Historic Charm

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I am so excited to share today’s post!  I haven’t done this yet, but I want to include weddings that inspire me on this blog.   So here we are with my very first inspiring wedding to share!  My beautiful cousin got married last year and I simply loved her wedding.  From start to finish there were personal touches, and sweet details met us at every turn.  Being a guest was a delight–I sipped the signature cocktail, I found my name on the charming escort card fence, I danced the night away under pretty paper lanterns.  Courtney and Geoff created a fun, personal, and intimate family-oriented celebration.  I enjoyed every minute of it and commend them on throwing such a great party! 

Here is Courtney’s wedding story, in her words:

I was raised in Virginia, it’s the state my husband and his military family lived the longest, and more importantly, it’s the place we met and fell in love.  The Thomas Birkby House’s 18th century origins, brick terraces, and manicured gardens appealed to our sense of history and home. We wanted to introduce our guests to our state and our love story in an intimate garden setting full of romantic and personal details. Inspired by the shades of Southern porch ceilings, painted blue to mimic the sky, we chose dusty aqua blue and rich chocolate brown to ground our wedding color palette, providing a sweet contrast to antique silver and creamy petal accents. We displayed family wedding photos to celebrate the great love stories we know best, and incorporated handmade touches throughout the decor- hand-tied posy pins and cookies baked from a family recipe served as favors, built a frame to display our handmade escort cards, covered books in blue paper in a nod to our university beginnings and love of literature, and in one daring DIY escapade, I made my first ever mosaic after a case of mercury glass votives arrived broken (and non-returnable). There isn’t a single lemon that can’t be turned into lemonade when you keep your eye on the prize- honoring your partner and the love you share.

 

 

Photographer: Abby Jiu Photography, www.abbyjiu.com
Florist: Growing Wild, www.growingwildfloral.com
Venue: The Thomas Birkby House, www.birkbyhouse.com
Makeup Artist: Ryan Krasney, Blend, www.blendevent.com   
Caterer: Joan Wolford, Savoir Fare, www.savoirfarelimited.com
Design Coordinator: Carrie Moe, Fleurish Events, www.fleurishevents.com
Cake: Jason Reaves, Market Salamander, www.marketsalamander.com
Monogram Design: Jennifer Olmstead, Deleted Space Creative, jennifer@deletedspacecreative.com

 

(And thank you for contributing, Courtney.  You were a stunning bride and you are a fabulous writer!)

 

 

 

 

 

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Allure: 4th Week in Review

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Hi!  I hope you all had a fabulous Valentine’s week!  I’m a teensy bit glad it’s over, actually.  Spring is on the way!  I am really excited about some goings-ons in the next few weeks…Kaella and I have been working on a fun, new project and as details fall into place (and by ‘fall’, I mean ‘get handled by experts–us!’), I am giddy like a school girl with a secret!

Here are a few highlights from this last week:

1.  Swedenborgian Church.  I visited the church on Saturday to meet the new events manager, Jenny Son.  We talked about the church’s rich history, and it’s renewed commitment to LGBT weddings and marriage equality.  We also discussed an upcoming collaboration…more on that later!

Images courtesy of Jere Visalli Photographics
and Discovery Bay Studios

I coordinated a wedding at Swedenborgian last September and it was beautiful.  I love the space…it feels warm and intimate, and you can feel the history when you walk in.  It is a pleasure to work there and I hope to many more times!

2.  Our video!  Front page news, people!  On the Allure Home Page, check me out!  I shot this a few months ago with Martin Rossetti of Fill in the Blank Media.  I wanted to put something on the site so that visitors could get to know me a little, and to find out what makes Allure different than other wedding planning companies.  There are plenty out there now and I believe that our training (Cal State Wedding Planning Certification Program), our many years of experience and our commitment to marriage equality do make us stand out.  My goal was to get that across in 45 seconds.  I’m proud of the video and I’m so happy to see it on the site.  Thank you, Martin!

3.  This week I’ve been doing a lot of planning for my clients K and AJ.  I was hired to do ‘Full Planning’ for them and they live in LA, so I have been researching, referring and booking vendors this past week…we have a busy Saturday next weekend when K and AJ come up to visit.  4 meetings:  florist, photographer, hair stylist, baker.  Candlestick maker!  Just kidding, but if I needed to find a candlestick maker, I would, no problem!

A week in the life of a wedding planner.  Lots of time on the computer, lots of coffee, lots of phone tag, more cupcakes than other professions (job hazard), sifting through pretty pictures, sending thank you notes, tweeting, blogging, linking, quickbooking, filing, researching, attending fun meet-ups, and shopping for deals on vases and containers…at least that’s what this wedding planner did in a week!  The work never ends.  I wouldn’t have it any other way!
P.S.   Promotions!
Facebook

Wedding Wire

Yelp

    

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Preppy Picnic Inspiration Board

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Christy and I are working on a fun project over the next couple of months, and I’ve been gathering inspiration to come up with the overall design concept.  So here’s a sneak peak of what’s to come!  It’s all the way preppy, bright and gingham.  Can you guess what we are working on?

 

Top: Stationary, Floral

Middle: Cake, Fabric

Bottom: Croquet, Picnic, Suit

Cheers!

Kaella

follow @kaellalynn

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A New Friend

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Hi!  I hope you all had a delightful Valentine’s Day!  I want to take today’s blog to introduce you to a new friend of mine.  I met Lauren Cohn Frankel just a few days ago and I’m so happy I did!  Lauren emailed me several weeks ago after finding my name on Bernadette Smith’s blog post listing graduates of her Gay Wedding Certification Course.  I was excited to hear from Lauren–she reached out exactly when I needed someone to!  Making sure Allure is a wedding vendor for the LGBTQ community is so important to me, but sometimes it feels like I’m treading water uphill.  Or something.
Anyway…Lauren is an awesome photographer.  I love her style–I think she’s refreshing, and I love her storytelling.  Lauren’s pictures are edgy and honest, but feel immediatley genuine and they’re just so beautiful.  I really like Lauren.  I like how she presents herself, I like where she stands and I like that she reached out.  And her pictures speak for themselves.
Enjoy!

 

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Allure: 3rd Week in Review

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Another week down!  I felt so productive this last week, and then I look at my current to-do list and everything that was crossed off was immediately replaced by another item!  Like pushing a rock up a hill, this momtrepreneurship thing, I tell ya!  But I love it.  The mom part, the business part… I feel very grateful to be living the dream!  Now if only I got paid for the laundry and dishes…

I’m getting off track.  This week in review…Allure!  That’s what I’m supposed to be writing about!  Allure!  We were busy bees, as usual.  Here are the highlights:

1.  Invitations.  I am on the hunt for the perfect invitations for my clients K and AJ.  We are working with a modest (normal) budget and the colors are sage green and white/cream.  The ordered the cutest save-the-dates, and now I want to find them a more elegant but still unique invitation suite that incorporates their color scheme, and trees or birds in someway.  Maybe a nest?  Too ‘baby’?  I’ll know it when I see it.  I’ve probably logged three hours already on this adventure and I won’t stop til I find a couple great options for my great couple!
2.  Kalani Germono.  I needed an amazing hair and makeup stylist for a client and I found a gem.  Kalani Germono.  She has a name I’ll always remember!  Anyway, talking to Kalani on the phone makes you want to be her best friend.  Her yelp reviews are incredible, her work is to-die, and her prices are ridiculous.  Don’t tell her I said that last part.  Ridiculous in good way.  I mean, I’m scheduling myself an updo just for kicks because I want to look fabulous for a day and CAN!  Hair and Makeup always surprises my brides–it’s more expensive than they would guess and often, it’s cost-prohibitive.  I get it, I understand why, but it’s also so refreshing to know that some people are doing great work and aren’t charging so much for it that I can’t pass them on to my brides.  My glowing referral of Kalani to my client landed her a trial run for hair and makeup!  I couldn’t be more excited to have connected with Kalani and I am so confident my bride will like her too, which is a great feeling.

3.  Wedding Wire.  Allure is officially open for business on WeddingWire.com.  Notice the bottom of our right-hand column on this very blog…a link to our vendor endorsements on WeddingWire.com!  What do you think?  Too much for a sidebar?  Let me know, I need opinions before I hound Kaella for one and present myself in an authoritative light!  Just kidding, she knows I need her design eye…Kaella, what do you think?
Anyway…being on WeddingWire is very exciting.  Allure is now represented on all of these wedding search engines: WeddingWire.com, ProjectWedding.com, MarthaStewartWeddings.com, Brides.com, Weddingbee.com.   It’s a place for reviews, endorsements, pictures and our VIDEO!  This video is a promo I shot with my friend Martin Rosetti, of Fill in the Blank Media, a few months ago.  It will be on the Allure website soon, but is up on my WeddingWire profile now! 
Work your magic, WeddingWire! 

 

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♥ Inspiration Board

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If you haven’t noticed, we believe love is worth celebrating at Allure.  So it probably comes to no surprise that I’m a big fan of a day that celebrates love, too.  And what is Valentine’s Day without a little heart?  I gathered some inspiration for fun and unique ways to incorporate hearts into your wedding day.  Spread the ♥.

Top: boutonniere, bridal dress, heart sticks

Middle: heels, macaroons

Bottom: headband, heart on sleeve, bridesmaid, floral heart backdrop

Happy Valentine’s Day,

♥ Kaella

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Prop 8: The Fight Continues

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Yesterday (2-7-12), in California, the Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals deemed Proposition 8 unconstitutional.  Hooray!  This is certainly a positive ruling as far as Allure is concerned, and for all others who believe in marriage equality.  A step in the right direction for civil rights.  But…it’s a familiar step for the crazy state of California.  We’ve been down this road before, and we’ve been disappointed before.  For now, not much changes for same sex couples in California that want to legally get married.  In fact, nothing does.  They still can’t get married.  Prop 8 is a ban on gay marriage, and it will stay in affect until the deadline for an appeal–one that will likely be filed immediately by the homophobic opposition.

It’s no secret where I stand on this topic.  I am a fierce supporter of gay rights and believe whole heartedly (it’s topic’s like this that the term ‘whole heartedly’ is made for) in marriage equality.  Michelle, Kaella, and I are on the same page.  Allure is in business to help couples have amazing, personal, emotional, fun, fabulous weddings…we are here for all couples in that regard–L, G, B, T…it’s all the same to us.  It’s all wedding…it’s all love.  And we love love!

For now, we keep on keeping on.  Yesterday was a victory in this civil rights movement, but we have a long way to go.

I love hearing what Bernadette Smith, gay wedding planner extraordinaire, has to say about Prop 8, and all things gay wedding.  Here is her post on yesterday’s Huffington Post.  Follow her for updates and info–I do!

And I also love Randy Roberts Potts.  He is the grandson of ultra-conservative televangelist Oral Roberts, and he is gay.  He taking his cause “The Gay Agenda” on a tour through the bible belt and documenting the journey. Keeping up with him also helps me to stay informed and inspired.

“Gay and lesbian people fall in love. We settle down. We commit our lives to one another. We raise our children. We protect them. We try to be good citizens.”  California Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica

 

pic from 14stories.com

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Wedding Planner Certificate: First Exam

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In our first class session, Joyce advised we spend 24 hours studying the class material for the each subsequent exam. That doesn’t even include the time necessary to prepare the Staging Guide project. It may seem like a lot of hours, but you’d understand why after just one hour in the class. Joyce goes over a ton of information. However, having no indication of the exam format, it was almost impossible to know where to start. Taking from my college days, I pulled out all the stops, including flash cards, rewriting my notes, teaching the material to unsuspecting bystanders (mainly my husband, who was quite the sport though I’m sure he was thinking about the Super Bowl), rewarding myself with treats for correct answers, coming up with crazy acronyms… you name it. And it all payed off – I aced the quiz!

Having applied wedding planning experience prior to the class sure helped me remember a lot of the info, but there are so many details based on Joyce’s 17 years in the business – truly indispensable knowledge for anyone in the industry. So far we’ve gone over the history of wedding planning, market trends, wedding and event management disciplines, budget management, negotiations, contracts, liability, site selection and photography. It feels like an MBA program. And similar to an MBA, it’s not that a person can’t run a business, i.e. wedding planning, without it, but the knowledge gained provides the base for managing a successful business and providing optimal service to clients. And the client is what it’s all about, right?

One of the things I’ve found most interesting is the costly mistakes many couples make when signing their contracts. Not knowing what to look for in the contracts, couples may sign too soon. Once signed, you lose your bargaining power. And speaking of bargaining power, having a wedding planner is a good way to get some. Wedding planners also help couples avoid expensive oversights. Contracts are tedious to read through, but they should be read thoroughly. There may be items missing that are crucial to your unique wedding vision or rules outlined that could result it hefty fines. Without expert knowledge of contract verbiage, it will be hard to pinpoint these specifics. Planners should be skilled at reading all contracts, from venues to photographers, and provide feedback and/or negotiate for you.

Even for a “Day-Of” package, it is imperative that the planner reviews all contracts from your vendors prior to the wedding. After all, your planner is in charge of making sure all the services and details outlined in the agreements proceed as planned. This is why reviewing contracts is included in Allure’s ‘Month Of’ Package. We want to make sure you get what you signed up for, and have a flawless wedding day.

Signing out.

Kaella

@kaellalynn

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Allure: 2nd Week in Review

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I’m writing this weeks ‘Week in Review’ as the delicious smell of chorizo queso fills the room.  It’s Super Bowl Sunday and we have traditions around here, folks!  My husband considers Super Bowl Sunday an important national holiday, and I consider it a day to eat lots and lots of bacon.  The party we’ll be heading off to soon has an annual appetizer contest and 90% of the food entered in will have pork as the first ingredient.  My Quesizo will have to compete against (among others) my husband’s famous spicy mac and cheese, homemade sausage stuffed jalapeno poppers, and the ever popular sausage-roll-wrapped-in-bacon-basted-in-it’s-own-fat.  Disgusting, I know.  Please don’t judge me.

While extremely interesting, Super Bowl Sunday is not actually what this post is about.  This post is my second Week in Review for Allure.  And we had another fabulous and productive week!  So here goes!

1. Baby’s Breath.  This week, I was doing lots of research for my full-planning clients; getting married in September at the Rengstorff House.  I love this historic Victorian house venue…the ceremony and reception will be outside on tailored lawns and brick patios, and the land around the house is lush and wild and just beautiful.  I was thinking of some decor and floral ideas that would complement the natural setting and fit in with my client’s wedding vision, and speak to their personal style.  I’ve always liked the way that baby’s breath looks when it’s bunched together tightly, so I started with that.  I loooove what I found and I sent a description of my preliminary plan (line the aisle with baby’s breath on the grass, possibly use baby’s breath to decorate the cake and escort card table) over to my clients and they jumped for joy and celebrated my brilliance over champagne and caviar!  (They talked about it and decided they liked the idea, and told me to proceed.)  Here’s an example of what I am talking about.  I’ll post pictures of my creation in September, of course!


Flowers by Heavenly Blooms.  I love this topic so much, I might just post more on it later!

2.  Kaella.  This week, Kaella (my assistant, mentoree, and friend!) had her second class at Cal State Hayward’s Wedding Planner Certification Course.  She aced the quiz and will post about the class later this week!  This is the same certification course that Michelle Martinez and I both took, so we are so proud of Kaella and can’t wait for her to be certified!

3.  Allure’s first styled shoot.  I’m thrilled to announce that a special project is in the works for Allure right now.  We are planning our very first styled shoot.  Kaella and I are putting together the details right now and we’ll shoot in late March.  I don’t want to give too much away, but I will tell you that the reason I am so very excited about this is because we will be styling and shooting vingettes for a wedding with two grooms.  Another super exciting thing about this shoot?  Our friend Meg Perotti will be shooting it.  She is ridiculously talented–here’s her site, you want to take a look, trust me! 
Here’s an example of a styled shoot that Kaella did last month with Edyta Szyszlo.  It was featured in Style Me Pretty! 

That’s it for now!  I have to taste this queso…

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Red + Cream = Valentine Dream

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Valentine’s Day is just around the corner… the perfect excuse to finally create a board inspired by this gorgeous red faux fur coat.  What a great look for a bride, right?! It’s been sitting in my files for a while now, just waiting for this lovely opportunity.  Paired with cream, the duo walk a fine line between sultry and sweet.  Aren’t we all a bit of both anyway?

Top: Bride, Suitecase, Cake

Middle: Tablescape, Bridesmaid, Invitations

Bottom: Matches, Favors, Tomato dish

Joie de vivre!

Kaella

@kaellalynn

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