Boy are you all in for a treat today! I have been DYING to share these images with you guys. They are drop dead, hold on to your nickers Ga-orgeous! I knew when I saw the work of Amy & Maurice, aka The Theorie, on their website that they did amazing work, but it’s still always a “hold your breath” kind of moment until you finally see the finished product of all the pictures that they shot on your day. And wow, were these so much better than I was ever expecting! Simply amazing! A perfect capture of Shelley & Tony and all of their special little details on their wedding day.

The wedding was held at a private estate in Trabuco Canyon, compliments of the bride’s Uncle.
He built this bridge just for them, since the prvious one had been washed away by a storm.

The flowers were all provided by the amazing Carissa of JL Designs.

I mean come on, anyone who can make a box of boutonnieres look THAT good, has got to be a great florist, right??

A few pics of the bride & groom, and their wedding party.

The ceremony featured hanging vases filled with pink roses & peonies, and pink petals covering the aisle floor.

We added yellow ties around each chair, for a nice big POP of color!

The grounds of this home had an endless supply of amazing photo opportunities. It was such a perfect setting.

Shelley’s Uncle has a collection of classic cars that he has donated to Auto Museums over the years. Lucky for us, they are all so grateful for the donations, that they let him take them out whenever he wants for his person use. Score for us!! These bad boys make for great pictures!

The cocktail hour featured small square vases wrapped in a funky mod fabric that we found in the L.A. Fabric District, and single pink peonies in each one.

We made use of the beautiful oak tree in the middle of our cocktail hour space, by hanging varying sizes of white paper lanterns throughout the entire tree.

A couple more shots of Carissa’s beautiful creations…

I absolutely adored these vases that Carissa provided for the place card table.

Big puffy peonies just make me swoon…

And on to the reception details!

I loved how Carissa made it seem like these tulips were growing out of the cake stand. So amazing.

The guest tables featured small groups of pink tulips, arranged in lot of different funky white vases provided by Carissa.

I couldn’t decide which ring shot I liked the most, so I just included them both. ;)

Shelley hand crafted these super cute cootie-catchers that served as their menus. They were absolutely adorable.

And last, but not least, the scrumptious cookie buffet that replaced the cake later that night.

Thank you once again to the fabulous vendor line-up that made this event such a success. I couldn’t have done it without you:

Photography: The Theorie
Videography: Studio West Video
Florist: JL Designs
DJ/Lighting: Brady of Props FX
Catering: 24 Carrots
Cake: Sweet Gems
Rentals: Signature Party Rentals
Linens & Chairs: Dress My Chair
Hair & Makeup: i-style Salon, Los Angeles
String Quartet: Andromeda String Quartet

~ Alicia

I feel like such a proud mama bird right now. And if birds could lay eggs that hatched into the most breath taking wedding you ever saw…that would be my egg. You should remember Shelley & Tony from the In The Mix posting I did a few weeks back Here. They are a couple from Chicago, who enlisted my help a few months back, to plan a wedding at Shelley’s Uncle’s private residence in Trabuco Canyon. You should also remember from the post that I told you there was still plenty more fabulouness to be revealed about their wedding.

So….let the fabulouness begin!!!

The ceremony featured Shepherd’s hooks with hanging bud vases filled with pink roses & peonies. And we hung one of these hand made, uber-cute programs from the back of every chair.

Speaking of florals…check out this bridesmaid’s bouquet, featuring peonies, garden roses, tulips, & ranunculas. All of the flowers were provided by my new favorite florist, Carissa, of JL Designs. She is BEYOND fabulous and had so many great ideas that contributed to this day. It wouldn’t have been the same without her.

The place card table was another one of my favorite areas. So simple, yet such an impact at the same time.

The ceremony was officiated by Tony’s Uncle, who flew in all the way from Korea.
It had a beautifully intimate feel to it, and had yours truly sniffling away in the background again.

You may now kiss the bride!!

The family dog decided to sneak out and make an appearance during Shelley and Tony’s walk back down the aisle. Which was totally predictable if you knew this dog at all. I swear he was an escape artist. While we were on the property the day before for the rehearsal, every time someone said he was put away in the back, he would somehow manage to magically reappear within the next 10 minutes or so. So it made me laugh out loud when he just happened to appeared again, right at the moment that they were pronounced husband and wife. I guess you can’t fault a dog for wanting to see them get married right?

Now this picture makes me laugh out loud, but for a totally different reason. It is SO Tony. He knows exactly when to ham it up. So this couldn’t be a more perfect picture of the two of them.

The cocktail tables featured simple, small vases, wrapped in our mod fabric, with a single pale pink peonie.

We held the cocktail hour under this beautiful oak tree, filled it with pretty white lanterns of varying sizes, and tied the swing with some pretty ribbon.

The reception was held on what normally serves as Shelley’s Uncle’s driveway, but we transformed the space into a beautiful oasis. I apologize in advance for how many table shots there are to come, but it was just so beautiful that I seriously couldn’t stop taking pictures of the space.

For table numbers, Shelley & Tony decided to do a photo shoot around the city of Chicago, taking pictures at some of their favorite places that featured numbers.

This one was my favorite. The caption underneath says “it cost us $2.25 each to take this picture. thanks, mayor daley.”

Shelley also made these adorable Cootie Catcher menus that we placed at each persons place setting.

The beautiful cake provided by Sweet Gems. Carissa did a FABULOUS job creating a garden of tulips that appeared to be “growing” out of the cake stand.

Grand entrance time!

Which went straight into the first dance.

A speech by Shelley’s Dad.

Who wants some cake?!?

A beautiful father daughter dance as the sun officially set.

Which quickly turned from the Beatles “Michelle, My Belle” to Rick James’ “Super Freak”. As you can tell from the picture, I was not expecting this. So as Shelley’s dad started bustin his moves, my lens could barely keep up!

Shelley is a BIG baker, and is known in her family and circle of friends for making the most amazing cookies. So it was a no-brainer that she wanted to do cookies for favors. As good as hers are, she certainly didn’t want to have to deal with the stress of making all these cookies in the last few days before the wedding, so they went with these delectable choices from Bristol Farms.

I wish I knew how to take better pictures in the dark….take a photography class (must add this to my list).

To Shelley & Tony, I wish you both so much love and joy in your future. I know you are both going to make the most wonderful parents someday (and by someday, I mean you better start makin babies asap!). ;)
Shelley, I am going to miss our daily emails. Which almost makes me sad that your wedding is over.
Tony, please continue to make Shelley smile from ear to ear, every day, as I know you can.
Take the time to love and appreciate each other every chance that you get, and you’ll lead a long and happy life together.

MUCH, MUCH LOVE!!!

~ Alicia

The Fabulous Vendor Lineup:
Photography: Theorie
Videography: Studio West Video
Florist: JL Designs
Catering: 24 Carrots
DJ: Brady of Props FX
Cake:Sweet Gems
String Quartet: Andromeda String Quartet
Hair & Makeup: i-style Salon, Los Angeles
Rentals: Signature Rentals
Linens & Chairs: Dress My Chair

Shelley & Tony came into my life just a little over a month ago. We got an inquiry from Shelley who said she was planning her wedding from all the way out in Chicago and she needed help. And what better place to turn to for a wedding planner extraordinaire then here right?!?

I have to be honest, when I first heard that the wedding was only two months away and Shelley and Tony had ZERO vendors booked, it made my heart race. The wedding was to be held at her Uncle’s private residence in Trabuco Canyon, but other than the venue and me, there was zero set in stone.

Happily though, I am amazed at all we have accomplished in just this short month. Every vendor is booked and so many decisions have been made, it makes me giddy with butterflies in my stomach to think of how amazing this wedding is going to be!

So let me share with you guys, just a few tid bits of what’s to come…

Their color scheme is a base of Black & White with accents of Pink, Yellow, & Orange. Shelley and Tony have such an awesome sense of style, so it was no surprise when they picked these adorably funky invites from the Etsy seller ellothere.

We also got to do one of my favorite things during the one weekend that Shelley and Tony came out to California. We took a trip down to the wonderful Dress My Chair showroom in Costa Mesa and tried out soooo many combinations of table setups. We literally pulled practically every linen from the hangers until we finally came up with something Shelley and Tony loved!

It was originally one of the color combinations that Shelley was opposed to when we started, but when she finally gave in and took a look at it on the table, it was perfection! Which is one of the reasons I love taking brides down there so much. Things can look so different in your head than when you actually see them in person, so Dress My Chair’s showroom allows you to find out just what that vision in your head really looks like. :)

And while Shelley and Tony loved this color combination, they definitely wanted to do something different than a damask for their base runner. Some of you might remember the trip to the L.A. Fabric district that Amanda posted about here earlier this month? Well that was for these two!

And after searching through hundreds of options, we had a winner!! This super funky, mod fabric, that incorporates the black, white, and yellow all in at once!

What do you guys think? So amazing right??

We also decided that we’ll use the fabric to wrap the vases of the cocktail table arrangements in, like this. [I make a killer stick figure cocktail table right?] ;)

And last, but not least….the caterers! Shelley & Tony tried a few different caterers while they were out here, but weren’t as impressed as they would have liked to be. So they put their trust into my hands and sent me and her parents (who live in California) off to 24 Carrots for a tasting.

Ahhh the sacrifices a wedding coordinator has to make! ;)

Needless to say, the food was all AMAZING! And the staff at 24 Carrots is JUST as AMAZING!

So stay tuned for more to come. Their wedding is just 3 and a half weeks away! And I promise that there is more fabulouness that has yet to be revealed!!!

~~ Alicia

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!

Yay, yay, yay! This wedding was SO fun to work, and SO amazing to be a part of. Caroline’s laid-back personality and spunky presence led the way for the decor at this event. It was full of color, life, and love! The pictures are totally drool-worthy!

I met Caroline over at the San Clemente Inn to do a quick bouquet drop off!

I’m sure you’re sick of hearing about him, but Wayne Toshikazu was there shooting, along with Kim Le taking the lead!

You’ll see Kim Le in action a bit later…

Our ceremony and reception took place both at the Historic Cottage in San Clemente. It was amaaaazing! Onto the ceremony…

Caroline put together some incredibly intricate, fun details!

Caroline’s uncle playing guitar for the ceremony. I loved that when he was walking out, I saw this on his guitar:

Just before they were off to take portraits, I caught this moment:

More details:

Yep. These are huge mounds of tissue paper flowers. I loe them.

If you can’t tell yet, the theme was a Mexican fiesta!

Their cake was… incredible. It was so, so, so intricate, amazing, and PERFECT for this type of affair!!

So, I know this is a picture of my husband’s butt, BUT… he tore this huge hole in his pants during the ceremony. Seriously, unreal, right?? Good thing he had a back up pair of pants.

If you haven’t been to the Historic Cottage- you’re missing out! Surrounding the area that we used as the dance floor, is a big, adobe bench that Caroline’s mom sewed all of these pillows for!

After the ceremony, we moved the sweetheart table under the arch for the rest of the evening.

For favors, Caroline made tins of runts candy packaged colorfully, and my FAVE, the personalized Jones sodas again. TONS of different custom pictures and LOTS of flavors!!

We put out the groom’s cake, which was a surprise for Stephen, during the cocktail hour, with this CUTE customized cake topper!!

She gave Country Garden Caterers a few of these cute terra cotta arrangements to decorate the buffet!

A quick shot of our two photogs, workin’ it!

And the lovely bride:

And our dashing groom:

Our lovely florals were provided by one of my faves [for brides on a budget, especially], Floral Event Outlet! The bouquets were lush, the centerpieces were just what she wanted, and the vases were so fun wrapped in alternating colors of bright ribbon!

Just before the grand entrance, I caught C & S looking through their polaroid guest book…

And now onto the festivities [they opted to have their entrance, first dance, father/daughter and mother son, and then their toasts all back to back to back to... you get it]. It was a GREAT way to get the formalities out of the way and free up some time to par-tay!

Dancing with dad…

And now, with mom…

A few more decor shots: [she made these to line the aisle, and I kept them on the chairs for the bride and groom!]

A few more details…

Onto speeches…

Cake cutting…

My favorite faces always come from the cake cutting…

Bouquet and Garter…

The crew at After Dark Entertainment were GREAT at keeping the party going with their music selection. They also provided these amazing up-lights, which went perfect with our decor and gave this outside space JUST the right amount of vibe and light!!

Caroline and Stephen put together a KILLER slideshow for their guests as well, and we played it just as night was falling…

A sweet VIBE shot of the cake, after being cut, as the night rolled on…

And, of course, my favorite of the evening:

To Caroline and Stephen- you two are fabulous!! I loved every moment of your event. I’m so honored that I was able to witness your marriage- the ceremony literally gave me chills [and it wasn't just the ocean breeze, I promise!!]. Have SO much fun on your honeymoon, and hopefully you’re checking this in the nick of time before you two take off! I know, C, I promised I’d get ‘em up by Monday!!

I know, I know… it’s taken me forever to get these up! BUT, it’s not for lack of images, or excitement, or honestly kind words about this couple… it’s just lack of time and concentration!! Now, on we go!

Pru and Conrad snatched up my 4th of July Friday slot early on and from the beginning we clicked. At their first meeting, I got to witness their honest love and carefree attitudes. Pru’s beauty runs soo deeply inside that it’s literally oozing- gorgeously- out of her at all times! Enough said…

Some of their GORGEOUS floral details from the church. All florals done by The Enchanted Florist. Loving them right now!!

Bouquet for Mary:

Michael ofEvoke Photography in action!

Hi, Popo!! [This is what all of her relatives called her all night long- I think it's tooo cute!]

A detail of Pru’s. In her family’s tradition [she's Assyrian], the bride gets ready and then meets up with family to be “escorted” to the church. In Pru’s case, the “family” was about 70 or so people! I loved that with the bride came almost our whole guest list! For her home, prior to the ceremony, Pru made these little fans in her colors for the guests [it WAS 105 degrees that day!!]:

Okay, so, one of our 5 flower girls didn’t make it down the aisle…

Since St. Bernadine’s had a coordinator on sight that did a great job running a tight ship, I got to snatch up a few pics of Pru’s walk to Conrad before heading off to the reception site…

Dad stepped a bit on that veil, but hey, he straightened the train! Love him for it!!

Over to Marriott Marina Del Rey for a wonderful reception and fireworks to boot!

A terrible picture of the amazing engagement pics that Evoke provided us with. I’ll be blogging those [I know, I know, POST-wedding] later this month for sure!

Pru’s card box:

One of my FAVE details was Prudens’ home-made manzanita branch escort card trees. She had Enchanted Florist add some green orchids to the branches but WHEW these were a labor of love! They ended up soo gorgeous!!

More of Pru’s FAB details in the cocktail area:

Hi!!!

HOT!!!

And now, into the room…

Yep. She had it all! Chiavari chairs, Taffeta linens, lush centerpieces… this chocolate and green reception was to DIE for!

I LOVED that they had a pin spot on the sweetheart table:

Just something she whipped up…

We had a “sweets” table with all cultural foods. I LOVED bringing in this special addition to the night. And the guests devoured it!!

Soo… the florist had to leave before the cake was delivered and left me with orchids and a picture to finish the rest. Eeek!! Can you tell by my face?

Turned out pretty good!!

And, you know my obsession with cakes…

More of the room:

Pru and Conrad didn’t do a champagne toast, so they opted for special martini glasses as opposed to the traditional flutes!

Their cute cute cute napkins and some appetizers for the hungry Bride and Groom:

Working it:

Apparently, it takes LOTS of work to make pretty pictures. And, lots of heavy stuff:

You know it’s my favorite when the vendor payments match the wedding…

Quick pic:

This is the view from our room: We had the shades down all day and during cocktails to have the “big reveal” moment. But, all night, we had basically 3 walls of windows to the Marina and beyond. PERFECT for the 4th of July fireworks!!

Espimusic provided our ambient cocktail hour music. It was great!!

Pru and Conrad had the BEST grand entrance ever! In this culture, it’s tradition that the ladies in the groom’s family will wave and twirl these scarves with beads on the end. Since Conrad isn’t Assyrian, ALL of the ladies gathered on the dance floor to welcome Pru to the family! This lead straight into a 3 song dancing extravaganza and it was soo amazing!!!

I LOVED seeing Michael and Emi in the crowd, shooting as if their life depended on it trying to get these shots!!!

The bride’s bouquet:

Speeches by the family and bridal party:

Post-toast hugs:

Firework time! Now, Josh took these photos for me and trying desperately not to get in the way of Mike and Emi, these are ALL blurry! But, you still get the idea [waiting on pins and needles for Evoke's pics!!!]:

Back to the cake, as the night goes on…

First dance:

It’s tradition to shower the couple with dollar bills… and shower they did!

Father/Daughter and Mother/Son:

Cake!!!!

Loooooove this!!!

Cheers!

During dancing, Pru grabbed Con’s jacket and headed out to their wrap-around patio area to enjoy the 4th. How cute is she??

That’s it! No bouquet, no garter! We kept it simple and fun. The dancing went on until 1am and EVERYONE was out there having a great time! I did a few edits of some photos for your enjoyment as well…

And of course, my schmappy version of the firework images:

To Pru and Con- I loved loved, LOVED being a part of your day! The way you two love one another is so apparent, and so beautiful to witness. I am thankful to be in your lives and I can’t WAIT to see your pictures!!!

Yep. It’s that time again! I really wanted to do a table that was specific to this joyous season ahead of us. The colors were bright, popping colors that I feel really helped emanate the playfulness of the season. I wanted to keep it relaxed, so that it could be used to inspire not only weddings but showers [baby and bride], graduation parties, and summer fun fiestas! But enough said, let’s SEE!

The funky yellow vase was provided by me, but our superb vendors included The Treasured Petal [and aren't you dying already at that ball o'dasies??], Signature Party for all my rental needs and Dress My Chair for their absolutely outrageously fabulous tangerine pintuck linen!! Some of the intricate detailing:

Stuff that I created/put together and DIED when I saw it come to fruition: The individual bottles of Orangeade made the PERFECT summer chiller for an outdoor ceremony or cocktail hour beverage for the kids. Tying it together with a cute orange and white striped ribbon and adding a straw creates fun in the SUN! The favors that I put together were mini bags of macaroons from Paulette in Los Angeles. Staying in the color theme, we picked Lemon, Peach, and Orange Blossom flavors. YUM! For our escort card element, I opted for a second “favor” of sorts, using these orange-and-white wrapped chocolate bars from World Market- how perfect, the large text in the middle reads “rejoice!”. I loved that it tied in so great to the summer theme! Finished it off with a bright yellow napkin underneath a square orange cocktail plate and over a playful placemat from Horchow. I seriously think this one, of all 9, may be my favorite!

Of course, as always thanks to Jonilyn for her fabulous photos and even her hand-made collages of all 9 table sets!! Love her for it!

Hope you took some time to enjoy!! Next month, I’ll post another inspiring tabletop for your eager eyes!

I met Susan last year and we instantly hit it off! When I found out she was a Villa bride, I got even MORE excited because of how much I love working with the staff there. I knew that this was an event built for smoothness and beauty.

Over the past several months, Susan passed several ideas through me, and in doing so, I felt like I really became a PART of her wedding! That being said, I wish I had more pictures to show for it!!! But, I don’t. Sad face! Not even a single ceremony shot!!!

But, I did get to see her “work it”:

And, she knew it…

Susan supplied her guest’s with my FAVORITE beverages, and enjoyed one herself between the ceremony and photos…

Some belated ceremony decor pictures. They tied the knot at the Pine Wind Garden in Torrance.

Love it! Their engagement session was compliments of their photographer, Youkeun, ofYo Photography. I cannot WAIT until their wedding teasers are up! I’m depending on you, Yo!!

Onto The Villa!

Susan had a labor of love in these unique place cards!!!

I LOVED this idea, with their hand-written, personalized vows:

Gorgeous, right??

Impeccable, as always…

As you can see, the sweetheart table was delicious!

Her bouquet from the Tea Ceremony, which was earlier in the morning, doubled as her Toss bouquet!

This. Cake.

LOVED the unique “stand” they used. So cute!!

The grand entrance!!!

Straight into an amazingly choreographed first dance!

Onto speeches!

The lovely Villa staff, presenting the food… [they used "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and The Beast]:

Another shot of the guest book:

And, lastly [sadly], one of Susan’s amazing all-orchid bouquet:

I know, I know. No ceremony pics, no cake cutting pics… what a slacker I am! BUT- that does mean that when we FINALLY get to see Yo’s pictures, it will be that much more exciting and amazing!

Susan and Eddie- you two are so fun, so full of life and joy! I’m glad that on your day, you were determined to enjoy it! It really made the difference! I loved every moment that I got to spend with you, and can’t wait to relive each of them through photos!!!