For Valentine's Day, 2009, Jeff and I had an amazingly interesting 24 hour getaway, and it was all within 5 miles of our home in
Palo Alto! I had been saving a gift of one night's accommodation, from
The Stanford Park Hotel a wonderful venue where I have coordinated several weddings; Christine
Escobar offered this generous gift, just so I could experience-first hand the comfort and service my clients enjoy while staying there.... Saturday, February 14
th, Valentine's Day, seemed the perfect timing for a Close by Getaway!
On the way to the Stanford Park Hotel, we stopped by my friend
BethAnn Goldberg's shop,
Studio Cake, just across the creek from us in
Menlo Park. I knew she was spending the whole day designing the mock up of her Fiona cake for the Food Network Cake Challenge, so I had to go by and offer support!
The theme for this Food Network Challenge, is to design a 3 foot cake, to promote "
Shreck, The Musical";
BethAnn was one of 4 Bakers chosen from across the country to compete, and her character assignment is Fiona...of course this will be Fiona as a bride, since
BethAnn does so many wedding cakes! I will have more photos later of the finished Fiona, which my clients,
Haidee and Wilson are sending me; they were there for the completion of the cake, and eating the product!
After leaving
Studio Cake, Jeff and I drove the 1.5 miles to Stanford Park Hotel, and checked into the lovely suite Christine, and her staff at the
Stanford Park Hotel had selected for us...what a treat to have a fireplace suite, overlooking the pool and hot tub. Now I can personally recommend these comfortable, well decorated rooms, with excellent service at all levels, to my wedding clients, for their guests from out of town.
Since there was a break in the storms rumbling through
Palo Alto this weekend, we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood near the hotel. Jeff happened to notice the Tesla showroom, so we made that our first stop, since he has been eyeing these for months.
Jeff particularly liked the 0-60 mph, in 3.9 seconds...but the $109,000. sticker price was a bit daunting...thanks, we're just looking!
Crossing the street, and walking through the quiet neighborhood streets of
Menlo Park, we made our way to
Allied Arts Guild, one of my favorite spots to visit and photograph. I have coordinated a few weddings here, and would love to do more! The gardens, fountains, the
Spanish arches and the quiet ambiance make you feel you have stepped back into time. Even though Jeff and I were supposed to be on vacation, I had to introduce myself to the event manager,
Tiana Wong, in hopes that we can work together on some weddings in the year ahead.
Wedding Ceremonies can be held around the fountain, or on the bricked terrace, with dinner and dancing inside the central building where the restaurant is located.
I love all these amazing photo opportunities...arches, wrought iron detail, and long vistas, through rose bordered paths...I will return in Spring for more photos.
Following our walk, Jeff and I returned to our cozy hotel room, to rest and change for dinner; that was when I decided to put away my camera, and just enjoy, moment by moment, the rest our Valentine Getaway!
I just received these photos from Haidee and Wilson, who arrived at Studio Cake later in the day, to witness the completion of BethAnn's Fiona as a Bride. Studio Cake fans were still lined up in front, to support BethAnn, and enjoy a major cake cutting moment! I will let you know when the Food Network Food Challenge will be televised. BethAnn and her assistant fly out next week to recreate Fiona in 8 hours, timed and evaluated by very exacting judges. I vote for Fiona!
My Tulip (Magnolia, actually) tree has begun to bloom; with the fresh rain drops still on each flower, it is a joy to see beside my front porch!
And in my pots of bulbs, the daffodils and narcissus are beginning to open....
The theme for this Food Network Challenge, is to design a 3 foot cake, to promote "Shreck, The Musical"; BethAnn was one of 4 Bakers chosen from across the country to compete, and her character assignment is Fiona...of course this will be Fiona as a bride, since BethAnn does so many wedding cakes! I will have more photos later of the finished Fiona, which my clients, Haidee and Wilson are sending me; they were there for the completion of the cake, and eating the product!
Jeff particularly liked the 0-60 mph, in 3.9 seconds...but the $109,000. sticker price was a bit daunting...thanks, we're just looking!
Crossing the street, and walking through the quiet neighborhood streets of Menlo Park, we made our way to Allied Arts Guild, one of my favorite spots to visit and photograph. I have coordinated a few weddings here, and would love to do more! The gardens, fountains, the Spanish arches and the quiet ambiance make you feel you have stepped back into time. Even though Jeff and I were supposed to be on vacation, I had to introduce myself to the event manager, Tiana Wong, in hopes that we can work together on some weddings in the year ahead.
I love all these amazing photo opportunities...arches, wrought iron detail, and long vistas, through rose bordered paths...I will return in Spring for more photos.
Following our walk, Jeff and I returned to our cozy hotel room, to rest and change for dinner; that was when I decided to put away my camera, and just enjoy, moment by moment, the rest our Valentine Getaway!
We finished this job about 10pm, which is when
Here John is using the lift to go up and adjust the red lanterns, which were a vital element of this design; it was about 6am, and his crew still had so much to do!
The finished display, ready for our students to arrive at 11am.
Nancy Liu Chin, and Gloria Tritasavit, 2 other members of our design team, spent the night at the hotel so they could work late, and get up early; as it turned out, they really didn't get any sleep at all! Their assistants arrived at 6am to help finish the designs begun by Gloria and Nancy during the night. Below is the table setting as the students saw it.
...but the effort definitely paid off! What an elegant display!
The fourth table design incorporated 2 very heavy chandeliers, which John rigged over the rich black, magenta and purple table setting, full of arching orchids, painstakingly wired together.
One last behind the scenes shots is of Geoff White's assistant photographer, Eric, shooting one of the model couples we had doing casual modeling all day at the Wedding University. This shot in the Four Seasons will be a classy reminder of how, for one day, the hotel became a Wedding University Campus.
Here one of the model couples pose with me, Gabrielle Medrano, of Gabrielle's Bridal Boutique, who provided all of the gowns for our models, and Armando, of Get Your Do Up, who handled all of the hair and make up styling for each of the models. It should be noted that the groom in this photo is Gabrielle's son; she kept a close eye on this couple!
See what Style Me Pretty has to say about the Wedding University, which is being held this Sunday, February 8th, at the Four Seasons, Silicon Valley.
