Anna & Frank Tie The Knot!

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had an amazing holiday season with family & friends!
I'm so excited to start off the new year with Anna & Frank's wedding images captured by He & She Photo.  They were a dream to work with and so thankful for Anna's generosity, kindness, thoughtful heart as we developed our friendship throughout the planning process.  Anna was one of my hardcore DIY brides and she managed to make 300+ paper flowers, handmade all of her stationery designs; including 5-8 page story book wedding invites and even built a custom chalkboard/escort card display from scratch! The wedding ceremony and reception took place at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with Patina Group by our side (yum!) while our staff managed over 310+ guests. It was a big celebration but glad to say everything went well without a hitch.  Here are some lovely photos captured by He & She Photo. Enjoy!

Absolutely love these two images of Anna. Looking back these photos makes me miss her so much!

Flower Allie did it again by creating the most beautiful white fluffy bridal bouquet! It matched Anna's dress perfectly!

I put these two images together because the BM bouquets and Anna's BHLDN shoes were almost identical! Allison
should be proud for making these gorgeous bouquets because she didn't even see the shoes Anna was wearing! ;)  

A huge props to the bridal party for making this wedding so memorable and fun!

Since we had over 300+ guests, I didn't want to stick with all floral arrangements for every table. Plus we were on a tight budget for decor so I came up with an idea of adding Anna's delicate flowers onto clear vases with a help of super hot glue.  Who knew these paper flowers can look so classy and elegant, not to mention budget-friendly? ;) A typical ballroom setting doesn't necessarily mean go all out on flowers and linens. This wedding is a perfect example of keeping things simple and clean.

We even had a silhouette artist come to keep the guests entertained!

I think almost 50+ paper flowers were pinned in to their bridal party backdrop. It wasn't easy transporting 300+ flowers,
these babies were carefully stored in my SUV & Anna's dad's moving truck the night before the wedding!

Hopefully these images will make you want to have crafting sessions with your bridesmaids. :) It was a true labor of love but watching these two love birds fully enjoy the day, not caring about anything else was a pure joy on my end.  Here's a glimpse of their special day captured by Cloud 9 Cinematography.

Anna + Frank from Jason Kim on Vimeo.

Event Styling Tips (Part 2): Non-Floral Decor

Hope you're enjoyed our previous post on event styling tips. Today, we'll be covering non-floral decor and how these elements play a huge role in transforming your space.  Non-floral decor refers to all of the elements that contribute to the overall esthetics. This includes, but is not limited to lighting, draping, tables, chairs, candles, unique furniture pieces, paper goods and etc.  
Before I continue on with this post, here's a before & after picture which may shock you! :)

BEFORE

AFTER

J & J's wedding was back in 2009 at LA Congregational Church and they had hired me to transform a typical church function into an elegant reception space. We had a few different companies come in to cover draping, lighting, linens and chairs and the result was breathtaking.

Via Martha Stewart Weddings

Please don't misunderstand me. I LOVE flowers and I get extremely picky whenever we have floral mock up meetings but I do believe that flowers alone won't do the magic.  If you rely solely on flowers, your only option to make your decor more impactful is to keep making your flowers bigger and bigger. Not only does that look often become heavy and overwhelming, but it becomes expensive.

Again, here are some few examples to show you why rentals play a huge role in changing the aesthetics of your celebration.
Adamson House Outdoor Wedding: Instead of going with the chiavari chairs, we used rustic tables & natural wood folding chairs to keep the natural/casual ambiance.

Photo Credit: Sarah Yates

Casa Del Mar Wedding:
We had all white flowers and gave a little contrast by using charcoal gray linens and silver chiavari chairs. We carefully placed each gardenia on silver beaded chargers to complete the look.

Photo Credit: Taek Photography

This ballroom was completely draped in white fabric for a clean, sophisticated feel. Tables were a mix of rounds with gray linens and white lacquered rectangles. NOTE:  JL Designs was the creative brain behind this gorgeous event.

Photo Credit: Meg Perotti

A Winter Wonderland theme photoshoot designed by Couture Events. Again, they kept the flowers to a minimum and let non-floral decor shine. So in love with these clear ghost chairs!

Photo Credit: Scott Lawrence Photography

Craven's Estate Wedding:
Due to our budget, we only rented 8-9 vintage pieces from The Found and they were worth every penny! We later moved some of the couches to create a beautiful sweet heart table for the couple.

Jonathan Club Wedding:
What about adding some chic white lounge furniture during cocktail hour for your guests to mingle?

Photo Credit: Taek Photography

I stumbled upon this image from Apartment Therapy a while back and took my breath away. It's elegant, dramatic and just simply gorgeous.

Ok.  These examples are nice but Esther, what if we're on an extreme tight budget? We can't afford to rent these items for our wedding. Any other tips you'd recommend? Part 3 is coming up for all you savvy DIY brides! Stay Tuned!

Event Styling Tips and Tricks (Part 1)

I get asked quite often where I rent and purchase my decor props & rental pieces from fellow vendors out there, so today, I wanted to cover some basic event styling tips with you. Hope this post will also push brides to think outside the box and think about creatively using their venue space.

One of the main jobs I take seriously is styling different stations such as the escort card display table, dessert bar, sign-in table, drinks station and etc. Uniquely setting these displays can definitely set the mood and excite the guests as they anticipate the wedding they're about to experience.  If done right, it cohesively pulls the look together to match the overall ambiance and details you're trying to achieve.
I honestly think rentals including tables, chairs, lounge furniture, decor furnishings and dance floor can play a huge role and can contribute even more than flowers and lighting.  But I would only suggest rental pieces that would be worth renting after carefully evaluating your overall budget.

Before you add any rental items to the invoice...
Scout out the venue carefully and see if you can find any unique decor pieces/furniture you can incorporate.  I know some venues are pretty strict with moving their furnishings but if you kindly ask the staff, you never know the kind of feedback you'll receive. hey, it doesn't hurt to at least ask!
Here are some examples to show you what I've done in the past that worked.. Of course, for free but with our labor of love! 
We turned La Venta Inn's custom made coffee hut into a dessert bar station. I knew this coffee hut had more potential than to display coffee cups!  I believe this was the first time they had seen their coffee hut turned into a dessert bar and the staff loved the way we set up everything. 

Photo Credit: Perpixel Photography

Polaroid Photobooth station at La Venta Inn
Since the bride wanted a relaxed, cozy atmosphere, I kindly asked if we can move one of the sofas and coffee table in the bridal room to the courtyard.  The guests loved the idea of taking pictures behind the beautiful water fountain as their backdrop.
 
Ceremony set up at the Viceroy
The venue itself had a modern, sophisticated decor so I really wanted to let the venue shine.  The flowers were kept to a minimum and we used three of their white high boys to put flowers on top.  We also took their outside lounge sofas inside the ballroom for guests to feel right at home.

Photo Credit: Hazelnut Photography

Candy Station at the Craven's Estate
Going along with this couple's book theme wedding (they met while studying together) the groom had purchased an old library catalog from his school. It catalog fit in perfectly in the Craven Estate's built in bookshelf and we filled the drawers with different colored jelly beans & candy.  Guests were also encouraged to write well wishes on "library cards" and place them in the drawers. Adding some flowers was a perfect touch, no? :)

Photo Credit: Heather Kincaid

Cake Table at the Heritage Museum
You would not believe where I found this white dresser from! Inside the women's restroom! Ha! I honestly didn't think they would allow our staff to move it but they said 'yes'! 

Cake Display at the DryBar
Again, we kindly asked if we can use their yellow side tables together

Escort Card display at the London, West Hollywood
As soon as I saw the gold trim mirror at the lobby, I knew this would be a perfect spot for the escort card table. Sparkles, floating candles and feather centerpiece? Yes, please!

OK. What if the venue isn't flexible or doesn't provide anything except the space? This is when you want to start looking into adding rental pieces that would make a statement...

Part 2 is coming up! Stay tuned! I'll be covering draping, lighting, linens and other rentals.

Dress up your sweet heart table!

If you're thinking of having a sweet heart table instead of sitting with all your bridal party, why not dress it up a little more? It definitely draws attention and I think it's such a fun way to personalize the wedding even more! Here are some sweet heart tables we put together in the past. (Please excuse the poor quality pics from my iPhone)
You can bring in your favorite color accent pillows, arm chairs and any other decor pieces or personal items to create a whimsical and eclectic look.  Instead of you two going around to greet the guests, I'd bet you, they would line up to take pictures of you sitting at the sweet heart table!

Here's a sweet heart table set up for Min & Sean's wedding. The navy blue love seat & rustic table were rented through The Found and we just moved ceremony props & flowers to bring out more color!

I'm dying to share this lovely wedding from last weekend at Jonathan Beach Club. The bride wanted everything modern, clean and classy so we decided to rent a cabana with a crystal chandelier hanging from above with a white banquette.  We used all the bridesmaids' bouquets to add some color to the table and added some colored cushions too! 

Check out what Kate Holt of FlowerWild  did to back of the chivari chairs. It's such a romantic way to dress up your sweet heart table, no? :)  Photo Credit: Chenin Boutwell

I'll be back next week to share with you more gorgeous weddings and ideas you can also incorporate into your own wedding! Stay tuned!!

Celina & David's Wedding Featured on Green Wedding Shoes!

Today's wedding has been featured on Green Wedding Shoes and we're SO delighted to share more photos from Celina & David's adorable, sweet wedding taken by the talented Heather Kincaid! Please head over to Green Wedding Shoes to read all the juicy details from Celina & myself.

How it all started...
"It was Valentine's Day, 2004. Celina was a sophomore at Wellesley; David a junior at Harvard. Earlier that day, Celina's friends had made plans to go dancing with some gentlemen from Harvard. Bending to her friends' pleas, Celina agreed to go along. And off to Boston they went. The night on the dance floor was magical. David was struck by Celina's poise and beauty. Celina was struck by David's childish dance moves..."

Without much interruption, hope you enjoy these photos & be smitten by their cuteness!



Isn't Celina SO adorable? :)






My favorite shot of the couple.. They're SO in love!



Can you believe Celina drew the map herself?

To keep the focus on the beauty of the chapel, we kept the florals understated with a few lemon garlands along the aisle. Celina’s childhood pastor officiated a beautiful ceremony. It’s unclear who shed the first tear, but by the time the dust settled, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!





It's been a while since I helped with the pae bek ceremony this year so I had to refresh my memory a bit. ;) If you haven't already, please visit our pae bek site to watch the demonstration & all the step by step instructions about the ceremony.
Now onto some juicy reception details..



Stinkin cute DIY Mr. & Mrs. lemon that Celina made!





I'm so in love with these lawn game shots that Heather took!











NOTE: If you've been recently engaged, I highly recommend you to visit Green Wedding Shoes Vendor Guide. They hand-picked and linked the TOP wedding professionals I personally LOVE and My Bride Story is also listed with so many great wedding designers/planners in the industry. Thank you GWS!

We still have a few more weddings to reveal so come back real soon! Happy Wednesday!