If you ever doubted the idea that love can be found in the most unlikely of places, let Ali Tamposi reinstate your belief: the songwriter, best known for co-writing Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” as well as Camilla Cabello’s “Havana” and “Señorita,” met her husband, Roman Campolo, at a supermarket in Los Angeles. She was at Gelson’s picking up mango chutney for her sister, who was making curry for dinner that night. By chance, she bumped into the fellow music creative on his own grocery run. They hit it off—so much so that she invited him to her house to have dinner with her family that evening. “He said he’d like to join, but was an hour late and missed dinner. I was ready to call it a night, then right as I was sending him a message saying ‘let’s meet up another time’, he knocked on the door,” she says.
Fast forward a year or so, and the two were ready to decamp East L.A. for Malibu. Amid the moving craziness, they went to have dinner at Malibu Farm—the beloved farm-to-table clapboard shack on the Pacific Coast Highway Pier—when Tamposi noticed something suspiciously ring box-shaped in Campolo’s pocket. “I knew he was going to do it. I went to the bathroom and had a talk with myself to make sure I was ready,” she says.
When “Your Song” by Elton John began to play, she knew the moment had arrived. She walked to the end of the pier where Campolo was waiting, “feeling like my heart was going to jump out of my chest.” He got down on one knee. She said yes. Then, they were promptly kicked off the pier by a security guard for being there past closing time.
At first, they wanted to wed in Big Sur. But like so many COVID-19 era couples, their plans went awry with pandemic size and travel restrictions. (Tamposi credits her planner, Kate Ryan of Gold Leaf Event Design & Production, for her masterful handling of the ever-changing situation: “There proved to be nothing she couldn’t handle,” she says.) In the end, they decided to get married close to home. On November 6, 2021, the couple wed at Gull’s Way Estate, right down the street from their house.
The bride wore Oscar de la Renta. The tailored, high neckline dress was completely different from what Tamposi first envisioned. However, she obliged when her best friend Axi Mines, suggested she try it on. Turns out, Mines knew her friend better than she knew herself: “As soon as I put it on, I knew it was the one,” Tamposi says.
She worked with the fashion house to create a flowing veil that “ended up being a showstopper, especially when the wind picked up as I walked down the aisle,” she says. Her “something borrowed” was a four-strand pearl bracelet from her step-grandmother, as well as a pair of pear-shaped diamond earrings from XIV Karats. Meanwhile, stylists Alexandra Skiffington and Elizabeth Abdallah found her the perfect pair of Manolo Blahniks. (The duo also helped Tamposi’s 14 bridesmaids, a group that included model Behati Prinsloo, pick gowns that harmoniously fit a neutral color palette.)
Kira Nasrat, who often does Tamposi’s makeup for award shows, gave the bride a soft yet distinctive look, while hairstylist Ericka Verrett put her brown locks into an elegant bun.
As for the groom? “Roman’s wardrobe was much easier than my own,” Tamposi jokes. “He walked into Tom Ford and within ten minutes, right off the rack, he had a perfectly tailored suit.”
Given the bride and groom’s profession, music of all kinds played a role in both their ceremony and reception. (After all—as Shakespeare once wrote, “if music be the food of love, play on.”) Tamposi’s close friend and collaborator Brian Lee played the violin as guests arrived high upon the Pacific Bluff. When she walked down the aisle, her close friend and writing partner Andrew Watt played “Harvest Moon.” A bit of levity was had when the Santa Ana winds picked up, causing Tamposi to teeter. “I felt like my dad had to hold me down so I wasn’t blown off the aisle. So, what was supposed to be a very graceful and emotional moment was sort of comically interrupted by the wind. I looked to my dad who was laughing hysterically and that laugh brought me into the moment,” she says.
After poetry readings by the bride and groom’s siblings, it was time for vows. Months later, that remains Tamposi’s favorite part of her wedding day: “The best part was hearing Roman’s vows. He’s an incredible writer, and throughout our relationship he’s always written letters that are so poetic and profound and real,” she says.
The bride and groom walked into their reception to the lyrics of “Where is My Mind” by The Pixies. After speeches by Tamposi’s father, maid-of-honor (her sister, Rachel), as well as the best man, singer-songwriter Stephen Wrabel sang “Somebody’s Daughter”—a song he and Tamposi wrote together nearly a decade ago. Then, Watt dragged Tamposi onstage to sing Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know. “This started the wave of a number of my very talented artist friends taking the stage. DJs Sean G and Drew Byrd of Donovan’s Yard were unbelievable. We had a large dance floor in the center of the reception area, and the DJs brought that vibrant energy that kept the dance floor full all night.”
True to the couple’s California style, a laid-back ambiance flowed throughout the night. Tamposi changed into a Nina Ricci Ricci shirt from H. Lorenzo that she reconstructed into a dress. They also served up Philly Cheesesteaks—a nod to Campolo’s home town of Philadelphia—and soft-serve from a Mister Softee ice cream truck. The groom’s aunt Mary baked them a coconut wedding cake. “We really tried to roll out the wagon and throw a great party,” Tamposi says. “It worked out better than we could have ever imagined.”
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