July 6, 2010
Oh how we love a beautiful bride with style! Add in a little graciousness – and we swoon to make her every wish happen. Carley was such a bride, and from our first meeting, I knew it was going to be a gorgeous and very personal wedding day. Having worked with Carley as the on site event coordinator at one of our preferred wedding venues in the area, I also knew that she would have the inside scoop on making a wedding fabulous – and I was not disappointed. Here are a few images we received from Andre Niesing at AN Photography, who really captured the character of this one of a kind site. Santa Margarita Ranch has such unlimited possibility for a bride and her designer – some of our favorite weddings have happened here.
The combination of bright colored spring blooms in shades of green, orange and gold, kept the feeling of the day fresh and vibrant. Organic elements were intermingled through out with interesting greens, green fruits and moss to provide an earthy, rustic vibe.
The custom rose petal monogram and swirl design, created the perfect pop of color to the ceremony in the garden.
Moss initials on the doors of the barn, accented with clusters of flowers were the perfect low key welcome element to the celebration to come in this historic California barn.
Centerpieces of spring blooms, moss & fruit were created as little gardens on each table set in copper buckets. Some of the garden-scapes also included manzanita and hanging crystals.
A simple sprig of orange freesia was tucked into each napkin, greeting the guests and sending off a subtle fragrance.
This custom wash on the dance floor was taken from the damask design on Carley & Matt’s wedding invitations. Our favorite lighting experts over at Kramer Entertainment DJs & Lighting produced this effect as well as all of the color washes on the cold stone walls of the barn, warming things up and creating an inviting and festive atmosphere inside and outside the barn.
To see more pictures of our beautiful weddings at Santa Margarita Ranch click here.
July 5, 2010
We LOVE to infuse weddings and events with stunning flowers – it’s what we’re about. Coming up with the perfect centerpiece design concept to meet a bride’s vision is part of the whole process that we completely get excited about – and the more flowers involved – the better! However, (hear the brakes screeching), if you walk into a dark barrel room at the most beautiful winery and can’t even see the tabletops – it won’t matter how much design time or how many intricate details are involved – you won’t see it.
Lighting can create ambiance and set the mood for sure, but more important to us, as your floral stylist, is that a great lighting company can pin spot light each table to show off your vision. We love to sit down with the lighting designer and work out a lighting plan with high visual impact that will be an image, etched in your memory for the rest of your life. This is about that WOW moment when you first walk in the room and see how incredible it looks – in the dark, there’s simply nothing to see. Recently, in part due to the state of many wedding budgets, we’ve even noticed that even simple centerpieces vastly benefit from some lighting.
Truly, this element of light can make the biggest visual impact out of anything that you do for your reception. Of course there are, what I consider bonus elements that can really create a fun and upscale feeling to your event. Up lighting, dance floor washes and special effect lighting can each play a part in transforming a room from nice – to ridiculously awesome! In June, we worked with the lighting team over at Kramer Entertainment DJ’s & Event Lighting to enlighten a wedding reception in the Chai Barrel Room at the beautiful Meridian Vineyards. Definitely one of our favorite wedding venues, we coordinated concepts with Zach, the lighting designer at Kramer Entertainment & Lighting and Laura at TOS Events, to create a beautiful and cohesive presentation. Below are some great photos from Jill Hewston at Allyson Magda Photography. These images represent what a great team of professionals can bring to your wedding day.
To check out more fabulous examples of flowers & lighting design check out these posts on our blog or see more beautiful weddings at Meridian Vineyards.
June 18, 2010
One of the first weddings I ever did about 11 years ago was at the beautiful Dana-Powers House in Nipomo. In the passing years, it has become a more and more endearing venue with extraordinary character. Judi, the delightful owner of the historic property and grounds, has taken great joy in every detail and along the way has highlighted her family’s early California heritage in the area. The garden, lawns and intricate patio around the beautiful Victorian house are rich with varieties of garden blooms and orange trees. Inside, a collection of treasures are delicately woven into the decor of the open airy farmhouse. The way the sunlight works it’s magic in this house constantly amazes me. Mike Larson over at Mike Larson Inc., took full advantage of the natural light in the bridal shots prior to the ceremony.
Our gorgeous bride, Darcy, consistently honed in on simple garden varieties of blooms in soft shades of cream, white, blush and green that were in keeping with the surroundings, maximizing the impact of each element that we designed for her. While most couples choose the gazebo for their ceremony focal point, we turned the ceremony around to face Judi’s natural blooming screen of white climbing ice burg roses. Our romantic silk arch looks like it is floating on the trellis among the blooms – I love how it turned out! Creamy French flower buckets full of white blooms were hung on all the aisle chairs with platinum satin ribbon, and then in a brilliant plan of the bride’s, we reset them as centerpieces for the reception in the rustic chic barn.
Catering by the Sea Shanty of Cayucos and wedding cake by The Cakery. To see more about this wedding check out Mike’s blog and click here to see more weddings that we’ve styled at the Dana-Powers House.
June 2, 2010
Our bride flew in for one weekend from Beijing, China to plan her entire wedding. Fortunately, she hired the Central Coasts’ Mark Padgett Event Design to bring some of the best local wedding vendors together for her and she chose the beautiful Meridian Vineyard Chai Barrel Room to host her beautiful, one of a kind reception.
From our one meeting with the bride, we worked closely with Mark on the design and came up with a sumptuous and romantic approach that transformed the room into an opulent California ballroom. Mark engineered stunning columns of soft light intermingled with his decadent crystal chandeliers over the dance floor washed with pattern. We used our classic silver and crystal candelabras, adorned with lush white arrangements of white orchids. A low version of the centerpieces were modern low arrangements of pavé large white mums in metal containers with votive candles in the middle of them – the result was pillows of glowing flowers. To provide a little “pretty” at the table level for the high centerpieces, we set incredible gardenias in silver votive holders. The subtle fragrance to the room, set the tone for a beautiful celebration. Cuisine provided by Two Cooks Catering and of course the entertainment delighted the guests for hours – the guys over at San Luis Jazz Band. Zach, our favorite lighting designer set the room alive with focused light – allowing the centerpieces to wow the guests on entry. Stunning night!
The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa held the ceremony part of the day. Julie Wilson Photography shot stunning photos of the family and bridal part in the parish garden. Deep espresso silk dresses provided the perfect background for lush bouquets of purple, lavender and green orchids – loved these! The little flower girls carried espresso silk boxes of white orchids with a Tiffany blue ribbon handle. Custom silk pillow of lush white mums and ribbon were carried by the ring bearers.
May 28, 2010
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is such a beautiful and historic statement, very little is required to ensure that it looks great. I have “Mission schpeel” that I share with my brides at our consultation – basically, let the Mission carry it’s own weight. The paintings on the walls, the simplicity of the pews, the amazing iron lighting fixtures, the old adobe and tile – it all has it’s own wonderful story. Sometimes, we’ll attach some simple bouquets to the pews, but we really like to save your decorating budget for the celebration at the reception.
Dana, a good friend of one of my all time favorite brides from 2005, brought some great tear sheets and ideas to our consultation appointment. We developed a palette of beautifully simple and elegant blooms in shades of white, green and brown. In keeping with the Mission and the rustic California feel, we decided on elements from our Wrought Iron collection for the reception at Robert Hall Winery. Our wrought iron candelabras lit the Paso Robles evening with soft candle light. Curly willow was wrapped around them to add some funky natural elements and stunning green cymbidium orchids were tucked in to the willow to add some color. The simplicity of this look was really striking. The other version of the centerpieces incorporated our wrought iron stands with hand blown glass bowls. Each one featured three fragrant gardenias floating in it. Super simple – but classic. The subtle fragrance immediately sets the tone for your guests to have a great time. The linens were a khaki shade of taupe and chartreuse napkins brought more of Dana’s favorite color to the table with a menu card tucked in the fold at each place setting. Our personalized candy bar provided a little sugar for guests to enjoy through out the evening. To complete the ambiance at the winery, perimeter up-lighting maximized the winery’s architecture while providing an incredible back drop for the party.
Melissa at Kramer Entertainment DJs and Event Lighting kept the dance floor full and moving. The incredible lighting was also provided by Kramer Entertainment DJs and Event Lighting. The dinner was catered by my soul sista, Jennie Sturgeon over at Trumpet Vine Catering and was beautifully presented, including my favorite signature appetizer – mission fig & prosciutto torte. The night was topped off with milk and home made donuts for the road, also provided by Jennie.
Many thanks to the incredibly talented Amy Wellenkamp at Amy Wellenkamp Photography for sharing her awesome photos with us. She is truly and artist!
May 22, 2010
Super simple vineyard elegance. Honestly, your wedding day is about the vows, then, having your dearest friends and family there to celebrate with you. Might sound strange coming from someone who lives to sell you a kazillion blooms and decor elements, and given the chance, we’ll definitely do that, but the bottom line is that if it doesn’t bring ambiance and feeling to the day, it shouldn’t be there. Kristen completely got that, and from the beginning knew that given a limited decor budget, everything we did, really needed to count. Along with Mark Padgett Event Design, we set out to bring her vision of simplicity to a heart warming gathering at the beautiful Still Waters Vineyards.
Mark draped and gathered some soft ivory voile simply over our wedding arch and we tucked just a couple decadent white cymbidium orchids into the corners with some lux double satin ribbon to complete the intimate cathedral. To add a little rustic element, we chose our lanterns from our wrought iron collection, pulled the glass out of them and used them as a fun structural element to house cubes of lush flowers, with little “satelight” cube bouquets towards the ends of the long family style tables set on deep chocolate brown table runners. Mark’s fabulous brown mosaic votive candles completed the tables and brought some glow as the sun went behind the vine covered rolling hills.
The bride & groom opted for a dessert bar instead of a traditional wedding cake, and the guys over at Two Cooks Catering, heartily obliged with chocolate fondue, profiteroles, chocolate mousse, lemon tarts – ok, I can’t go on, but you get the idea! An authentic Klezmer band played during cocktail hour and into dinner while Kramer Entertainment DJs kept the party moving and everyone on the dance floor after dinner.
All photos by Julie Wilson Photography
May 21, 2010
Loved meeting Grace and Travis. Between considering swatches of linen, we chatted about city planning and upcoming projects in Santa Monica as both Grace and Travis work as city planners in the LA area. I loved that they both had very definite in put on the design elements of their day and approached things with an architectural slant. We wound up with some really great elements that made their wedding uniquely them, and that’s what I live for!
The centerpieces were simple – but super fun and effective. Modern pots with a garden of succulents and accented with crushed colored glass. We used brushed stainless steel pots in groupings to house some color blocked blooms on top of Meridian wine barrels for their “altar” and then reused them individually as special centerpieces for the family tables at the reception. Fire orange and midnight purple tulips and calla lilies were joined with bright green spring hydrangea and vertical bells of Ireland throughout. I absolutely loved the effect of color blocking the pots – it was a simple yet highly effective visual display. Little accents of succulents were incorporated into the little hanging bouquets that flanked the stunning aisle of orange rose petal swirls. For me this wedding was a prime example that show good design can provide great visual impact, and it doesn’t have to cost a bundle!
The day ran super smooth thanks to the orchestration of Laura’s team at TOS Events and this fantastic images were shot by my dear Chloe Murdoch over at Mike Larson Inc. Elegant cuisine provided by the Ben & Russ over at Two Cooks Catering and entertainment by AMS DJs.
To see more shots of this beautiful wedding, check out Chloe’s blog.
One of our favorite weddings for last fall was recently featured on Destination Inspirations. Thanks to Mike Larson Inc. for all these beautiful pictures from this wedding at Meridian Vineyard in Paso Robles Wine Country.
May 11, 2010
The view from the patio at Dolphin Bay Resort is one of the very best on the coast – perfect spot to say “I Do”.
When Nicole sat down with me to look through tear sheets and look at swatches for dresses, she had a very defined “look” that she was going for, but didn’t know exactly which blooms would pull it off. It was great to go through the process with her, showing her the possibilities of what varieties would work best and be in season. Most important to her were the personal flowers for her bridal party. We decided to tone down any extravagant flowers for the ceremony and opt for the incredible view. We added two extra large vases with several stems of glorious white cymbidium orchids to frame the bride and groom as they took their vows, and matching clusters of orchids on the aisle chairs. The bridal party carried off color with their beautiful deep burgundy dresses – and oh so fabulous shoes.
Nicole wanted to carry rich, dark color in her bouquet and a lush combination of black calla lilies, black beauty roses and parrot tulips (quite possibly the most fantastic bloom ever … well for this week) was decided upon. The bridesmaids carried bouquets of cream roses edged in deep pink and white peonies with fern curls added in for a bit of spunk.
Chuck’s family has been ranching in the rolling hills of Edna Valley for several generations, so it was a natural choice to have the celebration in a barn. Nicole put together her own candles and bowls for the reception centerpieces and we reset the large vases from the “altar” on the bar, creating a fun focal point through out the evening. The barn was lit up to create a warm and inviting glow by our favorite lighting designer Zack, from Kramer Entertainment DJs & Event Lighting, and wonderful Chloe Murdoch from Mike Larson Inc. shot these beautiful images. I especially like the one of Nicole and Chuck with the horses! Oh yes – and the deer, presiding over the festivities in the barn.
To see more photos and get more details please check out the blogs at Kramer Entertainment & Mike Larson Inc.
April 16, 2010
Marcy and Dan were dedicated to having a simple but elegant wedding day that would be a celebration of their heritage and family. With some pops of orange for a dose of happy, the palette was a classic combination of gray and orange with a bit of peridot added in through architectural organic elements such as bamboo and grass. Large brilliant calla lilies also provided the simple elegance that they were in search of and worked as a great statement against the hard surfaces of the beautiful winery architecture. Dan chose some exquisite orange paisley ties to accent the classic gray suites – it really worked. Marcy’s ensemble fit right in with a classic halter bodice and slightly retro chic hair by Rhonda at Bridal Hair & Make-up.com – completely beautiful.
Thank you Marcy and Dan for working with us – it was a complete honor! Many thanks to my fellow collaborators at Broad Street Event Group, including Megan at Mike Larson Inc. Photography for coming from Mexico to photograph the day, Epic Weddings by CateringUnlimited.com for the wonderful barbecue inspired buffet that was presented beautifully. Kramer Entertainment DJs & Event Lighting brought the party. The lighting in the barrel caves was incredible – it makes all the difference. This beautiful cake is from the ladies at The Cakery. Special mention for Jack Hutchinson Videography who provided a video of the day for all the guests to see at the end of the reception. Check it out on our FaceBook page. Brenda at A Heart to Heart Wedding coordinated the day at Robert Hall Winery.
Older Posts »
|
- Blogroll
- Categories
- Search
- Archives
|
