Custom Bars and Lounge Furniture for Weddings and Events

The trend of creating cozy, intimate lounge areas at weddings and events will not be going away anytime soon. In fact, the choices for stylish, yet comfortable, furniture pieces have been expanding year after year. Blueprint Studios is one company that we absolutely love working with, as not only do they have an incredible inventory of furniture pieces, but they also have a fantastic carpentry department that can help us to create custom pieces. They've helped us to reupholster furniture, build props, and much more. We love that they're always up for a challenge, and hardly ever say no to our crazy cool ideas. :)

Bars, including dessert bars, sushi bars, etc., are fun to make as statement pieces at an event. We recommend doing a few statement pieces in key areas of your event to really make an impact. For example, in lieu of a traditional guest book, we've created wishing trees (see photos below) for guests to write their well wishes on, which became a lovely focal point at the wedding.

Here are some of our favorite custom pieces that Blueprint Studios have built for our past events:

Custom dessert bar built by Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Custom sushi station built by Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Custom bar built by Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Custom banyan tree built by Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Custom velvet tufted panels and lounge furniture by Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Custom wall flat from Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Custom wall flat and furniture items from Blueprint Studios | Photo by Gary Ashley

Custom wishing tree from Blueprint Studios | Photo by Lisa Lefkowitz

Lounge furniture makes for an inviting space for guests to congregate both before and after dinner. Guests tend to appreciate them especially during the dancing, as it gives them a comfortable option to rest their feet, eat their desserts, and mingle with other guests rather than to go back to their dinner tables. How you group your furniture pieces, and the style of furniture you should chose, would be dependent on your event space. Work with your planner and designer to lay everything out on a floor plan beforehand to be sure everything fits nicely. 

Check out our Lounge Furniture Pinterest Board and Unique Bars Pinterest Board for more ideas! 

Chinoiserie Wedding at the Asian Art Museum

It has been nearly a year and a half since Minnie and Brian's gorgeous Chinoiserie wedding at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Because BRIDES magazine picked it up almost immediately, and didn't schedule for it to be published until earlier this year, we weren't allowed to blog about it for an entire year. It was certainly hard to keep such a beautiful wedding under the radar, but alas, we had to, and BRIDES magazine gave it a lot of love in a 6-page spread in February 2012. I'm thrilled to finally be able to share details of this wedding on my blog!

When I first started working with Minnie and Brian, they were moving across the country from New York to Los Angeles, and decided to host their wedding in San Francisco. Minnie flew out to meet with me, and we spent hours chatting over lunch. She was so incredibly sweet and genuine, and it was very enjoyable getting to know her. By the end of lunch, I felt like she had become a good friend, and I couldn't wait to start planning her wedding with her. 

Throughout the process, Minnie and Brian remained involved with the planning mainly via email. They struck me, and all of the vendors, as a couple that truly respected all of our professions. They were trusting, appreciative, and extremely cooperative throughout the whole process. Their gracious personalities made all of their vendors more than eager to go the extra mile to ensure that their wedding was perfect. 

And a perfect day it was...

Minnie and her two attendants got ready in a luxurious suite at the St. Regis Hotel in downtown San Francisco, where Taylor Pham and her associates performed their magic on the girls with just the right amount of makeup to keep them glowing and natural. 

It was a chilly, windy, and rainy day, but Minnie and Brian's spirits casted a sunshine on everyone. The way that they look at each other makes you understand what it really means to be in love. The underlying "love bird" theme that Gloria Wong designed for them couldn't be more fitting. They simply adored one another to no end!

They decided to brave the weather and had their portraits done at Yerba Buena Gardens, with the ever so lovely Lisa Lefkowitz. The overcast actually made for great natural lighting! 

After their portrait session, they were whisked away in a vintage rolls royce to the Asian Art Museum, where Reverend Ed Holt married them under a woodsy canopy by Hunt Littlefield.

Minnie and Brian held their wedding ceremony inside the North Court of Asian Art Museum. We had precisely 1 hour to transform the space, full-on with pipe and drape, woodsy canopy, branches and birds down the aisle, ambient lighting, and an awe-inspiring, intricate hand painted aisle runner. Yes, it was an adrenaline soaring, blood pressure rising kind of intensity, and the entire team worked seamlessly together to make it happen! 

Guests were handed handkerchief programs by ushers, which came in handy for many who shed tears of joy as the vows were exchanged.

After the ceremony, guests were invited to go up the grand staircase, where they enjoyed an hour of hors d'oeurves and cocktails in the Loggia.

During the cocktail hour, Golden Gate Strings kept the ambiance alive with their upbeat repertoire, and guests got to write their well wishes for the newlyweds, which were then pinned onto a "tree wall".

When it came time to reveal the majestic Samsung Hall, we pulled the drapes back and delighted guests with a stunning room decked out in a Chinoiserie inspired design. The soft ambient lighting, the sculpted vases, the tall branches, the letterpress menus....every detail came together so exquisitely. 

The 3-course meal by Componere Fine Catering had guests raving about it being the "best wedding meal ever," only to follow suit with an extraordinary dessert spread filled with goodies like petite creme brûlée, Componere's own chocolate malt Indian-style Kalfi, meyer lemon tartlets, and french macarons.

Ofcourse, we always think through all the details ahead of time, so for those who were too full to enjoy the sumptuous desserts, we provided custom to-go boxes for them. A lovely tea station was also set up with a selection of Minnie's favorite teas, along with Minnie's favorite Krispy Kreme doughnuts. And....to top it all off, Butterfly Cakes created a 4 tier masterpiece, elevated on a custom riser made by Hunt Littlefield!

The guests danced the night away with music by DJ Ron Grandia, and towards the end of the evening, Minnie changed into a simple, yet stunning red dress as a nod to Brian's Chinese heritage. 

Congratulations again, to this sweet, charming couple!

Kudos to a magnificent team who worked so well under intense pressure(!!) :

Event Planning + Production: Jubilee Lau Events
Event Design + Styling: Gloria Wong Design
Venue: Asian Art Museum
Catering: Componere Fine Catering
Photography: Lisa Lefkowitz Photography
Videography: Weddings on Film
Floral Design: Hunt Littlefield
Makeup + Hair Styling: Mimi & Taylor
Lighting + Drapery: Enhanced Lighting
Officiant: Rev. Ed Holt
Ceremony + Cocktail Music: Golden Gate Strings
DJ + MC: Ron Grandia
Cake: Butterfly Cakes
Custom Wall Flats: Blueprint Studio
Gold President's Chairs: Hartmann Studio
Tabletop Rentals: Classic Party Rentals
Paper Goods and handkerchief: Lucky Luxe
Shuttle buses for guests: Pure Luxury
Vintage Car: Classic Convertible Wine Tours
Linens: La Tavola Linen
Runners: Wildflower Linens
Photobooth: Party Booths!

Oriental Theme Photoshoot for San Francisco Brides Magazine

Since we're still celebrating Chinese New Year, I thought it would be fun to show this awesome photoshoot that we did in collaboration with some pretty extraordinary Event Professionals for San Francisco Brides Magazine.

The magazine wanted a series of photoshoots centered around the different neighborhoods in San Francisco. We got Chinatown--surprise, surprise! My partner in crime for all photoshoots and designer extraordinaire, Gloria Wong, wanted to take a very different spin on our theme. After going through some major challenges, like driving for 7 hours scouting for the ideal location, we were able to take Chinatown out of Chinatown and into the Wine Country! 

Kunde Estate Winery proved to be the perfect setting for our oriental theme, where we created the look of an old Chinese village against the decrepit walls. Jose Villa flew in from Southern Cal as the official photographer for all of the shoots and he captured every last detail beautifully! I have worked with Jose before and I am always in awe at his unobtrusive and effortless approach. 

One of my favorite part was Neil Hunt's brilliant idea to incorporate live chickens, a perfect touch to the air-drying laundry that one can always find in a Chinese village. My good friend and fabulous DJ, Ron Grandia, just happened to have two in his backyard, and he generously lent them to us for this shoot. Special thanks to Joey Cheung of JBeautique for handling the chickens, Apple and Alice, for us the entire time. It was actually a lot of fun to have them wandering around our set the entire time.

Unbeknownst to us until the magazine came out, our shoot actually made on to the cover of the magazine!! A million thanks to a very hard-working team who pulled this off in less than 2 weeks. 

Planning & Production--Jubilee Lau Events

Design & Styling--Gloria Wong Design

Photography--Jose Villa

Floral Design--Hunt Littlefield

Venue--Kunde Estate Winery

Chinese Furniture & Accessories--Old Shanghai

Food--Le's Kitchen Catering

Hand-painted petal fan menu and place cards, calligraphy, & handmade tassels--Mira Aster

Custom-printed fabric--Blueprint Studios

Hanging Fixtures & Production--Enhanced Lighting

Graphic design on fabrics--Amy Hayson

Here's the actual magazine spread:

Though Gloria and I have partnered on quite a few weddings and photoshoots now, for the past 4 years, she still blows me away with her original concepts and level of design detail. I love that she's a color fanatic too, and can tell if a fabric or paper is even slightly off from her pantone color swatches. It is this attention to detail that makes her designs so one-of-a-kind. 

And, here are more detail shots by Jose...

Check out some behind the scenes images here!