Well, we had a wonderful time collaborating with Brooke Photography & Design on this fun 10th Anniversary Shoot! Thank you to Brooke Photography for asking us to be a part of this creative endeavor! Lindsey of Brooke Photography wanted to honor a special couple who were celebrating 10 wonderful years together — Frank and Karen.

We designed the florals in a variety of vintage containers and tins kindly provided by Archive Vintage Rentals.  Ditzie Cakes supplied all of the amazing sweets and treats! (how adorable is the mini cake she made for them?)  Loved all of her daffodil-inspired goodies.

For the full heart-warming story, be sure to stop by Lindsey’s Blog! BIG Thanks to all the fantastic vendors!

We are very excited to post the full feature of our fabulous photo shoot with some of our absolute favorite vendors! A HUGE thank you to everyone who participated! It was a great day and all the fun details came together beautifully! We were inspired by the 2012 Pantone color of the year, Tangerine Tango and doilies. To see the inspiration board from a previous post, click here.

Invitations and paper goods by Amy at Dandelion Creative Studios

Photography by Cami Jane Photography

Cake and Mini Desserts by Jennie from Pop Culture Desserts

Tara Keely 2012 Dress and Accessories provided by Blush Bridal Couture

Groom’s Suit by Friar Tux

Hair & Makeup by Katie from Beauty and the Beach

Hand made doilies by Marta at Craftaria

Linens provided by Wildflower Linens

Chiavari Chair Rentals

Styling, Details and Floral Design by Sugar Branch Events

Thank you to our models Nolan and Ruth!

Lia Kate & Drew are genuinely down to earth people; warm and friendly and we are loving working with them! They are tying the knot in Temecula at the LongShadow Ranch Winery in August and Lia Kate has some very cute location appropriate ideas that will make their country-themed wedding come to life. We teamed them up with Lindsey from Brooke Photography & Design for their wedding photography and we could not be more thrilled! Their engagement session with her was one of the most creative and personality-filled shoots we have ever seen! It was so “them”! Lia Kate was so sweet in wanting to make the experience fun and enjoyable for Drew, and since he loves duck hunting, it seemed like the perfect direction to go in! Here is the full post!

Back in December our dear friend Cami Donohue of Cami Jane Photography said, “Ladies…It’s that time again! Time for us to collaborate on a creative wedding shoot!”. Of course, we were jumping for joy to start brainstorming all of our latest ideas and forecast some fun new styles for this upcoming year. Cami wanted to incorporate a recent favorite romantic detail of hers – doilies – and we were anxious to do something new and bright with the Pantone color of the year “Tangerine Tango”.

Once we honed our ideas,  we put together an awesome inspiration board and enlisted the help of some of our favorite vendors to share their talents and design. We wanted a mixture of bright modern colors with romantic tones and soft details. We wanted to break away from the complete vintage/rustic look we’ve been seeing the past few years and introduce some modern elements but still pull together an overall romantic look. Amy from Dandelion Creative Studios created an impressive invitation suite with our exact concept in mind! From there, Jennie from Pop Culture Desserts was inspired to craft her mini desserts and mini three-tiered cake complimenting our color palette. Amy from Blush Bridal Couture generously loaned us one of the newest Spring 2012 Tara Keeley dresses and hair and makeup was by the wonderful Katie from Beauty and the Beach! A star-studded shoot was all lined up and ready for fabulous!

So here is just a tiny taste of how the shoot turned out. Full post to come!

Boudoir photography is extremely popular, and it’s no wonder why! Who wouldn’t want the opportunity to be pampered with full hair and makeup, slip into something sexy and play supermodel for a few hours? Boudoir by Rani Lu Photography offers women the ultimate Boudoir photography experience at her private studio in San Clemente. Not only do you get the opportunity to feel sexy and empowered but you also have a great gift to surprise your boyfriend, husband, or husband-to-be by showing them a side of you they wouldn’t normally see! A great way to surprise your man before your wedding or for a special occasion gift (Valentine’s day is coming up!).

Our very own Britt recently had a boudoir session with Rani Lu Photography and she was DYING to share her amazing experience:  “She made me feel very comfortable and it was the most fun I’ve had in a while.  The incredible hair and makeup by Beauty and the Beach gives you confidence you need and Rani’s photos really bring out the best in you.  She knows how to shoot the perfect angles and in a way that flatters any body.  Her studio is a one-stop-shop for the session – I even had champagne and donuts!  A boudoir shoot with Rani Lu and Beauty and the Beach is like being a Victoria’s Secret model for a day.  The worst part about it was having to wash off my hair and makeup afterward cause it was a birthday surprise for my husband!  EVERY girl should do this at least once in her life.  It’s incredibly fun and, as my dad would say, “you’ll never be this young or this thin again.”

These are of course, the tame versions from Britt’s session, but for more sexy examples of Rani’s work visit her site! Rani Lu Photography. Contact Rani to take advantage of her Valentine’s Day Mini Sessions!

We get pretty excited when a new venue pops up here in Orange County! Especially when the venue is newly restored and open for weddings! We love being able to introduce our clients in search of the perfect venue to a brand new option, one that  may be a little more unique than others and one where they have not already been to a handful of friends’ weddings.  The first in our Venues that Sparkle blog series is Serra Plaza; a glorious new venue for weddings and events.  Serra Plaza is nestled in the beautiful historic district of San Juan Capistrano and boasts a substantial courtyard and patio which can accommodate up to 450 guests! The brand new structure was designed to reflect the architecture of surrounding buildings and neighborhood and exudes the same old-world-California charm as its close-by Spanish predecessor, the Mission San Juan .

They only book one wedding/event a day so you are sure to have a uniquely special celebration. This venue is perfect for Summer months and for couples looking to have a glamorous evening in the open air and under the stars.  The courtyard is a blank slate, with so many design and layout possibilities. Serra Plaza has a list of fantastic preferred vendors to choose from. The courtyard fountain provides a calming background sound of continuous trickling water, adding to the tranquil nature of the venue. And we can’t forget the Bridal Suite! A spacious and luxurious sanctuary where every bride dreams of getting ready.

Here are just a few highlights from The Serra Plaza Events Blog.

Every year we send out Holiday Cards to clients past and present, vendors, family, and friends just as something old fashioned and fun! This year we wanted to do a retro-”I-Love-Lucy”-50′s-kitchen-baking-theme and so the amazingly talented Stephanie Trachy of Stephanie Ann Photography snapped some awesome pics from our little shoot. We had a blast in the retro kitchen with our cute 50′s dresses and Christmas aprons! Then the uber fabulous Amy from Dandelion Creative Studios designed the graphics for the cards. We were really excited with how they turned out. We spliced it together for digital use but the pic on the left was the front of the card and the inside of the card is on the right.

Happy Holidays everyone!

We had the pleasure of working with Angie on designing all the florals for her November wedding at Los Coyotes Country Club. Angie and her mom were two of the nicest people we have ever met. They were so loving and welcoming from the moment we met them, and continued to embrace us as more than just a vendor, but as friends. (They even made us these phenomenal peanut butter chocolate cake balls!) It was truly a joy to get to know them in the last few months before Angie + Jose’s wedding and we wish them all the best!

Despite the heavy rain on their wedding day, Angie still had the most amazing attitude and disposition. It takes a seriously kind and understanding person to smile through the rain on her wedding day — we commend her!! The absolutely beautiful images were captured by Brooke Photography & Design, and we thank her for sharing them with us.

Here are a few images from their special day.