The Knot....Decked Out!

Adorations is so excited to be participating this coming Wednesday, May 26, in designing for a gathering of San Diego’s top wedding vendors: The Knot Wedding Network party!

Collaborating with Kelly Aull of Mint Weddings we will be treating the Scripps Forum in La Jolla to a delightful array of seaside, nautical, and Nantucket-inspired flowers and décor. The images below The Knot logo share a sense of the direction of the design.

And we can’t forget to thank the contributing San Diego vendors: Continental Catering for adding flavor, Classic Party Rentals and Kool Party Rentals for elevating the style, and DJ Mike Hogan with entertainment and his tasty treats.

artbus balls + bupleurum + railroad ties

To Do List:
Handle artbus balls with care.
Pass the bupleurum.
Spit shine railroad ties.

Along with the pleasure of handling such perfect specimens of God's perfection are the daily tasks involving a list of unforeseen duties as is the case in the instance of the Exquisite Weddings Photo Shoot. We are really proud to have driven the direction of this tabletop design accompanied by Kelly Aull of Mint Weddings. Many thanks for Terry Rippee’s discriminating eye for detail and composition in the published magazine photos!

This post is a medley of detail shots we took telling a bit more of the floral story, for I just could not pass up sharing the lovely Amnesia roses and plum dahlias that are tucked amongst the lush array of orange flowers; bringing the blue tabletop details to life!

WHO
Adorations Botanical Artistry +
Kelly Aull of Mint Weddings + Exquisite Weddings Magazine +
Photography: Terri Rippee, Rippee Photography +
Rentals: Adorations Private Collection +
Found Objects: Velvet Relic (slate, plaid blanket, railroad tie risers, reclaimed wood box for drink presentation) +
Dinnerware and Linen Rentals: Classic Party Rentals +
Paper Goods: Love at First Invite

WHAT
Florals:
Orange parrot and deep purple tulips parade amongst Cherry Brandy and Amnesia roses with bittersweet and orange and yellow artbus foliage (orange balls) add texture. Dark plum dahlias peek amongst verdant bupleurum and chocolate geranium foliage in rustic terra cotta urns on wrought iron stands.

Hard Goods:
Reclaimed dark wood railroad ties act as risers for blue mercury glass votives and petite vases with clean and simplistic stemmed candlesticks holding vivid mango embossed candles. Reclaimed slate chargers with floral paisley embellished dinner plates are finished with a simplistic taupe linen napkin, artbus foliage (orange balls), and copper patina place card with mohair fiber embellishment.

The place card, drink menu and table number got their rustic feel from copper paper with a light blue Patina rust paint technique. The names were typeset in a calligraphy type and printed on a custom die-cut bellyband. The place cards were finished off with rich mohair ties on either side of the card.

WHERE:
Rancho Valencia Resort

rooftop chuppah sneak peek

Designing for Rachel and Michael was such a joy and this is certainly one of our favorite wedding designs of the season. From the very beginning Rachel had a specific vision in mind, focusing on black and white with saturated pink hues. I especially love this wedding because of the black and white chuppah. The burned out velvet textiles carried a vintage vibe, but are updated with a modern ‘burnt’ brocade pattern.

We repeated the same brocade pattern in the aisle entrance pedestals, the sheer black and white talis covering and again in the 60’-0” aisle runner. The pink hues were introduced from the onset with the custom designed graphic stylings of Daniel Crawford beginning with the glam meets rockabilly invitation and concluding with the ‘oh so very cool’ Ketubah.

The focal flowers consisted of hot pink anemones, cattelya and phalaenopsis orchids (as seen here is the detail shot of the teardrop vases), with seasonal ranunculus and sweet peas interspersed in the bouquets. We presented all the flowers in simplistic contemporary glass and Lucite vessels, (to be seen in future posts). This concept is not necessarily just about the flowers.

The installation was seamless thanks to expert coordination by Kelly of Mint Weddings and Megan Bachman at Andaz Hotel.

If any words such as modern, contemporary, sleek, sexy, or urban describe your personal style for your wedding, this rooftop ceremony location must make the top of your list.

We are especially thrilled to have our work photographed by Paula and Mike of Luna Photo; they are simply one of the best at telling the full story, from behind the scenes to the detail shots (which are our personal faves). We will most certainly be posting again when we have the good fortune of seeing those images!

Look closely and you can see the darling flocked black cones on the end of each chair with white rose petals. {click on image to enlarge}

blessings abound!

2010 has begun with many blessings and I am in a state of gratitude for how good news is reigning supreme in the studio this month…where do I begin…I was surprised when Brooke from Ceremony Magazine delivered our cases of magazines to share with our clients with a mischievous grin on her face. I think I was the last one to find out the good news as we are kept so busy designing, that most submissions are done by either wedding coordinators, photographers, or the clients themselves. Discovering that one of the weddings that we designed with Red Letter Days Events had a 6 page feature was enough to cause a buzz around the studio, but to then hold the magazine with the bouquet shot by Cary Pennington on THE COVER…what joy!

The business of weddings is certainly fulfilling, we get to make a difference on a daily basis; a tangible difference with visible results. But soon those results fade as we pack up vases, donate flowers and are onto the next project…seeing the fruit of our labor (and believe me it is labor, but one of love), displayed again and oh so beautifully on the cover of Ceremony Magazine really made the difference for me as we begin the journey into the 2010 wedding season.

This wedding of Maureen and Gino; a stylish couple who run a very hip tattoo parlor, Two Roses, in the downtown San Diego area, complete with espresso bar and barber shop, took place at The Grand Del Mar, with the ceremony at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Little Italy. Check it out along with our other published weddings with the likes of the ever fabulous Kelly Aull of Mint Weddings, and Susanne Duffy of Crown Weddings.
Posted below are collections of photos from Maureen and Gino's wedding that may not be in the magazine spread, but certainly tell more of the story. Our website's featured weddings category will be updated very soon to include the 3 other Weddings of Distinction highlighted in this same issue along with coordinating blog posts ...stay tuned...

In this all-inclusive issue of Ceremony Magazine, one of my favorites to date, I love the new layout, how they showcase the vendors for easy accessibility to the reader and the creative direction is superb…and I promise this is not biased for we share the cover with other greats throughout the season such as Adrianne Smith, whose luscious bouquet makes me long for Spring. Look for her covering the June and July issues, while Karen Tran's bouquet covers the August and September issues. It is truly an honor and privilege to be among so many wonderful industry professionals.