Celebration | Alchemy Fine Events

Home Decoration & Colorizaton to Celebration: Modern Parisian Event Inspiration

Gilded Modern Parisian Apartment Event Inspiration

As a designer that is passionate about interior design, art history and art I am constantly torn as to what eras and genres to be inspired by in addition to trying to create fresh twists to conjure up new ones. It’s like choosing what child is your favorite, what type of cuisine to dine on, or for me, red or white. I adore the femininity of the renaissance, the opulence of baroque and of course, the bold, clean lines of modernism, so when I came across this modern Parisian apartment featured in Elle Decor my jaw dropped and obsession began. With a name like Alchemy, you already know I’m obsessed with GOLD, so throw in some muted bone, soft dusty blue and a pop of poppy and I’m already designing the event.

To illustrate the inner workings of my imagination after perusing this interior design feature, here are some choices I’d love to play with for a modern Parisian fete! Blending more delicious modern decor items from Form Decor as well as some Parisian prints and some still life inspired flowers by Saipua that look like they fell out of a renaissance painting. Plus some amazing Marie Antoinette worthy Tory Burch heels for a ‘something blue’ for a bride to be.

posted by Vanessa, 28th January 2013 , Categories: Celebration, Colorization, Flowers and Decoration, Home Accessorization, Inspiration

Old Hollywood Inspired Persian Wedding at the Bel Air Bay Club by Alchemy Fine Events

A Colorful and Festive Persian Wedding in the Pacific Palisades - Part 2 Cocktail Hour & The Reception

Make sure to visit Part 1 on our blog to view photos from this Jewish and Persian wedding ceremony!

As soon as Jessica and Ilya said “I do”, a joyful spirit was in the air and it didn’t take long for the party to start. A traditional Klezmer band entertained guests as they made their way to cocktail hour in a naturally beautiful outdoor courtyard. An abundance of food, lively music and comfortable lounges allowed guests to eat, drink, converse and become instantly immersed in the festive atmosphere.

A Persian wedding is not complete without tons of food, so to really incorporate Jessica’s heritage, we had the pleasure of creating a Persian feast table overflowing with fruit and nuts for guests to pick at. This served as a gorgeous focal point and also as a teaser for the hot Persian buffet to come later on in cocktail hour. Guests definitely had full bellies and happy hearts!

For the seating cards, we created a stunning display of hand painted tiles that Laura Hooper Calligraphy wrote each guests name on in gold. They doubled as a beautiful take home gift for the guests.

For the reception tablescapes, we really wanted to intertwine the Persian influences with an Old Hollywood glamour flair. We did this by having Krista Jon create exotic floral centerpieces featuring a variety of vibrant and textured blooms upon mirrored boxes and eclectic vintage glassware. The tables were lined with jewel toned glass, vintage gold and brass mirrors and bowls of fruits and nuts to offer to guests. This was complemented by colorful mercury glass votives, as well as crystal pieces on top of bold patterned linens by La Tavola.

Laura Hooper wrote gold calligraphy onto mirrors to create glamorous table numbers.

For additional fun touches, we custom made lace napkin treatments with a large rhinestone button that many ladies ended up wearing as bracelets later on in the evening. We also had AV Event Design display a patterned wash on the ceiling in addition to the fuschia uplighting.

This gorgeously decorated, candlelit fountain looked spectacular as the sun went down.

For dessert, we had Vanilla Bake Shop create an all white tiered wedding cake that we decorated with fresh blooms for an exotic flair. Later on in the evening guests were surprised with ice cream sandwiches from the Beachy Cream girls for a delicious send-off treat.

As the joyous and fun-filled night was wrapping up, Jessica and Ilya’s family and friends sent them off through a sparkler lit tunnel to their Rolls Royce escape car.

This wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty here!

We also recently posted Jessica & Ilya’s rehearsal dinner on our blog which was also featured in Martha Stewart’s Bride Guide!

Planning, Design & Stationery: Alchemy Fine Events

Florist: Krista Jon

Photography: Luna Photo

Lighting: AV Event Design

Rentals: Archive Vintage Rentals

Calligraphy: Laura Hooper Calligraphy

Wedding Cake: Vanilla Bake Shop

Ice Cream: Beachy Cream

Linens: La Tavola Linens

Beauty: Fiore Beauty

Venue: Bel Air Bay Club

posted by Vanessa, 18th January 2013 , Categories: Cake and Confection, Celebration, Colorization, Coordination and Collaboration, Drink and Libation, Flowers and Decoration, Illumination

Home Decoration & Colorization to Celebration: Emerald Green Event Inspiration

Barnaba Fornasetti’s Milan Apartment: Emerald Green Color Inspiration

I have always had a fascination with designers who create with the ability to take push the realms of their creativity and execute whats exactly in their minds. This is how I feel about Fornasetti and his childlike introspective design direction combing illustrations of doll-like architecture, Victorian faces and Rubenesque forms. Recently featured in Elle Decor, Barnana Fornasetti’s Milan apartment inspires me from such a deep and slightly twisted and dark place it urges me to create Dali-esque settings in which to dine and celebrate in. With big, bold splashes of a rich emerald green (the new black!) as the palette to build upon, Fornasetti infuses elements of classical, modern and trompe l’oeil designs to create a one of kind environment only visible in the depths of his fantastic mind.

Emerald Green Wedding Inspiration Alchemy FIne Events

With desirous inspirations from Fornasetti’s home fresh in mind, I wanted to illustrate how I would interpret his genius into my designs for a striking and yet slightly studious atmosphere where I imagine guests would sip on St. Germaine cocktails, nibble on caviar and debate modern art while listening to house remixes of Cole Porter. Form Decor rental furniture, rug & accessories, HER chair by Casamania, plates by Fornasetti, invitation by Alchemy Fine Events, turquoise napkin ring by Sur la Table.

The emerald green matte wall makes for the perfect palette to build upon with copper, gold and black mirrors and accessories.

Emerald Green Wedding Inspiration Alchemy FIne Events Fornasetti Event Inspiration Alchemy FIne Events4

posted by Vanessa, 7th January 2013 , Categories: Celebration, Colorization, Home Accessorization, Imagination, Inspiration

Provencal Parfumerie Wine Country Wedding in Paso Robles

A Wine Country Wedding at Hammersky Vineyards in Paso Robles

We are so excited to finally show you a wine country wedding we designed last fall at the beautiful and intimate Hammersky Vineyards. This beautiful setting was the perfect backdrop for Lauren and Mike’s Provencal parfumerie inspired wedding. With impeccable taste, Lauren and I worked on so many exciting custom designs including waterjet cut copper pieces, custom linens and pillows and many more.

There are so many delicious details and gorgeous photography captured by the talented Lindsey Hahn that we still can’t share them all even with this ultra long post! Please see more details and photos on our features on Style Me Pretty and Style Unveiled!

Lauren’s stunning Lela Rose gown and lacey Louboutin’s.

Lauren from Adornments created one of the most beautiful bouquets I had the pleasure to lay my eyes on! This stunning piece featured a variety of roses, blooms and wild greenery for a textural effect.

Guests were greeted at the ceremony via a custom waterjet cut sign we created and glasses of lemonade and lavender cookies to tie them over until cocktail hour, the perfect welcome to a wine country wedding in Paso Robles!

To decorate the vintage church pews used for guest seating we featured bouquets of red roses tied with vintage lace and custom designed toile pillows we designed with Nena Von.

Guests lovingly tossed wildflower seeds at the couple after they said their sweet I do’s.

For the cocktail hour we presented a fun cheese table served on vintage copper dishes and paired each cheese with unique pairings such as stout beer.

In lieu of traditional tags, we featured etched spoons for cheese markers.

For thoughtful guest gift I designed custom labels to go around Lavender and Verbena French soaps by Mistral and passed them out with jars of golden honeycomb.

For a fun start to the day, guests were picked up from their hotels on the Central Coast Trolley, the perfect start for a wine country wedding.

During the cocktail hour we let guests create their own potpourri sachets by blending their favorite dried flowers and then asked guests to write out their well wished onto squares of fabric later to be made into a quilt.

For a very Provencal style table design we started with long wooden farm tables and layered on our custom designed black toile table runners. From there we presented lush and wild arrangements in vintage French teapots and pitchers Lauren scoured far and wide to find.

For a unique take on the traditional menu I created a letterpressed and laser cut menu and then bolted them onto cut sheets of copper we had made.

For a fun twist on the standard bar we created another fun waterjet cut copper piece to hang behind a vintage armoire. To keep in line with our French country perfumerie inspiration we hung racks of dried flowers from the signage and backlit it for a warm glow in the evening.

To create a unique photo opp backdrop we designed a very Victorian inspired cameo design with Mike and Lauren’s initials and framed it in toile curtains for guests to pose in front of.

For a French country style dessert bar we had Two Little Birds Bakery whip up some delicious pies, cookies and pomegranate panna cottas we presented in vintage cut crystal glasses.

To keep guests cozy in the brisk valley air we offered spiked white hot chocolate served in cups wrapped in custom designed toile print we create fro the couple.