YES! Kelly and Jasson [two ss] were dream clients! They were innovative, sugary sweet, 100% in love, and gorgeous together. Seriously? I love them! Their wedding was held in downtown Long Beach at St. Anthony’s Church and then we all headed down to the totally amazing V20 for some serious reception action. Kelly’s vision for this day was so girly- gold, pink, ruffly white, modern feel for the nightclub, a classic feel for the decor. Not only was it pulled off… it was jaw-dropping.

But, here’s the problem. And this, to me, is a biggie. I dropped the ball!! My LAST wedding of the year [well, at this point] and I forgot my camera. I haven’t done that yet this year I don’t think. This was one event that I knew I was going to be obsessed with taking photos of. Luckily, my assistants came through with their point-and-shoot cameras and I got to walk away with some pictures. But, truly, I’m am on my tippy tippy toes waiting for Gina Rangel to show me what the day looked like through her lens!! My pictures are mostly of details. They’re mostly fuzzy.

Yes, this is a flashback to a year and a half ago when I was taking pictures eerily similar to this at every event! I’ve been blessed [or, spoiled rotten] with a great camera and some lucky shots. But, that didn’t stop me from snapping away with an out-of-focus point and shoot camera in low lighting!! Onto the pictures…

When I got there, my amazing friend Christine Saunders of the Spiraled Stem was dropping off the personals. Her bouquet was to DIE for. Christine was SO amazing this day- halfway through the day she found out her house in Anaheim Hills was being evacuated, so she had to drop everything and run to pack up [seeing as her husband Darrel is her brute force for setting up on the day-of, she left him there at the nightclub with her other designer]. We are so thankful that she is okay and that her home is still in tact!! Pictures of the gorgeous bridal bouquet:

One thing I absolutely adore about Christine’s bouquets is that they are always REALLY “spiraled stemmed”, which means they’ll stand up on their own. I love nothing more than a huge fluffy bouquet that I can put on a table and take a picture of!

Those large, wide-open peonies [in November] are the death of me. I love them TOO much.
Ceremony time! The church:

Um, Kelly’s dress was flown in straight to her from Italy with a matching veil. It was to DIE for. It’s mermaid style but instead of sleekly flowing out at the bottom, it POOFED at the bottom with a gorgeous, high-end, detailed tulle that was seriously ‘tarded gorgeous. And, she wore it and WORKED it. Did I mention she is amazingly girly??

YAY!

Just after the ceremony. This is the BEST [and one of the last] shots of the couple I got. They are SO. IN. LOVE. But more than that… courteous, compassionate, and totally sane in one of life’s most stressful situations! Oh yah, told you the dress was HOTTT!

Into the club…

Kelly’s menus, escort cards, and table numbers [which followed suit with her invites] were all courtesy of White Aisle. Swoon!!

Um, this cake. This cake is unspeakable. Serious! Initially, Kelly explained to me that they wanted cupcakes because they hated that at weddings, although the cake is pretty, you don’t get to see it when it’s served to you. The concept is that everyone is getting a little piece of “art” with their cupcake. Not only were they gorgeous, they were de-lish! Rossmoor Pastries did a wonderful job collaborating with Kelly on this vision!!

White chocolate sticks with gold flecks on them. Then, the whole thing has a light drizzle of white chocolate.

[More like the key to his heart...]

Christine’s team did a fabulous job in her emergent absence finishing up the decor!

The sweetheart table was kept simple, heavy candles and floating orchids with petals around.

The guest tables were all banquets and were piled with huge cylinder vases with submerged flowers, floating candles, candle hurricanes, tea lights, shiny bead runners, TWO favors per person… all on top of white crushed satin linens. Not bad, eh??

The chiavari chairs didn’t hurt either! This place was 100% classy!! And the screen you see pictured above actually had their monogram on it for the entire evening. They had 3 screens total… Kelly and Jasson were all over the place!! I loved it!

I loved these skinny cocktail tables that we lined with stemmed votive holders. MY goodness. They are amazing!

Since it’s a club, we had the pleasure of working with their all-star lighting forces. We pin spotted the tables in pink!! And the cake was lit up in white [as you saw above]!

You can catch their two favors in the corner, there. Boxed See’s Candy truffles in one, and a mini personalized champagne split in the other!!

Menus in champagne corks. And more of the faves:

Sine I HEART Kel’s bouquet big time, I tried to take a few cool shots with the camera I had handy. They didn’t come across totally, but, hey, I still love them [and flowers].

This tube in the picture below is headed from the Bamboo Lounge to where the reception was. This is where they had their Grand Entrance! If you squint, you can see them back in there! It’s also the private room we had later into the evening, after the club opened. It was nice that our guests had a place to go and still be a part of the wedding!!

After their delightful Grand Entrance, we opened the dinner area and invited guests in for the toasts! Heartfelt and sweet [and totally blurry]. After dinner, it was time for dancing! Their sweet FIRST:

Which was followed by parent dances and then some FUN open dancing for the remainder of the evening! It was low-key, laid-back, and soo stylish. I truly loved this day!! Since their cake was such a work of art, I grabbed their rings for a few cute pictures, again, trying to pull it off with the camera I had. Still cute!! Oh yah, and Kelly is BLINGIN’ big time! Her ring finger must be a serious like size 4! Soo tiny!

Her ring is so perfectly her! Just like the wedding!

For dancing late into the evening, Kelly changed from the fluffy wonder that IS her wedding dress into this short, pink and gold dancing dress. I love that the club guests would never even know she was the bride!!

All in all, the evening was beyond wonderful! Of course, with the fires ranging so near to us, it was a bit of a tense morning. But, you would never know! As the sky was a-glow with orange and ash, Kelly was radiant, calm and collected. Jason was kind and courteous. And they were SO READY! Truly, an honor and a blessing. As I woke up this morning, I received this:

Hi Amanda,

Kelly and I wanted to thank you immensely for the amazing work you did on our wedding. I truly was impressed with your diligence, attention to detail, multitasking and all-around solid performance. I cannot imagine how we would have made it without you. Running an event like this is a huge endeavor and having you there made it a piece of cake. Thank you for the outstanding job you did. I would recommend you to anyone and everyone who asked. Of all the costs we incurred doing this, yours was EASILY the most worthwhile.

Very Best,

Jasson & Kelly Gilmore

Remember how I’m always saying that my clients are picked FOR me? Yeah. Seriously. I couldn’t have done a better job than if I was picking them myself! I love you two! Thank you for inspiring ME, just by being who you are!!!

What is there to say about Chris and Rob? Seriously?? I think Christine booked me, like, a year and a half in advance and I am SO grateful she did! I had a ton of inquiries for this date, and I’m always certain that the clients I end up working with are the best fit for me. I loved, LOVED being a part of this wedding. Not only was it a fabulous time with amazing vendors, but it was soo pretty to look at! I cannot WAIT until C&R’s “entourage” blog their pictures. I’m not kidding… here’s our list of photographers from Saturday:

The Very-Pregnant-and-Talented Sarah K. Chen was with us
Always-a-Fave for attitude and images, Jonilyn Photography, accompanied by husband Alex!
Spontaneous-and-Spunky Jacob Atmodjojo was on board as well
And last but CERTAINLY not least in my eyes
I-Hope-We-Work-Together-Oodles-Next-Year and voted Best Newcomer just now from ME: Jordana Hazel!!

Phew, right?? Images for DAYS! WEEKS! YEARS! Needless to say, staying out of their way was challenging and more than that, I did a lot of “leaving it up to them”. So, hopefully these pictures are pleasing enough to give you a real feel for Chris and Rob’s day. It truly was a great thing to be a part of!!

The pictures start at the church, St. Vincent de Paul in Huntington Beach. Just before the ceremony!

There’s a push and pull, love/hate relationship with church ceremonies when you’re a coordinator. I LOVE them. The tradition of it, the gorgeous churches around here, the fact that I am freed up to take photos. But the hate of it… most of the time the church coordinator gives us “indie” coordinators very little jurisdiction at their site. I never have a problem with that- I don’t want to step on people’s toes or anything and as I said… I love the extra picture freedom. I just always want to be the one taking care of my clients! Fluffing the dress, straightening the veil, giving that last minute pep-talk… it’s my heart!!

That’s Christine, being gorgeous.

Just a few of the “entourage” doing their thing. :)

MARRIED!

I love the fake re-do of the candle lighting [for photo's sake]. More than that, I LOVE Robby’s face. What a character!!

Some post ceremony portraits…. boys+parasols=ridiculous!

And the girls, apparently they’re GREAT at the fake laugh!!

Until it turned into real laughs!

THIS is my favorite! When your colors are green and orange, and your wedding is ’round the corner from Halloween, the socks are just ONE of the perks!!

A few last quick snaps before heading off to the reception!

Off to the reception! The details were outrageous! I loved them!! Linens and rentals all provided by Baker Party Rentals!! Our venue was the clubhouse at Park Newport and was perfect for our intimate, laid-back party setting!! It also gave Chris’ family the access that they needed to create all of the floral details- YES, ALL OF THEM- themselves, the day prior!

These cute orange favor boxes held “a few of their favorite things”. Almond Roca, Reese’s, Candy Corn…

CUTE printed materials and signs!!

Their candy buffet was a hit, provided graciously by one of Christine’s aunts!!

A sweet memorial to Robby’s grandmother.

LOVED the bouts! The dahlias… or, zenias, or whatever they were…. LOVE them!

Straight from the Grand Entrance into their First Dance!!

Christine didn’t want a cake. Like, really, didn’t care for a cake. But, in the end, tradition reared it’s head and she compromised with a small cutting cake and some sheet cakes for the guests. These unique, funky cake topper froggies are really salt and pepper shakers!

I wish I’d gotten MORE pictures of the centerpieces. This is just one of the many arrangements! The clusters of vases on each of the tables were gorgeous!

One of the two frames showcasing their fab engagement pictures:

This drink is the green machine. Seriously!

These simple cocktail arrangements were perfect!

And we had 7 of these little cuties!

C&R love cocktail snacks! So, they provided dishes for the lounge area and cocktail hour! It was totally “them”!

Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances…

We had a Starbucks Coffee station set up for the guests!

And around that time, Jonilyn set up a killer photo
booth, too!!

More detail.

One of our cute hanging vases out on the patio, at sunset!

The “entourage” snuck the couple out during sunset for a prime photo op!

A cookie bar accompanied the cake cutting and the cookies were delicious! All 8 kinds, a mix of home-made and store-bought!

The uplights were amazing! Provided by Lifetime Weddings!

After the speeches, a few words from our groom:

And Christine had a little surprise planned of her own. All for the joke, Alicia [the 'sistant] and I brought out these HUGE champagne glasses for C&R!!

A few VERY blurry shots of bouquet and garter and things and things!

And I love this!

The photo booth was a huge hit!!!

You know, with the vendors, too! Jonilyn, you know I’m on my tippy tippy toes waiting to see your images!!!

And, to end off the blog, a few of my schmappy images, edited up all pretty like [as pretty as they'll get for me]:

And my fave, just after the cake cutting, cute little crinkle-nose faces!!

C&R: I loooove you two! Your friendship, love, and laughter is so apparent. At your wedding, it was obvious that you had already been a family for so long now. It wasn’t a beginning, it was a continuing, and a deepening of your love! To be a part of that day, was an honor for all of the In The Now family! Have SO much fun on your vacay. Come back rested, and ready to party some more! xoxo!!

Anita and Jason got married the night before I left for my cruise. I realize I’m a slacker. I’m sooo sorry! I took the time to edit these images whilst on the open sea, and because of the amazing lighting she splurged on, they’re amazing!!

Let’s get to the goodies!!! Ceremony…

The florals were provided by M’s Flowers in Whittier. Incredible!!

During the wedding A&J presented a bouquet to each of their mothers, and pulled a single rose from each for their fathers!

The couple got married at Anita’s family’s church, Concordia Lutheran. I loved the history there, and the church was PACKED!

Before the actual ceremony, after all the guests were seated, A&J played a 15 minute slideshow cataloging their relationship and then setting the stage for their nuptials!

The fabulous Crissy Farah not only worked it out at their engagement session [clearly shown here by their killer enlargement] but accompanied me on the Day-Of [and BONUS! Jonilyn was there backing her up, too!!].

At work!

They had soo many great, funny, quirky ceremony moments! The crowd was laughing, the party was laughing, Anita and Jay were laughing… it was such a fun personal time!

Married!!!

Over to the Renaissance Long Beach Hotel for the reception. I LOVE that Anita let the hotel dictate her color scheme. She took the bright colors and RAN with it!

Aren’t these to die for??

And inside the room for a few more details…

Ugh, these centerpieces are amazing!! If flowers didn’t die, I would be a happier lady!

Outside of the room, displayed on an easel, was the whiteboard that Jason wrote Anita the night he proposed. This is, essentially, their proposal story!!

Their table numbers were too cute!

Cute little ribbon wrap and menu at each place setting!

I have a gagillion pictures of this cake. When it’s accompanied by the up-lighting, it gets stupid-beautiful!

During cocktail hour, some portraits took place with the amazing hotel lighting…

I cannot WAIT to see what Crissy is going to deliver!!

And now, onto the reception! Straight after the grand entrance, we danced! Their first dance was magically beautiful with the ambient lighting [2 follow-spots for the room... 2!!! I was in love!]:

Oh, some more cake pics. Half with blue up-lighting, half with amber [that is how the room was split- every other light! Soo neat!]

An impromptu kiss from the couple [apparently they took that glass clinking pretty seriously!]:

And onto speeches:

Okay, okay, so he’s making fun of Jason for balding… [this is Anita's dad, by the way, speaking]

Onto the cutting!!

I loooove Anita’s attitude here:

The shadow that the spotlight created on the wall behind them was unreal! Sooo gorgeous!!

And now, after a few words from our bride and groom, a presentation to one of the groom’s best friends, Mark. It was after all, his birthday!

So they gave him a surfboard shaped brownie cake, made by Jason’s sister. Too much!!!

And of course he had to cut it [and I'll admit, after this he tried to feed Jason as well...]

After the cake was cut, we proceeded into the father-daughter and mother-son dance…

Anita provided baskets of sandals for her guests to dance with! These puppies were snatched up before the baskets were even down! See that hand??

And, my FAVORITE part of the evening… at 11pm, the hotel brought out little mini slider burgers for all the guests to enjoy as a late-night dancing snack! The slider station was a hit and soo delicious! :)

And, as we packed up, another close up shot of their menus…

As the sliders went out, A&J requested all the guests left to get onto the dance floor for a group picture. I snagged a shot, as the dancing lights went on all around them!

Of course, the photobooth pictures HAD to appear on the blog [that's me and my assistant, Miriam]!

Thanks to Cheesy Photobooths for being awesome as always!! And to wrap up, a few moody broody shots of Anita’s personal details for the day:

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures! Honestly, I’m not sure my images captured the love, beauty, and joy surrounding this day! Anita put together this entire event and truly, it was a pleasure to work and be a part of! When all of the vendors feel like a team, there is NOTHING better! We all pulled together a truly gorgeous event for A&J, and they were nothing but gracious about it. To be honest, they were soo into one another that I’m not positive they noticed any of the details! So, guys, these pics are for you to remember by!! :)

A&J: you two are the best! I love how naturally comfortable you are in your love. It’s apparent. Being best friends is the best part of marriage, and seeing you together, I know you have that down! Keep on soaking in the love you two share- it’ll keep rubbing off on the people you meet! I know it did on me!! xoxo!

Finally!! I know! I have been soo excited to blog my last few weddings and with the on-the-sea internet connection being so rocky, I’ve just had to hold it all in until now!

Court and James are one of the most fun couples I’ve had. They met over in England where Courtney was in school for Interior Design and where James lived! Once they met, they were inseparable! I love their infectious style of love, and their style for their big day rooted in their creative careers [James is a graphic designer] was a chic soiree! I was honored to be on board for the ride!!

They opted for a late, 8pm ceremony time spot at the historic and gorgeous Mission Inn in Riverside. Their chapel is seriously breath-taking. My apologies in advance that my pictures feel sub-par. But I had to give you a taste of their day as best I could!!

With the late evening sky, the outside of the chapel was incredible!!

I heart the pin spot light! And now, my blushing bride…

Ready for the ceremony!!

Yes, her dress has an over-the-top-awesome side bow. I loooove the asymmetry!!

The glowy reflected from the church’s gold altar area made the most scrumptious vibe lighting ever!!

And onto some reception details [sorry, I took these with my flash off and had to lighten them quite a bit... the quality is... meh]:

C&J had an intimate affair for about 75 of their closests friends and family, so they opted for 3 long banquet-style tables to fill the courtyard. It was amazing and totally a perfect way to compliment their stylish wedding!

Our courtyard [near the Ho-O-Kan room in the Mission] had two levels. The top level was our lounge area, and this was taken from up there, down to the dining area:

John Suarez and his wife at After Dark Entertainment not only rocked this vibe-y couples very specific music selections but they provided up-lighting in the upper lounge area that was to DIE for!!

Alternating purple and golden tones…

The cake was incredible! White and orange marbled chocolate wrapped around buttercream. It was simple, it was artsy. It was delicious. All that you can ask from a cake. And these urns full of oranges were everywhere! Accented with stephanotis and gardena, they smelled delicious, too!!

Serving Set:

More of the vibe-y lounge area details [did I mention the entire event was DRIPPING in candles and candle light??]:

A large gold clam held oranges on the punch table:

One more cake pic before heading back down stairs…

C&J opted for place cards at each guest’s seat. This worked out great! Because we provided the guests with a pen, and on the back, we created an instant guest book! The cards were collected by my team prior to the meal being served, and placed into their guest book which contained pages of glued mini envelopes that we slipped the cards right in to! I loved it!!

A quick snap of the very quick portrait session that the bridal party had:

Their photographer, Chip Shaffer, was great! I can’t wait to see images! And onto the GRAND ENTRANCE!

Real men carry trains! :)

We enjoyed our dinner and it was onto speeches…

And James himself:

A close up shot of some of the table’s decor:

I looooved that they used palm trees everywhere! And I mean, EVERYWHERE. In the church, outside of the church, all around the courtyard, ON the table tops [3 per table, actually], in the entry, in the lounge area… palms. Palms! Here’s a cute shot I grabbed of their guest book:

And another… love TRUMPS all!!

Being that we are the hip socialites that we are… no real formal “traditional” elements, and no dancing. It was really a nice that fostered relationships and love- kept the focus on the people who came out to be with them, and on James and Courtney’s love for everyone there [especially each other] as well! So, onto cake cutting we go!!

Sooo in love. Soooo cute!

A last picture to leave you with… during pack up, I grabbed a shot of some of the centerpiece vases that Courtney [yes, her and her mother] put together:

Basically, just orchid heads jammed into clean, slim vases. I love it!!

Honestly, the night was SO full of love and wonder. It was like being a part of something magical. Is that totally overboard sounding?? Court and James “international love” will surely continue for years and years to come!!

C&J: I truly love and admire your love for one another! It’s tender, it’s strong, it’s willing to go the distance. Seeing two people so connected and so real is remarkable! I really treasure your wedding as a fond memory of mine, and I treasure our friendship in the future as well! My absolute BEST to you two, beaming newlyweds!! xoxo!

Wow! I can’t believe I almost missed July! This table top was really, for me, inspired by this gorgeous vintage-y style fabric that I found and used as a custom made runner. The damask was a soft blue and champagne silk fabric and made a perfect pallet to jump off from for this “traditional” style formal table top. Words are clearly not enough…

As with all of my table tops so far, Kristin of The Treasured Petal and Jonilyn Brown worked with me to create these lovely tables and pictures. We started with a classic, tall vase filled with creamy white and ivory flowers. I took some regular pillar candle holders in clear glass and displayed some large ivory candles around the centerpiece. Our linens were provided by both Dress My Chair and Elegant Design Specialty Linens, and our rentals were through the ever-fabulous Signature Party Rentals. Onto the detail shots!

I decided on the gold/champagne/ice blue theme, as I stated before, from the runner, but the pop of chocolate brown didn’t come in until I decided that the favors would be these elegant, over-sized truffles. I took that color and ran with it, using the base plate in the same hue and topping it off with an ornate clear glass plate [to coordinate with the rest of the clear glass we had on the table] and then finishing by adding a gold charger underneath. The napkins brought the ice blue back onto the plates in a simple square fold. We left the truffles open and edible by just throwing a gold paper doily underneath. Tying it off with simple gold chiavari chairs with a lush satin ivory sash, we were able to keep the simple, elegant, and fancy vibe that I was going for! Since I’m in looove with the runner fabric, I’m adding this extra shot to give you a close up of the place setting:

Just FYI- ALL of these tabletops are going up onto my website hopefully within the next few days, as I’m finally getting around to organizing them! Hope you enjoy!