an urban and feminine bridal shower

i love being able to share events that i design that aren't necessarily weddings...and this was one of my favorite parties so far this year! it was a bridal shower for one of my best friends, leila khalil of be inspired pr, who deals with the wedding industry every day of her life...needless to say, she has seen it all...so kellee, my co-host in crime, and i knew we had our work cut out for us if we were gonna be able to impress her!

we immediately called courtney toney of joyful weddings and events to help us with the planning process and THANK GOD FOR HER!! :) not only is courtney super creative but she is just so darn organized and really helped me and kellee stay on track...

we were going for an industrial, loft space vibe that we could infuse with sherbert tones, lace, ruffles, cameos, lockets and other girly accents...when kellee found high profile productions in culver city, i knew we had picked the right location! it was modern and airy but the best part was it already had some gorgeous crystal chandeliers, white lounge furniture and specialty lighting in place...instant ambiance!

there were so many fun details that made this day memorable so scroll through and enjoy!

i stuck with ruffly, romantic blooms in shades of peach, coral and blush - parrot tulips, garden roses and ranunculas! we arranged everything in vintage white milkglass so that the vessels would really pop against the peach and blush linens...

cute little accents i brought in...

yup, those are my white ikea frames...i seem to get a lot of good use out of those bad boys! :) jane from olive hue paper did an outrageous job on all of our printed goods that day! she even custom made that silhouette of leila based off a photograph we sent her!

ruffle pillows from pier 1...

melody's cake was absolutely perfect! the lace texture and the cameo were just the right style for our dessert table!

strawberry shortcake cupcakes from cupcakes couture in manhattan beach...they were by far my favorite thing to eat that day!

we set up a few glass apothecary jar carafes holding beverages (in our theme colors of course!) - grapefruit vodka spritzer and peach bellinis, along with cucumber-mint water for the non-alcoholic choice...

we came up with an "L is for..." theme and carried it through...well...EVERYWHERE! :)

of course on the bar we had "L is for libations" and on the dessert table we had "L is for luscious"...attached to these striped paper straws were labels that read "L is for lace, lockets, leila, lewis (her new married name), love, lucky, laughter" etc. etc.

at the entry table, we placed some cute little quizzes about leila with the title "L is for lifetime"...

and we also had each guest write some sweet words to leila on cards that read "L is for lovenotes"...

we adorned some of the milkglass vases with gold lockets and cameos to give it even more of a feminine feel...

courtney found these cute silhouette pillows on etsy so we bought 2 of them to use...

for the dessert display, i bought a ton of laces and satin ribbons in shades of peach, apricot, coral and blush and courtney and i used over 50 strands to create a backdrop...

not that these cupcakes needed anything to make them look more beautiful!!! cupcakes couture did a phenomenal job on creating delicious treats that seriously were almost too pretty to eat! truly, have you ever seen cupcakes this PRETTY?!?!

i created all of the custom cupcake tiers using wood boxes wrapped in peach dupioni silk, peach lace and coral grosgrain ribbon...

once people had gotten their sugar fix, it was nice to have a custom pinkberry bar to refresh and cleanse our palettes! they not only brought in their famous yogurt and multiple toppings, but they also whipped up some yummy smoothies!

courtney created the adorable banner...which you can totally customize and purchase through her etsy shop!

once everyone had finished eating, we gathered around and played a rousing game of "win, lose or draw" - wedding style!! we used words and phrases like "birdcage veil", "honeymoon", "brideszilla", til death do us part", etc. but since half of our guests were involved in the wedding industry, this game did not prove to be too difficult ;)

cute little prizes for the winners...

and lastly, one of my favorite features of the whole day - the custom scent station!! guests were given a little glass roll-on perfume bottle and were allowed to mix and match scented oils to create a specialized scent to take home as their favor...of course jane made adorable labels that said "L is for lovely"...i still carry my scent around in my purse and use it a couple times a week to freshen up - i love it! it's the gift that keeps on giving :)

the bride to be...

and the lovely miss leila along with her sister kellee, courtney and me!

congratulations leila!!! even though this shower was 5 months ago and now you are a married woman ;) we loved celebrating you and your lifetime thus far...here's to MANY more years - now with an amazing husband by your side!

and of course i have to thank the UNREAL team of vendors who made that day so fantastic!

Planner: Courtney Toney, Joyful Weddings and Events

Venue: High Profile Productions

Quizzes, Framed Art, Custom Cameo, Labels, Drink Tags, etc.: Olive Hue Paper

Invitation: Momental Designs

Cake: Sweet and Saucy Shop
Cupcakes: Cupcakes Couture

Dessert: Pinkberry

Photographer: Jessica Claire

Video: Cana Video Production
Custom scent station: Kamilyn
Rentals: Classic Party Rentals & Level 4 International
Linens: Elegant Designs
Hair and make-up: Kacee Geoffroy
Spray Tan: Danielle of Island Spray Tan

ami and nick - riviera club, pacific palisades

finally!  things have been so busy the last month that i have not had time to go through the infinite amount of gorgeous photos from ami and nick's wedding...

UNTIL NOW!  so here we go...

the stunning bride...and i mean STUNNING!

yes folks, peonies do come in YELLOW!  unreal right?!

two different tones of yellow double tulips...double tulips have an amazing, ruffly texture (and fyi are a great substitute for a peony!)

a third bouquet made up of all yellow mini cala lilies...

the maid of honor held a bouquet made up of all three components of the bridesmaids bouquets - yellow peonies, double tulips and mini calas...and isn't her necklace FAB?!

bridal bouquet made up of all white peonies, creamy garden roses and white tulips...

amazing invites from smock paper and ordered through sugar paper...

boutonniere of white mini calas and a monkey tail...

bouquet wrapped in off white satin and embellished in petite gold/rhinestone brooches and a gold beaded trim accenting the top and bottom of the wrap...

we were originally going to finish the aisle in a funky yellow rose petal pattern but a storm had just rolled through that morning and the wind was SOO strong!  as soon as we laid down the petals they would start to blow away...so instead we added the extra yellow roses to the structure and lined the aisle runner with a border of yellow ribbon...

as artists, sometimes we have to go with the flow and since we cannot control the weather, we have to use our best judgment as to what we think will look best without compromising the integrity of the look...that's why it's SO important to book vendors that have great taste as well as creativity and can accommodate to unforeseen circumstances!  even though it wasn't what we originally had envisioned, i think it turned out great!

placecards were set inside of a variety of photo frames we had collected at thrift/antique stores over the course of a couple months (but we got the large, ornate frames from ikea)...we then hand painted everything white so it all looked consistent...yellow mum balls added a pop of color...

finials from homegoods were painted white and we piled up yellow mum balls and in a white urn to accent the guest book table...

for the cocktail tables, a mixture of yellow florals were arranged in a small white urn and set inside a vintage white photo frame... 

to accent all the dining tables, we gathered vintage candlesticks from thrift/antique stores, painted them white and added 4-5 yellow billy balls to each one to emulate that finial look...

half of the tables held a tall white candlestick with a large arrangement (composed of ivory hydrangea, 3 types of yellow reflexed roses and yellow double tulips) set on top...set at the base were 4 candlesticks holding billy balls or candles plus 2 mini white urns holding yellow florals and set inside a white frame...the other half of the tables had a similar look but with a low white urn of yellow floral instead of the tall centerpiece...

the head table was a "king's table" and the bridal party sat all the way around it...i LOVE this for a head table because it's so much more intimate than the standard head table where everyone is all on one side and "on display"...

we designed the head table with my "mod baroque" tablescape in mind...we used a variety of finials, ceramic artichokes, candlesticks and white containers spilling over with yellow florals...

ami and nick had an AMAZING silhouette artist (karl johnson from cutarts) there creating little gems!  after each one was complete, the coordinator hung them on strips of lace that we provided...

much gratitude to bob wyar with riviera country club for all your hard work that day...and a HUGE thank you to caroline cheng from serenity events who helped us battle those crazy winds and was so easy and fun to work with on the wedding day!

lastly, to lindsey hinderer from sweet monday photography - no joke, i could NOT decide on what shots to choose, there were so many great ones...so i blogged a ton of them!  oh well!  :)  thanks lindsey!  can't wait to do it again soon!