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.

Festival of Brides Part Deux

As promised the ever fabulous Cary Pennington delivered a CD of images to us last week and of course I just had to create a part 2 about the Festival of Brides with Red Letter Days. Many of San Diego's vendors that participated in the show have shared such positive feedback, that we are considering showcasing at the next Festival. We are also happy to share that it seems that Cowgirl Magazine has taken a liking to our collaboration with Red Letter Days and is featuring an article in their magazine sharing Cary's photos of our presentation. How fun!

Festival of Brides for Red Letter Days

Today began with me driving away from our little hilltop retreat this morning at 6 am to meet two great wedding coordinators, Mia and Rebecca from Red Letter Days at the Grand Del Mar for the installation of their custom designed booth! Their concept was to create an arbor with a dramatic sand ceremony table as the focal point. Our primary ingredients for the inspiration came from black brocade fabric from Velvet Relic, and a plethora of birch logs, branches and risers. I just love the way the black and white concept all came together…below are some "teaser" photos while I await the professional masterpieces from Cary of Cary Pennington Photography who was onsite to capture the day! Mia and Becca I am sure are having a blast meeting new Brides and Grooms and inspiring them with their humor, knowledge, and savvy wedding sensibilities!

home for the holidays

I love my home this Christmas. It is warm and cozy, simply decorated, reminiscent of my own humble childhood and full of my son's first tender steps, giggles, and screeches. I am spending the time with my family that I have so often devoted to my clients during past holidays. Although I miss the whirl of decorating for others during Christmas, I am so grateful for this opportunity to be with my little family and to savor these tender moments.

I thought I would post some photos of past centerpieces for those of you that may wonder what we are usually up to during this time of year. Check back in a couple of weeks to see the lovely New Year's Eve wedding we will be designing for Robin and Seth at Hotel Solamar. It is an elegant affair with white & black anemones, gardenias, hydrangea, birch, birch, birch, and a plethora of candles. Until then...

click on image to enlarge

Word of the Day…

You may think that i have been watching too much Sesame Street with my 18 month old son..but I feel compelled to shout out my word of the day...AUTHENTICITY! For me it is about being authentic online, in my life, creating real and lasting relationships both in my personal life and business; all of this is my number one priority for 2010.

I have been reluctant to write, (which is hilarious for any of you that know me well, since I have a secret passion for stringing words together), because my site is not revised, reinvented, representative of Adorations and LaVonne Crawford.

I embarked on a journey late last year to redesign my blog and website, to my chagrin it was a disaster. As a designer, it is my responsibility to "get" my client, I guess I expected the blog "professionals" to approach the design in the same manner. I did not want another template, I wanted the design to REPRESENT! Finding the process dissatisfying, I gave up and focused on photo shoots, advertising and business relationships, all of which have been extraordinary, yet here I am again, longing for a presence on the web that expresses what is uniquely Adorations AND uniquely LaVonne Crawford, (for any of you that have not been in touch, I finally changed from LaVonne Zamora to my married name of Crawford).

And so the latest news is that I am speaking with a graphic designer next Monday for my initial in depth consultation about the branding of Adorations and how to either separate and / or integrate my other creative endeavors in a manner that makes sense to the you...the client, serves the history of Adorations, and introduces aspects of my creativity that not only will be fulfilling to myself but will also be in service to each of you.

Therefore I MUST embark on this writing journey...sharing the process, letting everyone in, and welcoming even what feels frightening...

...more to come...

summerville and co.

a great thank you to esther summerville ramsey for this lovely photo of a bouquet i created for our mutual friends...watching her slideshow of the wedding had me weepy for all of the love that she captured...i am so grateful to have one of our bouquets as a small part of all that LOVE! thanks esther!

bride and bloom

{please click on the photo to enlarge}
for your viewing pleasure we were featured in the current issue of bride and bloom. the fabulous paula luna of luna photo captured the tabletop beautifully, this was another collaboration with courtney toney of joyful weddings and events.