What a fairytale wedding this was at the St. Regis Monarch Beach…Sarah was stunning on her wedding day and so were her 9 bridesmaids, all decked out in Jenny Yoo dresses.  Prune was the IT color with shades of blush, mauve, lilac and silver/ mirror accents. We gave the hint of the wedding colors when guests received invitations on mirrored plexi glass.  The ceremony site (Colonnade structure embellished with floral) turned out amazing, but do not attempt this unless you have at least 9 hours to set up.

White carpet, white dance floor, set the stage for a clean palleate of eggplant linens and soft light floral trees. Three different centerpieces were used to created interest.  If you have a good eye, you may catch that the silver beadwork on the bodice of the dress is also on her cake.  Hundreds of hand made sugar flowers were tucked in between layers.

Silver sparkle chargers and rhinestone broaches adorned each napkin while blush menu cards matched the wine bottle labels. Tucker’s family is in the wine business so it was thoughtful and memorable to give a bottle of wine as their wedding favor.  They ordered extra so that they can open one up every year on their anniversary. 

Photos courtesy of Joe Photo 

One of the first weddings at Segrestrom Hall, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. Beautiful space with floor to ceiling (4 floors) of glass windows. And you get yummy Patina Catering with the venue.  Sunny introduced me to Jessica and Scott, who were gracious and delightful.  Super sweet and happy, just like the floral.  Jessica had a common motif, initials JK SI and floating stars….which started from her invitation design.  Then seen on the custom hand drawn aisle runner and then once sun set with the dinner area revealed, the dance floor gobo also had stars and of course the wedding cake too.  Sunny and her team even punched out stars from leaves and we sprinkled them on the napkin and letter pressed menu cards. Thanks Sun for your creativity on this event and for introducing me to wonderful people.  Last but not least..this was my first time working with Joey from John and Joseph Photography.   www.jkhphoto.com AMAZING photography and great skills in low light and working with the beautiful architecture of OCPAC.  He did a great job of documenting a stylish couple and incorporating them into a very modern space.  

Kendra wanted RED, only RED flowers.…other requirements: sexy, crystals, and Dramatic. She left it up to us, and Sunny to create the environment and set the stage for a red hot party. Before the party….drama was created with a special sound system showcasing a 14 piece string orchestra with flutes, oboes, drums and strolling musicians recessing down the aisle prior to the bridal party entrance. That got everyone’s attention, I think the entire hotel heard the performance too. I got chills during rehearsal. Over the top, massive floral pieces flanked the altar while an airy curtain of roses and red crystals swayed in the breeze. Sunny hand dyed all the crystals red… great call, made a better impact than clear ones would have made.

Beige carpet, champagne gold drapes, transformed the ballroom at the St. Regis. Large Flirty double layer ruffled overlays on top of black matte satin linens, with gold rimmed glassware, black/gold chargers..and lots of candles= dramatic. Black magic roses and red callas were every where and the burgandy dahlias were the size of small melons. Yes, the cake could have fed a small army but it emulated Kendra’s dress/ train…it was about 8 feet long. One may have expected all this drama and glam, if you received the fur handle Save the Date fan or the black lace gold rhinestone buckle silk panel invite. All to entice guests to reply “yes” on the rsvp! Congrats Mike and Kendra, a delight and honor to know you both.

Photos courtesy of Bob Ortiz Photography
Bob also made a slideshow of this wedding, click here for more pictures.

I was so impressed with the quality and custom work that Hello Lucky did for this wedding.  The invitation design was a huge inspiration for the wedding.  But the best part was all the other pieces they created to our exact specifications.  My ultimate favorite was the escort cards!  I had this idea about how the whimsical flowers would be blossoming on branches.   They created die- cut pieces, same shapes as flowers on invite, and had hand calligraphy for each flower identifying guest name and table assignment.  Placing them took so—long cause they kept falling through the cracks of the branches….but it was worth the effort.  

The three colored letter pressed menu cards were die cut round to fit perfectly inside the gold beaded glass base plates.  Right before 1st course was served, we helped guests slide them underneath the charger as they could still see the writing through the clear glass. Welcome tags, program fan tags, candy labels, dessert signs, table name signs…everything matched. Just the way we love doing events.  

Check out other Hello Lucky Designs at www.hellolucky.com

Photos Courtesy of: Ira Lippke Studios www.iralippkestudios.com

Who ever thought that meeting online could lead to marriage?  Well in this case, it did!  Claire was very sceptical of online dating but her cousin went behind her back and set up an EHarmony account for her and within weeks, Claire met her prince.  They would be the perfect couple to do one of those EHarmony commercials - they are so happy and in love.    I met Claire and her mom over a year ago and we did most of the planning together and very quickly because they wanted Lance involved in the majority of the wedding planning process.  Claire was so focused on the little detailsof the wedding, and it definitely shows.   It wasn’t until about a month before the wedding that I actually had the pleasure of meeting Lance.  8 months leading up until the wedding, Lance was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.  Once he got home, it was meeting after meeting to finalize all the details.  He was such a trooper.  The day went so perfectly and everyone had so much fun.  Lance and all of the marines serenaded Claire to the famous tune of “You Lost that Loving Feeling,” it was classic!  Congratulations Claire and Lance!

Thank you Aaron Delesie for these amazing photos!

Yes, a garden for one day, just for Nicole and Toby’s wedding at the Montage Resort and Spa.  Faux stone urns, various garden elements and pristine hedges created the altar and path for Nicole’s processional, while moss and floral balls are strategically placed in the aisle and all around… several naughty guests thought it was soccer time, LOL.  Adjacent to the Pacific lawn was set for cocktails with ice blue couches, mirrored tables and sushi attendants on stand by.

One of my favorite elements from this wedding were the ice blue velvet with mocha leather appliquéd table cloths.  We immediately took patterns from the cloth and incorporated it into the paper goods- from silk box invitations, custom decal dance floor to patterned seating cards that grew on twigs in a full bed of moss.  We used quite a bit of moss on this event, which i don’t typically care for but it worked.

Guest seating for dinner were 2 sizes of elongated wooden tables or booth seating for 8.  There were so many table top elements…..let’s list them: lamps, hurricane blue candle, wrought iron obelisk with a treatment of roses, hydrangea, peonies and stock at the base in blues, peach, pink and white, small urns filled with roses, and moss balls!  Only the head table had taffetta chair slips for the gold chivaris.  And did I learn about napkin folds on this event, 3 kinds for the 3 different chargers at the 3 different tables. Thanks to Christopher (Fiori Fresco Special Events) for giving me this awesome book on napkin folds, much harder with 2 toned trimmed ones.  You are super talented!  (and thanks for allowing me to be nit picky that day, inside joke)

If you look closely at the three dimensional flowers on the Oscar de la Renta gown, you will see the similar details on the wedding cake, all created by hand!

And Jon, Jon, Jon…..none of this would be remembered without you. Photos courtesy of Jon, Barber Photography. Additional slideshow pictures LINK.

Last but not least, thank you to Chuck (father of bride) and Nicole for giving us full creative control and entrusting us with execution.

No fuss non- frilly centerpieces with gorgeous white mums in long zebra wood boxes, deep eggplant boxed pleat linens with white banded border… just what Alexandra and Matt wanted.  Family florist friend Bryan Wark Designs created an contemporary look for this hip couple. He also designed their engagement party in black white and yellow motif.   Alex and Matt also enlisted Ja Tecson Photography to document their day…they all headed down to the beach for sunset photos, with the assistance of a golf tram of course!  it was my first time working with both of them and they were super talented and fabulous to work with.  thanks guys!

Photos:  Courtesy of JaTecson

You saw the video, now here are the photos…..A few weeks ago, Sandy and Harry returned back to Laguna Beach for the wedding of their dreams.  The weather was perfect, sunny but not too hot for an August day.  The colors on the wedding perfectly matched the sky at sunset.  Soft, fresh, feminine flowers in light shades of pink, coral, and cantalope with touches of green.

We went more intense inside the ballroom where the flowers were vibrant pinks, oranges and greens. But to evoke a party mood, we created a lounge area inside the same ballroom with this amazing 16ft bar that serviced dinner and dancing. Sandy and Harry did not forget a thing…sushi station, shellfish ice station, martini luge, dessert station (with my favorite cheesecake lollipops), candy station, AND it was the first time I ever did “TO GO BOXES” of late night snacks. Guest were able to pack up fried chicken, grilled cheese sandwiches, french fries, and kobe beef burgers along with an assortment of Harry’s favorite sodas: Apple Beer, Ginger Beer, Bubble Up, and Bottled Coca-Cola with pure cane sugar.

The paper good were amazing at this wedding so we are going to do another feature on it.  Thanks to Ira for your amazing eye and ability to shoot in low light!

Photos courtesy of: Ira Lippke Studios

By the way, did you see Sandy’s wedding shoes!  LOVE IT…..and she was so graceful walking in them too.

When you think of “Do it Yourself“, you think a little of this and a little of that, especially when it comes to your wedding.  You might make the party favors for your guests or possibly create the table numbers, but that wasn’t the case for my bride Jen.  She cut and sewed every single runner and napkin, made the matching place cards (whatever fabric was on your place card designated the table you sat at, and also matched the napkin for that specific table), made the party favors (initial magnets denoting what your menu selection was), printed all of the menus, programs, table numbers, and coasters, and made the custom linen for cake table. Their guest book was also a custom linen that they had all of thier guests sign.  Jen also knit all of her bridesmaids socks!  She was so crafty and it paid off in a big way.  The event was absolutely beautiful!  Congratulations Jen and Ray! 

Thank you Eva Ng for the photos!

It’s here…You saw her shower and her sneak peek video clip…and now we have her wedding day photos. Jeannie Le, senior assistant to Details Details was married at St. Catherine’s in Laguna and had her reception at the Hyatt Huntington Beach. If you know Jeannie, you know that she is amazing at assisting brides, sweet, helpful, takes initiative and will carry all 10 bridesmaids purses before sending them down the aisle! She has a great sense of style and knew what she wanted, something timeless, romantic and glamourous (hence the crystal chandeliers) I do have to say that carpeting the ballroom made a huge difference. I don’t believe it is necessary all the time but for a color palette like this, the typical hotel ballroom carpet would have ruined the look. Every invitation, place card and menu card had a touch of bling.  And those bridesmaids dresses with the pockets, so cute…the bows matched the shoes perfectly.  But my favorite were her shoes, ones with the flower bud  (Steve holding them for close up)  And last but not least…she hired the infamous Jose Villa to document the day.