sarah and greg - doubletree, santa barbara

sarah and greg were SUCH a blast to work with. they are so hilarious together and you cannot help but love them! they chose the beautiful doubletree resort in santa barbara as their setting and the weather could not have been more gorgeous!! carrie and ryan phillips, as always, did an amazing job capturing the details!

the groom owns his own landscaping business so the couple wanted to reflect a bit of that into their wedding day. with a color scheme of black, white and green, we utilized feminine white florals including hydrangea, reflexed roses, tulips and ranuculas, peppered with masculine green "plant-like" florals including horse tail, ti leaves, anthirium, scabiosa pods and succulents.

the ring bearer "pillow" was made up of horsetail reeds, green moss and fuzzy succulents...

the boutonnieres consisted of organic looking scabiose pods and succulents...

vases of black rocks, black manzanita branches and green cymbidium orchids lined the aisle...

we wrapped each chuppah base in white suede and filled them with fresh lemon leaf, hanging amaranthus, white hydrangea, white reflexed roses and green bells of Ireland...smylax garlands were carefully woven around each pole and the chuppah covering was hand made by a relative of the bride's as a keepsake for their special day...

each of the tall centerpiece vases were completely wrapped in horse tail reeds...every piece was glued on by hand!

for the cake, we hand glued horse tail around the entire base and filled in the rest with black rocks and green moss. the cake layers were accented with small clusters of green rustic hydrangea, succulents and scabiose pods...

liz and bob - dove canyon country club

the wedding of liz and bob was sent my way by jim harrick of ceremony magazine (jim and the groom are long time friends and golf buddies). the event was held at dove canyon country club on a quiet sunday afternoon. it was a small event (brian and i actually did the install by ourselves!) full of warmth and love. the bride choose a black and red color palette, which i brightened by adding lime green tones. the ever-fab jim kennedy was there to document the day and he was kind enough to share his images!

grace and jesse - ebell club, long beach

grace and jesse are high school sweethearts who have been through a LOT together...but they also happen to be two very dear friends of mine...when discussing the look of their wedding day, grace knew she wanted something warm, vintage and feminine...

full bodied florals in shades of white and cream were arranged in vases wrapped in caramel colored fabric and accented with crystal drop beaded trim. the bride designed all of the printing herself and she also hand-wrapped every votive candle in chocolate lace. the look turned out soft, pretty and romantic, with small touches of modern-vintage.

it really was such a joy and honor to be involved in their wedding day, both as a designer and as a guest. i love you two and i know you have such a beautiful lifetime ahead of you!

how sweet is this cake?

i love this shot of the chandeliers and the girls peaking out from the balcony...

grace you are so gorgeous!!

all photos provided by dan shalaby - thank you!!