New Website

I'm so excited to launch my newly revamped website. Thanks to the suggestion of the fabulous Jasmine Star who's husband, JD, also fabulous, works for an amazing user friendly website program called ShowIt. I was super easy to create this site. And they have a free option now where you get 30MB of data upload (photos, etc.) and can publish 5 pages for free. And you can upgrade at any time and can event get a discount using Jasmine's special code (JSTAR).

I hope you like the new site!! And a big thank you to Heather Jagger for these fabulous photos that make my site look fabulous.

Featured on Junebug Weddings

I was ecstatic today when I received an email from Junebug Weddings that a wedding I planned earlier this year was featured as a "Real Wedding" as well as "What Junebug Loves". This is an amazing website and fantastic resource for any bride & groom to be. Here's a link to my original blog post on Rachael & Dave. I Heart Junebug!!!

Inspiration: Navy Blue is the New Black

More and more I see "navy blue" being used in place of black which, in my opinion, creates a softer more romantic look as well as being chic and stylish and classic. I've seen it offset with pink, orange, yellow, green, and white. If you're looking for a way to have your wedding colors stand out and still be classic and elegant, this is the way to go.

I love this inspiration board from the Wedding Chicks.
Here's a modern take on a beach inspired wedding using coral in an orange shade to compliment the navy blue. Love this sample from Kenzie Kate.

This is a photo of one of my beautiful brides, Rachael, who got married in Ojai and had the color scheme of white, green, and navy blue. The maids look just stunning in their navy blue gowns. This photo was taken by the talented Heather Jagger of Jagger Photography.

I was first introduced to JL Designs at a wedding last August at the Hummingbird Nest Ranch and the flowers were STUNNING. This "baroque" design as seen in Bride and Bloom Magazine was done by the ever talented Carissa, owner of JL Designs and again uses the navy blue which compliments the warm colors of the peach and gold with the stark white and I think looks just fabulous.

Here's a photo from the wedding that I met Carissa of JL Designs last year. I love my bride, Nicole, owner of Nicolita Swimwear who is extremely talented and not to mention gorgeous and who designed her own dress and those of her bridesmaids who are in navy blue and the fuscia boquets just pop for that WOW factor. And you may recognized the second maid on the left who is the bride you saw in the photo earlier in this post. Referrals are fantastic!!! This photo was taken by my FAVORITE PHOTOGRAPHER who is sweet, and beautiful, and funny, and extremely talented, the lovely Jasmine Star.
Here's another fabulous wedding from Carissa of JL Designs, photographed by Sweet Monday Photography, which was just featured on Style Me Pretty, a great bridal blog.

Real Wedding: Rachael & David

I met the bride Rachael at a wedding rehearsal when she was a bridesmaid in her friend Nicole's wedding that I planned last August (to see photos click here). Now it's Rachael's turn to be the blushing bride and of course Nicole was one of her supporting ladies. The photos began at the Emerald Iguana for the ladies and the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa for the guys. The ceremony was held at the beautiful San Buenaventura Mission. Then it was back to a private residence in Ojai for the reception. These amazing images were taken by photography team Heather & Grayson of Jagger Photography. And if you're looking for beautiful images for a reasonable and fair price these are the 2 to talk to.

The bouquets and other personal flowers were created by Floral Designs by Roni. To save money the bride bought all her own flowers directly from the flower mart and was able to find a florist who was willing to open her shop for Rachael to not only create the centerpieces but store them as well. Then on the day of the wedding they were delivered along with the personal flowers and 2 beautiful wreaths to the house.

Now, this private residence is the home of Rachael's late grandfather and is owned by her mother and aunts. They revamped the entire outdoors of the property just for this wedding. The transformation was amazing. The bride is an interior decorator and every detail was well thought out and beautifully executed. She bought almost everything including her linens, wine glasses, bambu plates, "silverware", napkins, candles, VOSS water, and the bride and her ladies created all of the centerpieces (stock, mums, and hydrangea).
The bride wanted to make sure her guests were comfortable and felt loved and you could tell. There were sandals in 3 different sizes to wear in the grass filled backyard, pashminas in case you got chilly, a candy bar for your sweet tooth, and even 2 kegs to make it feel like you're truly at someone's home and that this was a party.
For their guestbook they were a bit untraditional. I mean, who really takes out their guest book off the shelf to look at the signatures??? They gave blank postcards to each guest asking that they write a special note and the maid of honor had the duty to mail them to the bride and groom throughout their first year of marriage. I love this idea!!! And the postcards and other stationary were custom designed by another bride of mine Michelle.
The food was amazing and provided by Wood Ranch BBQ (their garlic rolls alone are worth it). The bartenders were fantastic from Beverlee's Bartending (805) 492-0385. Rentals from Ventura Rents. Gavin from Santa Barbara DJ's spun tunes. The party even went late and the cops were called to shut it down. Good times were definitely had by all.

The bride even bought her own lighting...so beautiful!

Sneak Peak

Last week I had the pleasure of making a bouquet for an old classmate and friend, Lindy. We shared several classes together back at APU. I was reading updated statuses on my facebook and found out that she was retaking her wedding photos with her husband. They wanted to take the time and invest in a good photographer for wedding photos they'd be proud of and one's to show their kids one day and adorn the walls of their home. So, I asked if I could give her the gift of making her wedding bouquet. So in the photo you see, the first one I have so far, is the bouquet I made and this is a sneak peak of what's to come and I'll post the other photos in a few days.

One thing I think is worth investing in is PHOTOS. Even if you don't have a big budget for a wedding, photos are worth a 1000+ words and since you're wedding day only happens once you should have it captured in the best light. If you're willing to shell out the big bucks you could go to Jasmine Star , Victor Sizemore, B & G Photo or Boutwell Studios. If you're still looking for beautiful photos but have a smaller budget you could go to Tira J (who did this photo), Epic Imagery, Drew B, or Heather Jagger.