Karen and Jeremy

I have not posted for awhile due to a family emergency, but I have had the opportunity to work several incredible weddings.

In May, I had the pleasure of coordinating Karen and Jeremy's wedding at Hotel Vitale in San Francisco.  They had a beautiful, eco-friendly urban wedding.  Their color palette was chocolate brown with pink and green accents.  They had a neat place card set-up.  They framed a pretty piece of paper in a large frame and used that as the base to hold the hand-embossed cards.  For their table numbers, they painted similar frames, used sticker letters to put on the numbers, and filled the frames with fun pictures from their engagement shoot.  All of the details came together to add a really personal touch.

The wedding began with a first look ceremony on a terrace overlooking the city.  Then, they met with their rabbi to sign the license and ketubah.  The wedding ceremony took place on the 5th floor terrace with a gorgeous urban view.  From the moment the solo cellist helped them down the aisle I knew I was in for something special.  They had a neat take on the 7 blessings often included in the ceremony.  They invited up seven people that were important to them to prepare a surprise speech on the specific blessing and how it relates to them.  One began, "In the words of the famous philosopher Charlie Brown. . . " The ceremony made me laugh and even cry.

Congratulations Karen and Jeremy!  Check out some pictures by their incredible photographers, from Blueberry Photography: 

FAB FIND - Bridal shower napkin ring

I saw these fun napkin rings on Oriental Trading.com and thought they were fun. First, they could be used at a bridal shower as napkin rings. Then, one could become a fun Christmas ornament as a reminder of these special times.

Leila and Jamison

Leila and Jamison got married on March 28 in Clayton, CA. I was lucky to work at this unique, family-run event. I was one of the few professional vendors working the wedding. It was neat to see so many family members pull together and invest in their celebration. I also got the opportunity to bring Maria of La Hermosa Events along. Leila proved that a beautiful wedding is possible on a budget.

She DIY'd her unity candle.

She used a really neat guestbook. It is a modern take on the signature mat frame. Guests etched their signature into the silver frame that will soon hold their wedding picture. The signatures are there in a far more subtle way.

During the reception, her step-father had a very unique toast. He made a large mystery box filled with various meaningful jokes to wish them happiness through the years. This was one of the first things that he pulled out of the box. Dave is Leila's father who generously paid for most of the wedding.

Here is her adorable daughter as flower girl!

I am positive, based on the joy that I saw, that they will have many years together as a happy family! Thank you, Leila, for letting me a part of your day!

All photos in this post are provided courtesy of KitMac Photography. You can reach her at kitmac.photography@gmail.com

My Best Friend's Wedding

I had the wonderful opportunity to be maid of honor in my friend Jessie's wedding two weeks ago. It was one of the most fun weddings that I have ever attended. Her wedding took place in Albuquerque, NM at the beautiful Prairie Star. My husband and I at the wedding. This was the incredible view when they got married:

Their first dance was marked by the bridal party flanking them. At a particular moment in the song, we raised our given lighters. It was a good moment.

I really liked the personal touch of using black and white photos of them on the tables as decorations. It was nice to visit all the tables and see the pictures.

They borrowed her step father's Mercedes for the evening. He added a special touch as a final surprise for the night. What a beautiful bride! Thanks for letting me be a part of your celebration!

DIY Diaper Cake

My friend's baby shower was last weeked so I made my first attempt at a diaper cake. There are definitely things that I would do differently next time, but here it is:

Here's how:

1 - Materials:

A bunch of diapers. I used size 1-2. It took me about 130 diapers.

Two bottles to make the cake.

4 7" rubber bands (I didn't have any this big so I cut apart the ones I had and tied them together to make them longer.)

130 small clear rubber bands (I did not have clear ones. It would have looked a lot better)

Ribbon - I liked alternating two different types

Flower spray for the top

Candy

2 - roll all the diapers and rubber band them in a roll.

3 - Fill one bottle with candy and one halfway with candy as a nice surprise.

4 - Start with the full bottle. Surround it with a row of diapers. Rubber band them to hold them on. Do three more layers of this. Use rubber bands on each row. (The outside rolls need the larger rubber band)

5 - Start another layer of the cake around the bottle on top of the old one. This time, do only 3 circles around the bottle.

6 - Put the open bottle on top of the first and make two more layers. One will have two rolls and the top will have one. Leave the cap off the top bottle. (I actually buried it in the middle between the two bottles)

7 - Decorate the outside with ribbon. I used double sided tape to hold it on. Put the flowers in the top, open bottle.

Wedding Colors Wednesday: Grey and Purple

Grey is a hot color in weddings right now. Trends show that it is on the way to replace black and brown and the new color of the moment. I love this grey and purple inspiration board that I created. It is understated and elegant, while still allowing for a bold color.






Photo Credits: Cake, Grey dress, Purple dress, Grey suit, Bouquet, Necklace, Car, Pintuck linens, Boutonniere, Invite

Bridal Shower Game - Celebrity Brides

I planned a bridal shower a few weeks ago for a bride that requested no silly or embarrasing games. This one was a lot of fun! I cut part of the face off a famous celebrity. Then, I found a bride that "fit her face" out of a bridal magazine. I glued the celebrity face on the bride. The guests, as they were arriving, had to try to guess which celebrity was represented. They didn't all make it back on the plane very well, but I thought they would be fun to share. Can you get them all?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

Answers:

1 Gwenyth Paltrow

2 Jennifer Aniston

3 Nicole Richie

4 Angelina Jolie

5 Jennifer Hudson

6 Madonna

7 Anne Hathaway

8 Reese Witherspoon

9 Lindsay Lohan

10 Kate Hudson

11 Halle Berry

Guest Book and Decoration

If you are having a less formal and fun wedding, I love this picture that I came across on the Brooklyn Bride blog.

[Photo Credit]

I imagine this as a take on the Polaroid guestbook. People can take pictures during the cocktail hour. Then they are posted on a clothesline so that all can enjoy the pics throughout the party. What a fun addition to the night! It will add bright colors and something to look at as people are waiting for dinner to start.

Chocolate and Deep Red Wedding

A bride asked me to collect pictures of chocolate and brown weddings as inspiration. I love these deep colors. They make the wedding feel so rich and full. Here are a few of my favorites. The first three are from the wedding of Mike Lieberthal, Phillies catcher, as photographed by Mike Colon.

photo credit

These next few pictures are from a gorgeous wedding by fellow Project Wedding member It's Nicknack.

The rest of the eye candy is from an inspiration board that I put together. Enjoy!

Photo Credits: shoes gerbers cake invites party garter

Personalized River Rocks

Using organic elements in weddings is very popular right now. Earthy tones are often surrounded by branches, moss, and river rocks. I came across SJEngraving, a local Bay area vendor on Etsy, that had a very unique product. They will individually laser engrave river rocks.

I can imagine these being used as escort cards. They could engrave the table number right on the rock. Or, if you want to be able to have more flexibility in making table changes, you could put the rocks in small bags, using a tag to mark the table number.

Unique Wedding Keepsake

It has always been a family tradition to purchase an ornament each year as a reminder of whatever of whatever happened that year. We have collected ornaments from out travels and toremember important events. Decorating the tree allows us to reminisce and share memories. I knew that I had to find a special ornament from our first year as a married couple.

Then, I had the pleasure of discovering Camille from her Gorgeous Redhead Etsy shop. She makes custom ornaments based on pictures of the wedding cake. Check out the amazing job she did on mine.

My cake:


My ornament:


Camille is so talented. I can hardly wait for next Christmas to pull it out!

Rockabilly Wedding

I am working with a client that is planning to have a rockabilly wedding on a budget. Here are a few of ideas so far:

Color Scheme: Black, white, with a hint of red



Inspiration Board:



Bridal party: In Converse

Hair - 40's pin-up style, with a birdcage veil or flower

Getaway car: Something 50's. I am currently researching options.

Centerpieces - Classic Coke bottles with a simple flower inside.

Candy Bar - filled only with nostalgic candy (Abba Zabbas, Root beer bottles, Atomic Fireballs)

Menus - Made to resemble classic diner menus, using art deco fonts

First dance - swing dance

As a bachelorette party - Pin Up

Website!

My website is finally up and running! At this point, it is really simple, but I am so pleased to have something to start advertising. I love weddings and event planning, so I hope that this will lead to many more opportunities for me. Check it out!
www.pinkpetalseventdesign.com

DIY Thank You Parasol

Make your own painted parasol to use for photo opportunities. Think of all the varieties. Write "Thank You" on one and pose with it for your thank you cards. Write your initial on them and give them to all your bridesmaids or the guests. Write "Just Married" or your new last name on one and use it for a pretty picture. It is actually an easy project that can be completed in one evening.

Materials needed:
White (or another very light color) paper parasol. I got mine from www.lunabazaar.com
Acrylic paint - any color can be used, but darker colors show up better in pictures
Paint brushes - I suggest one medium and one extremely thin one
Computer and printer
Scotch tape

Directions:
1 - Type whatever you want on the computer in extremely large letters. To make it large enough to look right, it will actually print larger than a piece of paper. Don't worry about that. Just tape the pages together until they fit. I found that I also needed to bold the letters to make it look right.
2 - Tape the word to the underside of the parasol. Play with the placement until it looks even.
3 - Use the extremely thin paint brush to trace the letter outline. Then use the wider paint brush to fill the letters in.
That's it! At times, there will be a little guess work, but it really is just that simple. No one will probably see your parasol from up close. I noticed a few small details that I got off, but you cannot see them in photos. Good luck!

**Note: This article was also posted as a Project Wedding guide. **

Photobooth

Many people have mentioned a desire to have a photobooth at their wedding. It is a great way to loosen people up and preserve fun memories of the event. However, the cost is prohibitive to many people. They are often $1500 and up. However, it is possible to do it DIY for less:



1) Create the setting. Find a nice pretty fabric that can be strung up between two trees, across a corner of a room, or between two PVC poles. Make sure the fabric is not too busy - either plain or sith a slight pattern look best. You can go with the photo booth traditional colors of maroon or black. Or you can choose a fabric that matches your wedding colors. Make sure that the fabric is dark. Most photos will come out better that way.



2) Collect props if you want silly pictures. Hats, boas, sunglasses, and other props make for great pictures. This picture is from a hat party we attended, but I can imagine items like this in the photo booth. A great time to buy these items is right after Halloween.


3) Decide on who you want to man the area. Perhaps your photographer has an assistant that can be stationed here. You can also check Craigslist for a new photographer who might be willing to do it for free or for a low cost. Maybe you have a set of friends you want to have run the area during happy hour. It is possible to do a photobooth with a tripod and timer camera as well, but this might discourage people who are not comfortable with technology to use it.

4) Determine the outcome. You can save all of the there digital pics and print them later. You could upload them to a group photo account, like flickr, so that your guests can print off the pictures that they are in after the wedding. You could also have a photo printer right there. Make sure you have additional ink and photo paper. You could also provide scrapbook pages for the pics to be glued on. Set out stickers and colorful markers that people could use to decorate the pages as your guest book.

Using children in the wedding

I have been asked before about great ideas of how to use children in the wedding. Often times, people don't have just one girl and one boy to match the traditional flower girl / ring bearer role.

Other ideas include:

Carry a sign -I have seen "Here Comes the Bride". At HolyMolyMatrimony's wedding, on Project Wedding, a boy carried a sign that said, "Run Jason Run". So cute!

Serve as acolytes

- Read a prayer. With practice, even smaller children can help with this.

- Be fairies

- Carry the lasso, trece arras, or other ceremony items

- Boys can pass stemmed flowers out to the ladies sitting along the aisle

Others want children to carry traditional items in an unusual way.

- Girls that are too small to understand dropping flowers can carry several oversized stems

- Small boys can carry tuxedo clad teddy bears with a ring sewn on the paw

- Oversized rings can be carried. This adorable one was made by Nidia112 from Project Wedding. It will be such a great photo!

- Carry a set of books in a ribbon sling. Budoh from Project Wedding used this adorable set from StyleMePretty as her inspiration (Viola and Phillip's):

She chose one of her favorite children's books and made this precious look:

- Ring orbs

- Items can be used the carry the ring that match the theme of the wedding, for example a baseball glove or a large shell

- A wedding that I am working in a few weeks has a minor theme of bicycling (an activity that they enjoy). The ring bearer will be riding a tricycle down the aisle