Stephanie and Jake are a lovely couple and I thoroughly enjoyed working with this couple and their families to design a beautiful wedding. Stephanie looked so beautiful and elegant on her wedding day. She had such a classy look and Jake looked very dapper as well. Together, they certainly made one beautiful and happy couple.

Stephanie envisioned an elegant, Black and White wedding, but also loved the color, “red”. Making Stephanie’s Bridal Bouquet red was a perfect way to sneak a little peak of red into the wedding color story.

Stephanie and Jake had an amazing wedding party as well. They were all so nice to work with throughout the day. The girls wore black dresses to compliment the Black and White color story for the wedding. They all looked lovely and I am sure they will wear those beautiful, black dresses again at other affairs.

The perfect setting for this Black and White affair was the breathtaking Resort at Pelican Hill. This venue is the perfect venue for any event with any design or look, but an elegant, Black and White affair fits perfectly here.

Lush, cascading arrangements of white Phaleonopsis Orchids in gorgeous glass vases with white hydrangeas floral collars at the base of each vase were placed on clear, lucite stands at the ceremony. We placed four of the beautiful arrangements at the altar area and two additional arrangements at the entrance to the aisle. These arrangements were used after the ceremony at the reception as centerpieces on the guest tables. Nisie, from Nisie’s Enchanted Florist, designed a simple and elegant Huppah for the Jewish Ceremony for the Bride and Groom and their parents to stand underneath during the ceremony. Stephanie and Jake and their families signed the Ketubah prior to the ceremony and one of the ushers led the processional carrying the Ketubah which was then displayed on an easel during the ceremony.

 Stephanie gracefully walked down the aisle to be married with both of her proud Parents by her side.

This was truly a priceless moment as Stephanie’s Parents gave her hand to Jake to be married. Both Stephanie and Jake’s Parents were wonderful and supportive Parents and I can see why Stephanie and Jake are such beautiful people.

After the ceremony, the guests enjoyed a perfect, sunny day out on the upper terrace at the Resort during the Cocktail Reception. Stephanie and Jake joined their guests at the Cocktail Reception after a breif photo session with the fabulous photographer, Joe Latter, since they opted to see one another before their ceremony and took lots of photos then.

Stephanie and Jake really liked a natural look with an organic feel. Nisie, from Nisie’s Enchanted Florist, made a custom, wooden box to fit the beautiful entry table in the Mar Vista Ballroom foyer perfectly. The box was filled with delicate, green moss and phaleonopsis orchid blooms. The “place cards” were actually rocks with each guest’s name and table number beautifully written in calligraphy on them. The color of the rock indicated the entree that each guest would be served. I love the rocks. The Place Card Table and the place cards are normally the first glimpse that that guests get of the reception decor before they enter into the reception. There are so many ways to make your place cards unique. Each guest brought their rock into the Ballroom and put it at their place setting so that the service staff would know by the color of the rock which entree to serve to each guest. The rocks looked really pretty on the napkins and became an instant napkin treatment.

Place Card Tables are where I always suggest to my clients to add a little touch of fun and to be playful. We have done miniature football fields with real astroturf and flags with the names of football teams for the guest tables. We have done golf balls with the names of the best golf courses around the world. We have done wine corks that hold place cards, a clothes line with clothes pins, miniature pears with the plaecards pinned into them. The sky is the limit for place card tables. I always talk with my clients together with the floral designer to see what they are into and go from there and let the brainstorming begin. Place Cards are a great way to personalize your wedding and add a touch of your personality to the event.

My favorite Place Card Table this year besides the wooden box with moss and rocks featured here is the “Family Tree” place card arrangement. (I show photos of this tree in another post, “Christine and Michael” in the Featured Wedding Gallery). A custom, floral tree is placed in the center of the place card table and family photos are hung from the tree on ribbon that compliments the wedding decor and color story of course. As the guests enter and retrieve their place cards which are placed around the tree, they love to look at all the photos hanging from the tree of the couple, their Parents, their Grandparents and their Family and Friends. They get excited when they see photos of themselves displayed on the tree. Later in the evening, after all the place cards have been taken, the tree remains as a beautiful arrangment on the table. This table can also be used later in the evening to place parting gifts on around the tree that guests may take as they leave the wedding so the tree gets full use all evening.

I love all white flowers! It is such a classy and clean look and whenever you use only one color in the floral design it a very dramatic look and visually appears as if you have more flowers.

When designing a Black and White wedding I find the first thing my Brides ask is, “How are we going to bring in the black as there are not really black flowers”? They immediately think of having black linens. You need to be careful with black linens as they can really darken a room. Don’t get me wrong, black linens can be stunning, but it really depends on the look you are going for. If you want to brighten a room then do not use black linens and instead add small, subtle touches to bring the black in to achieve the perfect balance for a Black and White wedding.

I am glad that we used white table linens with the black runners for this wedding  instead of black linens as there was a perfect presense of the color black in this wedding brought in with black Chivari Chairs, black napkins, black table runners and black print in the menu cards. Of course the place card rocks were black and white as well.

Sometimes it can be hard for my couples to visualize exactly how everything is going to look on their Big Day. To help couples to visualize how everything will look, after the clients book their services, any seasoned floral designer will offer a Floral Design and Decor Prototype at no charge to the client. This is where we all get together with the floral designer at their studio and the floral designer actually creates their table setting. The designer sets the tables with the linen, china, chargers, napkins, napkin treatments, chairs, centerpieces and candles. This way the Bride and Groom can see the entire table design and touch it and feel it and make certain that this is exactly what they envisioned for their special day. We can try different linens, play around with different napkin treatments and eclectic candle assortments.

These sessions can last 5 minutes or sometimes I have had them last 3 hours. It  just depends when the couple walk in and see their prototype they may say, “It is perfect and I do not want to change a thing” (which is rare, but happens) or they love it, BUT they want to change it or tweak it somehow. The prototype is usually done at the floral designer’s studio as this way the if any changes need to be made they have their tools and supplies on hand to make the changes live right there on the spot for the couple. The prototype can be as simple as a centerpiece and a linen on a table or we can go so far as to even create a sampling of the draping and effect lighting to show the complete effect. It just depends on the extent of the decor chosen. The prototype is a fun and “roll up your sleeves” kind of session. I love it and it is hard when a florist does not offer this experience for my clients as I feel it is so important to the success of the wedding and the peace of mind of my clients. I would never want my couples to walk into their reception rooms on their wedding day and feel the decor was just not what they imagined or that their centerpieces were smaller than they thought they would be. Visual is so important and by having the prototype everything will be exactly as the Bride and Groom desire. They are no miscommunications. After all we have only one chance to get  right. Of course, all of my floral designers offer floral design and decor prototypes. I feel that the floral designers that I offer to my clients are thee best and they really understand how important the prototype is for the clients.

There are many options when it comes to where the Bride and Groom will sit at their wedding reception. There are, “Sweetheart Tables”, “King’s Tables” and regular Guest Tables. The Tables can be elevated on stages or be set up without a stage.

Stephanie and Jake really were a couple that did not like all the attention to be on them, instead they wanted to enjoy their day closely with their family and friends surrounding them. For clients who feel this way, I always suggest a “King’s Table”. The King’s Table is a great option for the Bride and Groom. The Bride and Groom can sit at a King’s Table with just their Best Man and Maid of Honor or with their entire Wedding Party. They can sit at the King’s Table with their Parents and Family members or with their entire Wedding Party and their significant others, too.

I have designed King’s Tables with my floral designers for 36 people or just for 6. We can create any size King’s Table, but of course it depends on the guest count and the layout and space available in the Reception area, etc. The King’s Table is usually made up of 6FT tables (double wide) put next to one another. We use half moon tables at the ends to create an oval look if desired so that people can sit at the ends of the table, too. We can also have a square, modern look as well. We do not place chairs directly in front of the couple so that the couple can easily be seen by their guests (or we can if they do not want to be seen), but usually guests sit around the entire table. This is a great setting so everyone is not sitting next to one another in one big line unable to have conversations together. We can put the King’s Tables up on a stage or set it up without a stage. The King’s Tables normally are set up in front of the dance floors or we can set them up within the guest table seating if it works within the layout.

The “Sweetheart Table” is a table where the Bride and Groom sit together at their own special table. There are pros and cons to all the options available. For the couple who does like all the attention to be on them as it is their special day then the Sweetheart Table is the perfect option. However, if the Groom leaves the Sweetheart Table at any time throughout the evening is the Bride going to want to sit at this table alone with 200 guests looking at her? I talk to my clients about all their options.

Another option for the couples is to sit at a regualr gueset table with their Parents, Wedding Party or guests, etc. We can always deorate this table so that it stands out or if the object is to not stand out then we can decorate it like all the other tables.

At some cultural weddings we have put the Bride and Groom up on a stage to sit on lounge furniture and then when it is time for dinner they have a separate table to dine. There are some photos of this option in the post “Dina and Jason” in the Featured Wedding Gallery”.

It depends on the guest count, the layout of the reception Ballroom or area and most importantly how the Bride and Groom feel, but there are so may options available to the couples. I always tell my couples that they must feel comfortable and to do what feels right to them. I always try to explain the pros and cons to make sure that my couples have all the information they need to make the best choices for them.

The beauty of it all is that we can design a space for the couples so that they are comfortable and happy. We can do anything their hearts desire. I like to walk the rooms with my couples and show them photos of how the areas have been set up. I show them diagrams and layouts of all the possibilities and then they can choose what feels best. It is their day!

Another place besides the Bride’s bouquet where we snuck in a pop of, “red”, was the wedding cake. The wedding cake was decorated with red flowers so that the Bride had another little hint of red included in her elegant, Black and White affair.

Of course the night would not be complete without the Horrah Dance! As you can see by the photo below captured by my dear friend and photographer, Joe Latter, the Horrah dance was a huge success and Stephanie and Jake had an amazing time with their family and friends dancing the night away to a great selection of music played by DJ Mike Carcano. I wish Stephanie and Jake an amazing life together as they begin their new lives as husband and wife.

Special Thanks to:

The Resort at Pelican Hill

Nisie’s Enchanted Florist

Joe Latter Photographer

Carcano DJ and Audio Visual and Lighting

…and, as always, to my Fabulous Team