Colorful Spanish Fiesta Dinner Party

Spanish Fiesta Birthday Party

For a recent client’s birthday in Rancho Santa Fe we created an intimate Spanish fiesta dinner party with a colorful and bold Spanish flair. We started by laying down a beautiful periwinkle linen and and created tile placemats out of hand painted tiles.  We featured super colorful florals with bright warm fall colors including yellow sunflowers, orange mums and deep red roses. Eggplant purple tapers glowed above the table in vintage brass candlesticks and delicate light patterns were cast onto the table from the rustic ornate lanterns featuring glowing tapes. Mismatched aqua and purple goblets helped to lend even more pops of color on the table offset by an eclectic set of wooden farm chairs and stunning wicker peacock end chairs. 

Making a warm entrance into a party, even home entertaining, is alway important to set the tone from the minute the guests arrive. We did so with a bold spray of bougainvillea in an amber blown glass vases and scattered the table with glowing tapers and wooden balls. 

More colorful Spanish glass was featured at the bar with accents of Spanish stars and glowing candles. We created a beautiful collection of Spanish wines and sangria for guests to sip on while they nibbled on tapas from our cheese and Spanish bites tables.

We created a backdrop of colorful Spanish glass, terracotta tubes and glowing pillar candles to display a wide array of Spanish meats, olives, oils and cheese for guests.

For a backyard birthday party no more than a simple cake a few bites are required but why not dress it up with a beautiful presentation?  We did with a fun array of Spanish glass, tiles, mirrored stars and votives.

Guests dined under the glowing bistro lights on freshly made paella while listening to the tunes of flamenco guitarist David Maldonado. Even with an intimate party of 20 this goes to show it’s all about quality over quantity, even in the comfort of your own home. 

Event Design & Planning Alchemy Fine Events

Music David Maldonado

Photography by John Newsome

 Vintage Rentals by Pow Wow Vintage Rentals

Lighting by LG Productions

Catering San Diego Paella 

The Art of the Wedding Photography & Design Workshop: Meet Jana Williams

Meet the teachers behind our Lake Como Photography & Design Workshop

With more details of L’Arte del Matrimonio (The Art of the Wedding in English) workshop coming together, more incredible designers, beautiful locations and details involved, we wanted to give you the opportunity to learn not only about what we’ll be doing at the workshop, what you’ll see (stunning Galia Lahav gowns!!) a bit more about each of the teachers that are behind this incredible trip. Photographers and designers are teaching this workshop that is open to photographers, designers and planners, with the goal of not only teaching you individual skills of your own career, but by showing you how important your relationships with each other is not only to further your career, create better work, but also to get published. We are thankful to have photo editor Rebecca Crumley of The Knot to chime in on that department of course!

Starting off the series of beautiful videos by Joel VanZ, is the charming Jana Williams.  Mike Larson and I had the pleasure of meeting Jana at the Netherlands workshop back in March, where we all connected and became fast friends. We have had the opportunity to work on a few projects since then and it’s been so wonderful to work with her, have her listen and really hear me and allow me to direct her while contributing her wonderful feedback, bride/model interaction and great eye.  Fast forward to now, we are so excited to have yet another great European adventure and bring you along with us! So without further ado, meet Jana:

// jana williams // photographer // from Joel VanZ on Vimeo.

About Jana:

Jana Williams is an international award winning wedding photographer based in Hollywood,  California.  She has shot luxury weddings from Dubai to Lake Como Italy to New York.  Her clientele and portfolio is one to envy, not to mention her huge success with social media allowing her viewer to get to know her on a personal level, especially on her You Tube channel where she offers viewers video tutorials on how skills, social media and just talking about her start and how she got to where she is with an open heart and sweet southern accent.   With all of her success in the industry Jana has a reputation of being a very grounded artist that is easy and fun to work with.  We agree!

Check out some of Jana’s work below:

For more information on The Art of the Wedding Photography & Design workshop please visit:

Garden Glam Ponte Winery Wedding, pt. 2

Herb Garden Glam Ponte Winery Wedding , the reception and dessert bar

After guests enjoyed the sun setting over the vineyards at Grace and Andrew’s Ponte Winery wedding they were invited inside to enjoy a vineyard feast upon our herb garden inspired tablescapes. Starting with a clean, fresh palette of a geometrical printed aqua linen we then layered on grey stained wooden planks and breezy cheesecloth for a layered and textured base to build upon. Regal silver candelabras stood in the center of each table and were surrounded by potted topiaries, olive trees, fresh live herb plants and garden baskets filled with lush blooms, wildflowers and herb markers. Isari Flower Studio did an incredible job on these seasonal fresh arrangements and used fresh herb within the flowers as well for a beautiful fragrant setting. For the table names we used vintage scientific illustrations to let guests know what herb table name they were sat at and tied fresh herbs onto each baguette that had their place card tied on with purple bakers twine.

See more details and bride notes on this wedding featured in the latest issue of The Knot magazine as well as online here!

See more of Grace & Andrew’s Ponte Winery Wedding in The Knot Magazine!

To bring in an element of glam we used a plum hued sequin tablecloth for the sweetheart table boasting vintage decanters, glowing hurricane pillar candles and gold and silver mercury votives and re-purposed the eucalyptus garland from the ceremony to hang on the front of their table. Re-use, re-purpose and save money on the wow design factors to enjoy their beauty all night!

For a fun chair treatment we wove layers of cheesecloth through the dark wood chivari chairs for a fun photo opp of the couple dining from behind.

After guests removed their photo seating cards and went inside of the ballroom to enjoy dinner, we took the beautiful chairs from the lounge areas and created a beautiful photo opportunity for the couple and their guests to enjoy as the sun was setting.

Our bride Grace is a HUGE fan of Sprinkles cupcakes and macarons so we had to really wow her with a beautiful dessert bar. We created a backdrop of sheer drapery backed by twinkle lights and built up wooden box risers to build a display of cut crystal bowls, garden decor and carved pillar candlesticks for a fun and interactive dessert display. The bride’s personal friend of Meebah Desserts made the most deliciously and custom color-matched macarons which were a huge hit and we customized the Sprinkles cupcakes with fresh herbs.

While the guests dined the couple got to take advantage of a bit of quiet time and the last bit of the beautiful soft sunsest lighting captured by photographer  Jen Lauren Grant.  

Between snacking on cupcakes and cutting a rug on the dancefloor guests posed in the Smilebooth in front of our custom photo backdrop we made of string balls and eucalyptus and crystal garland re-purposed from the ceremony. Team Alchemy had to get a few shots in too!

Event Design, Planning & Stationery Alchemy Fine Events & Invitations

Venue Ponte Estate Family Winery

Photography Jen Lauren Grant

Bride’s Dress Jenny Yoo

Flowers Isari Flower Studio

Rentals: Lounge Furniture by Pow Wow Rentals  Linens La Tavola

Desserts Cupcakes by Sprinkles, Macarons by Meebah Desserts, Cake by Jodee’s Bakery

Photobooth Smilebooth

Garden Glam Ponte Winery Wedding

Garden Glam Rustic Ponte Winery Wedding, part 1: the ceremony and cocktail hour

Grace and Andrew, or Grandrew as they’ve come to be known by us, are one of the sweetest and most in love couples we have had the pleasure to work with. Our dear Grace had hired my services several times for invitations before she decided she had to hire me, almost a year before the engagement, to secure my services. I adore her… We had so much fun designing their Ponte Winery Wedding inspired by an overgrown herb garden with a garden glam twist. She literally gave us carte blanche and said ‘I trust you!’ and actually wanted to have some elements of surprise herself! Talk about a laid back bride! That level of creative freedom, in turn, made us work even harder to giver her and Andrew their dream wedding.

Enjoy these beautiful photos taken by Jen Lauren Grant of Birds of Feather!

Organic Ceremony Design

For a natural ceremony design that would just enhance and not distract from the already beautiful view, we used eucalyptus garland laced with crystals to line the aisle and tied purple wildflowers onto the chairs.

Letterpress Wedding Invitation Suite

Fresh garden glam with a touch of a modern edge was our inspiration for the 2-ply cotton letter-pressed invitation suite. We created a soft design with a light sage green, cool grey and light lilac. 

The Overgrown Wild Garden Bridal Bouquet

We wanted a stunner bouquet to really go overboard with the overgrown wild garden feel and Isari Flower Studio definitely delivered with this beautiful purple bridal bouquet!!

The bridesmaid bouquets were a softer pastel version of the wildflower feel with dinner-plate dahlias, lisianthus, lambs ear leaves and lavender sprigs which looks so soft against the bridesmaids blush pink bridesmaid gowns.

I am so in love with Grandrew’s little dog Buttercup who made quite the wedding appearance as well! Thankfully Ponte Winery allowed small pets as we know how they can be part of your family and want them to be there on your special day.

Boring boutonnieres these were not! Mixed with berries, herbs and wild looking greenery, Isari Flower Studio delivered for the gents as well!

After seeing what a bubbly and outgoing bride grace was it was so emotional to see her burst into tears of joy and excitement. It was such a touchingly sweet moment to see how prepared her father was to blot away the tears off of his daughters cheek en route down the aisle. Good job dad!

And these darling little kids… So stinking cute!! The flower girl head wreath by Isari was a perfect fit for this little angel.

Photo Escort Card Display Idea!

At the cocktail hour we featured vintage doors with our custom designed seating cards with photos of Grace and Andrew with each of their guests and wrote how they all knew each other. It was such a great way for everyone at the wedding to get to know each other as well! Things like ‘Grace’s Aunt’, ‘Andrew’s friend from college’ or ‘Andrew’s craziest co-worker’ made for fun titles and a lot more mingling!

Cocktail Hour Lemonade Stand

Andrew’s one big request was to have a lemonade stand.. so we delivered! We built a custom stand and featured fresh lemonade in mason jars to cool guests off after sitting in the sun for the ceremony. ‘Sweet like Andrew and sassy like Grace’ was the perfect way to tie the sweet and tart together! Even after the lemonade was through everyone was able to use is for a wonderful photo opp.

Stay tuned for part 2 of our Garden Glam Ponte Winery Wedding with the reception and dessert bar!

Event Design, Planning & Stationery Alchemy Fine Events & Invitations

Venue Ponte Estate Family Winery

Photography Jen Lauren Grant

Flowers Isari Flower Studio

Lounge Furniture by Pow Wow Rentals