<3,

Angie

The wedding of Leigh + Tim was one of our last for 2010.  And what a wedding to begin winding down our season!!!  As mentioned in part 1 of Absolutely Married: Leigh + Tim, the details were a huge focus in the planning discussions and meetings that Leigh and I had together.  Between the two of us working in this industry, we have seen and thought up countless fun details incorporated to weddings.  But when it came to her own wedding, we knew we had to step it up a notch, choose from some of the best-of-the-best of ideas we had seen and/or executed previously that Leigh loves,  and perhaps even come up with some new details to incorporate!

The ceremony and reception both took place at the breathtaking SantaLuz Club.  (If you have not been to this location, or if you are getting married soon and still need a venue I have HIGH recommendations! Elizabeth and the rest of the team at this site are fantastic  !) Leigh and her bridal party arrived early to being beautification and relaxing early the morning of the wedding.  The bride’s hair was styled by Jennie Connley from Pixis Salon.   Makeup for the bridal party was by Colleen Erwin; yes, one of the Absolutely Events assistants, who coincidently is a makeup extaordinaire!  I am lucky to have a multi-talented team!     You can e-mail Colleen at colleen@absolutelyevents.net if you are interested in in her makeup talents for you own celebration.  

Here are a few photos from the earlier part of the day:

Wasn't it a beautiful day?  Love some of the extra photos that our super talented photographers (Zelo) got of the day and the lovely landscape around the venue!

The bride’s ceremony shoes were adorable ballet flats by Steve Madden and later, at the reception, she slipped on a pair of cute jeweled flip-flops by JCrew.  Anybody wondering where she got that killer dress ???  Her  fantastic mom MADE her dress!!!  Yes, you read that correctly!  I’m still blown away by this; love this dress and the fact it was custom made with love by her mom . . . be still my heart!   Check out the adorable “summer camp tag” that she sewed into Leigh’s dress!

The guys all arrived a bit later to the property and were able to relax and get their final touches and boutonneires pinned before the ceremony.  I think they enjoyed a bit of the down time and their awesome digs at the SantaLuz Club before the ceremony!

Some of you may be wondering who did the flowers for this florist bride of mine.  Well . . . for any of you who have worked with me before as a past bride or groom, you know that I have very few rules, but that I do have a few things I ask you to do, or not do, related to your wedding day .  One of my rules for Leigh was that she NOT do her own florals.  I wanted her to relax as much as possible, like any of my brides, the week prior to her wedding.  This translated, in my book, to her staying out of her floral shop and to not assemble bouquets and arrangements for her own wedding.  At first mention of this rule, Leigh looked at me like I was crazy.  And, she started to fight it.  Luckily, she gave in though!  In the end, she completely designed every floral element for her wedding (of course, and to complete perfection!) and was able to provide instruction and turn the reigns over to a couple of close friends and her employees in her shop to execute her vision.  Everything was lovely and perfect!  I think she would agree! 

More gorgeous florals throughout the rest of this post and the next for Leigh + Tim  ~ I promise!!! 

As guests began arriving for the event and drove from the front gate of the SantaLuz property to the Clubhouse, they followed signage in varying sized frames to point them towards the celebration .  Once on property, complimentary valet was provided by the SantaLuz Club and guests were greeted by Absolutely Events and directed to the ceremony area.  The ceremony took place on the lawn adjacent to the clubhouse, and on their walk down the stairs to the lawn the ladies were encouraged to take a pashmina to keep them warm through the outdoor ceremony.   Gorgeous grey pashminas were rolled and tied with string, and placed in a wrought iron stand with basket with a welcoming sign to the guests, hand-written by the bride. 

At the ceremony site, fruitwood chiavari chairs (compliments of Raphael’s Party Rentals), personalized programs with a light silver damask  printed backing (compliments of Paper Scissors Print), wedding blessing stones, rose petals and gorgeous large floral arrangements, both flanking and heading the ceremony area, were all elements incorporated.  Music was provided by the very talented Nick Weiss (thank you Nick!) with the exception of the bride’s processional which was played by a close family friend on the piano. 

The ceremony was so incredibly sweet and sincere, although there were definite moments of laughter that provided a light hearted feel.  This was one of my favorite ceremonies of 2010 that I was able to witness.  Leigh + Tim were married by a close friend of theirs, whose delivery of their personalized ceremony was beautiful.  The bride and groom wrote their own vows, and between those vows and a letter written by the bride’s late father (delivered by the bride’s sister) . . . there was not a dry eye in the house.  During the ceremony, the Officiant asked all of the guests to take the stone that was laid upon each seat in their hands and make a wish for the bride and groom.  The blessed stones  were collected at the end of the ceremony for the bride and groom to display in their home after the wedding. 

Once the ceremony was over, guests were invited to cocktail hour, on the patio overlooking the golf course at the SantaLuz Club.  The patio features market lighting, comfortable seating and a fantastic firepit, making the entire area very inviting!   These existing elements made it very easy to just bring in a few additional belly-bar tables and linens, bar, space heaters and other specialty tables to create a perfect venue for their cocktail hour.  Nick Weiss continued the musical entertainment during cocktail hour.

Among the auxiliary tables at the cocktail hour was a guest note table display.  Two manzanita branches were placed on the table with votive candles, pens, bare notes with ribbon hangers, and signage (handwritten by the bride) directing guests to tell Leigh + Tim   something about the other that they should know.  Such a cute concept, thought up by no one other than the fabulous bride herself, of course!  Leigh, I love it so  much that I may be borrowing this idea for a future wedding  , if you don't mind!   

And here it is towards the end of the evening as the manzanitas began to fill up with fun notes from guests . . .

Such a cute idea, right? 

Another cute table set-up at the cocktail hour was that for the escort cards.  Two card box flats, trimmed with pretty ribbon, sat atop table runners custom-made by the mother-of-the-bride (yes, that lady is talented and was involved with sewing more than the dress!)  The escort cards were designed by the very creative Nicole, of Paper Scissors Print, and were placed in floral card stands which were stuck into foam lining the boxes, which was covered by rock salt.   Such a nice effect and made locating guest’s escort cards easy!

SO many more cute details and photos to show off!  Thank you to the fantastic duo who photographed the wedding, Zelo, for offering up so many images for us to highlight the celebration of Leigh + Tim !!!  We loved working with you two and look forward to future weddings together! 

Please check back for Absolutely Married:  Leigh + Tim (part 3), so that you can read about the reception and see what surprises the wedding guests were treated to!

Some of you may know that I have become dear friends with some other wedding vendors over the last few wedding seasons (and if you didn’t know this, now you do!)  I am  lucky to have met SO many wonderful  and  talented people who  peovI LOVE working with!  One fellow vendor who I have fallen in wedding love with, and who I do believe is now a lifelong friend of mine is the very talented Leigh of Posies Flowers. The two of us share an uncanny wedding connection and love for all things pretty.  She is creative, fun-loving, smart, sugary-sweet, kind and beautiful (inside and out!)  The list really goes on and on with this amazing lady!  And, she is now married to an equally awesome person, Tim!

I was beyond  thrilled , and flattered, when Leigh asked if I would help in planning and coordinating her wedding!!!  I felt it was such a humongous compliment to have a fellow wedding vendor and friend ask me to be a part of her Big Day.  Of course, I said yes!  Jumped at the chance!

Details were definitely a huge focus of our planning discussions and meetings, and we were able to incorporate SO  many adorable ideas and elements!   I can’t wait to share the photos from the wedding and highlight some of these details, but first I thought I should share a few of the  fabulous engagement pics taken during the San Diego County Fair by the uber talented duo of Dapper Images!  (Yes, I should have blogged these LONG ago!)  Thank you Dapper Images for sharing!!!  You guys rock my frilly socks!  :)

Check out our upcoming blog posts { Absolutely Wedded: Leigh + Tim (parts 2 and 3) } for photos and details about Leigh’s and Tim’s fun and gorgeous wedding at the SantaLuz Club!

I got to know Katie + Chris  during the planning of their wedding.  Just like their  cute personalities that I came to love, they are so incredibly cute to look at . . . cute enough for sure to justify a second blog post of a few more portraits of just the two of them!  Enjoy these cuties!

For me, getting the photos of a wedding I've been a part of from the photographer is a treat.  I savor looking through the images like some may enjoy a latte, or a piece of chocolate or some other delicious treat.   Or, like a chai tea latte (for myself!)  I get to relive the day all over again.  Only, in looking at the photos afterwards, it is often even better!   The photos so often romanticize the day for me even more than the memories I have burned to my brain about how big the smiles on my bride's and groom's faces were, how lovely the wedding gown was, how perfect the flowers were, and just how beautiful the day was.   I get to see moments that I may have missed, or the details that my team and I set-up but didn't have an extra minute to enjoy upon completion.

Wedding days are among my favorite days.  Photo veiwing days are also among my favorite days for these reasons.

And when I get photos back from a photographer that are as gorgeous and breathtaking as those from Katie + Chris . . . no amount of yummy chai tea latte can top that for me.  Thank you so much, Brandon Kidd Photography, for so generously sharing these extraordinary photos with me!  It was truly such a pleasure to meet and work with you, and I'm excited for future weddings together!

So . . . on to some of these beautiful photos of this beautiful couple!  Enjoy!

Amazing, right?  And not only was the wedding beautiful, but it was probably one of the most rockin' parties we saw all of last summer!  Special thanks to the entire wedding team (see below for list) for making Katie's + Chris's wedding day a memorable one for them!  The AE team loved being out at The Dana again, and had such a blast working with an entirely new vendor team.  So fun having some fresh  faces and meeting such great  talent!!!   Thank you all! 

Ceremony + Reception Venue:  The Dana

Coordinator:  Absolutely Events

Photography:  Brandon Kidd Photography

DJ + Lighting:  DJ Tasos

Flowers + Chair Covers:  Kelly's Flowers

Officiant:  The groom's grandfather!  :)

Cake:  Twiggs Bakery

Hair and Makeup:  Beauty and the Beach

I window shop. 

I website stalk.

And now, possibly some of the best news to the wedding fashion world . . .  Anthropologie recently launched its new wedding line.  YES!  It's true, and now I have just one more bottomless pit of complete gorgeousness to stay updated on in addition to all of my other blogs and websites.  Yes, add a +1 to my "blackhole" of wedding beauty to stay "up" on! 

True to Anthro, each piece has that vintage-inspired feel with a hint of that quirky design we see in some of their everyday pieces.  For any of you who are as excited about this as me and want to check out the site in its entirety, you can visit it at www.bhldn.com

Below are just a few of my absolute favorite wedding gowns that are up and available now! It was extremely difficult to choose between them all though!  Enjoy everyone!

Absolutely Events was a 2011 Bride's Choice Awards winner through WeddingWire!!!

Please read on for details about this:

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, is thrilled to announce Absolutely Events has been selected to receive the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for wedding planning!

We are happy to announce that Abstolutely Events is among the very best in wedding planning within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for nominating us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/absolutely-events-southern-california/5669bd0865282e93.html

For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire.com, the nation's leading technology company serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 local wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives local businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. Businesses that join the WeddingWire Network appear on WeddingWire.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), ProjectWedding.com and Weddingbee.com (both part of eHarmony), and Celebrations.com (part of the 1-800-Flowers family of brands, NASDAQ: FLWS).

Yes.  Janelle + Kenny  will be getting married in 2011, and are throwing a wedding celebration that I can  barely  contain my  excitement  about! 

Yes.  They are an awesome duo!  I love  them!  Let me repeat that –  LOVE them!  I swear that I think Janelle and I may have been separated at birth; she is in love with her wedding and planning every pretty detail of it, and has been collecting décor items and planning and planning and planning.  And Kenny, well he is just a jack-of-all-trades and has made items for their celebration that range from pillows (yes – he can sew!) to floral stands that he welded.  Too bad he's already taken, right ladies?  :)

I can’t even recall at this point how Janelle stumbled across my information and came to booking me, but am I ever glad that the stars were aligned for that to happen!  I am thrilled to be a part of (what will be) a fantastic wedding for these two lovely, lovely people this May!  Thank you, Janelle + Kenny, for allowing me to take part in your upcoming Big Day!!!

And, thank you to the very talented Emily Faulknor for sharing these beautiful engagement photos with us!   I’m so excited to work with you in May for Janelle + Kenny!!!

Take, for instance, one of my lovely couples getting married in July at The Dana.  Jen + Chad.  They are two fantastic people!   The type of couple that I could sit and chat with for hours about our shared love of food, wine, sweets, cooking and so many of the other great things that life has to offer!  Just two of the most fun, sincere and kind people who are so obviously nuts about each other that you can’t help but smile seeing them interact with each other!  And, to top all of this awesomeness off . . . They.  Are.  Beautiful.  As in, they could be models, beautiful.  As in, they belong in a magazine, beautiful.  As in . . . well, see for yourself!  

Thanks so much to Justin Lee, their talented photographer who will also be shooting their wedding, for sharing these gorgeous photos with me of the engagement shoot with Jen + Chad!!!

Thank you again Justin!  I cannot wait to work with you in July!  And thank you Jen + Chad for being such a fun couple and providing me another reason to already love 2011!  I am SO excited for your wedding and to be working with you both!!!

• All of my brides and grooms that were married in 2010.  You know who you are!  And, I hope you know how much I sincerely appreciate you!  Not only for allowing me to be a part of your special day, but, in many cases, for making me laugh, making me smile  and   brightening  more than a few of my days.  I really do feel I’m a better person for having met you all; I truly loved being a part of your lives for the, relatively, short-time I was in it for some of you.  And for those of you who I have been lucky enough to see since the wedding and will likely see again because of the friendship that we forged . . . I am blessed to now call you a “friend” and not a “client.”  Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart!

• All of the other crazy wedding vendors.  Well, I suppose we are all a little bit crazy, right?  Living and working in this crazy wedding bubble that, most of us, love so much?  Thank you, thank you, thank you times a million for your hard work, your time, your patience and your talents.  Looking back at this year I get excited all over again thinking about some of the faces I got to see and work with again this year, and all of the new faces I was introduced to through our weddings.  I have met some truly amazing folks this year and am SO thrilled I am guaranteed to work with some of you again in 2011!  Thank you for making my life easier, thank you for making my life better, thanks to some of you for becoming such great friends to me and thank you for just being the cool people that you are!

• My assistants and my interns.  Colleen, Courtney, Monica and Ally; words can honestly not express my deep gratitude to the four of you.  You have all been my lifesavers at some point this year, and without your hard work and dedication . . . quite frankly I don’t even want to imagine that, so I’ll move on . . . You all worked your little booties off this year and matched the 150% effort that I put in myself to this business.  You did it with smiles on your face, even when we had a few “tough cookies” in front of us, and you did it all with grace.  I hope you each know how important that you are to me and that I really believe we had the best little team this year!  Thank you!  P.S. I can’t WAIT for our AE Team Dinner!  I have a little surprise for each of you!!!

• My future 2011 couples.  My goodness, can I just tell you all that each time I booked a 2011 celebration this year (in 2010) that I did a happy dance?  I am SOOOOOOOOOOO  ecstatic for the line-up we already have for next year!  What amazing people you are, really!  I have loved getting to know you all and hear about your plans and your lives.  I cannot wait to get to know you all better!  I really do get attached (and yes, a little possessive) over my clients and I already know that it will be hard to “let go” of you all this time next year once your celebrations are over.  But for now, I will focus on the positive and would just like to say thank you for bringing me in as a part of your life for the next several months!  I am honored to join you on this journey!

• My family.  Yes, I am thanking you too!  Colleen, you have already been thanked above but I thought I should thank you here as well.  You, of course, assisted me with many of this year’s weddings and I am so thankful for that!  But, for those celebrations you weren’t present for, you would still listen and be supportive and be interested.  You put up with my “can’t talk – I’m busy” response, I don’t know how many times, and you have, on more than one occasion, brought up 2011 and that you are ready and excited to be a part of it.  Thank you!  And to my mom and dad, thank you for being two of my biggest cheerleaders!  Not just my cheerleaders, but my team’s cheerleaders.  I really appreciate you listening to me chat endlessly about all things weddings, and my clients, and the meetings I have coming up, and and and . . . just, thank you.  I love you all!

• My Paul.  Most of you, who have worked with me (clients and other vendors alike) have heard about Paul.  The infamous Paul.  Honey, how do you put up with me?  Really?  You’ve helped me load my car with emergency kits and bride’s décor and personal items more times than can be counted, you’ve put up with my white client binders showing up in places other than their home in our office, you’ve come to my rescue at a few weddings for help and to shuttle me an extra item (or 5) that I needed . . . and it doesn’t stop there.  You listen, you give me high-5’s, you remember my clients’ names and their stories (which you know scores you extra points because they become so important to me) and you put up with me when I go into super-pyscho –wedding-planner-mode.  Your patience with me, and my Blackberry ringing and making e-mail noises at all times of day and night, is really quite impressive.  Thank you for loving me and being so supportive of me doing this thing that I love so much!

May you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!