Inside Celebrity Hairstylist Justine Marjan's Elopement in Santa Barbara
Before Justine Marjan was a hairstylist to the stars-like Khloe Kardashian, Erika Jayne, North West (yes, North West) and Ashley Graham-she was doing hair and makeup for weddings. "The first 8 years of my career were spent doing [bridal] hair and makeup, and I always saw how stressed the brides were, and how all the weddings seemed the same," says Marjan. As to what her thoughts were on planning her own wedding over the course of months or a year-plus? "My life is stressful enough."
As a quick, easy, and effortless solution to wanting to be married after years together, Justine and her now-husband, Yoni, a yoga teacher, film editor, and musician, skipped the stress. "[We] wanted the wedding to feel FUN, and be just about the two of us," says the newlywed. "Ultimately, we decided to elope so that we could focus on each other."
The pair met through yoga. She had finished training to teach, and he was already teaching. "I had heard people talk about him and what a nice person he was, so I was immediately interested when I met him," Justine recalls. "I have a thing for nice guys. We hit it off right away...he was the lead singer of a band, and I fell in love with what an artist he was. He dressed eccentrically, played every instrument, had a cool haircut (which he says is why I fell in love with him), and wrote poetry."
The two, Justine explains, fell in love on their first date. "We both knew that there was something special there immediately after we met." Their both being yogis and astrology devotees only drove their compatibility; "we are both Sagittarians, so I truly feel he understands me better than anyone else."
And, as Sagittarians are, these two are spontaneous-so an elopement felt apropos. "We were engaged for three years and had been together for almost nine; we were tired of calling each other 'fiancé,'" Justine says. "We had trouble deciding on what to do and taking time off from our careers, and [we] just wanted to be married."
The proposal was planned in more time than the wedding itself. "I spent a long time searching for the perfect ring, and finally found it," Yoni says. "I drove up to Santa Barbara and asked for her father’s permission, then got the ring and it was burning a hole in my pocket. I was waiting for the perfect moment."
Justine's career, spontaneous and busy as it was, was getting in the way of Yoni's plans for a perfect proposal. "She had just returned from a trip to Iceland and was traveling a lot for work, so I was nervous to plan anything knowing she could hop on a plane at any moment," he says. Instead, Yoni opted for a more down-to-Earth proposal.
"We had just picked up take-out from our favorite restaurant, Jon and Vinny’s, and on the drive back the sunset was so incredible. I looked over at her and saw our whole relationship flash before my eyes and was just overcome with love for her. Even though I wanted to plan a grand proposal, I just knew it could be crushed if she left [for work]. I knew in that moment that I should just be spontaneous the way Justine is. After we parked the car, I ran ahead of her into the house, grabbed the ring, and waited on one knee for her. When she came inside, she was shocked and thought I was joking. I love that she had no idea and I caught her in a real, genuine moment."
After consulting with Justine's astrologer, Anna Chapman, on an ideal date and time for them to wed, June 11th at 11:00 a.m., the couple reserved 11:11 a.m. (for an extra dose of luck) at the Santa Barbara courthouse. "Going back to Santa Barbara felt nostalgic. We met and fell in love [there]. It was where we spent the first 4 years of our relationship, and [where we] first lived together when we were young and broke. The first place we lived [as a couple] was only a couple blocks from the Santa Barbara courthouse, and we used to walk there for picnics and movie nights in the summer. It’s probably one of the most beautiful courthouses in the world."
For their courthouse ceremony, the couple took along their puppy, Cashew. Marjan, who credits Bianca Jagger with inspiring her look, opted for a suit. "I wanted to have a real feminist moment," she says of her choice to forgo a traditional wedding gown. "I feel more confident in pants, so I never wanted to wear a dress on my wedding day." The bride worked with Michael Costello, who designed custom suits for both the bride and the groom in "complementary colors that played off the blue Mustang we were driving up the coast." While most assume an elopement skips any and all bridal norms, Justine and Yoni opted for one super-luxe one-the custom fashion design process. "[Michael] first sketched out some ideas, then sent us fabrics to go through, and had us go in for several fittings. It was so fun having a piece made from scratch and being a part of the creative process with [him]."
The bride paired her look with a pair of white booties from her closet, purchased on Revolve, Bauble Bar pearl hoops, her Henry C Reid engagement ring, and a custom white hat, also by Michael Costello. She capped off the look with a pearl purse from Amazon, an additional diamond band from Henry C Reid, and, after the ceremony, her wedding band from Single Stone. Naturally, she did her own hair, working with Carlene Kearns on her makeup.
After some deliberation, Justine carried a bouquet down the aisle, in the color palette of the day: tawny oatmeals, ochre, beige, white, and soft blue. "I originally wasn’t going to do flowers, but when I was looking up photo references the weekend before the wedding, I just loved the way they added detail to photos," Justine says.
"I know a talented florist in Santa Barbara, Tracey Morris of Ella and Louie Flowers, so I contacted her and asked if she could make me a unique bouquet and a collar for Cashew last minute. I didn’t give her much to go off of except for the color palette. We agreed to meet her at the courthouse an hour before the wedding so she could drop them off and fortunately, she made the most gorgeous arrangement of all dried flowers, a cute collar for our puppy, and a great piece to pin to my hat. It truly made me feel like a bride."
After their 11:11 a.m. ceremony, the couple hit the road in their vintage blue Mustang, and headed for Justine's favorite childhood burger stand, The Spot in Carpinteria. "It is walking distance from the beach, and I used to walk there all the time for burgers and fries as a kid growing up. We picked up food and then drove to the Carpinteria bluffs and ate on the hood of the car before walking along the bluffs, another place that my family and I would always visit growing up. It felt like a full-circle moment, now visiting these places with my new family."
Justine commissioned a photographer she knew from her work in editorial and portrait work, Cibelle Levi, and a videographer, Blair Brown, with whom she had worked on music video and album shoots. "I knew I didn’t want [the look] to feel like typical wedding photos and videos. I was so honored they agreed to do it, as neither of them had shot weddings before. It was perfect, spontaneous, and fun-just the way we wanted it!"
The couple spent the two nights following their wedding at the Belmond El Encanto in Santa Barbara as a mini-moon to celebrate. "It’s the perfect hideaway tucked in the Riviera of Santa Barbara with incredible views surrounded by nature. We had an amazing, peaceful, and relaxing stay-and the staff treated us like royalty," Justine says.
After planning their elopement in one month and making it official, Justine and Yoni are planning their honeymoon in Hawaii. "I’ve never been to Hawaii so we decided to go to Maui and Kauai. We wanted someplace tropical, romantic, and a place where we could relax and have adventures." And it seems that sense of adventure, and a knack for keeping things interesting, is what makes this duo work so seamlessly-along with a deep sense of comfort, trust, and support. "He has always been so supportive of my career. We both think a partner should be your biggest fan, and that is how it has always felt in our relationship. We have the same taste in music, art, food, and are honestly best friends. We have so much trust in our relationship and let each other flourish."
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