New Press: Martha Stewart Weddings

Check out our adorable fall wedding on Martha Stewart Weddings! Our Labor of Love shot some gorgeous photos, not all of which made it to Martha, so we thought we'd share a few more with you here.




Dana and Quinn were an absolute delight to work with. They both currently live in LA, but Quinn is from Jamestowne, Virginia and thought what better place to have a wedding than on the historical grounds of the Historic Jamestowne archeological dig site, just up the road from the home he and his family grew up in. So, we flew out to Virginia, checked out the grounds and realized we couldn't have agreed with him more!

Jamestowne was the first permanent English settlement in America, meaning that it was the first real town settled back in the early 17th century. Complete with ruins of an old church, cemetery and the original fort, the grounds are a striking reminder of how this country began (pretty awesome history lesson to follow up Memorial Day, if I may say so myself). Smack in the middle of the grounds is a sprawling lawn, perfect for pitching up a massive Sperry Tent for a wedding reception. So, that's just what we did.






It was an amazing night full of dancing, a la Dexter Lake Club Band, delicious food with a menu created by Matt Poley of Heirloom LA and excellent service provided by Design Cuisine. The floral design by Beehive Events was to die for, a brilliant mix of gardeny seasonal colors and a touch of whimsy. They really pulled off the ultimate fall wedding without making it feel too themey or over the top. Oh, and did we mention how incredible the fall foliage was in Virginia? Every possible color you can imagine in those trees--made for the perfect wedding color palette.







For more photos and the rest of the story, be sure to check out the Martha post. Thanks again to an extremely talented crew:

Planning & Design: Yours Truly
Photography: Our Labor of Love
Videography: Hello Super 8
Florist: Beehive Events
Music: The Dexter Lake Club Band
Catering: Heirloom LA; Design Cuisine
Hair: Nicole Ternosky of Byron & Tracey Salon; Dawn Tracey
Makeup: Nam Vo
Cake: Cakes by Charlie
Stationery: Mr. Boddington's Studio
Rentals: Skyline Tent Company; Beehive Events
Transportation: A Goff Transportation
The Beautiful Tent (and the gorgeous photos of it, courtesy of Mr. Miles Hingeley): Skyline Tents

Cinco de Mayo Giveaway with Ceci NY!

Inspired by warm weather and upcoming Cinco de Mayo celebrations, we're joining forces with Ceci New York and friends to give away $4500 in gifts to one lucky fan! Make sure to check back Tuesday, May 3rd for full rules and details for a chance to win! Or join the Ceci New York mailing list to receive first notice of the promotion.

Inspired by Mexico

In celebration of spring, Alison headed off to Mexico for a surf and relaxation trip with some friends a few weeks ago. Our friend, the insanely talented photographer Thayer Allyson Gowdy, was along for the ride and shot these drool worthy photos. Maybe next week I'll give you some destination wedding inspiration to play off these photos, but for now, just loving the sunshine in these shots. This makes me soooo excited for our three weddings in Riviera Maya this year!

AE Loves Fabric

We love mixing things up every now and then. Rather than reusing and pulling from the same linen rentals all the time, we occasionally have table runners, table drapes and/or pillows custom made to add a little extra touch of uniqueness to a wedding or small event. We often scour the racks at Britex and Discount Fabrics in SF to find a pattern or texture we love, then we send the fabric off to be sewn down to the right size for an overlay, runner or throw pillow.

This year, we're searching for extra special linens for a few of our destination weddings, including one in Italy and two in Mexico. The fabric options in the Bay Area are quite extensive, so finding the perfect linen for each location is no small feat, but we have a blast searching for something that complements the location and venue of the event.

Check out our most recent trip to Discount Fabrics and you'll get a sense of the types of patterns, colors and textures we really dig.

Holiday Inspiration Spotlight: Ikea

In the usual holiday madness, it's so easy to break out the old twinkle lights and matching green and red christmas globes for the plastic tree. But, this year, we encourage you to think beyond the traditions and create new ones! Make it modern, keep it simple and may the holidays feel fresh and clean. No one wants to look at the same thing year after year, so switch it up with a new palette. My new favorite place to get interior inspiration is the Ikea Blog, Livet Hemma. We use Ikea all the time as an event resource because their items are really affordable and great if you need a few splashes of something new. So, it should come as no surprise that their holiday inspired post made my inspiration board for the next month. Take a look at this great shoot and let us know what you think!

New Rehearsal Dinner: Lake Michigan (part 3 of 3)

Here's the last batch of photos of the tent and ambience from the rehearsal dinner we produced on Lake Michigan this past summer. The ceiling of the tent was draped with a gauzey white fabric and we had custom fans installed to circulate air, as it was a sunny summer day on the Lake. Rather than having icky plastic sidewalls on the tent, we opted for black and white striped fabric draped around the room.

Since the tent was placed in the backyard of the bride's family home, we wanted to keep the grass as safe as possible and didn't want guests walking around on uneven ground, so we had a sub-floor built for the tent and had a mezzanine built for the entryway. The flooring was then whitewashed to give a really clean and crisp look to the whole tent.

Taking advantage of summer in the backyard, we thought it would be fun to set up picnic areas and brought in bright, colorful hammocks to complete the look.

Since no outdoor party is complete without s'mores and a stroll down the beach, we set up a cozy lounge zone on the beach, just below the tent. Bringing in vintage lawn chairs made it feel so uncontrived and homely.







Photos by Thayer Allyson Gowdy
Event Design by our own Kelsey Sheofsky and Danielle Rowe of AE Planning and Design
Tent by Party Time Productions

New Press: Martha Stewart Weddings!!

One of our all time favorite weddings is posted this morning on Martha Stewart Weddings Blog! We absolutely love the colors and attention to detail in this wedding. The paper materials by Olive-Route were gorgeous, as were the custom runners made by Jenny Pennywood. The dreamy images were shot by Brooke Duthie of B&N Photography. Here are a few extra photos for you to enjoy!

Dream Destination: Mexico

Our big finale destination wedding of this year is going to be in Mexico and we could not be more excited for a weekend of sunshine and beach side margaritas! In honor of said excitement, we thought it would be fun to show off some photos from a recent scouting trip we took down to one of our favorite towns in the country. Give us a shout if you're interested in more info about these epic venues!!

New Wedding: New Buffalo, MI

We don't have all of the photos yet, but we are completely crazy about all the vendors we worked with this past weekend in New Buffalo, Michigan. Everyone we met was amazing and we are so, so excited to show off the wedding we just produced!! Below is a sneak preview of the amazing sunsets we experienced throughout the weekend.