Halfway to the Wedding: Vendor Update

There are now 6 months to go until my wonderful fiancé and I say "I do"! We have made lots of progress over the last few months, including hiring the majority of our wedding vendors. Today I want to share a little bit about some of the people who I highly recommend!

Pictures: Stephen Cheng Photography

We chose Stephen because his photos have a beautifully unique artistic quality to them that both Justin and I (as photographers ourselves) were very impressed by. Stephen has the ability to take the photos that every bride and groom asks for and turn them into a piece of art. That was very important to us in the person who shot our wedding, and Stephen fit the bill perfectly! Here are some of his photos...

Flowers & Day-Of Coordination: Savvy Flowers

Andie of Savvy Flowers and events will be doing both our flowers and day-of coordination. We were very impressed with her impressive arrangements, attention to detail and overall professionalism. I had very specific floral requests that not every florist was able to work with, but Andie pulled out all the stops. She will be able to give me exactly what I want even though I am having a December wedding and all the flowers I was hoping for are not in exactly in season. You've got to love a vendor who can give you exactly what you want without breaking the bank! Here are some photos of her work...

Music: DJ IG from REDshoe LA

I've worked with REDshoe LA several times at the weddings I've done with Fresh Events Company, and let me just tell you... they are phenomenal. Definitely the best wedding DJ's I've ever had the pleasure to work with. They don't just play your average cheesy wedding music. Everything they do is fresh, mixed live, and sets the perfect vibe for the exact wedding you want. I am thrilled that Ian was up to the task of spinning at my wedding! With Justin and I being the music junkies that we are, we had to have the best... and let me just tell you, REDshoe LA is the best!

Cake: Cakes by Julie

I've been working with Julie Sepulveda to come up with the perfect cake design for my wedding. This girl knows cake! She has a cream cheese frosting recipe that is to die for. She's done multiple tastings for us for free and her cake is some of the best I've ever tasted! I can't wait to taste the beautiful confectionary creation that she makes for my wedding!

Keep checking back for more updates! 

Jacque & Carlton's Engagement Session

One of my clients was sweet enough to share some of her engagement photos with me! Here are some photos of Jacque and Carlton who are getting married this coming weekend in Temecula at Leoness Cellars. I love all of their cute props! She even used a scooter! The photos are courtesy of their photographer, Kenneth Pfeifer, who did a fantastic job on this engagement shoot!

Congratulations to Jacque and Carlton! You're wedding is going to be beautiful!

Vespa Love!

Photo via Lover.ly

I. Love. Scooters. Frankly, I would love to trade in my car, which is now starting to have one too many problems, and pick up a vespa. My fiancé won't let me, because he knows I'm not all that good at riding a bike, so a Vespa for me is pretty much disaster territory. All the same! They get amazing gas mileage, and they're so cute! My friends have been known to hear me say, "Gotta get back to work... Mama needs a brand new scooter!" So how could I not be in love with the idea of using a scooter for a wedding?! It's a brilliant getaway mobile idea and is incredibly cute for engagement photos! Maybe after Justin sees this post, he will change his mind about letting me get a scooter! Or at least maybe we can find a way to integrate one into our wedding, engagement photos, or honeymoon!

Photo via Chancey Charm Weddings

Photo via Tuscany Vespas

Photo via Esther Louise Photography

Photo via Green Wedding Shoes

Photos via Elements of Elegance

Photo via Middle of the Map Weddings

Photo via Brooklyn Bride

Photo via Sara France Photography

Photo via Heart Love Weddings

Photo via Undeclared Panache

Time to Change That Name!

Thanks to Groupon, I have discovered a wonderful new service that I simply must tell all my wonderful Brides about. Changing your last name can be a huge hastle. You have to have it changed on your drivers license, passport, credit cards, insurance, etc.. etc... Well! I just discovered MissNowMrs.com which is a whole website geared towards making your name change easy. They have all the forms ready to go for you, and what would take roughly 13 hours of going to the court house and filing paperwork, gets cut down to a mere half hour with this service. It costs about 30 bucks (unless you check in on 15 dollar Groupon deals), but is well worth the cost!

So ladies, what are you waiting for?! Go get your Mrs. on!

ESPN Zone Hockey Bar Mitzvah

Over the past couple of months I've had the pleasure of working along side Michele Rosenfeld (the guest of honor's mom) on a hockey themed bar mitzvah that took place at the ESPN Zone at LA Live. The event was a hit! Michele infused so many personalized details into this event. The ESPN Zone was the perfect space to hold a hockey themed bar mitzvah! There was hockey paraphernalia everywhere! It was a very masculine space, which was perfect for this occasion of a boy becoming a man. Michele decided on touches of blue and grey throughout the whole space. There was a downstairs room for the adults which was very modern and sophisticated, and then the upstairs area for the kids had candy and games galore! Here are some photos of this awesome event.

Michele hired us to create some hockey themed centerpieces (pictured below) and to run the event on the day of. It was so much fun creating the centerpieces. I had some mini stanley cups custom made and then did a small white floral arrangement to go in the bowl of each one. We also did a hockey stick arrangement to go in the front of some glowing blue light water vases.

Mazel Tov! Congratulations to Jake and the rest of his family! This was truly a fantastic event!

Photography: Drew B Photography

Venue: ESPN Zone
Paper Goods and Signage: Frog Prince Paperie

Photo Booth: Cliques Photobooth

DJ: So Crazy Entertainment

Videographer: H2E Visual Arts

Florals: Cassandra Dyane Weddings & Events , Beverly Blossoms

Wedding Venues

I am so happy to say that we are making progress! I have now booked our venues for the ceremony and reception! Our ceremony will be held at the BEAUTIFUL Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills. Our reception will be held at the oh-so-chic Talega Golf Club in San Clemente. Both of these places are wonderfully accommodating and had all the right answers to our questions. As you can imagine, I was rather picky about where we were going to hold the wedding, because I have seen so many things go wrong and I knew all the teensy tinsy problems to look out for. So after months of searching for the perfect places... I have found them! 

The church has absolutely stunning grounds for photos, as well as a classically beautiful interior. I'm planning on making Chanel paper flowers for the aisle and the alter decorations. I also can picture tons of candles along the aisle to light up the room! 

The reception site has a bunch of great big windows to let in all of the beautiful natural light. The dark wood beams in the ceiling add to the franciscan decor. This space is naturally stunning. I think my look with the black and white stripes and bright confetti colors will look fabulous in this room! Again, there are so many places to take beautiful photos here! We will have access to the lake on the golf course, the beautiful outdoor patio, and the gorgeous entry way!

Now that we have found our venues, I get to start planning all of the fun stuff! I will try my best to keep you updated along the way. I've already started making paper flowers, working on designing save-the-dates and looking for all the best vendors in town to make sure my wedding goes off without a hitch!