Sabrina & Jurgen

Last month, I had the pleasure of being a part of the wedding of an incredible couple. Sabrina & Jurgen are wonderfully laid back, genuinely nice and truly in love.

Their wedding at Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel was intimate, beautiful and so much fun! Here is a peak of their wedding day, with photos by Imagery Immaculate:




A couple shots of the beautiful bouquet: Flowers by 3 Petals



Our original design was using shades of blue & white. The amazing team over at 3 Petals had a great idea: Jurgen is Dutch and we were trying to think of ways to encorporate his culture into the wedding. They suggested adding in orange to the flowers for the national colors of the Netherlands. It turned out beautifully- really made everything pop and made something as simple as the color choices more personal and sentimental.

The gorgeous ceremony: (Amazing Ceremony Music by Naples Chamber Ensemble)


The ceremony decor:



The altar arrangements were inspired by the floral arrangements in the Ritz Carlton's lobby. If you have ever been there, you know how incredible they are; they have large glass vases lining the entire lobby floor. They are always filled with water and are overflowing with amazing flowers. Jurgen & Sabrina loved these and decided that they wanted to go with a similar look. It turned out beautifully. So- always be looking for inspiration- you never know where you might find it.

A few shots of the reception tables: Flowers & Linens by 3 Petals



The tasty cake from the Ritz:


Sabrina & Jurgen had us make customized CD's for them as their favors. They picked out a great playlist and we labeled the CD's with photos of the two of them. They came up with a really unique idea. Because they had a small guest list in an intimate room, they decided that instead of using table numbers, each table would be signified by a photo of the couple. The CD's doubled as escort cards: Guests looked at the photo on their CD it signified the table they were sitting at. The guests loved it!



I got to work with one of my favorite DJ companies: Red Shoe LA. I highly recommend them- Ian & Tony are classy, have great taste in music and can get a dance floor movin. You can also check them out at some great LA clubs many nights during the week.

One of my favorite moments of the day was when Jurgen's guests from Holland stood up and sang a traditional wedding song. It was so fun! The photo below is of the groom's parents, standing and leading the crowd in many rounds of "Hip Hip Hoorahs". So cute!


**A very fun idea: Rather than having a sweetheart table, Jurgen & Sabrina decided to have a progressive dinner. It was such a fun idea! We left two chairs open for them at each table and they switched from table to table at each course change. That way, they were able to spend time with all of there guests without missing out on the great food and without standing for an hour straight. Of course, this only works with small guest lists, but it was a lot of fun!

Sabrina & Jurgen: Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your wedding day. It was a pleasure getting to know you and we wish you the best as you start off your marriage!

My feet started swelling

It finally happened. I looked down at my aching feet at the end of a busy weekend and they had blimped up to twice their normal proportions. Yes, the swelling of the feet has begun. I couldn't stop looking at them! They were so fat! Thus begins my third trimester. Weddings are starting to slow down, but I have some great ones coming up! When I get home with a throbbing back, swollen feet and a 0% energy level, I remind myself that in a month & a half I will be on baby break :)

Any moms out there have tips for swelling feet? Or, any advice on maternity belts? I bought one but haven't used it yet- I keep forgetting and it looks funny under dresses. However, if they work- I am sure that it would be worth it. Let me know your thoughts!

On a different note, Sandy & Jesse, who are getting married next month at Aliso Creek Golf Course in Laguna Beach, had their engagement photos taken by the wonderful Jasmine Star. Here are a few- to see some more, check out her blog. They are a great couple and I am very much looking forward to their wedding!

Fun new invite site

I get emails from random wedding companies almost daily and I usually end up just deleting them. However, I came across a very cute company the other day: Telliegrams

They have cute favor boxes, invites that can be folded up into a box and cute onesie baby shower invites. What I love is that they have cute paper prints, reminiscent of paper source (my favorite store).

Something a little different and fun. They are pretty affordable as well! The owner has a cute blog too, full of wedding & baby things.

Here is a little preview of some of their products:

7.7.7

This past saturday has been dubbed, "the busiest day in wedding history". We were able to be a part of this historic day with an incredible wedding at the Paradise Point Resort in San Diego. It was a beautiful wedding of a very sweet couple. Photos and more details to come.

Laura Kleinhenz of Docuvitae, who is one of our favorite photographers, was commissioned by Time Magazine to cover 7.7.07 in the city with the most weddings- Las Vegas. Check out her photo essay by clicking here. It is really fun & it looks like she was able to hear a lot of interesting stories!

Email issues...

I think I have it figured out. My email server is rejecting emails from yahoo & hotmail addresses when you reply to one of my emails. You will get a message saying it did not go through because there was a virus or spam. I have actually noticed that in a few, a weird attachment came with the email. One bride told me that yahoo and aol were having problems with this, so...

If you forward me the email that gets bounced back to you, I can see your original message. New threads do not get bounced back- so if you need to email me, please send an email with a new topic, rather than replying to an email I sent you.

So sorry about all of this! Hopefully it will be worked out soon. Have a great week everyone!

Jen & Greg are married!

On a beautiful, clear Father's Day, my dear friends Jen & Greg joined their lives together. It was an incredible ceremony and a very fun reception, full of personal touches. As I said when I posted their engagement photos, these two are some of my favorite people and it was such a joy to be able to share in their special day.

Here are some of the gorgeous photos taken by the always incredible Jasmine Star:






How beautiful is Jen?




I will be posting the detail shots in the next couple of weeks, once the event is posted online. For now, here is a little taste of the florals and decor:


The flowers, linens, backdrop & lighting were provided by 3 Petals.
Catering by A Splendid Touch
Venues: Mission Hills Community Church
The Belltower, RSM
The amazingly tasty red velvet cake by Jackie Mills.
Hair by Natalie Buketov.

You can see more photos in the slideshow Jasmine put together by clicking here

The learning curve

Today was a hard day. It was rough emotionally, rough physically and it was rough on my pride.

I learned through my bad day. I learned that it is not always possible to please everyone. This is especially true in the wedding world. I learned that it is hard to admit when you have not done your best- and the person it is hardest to admit it to is yourself. I learned that I cannot take on too much at a time. I learned to not be afraid of hard conversations. I learned that there is joy in handling uncomfortable situations well. I learned that I love my job so much that I often forget that it is a business. I do need to treat it as such.

What I learned most is that I still need to learn. No matter how many years you are away from receiving your diploma, learning never stops. This type of learning is not like cramming for an exam: it is painful and humbling, but ends up being motivating and inspiring.

This has been both one of the most rewarding and most difficult years of my life. Lots of incredible weddings, wonderful clients, awards & rave reviews, growth, a baby, lots of family & friend time and also death, grief, stress, overworking, moving, transitioning and learning. Tonight, as I am dealing with the hurt from my day, I have been reminded of how fortunate I am. I have an amazing husband who is unselfish, inspiring and a ceaseless encourager. I have a baby boy on the way- a true gift of God that I never thought I would be able to receive. I have an incredible family- full of love, goofiness and authenticity. I have friends who know and love me for who I am. I have a deep love for my job & have been so blessed by the relationships that have come out of it. And I have been given grace by the Almighty God.

A good lesson to end a tough day.

I'm so excited! You should be too!

One of my favorite artists just released her first full-length album with a major record company! Sara Bareilles is such an amazing songwriter, singer & performer. My husband and I fell in love with her music while at UCLA (she's a bruin- woo~hoo!) and have been joyfully following her career ever since.



You should check it out- it really is incredible. We just gave it a full listen through and it is a solid album; every song is excellent. You can buy it on iTunes or in stores. She is going to be big.

Frustrating...

My email server is once again having problems...

So- if you need to get ahold of me please give me a call. Thanks! Sorry for any of you who have been trying to get ahold of me.

A wedding worth waiting a year for

When I first met with Jessica back in June of 06, I could hardly wait for her May 07 wedding to come. From the beginning, I loved her vision & style.

Jess & Christian's wedding was, as she described it, "a Wonder Years backyard BBQ". It was so fun! Having recently relocated from the Midwest, Jess & Christian wanted their guests to get a taste of the city they now call home, so they held their wedding in downtown LA at the Oviatt Penthouse. This site is so cool! It was built in the 20's and was the first art deco building in LA. I was in awe the entire time- I tried to soak in all of the amazing details found in each room. Talk about a perfect venue for pictures- they were able to get amazing shots in the lobby, bedroom, rooftop- even in the bathroom!

The bridesmaids dresses were incredible- from one of my favorite stores, Anthropologie. I think they might have been my favorite bridesmaid's dresses ever. The flowers were adorable- striped tulips & runnuculus in the bouquets & bouts & adorable wheat grass & daisy centerpieces. The food, by Thank Goodness, It's Sophia (TGIS), was super fun & delicious. They had a burger bar & a salad bar. Instead of plates, red & white check paper hot dog trays were used. Jess had originally wanted to get the In-N-Out catering truck, but it is a bit difficult to find a site in downtown LA where you can pull a huge truck right up to the event.



What I loved most about this couple was that they were not afraid of taking a chance and doing something a bit different. The wedding was very intimate- only 40 guests, and was full of personal touches. Each table was a different food photo; Jessica takes incredible photos of food- she even has a blog where she posts them. It's so fun! The programs & invitations featured a retro-style photo of the two of them sitting on a big hamburger. They gave each guest a pair of knock-off Ray Bans to wear during the ceremony and Jess found an amazing grass doormat to use for the escort cards.

My favorite touch of the entire night, though, was the dessert bar. One of my favorite dessert companies, Amy's Baby Cakes, which is now Vanilla Bake Shop, made the most incredible mini-cupcake & icebox dessert display. Words cannot express how delicious these treats were & they looked completely adorable as well! Jess & Christian topped the table off with some special Canadian treats- one that Christian even baked himself!




Here are a few more shots of the event from the incredible Kim Fox. I grabbed these off of her blog, so more details shots will be coming. Probably not for a while though, as Kim is having a baby this week! Congrats Kim! I cannot wait to see pictures of the little one!