Guitarist Nita Strauss wed her manager Josh Villalta on May 4 at The Hollywood Roosevelt in Los Angeles, surrounded by 120 guests including Alice Cooper, retired WWE star Mick Foley, Demi Lovato and Jutes, and David Draiman of Disturbed.
Strauss — who describes the couple's nuptials as "our dark, romantic, heavy metal dream wedding" — tells People they chose the location not only for its aesthetic but for its logistical convenience.
"We wanted someplace that was easy to get to for as many of our friends and loved ones as possible," she says. "Los Angeles is my home, Josh’s second home, and where we met and fell in love, so it felt natural to tie the knot there."
When they dug into the planning, however, they realized they had differing visions for the scale of the wedding. "I wanted simple and intimate — just us and our close loved ones — and he is more of a social butterfly and wanted to celebrate with all of his friends as well as our families," she explains. "We wound up somewhere in the middle."
They forwent typical wedding traditions and instead had a simple, heartfelt ceremony — which was officiated by Foley, 58. Cooper, 76, and his wife, Sheryl, also did a special reading together.
Since they were out on tour at the time, she and Villalta — who is also a drummer and performs with Strauss — tapped wedding planner Sara Landon (with support from Efren Ramirez) for help pulling all of the details together. To bring to life their goth-glam "Haute Dracula" vibe, the couple leaned into a color palette of deep red, green, black and jewel tones, with lots of flowers from In Blume and nods to their favorite music, pets and hometowns of Los Angeles and New Orleans.
Making their wedding super personal was important to the pair. "[We wanted] the wedding to feel like 'us.' We didn’t want a cookie-cutter ceremony or reception that you could see in any bridal magazine — we wanted every aspect of the day and the experience to reflect us as a couple," Strauss explains.
Read more and see photos from the wedding at People.com.
