The Bride and Groom Embraced Heartfelt Humor at This Garden Wedding in Brentwood
Kristina Levitan and Steven Levitan were first introduced at a group dinner at Craig’s. “Because where else does someone meet in L.A.?” Kristina jokes of how she and the Modern Family co-creator initially laid eyes on one another. “We were both actually on dates with other people, so I didn’t think anything of it.”
Fast-forward a few months later, and they were both single. “I was at Soho House Malibu for the Fourth of July, and I felt someone tap me on my shoulder,” Kristina remembers. “I turned to see a tall, handsome stranger asking if I remembered him.” She didn’t, and Steven tried to jog her memory with: “Our double date at Craig’s?!”
The two quickly struck up conversation, and ended up talking for hours. “Later that night, there was an incredible fireworks show over the ocean,” Kristina recalls. “As we watched, Steven leaned in and asked if he could kiss me. Obviously, I said, ‘yes’.”
Two years later, on July 15, 2021, the couple got engaged in Rwanda on a trip that they decided to take after a year of being cooped up during the pandemic.
“Though there was a part of me that secretly thought Steven might propose during this amazing, romantic trip, that hope was dashed when we arrived,” Kristina admits. “I offered to unpack his things for him, and when he said yes, my heart sank because that meant there was no engagement ring tucked away in his suitcase. I had gotten the engagement manicure, complete with Bubble Bath nail polish, for nothing! Needless to say, I was even more surprised and thrilled when he pulled out the ring from his camera bag and proposed during a beautiful lunch beside a gorgeous field of tea leaves.”
Their wedding was held on September 17, 2022 in the backyard of Jay Sures’s house in Brentwood. “Jay is Steven’s agent and friend of 30 years,” Kristina explains. “He has an incredible property so when he generously offered to let us have our wedding there, we jumped at the opportunity.” The goal was for the festivities to be outdoors, and for the event to feel intimate and organic—like the flowers had just been plucked from the garden and that the entire wedding had been integrated into the pre-existing landscaping (although a little amplified).
“The funny thing is that years earlier, way before I knew Steven, I attended a pre-Emmy party with a friend in that very backyard,” Kristina says. “I remember stepping down the stairs and immediately falling in love with it—I swear I said to my friend, ‘I would get married here.’ So it was meant to be. Steven was actually at that party, too. To this day, I always wonder if maybe we were standing near each other or actually spoke.”
The planning process happened fast, as Kristina and Steven didn’t want to spend a year embroiled in the details. “We also didn’t want to have a wedding in Los Angeles in the winter,” she explains. “This meant we only had three-and-a-half months to plan the wedding, which forced us to make decisions fast. Looking back, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Any longer would have killed me,” Steven jokes. “Details of which napkin or flower for an entire year would have killed me.” To plan it all, they worked with Gabrielle Jaworskyj of Gabrielle Events, who Kristina notes was able to execute everything with precision despite the speed with which she had to do so. “Gabby was able to take both our visions and bring them together,” Kristina adds.
As it was a backyard wedding and there were lots of stairs involved, Kristina wanted a lightweight dress that was easy to walk in, while also projecting a feminine, bucolic look. “I knew I didn’t want true white, beading, lace, or anything too heavy or elaborate,” the bride explains. “The search was on, but it wasn’t fruitful until I went to Vera Wang. That was always my dream wedding dress designer, but I never thought it was even a possibility. So there I was and the very first dress I tried on was perfect. I knew immediately. It was so elegant—exactly like I envisioned.”
Since Kristina’s dress was sophisticated but simple, she liked the idea of a statement earring that would complement the look, but not complicate it. Enter Martin Katz, who loaned her a pair of diamond drop earrings.
While Kristina wanted to ensure that she and Steven’s wedding day looks felt right together, she also didn’t want the groom to see her dress ahead of time—this meant that she took the lead in picking out his suit. To that end, Steven wore head-to-toe Prada and his father’s gold watch. “He looked dashing, if I do say so myself,” Kristina notes.
On the day of the wedding, the formal ceremony was short and sweet. “We wanted our guests to feel like they were part of the wedding, and we wanted it to reflect our personalities,” Kristina explains. Instead of rows of chairs and a big bridal party, tables and couches were scattered around the pool, over which there was a bridge to the area where the couple said their vows—although most guests ended up standing and watching with cocktails in hand.
Steven’s friend from college Steve Thomas officiated the ceremony. “I’ve gotten to know him well and love him dearly,” Kristina says. “He has a beautiful way with words and such a warm demeanor. Sadly, he’s also battling cancer so it’s incredibly meaningful to us both that he performed the ceremony.”
Meanwhile, Kristina and Steven wrote their own vows. “I knew that Steven, being a comedy writer, couldn’t resist slipping in a few laughs so I set out to match him,” Kristina says. “But public speaking isn’t my forte, so I was really nervous. Steven held my hand the entire time though, and once I saw all our friends and family’s smiling faces, I relaxed a bit and started my vows with a joke. Fortunately, it got a big laugh, and from that moment on, it all just felt magical. I’m so glad I could express how I feel about Steven in a fun but meaningful way because that’s the dynamic of our relationship. We really do try to make each other laugh every day.”
After the ceremony, guests move to a cocktail hour on the upper lawn where a jazz band was playing, before eventually moving to the reception area. Kristina and Steven wanted the food to be less stuffy, so they leaned into serving some laid-back personal favorites, including Jon & Vinny’s chicken parmesan.
At some point, in the middle of dinner, the band played Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” “I looked over and Steven had tears in his eyes,” Kristina remembers. “We then had a few great and really funny toasts from Steven’s grown children and two of my best friends.” At the end of the meal, tequila shots were passed around to get guests out on the dance floor.
“While everyone was dancing, my friend Keegan-Michael Key actually got up on stage and surprised us with a killer version of ‘Tennessee Whiskey,’ which blew the place away,” Steven remembers. “We wanted it to feel less like a formal wedding and more like a killer party—which it was. I had the time of my life.”
Looking back, it all turned out exactly as Kristina and Steven envisioned it. “I loved the band, the backyard, the food, my dress, the cocktail hour, and all the memories we created,” Kristina says. “Our wedding was everything I wanted. Everyone told me it would go by in a flash and they were right. It went by even faster than I could have imagined.”
Photo: Victoria Gold2/53I remember this moment vividly—my great friend Julie Cloutier putting on my shoes. It was time to head to the ceremony, and everything became real.
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Photo: Victoria Gold3/53Final touches with my amazing wedding day hair and makeup team, Jen Blanchard my hair stylist and Gina Brooke my makeup artist.
