Hop on over to see it in it’s full glory, but YIPPPEEEEE for Shannykins and Scott’s rustic homespun wedding being featured on the beyond-fabulous and famous blog of Jen Campbell, Green Wedding Shoes! Fun, fun fun!

A little preview to whet your appetites [of course, I just kinda sorta gave you that yesterday, right below, with the description of Shannon's flowers!!]:

The farm-inspired portraits, the historic site location [which was in her family!!], the large bridal party, the funky, fun, unique wedding was full of vintage glamour and homespun wedding details. Really, it’s worth the moment it’ll take to soak it in!!

Visit the Green Wedding Shoes post directly and brag about how you “knew us when”, ’cause these So Cal Event Gals are going places!!

Hoping you’re making your Friday full of lovely “features” in life of your own! Enjoy the rain- we hardly get it here and I find no reason to complain when it IS here! I’m one of those stand-outside-without-an-umbrella-and-just-enjoy-it types of gals. And I love it!

xoxo,

A.

Ok, please don’t stone me…if any of you have been reading the blog long enough, you’ll remember Jamie & Jeff from wayyy back in September. Their wedding was at The Historic Cottage in San Clemente, and it was one of the first I had the pleasure of doing sans-Mandy Kins. But I swear I haven’t been holding these beauties hostage from you guys. We just got the disk of images from Tony Florez a few weeks ago, so I sorted through them the first chance I got. And boy were they worth the wait!

Here are just a few of the beautiful portraits Tony took of Jamie and Jeff before they walked down the aisle.

The ceremony was held at Calafia Park down the street. What an amazing view!

Isn’t Jamie unbelievably stunning?

The two of them make such a beautiful couple!

And beautiful couples make even MORE beautiful babies!!! Jeff and Jamie also incorporated a baptism for their son Riley into the ceremony. Such a touching idea.

They had a fabulous seaside, beachy theme that turned out so so cute.

Their first dance was amazing. It started out sweet and slow, and then turned into something straight out of Dance Dance Revolution! It had me rolling on the floor laughing!

And who doesn’t like to end the night with a good Thriller homage? Face masks and all…

~ Alicia

Here’s my quick preface: these are terrible pictures, especially because I have SEEN half of their pro pics already and they blow mine out of the water. I cannot wait to receive the disk. But, alas, my photos from M&J’s wedding. They had such a FUN, funky, unique, FUN event!

Venue: Oceanside Museum of Art
Photography: Amanda @ Hearts and Horseshoes, and Ryan Russell
Catering: Homespun Desserts
Band: Steal Dawn
Flowers, Cake and Decor: Family of the bride!

Moving on…. Mandy and Jordan are the BEST! I wish I got more images for you of them together, but those will be coming to the blog in the near future. So, until then, here are some details, portraits, actions shots… all mixed together for you.

Mandy’s sense of style is KILLER.

Her knee-high white boots were just the tip of the iceberg.

The ceremony took place outside of the museum, on the front patio, while the cocktail-style dessert reception was downstairs in the main foyer/lobby area. Upstairs we had a large open theater space that we packed with people, chairs, and a live band for dancing!

These tiny tea light holders from Target were used as floral accent pieces. Since ALL candles are prohibited in the museum, they got creative. SO cute!

They chose ONE exhibit to keep open during their “cocktail hour”, and it happened to be theeee coolest [and most fitting] exhibit in the place!

Alicia modeling one of the lovely bridesmaid bouquets. The little “cuffs” were hand-crocheted by one of the bridesmaids. Amazing!

THE CAKE!! My goodness. When Mandy told me her aunt was making the cake- I was worried. Really worried. Especially after she showed me the inspiration picture. But, hot dang, this is WAY better than I could have ever anticipated. From a real baker or an at-home baker!

These images were exposed terribly and I had to lighten them up a LOT- sorry!

Some of the mini desserts:

These carrot-cake cupcakes were her grandmother’s special recipe, and the same flavor as her mom and dad’s wedding cake!

Some reception photos:

Some pictures of the father/daughter and mother/son dance:

I love how happy Mandy and Jordan were the ENTIRE day! So filled with smiles and love!

The father/daughter and mother/son dance was actually played live by members of the bridal party and some of their best friends, Sean and Sara Watkins, along with Sara’s husband, Todd Cooper. A fun little bluegrass, down-home feel for the special dance!

A late-night shot of their wedding ceremony program:

And one last shot, at the end of the night, Mandy and Jordan actually just walked the two blocks home to their house from the museum. It was SO cute. I wish I got a better picture, but I’ll never forgot how cute they were, hand in hand, walking home full of love and life!

M&J: planning your wedding was the most fun EVER! I’m so glad I got the chance to spend time with you and know you more. Your kindness and fun, spunky personalities are so fun to hang out with. I can’t wait for the years of barbecues, holidays, and random get-togethers that we’ll all get to enjoy as our families grow and change. I truly love planning weddings of friends more than ever and now, you two are friends of ours for life! Hope that this little jaunt through Europe is enough of a vacation from the norm to act as a total life-refresher [even if it IS work for you, Jordan!!].

xoxo,

A.

I am so so excited to share these scrum-didly-umptious images by Henry Chen with you guys!! He did an AMAZING job capturing Grace & Brian truly in love, in the moment, in the now.

And to top it off, he started doing TWO posts for his brides! One portrait, and one details! Ummm, hello! A blog full of details?!? Can you say, a coordinators Dream!?! Henry, you are a genius!!!

Ok, so on to the shots. Rancho Las Lomas has so many interesting little nooks and crannies. You could probably spend a half a day exploring all of the grounds there. Visiting the animals, and just taking in it’s pure beauty. Henry captured it all!

Grace’s hot pink shoes were so sas-a-fras! I wanted to build a runway coming out of the bridal suite just so she could stop down it in those kittens!

How gorgeous is she?!? Straight out of a magazine, right?

I love this one. It’s like Henry caught Grace & Brian in a secret moment from behind the bushes. I like to think that he really did. :)

The super cute appetizer Korean Rice cakes.

Grace made these great signs for her food stations from 24 Carrots. There was a Sushi station, Carving station, Salad station, & Risotto station. And they were D-Lish!!!

The gorgeous croquembouche made by Susanne Michel of Sweet Art.

And the stunning trio of cakes that Grace did. To signify the French, Korean, and joining of the two. :)

Ok, so I posted most of the detail shots, because…well because I just couldn’t resist. BUT I still command you to go view all of Grace & Brian’s stunning portraits over at Henry’s blog here because they’re fab! Now go, hurry, go!!!

~ Alicia

This was THE perfect wedding day! Mother nature tried to mess with our heads for a couple of days before hand, with the weather forecast calling for rain for most of the day. Heather (from 24 Carrots) and I came up with a plan A, B, and C, that would move everything indoors. But come Saturday morning, the sky was clear, the birds were chirping, and the sun was shinin! Looked like that “sunshine dance” I promised to do for Grace & Brian had worked after all! :D

Which leads me to this…a beautiful sunny day at one of the most beautiful venues in Orange County, Rancho Las Lomas. What a shame it would have been if we didn’t get to use this stunning outdoor courtyard.

Grace had all of these Gorgeous handmade details. Seat cards, programs, escort cards, favors, menus, you name it, she made it!

God, this place is beautiful!

There’s the fabulous Henry Chen hard at work.

After the ceremony, we moved everyone upstairs for cocktails, and gave ourselves an hour to turn the same space into the reception area. And I have to give the biggest Thank You here to the entire staff at 24 Carrots for doing such an AMAZING job once again! I have never worked with a catering company who is as hard working, efficient, helpful, AND fun as 24 Carrots. You guys are amazing, you make my job so much easier, and I wish you could be at EVERY wedding that I am a part of!

Ok, I’ll stop gushing now, but seriously, any brides out there who are still in the market for a catering company…your search is not complete until you’ve at least tried 24 Carrots. They will blow you away!

I wish I had remembered to take a picture of what was inside these boxes because they were THE CUTEST magnets in the entire world! They each held a different traditional version of a Korean Bride and Groom, and they were so so so cute!!! Ok, I just couldn’t handle NOT showing these magnets to you guys, so I found a seller on Etsy that has them. Check out the shop Here to see a pic. Aren’t they Fab?!?!?!

This has got to be one of my favorite details about Grace & Brian’s wedding. When Grace told me & Amanda at her initial meeting that she would be doing not only one, but THREE cakes at her wedding, we were squealing in excitement! And to top it off, one of those “cakes” was going to be a croquembouche???? Somebody please pick me up off the floor.

Grace wanted to represent both of her and Brian’s cultures, by displaying a Croquembouche for Brian’s French heritage, rice cakes for Grace’s Korean heritage, and then a traditional American wedding cake, to represent their cultures blending together into one. Swoon….

The Croquembouche was made by Susanne Michel of Sweet Art who came through for us during the final week before the wedding, when the original baker was no longer available. I didn’t get to taste a piece myself, but I heard everyone around me oohing and ahhing at how delicious the chocolate mousse inside it was. Maybe one of my other brides will order one of these again and save me a piece? ;) Any French brides out there??

The happy couple waiting for their Grand Entrance.

Grace put together the cutest slide show to surprise Brian with. It had everyone in tears and in giggles. The perfect combo if you ask me.

And I just love the way the lighting began to look as the sun went down. Amber & her team, of Amber Event Design did a Fabulous job lighting the space!

I love how Brian didn’t even attempt to open his mouth for the cake. He knew what was coming and he took it like a man! Now that’s a sign of a good husband if I ever saw one!

To Grace & Brian, thank you again for letting me be a part of your day. I am so happy to have been there to watch you two join your lives, families, and friends together. You are truly one of those couples who just “fits”. The perfect compliment to each other, balancing each other out in the most perfect ways imaginable. I know you must be having the most unbelievable time in Paris right now [can you feel my jealousy seeping through the page?]. I wish you two the love, happiness, and laughter that you had on your wedding day, for all the days of your life.

Hugs and hugs and hugs and kisses!!!

~ Alicia

Jenny and Nick are the besssst! I had an instant click with Jenny when we met. She has possibly THEE cutest smile and laugh- ever. She’s “the kind of infectious that is good to spread around” [name that quote]! So, I knew that her wedding would be such a delight to be a part of. And I was right! Her smile engulfed her face for the entirety of their day. She was mellow, giggly, easy-going and in love. The two of them together… so fun!

If you can’t tell, Jenny went total Martha Stewart and made all of her ceremony decor out of tissue poms. I LOVED it. So cute!

They married at Almansor Court in Alhambra on a sunny Sundy [see what I did there? I took out the "a" in Sunday, to make it rhyme-y] morning. The weather was perfection!

Eddie @ Commerce Flowers rocked their personal flowers so hard. She loved them!!

They opted to do potted plant centerpieces to act as a take-home for their near and dear. Some details of the event:

Their cake. THEIR CAKE! It was my favorite thing EVER. It’s kinda old school/tradition in that the tiers are separated with poles and it’s intricate… but that little tulle skirt it’s wearing and the TOPPER alone make it amazing to a whole new level!!

The 80’s are back with a vengeance in ALL the best of ways!

Their good friend Matt Gainer came out to shoot candid photos while one of my faves, Wayne Toshikazu caught the formals and detail shots. I love the abundance of photographers. It’s my favorite. What can I say? I like pictures. Don’t blame me. No, don’t be mad. It’s cool. Get over it. :)

All that to say, knowing that their pictures will be FAB makes my job that much more fun!

They are so incredibly and undeniably best friends, and so apparently in LOVE. Weddings like this are a pleasure to work!!

It was a great GREAT day! It’s funny, when you get used to working late nights [until Midnight or so] to be off by 3pm and have the rest of the day to lounge and hang… but you’re exhausted ’cause you’ve been up since 6:00am!! It was a very nice break in the schedule. And really, who better to do it with?? The meetings that Jenny and I shared together were always so relaxed and fun. She didn’t ever overly-concern herself with things going wrong or “what if”s. She really could make a gal pass two hours chatting with ease! And that is why we at ITN TOTALLY HEART her. So big time. I’m so glad that you two are one big happy family now. To many more fun family events, to more paper cranes, to more wheat grass… to more memories!

We wish you nothing but the best and tons of little red-headed, freckle faced babies!!!

xoxo,

A.

Well, HI and FINALLY, y’all!! Amanda here, posting in conjuction with my fab-ssistant, Brittany the Bee!! She wrote the post below and I added in a few things myself, too, to get her into the swing of things! So, without any further delay… Y&M’s ga-ga-ga-GORGEOUS wedding at one of our fave venues!

The Saturday of April 25th, Yvonne and Mike became one as they said their vows in the beautiful courtyard of Rancho Las Lomas.   The day could not have been more prefect for there was not one cloud in the sky. Yvonne herself could not have looked more gorgeous with her stunning white dress, black curly hair, and giddy smile. Unfortunately there were no shots of the ceremony taken, but don’t worry because her floral arrangements of peonies, orchid, and rose were so YUMMY!

Flower Allie provided Yve’s wonderful floral arrangements and let me just say… I couldn’t get enough of the “frowns” going around! She double-used 4 tall centerpieces at the ceremony site, placing them onto brown box columns at the top of the aisle and bottom of the aisle. Understated elegance that was to DIE for. Luckily we were joined by Sarah K. Chen and we cannot WAIT to see what delicious images she’ll be dishing out to us!

Did I mention how much we LOVE LOVE LOVE

We were honored to be fed from the owner himself of 24 Carrots, Norm.  [Funny enough, both US and Alicia worked with 24 Carrots on this night! Alicia was just down the street from RLL at the Private Estate wedding in honor of Shelley and Tony... well, Leashy, WE got the head-hauncho at our event!! Hardy Har!!] Their food was impeccable and de-lish.  I just adore their mini desserts that were all hand made, as well as the appetizers (hand-passed) that had so much thought and character put into them.  24 Carrots is also the preferred caterer on Saturdays at Rancho which is fantastic because….well….we heart them!!! Heather, the contact @ 24 for RLL brides is to DIE for… so full of spunk, fun and goodness. You will love her, just like we do!

If you thought mini decadent desserts were enough, think again. Yvonne’s cake looked like a soft white cloud of goodness with peonies and ranunculus sprinkled around.  French’s Pastry were the masterminds behind this piece of beauty.

In the moment of cutting that cake:

Yvonne later slipped into a sexy white cocktail dress and showed off her moves on the dance floor.  How she pulled off a mini (but very cute) cocktail dress in 45 degree weather I don’t know.  Amanda and I were numb by the time we got to our cars…..but it was all worth it!  Congrats to Yvonne and Mike on being newly-weds!!!

With love,

Bee

Oh. my. goodness.

Now, I don’t play favorites with my couples, honestly I don’t. And I’m sooo excited for next year because I have some amazing weddings coming up. BUT, if I DID want to chose a fave couple award for 2007… well, K&B would be in the running. I looooove them. They’re like the kind of infectious you want to keep. :)

The wedding ceremony took place at St. Pius V Church, which was literally around the corner from Kris and Bry’s house! Their on-site coordinator, Kathy, was AWESOME! Since we had a huge wedding party, I was a bit worried [10 bridesmaids, 10 groomsmen, 5 flower girls, 3 ring bearers, and.... well, a TON of sponsors!] about getting everyone’s attention in regards to walking down the aisle. Kathy worked it, and helped me out so much!

Since Kristine and Bryan were expecting nearly 300 guests, Kristine was a trooper to go all out the way she did in the details. You’ll see more later, but I think she must have made at least 150 to 200 of these super cute programs alone!!

Presenting the bouquet to Mary…

Married! I LOVE this picture!

And equally, this one too!!

After the ceremony we did some quick re-enactments for Harvard Photography to get “the big stuff” at a better angle. A few snaps for you:

And, onto the reception I went!! The main festivities were held at the Sheraton Hotel Cerritos. I love, love, LOVE the on-site coordinator there, Amanda [how funny, right!!]. Since K&B booked me for month-of coordinating, I got to talk with her lots, which was so fun! This was my first time working there and I’m already dying to go back!! You’ll see her later. :)

We made this ballroom [already gorgeous and fairly newly renovated] SHINE with glamour!! Satin linens from Dress My Chair, chair covers and sashes by Chair Covers by Angie, Eddie at Commerce Flowers was incredible and their arrangements were huge and full and gorgeous!! To top it off we had Ryan of Fly By Night killing it with music, microphone, and much more [he even helped us figure out our little glitch in the slideshow, which took almost 20 minutes but was SOOOOOO worth it!!!]. The whole thing caught on film by 29 Frames [who also, might I add, were responsible for the amazingness of the slideshow, which they put together!]. We had a dream team.

Some details:

Favors were carmel apples, CDs, and mini wine bottles. It was a busy table, full of love! I adore the way it all turned out!!

Let me just say that I LOVE these place cards and with 30 tables of guests Kristine is a freaking miracle worker for these. Even the vendors had them!!!

Some shots of the cocktail hour.

See that puffy hydrangea arrangement [hydrangement??] in the background? Yep, I threw that together. :) I did the flower girl baskets too [as the church was a "no toss" church], but I didn’t get any pictures. Lame.

Since K&B wanted to do something fun with their bar budget, we decided to host a “signature drink” only for them. We chose apple martinis to go with their color scheme, green and brown. The hotel [Amanda the amazing I should say] went full force and rimmed the glasses with brown sugar. So. cute. And this display?? To die for! The guests loved it!

Back into the room for a minute…

Rossmoor Pastries is responsible for this. I am thankful!

A little bling hasn’t killed anyone, right??

I loooooove candles and how they transform a room!

The room:

These are Kristine’s “reception shoes”. I am in love with them.

This one is “for the blog”, just before the grand entrance:

The group walked in to the Rocky theme!!

And straight into their first dance [which, the bridal party crouches around the dance floor and blew bubbles during]:

Sooooo in love! [Even if Bryan didn't cry during the ceremony, I know he really wanted to, and that's how I know they're really in love...]. Haha!!

A quick hello and thank you from our groom before dinner!

The groom’s cake was a tuxedo. So cute!! We dressed up the table a bit with an engagement picture, candles and petals.

Our cake, all lit up from the back!!

And more on why THIS is on the cake table later:

Sigh, perfection!!

The slideshow I mentioned before. Well, it was actually more like a video/picture montage. It was SO candid, SO personal, SO cute. They told their love story… and I was hooked!!

Their speeches were warm and heartfelt!

I grabbed a quick shot of Kris’s bouquet. It was incredible! I’ve come to find out that I don’t LOVE single-flower bouquets right now in life. But, this was serious perfection!!!

And the bridesmaid bouquets weren’t so bad either. I looooove the deep green hydrangea that Eddie used. Swoon!!

After the toasts, Bryan had a special surprise for the group: he sang to Kristine in front of everyone! The song was Adam Sandler’s “Grow Old With You” and he did SO well! I was blown away! It was too, too cute!!

So in love!!

Oh yah, THIS is Amanda @ The Sheraton. Who rocks my face off. Amanda, now that you’ve seen my blog I expect weekly comments!! :)

A close up of their low centerpieces:

And into the Father/Daughter dance!

Of course, Bryan and his mom weren’t forgotten either!

And NOW, it’s cake time!! Thanks to my amazing and tall cousin Miriam for most of these shots! She held my camera over the crowd and over her head and just snapped away!!

It got a LITTLE crazy, but thankfully the dress had napkin-protection.

Awe, love IS sweet!

Let’s ask Kristine how she REALLY feels about the taste of champagne… this one killed me!!

Time for the toss.

And the garter. I love that Bryan threw Kris’ shoes like halfway across the dance floor!!

Got it!!

And now, for the football. Bryan HIKED the garter to one of the single guys!!

A little money dance that the guests got sooo into!!

Though I will say this- Bryan took a pin to the head and there WAS some blood loss. All well worth it!

Since this was a big guest count, I brought along the hubs for extra hands. This is me struggling to get a cute background pic for MiPhone.

Back out to the cocktail hour. Their guest book had this sweet little poem sign in front:

And as we packed up items into Kris and Bry’s room, we stumbled upon these:

Since K kicked those shoes OFF for dancing, I snagged a pic of ‘em:

Cuteness central. I am LOVING this colorful, funky shoe trend!! These are classy!

And of course, my absolute favorite image of the night because it’s the one that I carry with me in my heart long after the party ends…

K&B: you know it! I am SO excited that you’re married! You will love it. Marriage is the ultimate joy-bringer. You two are built for it! I see it in the way you touch, in the way you laugh, in how your hearts are so connected. Truly, you two are BEST friends, and have grown up together. If you can make it through that, you can make it through anything!! Have SO much fun this week but come back well-rested and refreshingly in love!!

The end!