Eco Chic Luncheon at Shade Hotel Manhattan Beach

Shade Hotels are a “Luxury Boutique Hotel” brand with locations in Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach. Both properties embody the coastal lifestyle that Southern California is known for. The design style of both hotels have garnered them awards and been noticed by print publications for their modern aesthetic. Either one of these boutique hotels would serve as a perfect Destination Wedding location because they offer an all inclusive option for your sleeping rooms, event venues, restaurants, and nearby activities.

Through my sister company 3 Wishes PR, I designed and planned an Eco-Chic luncheon for the Manhattan Beach location for wedding planners. The purpose of the event was to introduce the wedding industry to Shade Hotel’s eco conscious policies. My creative team of vendors not only helped to create a stylish and relaxing soiree, but each professional exhibited their own eco-friendly products and services. To take it a step further I asked my friend Kai Cohen of Green Canvas to speak about the service they offer to couples wanting to limit their carbon footprint on the environment in their weddings and events. Overall the event was a huge success for all involved. It was also a wonderful way for busy planners to be pampered and learn valuable new tools to add to their toolbox of exertise.

Floral Design: Lotus And Lily Floral Design | Photography: Kristina Lee Photography | Linens and Chargers: Elegant Designs Specialty Linens | Calligraphy & Signage: Calligraphy Katrina | Paper Flower Favors: The Bleu Dahlia | Alcohol Sponsor: Russian Standard Vodka | On-site Beauty Services: Bobby Pin Salon | Bakery: Vanilla Bake Shop | DJ: Vox DJs

Engagement Contest – Shade Hotel

Shade Hotel in celebrating the opening of their new hotel in Redondo Beach. It’s an architectural gem in the South Bay that has to be experienced! Like it’s sister property in Manhattan Beach, the vibe is contemporary coastal chic. Their tag line says it all “It’s Cooler In The Shade”! With eco friendly succulent walls in their wedding and event spaces, you have built in decor that you can feel great about. With engagement season in full swing and their wedding venues booking up, they wanted to share the celebration with you by hosting an INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT CONTEST. Two lucky couples will win $2500 toward their dream wedding at either location by simply posting a photo of their engagement celebration on Instagram and tagging #ShadeWeddings. Be sure to follow @ShadeWeddings for the announcement which will be made on January 11th. Check out these photos from both locations and then post away. And if you need a wedding planner I know both properties well, and I’d love to meet with you! Happy Planning.

Shade Hotel Manhattan Beach Courtyard Featuring a rock fountain and succulent walls. Photo: Zoom Theory

Event Venue at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach featuring an open air space and marina views.

Your Engaged! Now What?

Image: Amy Stone Photography

Congratulations on your engagement! You’re in love, and you’re embarking on a life as soul mate. Right now you’re on cloud nine. On your finger rests the promise of the future. I bet you’ve never felt so alive. What should you do next? Here is my best advice:

• LIVE IN THE MOMENT: Enjoy the feeling. Revel in the joy that you and your fiance are feeling AT THIS MOMENT. For now, simply enjoy the outpouring of LOVE from all of your family and friends and show off that ring on your finger!
• DREAM: Once the dust has settled and you’ve shared the big news with everyone, start dreaming. Get online and start getting ideas!
• ORGANIZE YOUR IDEAS: Make an inspiration binder. Use the tabs for categories such as gown, venue, decor, music, food and beverage. Pull pages from the magazines, and print photos from websites. Now start filling your binder. Having your ideas organized and in one place will save your sanity. There is no reason to keep stacks of magazines filled with inspiration you don’t need.
• START A PINTEREST PAGE: Start a page just for your wedding. This is a page you will share with your planner and floral designer. Knowing exactly the look you’re trying to achieve will save you and your vendors precious time. Worried your friends and family will see all the top secret details of your wedding? Never fear…Pinterest allows you to create a secret page that you can share with only those who need to see it.
• BUDGETING: Next step is setting a budget. Not fun and pretty, I know, but it’s necessary. Get the money issues out of the way and let the fun begin. Before you can start planning your dream day, you must know what you can and can’t afford. The budget will be the road map for every single decision you make. Whether you’re paying for your wedding yourself, or getting support from your family members, you must decide what the overall budget is. Only then, can you begin choosing venues, vendors, and even your wedding gown.
• HIRE A WEDDING PLANNER: The earlier the better. By getting a jump on the planner’s experience, you’ll avoid costly mistakes. Her fee will pay for itself when she helps you to make every penny of your budget work for you. As a planner I know how to take your priorities, your individual style and theme, and break down your budget. This means you get the absolute BEST for your hard earned dollars. Allocating your dollars to the proper categories, shows me which vendors are “right for you”. A planner’s years of experience and respect in the industry will also garner YOU preferred pricing and extras, you could never negotiate on your own.

  Rely on a planner’s hard earned resources. Sure planning websites have vendor directories. The best of those even have real reviews. But, have you looked at any yet? In just the category of photography, one site listed over 75, in Los Angeles alone. Orange County has 60! Planners work hard to know “who’s who” in the industry. A seasoned planners will save you time and money by streamlining the process for you. A planner’s true VALUE to you is her database and resource list. The other half is the ability to execute those resources into a magnificent, and stress free day.

These are just a few tips to get you started. I offer you a FREE CONSULTATION to determine your needs and explain how my expertise can be of VALUE TO YOU. My heartfelt congratulations to you and your fiance.

Now….go stare at that shiny ring some more, and shower your fiance with love and kisses. Then call me to set up your consultation. It would be my honor to become your partner in planning.

Wedding Style Guide by The Black Tux

As a Wedding Planner in Los Angeles, this time of year finds me pretty excited. It’s engagement season and there are proposals taking place everywhere you look. If you’re a groom wondering what you’ll wear on your big day, we have the place for you. The Black Tux provides a service that takes the traditional tux or suit rental to new heights. They work with you to make a custom suit or tuxedo just for you. The best part is you don’t have to find time to visit a crowded rental shop, but instead order from the comfort of your own home. You simply go online and choose your style, upload your measurements and they create a custom suit for you that arrives at your door! They even provide packaging for you to return it! Let’s face it you’re all about customization, because you’re an original. We love that about you!

Now that you know what you’ll wear, what will your guest wear to your wedding? Many people are confused about what to wear to your wedding. The Black Tux takes the guesswork out of it by creating  The Wedding Guest Style Guide that you can share with your guests. Thanks to The Black Tux for helping everyone look photo ready!

Wedding Jeannie Is Back!

Image Courtesy http://www.studioemp.com

I’m proud to announce officially that I’m back! The truth is I never left. I was a wedding planner from 2000 to 2013 and then I created a PR & Marketing firm called 3 Wishes PR, representing some of the best companies in the wedding and event industry in 2013. I continued to plan wedding on occasion for families I’d worked for previously. To me that’s the ultimate honor. I’ve had the pleasure of designing and planning multiple weddings for several families. The photo above is one such “family” experience I’ve been lucky to have. It was held in the family’s home and since they are so comfortable with me, they invited me to take a break and cool my feet of with them in the pool. The image is from one my favorite photographers, Joel Maus of Studio EMP. He worked on the other family’s events as well. In fact we brought back almost the entire team from the first daughter’s weddings. Everyone loved working together again, and it made it so much more personal for us.

This year we continue to be referred by colleagues, venues, and previous clients. We decided it was time to update our website and rebrand. The Wedding Jeannie name is well known and we couldn’t bare to part with it, so we are planning under the name of 3 Wishes Events by Wedding Jeannie. Our focus will be on concierge level design and planning services for couples throughout California. We will take a limited amount of events per year, which will allow us to focus our very best efforts to our clients.

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Jackie & David Featured 2014 Ceremony Magazine

Wedding Jeannie has been honored with another wedding in print. Ceremony Magazine Orange County has recognized the wedding of Jackie & David as a “Wedding of Distinction”. And we couldn’t agree more. This amazing couple hailed from Chicago, but wanted to marry in Southern California. Jeannie was tasked with the planning for this out of state couple, and with the design of an “Old Mexico” theme, with a “Star Wars” twist.

There was no question that Serra Plaza in San Juan Capistrano would be the perfect setting for this memorable union. Along for the ride was photographer Christopher Todd Griffiths, Jay’s Catering and Heavenly Blooms Florist. Each vendor brought their talent, dedication and commitment to excellence to this day. Wedding Jeannie couldn’t be more proud of this dream team.

Vendor Love:

Wedding Design & Planning: Wedding Jeannie
Venue: Serra Plaza, San Juan Capistrano
Photographer: Christopher Todd Studios
Catering & Wedding Cake: Jay’s Catering
Floral Design: Heavenly Blooms Florist
Rentals: Signature Party Rentals
Entertainment: Invisible Touch Events
Transportation: OC Cruiser
Beauty: Design Visage
Stationary: Digby & Rose
Gown: Rivini
Bridesmaids Dresses: Dessy Group
Men’s Formalwear: Men’s Wearhouse

Mexican Wedding in San Juan Capistrano

Meet Jackie and David. It’s a tale of travel and romance. She grew up half of her life in Mexico City and the other in Los Angeles. He grew up in Orange County. They are both lovers of travel. It’s that love that brought them together. They met in the Peace Corps in a foreign country, and fell for each other. Washington DC would be where they ended up. So how did they marry in San Juan Capistrano you ask? Jackie and her family have a deep bond to their Mexican roots, and Jackie wanted to express it through her wedding day. David was happy to comply as long as his love of Star Wars could be weaved into the day. Both got their wish.

Serra Plaza in San Juan Capistrano happened to possess all of the attributes for bringing Old Mexico to Orange County. Enjoy all the details including, a Mexican candy station and a tequila tasting bar. The overall decor and details evoked feelings of romance, rustic elegance, vibrance and joy. That’s everything you would find in a traditional wedding in Mexico City. Mission accomplished! Enjoy the stunning images captured by Christopher Todd Griffiths. He’s a genius with a camera, and I’m so happy he captured the spirit of this day to perfection.

Wedding Jeannie brought the finest vendor team to the table for this DC couple. I can’t thank them enough for their talents and hard work. Don’t trust your wedding to anything less than PROFESSIONALS. That’s what we had here folks. Take a look at the line-up.

Venue: Serra Plaza in San Juan Capistrano
Wedding Planner: Wedding Jeannie
Photography: Christopher Todd Studios
Catering: Jay’s Catering
Rentals: Signature Party Rentals
Floral Designer: Jaclyn Breault of Heavenly Blooms
Beauty: Design Visage
DJ: Invisible Touch
Candy Station: Wedding Jeannie
Tequila Station: Wedding Jeannie

Chevron Chic Wedding Tabletop

Tell us what you think of our Chevron Chic Wedding Tabletop. I had the greatest time designing it with fellow creative partners Jenny B. Floral Design, Copper Willow Paper Studio, Luxe Event Rentals & Decor, Classic Party Rentals, Designer Specialty Linens, and The Event Company. Special thanks goes CHRISTOPHER TODD STUDIOS PHOTOGRAPHY for the beautiful photos.

I designed this lifestyle set for California Wedding Day Magazine’s bridal show called The Look of Love. My inspiration key words were MODERN, WHIMSICAL, CHIC. Southern California is all about fun in the sun, and I wanted to capture California’s spirit of an endless summer. Jenny B ran with the inspiration and created floral designs that screamed sunshine and fun. Colors of yellow and persimmon signified Southern California’s vibrancy. Copper Willow designed a paper suite with the MODERN theme in mind. From menus to escort cards, and even drink coasters, the scene was set for a polished look.

Copper Willow Paper Studio created a cocktail menu featuring the chevron motif.

Copper Willow Paper Suite

Our Chic aspects came from the white lacquer tables, metallic gold, round bar backs and white leather bar. Just to give it a little glam, splashed of metallic gold gave our design the elegance we love. All of the round edges give this COURAGEOUS design a soft and welcoming feeling.

By far my favorite piece of this set was simply the CHEVRON table runner that Designer Specialty Linens custom made just for our table. It’s BOLD and CURRENT. I love how talented partners can simply hear your idea and create something new.

Chevron Table Runner by Designer Specialty Linens

I hope you enjoy what we came up with, and use it as inspiration for your own tabletop style. Shoot us a message and give us your thoughts.

Persian Sofreh Aghd – Cultural Wedding Traditions

Living and working in Los Angeles has given me the opportunity to work for clients from many interesting cultures. Most often, our clients are blending two cultures, and rely on me for advice in doing so. They understand that I embrace my own Latin Heritage, and I encourage them to incorporate their culture into their wedding. One the most touching traditions I’ve experienced is The Persian Sofreh Aghd.

Afsoon & Henry were married at The Westlake Village Inn. They had a very elaborate and elegant Sofreh Aghd. The Sofreh Aghd is the legal ceremony in the Iranian culture. The Sofreh altar (spread) is a detailed display of items believed to bring the bride and groom blessings in their life and marriage. The altar is displayed on the floor, facing the east, with the couple facing the light. Cushions are placed in front of the altar, as the bride and groom are seated throughout the ceremony. Each item on the sofreh has symbolism for the qualities the couple should possess in their marriage. Common items may be honey, coins, spices, candles, a mirror, and The Koran. Traditionally they are placed in a specific order, shown below.

Whether a sofreh is elaborate or modest, is the personal choice of the couple and their families. Symbolism of the items is what carries the most importance. The ceremony itself is filled with meaningful traditions that may not be fully understood if two cultures are being blended. For that reason I recommend a ceremony program that explains the importance of the sofreh, and the ceremony order.

Afsoon and Henry’s wedding was so meaningful to me. How lucky I was to experience these amazing traditions. Afsoon’s generosity in teaching me about her culture and her family traditions were a gift to me. She gave me the ability and confidence to plan many more Persian weddings in the future.

Resources: Persian Mirror Magazine http://www.persianmirror.com/

Do You Want More? Or Less?

By now you’ve seen those commercials on television with the kids sitting around a class room,with a business man in a suit, discussing what’s better. Bigger or smaller, faster or slower, more or less.

The basic premise is to ask kids common sense questions and see how they answer them. The tag line for the series is, “It’s Not Complicated”. The goal is to show adults that our choices have become so complicated because of “hype”, that we no longer use common sense. By stripping it down to common sense, with one or the other options, we should pick the better option right?

I’m a wedding planner, so I’ll use my profession as an example. Are you looking for a planner? Do you want MORE? Or Less? Of course you want MORE…it’s common sense. But couples today are consistently choosing less. By choosing cheap, DAY OF, wedding planners with little or no experience to manage their weddings, they are getting LESS.

An experienced wedding planner has all the MORE you deserve. MORE EXPERIENCE working at real weddings, MORE EXPERIENCE solving problems that arise at weddings, MORE EXPERIENCE with vendor relations, timelines, floor plans, deliveries and set-ups, not to mention MORE VENDORS in her vendor list, that are available to you. Her vendor list alone is a virtual who’s who in the wedding industry broken down by category, budget range, and quality of work. Trust me it takes years of hard work and experience to build a vendor list like that. The LESS planner would kill for my list.

I know what you’re saying to yourself..I can see you through the screen, rolling your eyes! You’re saying “I have a budget, I can’t afford MORE”. Common sense would tell you that cheaper is better. In all honestly, I don’t offer cheaper. I OFFER MORE. Instead of a DAY OF PACKAGE, I OFFER A MONTH OF PACKAGE, that includes MORE. It cost’s a little more, but you deserve it.

Wedding Jeannie lacing up corset for Bride Rita

Example: You want beautiful images with your mom and maids helping you into your beautiful wedding gown. You also want pictures of you and your new husband (doesn’t that sound nice?) cutting your cake and feeding it to each other. OOOPS, LESS planner didn’t realize that the photographer’s package was only for 7 hours, and his contracted hours are up before the cake cutting.  She convinces him to stay. After all, he’s not completely insensitive. However, he requires an additional hourly fee, and he wants it in cash….now. Who’s going to go and ask your dad for some cash? What an awkward position to be put in on the happiest day of your life.

That AFFORDABLE DAY OF OPTION, wasn’t such a great idea after all. She didn’t save you money, she cost you money.  The MORE planner knew this up front, when she read your contract 30 days ago, warned you about it, helped you negotiate more time at a discounted rate with the photographer over a month ago, thereby saving you money.

I heard a saying recently that says “You think it’s expensive to hire a professional? Wait until you hire a NOVICE. That’s the truth about hiring inexperienced DAY OF planners.

Now ask yourself again. Do I Want MORE? Or Do I Want Less? It’s not complicated…of course you want MORE. You deserve MORE. So pay a little more for an experienced wedding planner. She will save you time, stress and money. Thanks for taking the time to consider the options. Back to your regularly scheduled program…..