Tara Parsa and JC Gallo’s love story began when JC’s best friend insisted on going to a New Year’s concert in Vancouver, Canada. At first, JC kept declining, as he wanted to stay in Seattle; but eventually, his stubborn friend persuaded him to drive up to Vancouver on New Year’s Eve 2011, where he met Tara for the first time.
“As soon as I saw her, I became intrigued by her warmth, hospitality, and her contagious, beautiful smile,” JC shares.
“Our love and friendship have grown beyond borders, cultures, and any other possible barrier.”
“It was undeniably attraction at first sight. As the weekend went on and I continued to spend more quality time with Tara, my attraction to her grew stronger. I had just met a beautiful soul that kept my heart pounding every single minute I was with her.”
A few months later, JC was spending so much time in Vancouver that it felt like a second home. Every weekend, he would travel up to spend as much time as he possibly could with Tara, which eventually led to a proposal at her family’s house in West Vancouver.
With the help of Tara’s two sisters, her brother, and a handful of friends, JC’s proposal plan kicked off with the couple taking a day trip to Whistler, where they had lunch and a nice walk around the ski village. Whistler has always been their go-to local getaway whenever they wanted to decompress or just enjoy the snow and skiing.
“The sisters, brother, and friends helped me decorate the backyard with decorative lighting,” JC describes. “Once we got back home, I told Tara to get ready as we all wanted to go out for dinner and drinks. She was tired from the day trip but still got ready. I walked down first and exited to the backyard, where there was a romantic candlelight trail and rose petals.
At the end of the trail was the nice backdrop lighting everyone helped put up while we were in Whistler. Tara walked down with her sisters. They told her to go to the back yard, where I was waiting to ask the big question – got down on one knee and asked her to be my wife.”
Both Tara and JC love to travel, so they immediately knew they would host a destination wedding somewhere far from Canada. Their dream location would be romantic, elegant, and memorable for everyone in attendance. After browsing many venues throughout Europe, the couple decided on Mykonos and fell in love with the Royal Mykonian as their wedding venue. With its mountaintop location overlooking the ocean, it was absolutely perfect.
“As for our wedding vision,” says Tara, “we wanted a high-fashion, boho, vintage elegance fairytale with lots of personal touches – something that would truly represent us as a couple. We wanted our guests to feel fabulous while partying and celebrating with us. So, we planned a destination wedding where family and over 100 of our closest friends were planning to attend.
However, COVID hit, and we had to postpone our wedding. With uncertainty, we decided to pick a future date and moved ahead with planning. We worked on designing three different locations for our guests to experience the true magic of Mykonos and its beautiful scenery. In our minds, we wanted to offer a chic, bohemian, yet classy vibe full of love and laughter. This was also a multicultural wedding embedded with Persian and Colombian traditions.”
Some personal accents included the place cards at each table where, instead of traditional name cards, every seat assignment included a hand-painted portrait of each guest. The wedding ceremony also included multiple languages, firebombs, candelabras, a live violinist, and the happiest bride one could imagine.
“For my dress, I picked Gallia Lahav,” Tara adds. “I am obsessed with their design which is sexy, delicate, and makes you feel like a princess. Since my dress was a statement on its own, I decided to go with a very minimal design on my veil; something minimal but with cathedral length and accent jewelry.”
The wedding ceremony took place in the property’s lower garden with an ocean view. Officiated by the bride’s mother and the groom’s best friend, it was an especially intimate experience. After the nuptials, guests enjoyed cocktail hour with the full beauty of a Mykonos sunset displayed in front of them. Dinner was held on the terrace, where everyone dined with live musical entertainment.
The wedding reception décor consisted of a Moroccan vibe with tea tables, clouds of baby’s breath, and Moroccan chandeliers which provided the mood lighting for an all-night dance party. Everyone was entertained by a curated playlist, Greek dancers, live performances, fireworks, and an open bar. In an effort to keep guests guessing throughout the evening, Tara and JC even asked their Greek dancers to dress in black-tie attire so they’d blend in for an extra surprise.
“Over the past ten years, we have laughed together, cried together, and enjoyed every single moment we get to spend with each other,” says JC. “Our love and friendship have grown beyond borders, cultures, and any other possible barrier. I look forward to spending the rest of my life next to Tara.”
