Los Verdes Wedding

Hot colors. Beautiful setting. Love galore.

Summer weddings are special in that they are ebullient, colorful and full of the pizazz of the season.

Our bride, Meredith, chose a bright summer palette of raspberry, orange and apple green with hits of purple and yellow which spoke to her sassy, vibrant personality. Her bridesmaids wore beautiful cocktail dresses in purple/fuschia and each carried a different bouquet.

Meredith’s centerpieces were broken into three different styles: a trio of vases, one large low centerpiece and one tall display. This is a great way to visually break up a large banquet room

Meredith had a great idea for her head table; each of her bridesmaid’s bouquets was used as a part of the centerpiece on the table. Standing in clear glass vases, the bouquets added color and pop with little additional cost.

Meredith’s cake was lovely and understated with small clusters of orchids and sweetheart roses on each tier and a caketop of hydrangea, roses and orchids.

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.

Terranea Resort

Next month, we will be designing a wedding for Natalie and Scott at the spectacular,  brand new Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes.  It just opened a few months ago, and we visited the location with the bride and groom last week to walk through their event plan. We were blown away by the amazing ambiance. This is how a resort should be! There’s nothing quite like it in L.A.

Their ceremony will be held on a bluff overlooking the ocean, with the reception in the elegant and truly one-of-a-kind Catalina Room which has huge doors opening onto a tiled terrace with a spectacular view of the ocean beyond.

The resorts’ decor is so well done, it made us wonder why every hotel doesn’t hire their decorator/interior designer. The artwork, the furnishings, the details, even the carpeting — all were Mediterranean/California chic done to perfection. It’s even an Eco Resort, dedicated to lessening the impact on the earth through careful environmental initiatives.

We’ll post pics as soon as the wedding is over!

Eco Friendly Wedding florals

For the many brides who are opting to “green” their wedding celebration, there are a myriad of creative ways to pack a visual punch and still be eco friendly.

The Eco-Fleur Wishing Tree (which could also be used as a centerpiece with wired on succulents, orchids, etc.) is bedecked with cards (printed on recycled paper with soy ink, of course) that guests write their good wishes on and hang on the tree.

This piece serves in lieu of the traditional sign-in book, which many brides pack away and never look at again. You can take the wishing cards and put them into an album with some candid shots taken at the reception for a fun and special memory. The natural Manzanita branch will last indefinitely.

Another great idea for the earth conscious bride is a centerpiece made with recycled materials, drought-tolerant plants (such as succulents, which can be taken home and replanted) found objects and discarded treasures.

Here we have a centerpiece in a square wood box filled with moss, river stones and succulents surrounding two joined pieces of dried grapevine from old vines. This can be kept as a home decor piece which will live indoors on a coffee table or outdoors on the patio for years.

Soy candles could also be added to complete the ambiance!