A photoshoot inspired by (500) Days of Summer

OK. I know you might be sick of seeing these photos already from GWS (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3-please head over to read all the details from our shoot) Lauryl Lane and Found Rentals' blogs but I had to have some of these gorgeous photos on my blog too! :)

Concept Design & Styling: Jen Campbell of Green Wedding Shoes, Lauryl Lane and Esther Kim of My Bride Story
Event Styling & Coordination: Esther Kim of My Bride Story
Model styling: Jen Campbell of Green Wedding Shoes
Photography: Sarah Yates Photography
Floral Design: Lauryl Lane
Vintage props, rentals & styling: Jeni Maus from Found Vintage Rentals
Stationery design: Wiley Valentine
Hair/Make up: Theresa Huang and Manning Lee of TH Makeup & Hair Design
Videography: Jason Kim of Cloud 9 Cinematography
Architect/Chalk Artist: Jennifer Choi
Vintage dresses: Mill Crest Vintage
Shoes (bride and groom): Shoebuy.com
Hairpiece: Rachel Larraine
Models: Cazzy Golomb & Alex Hwang
Venue: Oviatt Penthouse

Serendipity 2010 Summer Issue is out!

When the editors at Serendipity Magazine contacted me to do a table design for their upcoming summer issue, I was so thrilled and honored but felt pressured all at the same time. The photos needed to be turned in by end of April which means I had only three weeks to put together a fab vendor list, contact all the possible venues, look for models & buy all the necessary props. I underestimated how time consuming it would be to design & coordinate a shoot but I was extremely lucky that ALL the vendors that came on board were excited & were able to support 100%- I am so thankful!
I'm still grateful not only for the fact that it got featured on GWS & Serendipity Magazine, but the whole humbling experience I learned from each professionals' attitude and their work ethics. I learned so much by observing them work, watching them converse with one another.. and even by reading their emails! Having the genuine heart & humble attitude can be rare in this type of industry but working with all of you made me love this industry/people I work with even more!

With that said, this would not have been possible with all the vendors that were involved with the shoot. I won't go too much into details about the shoot as you can read for yourself from Jen's fabulous blog. But I'd like to take this time to give a little shout out to all the vendors that made this shoot possible. It really was a teamwork, not just about making it look perfect to be 'feature-worthy'.

Jen, you have no idea how thrilled I was when you agreed to come on board. It was your inspiration board that took us this far so I give you all the credit in the world and for your wonderful input! Not only do you have such a great eye but you seriously made a world of difference by styling the models!! And how did you prepare all that in just a few days? You're such a pro and I know you will influence this wedding industry BIG time!
Lauryl, I probably learned the most from you. Since this was my 1st 'real' shoot ;) not only did you inspired me with your work, you taught me to see beyond all the prettiness and loveliness; To define and analyze our couple in order to 'design' for our couple. The most unique & original weddings come together when we listen to our couples, not copying someone else's beautiful work.
Sarah, what could possibly happen if it wasn't for your beautiful photos? I swear, your photos have the power to mesmerize people. :) I am so in awe of your work and can't wait to see what you'll capture for our next wedding together!
Jeni, How do you have two gorgeous grown up children and yet still look like a model? It must be all the furniture lifting. haha You were a God send! Thank you so much for accommodating to all of our needs and going above and beyond. Cannot thank you enough! You hit the jackpot when you decided to rent your passion to others. :)
Jason, I've been a huge fan of your work for quite some time now and I tell all my brides that hiring a videographer is a MUST! You captured the shoot so beautifully and so looking forward to working with you for many years to come.

Rachelle, I still can't believe how fast you designed all the paper goods while being so pregnant! I knew you were going to have a girl! Congrats on becoming a mama!
Theresa, You're such a sweetheart! Thank you for beautifying the shoot 10x more and you work magic!
Jennifer, I instantly thought of you when we had to draw a downtown skyline and you drove all the way from Norcal to join us for the shoot! You know who to call when you get married~
Cazzy & Alex, finding the models were the hardest thing next to finalizing our venue and you two were a perfect match! Thank you for being so enthusiastic and being beautiful inside & out! Wish my son had some of your genes! haha

Our assistants- Angela, Cynthia, Christine.. You worked so hard behind the scenes and I honestly couldn't have done it without you guys. From attempting to make pancakes for the pancake bar, folding over 100+ paper cranes to picking up our catered dinner after our shoot... Always thanking you from the bottom of my heart.


Make sure to head over to Green Wedding Shoes to see all the close up photos!

*The Serendipity magazine can be found at Borders, Barnes & Nobles, CVS and Ralphs

Summer Bicycle Inspired Wedding

This year I’ve been working with many different properties and churches that only provide an open space. While there's so much homework & logistical matters that need to be done, I still prefer working with these venues because it gives me a chance to be more creative and flexible when doing the floor plan layout and hiring the best vendors for our couples.

I had no idea I'd receive such a great feedback on our before & after shot of church reception transformation, so I thought I would do another one for all of the readers out there. I hope you will be inspired and use your creative outlet to bring your vision and concept to life no matter WHERE you're getting married.

YH & YJ contacted me the moment they got engaged. They wanted to have a fun, outdoor, summer inspired wedding and wanted to incorporate bicycles into the wedding because they had their first kiss at Redondo Pier while riding their bikes- and you know what they're famous for! crabs & bicycle rides!

For the color scheme we decided to go with bright yellow, blush pink and lime green with a touch of light blue. We incorporated bicycles and different pinwheel elements here and there to create a casual, summer inspired wedding. This wedding was really unique and one of a kind and it definitely represented them; their fun, bubbly and outgoing personality. You would never be able to tell these two were outgoing and bubbly by their occupations- yes, the groom is a dentist and the bride is a nurse. ;)

Before I start explaining the set up and different details, I first have to give a big shout out to Courtney of Joyful Weddings, this wedding was originally inspired by her Anthropologie picnic bicycle inspired table design she did a while back.

We first started with a floor plan. The vision of this wedding started to build once a draft of the floor plan was done. Please excuse my humble drawing.. it's nothing professional.. As long as I can understand what I drew, that's enough ;)

BEFORE

SETTING UP

Here are some of our staff from MBS and Luna Party rentals setting up the lighting and pinwheels. I made about 35 pinwheels the night before the wedding and I think I can make one in less than 30 seconds now! woohoo! Unfortunately the weather was not on our side. We had an extremely hard time setting up the napkins and glassware. Last minute I went out and bought some small tiles from Home Depot to insert inside each of the napkins so they didn’t blow away. Honest to God, it was so windy and HOT!!

AFTER

We custom made yellow and white checkered runners, and used bright yellow napkins as accents for our rectangle tables; while at the round tables we used bright line green linens to contrast with our floral arrangement.

Kristine Shin was my fairy Godmother for the night. She executed all of our ideas- I LOVE collaborating with her for weddings.

For the head table, Kristine hung flower balls and color coordinated the ribbons. They were so lucky to have coral peonies (they’ll be out of season soon) incorporated into the arrangements.

Kayla’s Kakes also came on board to create a one of a kind ice cream station. It was perfect for this summer wedding. Don’t you think the white fence backdrop was perfect? It was actually from my home and she had a handiman construct this backdrop just for this wedding. We also hand-picked our ice-cream scooper/high schooler (haha). He scooped each of the guests vanilla and strawberry ice-cream while the guests had 10 different toppings to choose from.

Don't you LOVE this adorable bicycle container for the plastic spoons? :)

Now to the stationary, Posh Paperie. They did such an awesome job creating all the paper goods! The menu cards, wish tags, signage for the ice cream station, they were spot on and we couldn’t have been happier with the end results.

LOVE IS SWEET: Build your ice cream sundae with us!

I am going to trademark this genius idea which came to me during our consultation. We placed a yellow bicycle filled with sunflowers and pinwheels and the guests wrote wishes on the wish tags and tied them on the bicycle. The signage said: ‘Built for Two: Please write your wishes for the couple's ride through their journey of life together.' They were supposed to ride the bike in for the grand entrance but because of the brides long dress, it wasn’t possible. Darn it! It would have been perfect for the entrance, no? :) Out staff blew over 100+ balloons and they were handed to each guest. The guest were asked to let go of the balloon just in time for their grand entrance. You should have seen the expressions on people's faces. We all felt like we were being kids again!!

This wedding was very special to my heart. The couple was one of the most generous, accommodating, fun couple that I’ve worked with! I know I’m going to lose credibility when I say I have the best clients because it seems like I always say it, but they really were the best couple.

MY FAVORITE SHOT :)

Hope today’s post was refreshing, inspiring and summer-y! Although it was so much work for our staff mainly due to the unexpected windy weather in June, we definitely had a lot of fun designing this wedding. I had so much fun getting to know YJ & YH, I can confidently say that they have adopted me into their family.
All Photos Courtesy of DonDavidStyle Photography


Jennifer of HWTM posted part 1 & part 2 of our summer bicycle inspired wedding so be sure to check out our feature!


Also, head over to Amy Atlas' newly improved blog as well!