DREAM:: An Intimate Bridal Affair
A San Diego Intimate Bridal Show featuring Modern Luxury Design
A few weeks ago we had the exciting idea to collaborate with our favorite San Diego vendors and create a very un-bridally bridal show! Along with Isari Flower Studio and Luna Photo, we pulled together our favorite San Diego vendors and designed and coordinated this special event just as we would a real wedding. No big tacky signs, no booths, nothing like a traditional bridal show! I really wanted to show a bride ‘this is how we would really all work together!’. From creating a cohesive design plan, site plan and gearing our furniture, flowers, food, music and drinks all towards the same design direction for one cohesive look verses a piecemeal feeling that you walk away from traditional bridal shows with.
Whether you need to fill in a few spots in your vendor list or come and hire the DREAM team as a whole, we were and are very proud to bring you San Diego’s best! Thank you everyone for helping us have had such an amazing turn out of more than 350 brides! With such an amazing success DREAM may be making another appearance later this year.
Pop Art + Modern Glam + Impressionism + Vintage
– Plan, Design, Invite: Alchemy Fine Events & Invitations
– Embellish: Isari Flower Studio
– Capture: Luna Photo
– Dine: Toast Catering
– Stay: Starwood Hotels (The US Grant, The W, The Westin)
– Dance: Elan Artists
– Film: Modern 8
– Nibble: Sweet Cheeks Baking
– Illuminate: AV Event Rentals
– Set the Table: Casa de Perrin
– Furnish & Accessorize: Pow Wow Vintage Rentals
– Beautify: Shampoo Too!
– Dress: M Bride
– Say Cheese: The Foto Box
– Discover: Luxe Finds
– Style: CBS Life Stylist
– Sip: For Real Bartenders
– Pillows: Lounge Appeal
– Register: Bloomingdales
Black & White Hollywood Glamour La Jolla Wedding Inspiration at La Valencia
Black and White La Jolla Wedding Inspiration at La Valencia Hotel
Recently featured on Wedding Chicks seen here!! Here are a few words from Wedding Chicks describing our collaboration:
Black and white will always be a front-running trend in the wedding world. It is classic, elegant and timeless. There are endless ways to personalize this palette to make it all our own. Alchemy Fine Events & Isari Flower Studio collaborated on an old Hollywood inspired table using these timeless colors.
Framed by the hotel’s crystal chandelier, delicate drapery and stunning black and quite checkered floor. The majestic table-scape came alive with luminous candles set aglow amidst cut crystal, urns and interesting shaped decanters. Photographed ever so beautifully by Luna Photo. See more romantic table decor ideas in the full gallery.
To complement Isari’s floral palette of green, white and black, I created a super luxurious art deco inspired menu with a chinoiserie flair including illustrations in an aqua, green, black and white color palette. An intricate laser cut belly band featuring art deco and chandelier designs encompassed the folding menu that opened up to showcase delicate butterflies and romantic calligraphy.
Tam of Isari Flower Studio, describes the stunningly romantic table scape:
To showcase the gorgeous La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla we created an old Hollywood inspired table featuring sparkling cut crystal and a winter palette of black and white framed by the hotel’s crystal chandelier, delicate drapery and stunning black and quite checkered floor.
The majestic scape came alive with luminous candles set aglow amidst cut crystal, urns and interesting shaped decanters.
We selected winter white blooms such as amaryllis and anemones with it’s black centers, reflecting and resonating the black touches from the other details such as the black chivaris. Giant ranunculus, azaleas, pierris, and parrot tulips snuggled up close with carnations while small wintyer cyclamen plants were placed under glass cloches for an interesting surprise.
Glass candlesticks, bud vases, and other interesting shaped old world classic vessels were scattered amidst the arrangements for a multidimensional and interesting effect. For a dramatic statement we tied on large black satin bows a la Chanel around each place setting to remind each guest that their presence was a gift. For an additional sweet detail, green and white chocolates were custom designed as an additional touch to offer guests.
Photography by Luna Photo
Floral & Design by Isari Flower Studio
Menus & Table Styling by Alchemy Fine Events & Invitations
Venue La Valencia
Vineyard Fig Wedding Invitation
Our Vineyard Fig Wedding Invitation featured in Martha Stewart Weddings
For a destination wedding we love nothing more than doing booklets or multipage invitations that allow you to pass on all of the exciting information to your guests for the weekend or trip to come. For this Los Olivos winery wedding we featured five pages including The Wedding, The Where, The Welcome, The Hotels and The Story with the couples wedding website. The invite itself was tucked inside of a stamped muslin bag and then nestled in a box with a mailing labels for a beautiful presentation
For the bistro inspired menus I used 4 different fonts all contained in evenly justified lines for a bit of a modern edge on this culinary inspired piece.
To offer the guests notes to go along with sweet treats and refreshments we created darling framed signs in the the same muted color palette.
See the invite currently featured in latest issue of Martha Stewart Weddings!
Photography by Scott Lawrence
Art History for Brides: Renaissance Inspired Rustic Vintage Winery Wedding Inspiration
Rustic Vintage Winery Wedding Inspiration
Nothing exudes romance to me more than the ethereal age of the Renaissance. From it’s flowering of literature, science, art, religion and politics, this golden era flourished from every angle. Combining my passion for art, fashion, history and, of course, Italy, this age became proliferate with some of the greatest minds in our history. Starting in the 14th century in Florence, Tuscany, the Renaissance age boasted incredible works of art by Michelangelo, Donatello, Botticelli, da Vinci and great thinkers such as Dante. With inspirations from this indelible age, the 4th installment of our Art History for Brides series was born.
Inspiration
For my interpretation of the Renaissance, I wanted to create softer and simpler, pastel version of what we conceive to be the traditional Renaissance palette consisting of darker jewel tones. My vision was to create a pair cherub-esque brides longingly lounging around a beautiful vineyard feast while waiting for their loves to return, as if a scene from a Botticelli masterpiece.
Patterns / Graphics
Florentine patterns featuring intricate floral designs and illustrations were used throughout the shoot including the silverware trays on the table and on the invitations. The ‘Fleur di Lis’, which was a popular symbol of this time, reflected the political and royal. Born in France and then later adopted by Florentine’s as their city’s emblem, this symbol appeared on crowns, clothes and even currency as seen in the fiorini, an early Florentine currency.
Tablescape
To create our lounge worthy dining area we started by layering vintage rugs from Casa de Perrin then brought in a rustic sun bleached table and a soft vanilla hued velvet couch and love seat from Archive Vintage Rentals. Contrasting patterns of china and Florentine trays by Casa de Perrin were used to display the vintage silverware, fresh loaves of bread and rich raspberry hued pomegranates. Soft pink hued glassware offered pomegranate sprinkled bubbles and a romantic balance to our cut crystal decanters.
Flowers
Inspired by a Renaissance still life, Isari Flower Studio created a trio of contrasting centerpieces featured in ethereal golden-footed glass. For the berry hued centerpiece, Isari intricately designed a masterpiece brimming with champagne kissed cafe au lait dahlias and stunning merlot hued garden roses boasting ruffled petals, exposing green centers.
For the softer sunset hued centerpieces, sheer pink lilies, Californian oak twigs, fall kissed green hydrangeas, and unexpected Dutch tulips were trailing with bejeweled china berries to make it’s meandering statement amidst sprawling desserts and other vintage dishes unexpectedly featured on this magnificent table scape.
For a tall dramatic statement a taller amber vase boasted simple organic stems of tall camellia branches, with their waxy foliage in hunter green.
Feast
To carry out our Tuscan worthy feast we created a rustic spread of fruits, nuts, breads, meats and cheeses offered upon layers and layers of Florentine, copper and silver trays. Vintage glassware, still life paintings and tapered candlesticks added height and interested for a layered effect.
Desserts
For a Renaissance style dessert bar we featured home-style cakes and fruit tarts by Scootabaker in this vineyard setting-boasting vine covered walkways and majestic vineyard and mountain views. Buttercream cakes were displayed on silver cake plates and layered upon mirrored trays atop a vintage French table. Beautiful berries, pomegranates, pears and plums were scattered about to sweeten up this already scrumptious still life inspired presentation.
Fashion
I wanted to invoke the romance of the Renaissance through the artisanal style of handwork and details seen in the beautifully detailed Allison Simone gowns, jewelry and accessories, which were featured on each of our brides. From the detailed beading on the neckline to the long sleeves with detailed hems, these gowns exude an air of romance from a time long gone.
During the Renaissance the most popular color of bridal gowns were actually blue, which was considered a symbol of purity. If the bride didn’t wear blue she would often still carry something blue, in which the tradition was born “something old, something blue”
Traditions
Some of the most common wedding traditions derived from the Renaissance are still celebrated today. Here are a few of the most popular (and interesting! Hand-fasting?) traditions from that time:
• Hand-fasting- One of the most common rituals is hand-fasting. Hand-fasting is a joining of hands between the bride and groom. Actually, their hands may be literally tied together with a piece of material or cord. In some ceremonies, hand-fasting is symbolized by cutting a lock of each others hair and placing the locks in a box, or by the bride and groom drinking out of the same cup. However this ritual is performed, the meaning is essentially the same. The couple’s lives are joined together for eternity.
• Throwing Rice- You may be surprised to discover that one of the most common wedding traditions, the tradition of throwing rice, dates back to Renaissance times. This is an essential part of the wedding, and symbolizes fertility and luck for the couple.
• Tiered Cakes- The tiered or layered wedding cake also dates back to Renaissance times. The guests would bring small cakes to stack on top of each other. If the couple could kiss over the top of the stack without knocking them down, they would have good luck.
• Garter- The throwing of the garter dates back to the Renaissance era. It was said that if a male guest at the wedding gave the bride’s garter to his love, he would receive faithfulness.
Credits
• Event Design & Styling by Alchemy Fine Events & Invitations
• Invitation Design by Alchemy Fine Events & Invitations
• Photography by Luna Photo
• Flowers by Isari Flower Studio
• Tableware settings & Props by Casa De Perrin
• Furniture & Props by Vintage Archive Rentals
• Cake & Pastries by Scootabaker Bakery
• Bridal Gowns & Jewelery by Allyson Simone of Provence Brides
• Venue Orfila Winery
