A Tennis-Inspired Wedding at a California Beach Club

Despite the fact that Grace Ma and Max Mullen both worked at the same New York City company from 2015 to 2017, they didn’t meet until their mutual friends and former coworkers organized an eight-hour pizza tour across Manhattan and Brooklyn. A fast friendship sparked over slices in June of 2018, and the two began dating six months later. After five happy years as a couple, Max proposed on a quiet Thursday night in June of 2023, getting down on one knee in their Chelsea apartment just days before Grace’s 30th birthday. After, they celebrated over bowls of pasta and champagne at their favorite neighborhood eatery. “Max had been so nervous that day he couldn’t eat until that late-night meal,” Grace recalls. The next night, the couple surprised their friends and family with news of the engagement at a birthday party they had planned for Grace on the rooftop of a nearby hotel.

The duo decided to tie the knot just over a year later, on August 10, 2024, at La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club in La Jolla, California. The venue felt deeply personal to them because Max grew up visiting the club with his family and the couple spent over a year living nearby during the pandemic. “We wanted to get married in a place that felt like home—somewhere meaningful, scenic, and filled with family memories,” Grace says. The coastal setting inspired a sunset color palette of pink, orange, and yellow with pops of citron green as a subtle nod to the couple’s shared love of tennis.

Though Grace and Max had a vision of what they wanted their big day to look like, they knew the help of a professional was essential in making it all happen. Enter: Heather Balliet of Amorology, who designed a celebration that complemented the venue’s outdoor spaces and focused on the guest experience. One non-negotiable for the bride and groom? More bars than necessary to minimize drink lines!

From the tennis court inspired dance floor to layered florals and eclectic seating, you won’t want to miss any of the photos from the colorful wedding day, as capture by photographer Diane Sotero. 

The night before the wedding, Grace and Max hosted an oceanfront welcome party with a beach chic dress code. “One of our favorite activities in La Jolla is having dinner on the beach, so it was so special to be able to share this experience with our guests,” the bride notes. She wore a lace dress by Galvan while Max chose a custom Michael Andrews Bespoke blazer.

“The setting and décor were stunning. Max’s mom organized the event and tastefully selected décor to set a coastal, relaxed yet elevated setting for the party,” Grace remembers. “Two bars were also set overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and the spicy margs were flowing to pair with the Mexican food—a nod to the local beloved cuisine—served for dinner.”

The couple notes that this was the first time most of their extended family members and friends were able to meet, so inviting their entire guest list to the welcome event was key. To ensure they had time with their closest loved ones, a more intimate rehearsal dinner took place the evening before.

Grace spent the wedding morning getting ready with some of her closest friends at the Orli Hotel. She had a natural and clean vision for her beauty look and wore her hair down, exactly how she normally styles it. “I wanted to just look like the best version of myself, but it was important to me that I still very much looked like myself,” she says. “The most dramatic element was probably the winged eyeliner.” 

The bride found her dream wedding dress during a New York City shopping trip with her mom and maid of honor. The winner? An A-line Mira Zwillinger wedding dress with a deep v-neckline, chiffon skirt, and floral embroidery details. “They both audibly gasped when I walked out in this dress,” she remembers. “There also wasn’t a train, which I actually really appreciated, because I was able to then comfortably wear the same dress all night (without any bustling!) before changing into an after-party dress.”

She accessorized with Chloe shoes and pearl and diamond Tiffany earrings. Her bridal bouquet consisted of garden roses, butterfly ranunculus, sweet pea, larkspur, and dahlias, arranged by Native Poppy.

The couple shared their first look in the courtyard at their hotel. Max wore a custom blue suit from Michael Andrews Bespoke in New York City.

After posing for portraits, the dup joined their guests for a casual, informal cocktail hour before their ceremony to kick off the day’s celebrations.

The ceremony took place on the beach at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club. There, guests were seated on a mix of benches and rattan chairs, which all faced the water. “It was so special and unique for us to have our ceremony on the sand, with the beautiful and expansive ocean behind us,” Grace says.

The aisle was lined with vibrant florals including butterfly ranunculus, garden roses, dahlias, and larkspur in shades of pink and orange. A floral arch, which was made from the same mix of blooms as the aisle, marked the spot where the bride and groom would exchange vows.

Grace and Max asked Natalie, a mutual friend who planned the pizza tour where they met, to officiate their wedding. “The officiant’s prepared remarks were incredibly thoughtful and heartfelt,” the bride recalls. “So many of our guests approached us afterwards to tell us what a great job our officiant did, and she really put everyone in the mood to celebrate our love for the rest of the night!”

After Grace and Max were pronounced husband and wife, everyone moved up to La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club for the day’s second cocktail hour. This one was held on the club’s lawn, where palm trees and native foliage surrounded the space. A jazz band performed to set the mood, and guests were served signature drinks at a bar that read “You Got Served,” a nod to the celebration’s subtle tennis theme.

Various seating and lounge areas were set up throughout the space, and they featured textured tables, chairs, and rugs and pops of peach tones in the linens, fabrics, and floral arrangements.  

Grace and Max served specialty cocktails including the “Courting You” spicy margarita, the “Swing and a Spritz” Aperol spritz, and a “Mullen’s Mai Tai” as a nod to their married name. “We had more bars than recommended for our guest count and buckets of non-alcoholic seltzers throughout to minimize drink lines,” Grace notes.

Guests also enjoyed passed appetizers including pigs in a blanket, crab cakes, dumplings, and tuna tartare.

The team at Amorology looked for subtle, impactful ways to nod to the venue and the couple’s love of tennis without doing anything too overt. One perfectly executed detail? The seating chart, which was created by Back Up Productions. They created a rattan wall that read “The ball is in your court,” then added balls of various sizes calligraphed with guest names and table numbers to create a fun, visual effect.

The couple’s reception, which took place over top two pickleball courts, was designed in vibrant sunset colors. “Amorology completely transformed them through their design skills,” Grace says. “None of our guests realized they were eating dinner and dancing on pickleball courts!” Tables were dressed in a mix of yellow and white striped linens and apricot colored velvet linens; a mix of plush coral and green boucle chairs and woven rattan options surrounded each table.

Overhead, clusters of rattan and yellow pendants were intertwined with greenery and florals to create a canopy of light and blooms.

Tables were decorated with yellow taper candles and garden-style centerpieces that included clusters of green grapes as another unexpected nod to tennis balls. Each place setting featured nested white and citron green plates, gold flatware, pink coupe glasses, two-toned green and pink wine glasses, and pink linen napkins.

Tennis balls dotted the head table, further reinforcing the day’s aesthetic.

Pink and yellow bars with arched shelving backdrops were set up throughout the space. Custom watercolor drink menus and organic florals in ceramic vessels served as decorations.

The dance floor was a focal point of the reception; it featured an abstract tennis court motif inspired by Palm Springs and Palm Beach. After Grace and Max shared their first dance, they enjoyed dinner and speeches from the bride’s mom, the groom’s mom, the maid of honor, and the best man.

The couple hired Ben Mallare Events & Entertainment to keep guests on the dance floor, which was one of their biggest priorities. “They did an amazing job of keeping the energy up all night—the dance floor was full the whole time they played,” Grace says.

Instead of a traditional wedding cake, Grace and Max set up a dessert bar full of their favorite treats. Guests enjoyed options like miniature cheesecakes, fruit tarts, cookies, and tiramisu cups. The station was decorated with a ground floral arrangement, miniature bud vases, and tennis balls scattered over top.

California has strict noise ordinances, so the couple moved the party inside at 10 P.M. and hosted their after party at the Marine Room next door. Grace changed into a strapless mini dress with feather trim by Safiyaa for the rest of the night. Two of Max’s friends from college wore Marshmello heads and DJ-ed the party, so the couple made sure to snap a photo with their props. Everyone dug into late-night snacks like mozzarella sticks, chicken tenders, French fries, and penne alla vodka and espresso martini shots to keep the energy up.

“We made it through the wedding planning process with minimal hiccups and stress, and we were really able to enjoy the weekend without worrying about all the little things that could go wrong,” Grace says, “We were thoughtful about selecting high quality vendors, and that allowed us to trust them and trust the process.”