“Proposing,” she now says in retrospect, “was very nerve wracking. I’m glad I didn’t have to do it. The whole thing was like the solo ouster of a country, the way he had things mapped out.

“”He just takes care of business,” says a clearly impressed Strasser. “I love that. Love it.”

“I’d been giving it all serious thought for at least a couple of months,” says Wachinski. “After I broke out the L-word, I guess it was a serious three months of planning.”

Her ring was exactly what she wanted, not a mined diamond, but a cultured diamond, which “everyone is always asking, is it a cubic zironimum? And I explain, no, it’s completely a diamond, it’s chemically a diamond, but it’s manufactured in a lab.” She sighs, “I’m in show business, I know how these things go. Diamonds are artificially
inflated. A girl’s best friend is a nest egg.” The cushion-cut canary diamond, which is offset with two white sapphires is set in platinum.

Wachinski enlisted the help of the couple’s friend Ben Mankiewicz (a host on Turner Classic Movies), whose jeweler, Joe Malamed, worked with Wachinski to design the ring.

Then came the wedding talk, “It’ easy to talk a big game, say city hall,” says Strasser, who realized, along with Wachinski, that "it was rude not to invite your parents," so she chose the proverbial “guy’s” choice and suggested Las Vegas. They’ll marry June 25 at The Venetian with a core group of 16 people (and that includes the two of them). “They have everything there for you,” she says of the hotel/casino, “the chapel, your bouquet, your cake, your reception.”

After the proposal, Wachinski’s plan was to leave it up to Strasser. “I had no idea about a wedding, I always thought I’d be at the mercy of my bride. I assumed I’d have a big traditional wedding, not that I wanted it, but that’s what people do. But she and I share the same feelings about crowds. I’ve never thrown a party in my life. I’d have all this anxiety about whether or not everyone was going to have a good time, do I have enough food and drinks, all these crazy things. And we just both don’t like being the center of attention.”

After talking, the couple decided that they wanted to share, in some way, the day with their friends and co-workers, but were determined to remain, “pragmatic. If we can’t afford it, we’re not doing it. It’s hard because the bridal industry is so suggestive.” 

So at the suggestion of Contessa Mankiewicz, Ben’s wife, they’re holding a follow up reception on July 12 at downtown Los Angeles’ Central Library. With wedding planner Michelle Buckley at the helm, they’ll serve appetizers, drinks (Jameson’s, of course), and cupcakes, “There’s not going to be an extravagant sit-down, it just for everyone to have a good time and make a toast. I promised Daniel when we were first dating that I wouldn’t make him dance in public,” so no dance.  “It’s a big cocktail party, we don’t want anyone inconvenienced, just to have fun.”

“The only question,” says Strasser, “was what I was going to wear.” While Strasser remembers it as Wachinski’s suggestion, and he remembers it as hers, the end result is that Strasser will wear Wachinski’s sister Lynn’s wedding gown, as a tribute to Lynn, who died, with her husband of three years, in an Atlanta car crash, 10 years ago.

“I was the last one in our family who saw Lynn,” says Wachinski. “She had a big wedding in [our hometown] downtown Philadelphia. It was an amazing, glorious occasion that she and my mom planned together.”

“Vegas and reception felt like us,” Strasser says, “and we really wanted to do something to honor Lynn, I wanted it to be appropriate.”  Strasser had no idea what Lynn’s dress was like, what size Lynn was, and when Wachinski’s mother sent her Lynn’s dress, fully preserved and boxed, she held her breath as she opened it. Not only was it a gorgeous Vera Wang dress, it fit her perfectly, without any altering.

“It’s such a big gesture, a huge gesture and makes me feel so embraced by his family.”

Says Wachinski, by having Strasser wear his sister’s dress, “it’s our way of remembering her.

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