Ceremony: Calvary Apostolic Tabernacle / Ontario Ca

Kristy walked into my office with one crucial element that she wanted to have throughout her decor…. peacock feathers. It was all about the peacock from the get go! If you look closely at a feather near the eye, there are gorgeous jewel tones to draw inspiration from; gold, champagne, chocolate, apple green, turquoise….there is even some rose color if you get the right light. Her bridesmaids wore chocolate dresses with mocha accents, we used lots of wrought iron in her ceremony. Her colors she chose to go with were vibrant green and shades of brown. Two level candle lanterns adorned the aisle, and they rented a 14ft tall square/dome structure for the ceremony from Best of the Best www.btb-events.com. We dazzled it up with top to bottom greens, cymbidium orchids, Bells of Ireland, hanging beaded strands, curly willow, and feathers, and mini crystal votives for the bling factor. This was the talk of the town –according to Kristy after the ceremony people are still taking about it! Her father is the Reverend at their church, and her wedding was the first they have had in their new sanctuary. I had a blast working with Kristy and her family, it was an honor

Ceremony : Church of the Master Mission Viejo

Reception: Arroyo Trabuco Country Club

Jennifer absolutely loves hydrangea, and unique vines. Spring weddings really have an advantage over other months when it comes to floral selection. You can have just about every flora imaginable in the spring, including blooming branches and vines of all sorts. I would say her style was more of a New England/ east coast garden, lots of blooming jasmine, phlox, calla lily, roses, anemone, and dahlia accompanied all of the beautiful green hydrangea in the chocolate urns on the table. Arroyo Trabuco is a very rustic style country club with lots of dark wood and tall ceilings with a beautiful garden area…. it was a perfect combination!

In the off season we try and slip away on a little vacation here and there. I know I know, I have been such a bad blogger! Now you know why, the secrets out…. Our anniversary is in March so me and the hubby, and my folks and friends sailed away with Captain Morgan down to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Chad and I have done a bunch of traveling, but we haven’t been to any of these places, so it was nice to have new adventures together. I have to say Grand Cayman was the coolest, kick back island we have been too….we will go back and check it all out in the future for sure!

The scene of the crime….not really, totally fake, we talked the Cayman cop lady into it…yes there is a town called Hell, its in the Caymans!

Check out that water—- cocktails!!?? A sunset from our patio deck…good stuff

My 7-7-7 bride Renee called on us to help create a magical surprise birthday party for her mothers big 50 bash. Their home is absolutely stunning, and we dolled it up with vibrant reds, merlot, and a splash of fuchsia. Lots of roses and dahlias, and of course no Parisian themed party can go without a little bit of the bustier and feathers! I found these super cute wired shapes that were perfect for the powder rooms, and adorable dotted ribbon. Best of the Best www.btb-events.com brought in wonderful props of French inspiration, and amazing lush velvet draped a tented area with crystal chandeliers. Oh La La……..

We are so excited to be a part of Ceremony magazine, our big 2008 debut! In the Orange County edition you will find our fabulous designs, check us out!

Of course many, many thanks to those who made our tables complete! We couldn’t have done it without Wildflower Linens, and Classic Party Rentals. The phenominal shots are courtesy of Barnet Photography.

www.wildflowerlinens.com

www.classicpartyrentals.com

www.barnetphotography.com

“Simply Sweetheart “Table Top Design on Pages 138 and 139

“Lava Licious” on page 148.

Lovely bouquets of “Peaches & Cream” and “Lavender Love” grace pages 178 and 179.

Our Wedding of Destinction “Fantasy Islands” on pages 336 and 337. This wedding was one of my first on the blog, so this may be familiar to some of you. It is so cool that they chose one of my weddings…way cool! Pictures from this wedding are courtesy of Joe Latter.

Ceremony and Reception: Orange Hill

At Kaytee’s initial consultation with me we totally hit it off. We joked around, laughed, and she booked me on the spot! She brought in a picture of inspiration, it was a centerpiece that was very simple in whites and greens. The interesting ingredient was in the container itself…. it was full of dried split green peas. I have used peas in all sorts of fun things, they work great as a stabilizer for a pillar candle in a large vase ( the wax drips into the peas making for a super easy clean up by the way) or even in a little glass votive. Kaytee and I decided to do half of the centers with dried peas, and the other half with horsetail inside the glass to mix it up. We used all kinds of crazy to make these show stoppers…. super green roses, coffee bean, dried millet, dried wheat, black aeonium succulents, green rose succulents, and dried thistle pods to name a few. I absolutely love how they photographed, gorgeous!

Rachel and Patrick were a pleasure to work with. They got married in early December, so the Turnip Rose had all their decor up for the holidays. We went with warm tones of wine and merlot with shades of ivory for the floral decor. This venue has gorgeous Spanish influenced architectural design, and a unique entry for the bride. Rather than walking down an aisle the bridal party enters the ceremony area down a beautiful staircase, very dramatic! I often recommend to my brides ways to utilize both their personal, and ceremony decor elsewhere in the day. At the sweetheart table we added orchid blooms and petals on the front edge with a simple vase. Once they are finished with pictures she can put her bouquet in the vase and voila! Instant centerpiece

Emika and Haj had a high tea for their guests at Park Prive. They had a traditional buddhist ceremony out on the lawn under a pine tree on the grounds that looks more like a giant bonsai tree. We added a few touches of the vibrant yellow orchids in the tree for some color, and hung some of them from the branches. The aisle was lined with bamboo, and mum pomander balls adorned the chairs. Inside the reception area it was tea time with individual cakes at each table, with each table named after a type of tea. Groupings of four small accent arrangements were placed around the cakes. The planner brought in her own bamboo structure for a unique sign in idea….guests wrote their well wishes on bookmarks, and then hung them onto ribbons that we adorned with fresh flower blooms of orchids and mums. This was an absolutely beautiful greeting blowing in the gentle breeze as guests walked in–loved it!

So you ask….. what’s this all about? I thought I would add in a little of what we do on our nights off. A shamless plug for the band, Crash Course. My hubby plays bass, and once in a while he and the drummer will switch places! We call thier music “punk light”, you can actually hear what they are saying, and it’s not too over the top but you still need earplugs for sure… He keeps me laughing, and we are always up to something…this is one of his many hobbies. I grabbed my camera and shot some colorful pics of the band and our friends at Fern’s in Long Beach a few weeks ago, enjoy:)

Ceremony: Upper Deck

Reception: Royal Salon

Dress: Stephanie James Couture

Painting by: Live Event Artist

I took a step back to memory lane with Lisa and Chad…I had my own reception on the Queen Mary way back in 2000, and we had it in the same room, the Royal Salon. On top of it all, my husband’s name is Chad…..crazy! It was a perfect day out on the deck, we added a beautiful smilex garland and florals to the square arbor and lamp posts. They decided to have an artist paint an original painting of thier wedding, this was the coolest thing–I was fascinated!! I stood behind him the entire ceremony and watched him work his magic on the canvas. This is a very unique idea for capturing your big day, loved it! Lisa and Chad wanted floral elements that were unique as well, we incorporated papyrus, lily grass, and curly willow into the centerpieces to spice things up a bit.