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!

'Summer Mentorship Program' is HERE!

본격적인 웨딩 시즌이 다가오면서 인턴쉽에 대한 문의가 많습니다. 현재 직원을 뽑고 있지는 않으나 6월부터 8월까지 웨딩플래너에 대해 관심있으신 분들을 위한 ‘Mentorship Program’이 준비되었습니다. 올 여름 남가주의 정말 아름다운 현장에서 훌륭한 벤더들과 함께 웨딩 플래너를 체험해볼 수 있는 기회를 놓치지 마시기 바랍니다.

등록문의는 Esther@mybridestory.com으로 메일 보내주세요!

Why I sometimes need to shut up

Beth Helmstetter, one of my favorite planners in the industry & my dear Angela wrote a great post on
'How to reduce stress from planning' and I thought I would also pitch in my two cents.

As a planner, it's a blessing & a curse that I have an opinion about everything. I spend countless hours making my clients' weddings oh-so beautiful within the budget that I often loose sight of telling my brides to 'enjoy' & make it about just the two of you, not about the details or what will be captured on camera. Sure, this is the reason why brides hire me in the first place to tell them honestly which direction they're headed, where they should go & what will look better and fitting but I sometimes just need to shut up & respect their decision. Yes, I said it. I need to shut up.

The fact of the matter is, unless there's something out of the ordinary and spectacular in the wedding that I haven't already seen in the blog world, I don't get impressed too easily. With all these 'inspiration to reality' photoshoots with great inspirational wedding blogs by planners and wedding professionals, it's hard not to look at the details and define a great wedding by just looking at the photos. It's so wrong for us to judge/define a great wedding based on who their photographer is, which venue they decide to go with & what kind of rentals & florists they use when weddings are all about celebrating their first chapter of husband & wife to be. At the end of the day, who cares if the couple decides not to use chiavari chairs as long as they solely vowed in front of all their guests.

I've seen brides make a choice and then get confused and doubt their decisions when they see something prettier & better on a blog. They're not able to fully embrace what they have and envy after all the pretty things around the blog world. Too much of prettiness is not always good. They can either make you doubt your own decisions and not fully embrace and appreciate your own wedding & your budget. Do keep in mind that your decision is the right one for you and not everything out there fits every wedding. And also note that there will always be something more beautiful & better in years to come. The vintage trend right now will soon go away & who knows when chocolate brown as a complimentary color will come back? :)

Lisa of Anderson Green Events wrote a great post and I couldn't agree more!
"If you keep changing your mind about choices or decisions - you've lost the confidence in that idea. You've lost the confidence to believe that that idea is appropriate for your wedding.... Use the important ideas / thoughts / feelings to guide you in your decision making process. Then, use your budget as a guide so that you don't overspend, lose your confidence and then panic. Then stick to your guns."

My piece of advice for soon-to-be brides who are spending countless hours online for inspirations: Limit what you see online & don't listen to everybody. There's no way you can please everyone-not even your planner. :)

Who cares if your wedding photos are not published in a magazine?
Who cares if your photos don't float around in the blog world? Our main goal for having a wedding is not about that.

You can refer back to my post I wrote almost 2 years ago about 're-defining' a perfect wedding and let's once again, 're-define' what it means to have a perfect wedding by focusing on our couples & their sincere love for each other which is the main reason why they're getting married.

Susie & Henry Tie The Knot

No matter what the trend is lately, wedding is about you and your husband-to-be and it should be a reflection of who you are & what you love.

I met Susie at the Fairmont about 4-5 months ago before her big day and the moment I saw her, I was mesmerized by her grace and beauty. Henry is one lucky man because I could stare at Susie all day! Susie's love for anything clean, simple yet elegant was apparent in her love for the calla lilies & all things white. And I'm so glad Allison of Flower Allie understood our vision and she totally delivered exactly what Susie had in mind on the day.

I'm sure all the vendors that worked with Susie would agree that she was the most detail oriented bride. Ever! At one point during the planning phase, I honestly doubted if she really needed me. LOL :) She was the one sending me revisions to our timeline and following up with all the vendors. Nevertheless, she wrote me the sweetest review on Project Wedding and I was so honored to be able to witness two beautiful families joining together as one.

It makes every planner's job that much easier when the couple get to relax and enjoy the hard work that been put into their special day. There was a sense of peace and calmness in Susie's eyes, no sight of frustration or worry. Here are some STUNNING images from Marisa Holmes.

LOVE LOVE the bouquet! Fluffy white & blush pink peonies with sweet peas, fluffy goodness!

You ladies are rockin those shoes! Also loving the dresses & the necklace from J Crew

Guys looking quite dapper themselves!

Isn't she just FLAWLESS?

Now onto some details..

The reception ballroom was clean, elegant & all white! Just as Susie imagined it to be! Thanks to Flower Allie for going above & beyond.



Susie ordered DDR's cookies and we set up milk shooters at the end of the evening which were gone in 30 min. :)

The Chong sisters couldn't be more beautiful.. I'm a bit jealous over here.. :)

Susie & Henry,
I know you had several other planners/coordinators lined up for your wedding and I felt quite honored to be chosen among them! :)
You are both so blessed with support and love from your fabulous families and friends and thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of it. I was always met with genuine smiles and gratitude and so happy that you were able to truly enjoy the day.
Can't wait to hear what God has in store for you two and looking forward to hearing all the updates!