Beautiful Couple+Beautiful Venue=Rocken Party!

Must have been the stormiest day of November that day, but the warmth, love and closeness of these two families made you forget all about it. The wedding took place at the lovely Ruby Hill Golf Club in Pleasanton. The plan was to decorate the outside terrace for the ceremony with tons of brightly colored red and orange rose petals...hello Mother Nature...enter plan B. The ceremony took place upstairs in the gorgeous marble foyer under a beautiful architectural dome overlooking the huge dining area. All those brightly colored petals now adorned all the tables and added that extra pop to the floral centerpieces. Mariachi music filled the air, the bride glowed, the groom looked handsome and the guests partied...hard! Thank you to Blue Lotus Photography for these great shots.

Vah-Vah-Viansa!

On a beautiful summer day in July, I had the pleasure of traveling to the beautiful Viansa winery and Italian marketplace to do the wedding of a great couple from Southern Cal. The Bride chose a vibrant color palette of hot pink, orange, terracotta, beige and yellow. The accent color was silver. What a warm and rich color scheme this turned out to be. You couldn't help but feel festive surrounded by such happy colors. The venue is stunning and really makes you feel like you are on a hill side in Italy.

The bride carried brightly colored calla lilies in bright pink and flame.

The bridesmaids carried roses in mixed earth tones and bright pink calla lilies wrapped in silver.


The groom's flame calla lily boutonniere was wrapped in silver cord.

The ornate gates at Viansa were adorned with orange and hot pink roses and vines.

The colors really popped on the bright white linens.

The view from the patio made you dream of being in Italy. Ambiance rose petals added color to the floating candles.

The cake had a very romantic look.

Best of Show

Here are a few pictures from the bridal show at the Brazilian Room last week. There was a great turn out and the weather was perfect. They did things a little different this year. Instead of having a room full of vendors with 3 or 4 in the same category, there were featured bakers and caterers with large delicious food displays and one preferred vendor featured from each of the other categories: photographer, officiant, D.J., video, rentals, strings and me (floral).
...And now on to the show!

I absolutely love these two winter bouquets. What a beautiful choice for a wedding around the holidays. All winter white flowers would be the perfect accessory for any bride. Striking red amaryllis, tulips and berries are very happy and festive.

Don't you just love the orange orchids on the manzanita branches. They look like butterflies.

Now look close...can you spot them?

The orange butterflies really just blend in with the orchids beautifully.

FEB. 3, 2009 BRIDAL FAIR

The Brazilian Room in Berkeley puts on a bridal show every February and I am happy to be a part of the one on Tuesday, February 3rd. Enter to win your Bridal Bouquet for free ($150.00 value). There are always great caterers, bakers, photographers, officiants, musicians and the list goes on and on. It is a smaller fair and not over whelming as some of the big expo's are. Admission is free and it runs from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Hope to see you there!

Congrats Mr. President!

There is HOPE in the world again!

RED sure is the color of LOVE!

This past weekend was the beautiful winter wedding of J & J! I feel like I have been waiting all year for this one. Not only did I know it was going to be my last one of 2008, it was at the jaw dropping Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena. I could not wait to see the barrel room in all its glory. RED was the word of the day. It was absolutely stunning. The linens were red, the chair covers were red, the fabric draped on the ceiling was red, the flowers were red, even the lighting was red. The room was kept dark with spot lights on the tables. The ambiance was very romantic, but it wasn't the easiest light to set up in. My photos came out dark but you can see the red - love ambiance I'm talking about.

Sweetheart table complete with holly and silver snowflakes.

These candelabras were 5 ft. tall. There were 10 that lined the walk way for the guests to find their way through the barrel room to the ceremony. During dinner they were moved to the outer edges of the dining area. Each table had 4 votive candles on the table surrounding the cubes of red tulips.

Notice the spotlight on the center of each table adding to the dramatic look and feel. I look forward to posting some professional shots in a few weeks. Congratulations you two and what a perfect ending to a wonderful wedding year!

Pretty in Pink!

The Livermore wine valley is one of my favorite areas to work in. There are so many wonderful wineries in every nook and cranny with beautiful views. From the big players to the little intimate venues, you can't go wrong. This wedding was at the beautiful and well known Wente Vineyards. The bride stood out with an all white bouquet as the rest of the venue was decorated with splashes of pink, hot pink and mauve, with accents of sage and chocolate.

and they did!