grand opening party for wildflower linens

back in october, wildflower linens celebrated the grand opening of their new costa mesa showroom...when they asked me to sponsor a tablescape at the event, of course i said yes! they have some of the most fashion forward, innovative, couture linens in the event industry...not to mention they always are so fabulous to work with...

they chose the black and white damask linen for me and i got to create whatever i wanted for the florals...so i went with silver artichokes and candlesticks, along with black urns and vessels, packed full of white and cream florals (hydrangea, roses and tulips)...

all in all, the event was fab and i was honored to be involved! also, a big thanks to marisa holmes for the lovely photos and to carolyn chen for all her fantastic planning!

tastemaker's dinner for tres LA

every year, the upscale catering company, tres LA, hosts a "tastemaker's dinner" for some of LA's best and brightest wedding and event professionals. it's basically a chance for them to stretch their creative muscles and showcase some of their finest food. at the same time, it's a chance for them to collaborate with other creative vendors...like me! ;)

this year they brought in the lovely kristin banta to design and coordinate the evening, which was held at boulevard 3 in hollywood. i did all of the florals and decor elements, fete accompliprovided the KILLER mirrored tables and white louis chairs, wildflower linens designed the ultra luxe faux suede runners, mimio papers created the gorgeous silver boxed menus andvictor sizemore captured the vibe of the event beautifully! what a dream team for me to work with!

when kristin told me what rentals and linens she had chosen, i knew this would be a perfect fit for all my "mod baroque" props and decor pieces...

mercury glass and white ceramic artichokes dotted the tablescape...

the white candlesticks were collected from various homegoods, z galleries and floral suppliers in my area...

and tall white ostrich plumes sprouted from silver trumpet vases...

we suspended 3 of my white ornate frames from the second story on back side of the room to give the illusion they were floating...

raspberry theme florals were arranged in small white containers and placed on top of the flat candlesticks for added drama...

kristin chose the layered silver and fuschia charger plates and collaborated with desiree at wildflower linens on the geometric, graphic runners and white pique napkins...

florals consisted of fuschia and raspberry roses, tulips, coxcomb and hanging amaranthus...we added white ostrich feathers to the taller pieces to coordinate with the tall white ostrich plumes in the center of the table...

mercury glass candlesticks and silver bulbed vases added a great reflection against the mirrored tabletops...

white finials added more texture and style to the overall look...

i LOVE how kristin alternated the white backed louis chairs with clear backed ones...genius! and can we talk about how amazing the mirrored tables are?!?! even if a client can't afford to use them for all the dinner tables, what about just using one for a desserts table, placecard table, etc? its all about strategic placement :)

the gorgeous silver boxed menus from mimio...

an overall room shot...

meanwhile, the cocktail hour was held outside in the courtyard...we just did simple little white vases holding all fuschia tulips or raspberry coxcomb...

i accented the fireplace mantle with a bunch of white empty frames and flickering candles...

as dusk approached, it made for quite the ambiance!

just a glimpse of the AMAZING food we devoured that night!

this was a surprise for all when two girls performed aerial arts by dangling from a huge metal cube! i admit, i shrieked with fear quite a few times...those girls be crazy!

what a night! thank you to all who played a part in making it so spectacular! how on earth will we top this next year?! ;)

JL DESIGNS featured on style me pretty!

last week my staff and i were busy slaving away on our double header of weddings when i got a call from a friend telling me a wedding i had recently designed was featured on style me pretty!  it was such a busy day, i didn't have a chance to twitter or blog about it and i am only just now finally getting the time to share the news...but it's VERY VERY exciting!

click on the links to read post 1 and post 2...

HUGE thanks to lindsey hinderer of sweet monday photography for the fabuloso images and for working with the SMP girls to get them whatever they needed!  you're the best!  can't wait to work together again!

a "mod baroque" tablescape

for this tablescape i adhered to a "color-blocking" style...which more often than not, fits the JL DESIGNS motto - monochromatic!  something about groupings of color (even small ones) just make more of an impact to me...when there are too many colors, i generally find it distracting to the eye...so my personal design aesthetic is to keep it to 3-4 colors (varying shades of those colors are fine)...

in this case, we stuck with a clean white palette (chairs, pipe and drape, vessels) and for contrast, went with a dark navy linen.  my first thought was to do all coral reflexed roses to match the killer plates i found at anthropologie but i saw the orange sherbert toned garden roses and i couldn't resist!  yummy!

the mini cakes were created by melody and let me tell you, not only were they ADORABLE, but they were delicious too!  i loved how she incorporated the graphic floral pattern onto the top of each cake...

i about died when i saw the menu cards allison created!  graphic, clean and the materials she used were of a super high quality...

bouquet of orange cymbidium orchids and peach parrot tulips, finished in a pale coral ribbon and drop beaded trim...

accoutrements are SUPER popular in event design right now...for this shoot i used ceramic trojan horses, white finials and coral votive holders from target but the sky's the limit!  a stack of vintage books, a rustic birdsnest, a petite wood crate filled with summer strawberries - whatever it takes to give the tablescape true "character" as opposed to just a "centerpiece"...

it was SUCH a treat designing this shoot and working with the following AMAZING vendors:

gabriel and carlie from gabriel ryan photographers

melody from sweet and saucy shop

allison from invitation innovations

megan from classic party rentals, orange county

desiree from wildflower linens

you guys are a dream team!  :)

JL DESIGNS featured in bride and bloom magazine - summer 2009

yay!  the wait is over!  one of the tablescapes i designed for the current issue of bride and bloom magazine is finally out so i am officially able to release the photos from the shoot!  below is the stunning cover and the spread they put together...click on either one to enlarge the image...

a HUGE thank you to my amazing publicist leila khalil of be inspired pr for making this happen!  me and the rest of the vendors involved are SO grateful for this awesome press! 

  

another post to follow with more eye candy from the shoot...stay tuned...

sneak peak of ami and nick - riviera club, pacific palisades

by far, one of my favorite weddings to date - plus an amazing client and dreamy images to top it off!  can't wait to share more!

a HUUUUGE thank you to lindsey and april from sweet monday photography for spoiling me with a killer cd in the mail today...i cannot wait to go through it and pick the images for the full post on this wedding!  you girls are FAB!