Click here to see the entire gallery of images!

Just when you thought all the pretty was coming to an end, we have a gorgeous film from Living Cinema to stretch out the party a little longer. Feast your eyes on this warm-fuzzy-inducing gem…

From the Bride…We both met in 2003 when we worked at the same advertising agency in Orange County.  He was an Art Director and I was in Account Management, which coincidentally equates to the perfect wedding planning duo.  He had the creative vision and I was into the details.  We are both laid back, like to be comfy and love to dance.  So the inspiration for our big day came easy: we wanted people to feel like guests at our home, like they were dancing in our very own beautiful outdoor living room. As we have both learned through many years in the ad industry, it takes the right team of people to bring an idea to life.  And so the hunt was on for the perfect partners to do just that and the criteria was clear;  a caterer that was up for the challenge of serving 14 different dishes, tapas style, from cuisines around the world, a floral and décor genius with exquisite taste that could transform an outdoor venue into a plush, cozy space, a photographer that could deliver a time capsule that would bring us back to that very day 20 years from now,  a pastry chef who could transport us back to our childhood with old time classics, a videographer that not only shot weddings, but made beautiful films, and a wedding planner who had the courage to bring it all together.

I love to snack and Christian will eat anything….literally.  So we thought this was a good opportunity to infuse some of our culture and introduce our guests to our heritage.  We decided to serve a progressive dinner, tapas style – Italian dishes from my father’s side and Columbian and Filipino classics from Christian’s side. We were surprised at how adventurous our guests were as this was certainly not your traditional filet and chicken.  At the end of the day, we are both still straight up American, so we did serve some traditional favorites during cocktail hour, fried mac and cheese, Kobe sliders and fruit skewers.  And finally, we brought out a late night breakfast to honor me and my mom’s after hours pancake eating tradition.

Niki and Rene from R. Jack were my dream come true.  They are truly responsible for transforming an already beautiful place into the world we had hoped to create. The Filipino lace that adorned all the farmhouse dining tables, the ceiling of Moroccan lanterns that lit the dance floor, the Persian rugs that covered the grass, the daybeds and blankets and mismatched pillows that formed the coziest of seating areas and the FLOWERS!  They were everywhere and everything I wanted each arrangement different from the next, stems from all kinds of flower families.

Thank God we found someone who not only takes beautiful photos, but made the experience an amazing adventure. Because of Yvette, we discovered every nook and cranny of Saddlerock, even an up close encounter with some curious horses who insisted on a tasting of my bouquet and veil.  At that moment it became clear that Christian had never been this close to a horse – he was completely freaked out.When Yvette delivered our wedding photos in a beautiful little silk box, we were overwhelmed at how clearly she was able to capture that day and all of its magic.  As a bride my greatest fear was that our photos would not reflect the energy or the emotion of our wedding day. How could it be possible to package it all up – every piece of it, how we felt that day, and the dream of it all.  But there it was, all of those memories and moments perfectly fit into one little box bound by a satin ribbon and I could not be more grateful for that.

Christian was the dream groom!   He wanted to be a part of virtually every meeting and decision, but totally let me do my thing.  He just wanted to come along for the ride – didn’t want to miss anything.  But I will say, for such a neutral groom, he did inspire quite a few of my favorite details:  He and his groomsman wore the traditional Filipino barong – not only to honor his father but also because he hates to tuck in his shirt.He was also dead set on wearing sneakers to satisfy his fetish, which I didn’t dare challenge him on.  And the beer – we served Imperial as a nod to our Costa Rica honeymoon destination.  One thing he was very particular about – his ring.  It was hand carved by his artist friend (and fellow Filipino) as a wedding gift from Doyok wood from the island of Siargao where Cloud 9 is…(Cloud 9 is the best surf spot in the Philippines), and he loves it. And finally, the music – this was his personal mission…old school hip hop that we would dance the night away to. And that’s exactly what we did.

Designer + Florist: R. Jack Balthazar / Wedding Photography: Yvette Roman / Wedding Cinematography: Living Cinema / Wedding Coordinator + Producer: Mint Julep Social Events / Lighting: Lighten Up, Inc. / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals / Specialty Rentals (lounge furniture, linens): R. Jack Balthazar, Inc. / Wedding Cake + Desserts: Vanilla Bake Shop / DJ: Michael Antonia, Flashdance / Catering: Urban Palate / Venue: Saddlerock Ranch

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Post tags: California Weddings, Classic Party Rentals, Flashdance, Inc., Lighten Up, Living Cinema, Malibu, Mint Julep Social Events, R. Jack Balthazar, Saddlerock Ranch, Urban Palate, Vanilla Bakeshop, Yvette Roman Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance, The Blog

Click here to see the entire image gallery!

The charm doesn’t stop there. Living Cinema was there to capture even more of this delightful day…

West Hollywood to Culver City from Living Cinema on Vimeo.

From the Bride… Roland and I are so excited to have our wedding featured on SMP! When Caroline told us the great news and asked us to write a short summary of our wedding it was a rather daunting task considering all the months of blood, sweat and tears that went into planning it. But as you can see from the photos it all worked out well!

Roland and I originally met in 2005, and while there was a mutual attraction from the start, we did not actually start dating until the spring of 2007. It’s funny how life can be all about timing. But it was love at second-sight and things moved quite fast after that. I graduated from the University of California, Irvine soon after we met again and about two months later I moved to Chicago to be with Roland. We got engaged in 2009 and were married in June of 2010.

We decided to have the wedding in Southern California where I grew up and had originally wanted to plan a weekend getaway in Palm Springs so that we could have ample time to spend with our loved ones. For a number of reasons this did not work out but we could not have wished for a better alternative. We had a traditional Filipino-Catholic ceremony at St. Timothy Catholic Church and funny enough, our priest mentioned the Lakers a few times during the mass (the Lakers had just won the championship)! Our reception was held immediately after the ceremony at the SmogShoppe. We choose the SmogShoppe because of its dedication to sustainability and loved knowing that we were supporting a locally owned and eco-friendly establishment.

Roland and I wanted our wedding to be a nice mix between fun and modern with traditional and sophisticated. Our colors were mustard yellow, grey, black and white. I asked my bridesmaids to wear any dress they liked as long as it was a grey tone, and I have to say that I loved seeing their fabulous, individual styles come through. Roland had his groomsmen all wear black suits and gifted them these really awesome mustard yellow Paul Smith socks. The flower girls wore these adorable ruffle dresses from JCrew and the boys in the wedding wore either a mustard yellow tie or a bowtie from Bacon Handmade Neckwear.

Roland and I wanted to incorporate our Filipino heritage in the reception as well. It was really difficult to get a local Filipino restaurant to cater so we opted instead to have a Filipino dessert buffet that featured many of our favorite desserts. Our guests loved it and all the desserts were gone before I could even make my way over.

There are so many other aspects of the wedding that we would love to highlight such as the amazing succulent centerpieces that Danielle of Brown Paper Design made for us and the luminaries that my cousin Jason had made with our little cartoon image on. Jason’s company, Candles West, also provided the beautiful white luminaries that decorated the patio area of the SmogShoope. Danielle of Paper Palate also did a fabulous job with the food. We served it family-style to help create a more intimate atmosphere. And the night would not have been complete without the custom-made photo booth by Tyler and Terrance at PhotoboxLA! Terrance had made the photo booth for their wedding at the SmogShoppe and it fits perfectly in the closet. Our guests LOVED going back to the photo booth throughout the night and we always laugh when we look at the album of all those photos!

Roland’s favorite memory from the day was when I tapped him on the shoulder during our “First Look” photo session. You can actually see this moment in the lovely short video that Curtis of Living Cinema made. I actually have two memories that really stand out to me from that day – one was walking down the aisle with my father. No one warned me what an emotional experience it can be to walk into a room full of family and friends all looking at you with so much love. I had to work really hard not to break down in tears. The second memory was when I danced with my grandfather during the reception. He went through depression after my grandmother passed away and during that short dance he was like his old, happy, dance-loving self again! I couldn’t stop crying during that dance.

One of the most challenging parts of planning the wedding was navigating various aspects of family politics, but we got through it with a lot of compromise. Another huge challenge was all the DIY tasks we had set for ourselves. If there’s one piece of advice we would like to give other couples, it’s to set a deadline when it comes to DIY things. If we could go back in time we would have had everything finished at least a week before. This way you can relax and enjoy the days leading up to the wedding. But overall the wedding day went really well and as you can see from the photos and the video there was a lot of love from all our family and friends. We are so thankful to all of them and also to all of our amazing vendors – you all made that day possible and wonderful.

Venue: SmogShoppe / Wedding Photography: Caroline Tran / Caterer: Paper Palate / Wedding Cinematography: Living Cinema / Event Planning: onefourthree Events + TACT + Exquisite Weddings / Favors & Gifts: Candles West / Floral Design: Brown Paper Design / Wedding Reception Venue: SmogShoppe / Wedding Dress: Vera Wang / Bride’s Shoes: Salvatore Ferragamo / Wedding Cake: Sweet & Saucy Shop / Wedding Ceremony Location: St. Timothy Catholic Church / Makeup Artist: Sexy Graffiti / Photobooth: PhotoboxLA / Groom & Groomsmen Socks: Paul Smith /  Ties & Bowties: Bacon Handmade Neckwear

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Post tags: Brown Paper Design, CA, Candles West, Caroline Tran, Exquisite Weddings, Grey, LA, Living Cinema, Los Angeles, Modern Wedding, onefourthree Events, Paper Palette, Salvatore Ferragamo, Sexy Graffiti, SmogShoppe, St. Timothy Catholic Church, Succulents, Sweet & Saucy, TACT, Vera Wang, Wooden Benches, Yellow
Post categories: California Weddings, Contemporary, Destination, Los Angeles Weddings

click here to see the full gallery!

Sigh. Didn’t I tell you it was good? Well brace yourselves. One of our very favorite SMP friends, Curtis Heyne of Living Cinema sent over a little vignette of the day as well. But beware, it’s kind of like all of that goodness taken to an entirely new level…

click here to see the full gallery!

Our ceremony and cocktail hour were held at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, tucked away from the city in a quiet garden. We had originally envisioned a modern wedding in an industrial space, but as the planning process unfolded that vision completely changed. My mother owned a store that sold antique furniture when I was young, and images from that part of my life ended up guiding the design. I started with a paisley-patterned fabric for inspiration. I ended up using this fabric throughout the wedding, and the invitations and cake were both designed with the print in mind.

It was important to us to include Persian traditions in our ceremony, representing the blending of our families and our cultures. In one tradition, women who are happily married sprinkle sugar over the couple to symbolize sweetness in the marriage, while in another ritual the bride and groom give each other a taste of honey. We knew the ceremony would be amazing, but had no idea how profound those short twenty minutes would be. Amir’s uncle served as our officiant, and had us laughing and crying from one minute to the next! The ceremony so perfectly reflected our personalities, and was truly amazing.

After the ceremony we celebrated at the London West Hollywood Hotel, where hand- picked and hand-made items were incorporated into the decor. My mom collected an assortment of blue vases from e-bay that we used as centerpieces. Amir and my dad also helped by restoring old frames we picked up at thrift shops to use in the escort card display.

Our guests danced the night away and hammed it up at the photo kiosk, which was an absolute hit! Later in the night we were surprised by an on-the-spot spoken word performance and more than one dance-off. What a party! We had an unforgettable day and are beyond blessed be surrounded by so much love.

Photography: ErinHeartsCourt /  Ceremony Location: Greystone Mansion, Beverly Hills / Reception Location: The London West Hollywood Hotel / Coordination: Fresh Events Company / Flowers: La Partie Events / Cinematography: Living Cinema / Bridal Gown: Monique Lhuillier /Bridesmaids Dresses: Amsale / Groom’s Suit: Theory / Cake: Vanilla Bakeshop / Invitations: Wiley Valentine / Photo Kiosk: Lensley / Bride’s Shoes: Valentino /  Bride’s Earrings: Nadri / Bride’s Robe: Anthropologie

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Post tags: Amsale, Beverly Hills, California Weddings, Erin Heart's Court, Fresh Events Company, Greystone Mansion, La Partie Events, Lensley, Living Cinema, Los Angeles, Monique Lhuillier, The London West Hollywood Hotel, Vanilla Bakeshop, Wiley Valentine
Post categories: Traditional Elegance

click here to see the full, gorgeous wedding gallery!

After a magical ceremony performed by the fabulous JP Reynolds — Carey and Brian were summoned to their candlelight dinner reception. We had a tiered ruffled linen sewn for the dinner table with oversized ruffled napkins to match. Barker Decor draped the main dining room for us in the coordinating blue fabric which helped soften the room. Mindy did extraordinary floral arrangements which included peonies, ranunculus, anemones, and dusty miller. She incorporated cast metal branches into the arrangements for an unpredictable twist. So gorgeous! Daniel Rautman created an incredible four course menu for Carey and Brian that was to die for.

Lisa Holtzman calligraphed individual “Mr” and “Mrs” menus and we mounted them on velvet backers created by Papel Paper and Press. We partnered with Melody at Sweet and Saucy for the dessert extravaganza. We sent Melody photos of Carey’s china, and she created little works of dessert art to complement our over all design. Delicious and visually stunning!

All was captured perfectly by Aaron & Jen Delesie, and by Curtis of Living Cinema! Carey and Brian were a delight to work with and the whole day was exactly what we had hoped for them… private, romantic, memorable!

Event Design: Lisa Vorce, Oh How Charming / Photography: Aaron Delesie / Venue: Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse / Floral: Mindy Rice / Officiant: JP Reynolds / Draping: Barker Decor / Calligraphy: Lisa Holtzman / Velvet Menu Backers: Papel Paper and Press / Desserts & Cake: Sweet and Saucy / Cinematography: Curtis Heyne, Living Cinema

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 42 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Barker Decor, Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse, JP Reynolds, Lisa Holtzman, Living Cinema, Mindy Rice, Oh How Charming, Papel Paper and Press, private wedding, Sweet and Saucy, wedding for two 0
Post categories: California Weddings, Casual Elegance, Santa Barbara Weddings, Traditional Elegance

When Aaron called me to tell me about Brian and Carey’s “wedding for two”, I was delighted! Planning and designing private weddings has become a bit of an obsession for us. Nothing more romantic than a private celebration for two! A little bit different than elopements in that these private celebrations have all the core components of a wedding (i.e. cake cutting, etc) — only difference is there are no guests! So intimate, so special, so incredible.

Aaron put Carey and I in touch and I fell in love with her during our first phone call. She is a no nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is woman! We honed in on some of her favorite “likes” (ruffles and feathers!) and her first assignment from me was to find china that spoke to her. She found the most fabulous Marchesa china and everything was designed from there.

Our color story included soft blues, muted pinks, sage greens, and a peppering of gold. Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse provided the perfectly private and romantic backdrop for Carey and Brian’s celebration (and….also happens to offer some of THE most magical natural lighting I’ve ever seen). For the ceremony, Mindy draped the ceremony structure in a soft blue velvet fabric (which draped beautifully!) and we had guinea feather trim sewn along the edges for a stunning accent (an ode to Carey’s love of feathers!). For the aisle runner, we used hundreds of guinea feathers to create one of the most interesting runners we’ve done to date! It was so wonderfully Bohemian — and so unexpected.

Event Design: Lisa Vorce, Oh How Charming / Photography: Aaron Delesie / Venue: Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse / Floral: Mindy Rice / Officiant: JP Reynolds / Draping: Barker Decor / Calligraphy: Lisa Holtzman / Velvet Menu Backers: Papel Paper and Press / Desserts & Cake: Sweet and Saucy / Cinematography: Curtis Heyne, Living Cinema

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Post tags: Barker Decor, Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse, JP Reynolds, Lisa Holtzman, Living Cinema, Mindy Rice, Oh How Charming, Papel Paper and Press, private wedding, Sweet and Saucy, wedding for two
Post categories: California Weddings, Casual Elegance, Santa Barbara Weddings, Traditional Elegance

Click here for even more inspiration in the full wedding gallery!

My husband, Morgan, and I were married this past August 2010 at Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach, CA.  I was never the girl who pictured or planned her wedding growing up, but sure enough, soon after we got engaged, we had a very clear picture of the wedding we wanted.  We are natural party hosts; one of our favorite activities is having people at our home.  We wanted the wedding to feel like our parties do:  free flowing, fun, and filled with lots of good music, food, and drink.  With that image in mind, we began planning the wedding design and style.

As soon as we moved to Manhattan Beach after college, I fell in love with Shade Hotel.  It is modern, clean, and simple—a style that describes our taste perfectly.  Shade’s unique layout made us think differently about the flow of the wedding.  We had no assigned seats, all different types of seating, and stations all around the courtyard for the food.  We had rented the entire small hotel out, so the weekend felt like a long slumber party with our closes family and friends.

Shade had recommended Carissa from JL DESIGNS for our florist, and she really helped my vision come to life.  Not only were her florals gorgeous, she really took the role as the event designer and helped us get the right rentals and linens in place.  We went with green and white flowers and included some of my favorites, tulips, cala lilies, orchids, and succulents.  One of my favorite parts is the fact that each of my bridesmaids carried a bouquet of a different green flower.  They looked beautiful held against their gray J.Crew bridesmaid dresses.

As for the other details, design-savvy Morgan designed our invitations, website, and paper goods, we used our friends at Jamaica’s Cakes for our delicious cake, bought tons of details from different Etsy vendors, had the same ceremony guitarist from my parents’ wedding (with some of the same Cat Stevens songs.)  Luckily, our wonderful photographers, Erin Hearts Court, beautifully captured all of it.

Wedding Venue: Shade Hotel / Wedding Photographers: Erin Hearts Court / Wedding Cinematographer: Living Cinema / Wedding Florist: JL DESIGNS / Lighting and Rentals: Level 4 International / Linens: Wildflower Linen / DJ: Aaron Massey from VOX DJs / Officiant: Greg Mohr from You May Kiss the Bride / Ceremony Music: Marty Kaniger / Hair and Makeup: Nicole DeAnne Bridal Hair and Makeup / Bride’s Hair Accessory: 5eizen / Bride’s Dress: Modern Trousseau from The White Dress / Bride’s Shoes: Charles David / Bride’s Shoe Clips: bpoetic / Bride’s bracelet: emin jewelry / Bridesmaid Dresses and Shoes: J. Crew and Nine West / Groom’s Suit: J. Crew / Groomsmen Accessories: The Tie Bar, Express, and Converse / Flower Girl Tutu: tutugirl / Wedding Bands: Pasha Fine Jewelry / Wedding Cake: Jamaica’s Cakes / Wedding Cake Toppers: RedLight Studio / Favors: Gotta Have S’more

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 42 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: California Weddings, Chic, Erin Heart's Court, Gotta Have S'mores, JL Designs, Living Cinema, Manhattan Beach, Modern, Modern Trosseau
Post categories: California Weddings, Contemporary, Los Angeles Weddings, The Blog

see more of the gorgeous details in the gallery!

From Beth Helmstetter…

Talia and Aaron are one of those couples that everyone truly wishes they were…they are so vibrant, hip and madly in love! And, while Talia definitely had a few other preferences for her day, the biggest directive she gave me for the day was she wanted it to be fun! And, despite being in a uber sophisticated ballroom, she wanted to make sure that the day didn’t feel overly formal and stuffy nor did she want anything to feel too kitschy and out of place.

We started out by bringing on one of the best bands in Southern California to ensure the fun quotient was high. This paired with great food and quirky details such as cute silhouettes and a cake covered in sprinkles made sure that guests saw the couple’s personality in every part of the day.

Now, there obviously was a sophisticated and chic side of Talia too which was brought into the day with luxurious linens made of satin ribbons interwoven to make the most stunning pattern. Hundreds of teardrop lanterns hung over the custom dance floor and Kate from Flower Wild completed the day adding her effortless style with garden flowers in just the right shades to remind guests we were very near wine country. It was posh, luxurious and a million other adjectives, but overall, the day was very much like the couple…fun!

Event Design & Planning: Beth Helmstetter Events / Dress: Monique Lhuillier / Hair & Makeup Stylist: Fiore Beauty / Flowers: Flower Wild / Photography: Aaron Delesie / Videography: Living Cinema / Linens: La Tavola / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals / Dance Floor: Barker Decor (no website) / Invitations: Urbanic / Calligraphy, Programs & Map: Laura Hooper / Lighting: Bella Vista Designs / Dinner Band: The Cowling Band / Spanish Guitars: Cale Music / Venue: Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 25 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Aaron Delesie, Bella Vista Designs, Beth Helmstetter Events, Cale Music, California Weddings, Classic Party Rentals, Fiore Beauty, Flower Wild, Four Seasons Biltmore, La Tavola, Laura Hooper, Living Cinema, Monique Lhuillier, Santa Barbara, The Cowling Band, Urbanic
Post categories: All Real Weddings, California Weddings, Real Weddings, Santa Barbara Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

from Abby … This is my dream wedding. Seriously. My dream wedding. And for a girl that looks at literally hundreds of weddings a week, that speaks volumes as to just how smitten I am with this affair …. organic … garden chic … you know, just perfect!

Brooke Keegan, the wedding planner and designer behind the day did an incredible job articulating the bride & groom’s vision in a way that seemed completely effortless. Sunny Ravanbach from White Lilac, their incredible florist, is officially a new style guru. Her subtle hand with the flowers, her organic and yet insane execution of the couple’s style ~ love. And Aaron and Jen ~what can I say … the best in the biz!

But what Abby DIDN’T have, at the time, was the rest of the story! We just recently got our hands on this short film from Curtis at Living Cinema. In two and a half awesome minutes, he has captured the whole glorious picture! And that, my dears, is no small accomplishment!

Brooke & Dustin’s short film from living cinema on Vimeo.

If you’re STILL as captivated by this Shady Canyon Golf Club wedding as we are, you can see all five SMP features here … #1, #2, #3, #4, #5!

Our thanks to Curtis for bringing this beautiful wedding back to us on the Little Black Book Blog today!

*   *   *

To enjoy more of Living Cinema’s brilliant weddings, take a look at these two beautiful films on their blog!

Spring Wedding at Rancho Las Lomas ~ Photography by Jose Villa, Details Details, Nisie’s Enchanted Florist

Dallas Love Affair ~ Thisbe Grace Photography, Bella Flora of Dallas

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Aaron Delesie, Brooke Keegan, California Weddings, Living Cinema, Shady Canyon Golf Club
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Cinematography