A very bling tropical Hawaiian wedding

Special thank you to Nam of ModernLA Weddings for bringing this amazing couple our way.  We enjoyed helping to create a glamorous, yet tropical wedding and reception for this couple.  These amazing images are courtesy of the talented  Rob Greer Photography. Visit more of his amazing artistry at  www.robgreer.com

Credits:
Wedding Coordination: Nam @ Modern LA Weddings
Venue: Cicada, Downtown Los Angeles
Photography: Rob Greer
Event Design and Floral Design: Shawna Yamamoto Event Design
Lighting Design and DJ: Jack Hou TMMPro

Inspiration: Organic Citrus

For this couple, we used the palette of yellow, deep orange, white and brown. Yellow was carried into the design by way of the bridesmaid dresses and further placed into the floral selections. The evnet was held at an Italian restaurant and the couple wanted to have somewhat of a Tuscany feel. We selected the Shimmer crush orange satin linen with coordinating chair sashes. Carafes of wine were placed at each table for the guests to enjoy anytime they got thirsty!

The flowers selected for this wedding included cymbidium orchids, hydrangea, and roses. One of my favorite flowers to use for a yellow flower is the cymbidium orchid as it is so truely yellow and always vibrant.

Shawna Yamamoto used a textured, rich satin ribbon to wrap around the handle. The ribbon is embellished with small jewels in copper to accent the colors and not create a fussy handle. We love our handles and always try to make them extra special for our bride and her maids!

Design Process: Ricky & Sonal's Wedding

Process sounds daunting. I don't want you to think what I do is "process". I hated that word in my old corporate job. Yet, what I do is somewhat of a "process". Creative in nature.

During the initial consultation I find out fairly quickly if my client is looking to have her wedding designed for her or if she has already figured it out with all the clippings she has seen and saved. Have I already told you how much I love creative freedom? It's important for an artist to have.

I've thought about why I have had all the jobs that I have. I realize now that the job I had investigating required me to listen..listen..and listen. Within the words, within the hesitation, you find something unspoken that even the speaker doesn't hear...but me.

Also, as an investigator, one is required to be able to observe. Observation...observation...collecting evidence..(clippings, textures, images)..this is one of my favorite times.

Looking through the bridal "bibles" every bride creates. The images that are explained to me as "it's not exactly what I want, but I like the.." , "the colors are wrong, but the..", I already now, you need not explain.

I quickly realized that not every bride knows what they want, even those that think they know what they want, really don't know what they want simply because they haven't seen it yet.

That is what I am here for. To listen, observe, collect, examine, consider, wonder, play and determine. I thought I left that investigating job..or did I? It is a process..can I call it something different, please?

At the end of the beginning to it all, I have sketches and descriptions of what I pulled from the consultation. I have recommendations. I have a vision of which I pulled through your eyes. I have a desire to make that vision a reality no matter how small or how big that day is..after all, they are all magical days for you, your guests...and even for me.

Here is an example of a recent process of Ricky & Sonal Bhasin's wedding reception we did on 08/01/09.

You can see from the image on top that my sketch had the overall look solid, but through follow-up meetings, discussions and additions, the stage was slightly modified to suit the clients needs.

Sketches help my clients "see" what I see and to hopefully give them a more informed idea as to what my narrative really means. This way, they really know what they are going to get..and what to expect from us upon execution!

Monthly Bouquet Insight: Stop the insanity!

I don't want to insult anyone here, but really? Another bouquet that looks like the other 1,000 bouquets that are proudly sported on the cover of the latest issue of your favorite bridal magazine?

I see the bouquets as an accessory. Taking nothing as an assumption - I always ask, will you be having your girls carry flowers? They don't have to carry a bouquet, right? It's okay..we can stray away from ordinary. When you shop for accessories, don't you go for something that speaks to you? Something that is different, interesting, and matches the outfit you want to pair it with? Let's not let another bouquet be designed without these same needs considered!

Here are a few of my favorite ones I've been able to design for my brides.


Dried palm leaves were painted and then wrapped into a continues cascade of loops to create this european designer inspired interpretation. Beautiful purple Vanda orchids and lily grass finished the design nicely. Photo provided by JohnandJosephPhotography.

The handle is hard to see on this one, but the handle was made out of an acrylic tube and was accented by purple gems. We added a collar of textured branches to help the bouquet scream texture.
This was on of our sustainable design bouquets. Here we used motherboards from a recycled computer and added a few locally grown calla, low watering succulents and some greens. The handle is wrapped with recycled ribbon (from an older box wrap we did) and screws & wire from the dismantling of the computer were used to accent the handle.

And even more fabulous ones are in the making. We cannot wait to see how the images turned out for one we just did for Ceremony Magazine!

I have a bride that is using amazing hand-painted Chinese parasols for her girls and we are accenting the hand that holds the handle with a chunky turquoise bracelet with beautiful orchids and some tropical accents!

Come on, bring it on! Let us design something especially for you!

Sustainable Design Project II: Wedding Gown De-Construction

Materials: Vintage wedding dress, circa 1970's picked up from Goodwill, Vintage stemware from my grandmothers collection. Glue. Corsage Pins.

I am always playing with new designs. I wanted to know what I could do using an old wedding gown and some vintage items my great grandmother had given to me many years ago. So, I went into design mode and started tearing, ripping, glueing, stacking and pinning.
Here are some images I snapped of the original materials. I had a photo shoot last week where the finished product was featured. I am excited to show you the end result in the coming weeks.