A Touch of Whimsy

When I started planning the decor for our wedding last year, I came across this photo and absolutely fell in love with the parasol "ceiling" over the dance floor. I knew that somehow, someway, we needed to incorporate this design element into our decor.

I also flipped when we saw the movie Meet the Fockers because they had the most gorgeous backyard wedding reception with hanging parasols! It was very Florida-hippy-chic! .

(this isn't the best shot, but the only one I could find)

Once our venue was booked and I knew where the dance floor and market lighting would go, I designed a plan for our parasols and placed an order with Luna Bazaar in varying shapes, sizes and colors to match our decor.

(the plan)

Next, Kevin screwed brass hooks into the handles of each and used pliers to bend the hook into a loop. This allowed the set-up crew to simply attach each parasol in place on the cable supporting the market lighting with a zip tie. Easy up, easy down!

I couldn't have been happier with the outcome. The parasols added a sense of whimsy over the dance floor. They swayed softly in the breeze as if dancing along with us and created a sort of faux-ceiling overhead which made for beautiful photos.

*Photos of our wedding by Emily Faulknor Photography.

Modern Wedding, Done Right!

Loving this gorgeous wedding from photographer Erin Hearts Court, featured on Brooklyn Bride a while back. The color scheme is so fresh and new and the space is to-die-for!!

Fresh spring/succulent green with the grey and white. Very refreshing.

Love the fabric draped overhead.

The stone wall made for the perfect back drop for this beautiful cake!

Click here to see the entire wedding.

DIY - Card Holder

We decided we wanted a pretty bird cage to hold all of our cards on our gift table at the wedding. I started looking around for one that would fit into our decor, but they were all a bit out of my very small price range. So, I had to get a little crafty.

I ended up finding the perfect one at Ross for only $9!!! Only problem was, it was not the perfect color.

All it took to transform were a couple coats of paint, some sand paper and a little TLC and we had the perfect little card holder!

The moral here, it doesn't have to cost a ton of money to get exactly what you want. Sometimes, it just takes a little bit of paint and some love! Don't be afraid to D-I-Y!!!

Wishing Tree

One of my hopes in getting our wedding published on Style Me Pretty was that other brides might be inspired by some of the things that we did for our day like I was by things other brides did for theirs.

So, you can probably imagine how excited I was when I saw this adorable San Francisco Wedding on Style Me Pretty and they had a wishing tree much like ours!

Theirs.

Ours!

 Not trying to claim that we inspired theirs, but how fun to see a similar guestbook idea used in another wedding!

For ours, we found two cool pieces of Manzanita branch, filled in moss where it was missing and secured them into a pot with plaster of Paris. Then, we punched out little paper leaves and asked our guests to "Leaf us a Wish!" It was a very easy project and was so much fun to read through all of the wishes post-wedding.

We're looking forward to looking back over them for years to come!

Why didn't I think of that?

I have a ton of these little white milk glass vases in various shapes and sizes left over from our wedding that I am slowly selling online. (Yes still selling stuff from the wedding! Yikes!)

Today I came across an adorable Bachelorette Party Shoot on 100 Layer Cake where they used some of the very same vases and added a layer of paint to change them up.

Why didn't I think of that?!! What a great idea. All you'd need is paint good for glass or ceramic and you can easily change the color of just about anything. Genius! I may just be keeping a few more of our left overs for myself afterall!

Happy Monday!

*Photos via 100 Layer Cake, "Let's Get Cozy" Bachelorette Party Shoot.

To Veil or Not To Veil?

I've never pictured myself wearing a veil in my wedding, even as a little girl. (Although I will admit, there was a moment right before the wedding when I started having doubts about my decision and thought maybe I should wear one. Thank goodness that only lasted for about five minutes!)

They say that to feel like a bride you should put something special in your hair. Kind of like the icing on a cake, it just adds a finishing touch. So, if not a traditional veil, then what? Flower? Headband? Clip? Feather?

My dress decided it for me: Feather - All the way!

I liked the old Hollywood Glam style of my dress and felt like a feather would be just the right touch of something special to kick it up a notch!

In true Elena fashion, I didn't like any of the feather fascinators that I was finding at the bridal shops and online boutiques and if I did, they were way out of my accessory budget or way too big for what I had in mind. So, I decided I would try to make one.

After looking around at purchasing feathers and reading up on how to attach and secure them, I quickly concluded that "Pre-Made With A Twist" would be the best solution for me!

Sav-On-Crafts actually had the perfect white feather fascinator headband for $29! I decided to order it and see how hard it would be to detach it from the headband and somehow secure it in my hair. Low and behold, it slipped right off! Thank you Sav-On-Crafts for saving the day!

(image from Sav-On-Crafts.com)

(image from Sav-On-Crafts.com)

Now for the "twist." I decided a broach would be the little extra touch to complete my new feathers! I scoured sites like Etsy and flea markets all over town until finally tucked in a display case, in an Ocean Beach antique shop on Newport Ave (a must visit if you end up in San Diego), I found it! It was just the right mix of art neaveau, pearls and pave to tie in my other jewelry and other details. And best of all, it was $12!!!

It was just perfect!

After attaching the broach to the feathers using the existing pin, I glued the clasp shut to lessen the risk of it coming undone. Voila!

The perfect feather fascinator for my perfect day!

(photo by Emily Faulknor Photographers)

(photo by Emily Faulknor Photographers)

We've Been Published!!!

Today I am elated! Our wedding was just published on the Style Me Pretty, California Wedding Blog! I literally couldn't be more excited to see our beautiful, magical day plastered all over one of my favorite blogs!

OMG!!!!

Major props to ALL of our awesome vendors and amazing friends and family! Without you, this day would never have come to life the way it did! Thank you!


Wedding Photography: Emily Faulknor Photographers / Wedding Dress: Allure Bridal + Prevue Bridal / Bride’s Shoes: Nina + All-Star & Airwalk / Caterer: Bekker’s West Coast / Cupcakes: Babycakes / Bartender: RG Bar / Makeup: Denise Baker / Wedding Design + Planning: The Bride (Love, Life and Decorating) / Officiant: Andy McCuen of All Heart Weddings / Furniture Rentals: Allie’s Party Rentals / Wedding Venue: Leo Carrillo Ranch

Trashy Table to Chic Cupcake Tower

One thing I was really excited about was incorporating unique furniture items into our wedding decor. I got my heart set on having a tray table as a stand for our cupcakes. I wasn't thrilled with the cupcake stands that you could rent from the bakers, so I began to hunt!

I found several beautiful, shabby chic tray tables that would have been perfect for what I had in mind, but trying to keep within a tight budget, I really couldn't afford to buy one already finished.

So, just as I was starting to feel a little defeated, we came across this dirty, little lamp table in a local thrift store called Pat's Corner. Kevin must've thought I was crazy when I declared how perfect it was!

Before

For $25, $10 for the table, plus another $15 for them to remove the lamp, plug the hole and paint it, we had an adorably-chic little tray table hold our cupcakes. It was totally perfect!

After

Look how sweet it looked up on top of our dessert bar all covered in minis!

*photo by Emily Faulknor Photography

The Right Tie for the Right Guy!

Shortly after we decided on our venue and created our inspiration board, we were at the mall and I spotted the perfect tie for Kevin to wear in the wedding. To my surprise and excitement, he totally agreed! It was just the right combination and variety of blues and green and the paisley motifs felt a bit like a peacock feather which I loved.

We hadn't yet decided on the color tux that he would wear, but we knew we were thinking gray or tan and this tie would have worked well no matter which way we decided to go. Some of our inspirations for his look included:

 

 

 

I really love the tux that he ultimately chose and the tie totally pulled the entire color scheme of all the details of the wedding together. My groom looked absolutely perfect on our big day and I couldn't have hoped to marry a more handsome man!

*Photos of Kevin by Emily Faulknor Photographers.

Step One: Get Inspired

First thing I did after we found the perfect venue for our summer, outdoor wedding was put together an inspiration board to work out the direction that I wanted to go with color, decor, style, mood, etc. This is really a must for any bride-to-be so that you and your groom can get on the same page and it will help you more easily communicate your vision to others.

The peacocks that call Leo Carrillo Ranch (the site of our wedding) their home were totally inspiring to me. How could they not be. They are stunning and fascinating animals.

Although I am now slightly obsessed with them, I really didn't want to do the whole peacock theme for our wedding. I'm not really into "themes", so instead decided to pay the peacocks tribute by adding in just a few feathers as more of an ode to them! I think they appreciated this, because they spent a good amount of time entertaining our guests!)

I decided to focus more on color and style for our wedding decor. I wanted shabby-chic with a touch of glamor to set the scene of our nuptials and kept that in mind when designing this mood board. I knew that our smaller budget and my love of crafting would mean a lot of DIY and so I tried to keep that in mind when looking for inspiration.

We knew we wanted BBQ for dinner and a more non-traditional dessert like ice cream or frozen yogurt. Market lighting was a must and we had to incorporate a lounge and lots and lots of flowers!

One of the very first things we did after we got engaged was have a very detailed conversation about what things were most important to each of us as it pertained to our wedding (I highly recommend that everyone do this when planning something this big so that you can get on the same page as your groom!).

Some of the things at the top of our list included:

1) Family & Friends
2) Good Food
3) Good Drinks
4) Good Music & Lots of Dancing
5) Outdoor, Summer, Backyard Feel
6) Fun!

It's funny how when you put it down on paper, the things that you think would be the most important like the dress (still important, but not the main focus) really come second to things like family, close friends and fun! That's all that really mattered to us.

We wanted to throw a great party, and that's exactly what we did! Stay tuned for more...

Engagement Photo Fun

Well, our wedding has come and gone and was truly the most spectacularly, perfect day that I could ever have imagined! We worked so hard on every little detail and it made for a beautiful, special and personal day. I am so excited to start sharing all of our work and details with you, and thought it would be appropriate to start with our engagement photos!

We had the pleasure of working with the most amazing photographers, Emily and Brett Faulknor of Emily Faulknor Photography for both our wedding and engagement shoots! After weeks of shopping for the perfect outfits and accessories, we met up with Emily and Brett on a warm afternoon in March in South Park, our San Diego neighborhood. We started by getting a delicious fish taco from Marisco's German Mexican food truck (the BEST fish tacos in San Diego BTW!) and then worked our way around our adorable and colorful neighborhood posing for pictures along the way. We ended up at our favorite dog park on Grape Street where Zeus joined us for some super fun shots in the eucalyptus grove.

After a couple of hours shooting, we ended up with so many amazing photos that it was seriously hard to choose only the best ones, but here are a handful of our favorites!

More wedding fun and DYI projects to come in the next few weeks!

Object of my Obsession

You know that you are a design nerd when you are more excited about the fabric for your tables than you are about your wedding dress! Okay, maybe not more excited, but definitely obsessing over.

A couple of weeks ago when I was out looking for fabric for the table runners for the wedding, I found this gorgeous P/Kaufmann fabric from Peru that I just had to have. At $45 a yard, it was simply too expensive for my little DIY budget. So, I walked away.

After about a month of searching high and low, I found it online for just $13 a yard! That's right, deal of the century!! It's on it's way and I can't wait.

Wedding Decor & Other Updates

Well, I am finally moving into my favorite part of wedding planning; the decor! We have been so busy for the last two months. On top of planning our wedding, which we have made really great progress, I was sick for over three weeks, my little sister got married, we had our engagement photos taken and Kevin went to NYC for four days for business! Yep, life around our house is a little crazy these days, but we like it! (all but the sick part that is!)

We've booked the venue, caterer, bar tender, photographers, ordered my dress, found a dj and officiant that we like a lot and are now working on the layout, decor and all of the million other details that come with planning such a major event.

I'm going for glamorous-chic with a touch of vintage inspiration. I think the venue, being an old Spanish actor's ranch and all, lends itself well to this sort of look and feel. For the tables and flowers, I've started collecting tons of mix-match glass and vases in clear, white, green and blue. Since the site itself has so many colorful flowers in the landscaping, I plan to keep the flowers fresh and light using mostly whites.

I've been hitting up local thrift stores, flea markets and my favorite home stores such as Ross and Home Goods grabbing up all of these amazing pieces at amazing deals!

Some of my favorite inspiration photos for the table arrangements include a variety of sizes, shapes and colors for the centerpieces and other displays.

 

I really love the look of having a variety of shapes, colors and sizes on the tables. I think it feels more thoughtful than some of the standard centerpieces that you see at most weddings.

I hope to get back to some level of normalcy with my daily life and my blog over the next couple of months leading up to the wedding. I guess only time will tell though!