A very Asian affair

This past Saturday I assisted my friend Paola of Just Chic Events. She was in need of a second assistant and I happily obliged.

Paola in action

Saturday's wedding was a multicultural affair. T+J are of Chinese and Korean descent. They had several activities that honored their cultural backgrounds such as a Chinese Tea Ceremony and a Korean Pyebaek in addition to a Traditional Western Wedding Ceremony.

The newly married T + J

My assistance was only needed for the reception. The reception was held at a Chinese Banquet Hall/Restaurant in Cerritos. The venue was surprisingly elegant with tall ceilings and rich wood paneling. This wedding was small by Asian standards with 180 guests. However, it was enough to keep Paola, Lindsay (her other assistant), and me busy. Dinner service included a 10 course Chinese Wedding Banquet served family style on lazy susans. The dance floor was packed with T + J's college friends and a few of their older relatives. All in all, it was a gorgeous event with many well-executed details.

I had fun working this event. Paola, if you need me again, don't hesitate to call;)

Here are some of my pics.

An overview of the room


Cake by Van's Bakery, Flower Decor by Flower Allie


Sweetheart Table- Florals by Flower Allie


Low Centerpiece with Table Number designed by a San Diego designer


Tall Centerpiece


Placecards designed by a San Diego designer & Guestbook Platform


My favorite kind of wedding favor - Candy Buffet

The end of an era

When I first starting posting on the knot last year, Janice was also a "newbie" to the boards. She is a part of the remarkable group of women that I constantly talk about. She is the last among our group to tie the knot. We have all had the privilege of watching her plan her wedding and have waited in anticipation with her for her Big Day. I especially have had some insider knowledge since I helped design much of her paper accessories.

photo by Katie Ryan

The wedding was in Santa Ynez Valley, California aka The Central Coast. The ceremony was held at the Mission Santa Ines. Although Janice and J.D. had opted for a traditional Catholic mass and ceremony, they added a small personal touch at the end of the ceremony. They exited with Mikey and Minnie Mouse Wedding ears!

photo by Katie Ryan

The reception was held at the Crossroads Estate at the Firestone Vineyards. It was picturesque and nestled in rolling hills. The reception was filled with many unique details Some of these personal touches were Simpsons escort cards and table numbers, Simpsons cake topper, frog picture frames as favors, and a Grand Entrance through fog to "Vader's Theme" from Star Wars. Janice and J.D. conceptualized and planned all these details. This made for a reception that was very "Janice & J.D."

Since they were both so creative, the only things I had a hand in can be found here.

the new Mr. & Mrs. JD R.

photo by Katie Ryan

Keren, me, Ali, Jordana, and Paola

Me, Ali & Wendy

Since it was a winery wedding, we all drank to our hearts content. I think these photobooth pics give a little idea of how much of a good time we all had.

For the truly curious, here's a slideshow of my pictures and a few pictures taken by Janice's sister-in-law Katie.



It was amazing to see all of Janice's ideas come to fruition and celebrate with her and JD. It was, however, bittersweet at the end of the night. Our group didn't have any more weddings. Then again, I guess we'll just have to come up with new reasons to celebrate. Either way, this wedding was memorable.

Congrats again to Janice and JD!

A one-time thing

Friday August 8, 2008 (Part 2)

Prologue
In the midst of our discussions about designing her escort cards and favor tags, Mia got some bad news. Her day of coordinator fired her. I didn't even think that was possible. Keep in mind this was a month before her wedding. The coordinator even went so far as to say it was because another bride had hired her for one of her more expensive packages. Who does that?!

She was in a bad spot. As an 08/08/08 bride, she was going to be hard-pressed to find a replacement. Recalling my own DOC drama last year, I told her that I would "help" if she couldn't find anyone else. I was partially hoping she would find a qualified coordinator. As luck would have it, she didn't. When she emailed me to ask if my offer was still good, I quickly replied "yes". Inwardly, I was a bit panic-stricken. I AM NOT A COORDINATOR. Sure I have been the go-to-gal for many a wedding, but I am not deluded enough to think that makes me qualified to be a coordinator.

Thankfully, I have a lot of helpful friends. As I mentioned in previous post, my dear friend Paola is a highly competent and successful coordinator. She graciously sent me a copy of her one of her very extensive timelines. I filled in the blanks and felt a little better. My other friend Jeannette agreed to help me the day of the wedding with all the small details. Lastly, another friend Keren offered to let me spend the night at her house. The wedding was in Ventura which was about 1.5 hr away from my house. I was ready to go.

Day of the Wedding
Poor Jeannette had caught a summer cold and I was flying solo. The wedding was scheduled for 5pm. I grabbed a lunch of champions at Weinerschnitzel. Didn't get the memo? 2 corndogs are the thing to eat before working a wedding. I arrived at the Ventura Beach Marriott at 1pm with all my gear in tow. I had 6 cases of mason jar favors, a bridal emergency kit, and other miscellanea.

The four hours leading up to the ceremony went by in a blur. Because it was a hotel wedding, I was fortunate to only have to oversee the setup. I didn't have to do any of the heavy lifting. I did do a lot of running around. Here's a peek at some of the details I oversaw.






The ceremony was beautiful and went off without a hitch. I only watched a small portion of it because I was attending to some reception details. This also saved me from the waterworks that I am prone to have at ceremonies. Here are a few shots of the ceremony.

The new Mr. & Mrs. M - Mia & Gian!

We got the reception started and I finally got to take some breaks. I got to eat and chat with the knotties at my table. I went back and forth between my duties as a coordinator and my time as guest. The reception had some nice personal touches such as a slideshow and Father-Daughter Salsa dance. This crowd partied hard and the dancefloor was rarely empty. Here are some photos of the reception.

Mia with the girls from the knot

My tasty dinner - Petit Filet with Crabcake Tower

Gian's sister, her husband and various nieces and nephews getting down

Knotties partying it up

Mother of the Bride and Mother of the Groom showing the crowd how it's done

Me chatting with Danielle and Katie.
Proof that I was actually there. I looked so disheveled that I refused to be in anyone's pictures.

It was a beautiful celebration. I was glad to have been a part of their day. It was both exciting and exhausting. I was so pooped that I slept most of the day Saturday. After this one wedding, I'm sure I'll stick to design work. I'll leave the coordinating to the professionals. Congrats again to Mia & Gian!

Special Thanks to Mia's awesome vendors who made my job easy and the day go smoothly.
Venue: Ventura Beach Marriott
DJ: Matt at Slater Entertainment
Florist: Shell's Petals
Cake: Jana's Creative Cakes
Officiant: Ken Craft of Dream Day Weddings
Photographer: Dave Luchansky of A Candid Affair
Videographer: Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills

Double the Fun - Part 2

After assisting Paola with Leann & Geoff's wedding, I dashed home. I got home with enough time to catch a power nap and change my clothes. I was off to my second wedding of the day. Thankfully, this time I was a guest. I was graciously invited to the wedding of Daniella & Josue. I had designed their wedding invitations. I had also become friends with Daniella over the course of a year. She was one of the first knotties I had met in person.

Daniella and Josue made many sacrifices and budgeted very carefully to allow them to invite all of their friends and family. Their guest list was in the 200+ range. Daniella and her mother did many DIY projects to give the wedding a very personal touch.

The ceremony & reception was held at the Westridge Golf Club in La Habra. As I rushed to get to the ceremony, I second-guessed taking the power nap. I was cursed with getting stuck in the infamous L.A./O.C. bottleneck that occurs on the 5 Freeway. This made me "that jerk". You know, the one that shows up late for the ceremony. Thankfully, I had only missed the introductory words. I was there for the majority of the ceremony. I stood in the back. I am certain that I am a sap because I got misty-eyed while they were reciting their vows and exchanging rings. In my defense, it was a very beautiful ceremony in which the vows were mostly traditional, but tinged with a bit of humor.

Ceremony held at the Golf Club's Gazebo

Exchanging Vows

Mr. & Mrs. E - Daniella & Josue.

After the ceremony, I caught up with the 3 other knotties that Daniella had befriended and invited as well. The hors d'oeuvres were delicious. We spent the majority of the cocktail hour oohing and aahing over all the little details that Daniella and her mother had put together.

Floral Initials at the entrance to the venue

Bubbles & Ceremony Programs made by Daniella & her mom

The Ever Popular Escort Card Trees

Escort Cards

Candy Buffet

Cake

Table number

Centerpiece

If I could use one word to describe the whole event it would be "heartfelt". Daniella & Josue had smiles that could light up an entire city. Their family and bridal party looked equally happy. The reception was filled with many tributes to the bride, groom and their many friends and family in attendance. They even included a "knottie GTG" picture in their slideshow.

As a side note, I am a gluttonous pig. I enjoyed both buffets - dinner and candy. I don't think I will ever tire of candy buffets. Because of my action-packed day and the long drive I had ahead of me, I left the reception a tad bit early. Either way, I had a good time.

Knotties!
(L-R) me, Carmela, Daniella, Ramona, & Ingrid)

Taking a break from all the excitement

Double the Fun - Part 1

I love weddings. To prove it I attended not one, but TWO weddings. For the first wedding, I assisted my dear friend Paola of Just Chic Events. Paola is THE most thorough event planners I have ever met. Because of this, it was very easy to be her assistant. Honestly, it was more fun than work. I'm hoping she'll call on me again to help [Paola: hint, hint].

This was a small wedding at the Ayres Hotel in Hawthorne/Manhattan Beach. I had no idea this venue existed or that it was so beautiful on the inside. The hotel sits right by the 405 Freeway across from Costco. I assisted Paola with setting up the ceremony and reception. Leann (the bride) and Paola conceptualized and executed many details that made this wedding a very stylish affair.

As an added bonus, Leann (the bride), Geoff (the groom) and their families were incredibly charming and sweet. Leann's family's interactions with one another were eerily similar to my own family's on my wedding day. The couple's flower girl and ring bearer were hilarious and provided entertaining color commentary throughout the whole event. I really wish I had a video camera to capture some of the funny things they were saying and doing.

Sadly, I was unable to stay and assist through the whole event. I had to rush home and change for the second wedding of the day, which I will blog about in a separate post.

During the course of the day, I discovered that Leann reads my blog. [WAVES "HI" to LEANN]. Here are some photos that I snapped of some of her wedding details.

Area where ceremony was held

Chandeliers in the trees

Ceremony in the hotel's courtyard.

Programs made by Leann. Love the lace punch detail on the cover!

The Often-blogged and imitated Escort Card Trees made by Paola

Exquisite Escort Cards made by Leann

Fans & Cardbox

Table with Short Centerpiece

Table with Tall Centerpieces

Menu made by Leann

Gorgeous Cake by Torrance Bakery with Cake Topper made by Paola

The Sweetheart Table

The Newly Married Mr. & Mrs. M - Geoff & Leann