The chuppah and other flowers created by Visual Impact truly set the scene! I’m pretty sure that when guests arrived, they knew they were in for something special. The flower girls momentarily stole the show in their beyond adorable dresses with orange sashes and the entire wedding party fully embraced the colorful garden theme. Gotta love the fuchsia bridesmaid dresses, orange junior bridesmaids and the groom & groomsmen in green pants, navy blazers and brightly colored ties!

We also designed a hard surface aisle with the help of Classic Party Rentals to save Leesa, a self-proclaimed clumsy girl, from a rough walk on grass. I would say that beautiful is an understatement!

Amira and Jon {who were married on June 26th} hold a very special place in my heart. I worked closely with both of them during the planning process {although it all was planned in just 4 months!} and really and truly enjoyed the time we spent together. They even made me dinner one night, which I thought was incredibly sweet! They are two people that I hope to cross paths with often in my future! Below is a sneak peek photo of the happy couple with a lot more to follow!

I started out by purchasing the centerpiece vase at a local outlet ~ It was a perfect fit with its rippled water-like finish to it. And then it was onto the flowers! Audrey from Botanica Floral Designs and I were on the same page when it came to the centerpiece construction. We wanted to do something that gave the look of coral, for which we chose white manzanita. We then added some elegance to it with white orchids and other very fresh feeling flowers, which reminded me of the crisp ocean air. 

Mimi & Co provided us with the custom linens and chair sashes, and I must say, they were delicious! Although I’m typically not a huge fan of pintuck linens, I loved the idea of incorporating that look in a cap on this table due to its’ strong resemblance to fishing net. Classic Party Rentals contributed the glassware, flatware and chivari chairs. And, Simply Elegant Rentals & Decor was sweet enough to loan me my favorite china, which we topped off with custom designed menus from Bella Vita Invitations.  Extra special thanks go to Kristy Huston for the amazing photography and Shannon Hall for letting us crash {one of my personal faves} Scott’s Seafood/LeRivage on the River, the perfect location to shoot this table!

Hope you enjoyed it!

This video will now live on the 2Chic Welcome Page, along with credits to some of the most amazing vendors a planner could ever be blessed to be with working with! Mad love goes out to Beth Sogaard Catering, Botanica Floral Designs, Dreamnette Bridal, Image Provocateur, Jacqueline Photography,  Lovespun Films, Karmere Winery, Mimi & Company {ahh-mazing linens} and Simply Elegant Rentals &  Decor {China, Glassware, etc}. Aside from our amazing vendor team, we must also thank our adorable couple, Jessica & Nolan who helped make this video cute as a bug! We double filmed this video as a Save the Date as our thank you to them ~ see that video here!

Jessica & Nolan will be married in 2011 and can I just say that they are smokin’ hot??!!! {do I even have to tell you that? Just look at them!} This shoot was styled by yours truly, and the entire shoot centered around the red convertible bug, which I had one heck of a time finding and an even harder time returning afterward {MUST HAVE RED CONVERTIBLE BUG!} More photos, video and vendor love coming soon!

Matt Brys of Extreme Productions rocked it out that night providing DJ services, John Decker was behind the camera capturing the beauty of the event and Jensen Wedding Films got it all on film! With beautiful decor provided by Design with Florae, Mimi & Company, Invitations Ink and yours truly, 2Chic Events & Design you just couldn’t go wrong! Thanks to the entire team and my girls Becca & Michele for a seriously flawless event!

Amira & Jon are two of the nicest people I have had the pleasure of working with. And, of course, they are madly in love and totally excited for their wedding later this month, which is sure to be amazing! I cannot wait to see the incredible vision for their wedding come to life, especially knowing that it will be beautifully captured by Carmen Salazar who gave us this little sneak peek of the engagement session {below}. Holy hotness!

These are the types of things that can make or break a reception. It can be extremely hard to get your guests to bounce back and hit the dance floor after a heavy meal followed by sitting for up to an hour. The evening needs to continue to flow if you want guests to stick around and have fun. Here are my personal suggestions for toasts:

1. Keep the number of people toasting to less than 5. Preferably 3 ~ Father of the bride {or the person walking her down the aisle}, The Best Man and Maid of Honor.

2. Coach your “Toasters” ~ remind them that this is a time to toast to the celebration, not to tell stories about drunken evenings in Mexico, how you escaped {or didn’t escape} getting arrested together, how the groom had the coolest mullet in school, etc. It’s certainly OK to talk about how you know each other or met and share one or two heartfelt, BRIEF moments of significance. But again, this isn’t story time and 7 minutes feels like 30 when you’re in the crowd, seated after a heavy meal.

3. If you MUST have more than 5 toasts or feel like an open microphone is absolutely necessary, do it at the rehearsal dinner. During the rehearsal dinner there is no anticipation of the next activity to come ~ therefore, people are much more patient and receptive. It’s also a more intimate environment where the toasts can be appreciated so much more. Best of all, you’re not paying your vendors to wait through the toasts, potentially missing shots of your first dance, cake cutting or garter/bouquet toss.

Just my two cents! Cheers!