JL DESIGNS: November 2008

stacey and andrew - the cottage, san clemente

stacey and andrew were married at an ocean front park in san clemente and held their reception at the cottage (part of san clemente's state parks). for those with a small enough guest count (less than 150), the cottage is a fantastic venue full of charm...and its got killer ocean views! how can you beat that?!

this wedding was shot by one of my all time FAVORITE photographers, amelia lyon...we started our wedding industry careers around the same time so i feel like we have watched each other grow so much over the last 4 years...thank you amelia for being so AMAZING at what you do! i am so proud of what you have done since we first met!

the bridal bouquet was made up of shades of white and cream peonies, roses and ranunculas...

the bride's gown was accented with a blush sash and she wore pale pink heels...

the bridesmaids' bouquets were made up of pale pink garden roses, antique pink sahara roses, parrot tulips and blush astilbe...

a chocolate brown monkey tail and a few manzanita twigs accented the groom's white ranuncula boutonniere...

the ceremony area was flanked by two large brown ceramic vases filled with chocolate manzanita branches, mood moss and white and pink cymbidium orchid blooms (some attached with hanging satin ribbon)...

my favorite photo of the day...

placecards were hung from more manzanita branches using chocolate satin ribbon...

tables were set family style and the florals were kept really clean with simple glass vases filled with water and one type of white spring flower (peonies, hydrangea, tulips, mini calas, garden roses, ranunculas, sweet peas, hyacinth, etc.)...

we kept the vases a little on the eclectic side by mixing square and rectangular vases with cylinders, footed vases and bulbed vases.

kristen and jerry - casa del mar, santa monica

kristen and jerry got married at casa del mar right around valentines day 2008...so we decided to keep with the idea of valentines day without taking it to the "hearts and cupids" level...we went with deep dark reds, light caramels and rich chocolate browns...we incorporated lots of rose petals, candlelight and specialty lighting, along with crystals for a feminine, sparkly touch...overall, the day was warm, lush, sexy and magical!

the rich chocolate brown linene and fruitwood chiavari chairs were brought in by elegant designs...

nathan from lighten up did an awesome job creating a warm environment for the guests...i also loved the textured pattern he added to the dancefloor...

chocolate brown wood boxes were packed full of velvety Black Magic and Black Bacarra roses, wine colored dahlias and burgundy cymbidium orchids....more orchids were attached to the chocolate manzanita branches, along with strands of "floating" crystals...

each place setting had an orchid bloom tucked into the napkin fold...

to pay tribute to their polish heritage, a bottle of belvedere vodka was placed at each dinner table, along with a bevy of shot glasses for guests to help themselves...i am sure you can now imagine what kind of party this was!

the yummy cake was done by nancy kay's confections...

a HUGE thanks to kathy and susan of bella weddings for making this day flow so seamlessly...and to christine marie photography for capturing the warm, sexy beauty of the day!

sarah and jeff - shade hotel, manhattan beach

although we don't normally do fabric draping ourselves, at shade hotel we have become pros by now!

this was my first time working with nicole caldwell, but she did a killer job on the decor shots!!

the bride revolved her whole wedding theme around an image of a cake she found in a magazine...amy from vanilla bakeshop did a fantastic job re-creating the cake as a small cake topper, and adding her own flair with the chic but playful cupcake tower she created...

the cupcake tower and additional cupcakes were set on top of 4 foot tall opaque lightboxes from level 4 international, which glowed aqua at night...

we stacked the ceramic vases inside each other so each centerpiece consisted of 3 arrangements set inside 3 more arrangements! the white "windowpane" specialty linens were from elegant designs...