50th Anniversary at Beverly Hills Hotel

A 50th wedding anniversary is a very special, unusual, and beautiful occasion to celebrate. Our celebrating couple, Marlene and Tom, wanted to throw a big, beautiful bash with 350 of their family and friends around them, and that’s exactly what they did.

After a renewal of wedding vows at Loyola Marymount University, the celebration took place in the Crystal Ballroom at the Beverly Hills Hotel. From the food to the band to the special appearance of the “Jersey Boys” as entertainment, every aspect of the party was carefully thought out to ensure the guests had the time of their lives.

Beginning with the “golden” theme representing the traditional 50th wedding anniversary, Marlene chose a beautiful and sophisticated linen of crushed gold as a base for the decor. To add drama and punch, jewel toned arrangements of hydrangea, lisianthus and roses adorned the tables in leaf-lined glass pedestal vases. Gold encrusted votive candles added warmth and ambiance to the tables, as did pin-spotting from above.

Special touches were everywhere; the brooch-tied cocktail linens, the hand-made biscotti favors, the white-glove service. We were so proud and honored to be part of such a special, once-in-a-lifetime celebration!

Spotlight Awards at the Music Center

This year’s Spotlight Awards, held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center downtown,  was a fun and colorful event.

Focusing on up-and-coming talent in the areas of song, dance, visual arts and instruments, the Spotlight Awards drew 2,315 applicants this year. Of those, sixteen winners and runners up were chosen.

Working with their invitation design of colorful pencils submerged in bubbly water, we created alternating centerpieces in bright primary colors, accented with fun and whimsical “bubbles”!

Half the tables were done with greens, blues and purples, arranged with hydrangea, orchids, silvery Lambs ear and Lisianthus.

The other half of the centerpieces were bright yellows, oranges, and reds, with Gerbera daisies, roses, orchids, tulips and button mums.

A fun fact: Adam Lambert of American Idol fame got his start when he came in second place at the Spotlight Awards in 2000. (He’s better at second than first; he came in second on Idol, too!)

The Power of Simplicity – Part Two

I was browsing through a few websites this afternoon (checking out the competition is always a fun endeavor) and realized that so much of what is beautiful in style and design is also very simple.

Consider the calla lilies shown here. Designed to echo the staggered pattern of the candles in the modern chandelier above, they are so much more effective as a single, stunning element than if this had been a mess of texture and color.

Another great way to avoid being “bland” when using a single color and flower type: repetition.

We usually like to keep things in odd numbers, but the dual mirrors above this console needed a counterpoint in flowers below. And — if we include the Buddha head — we really do have five elements on the table!

Another example of good design with restraint: staggered heights and complementary colors.

These glass toughs are filled with masses of fragrant butter yellow Hyacinth, which is a warm complement to the tones in the sofa, floor coverings and coffee table.

Finally, if you are using just a single element in a floral design, use something very unusual to make a statement.

Here we massed fresh green Lotus pods in a glass vase lined with Zebra leaf: only two elements, but the arrangement adds a zing of creative interest to the sleek, contemporary lines of the furnishings.

Flower Shoes

Can’t get enough shoes? Budget busted by endless purchases of Jimmy Choo’s, Manolo Blahnik’s and Louboutin’s? These little beauties were created for a ladies brunch with a shoe theme, and we think they’re great, although not very practical for wearing out.

This shoe was created by first packing a wire frame with moss, then building on top of the base. The heel is made of yellow button mums, and the rest of the shoe is covered in individual overlapping Mokarra orchid petals, glued on one by one. A tiny piping of mums  outlines the upper.

The shoebox is made of leaves, flowers and ribbon.

This next shoe was made with overlapping layers of silvery Lambs Ear, with fuschia Phaelanopsis orchid blossoms for the heel and toe. It also has a delicate piping of mums outlining the upper.

The shoebox is made of mums with a lid of moss.

New Year’s Razzle Dazzle

New Year’s Eve is our final chance to say goodbye to the old year and ring in the new, and what better way than to throw a party!

This year we worked with Debbie and her team at Hold The Date Events to create a wonderful “Razzle Dazzle” theme complete with zillions of crystals, ostrich feathers and mirrored disco balls.

For the centerpieces, we created a wreath of white roses embedded with crystal and silver sprays along with pure white Ostrich feathers to hug the perimeter of rotating disco balls  – reflections from the overhead spotlights was scattered all around the room, creating a great light show.

The buffet pieces were fun and fabulous, with long Ostrich feathers and fabric covered vases.

We used more fabric treatments for the tall cylinders that lined the red carpet entry to the party; vignettes of varying height vases were accented with crystal trims and lots of razzle dazzle accents and had tall silver pillar candles inside.

The Power of Simplicity

One of the hardest things in design is knowing when to stop. It’s so easy to go overboard, adding too many colors, too many disparate elements — and winding up with a mess.

One of our favorite designs for party work is to take a single flower and use it en masse, as shown here with these Calla lily troughs designed in mirrored boxes.

Set onto a long dining table with votive candles, these arrangements will add a stunning elegance to the ambiance.

Modern and clean, white is always a great choice for centerpieces, but another great choice is yellow!

We designed these centerpieces with only two elements; orchids and roses.  When using bright colors, it’s best to keep the color palette to a max of two, otherwise it can look like a carnival. Imagine this arrangement with another shade (like purple) and you can see what I mean.

Dressing Your Thanksgiving Table

For many people, Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday. The crisp fall air, the family all gathered together, the wonderful smell of cooking filling the house; these are things great memories are made of. What better way to honor the day than by bringing a bit of the beauty of nature to your celebration table?

This photo shows the actual centerpiece we used for our Thanksgiving celebration last year – a mix of antique hydrangea, butter yellow roses and amber Cymbidium orchids. One of my favorite little details were the bronze ornament shaped placecard holders (that I also re-used for Christmas.)

My mother used to always take a photo of the holiday table before anyone sat down (which my brother thought was very odd, but there you go) and now I’m in the same habit. The lit candles, the beautiful linens and silver, the gorgeous flowers – the visual part of the feast is almost as important as the food!

These little bronze beaded cabaret lamps were bedded in roses and orchids and surrounded with votives and rosepetals.  FESTIVE! Don’t forget the fun little odds and ends like putting a flower on each napkin (orchids or mini calla lilies are great choices, or even a single, elegant rosepetal) and having candles and something scented in the powder room.

And how about using fall leaves on the tables around the flowers?

Parties and Events

After the wedding season comes to a close at the end of September, the parties and special events heat up! And in November, the holiday season goes into full swing, so we’ll be busy until the New Year.

Here  Joyce is working on a party for the Mexican Consulate held at Hillcrest Country Club. To coordinate with the colors of the Mexican flag, we designed large pave style centerpieces with red ‘Charlene’ and ‘Freedom’ Ecuadorian roses in leaf lined cylinders accented with Green Ti leafs.

For Cedars Sinai Hospital, we recently designed Tuscan themed centerpieces at an event at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. We used grapes, dahlias, orchids, roses and pomegranates  designed in bronze urns to showcase an abundant fall palette.

All kinds of fruit are wonderful additions to floral centerpieces, especially to enhance events that center around a food theme.

Another great recent event was for a wedding rehearsal dinner. To personalize the centerpieces, the groom’s mother wanted to include photos of the couple, along with flowers and candles.

For a fun and modern design, we used hot pink roses cut short in different sized square containers along with photos inside glass cylinders.  Every table had a different set of photos, so all the guests saw something original!

Fall Flowers

As the weather cools and fall begins to move in, the florals we use for parties inevitably change with the season!

Although there are still plenty of dahlias available in a myriad of colors, we are using alot of the oranges and burgundies, along with darker accents and pops of bright color for drama.

For a gentlemen’s luncheon, we designed a long table with varying sized arrangements repeating down the center on a striped runner. For a masculine touch, we used dried Lotus pods and Berzilia berry with the dahlias and orchids. Brown Sedum and antique hydrangea completed the look.

Beautiful Summer Wedding

Last weekend at the Ritz Carlton, Marina del Rey, we designed a lovely wedding in a bright summer color palette for our bride and groom, Alison and Kent.

Using tones of orange, lemon yellow and apple green gave the decor and flowers a modern, seasonal feel while still keeping it warm and elegant.

Alison chose beautiful apricot Calla lilies tied with a simple silk cuff for her bouquet, and the ring bearer’s pillow was accented with shells to coordinate with their beachy theme.

The detail on the cake was one of my favorite things: sugar scallop shells lined each tier and a single shell sat on top. (We covered it in flowers, but they’ll see it on their one-year anniversary!)

Simple rosepetals and clusters of opened roses with votive candles accented the table, and small clusters of orchids and spray roses adorned each tier of the cake.

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