Taylor's Bridal Shower Tea

What fun hosting a bridal shower tea for Taylor back in Maryland. There were lots of fun gourmet treats by a local caterer, take home white peony tea for the guests, invitations by Mira Aster and beautiful Spring flowers on the table.

Good Questions...

Today's question is from a client getting married in Carmel. There is wonderful golf in the Valley and of course the infamous Pebble Beach so a golf outing for those who enjoy it is a must!

My fiance and I want to have a golf outing for any guests who want to attend but we really don't want to have to pay for everyone's round of golf. How do we write this on the invitation in a nice way?

This is where having a wedding website can really come in handy. If you want to include this information in your invitation you need to have an activities or information card that lists the weekend events. This is a great idea if you are having a destination wedding. You can list this as one of the activities in the itinerary and then direct people to your wedding website for more details. On the website you can write how much a round of golf costs and the number to call to reserve a tee time. If you don't want to have a wedding website you can list a phone number to call for tee times and costs on the activities card.

Generally speaking if you include a line item for golf on your RSVP card then guests will assume you are handling the reservation and paying for the cost. If they need to call to reserve themselves it can be assumed they will need to pay. This works for other outings like kayaking, horseback riding, yoga or wine tasting as well.

If you don't want to include this on your invitation you can call or e-mail your guests informally to let them know but you have to make sure you reach everyone or you run the risk of offending someone by not inviting them.

If budget allows it can be fun to have your wedding photographer stop by for your events to document the weekend like Julie and Jared did for their yoga/golf day with the fabulous Anna Kuperberg.

Today I'm imagining a dreamy beach wedding

"Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches." ~From "The Princess Bride"


All images shot by Max Wanger

Hello Tenfold Calling Cards

I love these calling cards from Hello Tenfold. What an adorable idea. These would make unique escort cards as well...

Wedding 360

(above - Sean Lowe)

Last week I attended a fabulous event in San Francisco hosted by Wedding 360. I got to hear so many of my favorite wedding planners, designers and consultants speak candidly about the industry and the future of weddings.

Some of my favorite tidbits were from Rebecca Grinnals - "Even if you are on the right track you will get run over if you just sit there." David Beahm - "See I have the luxury of being a gay man which means I get to walk into a room and say 'Oh this is fabulous, you must simply have this!' and people believe me." and Tara Guerard "My biggest pet peeve is when people can't get a drink at the bar. It's like, no one is dancing because I've only had one scotch and soda and I need about four more to get on the dancefloor! I will cut decor before I cut bartenders at the bar!"

Such a fun couple days and a great experience!


David BeahmThat's me, in the audience!


Ethan from Componere

Oh the best part! Ethan from Componere (ammmmmazing caterer!) presented a food and wine pairing with Henry Wine Group. He made the most amazing dish I've ever seen/eaten. It looked simple enough, a hard boiled egg on a bed of greens, but it was really mozzarella cheese and a puree of yellow heirloom tomatoes inside. Very cool! (pictured below)

The Woman Who Is Chic

A friend dropped off her 1945 version of Emily Post's Book of Etiquette and I can't put it down...

I've always loved the feeling of the word "chic" but I've never found a suitable definition. From Emily Post...

The woman who is chic is always a little different. Not different in being behind fashion, but always slightly apart from it. "Chic" (pronounced sheek) is a borrowed adjective, but unfortunately no word in our language expresses its meaning. Our adjective "elegant"-which, before it was vulgarized, most nearly approached it-rather suggested the mother of the young woman who was chic. Its nearest description today is a combination of sophistication (in its intentionally deceptive meaning) combined with fastidious taste. An example of chi-chi (pronounced she-she) is not a synonym for chic, but a flashy imitation of it. The woman who is chic adapts the fashion to her own personality. This is in contrast to the average woman who will merely buy the latest hat or dress and adapt herself to it, whether this adaptation is suited to her or not. When it is conspicuously NOT, it is likely to be "chi-chi."

Good Questions...

Two posts in one day, look at me!

I thought that whenever an interesting question comes up, from a client or a friend, I would post it up here as it might be helpful for my readers (whoever you are!)...

This one is from a client:

"As I'm sure you've noticed, I don't wear much make up. So, I'm not a huge fan of having it professionally done because I always feel like it's too heavy and that I don't look like myself. That's exactly how I felt after my make up consultation. I just felt like I had on so much face make up, and my eye make up looked kind of caked on. She took a picture of it and it looks really natural in the photos, but in person, I just didn't love it. The trial was so expensive that I'm not super psyched to have another one. I guess my question is, does a really good make up artist make it look completely natural and not heavy?"

This is actually a pretty common question that I've heard before from girls who don't wear a lot of make-up. It's totally natural that you might feel like you have make-up caked on your face when you're used to only wearing a little moisturizer.

Of course, you don't want to feel uncomfortable on the day of your wedding, but I can't stress enough how helpful make-up is for photography. Even though it may feel a little weird you will find your whole face lights up and glows and looks smooth in pictures when you have your make-up done.

If you really feel uncomfortable, ask the make-up artist to go easy on the foundation and maybe just stick to some concealer and powder to cover blemishes and give you a glow. But either way, make-up is a must! A good make-up artist does make the make-up look completely natural, but the "feeling" of caked-on comes from you never wearing make-up.

If anyone else has had this experience, I'd love to hear about it. Also, if you have a burning question, please e-mail it to me - I promise I'm really friendly and would love to help if I can!

Here are some great hair and make-up looks from San Francisco based Rebecca Flores of Zenobia Agency:

Inspired By....

This week I'm completely inspired by Krislyn Design in Los Angeles. Check out this amazing work...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Shot by: Larissa Cleveland

Shannon Leahy, Irish Wedding on Style Me Pretty!

I'm so excited that Abby at Style Me Pretty decided to publish my recent work, an Irish wedding for St. Patrick's Day!

Here are some "behind the scenes" shots from Larissa Cleveland of the setup at Manka's Boathouse!

Planning out the shoot...




Anne of Mira Aster setting up the table...


The model, Erika Schneider, getting her make-up done by the talented Ashley Wright:

How handsome is the groom??
A true professional, it was about 40 degrees and raining!
Running from the rain! I wish I had a shot of Larissa's contraption to keep her camera dry.
Special thanks to Flours, Blueprint Studios, La Tavola Linen, and Classic Party Rentals

Chin Chin

Love these champagne flutes. Love them on a dinner table. Love them as a toasting glass for the bride and groom. Love them as an engagement present. From Zodax