Wise words from Ali Berlin

The wedding is a process which begins way before the day of the planned event, and it’s essential to understand the bliss, emotional sensitivity, thought patterns, highs and lows of this very special time in your life. With some reflection, people come to realize that the actual “work” in the wedding preparation is beyond choosing the perfect flowers and fare. It’s a chance to get clear about what it means to be and become consecrated life partners in today’s world. People often channel their unrealized feelings and unidentified discomfort into the planning, detail obsession and creation of petty arguments. You can relieve yourself of this stress by grounding your actions and thoughts in an honest, present and clear intention about the overall meaning of your wedding. This paves the way and sets the tone for your marriage. It’s a template for couples to learn about handling potentially challenging or very highly sensitive times. From this place, you can refine your understanding of the marital commitment and the meaning of the ceremony skyrockets. Plus, it’s much more fun.

From Ali Berlin

All American Holman Ranch Wedding

Vannessa & Cayman were such a joy to work with. The All American couple; they were married on a beautiful summer day on June 5th at Holman Ranch in Carmel Valley. Their guests dined on fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and biscuits; played bocce on the lawn; and danced well into the evening. I could not have imagined a more perfect day. Photographs by the wonderful Emily Merrill.

Planning & Design: Shannon Leahy
Photography: Emily Merrill
Venue: Holman Ranch
Flowers: Erica Rose Design
Catering: Paradise Catering
Paper: Hello Lucky
Hair & Makeup - Bloom Beauty Boutique
Bridesmaid Dresses: J. Crew

You Might Be Cut Out to be a Wedding Planner...

I was driving down to Carmel for a wedding a few weeks ago and I started thinking about all the random jobs I do as a wedding planner and how different life experiences have prepared me for the job. Here are some ways to know if you're cut out to be a wedding or event planner:

- You can lose hours organizing your cosmetics drawer.

As a kid my favorite chore was organizing those messy drawers in our house. I remember I would dump everything out on the floor, clean out the drawer and create systems to meticulously put everything back in it's place. I fantasize about orderly celebrity closets and I think the dishwasher is my favorite appliance because everything has it's place. That's not say that all planners are Type A compulsive. Far from it. I find that a lot of the best planners I know have messy homes and spontaneous schedules but they all share an enjoyment of creating systems and organizing chaos.

- You really loved that year or summer you spent as a waitress/bartender

Having some service experience is a must if you want to be a wedding planner. You have to love waiting on people, anticipating their needs and being a good host with a smile and a sense of humor. It's also helpful to know good service techniques to make sure your caterers and servers are providing the best level of service. And certainly having experience running around on your feet for 10 hours will prepare you for the taxing hours.

- You can get nasty with an Excel spreadsheet

A lot of my job requires making in depth budgets, production schedules and other complicated documents using Excel. I really love entering the calculations, formatting my documents and making them as easy to read as possible.

- When group projects are assembled in school, you always take the lead

No doubt about it, you have to be a leader. Sometimes my job requires managing dozens of people at once. You have to be able to prioritize, speak up when something isn't right, come up with creative solutions on the spot and make decisions with confidence.

- You are a good listener and a supportive friend

Any time you get two extended families together in one place there is bound to be drama. You can't be the type that shies away from stressed, emotional people. A big part of my job is listening, being able to see both sides of the situation and offering advice or support when needed.

- You know your way around a toolbox

It's really helpful if you know how to use a hammer, screwdriver, glue gun, and sewing kit. When last minute tasks come up you have to be a little handy and problem solve when things break down or don't work. I have always been the nerd my friends call when they have a computer issue and I love the challenge of troubleshooting to find a solution.

Dance Cards

I love the idea of a dance card at each girl's place setting at a wedding. You could create a short playlist, maybe 5-7 songs, print them on the dance card and have the band announce the songs. It would be such a fun souvenir and a great way to encourage people to get on the dance floor. Plus I love the iconography of these dance cards from the 20s and 30s, the drawings are divine.




Sources:
http://www.library.illinois.edu/village/primarysource/mod1/pg4.htm
http://drtlibrary.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/may-i-have-this-dance/
http://midddigital.middlebury.edu/giddywhirl/tour/dancecard.htm
http://www.phillyseaport.org/web_exhibits/what_we_saved-ephemera_exhibit/ladies.html
http://www.usna.edu/USNABand/media/oldbandsmed/DanceCard_1900m.jpg

Equestrian Elegance on Snippet and Ink!

I'm thrilled to be featured today on the blog, Snippet and Ink!

We had so much fun creating this scene. Wiyanna, the fabulous hair and make-up stylist, and Larissa, amazing wedding photographer, ride horses together at Wiyanna's ranch. They approached me wanting to create a horsey themed wedding. I immediately thought of Ralph Lauren polo, English manors and gold-rimmed china. But it wouldn't be any fun for me to create this beautiful look in a ballroom, I wanted it in the horse barn!

We found this backdrop of Hay in the working barn and set about creating the tablescape with that as the dramatic background. My mother's beautiful dining room has a wall devoted to symmetrical framed photos of mushroom and fungi Audubon style prints and sketches and I thought how fun it would be to recreate her dining room in a horse barn and use anatomy prints of horses in the frames.

We found a beautiful silk tablecloth from La Tavola (they have a crazy good selection by the way) and got most of the table props from West Elm. I was loving the idea of the anatomy horse prints and wanted to take that idea a step further. I remember seeing a case of entomology dioramas at the Walters Art Museum growing up and thought how cool it would be if each guest could receive a mounted butterfly favor. I thought there was no way I would have time to order them or have them made and then I came accross Kevin's website, Bug Under Glass, and found out he lived and worked not 2 miles away from my office! I went over and got to see his room full of amazing bug treasures and we picked out some beautiful butterflies to use as the guest gifts.

Larissa was walking by a lighting store in San Francisco's design district and called me on the phone. She found the perfect light fixture at Dogfork made out of an old tractor wheel and when I saw it I knew right away it would complete the look.

I worked with Michael and his phenomenal team on the flowers for the arrangement. I knew the colors and style I wanted but Michael surprised me with the amazing selection of flowers he found at the market. He is a superb flower shopper, superb. Jennifer made the boutonnieres and bouquet. I love how the ribbon on the parrot tulip bouquet looks like leather in the photos.

Hello Lucky and Sweet on Cake came in and really brought the shoot to life with their fun take on a horse-themed wedding. I love the play on plaid for the envelope liner and the way they styled the pieces on the peaches. Amber made the horse shoes on the cake and even the little nails out of fondant and Hello Lucky let us borrow their collection of vintage horse ribbons that happened to be in the right color and made us a chalkboard for the pony rides.

The dress, from Judd Wadell, belonged to Wiyanna and the jewelery is from Larissa's parents amazing store. Wiyanna made our already very beautiful model a true knock-out with a fun, French hairstyle and sophisticated make-up look.

I could not be more pleased with the way this all turned out. It was a hot day and everyone went the extra mile, especially our gorgeous models who waited around fully clothed for a few hours for the sun to be just right. I'm so glad they did.

Hope you're having a relaxing wedding week

Swaddle me in tulle

I'm really loving all the tulle gowns down the runway this season. I just learned from Martha that tulle was originally the backing for lace and it wasn't until a factory in Tulle, France starting mass producing it as fabric at an affordable price that it became popular. These dresses remind me of bridal recitals, the 1950s and Edgar Degas. I just want to bury my face in them!


From Monique Lhullier, Reem Acra, Vera Wang and Christos

Funny Wedding Video

Brian and Kristin, two dear friends of mine from high school, got married a few weeks ago in Miami Florida. Here is a great video commemorating the event (or trying to stop it!) from my pals Dan Kallaugher and Trey Monk. Enjoy!

Preppy Summer Inspiration

This inspiration board is for Meredith's older brother and his fiance who are to be wed in Chicago next summer. I wanted to create a board that felt fresh and modern while still retaining some old school prep.


The color palette is melon, light blue, navy blue and red. Red white and blue invitations from Mr. Boddington's studio are a must. I'm loving this color melon, perfect for roses and dhalias mixed with red blooms. This would be a gorgeous table on a pale sherbet linen with a navy napkin and Mr. Boddington inspired menu card. Seersucker suits with red ties for the groom and groomsmen and J. Crew light blue dresses for the ladies, all with melon bouquets and boutonnieres.

Congratulations Chris & Tara!

Resources:
Hilary Thomas bedroom via Shelter Blog
Mr. Boddington's Studio invitations
J. Crew bridesmaid dress
Flowers photographed by Elle Jae
Sherbert from Joy the Baker

Mexi-Cali Wedding

Debbie and Tim first dated in middle school back in Anchorage, Alaska. Tim broke up with Debbie after a few weeks, as the story goes, while the song "Purple Rain" by Prince was playing on the radio. Years and years later they reconnected and realized they were meant to be together and last weekend got married in San Francisco with 100 of their closest pals all flown in from Alaska.

We looked at venues all over the city not quite finding the perfect fit until we visited Tres Agaves in SOMA. Debbie is of Mexican decent and felt that carne asada, carnitas and lots of margaritas would make for a pretty fun party (turns out she was right!). The ceremony was at the gorgeous Swedenborgian Church and guests took trolley busses to the reception site. The weather was perfect and the guests had a blast. Debbie and Tim danced to Purple Rain and late night taco carts were rolled out at midnight.

Thank you Debbie and congratulations to you and Tim! These decor shots are from the fabulous Michelle Drewes




Credits:

Design & Planning: Shannon Leahy Events
Photography: Michelle Drewes
Flowers: Erica Rose Design
Ceremony Location: Swedenborgian Church
Reception Location: Tres Agaves
Cupcakes: Kara's Cupcakes
Linens: La Tavola