Sweet Beginnings

I normally don't take any weddings during the months of December and January, so that I can spend more quality time with my family. However, when I met Donna and Thomas last summer, I could not resist from working with this sweet, cute couple. They were one of the most easy going, relaxed and genuine couple that I have ever met. They emphasized to me over and over again that the most important element for them was to be married to one another, and to be able to celebrate with the closest friends and families. In other words, the focus was LOVE. Ahhh.....so refreshing to hear that indeed!!

They got married at the Community United Methodist Church in Half Moon Bay, followed by a reception at the Ritz-Carlton just a mile away. Although their wedding was January 3rd, they were blessed with lots of sunshine that day.

My good friend and photographer extraordinaire Kevin Chin was on site to help me shoot some of the details of the reception which I am eager to share on my blog right away! This was a beautiful wedding in a very subtle, sweet way which was a perfect reflection of Donna and Thomas. I will post photos of this lovely couple in a later post, when I receive the images from their wonderful photographer Boone Rodriguez from Portland, Oregon.

What a sweet, sweet wedding to start off my 2009!

Flowers by Nancy Liu Chin Designs
Lighting by Enhanced Lighting
Cake by Elegant Cheesecake
Linens by Wildflower Linens (they overlay that we used on all the tables had tiny, sparkly crystals on them! It was gorgeous!)

The Special Event Conference 2009

This week has surely flown right by, and my promise to blog every night in San Diego did not happen because I was having internet problems in my room. Also, our days mostly began at 6:30am and lasted until 11:00pm!

First of all, I just have to tell you how incredibly lucky we were to have the most BEAUTIFUL weather in San Diego all week. It felt like spring, and with the convention center right behind the marina, we were able to enjoy the water between classes.

It was very refreshing to be amongst my peers from all over the world, and to recognize how much talent we have in the events industry. I feel really blessed to be in this industry, where there is endless creativity to inspire us all.

Some highlights of the conference for me:

1. I had the honor of introducing one of the speakers--my good friend Nancy Liu Chin of Nancy Liu Chin Designs. She gave a fabulous seminar on Marketing 101.

2. I attended Sasha Souza's seminar on trends and colors. She was a VERY entertaining speaker and I really enjoyed hearing the way she designs her clients' weddings.

3. The Wedding Luncheon was filled with some of the very best Event Planners in the world, and the ballroom at the Hard Rock Hotel was transformed into a gorgeous black and white ball. Carley Roney from The Knot was the key note speaker and gave a very to-the-point talk on the millennium generation.

4. I finally got to meet one of my favorite wedding designers--the very charming Tara Guerard of Soiree. Her class was incredibly inspiring as she focused on the importance of details, details, details. We got to see the many fabulous and beautiful events that she designed in the past, as she talked about the 'behind the scenes' for each of them. She was very generous about sharing information and everybody was furiously jotting down notes! After the class, she stayed to sign copies of her book--Southern Weddings, which I am so excited to own now!

5. The Designer Wedding Gallery this year featured tabletops of different stories, and my favorite one was Woodlands Revisited as seen in the last photo below

Beautiful models greeted us for the Wedding Luncheon

Me and Sasha Souza at the Designers' Gallery

Me and Tara Guerard as she signs my copy of Southern Weddings

Woodlands Revisited tabletop at the Designers' Gallery

San Diego....here I come!

I'm so excited to be attending The Special Event conference in San Diego this week. I have signed up for lots of courses, and am looking forward to seeing my peers and meeting new people at the exhibits and the Wedding Luncheon! I will do my best to blog every night, to report all that I have learned and all that I got to see....stay tuned!

Please Don't Steal My Cake Topper!

Does the title seem silly to you? Well, believe it or not, there are cake topper thieves out there! I know what you are thinking. Who would ever steal at a wedding, and if they were to steal, why a CAKE TOPPER of all things?

That's because you have not seen Stacie Tamaki's amazing custom cake toppers, hand made with beads. They are truly works of art, and can be customized to fit any color palette and any theme. My favorite one is the pair of shrimps that she made for her own wedding in 2007 which you see here on the left. It was a perfect reflection of her husband John's love for shrimp cocktail!

Back to the topic of cake topper thieves. Several years ago, I asked Stacie to create a sample of a daisy cake topper for one of my clients. She brought it with her to an event that we both attended. It was a very small, intimate event and when she brought the cake topper out to show me, people around the table were ooohing and ahhing nonstop. Everyone wanted to see this beautiful piece and it was circulated for a few minutes. Next thing we knew, it was gone! Poof! Vanished! We searched everywhere, even under the tables (!!) for it, and it was nowhere to be found. We made all the excuses in the world to make this odd incident seem unsuspicious....and decided to put it behind us.

Months went by, and Stacie created a really cute, whimsical daisy cake topper for my client. It was one of the show pieces of the wedding reception and all the guests were commenting that they had never seen such a unique cake topper. Well, what do you think happened at the end of the evening when we tried to find the cake topper to box back up for the bride?

The cake topper was never seen again.....

You may think this particular daisy cake topper was jinxed, but that wasn't the case...because the same thing happened to another bride who displayed one of Stacie's cake toppers on her wedding cake just months later!

I know exactly why this happened. Stacie's cake toppers are just too hard to resist! You can bring it home and convert it to a desk ornament or photo holder. It's so pretty to look at. Heck, you should order one even if you're not planning a wedding!

Green with Envy

Wouldn't you be envious if someone got their wedding photographed by a very talented professional photographer.....for FREE?

Well, don't just be green with envy. Use the word green to help YOU win the contest below by Sabine Scherer Photography! (Click on image for a larger viewing)

I'm Certified!

Anyone who has planned a wedding in California will surely have heard of Here Comes the Guide. They are an incredible resource for venues, with detailed descriptions, photos, and even virtual tours. So many brides depend on them to find their perfect venue, so it's only natural that they utilize this trusting resource for other Event Professionals as well! I was honored to be invited to be a part of this reputable website. What astonished me was that they asked for 25 professional references, and 10 client references from the past 2 years....and they called every single one of them! That impressed me sooooo much, because it shows that they truly care who they affiliate themselves with. It's also reassuring for brides and grooms, to know that a very thorough background check was conducted for each of these Event Professionals.

I'm pretty bad at tooting my own horn, even though I recently read a book about it that is suppose to make me better at it. So, I was thrilled that HCTG quoted 'straight from the horses' mouths' and I really was blushing when I read it:

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About This Company

“Hiring Jubilee was the best investment we made for our whole wedding. Because of her, I was able to enjoy the day without having to worry about anything.”

“I have had the pleasure of working with some of the best wedding coordinators in the industry and I would say that Jubilee is on the top of that list. She is just TOP-NOTCH!”

“She is exactly what you need in a coordinator—warm, caring, thoughtful, creative, organized and calm.”

“Impeccable taste.”

“Jubilee was beyond fabulous. She was incredibly patient and so organized. Any bride would be lucky to have her!”

“We had a jam-packed schedule of events and it went off, to the minute of the schedule, thanks to Jubilee’s flawless execution. Our wedding truly did feel flawless. Her expertise was a great asset.”

“On our wedding day I watched Jubilee deal with all the little emergencies that come up for any wedding and she just remained calm. By keeping calm, she kept us all calm, allowing us to thoroughly enjoy our day.”

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Okay, I admit....I was trying to guess who said what but at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. I just feel so extremely honored that my peers and clients would have so many nice things to say about me. I am truly blessed to be doing something that I love!

Check out my new HCTG page!

The Momentum Continues....

My friends keep asking me why I am so busy lately....isn't this suppose to be the 'down' time for weddings? Well, yes, technically there isn't a whole lot of weddings going on during the winter months but this is a busy time to meet with newly engaged couples and to continue the planning for clients who have already booked. In addition to that, I am devoting much of my energy and time to the planning of The Wedding University, which is coming up on February 8, 2009!

The momentum is definitely building, as we get closer to the date and registrations are coming in. The design team had a mock-up session at Wildflower Linens yesterday, bringing to live their incredible ideas and concepts. Jean and I are meeting almost weekly, with Julie and Kelly at the Four Seasons. This week, we met to flesh out the details for gift bags, postcard mailings, etc. The Palo Alto Weekly sent a photographer to capture us 'in action', for a write up that they're doing on our event later this week!

Be on the lookout for plenty of publicity about The Wedding University in the coming weeks, and please encourage all engaged couples that you know of to sign up. It promises to be an incredibly fun day for them, with valuable knowledge to take away....not to mention some awesome giveaways like a 3 night stay at one of three amazing Four Seasons Resort!

Check out our blog for more details!

Happy 2009!

I feel the same way as everyone else....I can't believe we are into 2009 already! It didn't seem too long ago when we were all excited about the millenium but that was almost 10 years ago...

Oprah is dedicating the entire week of her show to The Best Life, encouraging viewers to put some focus back on the 'self' by putting aside some 'me time' on our to do list everyday. I'm totally up for that, and agree that we often brush our own needs aside without realizing it. The beginning of the year is always a great time to rethink our priorities in life. At the end of the day, remember it's all about being happy.

To celebrate the new year, I want to share with all of you some wonderful memories and accomplishments of 2008 and my resolutions and goals for 2009.

5 things I am most proud of and happy about for 2008:

1. Hired an AMAZING new Production Lead, Amanda Chan. She has been instrumental in the success of the many complicated weddings that I worked on last year.

2. Partnered with the very talented Gloria Wong Tritasvait of Sash and Sugar on two fabulous weddings. It really proved that the dynamics of a team is extremely important. We had a great time working together, especially on the day-of.

3. Rented a new office space in Redwood City. Special thanks to John Woods for his patience and help in putting up the drapery and chandeliers. This has become my second home, and certainly raised my productivity level!

4. Had several of my weddings featured (or confirmed that it will be featured) in various publications: Julie and Jay's wedding was featured in Today's Bride, a photo of Sara and John's wedding was featured in Susie Coelho's new book Style Your Dream Wedding, Katie and Eric's wedding will be featured in The Knot, Emily and Leonard's wedding will be featured in Brides Magazine, and a photo (or two) of Alisha and Ryan's wedding will be featured in Grace Ormonde.

5. Treated my mom and my mother in law to a fabulous trip to Tokyo. Thank you to both of them for their love and dedication in helping me raise my little Bridgette!

Now it's time to make my 5 resolutions....as I do every year, but I truly, honest to God, will stay committed this time!

1. Begin and stick to a regular exercise routine

2. Eat healthy--as Oprah says, we need to make smart choices in the food that we eat

3. Spend more time with my family (a good balance in life is important to me!)

4. Produce more educational seminars to benefit brides and grooms and the wedding industry as a whole

5. Be successful in executing an exciting new project that has been in the making for 2 years.....(sorry, I cannot disclose any information on this yet, but stay tuned.....)

Cheers to a fabulous 2009!