An Urban Rooftop Wedding With Romantic Touches in Downtown Los Angeles

"My goal was to find a way to mix the dirty grunge of downtown Los Angeles with the romantic edge of soft flowers and beautiful décor," describes Danielle Moson of her wedding vision. "I had a super-specific vision in my head of an industrial loft space with the ability to make it exactly what I always envisioned."

Turns out, her specific image already existed at a modern rooftop venue in the heart of Los Angele—at a venue called Hudson Loft. "Hudson Loft gave us the best of both worlds allowing us to have the outdoor reception on the roof of the building with a really cool industrial loft space for the reception," she adds.

For their wedding on July 13, 2019, Danielle, an NFL sports agent, and Rodney Spencer, a corporate wellness professional, teamed up with Plan Prep Party to refine and execute their vision. Because the venue was a "blank space," they were able to bring in everything from the décor to the seating to the food. "I wanted to make it a mix of grungy dirt and beautiful love," Danielle adds. "I specifically made sure to leave the wires exposed, dirt on the ground, and graffiti on the buildings. These urban touches mixed with beautiful flowers, a million candles, and the sunset made for the most romantic, beautiful setting for a wedding." The couple even tackled several DIY projects, putting Danielle's graphic design degree to good use.

Read on for more of Danielle and Rodney's chic rooftop wedding, as photographed by Jami Laree Jeskey.

When Danielle went shopping at The White Dress bridal boutique in California, two Adam Zohar gowns caught her eye. "I literally couldn’t decide," she admits. "One was super geometric and edgy—what I always thought I’d wear—and the other was beautifully soft and romantic—not my personality at all." But when she came back to the boutique the following morning, her dress choice was clear: She had to go with the latter, a light-weight long-sleeve chiffon gown with intricate floral details.

Between the morning cocktails, getting-ready playlist, and the excitement of the day ahead, Danielle's beauty time with her bridesmaids, mother, and mother-in-law turned into one of her favorite memories. "My bridesmaids are all my very best friends and we’re all super close so it was a lot of fun to treat them to something nice," she says.

"Don’t go dress shopping without putting yourself together," Danielle advises. "I made sure to have my make up done, my hair styled, and a good tan. I always find that if you [don't feel good], you’re not going to like anything you put on."

Danielle accessorized with nude gold-studded Valentino heels, simple silver earrings, and her custom engagement ring.

"I’m very fortunate that all eight of my bridesmaids are all stunningly beautiful with great fashion sense," Danielle says. "They all got to choose their own dress for the wedding–the only requirement was that it was long and black."

Rodney wore a navy-and-black ensemble from The Black Tux. His most sentimental fashion choice, however, was a watch from Danielle's parents, which doubled as both a wedding gift and birthday present (his birthday was four days before the big day!).

Rodney added a pampas grass boutonniere to add texture with his look as well as to coordinate with the rest of the wedding-day décor.

The groomsmen echoed Rodney's fashion choices and rented tuxedos from The Black Tux. While they wore plain black dress shoes for the ceremony, most changed into Nike Air Jordans later in the night.

"Our first look was insane," recalls the bride of the emotional moment. The couple transformed the venue's freight elevator to match their urban romance theme, making it the perfect place to meet before the ceremony.

"When he came up and turned around we were both so emotional," she says, adding, "We did our first look before the ceremony knowing damn well that we would both cry—had to allow time for some make-up touch-ups!"

Finalizing the guest list was the least stressful wedding planning task for Rodney and Danielle. "I know no one ever says this, but it was really pretty easy," she admits, citing their smaller families as the reason. "We wanted to make sure our wedding was filled with our friends, not our parents'...no offense to them! Our parents were all so supportive of this and really wanted this day to be special for the two of us."

Before heading outside for a rooftop ceremony, the couple hosted a quick welcome party with the wedding party and guests.

"I wanted everything elegant but modern," says the bride of her vision. For the urban rooftop ceremony, Danielle's father designed a unique altar of triangular and square structures accented with romantic floral arrangements. "The ceremony was on a roof overlooking DTLA so we didn’t need a ton of décor."

Both the bride and groom agree their personalized ceremony "set the tone for the perfect celebration of love," starting with the couple's best friend as the officiant! "His entire speech was about Rodney and I and how we’re creating an entirely new lineage of a family," recalls Danielle. At the altar, the soon-to-be-weds also exchanged similar handwritten vows—a coincidence Danielle declares as "special."

The marriage was sealed with a kiss and prompted Drake's rap tune "Best I Ever Had" to play aloud, starting with the fitting lyrics, "Baby, you my everything..."

As the newlyweds recessed down the aisle, guests tossed white rose petals from custom-made bags into the air.

"Our wedding day was literally us to a tee," Danielle proclaims. "Because we brought everything in, we were able to make it completely 'us.' Every single item was handpicked or hand-designed to be the exact look that we had envisioned."

Since Hudson Loft is known for hosting film events and photoshoots in the area, Danielle and Rodney were given access to hundreds of furniture options to fill both the cocktail and reception spaces. The freight elevator served as an industrially chic lounge area and another zone was converted into a game room complete with a ping pong table, shuffleboard, and a photo booth.

The reception was held inside the same venue, which boasts a wall of windows overlooking downtown Los Angeles, exposed brick walls, and concrete floors. To make the blank slate their own, Danielle and Rodney hung bunches of greenery above the dancefloor.

A mix of round and long tables—both with and without linen—filled the room, along with dozens of candles and neutral flower arrangements. Danielle's biggest non-negotiable when it came to décor? Ghost chairs!

Coinciding with their clean and modern vision, plenty of marble details were on display. White marble subway titles labeled each table while a thank you note from the newlyweds marked each place setting.

"The planning process was so much fun. I’d literally do it every day for the rest of my life if I could," stresses the bride. The couple also took on many DIY projects including the invitations, save the dates, thank you cards, welcome cards, welcome signs, menus, which were all designed by Danielle.

While sipping rosemary-infused old fashioned cocktails and vodka coconut water with cucumber and mint, guests dined on a hearty buffet featuring chimichurri steak, ginger ahi tuna, scalloped potatoes, and grilled broccolini.

While the outside of the couple's petite wedding cake was sleek and modern, the inside was very playful! Danielle and Rodney cut into a Funfetti cake with ombré cream cheese frosting for dessert. 

When the night concluded and Danielle kicked off her Nike sneakers, which she wore on the dancefloor!, the newlyweds celebrated their union with a 16-day tour around Europe.

As for the bride's advice when it comes to others heading towards the altar? Her sentiment is simple:" Enjoy it! I think people struggle with wedding planning because there are so many decisions to make but as long as you are decisive and don’t second guess your decisions, you’ll have the best time!"