Last month, we attended an exquisite evening at Arden Hills Resort Club and Spa, for the incredible Beyond Platinum showcase! Some of the top wedding service providers in the area gathered together to showcase their amazing products, services and skills! Talk about Glamorous! We were very lucky to attend this event and see the latest trends is dresses, floral design, table settings and overall decor. I must have taken a million pictures – below are a few that will give you an idea of just how amazing it was. Featured in these photos: Mimi & Co, Botanica Floral Designs, Ambience Floral Designs, Bella Bloom, Miosa Couture, Party Concierge and probably a few more that I failed to mention..

While passing through Los Angeles on our recent trip to Mexico, I (of course!) picked up a bridal magazine that I had yet to come across here locally ~ and I found it to contain some of the most stylish and impressive wedding designs and ideas I’ve seen in a long time! Below is a Vintage Brooch Bouquet that I fell in love with! I mean…seriously?! This is off the hook! Not only does it stand out as a unique bridal bouquet, but you can truly save it forever! Or, what I thought might be fun is to pass the brooches on as gifts to mothers, grandmothers, sisters ~ or even your bridesmaids after the wedding. What better way to share a piece of your wedding day and and have it remembered forever as you pass these brooches down through generations. Love, love, love this!!!! I can’t wait to encounter a bride bold enough to hold this while walking down the aisle. Check out more photos of these amazing bouquets on Fantasy Floral Designs’ web site! I’ll share more amazing inspirations from the magazine soon!

Ahhh~mazing Brooch Bouquet!

A bevy of vintage brooches compose a startlingly beautiful bouquet that is utterly unique to the bride who holds it.Amanda Heer of Fantasy Floral Designs will take the miniature metal components of your choice and fashion a one-of-a-kind design for your wedding day. You can provide the necessary elements, or commission Ms. Heer to select them for you; either way, your exquisite bouquet will be completely beyond compare. Pricing starts at $300 and varies upon design; fantasyfloraldesigns.com, 949.240.3571.

Have you ever wanted to be in the pages of a magazine?

Well, then you need to enter our cover model contest!

Each issue, hundreds of local area brides enter to be one of our three cover model finalists.

Are you interested in entering? If so, click here to download our entry form — hurry, we need to have all entries need to be in by February 1, 2010!

If you’re going to enter…one word of advice, show us your personality on the answers to the questions — we love working with brides who have a lot of spunk, personality, humor and who are just darned cool girls. Be sure that your answers really reflect who you are! Oh, and don’t forget to include photos that really show your personality coming through as well!

Also, be sure to read all of the rules to make sure that you’re eligible to enter.

For more about Real Weddings Magazine, log on tohttp://www.realweddingsmag.com/.

Winter 2010 Cover of Real Weddings Magazine featuring cover model winner Kimmi Armstrong. Photo by Jodi Yorston Photography, dress from The Bridal Box, flowers by Botanica Floral Designs, hair and make-up by Image Provocateur/VIP-CAT Academy.

Prior to their amazing wedding, Charity and Frank enlisted our services, along with the services of my favorite gals over at Mimi & Co, to deck out the rehearsal dinner which was held at Piatti’s in Roseville. It was fun to plan an intimate event prior to the over-the-top wedding day that was to follow. Working with the girls at Mimi & Co. always makes it a little more fun, too! As you will see from the chair covers and linens that they created for us, they always take that extra step to make their product unique, beautiful and totally personalized! How could you not love it? The feather detail on the satin chair covers, along with the custom linens made this an event fit for a rock star!

The music that evening was provided by the very talented Adam Donald, who I discovered at a networking event that I planned and attended at Scott’s Seafood and LeRivage in August. I didn’t get to stay for much of the dinner as I had a ton of work to do for the wedding the next day, but I did get to stay just long enough to hear a few of Adam’s amazing songs along with Charity’s reaction the the drop-dead gorgeous room that we put together! She was in awe of the room decor, of course, and she and Frank both couldn’t believe how incredible the music was. People were still talking about this fabulous dinner at the church the next day. Check out some of the photos below, taken by Allison Stahl (love her!!).

Awesome chair covers by Mimi & Co

Menu and Place Card Detail

The Platinum Crew doing a little filming

Centerpieces

Check out these photos of the off-the-hook candy table, designed by the bride Charity and yours truly. It was aaccented by amazing (of course!) flowers by Audrey of Botanica Floral Designs and unbelievable custom “couture” linens by Mimi & Co..  The candy table was a huge hit and I’m sure you’ll see just why in the photos below! This was by far the most elegant candy table I have ever seen…which of course, was accented with lots of bling!Photography was provided by Allison Stahl Photography and Christopher Kight Photographers.

Candy Table Floral Arrangement...Simply Divine!

Candy Favor Boxes created an "S" Monogram

Yummmm!!!

Details, Details

Back in February, we were hired by Charity and Frank to assist with the plans for their October 17, 2009 wedding. When I initially met with the couple, they had a modest budget in mind and a lot of do-it-yourself ideas that they were looking to put in place…but I could see that sparkle in Charity’s eyes when she talked about crystals and custom sewn linens. When she and I started to elaborate on the ideas that she had, we immediately clicked and the ideas began to really take shape. At the end of our consultation, Charity ran out the door saying “Do not book my date! I’m going to book you. For sure. I have to get a check written for you. Promise me you will not book my date!” A few days later I was signed on to help with their wedding plans, though not on a full service level at that time so we made plans to reconnect 8 weeks prior to the wedding.

In July, I contacted Charity to see if we could meet up so that I could be brought up to speed on the wedding plans and boy was I in for a huge surprise! Things had changed drastically in those 5 months. As we got to talking , they shared with me all of the plans made, new vendors hired, and money spent (totalling up to over 1.3 Million)! I was also informed that they had applied to be on the television show Platinum Weddings.

As we went through our meeting, we began organizing everything and refining the design and other elements that Charity and Frank already had in place. I encouraged them strongly to rent a 2nd room at their venue for the cocktail hour and drew up a plan for a lounge that we could put in that room.  They loved the idea and after a few venue and vendor meetings it was solidified, along with a million other little things. The next 7 weeks were CRAZY! In addition to hours and hours spent working with the producers of the show on the pre-work, we kept refining the design and adding to it every day. Charity and Frank were such a blast to work with! Incorporating their style, love of bling and cars, and working with some of the BEST vendors in the Sacramento area was a thrill for me!

I certainly can’t squeeze all of the details into one post! I will be highlighting the different aspects of this incredible wedding, along with the amazing team of vendors over the next week or two so that I can really share the details! So, to start…have a look at the lounge!! Custom draping and lounge furniture was provided by Studio B, Ice Swizzle Column by Party Concierge, and some incredible, ambient lighting was added by Mike Regan of Mr DJ Service!

Cocktail Lounge

Cocktail Tables

Centerpiece by Studio B

Love the lighting by Mr. DJ Service

Ice Sculpture/Swizzle Column