Kids' Photoshoot with Lisa Lefkowitz

I'm so lucky to be surrounded by endless creativity and talent in this business, and that sometimes get spilled over into my personal life. At the end of our wedding season this year, I collaborated with a few of my favorite friends in the industry for a photoshoot. This time, the shoot would be focused on my 5 year old daughter Bridgette, and her BFF Brianne. Brianne and Bridgette are actually cousins, born 3 weeks apart, and the best of friends. They live on opposite sides of the world, but this year, we had the good fortune of hosting Brianne at our house for 1 year, so that the girls could attend kindergarten together. I decided that I had to seize the opportunity to do a beautiful, memorable shoot for them as a memento and salute to their blossoming friendship, and to preserve their fleeting innocence.

We pulled this shoot together in about 2 weeks, which seems like a miracle in hindsight. We had to pull together a very extensive wardrobe for 4 different concepts, and source props to go with each one. I had every intention of "keeping things simple" but somehow, ideas just got spiraled out of control (in a good way). In the end, we had to sadly nix the summer concept because we just could not find the perfect summer dresses now that Fall is upon us. But, I'm definitely determined to do it next year, because we purchased the cutest quilted kite custom made by Loveybugdesigns on Etsy!

A huge thank you to Gloria Wong of Gloria Wong Design for the concepts and styling, Joey Cheung of JBeautique for the girls' makeup and hair, Lisa Lefkowitz for the ammmmazing photography, and Andrew Hsu of Studio MSV for the video to come. :)

Enjoy these preview images by Lisa Lefkowitz!

Spring Picnic:

Fall Dress-Up:

Candy Pop:

Architectural Modern Photoshoot

We're eager to share more detail photos from our Today's Bride photoshoot at Hotel Vitale in San Francisco!

Some of our favorite elements from this shoot.....

~ "Face Cards" instead of "Place Cards" (Mark Zuckerberg, you really should use this idea for your wedding!)
~ Gold bangles as napkin rings
~ Unconventional bridesmaids dresses from BCBG

Enjoy and be inspired!

Click here for the vendor credits! Thanks Jennifer Skog, for the fabulous photos!

Our {Urban Love} Photoshoot with Today's Bride Magazine

Let's whip out the champagne! Congratulations are in order as Today's Bride officially becomes a large format magazine. Cristine Thomas, Editor in Chief, has poured her heart and soul into this magazine, and it truly shows.

For this premier issue, Cristine asked a group of wedding designers and planners to create photoshoots around 4 distinct styles--Architectural Modern, Sweet & Sassy, La Femme Vintage, and Rustic Restoration. Gloria Wong and I teamed up for Architectural Modern, and chose the urban Hotel Vitale as our location for the shoot. As with all other shoots, it took a tremendous amount of time and effort to pull in a stellar team, to source materials, and to plan the production. Everyone contributed selflessly to make the shoot a really successful one.

The magazine is now on newsstands, and available at nearly every wedding venue in the Bay Area. I am excited to share our pages with you here, but I would highly encourage you to pick up a copy of the magazine, as you will surely be inspired by all the other shoots as well!

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!

Behind the Scenes: Photo Shoot for Today's Bride

Right after we wrapped up our 2011 wedding season, we participated in one last photo shoot, this time with Today's Bride magazine. The magazine will be out in January, but here are a few behind the scenes images from my iphone! The theme was Urban Love, and we shot at the beautiful Hotel Vitale in San Francisco.

Stay tuned for Jen Skog's professional photos once the magazine comes out!

Behind the Scenes: Photo Shoot for San Francisco Brides Magazine

You know those gorgeous, jaw-dropping photos that you see in magazines and blogs? Many of them are the fruits of very, very hard labor-- hundreds of hours from an accomplished team that is put into producing these extraordinary photo shoots. It's definitely no easy task, but an excellent way to keep us Event Professionals inspired and motivated, as we strive to put our best foot forward.

Last month, I was the planner for a photo shoot for the prestigious San Francisco Bride magazine, and my team was given the theme of Chinatown. Determined to think outside the box to interpret our theme, my phenomenal partner in crime, the very talented Gloria Wong of Gloria Wong Design, decided to take Chinatown beyond the walls and streets of Chinatown, so off we went to Kunde Estate Winery for our shoot with the very respectable (and fun!) Jose Villa.

Think decrepit walls, live chickens, dim sum chest....the concept and details for our shoot were incredible. We hope you will look for it on newsstands in December, when the magazine will come out. Meanwhile, here are a few behind the scene teasers from my very reliable iphone camera!

I will post Jose's photos after the magazine has come out, along with the list of credits!

Cover Shoot for Today's Bride

Last October, I had the privilege of being a part of an A-team for the cover shoot of Today's Bride magazine. I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with the industry's best of the best, where artistry and creativity led the way to this very successful shoot. Here are a few of the extraordinary photographs from Jennifer Skog...

It has been quite some time since I've participated in a photoshoot, mainly because we've been so busy with our clients' fabulous events for the past several years. However, this shoot was a great reminder as to why I like creating photoshoots. It is an opportunity to collaborate with people that I admire and respect, whom I may not always have the opportunity to work with on a client's wedding. When there is a remarkable team working together, sparks ignite in a phenomenal way. The passion and love that each of us bring to the shoot is amazing. We are also able to have the luxury of time on our hands, to style everything perfectly, without the concern of being up against the clock all the time. In other words, it's a terrific outlet for us to do what we love in a more flexible environment.

When I help clients pull together a team of event professionals for their event, I always factor in everyone's personalities and working styles to ensure that we have the best possible team working for the clients. I am sure we can all relate to the importance of working with people who share the same team-playing mentality, work ethics, and professionalism. After being in this industry for 9 years now, I cannot emphasize enough how powerful it is to have a good team of vendors working together. It's the best 'insurance' the clients can invest in towards the success of their event. I love seeing the chemistry and dynamics of a good team on an event day, where the best definition of "team work" is demonstrated, and everyone works extra hard to make sure the clients are happy. There is no micromanaging needed on my part as the planner, and the harmonious spirit is evident to everyone, including the guests!

Thank you to the fabulous team of event professionals for this cover shoot, which is the current issue of Today's Bride in newstands and venues!

Venue: Julia Morgan Ballroom
Design + Styling: Gloria Wong Design
Photography: Jennifer Skog 
Makeup + Hair: Maria Chang of Professional Makeup Artistry
Flowers: Birch
Cake: Cake Coquette
Gown: Nouvelle Vogue
Accessories: Haute Bride
Cinematography: Andrew Hsu of Studio MSV
Lighting: Enhanced Lighting
Furniture Rentals: Blueprint Studio