Phil & Krista: Part 3!

Before getting into the reception, I wanted to share a few photos of the beautiful couple, Krista & Phil, taken by Evoke Photography :

I love that last one of the two of them- it totally shows Phil's personality.

Onto the reception:

The poppy motif was carried through in the escort cards:

The tablesetting:

Aren't those flowers so lush and delicious? The votive candles are from Cultural Intrigue - I love them! They are super cheap but so cute and come in tons of colors. They are actually covered in the same paper that is used for their paper lanterns. I can order them for you- please contact me if you are interested.

I liked this tablesetting a lot because it was simple but fun. The small uses of color really popped against the white tablecloth.

As I mentioned before, Krista is an art teacher and so we tried to think of ways to incorporate this into the wedding. I give you our solution: ceramic leaf ornaments, hand made by Krista and her students. They worked hard on these for months. So sweet!

You can't see in the picture, but the menus also had the poppy motif on the top.

How cute is this? The catering staff at Rancho Capistrano made the appetizers into the shape of the bride & groom's initials. A small little touch, but so thoughtful and cute!

Gotta love a good candy buffet:

The jars, scoops and risers were provided by us. We are happy to set this up and organize it for our clients. The candy is from the oh so fun to visit Garvey Nut & Candy.

And, now, my absolute favorite detail of the wedding: An ice cream sandwich bar!!! How fun is that?

Instead of having cake for all of their guests, Phil and Krista decided that they would rather serve ice cream sandwiches. This is a family tradition and, in P&K's opinion, are way tastier than cake. So, we decided to brave a huge logistical undertaking and make it happen. I am so glad that we did! It was the hit of the night. The cookies (which are absolutely delicious- my favorite is chocolate chip coconut) were from Paradise Bakery in the Mission Viejo Mall. The ice cream cart was rented from Clowning Around and the ice cream was... wait for it... Thrifty ice cream! How good is that? I was unaware that Rite Aid actually carries Thrifty ice cream. Now, after many calls and issues with managers, I know!

We had toppings as well- guests could either roll the ice cream sandwiches in them or just have a scoop of ice cream with toppings on top. Yum! I think I am going to go raid my freezer after talking about all of this!

Krista & Phil enjoying their ice cream sandwiches:

I have a few lessons for you from this:
#1: Don't feel like you have to be tied to cake. There are so many dessert options out there.
#2: Don't be afraid to do something different. Many people close to Phil & Krista questioned how it all would work and if people would like it. I cannot tell you much people were raving about it.
#3: For something like this, you really need to cover your bases. The venue would not handle it since it was not their food. We had to bring in extra staff to pick up the ice cream (put in coolers with dry ice) and deliver it at the right time. We then had our staff serve it. Planning something like this is exponentially easier with a planner involved.
#4: If you live in Orange County, you have to try Paradise's cookies.

In addition to the ice cream sandwiches, Krista & Phil still planned to have a small sweetheart cake to cut. Phil's sister in law is a great baker, so they asked her to make it for them to make it more special. She called me the day before and let me know she was surprising them with a three tiered cake. She did such a great job- it was very cute.

A few more for you:

I loved the band! They were so awesome! For the cocktail hour, they added another few people, so we ended up with about an 11 piece band. It was so fun! After the cocktail hour, the amazing Bobby Duran took over the DJ station.

The first dance:

And, finally, a first for me: I got to dance with the groom! At the end of the money dance, Krista still had a line of guys waiting to dance with her and Phil had run out of ladies. He called me over and we got to share a little moment. Here you are, caught on film:

Phil & Krista: I miss our daily emails and frequent meetings. I so enjoyed getting to know you and am so glad that I got to experience the love you two share! I wish you the best out there in Virginia. I hope you are enjoying a real fall :)   I also have to give a shout out to Krista's wonderful mother, Becky. We got to know each other well through the planning process and I adore her. What an incredible family!

I'll finish up with a full list of the vendors:
*Photographer: The lovely Emi & Michael of Evoke Photography
*Venue: Rancho Capistrano
*Video: The wonderful Chrissie of Mise.En.Seen .
*DJ: Bobby Duran
*Stylist: Makeup by Berit
*Florist: Elizabeth Bailey
*Rentals: Atlas Party Rentals
*Babysitters: My amazing twin nieces *note: this is a great idea! If you are having lots of kids at your wedding, it is a great idea to set up a babysitting room and hire sitters. We did this at a few of my weddings this summer and it was a hit.