Amber & Calen.

One of my dearest and longest friends got married last September.  She and her now-husband (who have been together since they were 15!) chose beautiful Catalina Island for their wedding since it held a lot of memories of their years together.  It was an extra special occasion for me and T since Catalina was the place we met (also at a wedding!) and this trip was first time we had been back to the island since.  I was thrilled to do her ceremony and personal flowers, but since I was a bridesmaid, she saved me the workload of doing her reception decor so I could enjoy the day with her and the rest of the ladies.  Such a good friend.

We had a little mishap with one of those big guys in the back.  There were supposed to be six, but one of the volunteer helpers (uh-hm... groomsmen) dropped the sucker carrying it up the stairs.  Cue me lowering the ceremony piece count to four - to keep it even - and then filling Amber in on the uh-oh.  She was pretty sure I was joking the first few times I told her one of 'em broke, but once it sunk in she was cool as a cucumber about it. 

Her lovely bouquet.  Amber's middle name is Rose, so it was no-brainer for the flower selection.

A fuller view of the ceremony.  Amber got crafty and made those little paper cones on the ends of the chairs herself.  We filled them up with petals for the guests to toss post-ceremony.  Such a beautiful idea - you can see proof in the first photo above.

Oh yeah, and we did some simple hydrangea buckets for the rehearsal dinner.   Hydrangea is one of those flowers that always looks so awesome all by itself.  These are a simple example, but they were perfect for the casual feel of the night.

Congratulations again to Amber and Calen!  I am SO happy for them and can't wait until they have a mini version of themselves!

All photos courtesy of D2 photography.

Attention: Hippy-Chic Brides

I realize my last few entries have felt like advertisements, but I promise no one is paying me to write what I write.  This one is no exception.  Last year, Anthropologie's parent company, Urban Outfitter's Inc., announced that they would officially be coming out with a line of wedding dresses.  It's no surprise, with so many brides these days inspired by their aesthetic (especially with vintage being such a popular theme amongst weddings these days) I personally wonder why they didn't figure this little nugget out sooner.  When I heard the news I hoped that they would be available in time for my wedding... alas, I've already found and ordered a dress that I love (by a designer I will not name as my fiance is a snoop would love to find out what it looks like).  But I digress... Anthro's dress line, named BHLDN (Beholden minus the vowels) is scheduled to debut this Valentine's Day.  You can visit their website ahead of time - i.e. now - to get on their mailing list and learn all of the necessary details as they become available.  Where there stores will be is anyone's guess, but once one finds a store - I'll update as so as I do - brides will be able to go in and try dresses on without needing an appointment, and they will have a tailor ready to make alterations for you.  Plus, there will be an area of the store dedicated to the details of your decor and tablescape.  They've basically put my dream store into practice.

 The one on the left is my hands-down favorite, which is yours?

The Importance of Color.

Choosing the color palate for your wedding can be a daunting task, and understandably so.  You're going to look back at the photos from this day for the rest of your life.  Ask yourself these questions:  Which encapsulate the feel or theme you are going for?  What works best for your venue and time of year?  And if it's important to you, which colors are going to stand the test of time?  But ultimately, which do you love enough to bestow upon them the importance of your wedding day?  No pressure.

For me, it was all about value.   I love pale, warm pastels; but making them my jumping-off point for all things decor gave them too much worth.  I needed something more timeless and classic - Black and White - but with more of an updated, garden-appropriate twist.  To do so, we've added butter yellow, pale apricot, hints of blush, and gold accents to our September backyard wedding to make it more Summer-y and setting appropriate. 

Brides.com offers this color wheel to help make the process a little easier. 

http://www.brides.com/wedding-ideas/wedding-style/color-studio-tool

 

 

 

You can spin and see what they come up with, or you can choose a color family and see what works well with it.  You can even refine your search by selecting similar, contrasting, or neutral undertones.  Very helpful if you're someone who has a hard time visualizing things.  If you're still having a hard time, shoot me an email and let me know where you're stuck.  I'm happy to give my two cents.

I love Christine Chang.

Our wedding photographer is awesome. Christine drove down to take some photos of me and Tony on Thursday afternoon for our engagement. Neither of us is particularly comfortable in front of the camera, but within a few minutes (with Christine's coaching) we were able to loosen up and just be ourselves. We plan on using one of the photos from the shoot for our Save-the-Date, so both of us were happy to see that she didn't capture us looking like tools.





See? She's pretty awesome. She shot into the light for a few of them; and told us that according to photography "rules" you're not supposed to do that, but they wound up being the ones that are everyone's favorites. If you visit her blog, you can view the full preview there.

I seriously CAN'T WAIT to see what she captures from our wedding. If any of you are looking for a photographer, wedding or otherwise, I can't speak highly enough of her. Call her. Seriously.

The Knot's Best of 2011.

Yep, that's me!  One of The Knot's picks for the best of 2011.  I know I'm a good florist, but it's still always nice to get a little recognition for it.  Yay me!

Click here for a full list of the 2011 winners for the Orange County area.

Registering. It's pretty fun. (Plus a give-away!)

Like many couples getting married, Tony and I registered a few weeks ago.  It was pretty fun, exhausting, but fun.  We went into a couple of stores, which was a great way to see items up close, but afterwards learned about registering online.  Genious!  Just as much fun, and it can be done from your couch.   CSN is one of many online registry options, they offer everything from cutlery to bathroom fixtures to modern office furniture.  And, they've been kind enough to offer $25 to spend with them through this GIVE-AWAY!  Here's how you enter to win: go to the website, take a look around, and then come back and leave a comment letting me know which item you would put on your registry first, along with your email address (for notification - I promise you won't get anything unsolicited from me).  A random winner will be chosen on Friday, February 4th.

Happy shopping!
Hint: The link is in "Modern Office Furniture", written above.

*2/5/11 Update:  Congratulations to Leah for winning!

My Vendors. Part 2.

Wow.  FOUR MONTHS have gone by since my first post about the vendors for my our upcoming September wedding.  Time flies.  It really does.  They say it will be here before you know it, and now I can attest to that.  It seems like yesterday that our wedding was 15 months away.  We've been slow and steady with picking out our vendors, and have probably picked out our vendors in the wrong order (i.e. booking a videographer long before even starting to think about a caterer), but who cares.  It's my wedding and I'll do what I want!

But first, can I just address this whole my wedding vs. our wedding thing?  I certainly recognize that I have been imagining and planning this day for a hell of a lot longer than T, but I would like to point out that, like most (some?) grooms in the planning process, my fiance has opinions.  He cares about [certain] aspects of the wedding.  And while he arrives at said opinions about four months after I have, he arrives nonetheless and I want to respect those opinions.  But, many of those around us are reinforcing the stereotype and telling him to just succumb to the "fact" that this is my day, not his, and that he just needs to learn to nod like an idiot and repeat the phrase, "yes, dear" whenever something is asked of him relating to the wedding.  I don't know what my point is for sharing this, I guess I'm hoping that it will make me try to be a better listener about what he wants, despite the many voices telling me not to worry about it.

Vendors...

The next one we've figured out is our invitations (exactly what info we need to put on them has yet to be determined), but we've found the ones we like!  This is a big deal for me.  Initially, I wanted to send evites.  No joke.  I find paper to be a waste of resources, both green and otherwise.  What are people supposed to do with them once they've gotten the necessary information?  They certainly don't keep them.  We've got around 200 invites going out, and with all of the different pieces necessary in a "suite", it's really easy to get upwards of $2,000.00.  For paper.  That people throw away.  But, I've since changed my point of view and understand that this is the first aspect of the wedding that our guests will be experiencing, and I want it to represent our day accordingly.

Enter MaeMae Paperie.  Megan at MaeMae is awesome.  Not only does she have beautiful designs (and can do custom work), but she will sell just the art file, so that we can take the design and have it printed by anyone of our choosing, including just printing at home ourselves.  We've found a very reasonable letterpress printer in Georgia we will likely be going with, but how awesome is the option to just print them yourselves?  You pay a flat fee for the design, and then can print as many as you need, an awesome option for anyone with a large guest list.  Here are some of my favorites from her blog:

My particular suite is not one of the above, since I'm keeping my choices mum for our guests to see first.

Next up, cake:

Our decision to go with Sweet Catastrophe was an easy one.  I met Olivia in 2007 on a trip to South Africa.  We traveled with TOMS shoes giving out pairs to children in need of them from Johannesburg, to Port Elizabeth, to Durban and all of the settlements in between.  Food 4 Africa, the non-profit that guided the TOMS crew, is an amazing organization the brings basic nutrients and water to the improverished children and families of South Africa.  The people who run it are truly amazing, one man even mortgaged is home THREE TIMES to help keep the organization alive.  Needless to say, all of us on the trip were affected by the level of poverty we witnessed, however Olivia decided to do something about it.  Olivia, being a baker at heart, found a way to contribute via Sweet Catastrophe.  For every cake that she creates and sells, a portion of the profits goes to Food 4 Africa.  Here's the sketch she drew up for us for our cake, and some photos of her playful creations.

Clearly, she's talented.  And not only do we get to support a great cause by going with her, her cakes are delicious!  If anyone is in need of a cake, or just wants to make a donation, I strongly recommend getting in touch with Olivia.


More to come.
-Chandra