Erina and David, Congratulations!

Erina and David--My last Wedding for 2013--
What a wonderful way to end my season!

I just received this slide show from Augie Chang showing some sample sample of the joyful celebration
 Erina and David had at their wedding last month.  The ceremony was held at St. Denis Church in Menlo Park, and the reception was hosted at Rosewood Sand Hill, also in Menlo Park.

http://augiechang.com/GALLERY/ErinaDavidWedding/

Tonight I will be having my "debrief/reminiscing" meeting with Erina and David to
review every aspect of the wedding, discussing what were the highlights
for them, what might have been done differently, and of course, to look at
the photos and remember together the laughter, tears, dancing and cheering. I am very
excited to reconnect with them after almost 6 weeks…they have been to Bora Bora,
and back again!

Congratulations, Erina and David!  It was my pleasure helping you with the
planning and celebrating of your wedding day!

I love this photo of David and Erina from their engagement session in San Francisco with Augie Chang; this was taken just a month before their wedding.

From Erina and David's Engagement Session in SF with Augie

After my "StayCation", an update

As you see, there has been a slight gap since my last blog entry.  After a very busy 2012 wedding season, this wedding planner decided to have a
"StayCation/Sabbatical for 6 weeks!

 It has been wonderful to enjoy long days in my home town of Palo Alto, as if I was on a vacation in some far-away location such as Italy, which I might have preferred, but could not manage this year. :)

After many long walks, intense weeding/pruning sessions in my garden, date nights with Jeff, wine tasting at yummy local wineries a short drive from our home, lazy evenings of reconnecting with friends and neighbors, sleeping very late in the mornings (I call it partial hibernation) and local adventures with my children, I am easing back into the profession of Wedding Planner.

As I get back to my wedding world, I want to offer a big THANK YOU! to Tony White and Elka Goldstein who were my Loyal, Steadfast and Rock Star wedding team for 2012.

 Tony and Elka at Fogarty Winery, where we worked together on my last local wedding for 2012.

Thank you so much Tony and Elka for all your hard work and special care for our wonderful clients in 2012.  I look forward to working with you again in 2013!!!

Welcome Dinner for 100, Northstar

Sharon and Jason's Welcome Party at Northstar

It was an interesting AND challenging job to help Jason and Sharon plan their Fall 2012 wedding from Hong Kong, with only 2 visits to the US before the wedding day.  Via carefully scheduled Skype calls the 3 of us were able to make arrangements for 100 family and guests from 5 continents to gather for 3 days in the Lake Tahoe Area to celebrate with Jason and Sharon.  The fantastic events that spanned 3 days will be remembered with joy by all who attended.

Day one was the Welcome Barbecue just a short gondola ride from the Ritz-Carton on the mountain.

....just before the guests arrived on the gondola from Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe; the site was guest ready,  and the weather was perfect, and I was excited to see the events unfold.
 

The first 2 guests were the honored couple, Sharon and Jason...after 9 months of planning from Hong Kong, Sharon and Jason were finally here in California to celebrate their wedding with 100 close family and friends from 5 continents!  An enthusiastic "High Five" was very much in order!

The Overlook at Northstar provided a perfect location for Sharon and Jason's guests to relax after their long journeys, enjoy a barbecue, and reconnect or get to know the folks they would be spending 3 days with in the mountains.

The outdoor movie "theater" and s'more pit ready for the sun to set and the moon to rise.

This birthday cake (...it is all cake, made to order by Studio Cake) for Sharon and Jason's fathers, whose birthdays happened to be the same week as the wedding celebration.  We can see from the impish photo below how happy the bride and groom were to shock the unsuspecting FOB and FOG.

 

Yes, we lit the sparklers which Jason had strategically placed, and No, the fathers did not have heart attacks on the spot when the cake was presented...but neither one wanted to blow out the "candles". :) 

After the laughter about the birthday cake, some very eloquent and hilarious toasts to and of the groom and bride, it was time to enjoy toasting marshmallows by the fire, getting very sticky making messy s'mores, and discussing the plans for tomorrow's wedding celebration. 

The last gondola up to the Ritz-Carlton was at 10pm, so those whose jet lag allowed it, reconvened in the Living Room at Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe for warm drinks before heading off to bed.  

Stacie and Ron on Style Me Pretty!

Congratulations to Stacie and Ron on a beautiful wedding and most importantly, a beautiful relationship!  

Please read my description of their love for family and each other, as well as the exquisite celebration of their wedding, on Style Me Pretty.  Thank you Stacie and Ron for including me in your lives and in your wedding planning.

Suzi and Drew, married at last!

For those of you who read my blog post about Suzi and Drew's walk through at Villa Montalvo last month, this photo of them exiting their wedding ceremony as husband and wife will complete the story.

After two years of planning and waiting, Suzi and Drew's wedding day finally arrived last weekend, and the joy between the two of them was contagious to all of us involved.

A classic marble statue of Adam and Eve is part of the garden elegance at the Villa Montalvo Love Temple; Suzi and Drew's single focus on each other matched the embrace of Adam and Eve.
(In the background, the photographer, Sam Potter, is tucking Suzi's bouquet into the arms of Adam and Eve; I am looking forward to seeing that image!)

After the photos were completed, Suzi and her new husband Drew, came up to the Bride's room and the Villa so Monina Wright, Suzi's friend, and professional hair/make up artist, could redo her hair before she and Drew were introduced into dinner.
Drew was capturing every moment, with his heart and in his iPhone.

Drew and Suzi at their sweetheart table on the Veranda at Villa Montalvo.  Suzi's aunt and cousin lovingly provided all of the florals for Suzi and Drew's ceremony and dinner reception.  As symbolized with the abundance of flowers on their table, Suzi and Drew were surrounded by love in many ways on their wedding day.  But the most intense love and brightest smiles of the day were definitely emanating from the bride and groom...it was wonderful to see!

As the evening faded, Drew and Suzi shared their first dinner together as husband and wife, enjoying each other and the beautiful view down the sweeping lawn to the Love Temple....exactly where they had been married a few hours before.

(By the way, did I mention that Drew proposed to Suzi in front of the Castle at Disneyland?  He wanted to make her his princess forever...and she said YES!)

Thank you so much to the wonderful vendors who worked tirelessly to make Suzi and Drew's wedding vision become a reality:
 Catered Too
 Big Fun DJ
 Samuel Potter Photography
PermaGrin Films
Moderne Beauty
Villa Montalvo

and to my A+ team:
Tony White
Elka Goldstein

A planner's view.....

It is always fun to watch an artist in action, and I am able to do that whenever a photographer like Vero Suh is shooting a wedding I coordinate.  

Throughout Jennie and Andrew's wedding day, I was in the background managing the timeline I had created, directing and confirming the arrival and departure times for each vehicle at each location, and gathering the necessary participants for each photo session in each location.

In a way, I am always setting up the scene so the artists (Photographers and Videographers) can take over to capture priceless images of the bride, groom, family members and wedding party.  Photographers and Videographers need time to be creative with the memories they are capturing, so I am happy to be someone who can build that time into the wedding day.

 For this shot,  I needed to let the driver of the vintage Plymouth  know where to pull into Gamble Garden so there would be privacy and shade; the car had been chosen as a tribute to Jennie's grandfather who worked in the auto industry for decades.  In this car, Jennie would ride to the church with her father to marry Andrew.  It was a nostalgic moment, and needed to be well recorded.  Therefore, I allowed extra time for photographs before Jennie's departure to record the details.

Thank you Vero, for capturing timeless images, and for sharing them so beautifully in your blog. 

I look forward to seeing the footage of these same scenes captured by the videographer, Major Diamond Productions

A walk through at Villa Montalvo

Within a few weeks of each of my weddings I schedule a "walk through" with my clients to finalize the vision and details for their wedding day; recently I met with Suzi and Drew to walk through the spaces they will be using for their ceremony and reception in August at the beautiful Villa Montalvo.  

 This photo embodies what I am most passionate about in my role as a wedding planner...helping a couple who love each other deeply walk into their future as husband and wife.  What a privilege it is to walk alongside them and help as needed.

The ceremony will take place in the romantic Love Temple, located at the lower part of the Villa's expansive lawn.  Drew and Suzi were walking ahead of me as we made our way down to the ceremony site to determine where the wedding party will stand.  I am so glad I could capture this image-- Drew and Suzy have been looking forward to their wedding day for over 2 years, and now in just a few short weeks, it will become a reality.  I am extremely grateful to be enjoying the company and friendship of Drew and Suzy in the process of helping plan their wedding day.

This is the view Suzi and Drew will have as they exchange vows before 150 of their friends and family.  After the ceremony the guests will be invited up to the Villa for cocktails in the Spanish Courtyard, dinner on the Veranda looking across the lawn towards the love temple, and then dancing inside the Villa to celebrate Drew and Suzi's marriage.  

The Italian Garden, which has the love temple at its center, was built by Senator James Phelan in 1912 as part of his estate, Villa Montalvo.  You can learn more about the history of the Villa here.

I promise to share photos of the wedding day itself as soon as I have them...right now I need to get back to work on the timeline, vendor management and logistics, which are also a big part of how the romance and beauty come together on the wedding day! :)