We're Featured: Julie and Jay's Wedding

I was thrilled to see that the newest issue of Today's Bride featured one of our weddings from 2007. It was the fabulous wedding of Julie and Jay, last October 27th, at the beautiful Thomas Fogarty Winery.

I remember Julie and Jay as one of the best couples that I've had the pleasure of working with. During the engagement, Julie lived in San Diego and Jay lived in Hong Kong, so they trusted me to coordinate all of their wedding plans here in the San Francisco Bay Area on their behalves. Julie flew out a few times throughout the planning to do the fun things, like tasting, makeup/hair trial, and mock table settings. They were both incredibly down to earth and easy going, and VERY much in love.

We planned an amazing destination wedding for this lovely couple, featuring a Fall theme of pumpkins, squashes, and a stunning color palette of oranges, reds, and golds. Nancy Liu Chin was one of the creative forces behind this wedding, and her talent was evident in all of the details.

Thomas John Events catered the wedding, and they presented a variety of interesting food stations featuring different cuisines from around the world. Guests were not confined to their seats, and enjoyed moving between all the wonderful spaces that Fogarty had to offer. Ofcourse, paired with the delicious food were a selection of Thomas Fogarty wines.

Gene Higa captured each moment with his distinctive eye behind the lenses, and Joel Cook documented each hug, toast, and dance with his video camera. Carl Mindling played the perfect music to heat up the dance floor as guests indulged in the cake by Cecile Gady paired with Jay's favorite ice cream flavors.

Thank you also to Peter Rudolfi for finding us a talented guitarist and violinist, Nellie Muganda for enhancing Julie's already glowing, beautiful features, Pure Luxury for safely transporting guests up and down the windy roads of Woodside, and Lisa Wong Jackson for her creation of the pretty paper goods.

I still keep in touch with Julie, and she is finishing up with her job in San Diego this year. After that, she will move to Hong Kong to settle down with Jay. How courageous to move to a foreign country like that!

Style Your Dream Wedding

I had the most fun last night meeting lifestyle expert Susie Coelho at a dinner hosted by the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco. The dinner was in the Presidential Suite, and there were a total of 17 Event Planners. What an honor to be amongst the finest in the Bay Area. More about this dinner in another post when Kevin Chin sends me the fabulous photos. I'm just excited to share with all of you the new book that Susie came out with recently, call Style Your Dream Wedding. Her book includes tons of beautiful pictures, and she helps brides find their particular style for their wedding, whether it be contemporary or classic or garden or beach.

I was very happy to see one of my weddings included in the book. The photograph was taken by Kevin Chin, and it was a wedding that I had done two years ago at San Francisco City Hall. I am posting the picture here for all to see, but I highly recommend getting Susie's book to enjoy ALL the beautiful pictures and valuable information!

Pink + Black = Swanky

Alisha fell in love with the ballroom at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco, and knew she wanted to get married there. When I asked what attracted her about the ballroom, she answered that it was the two large mirrors and the size of the ballroom.

A bride tends to buy on impulse more so than any other consumer out there. It's often about love at first sight. They may not know to consider other elements when making their decisions, but then that is why they have professional planners like moi to help them out!

Alisha did not have a specific design direction when she booked the hotel but she was very certain about one thing--her wedding had to be PINK AND BLACK.

If you looked at last issue's of Martha Stewart Weddings, they featured black and pink as a hot color combo but it's not easy to do it tastefully. I always think that weddings, regardless of size, color, and budget, should be done tastefully and details should be well thought out.

I brought one of my most trusted floral designers on board--Nancy Liu Chin, and we collaborated to help Alisha create a stunning, beautiful, black and pink wedding.

First, we decided to split the huge ballroom into two, since her guest count was only 150 and the entire ballroom could fit 300. I felt it was important to make guests feel intimate. On Alisha's favorite side of the ballroom where the mirrors were, we created her ceremony space with large lavish floral arrangements, a custom pink aisle runner with Alisha and Ryan's monogram projected onto the center, and the extraordinary black Chameleon Chairs with rhinestone buckles. We used white chiffon drapery to divide the ballroom, and created a beautiful entrance for Alisha and her bridesmaids to enter from.

After the ceremony, we ushered guests into the cocktail area before transforming that same side of the ballroom to the dinner area, using square tables, low and lush centerpieces, and stunning, elegant china. Each place setting was perfected with a white gardenia.

While guests feasted on fresh oysters and other fabulous food from the Four Seasons, we worked hard on the other side of the ballroom to create a magical dancing and lounging space for guests. We wanted guests to be awed as they experience one room after another.

After dinner, we opened up the drapery that separated the two sides of the ballroom and invited guests to indulge in the dramatic transformation--we piped and draped the entire room with white chiffon and used pink uplighting to add Alisha's favorite color in. Swanky white leather furniture with black and white patterned pillows allowed guests to lounge relaxingly as they watched people strut their moves on the black and white dance floor lit with Alisha and Ryan's monogram.

Last, but not least, an incredible candy bar presented on the elegant Napoli Table from Blueprint Studios had guests' energy level soaring high.

Kudos to an incredible team that worked so diligently to bring everything together beautifully:

Floral Design--Nancy Liu Chin
Lighting and Draping--Enhanced Lighting
Music--Carl Mindling of The Only DJ
Tabletop Rentals--Classic Party Rentals (thank you Marisa for personally being on site to set up the Chameleon Chairs!)
Furniture Rentals--Blueprint Studios
Paperies--Hello Lucky
Food & Beverages (including wedding cake)--Four Seasons Hotel
Photography--Kevin Chin
Makeup/hair--Armando Serabia of Get Your Do Up

It Takes a Village

Most couples will never know what went on behind the scenes in preparation for their wedding day. The fact of the matter is, you shouldn't have to know! You should only enjoy the end result--which hopefully is a fun, smooth, and happy day.

However, for those that are curious, I thought I'd blog about the production process of a wedding. Ofcourse, the level of complexity is dependent on a lot of factors--how difficult the load-in process is at your venue, how much time there is to set up, how many vendors are involved, etc. What doesn't change for my team and I though, is that no matter how simple or complicated the set up is, we take it seriously and work hard to do the best job for our clients.

A lot of times, it does take a village to produce a beautiful, seamless wedding. For a recent June wedding that I had at the Kohl Mansion, we began set-up on Friday morning even though the wedding was on Sunday. A tent was involved for that particular wedding, so that always takes more time and labor. We were dealing with some unpredictable factors--gusts of wind at 40mph(!) but we pulled through. From the structure of the tent, to the lighting inside, to the fabric lining, to the furniture, to the tabletop items....it took a whole lot of manpower to bring all the elements together.

Ofcourse, this is the part of my job that I love most! And that is the part that you must love the most about having a professional, experienced, and competent Wedding Coordinator!

I won't bore you with the technicalities of the setup, but I want to acknowledge the wonderful, dependable team of vendors who worked so hard for the clients and I that weekend. I shouldn't single out this particular event, because this group of vendors have worked on many, many other events for me and have always been amazing!

Componere Fine Catering (all food and beverages)
Enhanced Lighting (all lighting and draping)
Carl Mindling Music (DJ music and Master of Ceremonies)
Stuart Party Rentals (tenting and heating)
Classic Party Rentals (furniture and tabletops)
Napa Valley Linens (dinner table linens)
Nancy Liu Chin Designs (all floral and decor)
Rudolfi Artists in Music (brass quintet and harpist)
Cakework (wedding cake)
Todd Rafalovich (photographs)
Pure Luxury Transportation (all shuttle buses)

You must wonder why I am not posting the photographs of the final result for this fantastic wedding. Well, stay tuned! I will be posting that soon!

Mini cupcakes

I just had to take a short break to post this picture that I found on Bakerella. What a fun treat to serve your guests, especially the little ones, with a nice cold glass of milk! Forget the oreo and use these adorable mini cupcakes! For full instructions on how to make these, visit Bakerella's Blog

Segway-ing through San Francisco

My husband first experienced a Segway when he was in Paris five years ago and took a local city tour. Since then he has been trying to convince me to try it out. I kept making excuses, thinking 'What is so cool about this two wheel thing?"

Recently though, one of my destination wedding clients asked me for suggestions on unique ways for her out of towners to view the city. I casually brought up this topic as I was having dinner with my husband one night. His answer?

"Send them on a Segway Tour!"

I finally became intrigued by this electrical vehicle, which is (according to Wikipedia) a 'two-wheeled self balancing electrical vehicle' invented by someone name Dean Kamen. Before I could recommend such a thing to my clients though, I ofcourse had to try it out myself first!

Surprisingly for me, it was great fun!! We started off with a brief tutorial session in which the instructors taught us one by one how to get on and off the vehicle. Following that was a 5 minute video on safety that we needed to watch, some practicing on their 'parking lot', and then off we went in a group of 10! Balancing myself on the segway was challenging at first, but I soon became a natural at it and was speeding past everyone at 12.5 mph. We were prime photo targets for the tourists around Fisherman's Wharf and made quite a funny scene as we rolled ourselves down the streets of Nob Hill. We even stopped for gelato!

The entire tour was about two hours, and I enjoyed every minute of it. In fact, my husband is now looking into buying his own segway to get to work and I must say that I support him on this decision as I can't wait to ride on it again!

For more adventurous people, there is a tour that will take you down the crooked Lombard Street and night time tours. They also do private group tours, so it's a great way to entertain your out of town guests when you're planning a wedding weekend!


www.sfelectricaltour.com

The Wedding Community

Me and Karen Miyanaga, Catering Sales Manager at Ritz-Carlton S.F.

If you are planning a wedding, you will probably know that there's a community of brides and grooms out there (okay, definitely more brides than grooms). Websites like The Flirty Guide, The Knot, etc... allow brides and grooms to join such communities to exchange ideas, vent frustrations, and bond with one another. I've heard that many brides stay on these message boards even after their wedding is over, because they cannot bring themselves to separate from these communities.

On the other side of this wedding planning community is a tight-knitted community of wedding vendors. I can only speak for the San Francisco Bay Area since this is where I am located, but I just have to share with all of you that this is the best industry I've been in. There's so much team-spirit present, and I often feel like we're one big happy family. I've established a lot of wonderful friendships with people that I work with, and we're always collaborating and thinking of ways to continue setting the bar high and offering the best service for our clients. I know that there is a misconception out there that wedding vendors are out to get as much money from engaged couples as possible, and that there's some conspiracy going on! That could not be further away from the truth (at least for the vendors that I recommend)! So many wedding vendors in the Bay Area come from professional backgrounds--Lawyers (Sonya Hong of Butterfly Cakes), CFOs (Michelle Walker of Michelle Walker Photography), Marketing Executives (Jewel Savadelis of Savadelis Films), Branding Managers (Nancy Liu Chin of Nancy Liu Chin Designs)....and they all left their jobs to pursue something they are passionate about. It's so admirable!

Left to right: Megan Woods of Enhanced Lighting, Armando Serabia of Get Your Do Up, Carrie Topoian of Carrie Topoian Events, Todd Rafalovich of Todd Rafalovich Photography, John Woods of Enhanced Lighting, ME, Carl Mindling of Carl Mindling Music, and Bill Kelleher of Stuart Party Rentals

Left to right: ME, Stacie Hallinan of Four Seasons Hotel S.F., Jean Marks of Jean Marks Weddings

Left to right: Armando Serabia of Get Your Do Up, Amanda Chan of Jubilee Lau Events, Laura Isom of Nancy Liu Chin Designs, Nancy Liu Chin, and John Woods of Enhanced Lighting

Left to right: Jean Marks of Jean Marks Weddings, ME, Sonya Hong of Butterfly Cakes, Michelle Walker of Michelle Walker Photography, Kevin Chin of Kevin Chin Photography, Nancy Liu Chin, and Justin Fone of Justin Fone Video Productions

Left to right: Stacie Tamaki of The Flirty Guide, ME, Karen Baba of Plan Decor

Me with Kelly McLeskey of Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn

Don't Forget the Little Ones

Ever since I've become a mother, I have found myself understanding children a lot more. That applies to my wedding planning as well. When children are included in a wedding, it's important to entertain them. Ask any parent, and they will tell you how incredibly stressful it is to eat out with kids, especially toddlers. Add on the pressure of being well dressed for an event as special as a wedding, and that may be enough to make parents check the "Decline with Regrets" box on the RSVP card.

I always remind my clients not to forget about the children. Whether it's 3 children, or 30 children, you still need to think of a good way to entertain them so that both the children AND their parents can enjoy the wedding. This is all a part of being a great host/hostess!

If your venue has an extra room that you can utilize as a babysitting room, you can consider hiring babysitters (from a licensed agency) to watch after the kids throughout the wedding. Honestly, kids would much rather be in a room with a TV, toys, and other entertainments than to be forced to behave properly in a room full of nicely dressed adults. You can serve them pizza or chicken fingers instead of filet mignon, and entertain them with drawing books, movies, and special performances. We once brought in a clown and magician for the kids, and they had the best time ever!

For a recent wedding that I did, the bride told me from the very beginning that there would be over 20 kids at the wedding but she didn't want to separate them from their parents. So, instead of hiring babysitters and putting them in a different room, I created "Kiddy Stations" to keep them entertained. We rented bean bags, ottomans, and cubes, and had everything from crayons and coloring books to dolls to cars...and much more. I don't even remember how many parents came up to thank me during the reception. Their children were happy, and that meant they could fully enjoy the wedding too!

Top left photo by Angie Silvy

Skip the Black Tux

Traditions, traditions, traditions..... I see so many couples feeling pressured to stay within traditions for their wedding. Many of my clients would ask me hesitantly, "Um, is that okay to do? Is that going against tradition?" My answer? DO WHAT FEELS RIGHT TO YOU!

Yes, there are certain traditions and etiquettes that I still like to follow, such as not posting registry information on your invitation. But for the most part, I think you should follow your heart when you're planning your wedding. It really should reflect who you are. Don't be afraid to be creative, and to think outside the box.

My cute, cute Stanford couple Sarah and Nico (picture shown here on top) decided to skip the black tux. It was too formal and stuffy for their fun outdoor wedding at Villa Montalvo in Saratoga. They chose gray suits from Banana Republic for all the guys, and it looked perfect with the sage green ties!

My adorable Hollywood couple Katie and Eric could not stand the thought of having the guys wear shiny black loafers with their suits. Instead, they got everyone black converse--comfortable, stylish and different! What did Katie wear? A pair of sexy red stilettos with her vintage-style gown!




Bottom two photos by Angie Silvy www.angiesilvy.com