tiffany says.

With her groom and other wheelchair users in mind and a goal of a relaxed atmosphere, the couple landed on Old Polo Estate in Coachella, California. “The grounds are so beautiful and expansive, and everything was one level,” Tiffany says. The couple’s first hire was Chabeli Sanchez of PS & Associates Planning, and after pushing back their date twice because of Covid, they couldn’t have been more grateful to be in good hands.

See all the meaningful details of this couple’s heartfelt March 26, 2022 wedding day, with photography by Mallory Dawn, videography by Miguel Garcia Studios, and planning by PS & Associates Planning.

Tiffany and Michael’s invitations featured a neutral color palette, which carried through the couple’s wedding day. The suite had raw-edged natural paper with custom calligraphy by Seniman Calligraphy. The black envelopes offered contrast and were lined with a floral pattern.

Tiffany wore a lace v-neck Alon Livne mermaid gown with a tulle skirt and an added tulle cap sleeve. “Michael and I aren’t super traditional people, so initially I thought I wanted his opinion on my dress,” Tiffany says. She showed him pictures of all the dresses she tried on after her first wedding dress appointment. “As soon as he saw this one, he said ‘Now that’s a wedding dress!’ So I went back, tried it on one more time, and ordered it. I ended up deciding to surprise him by not letting him know that I got the one he loved,” she shares.

Tiffany wanted her jewelry to complement the three-dimensional lace on her gown, so she went with oversized white floral drop earrings. “My vision was honestly just an elevated version of me,” she says, “Natural yet refined.” She went with a neutral lip and a bold eye for her makeup look and a sophisticated ponytail. “Being a wedding photographer, you see so many bridal hairstyles and I wanted something that I haven’t seen very often,” she explains. "Considering the Coachella heat, I knew I didn’t want it down. I’ve always been a ponytail type of girl, so I loved the idea of a bridal pony.” She held an asymmetrical bridal bouquet finished with a champagne colored silk ribbon as a final touch.

Michael wore a black suit with a white shirt and skipped the tie and boutonniere. He carried his late father’s dog tags and NYPD pin in his pocket. His barber canceled on him the day before his appointment, so he found a backup barber the day before he left for Coachella for a beard trim and a fade. As for his wedding day fragrance? “I wore Gucci Guilty which is Tiffany’s favorite fragrance of mine,” he says.

As a wedding photographer, one of Tiffany’s favorite moments of a wedding day is the first look. So, she knew she wanted to create that memory with Michael. “We both definitely got emotional,” she says, “It was the accumulation of so many years of planning and anticipation, and so many Covid postponements that it felt so surreal that it was actually happening.”

With a small guest count, Tiffany and Michael didn’t have a formal bridal party, but Tiffany’s best friend of 25 years was their officiant. They asked their guests to wear their preferred color palette of neutral tones or black so that their group photos would look cohesive.

As Tiffany and Michael’s guests arrived at Old Polo Estate for the ceremony, they were greeted by drinks and a welcome sign featuring each of the couple’s previously rescheduled wedding dates.

The couple’s ceremony took place outside on the lawn, where La Piñata Rentals created a planked aisle to make it easier for Michael to wheel down the aisle. “I wanted to make sure we were able to hold hands during our recessional, so the planking worked perfectly,” Tiffany says. Their rental company also created their ceremony arch based on a photo Tiffany shared with them, with two terracotta pots serving as the base displaying live and dried florals.

Tiffany was accompanied by her father down a tree-lined pathway to the base of the aisle. Then, she walked herself down the aisle to “You’re So Cool” by Hans Zimmer, the song they got engaged to. “I wanted to honor the impact my parents have had on my life, but also wanted to have that be a sacred moment between Michael and I,” Tiffany says.

Tiffany and Michael exchanged personal vows that they wrote for each other, which ended up being the most meaningful moment of the day for them. “We both wanted them to be very personal, so we wrote them from the heart,” the bride says, “No quotes or anecdotes.” They argue about who wrote better vows to this day!

Once their officiant pronounced them husband and wife, Tiffany and Michael recessed down the aisle to “Then He Kissed Me” by The Crystals.

Immediately after the ceremony, the couple took advantage of some photo ops with their photographer Mallory Dawn during golden hour before joining their guests at the cocktail hour. “While most grooms dread photos, Michael knows how important photos are to me and made the photo taking process so fun,” Tiffany says, “It also gave us some additional time to just bask in finally becoming husband and wife.”

Tiffany and Michael’s reception took place on a patio underneath string lights. They set up their seating chart with hand calligraphy on pottery with table numbers and guest numbers that corresponded with calligraphed place cards at their seats.

For the couple’s reception, hairpin tables were topped with cream-colored runners and paired with ghost chairs. “We wanted the reception to feel very familial and intimate, so we decided to have a long U-shaped table so we could keep everyone together rather than having everyone split up at separate tables,” Tiffany says. The centerpiece arrangements featured neutral florals in dipped pottery with black trays of figs, pears, and grapes. The place settings consisted of black coupe dinner plates, taupe linen folded napkins, white coupe salad plates, and gold flatware with black handles. Black menus and an olive sprig served as the finishing touch at each place setting.

Tiffany and Michael skipped some of the traditions like cutting a wedding cake and having a first dance. Instead, they enjoyed signature cocktails called “Third Time’s A Charm” and “Worth The Wait” as a nod to their rescheduled wedding dates and offered a fine-dining experience to their guests. “To make it feel authentic to us, we honestly cut out most of the formalities,” Tiffany says, “We just wanted to get to celebrate and get to spend quality time with those closest to us.” For dessert, they served a variety of mini Italian desserts like cannolis, zeppoles, and panna cottas.

Because of all of their wedding postponements, Tiffany and Michael haven’t booked their honeymoon yet, but they envision a trip to Italy in the near future. To couples about to say "I do," their biggest recommendation is being present, and planning your wedding so that you can accomplish that on the day. “If a 200+ guest list feels overwhelming, cut it. If the pressure of being the center of attention for all the formalities feels like too much, don’t do them,” Tiffany says, “I truly believe that the reason we were able to enjoy our wedding day so much was that we stayed true to who we are and only incorporated things that felt authentic to us as a couple.”