When Steve Steinhardt and his girlfriend of nearly 10 years, Hannah Bergman, took off for a vacation in France, he had an engagement ring in his pocket and a proposal rehearsed in his head. But when he got down on one knee alongside the Grand Canal in Versailles, he found himself rendered speechless. "I just teared up—I proposed without saying a word," Steve remembers, laughing. "He was crying; I was crying," says Hannah. "It was perfect."
The couple soon started planning a wedding in Ojai, California—scheduled for the following May. But in the meantime, they decided to pay homage to France with an intimate engagement party in their current hometown of Los Angeles. "We're both big Francophiles, and the fact that we got engaged there means a lot to us," says Hannah. "We wanted to re-create the romance of the country in California."
On August 30, 2016, they did just that, throwing a fête filled with French touches for 30 friends and family members in a downtown L.A. loft. The couple are no strangers to the wedding world—she works for a bridal-gown-restoration company; he's a wedding photographer—and they pulled the evening together with help from industry friends. "Having relationships with so many talented people made it really easy," says Steve. "We knew we could trust them to just do what they do."
As candlelight twinkled amid vintage mirrors and antique furnishings, guests were greeted with signature cocktails—including one inspired by the couple's favorite French saying, "J'ai la pêche" ("I'm peachy"). A chef classically trained in French cuisine prepared dinner, and the table was set with lush garden roses and blue-and-white china. The large windows of the space afforded them a stunning view. "We were able to watch the sunset turn the city aglow as we ate," says Hannah.
While the night was carefully orchestrated, one of its most memorable moments was unplanned. After dinner, as an acoustic guitarist quietly played, Steve made an impromptu romantic gesture: "I grabbed Hannah, and we started dancing right there by the table." Inspired, their guests got up and joined them.
