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Erica and Creed are both anesthesiologists with a passion for the coast and a love for the great outdoors. When they aren’t in their scrubs (which is rare), they are immersed in some sort of activity or excursion. When it came to their wedding, there was no doubt that they would select a location with an ocean view and they did just that. It took one visit to La Valencia and they were decided.
I am excited to share the beautiful images of their day. Thank you Jennifer Dery Photography!
Adorations Botanical Artistry worked with Erica and Creed to design the overall floral decor that worked in the yummy elements of succulents, driftwood, dahlias and roses. There were many other intricate elements worked into every piece they designed. LaVonne and her team truly captured the essence of the couple from the bouquets to the ceremony and the reception.
The ceremony aisle was lined with driftwood, blooms and stones leading up to an ornate botanical structure framing the couple. Creed’s brother had his guitar on hand for a special song performed by a close friend. It added such a great personal touch to the ceremony and even captured a few laughs!
Guests entered the ballroom to find their succulent escort card that also functioned as the guest favor as well as the entree indicator. Table numbers were suspended from the table landscape and surrounded by candlelight. I actually planted my succulent and it is happy and healthy in my backyard.
Erica and Creed wanted to treat their guests not only with a wedding cake, but also mini cupcakes. Sweet Cheeks Baking Company provided all of the decadent desserts and Adorations designed the table. We had a caricature artist on hand sketching black and white images of guests. The reverse side of their caricature design functioned as the guest signing with personal questions about the bride and groom. At the end of the evening, the newlyweds left with sketches of each of their guests along with their stories, advice and predictions. It will be fun to read those five years from now!
Concepts Event Design created the custom seamless dance floor and Jerry Beck of Beck’s Entertainment kept everyone on it throughout the evening.
Thank you Erica and Creed for trusting LBE with your wedding day. It was such a pleasure working with you and your families!
A very special Thank You to the following vendors:
Venue- La Valencia
Photography- Jennifer Dery Photography
Floral Design- Adorations Botanical Artistry
Decor/Production (custom dance floor, chairs, furniture)- Concepts Event Design
Ceremony Strings- Caprice Strings
Reception Entertainment- Beck’s Entertainment
Cake- Sweet Cheeks Baking Company
Hair & Makeup- Model Call, Katie Hollis
Linens- La Tavola Fine Linen Rentals
Thank you to Exquisite Wedding Magazine for featuring TWO recent LBE Weddings on their blog, The Bride Suite.
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REAL WEDDING: A PURPLE POOLSIDE PARADISE |
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It is hard to believe we are looking back on our 2011 wedding season already. The good news is that we have been fortunate to work with some truly lovely couples and I am honored to have been part of their wedding days and the months leading up to them. I am in the process of creating a post for each but I could not help but to share some images.
This is just a sneak peek of some of the wedding from this past season.
Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks to see more details from the weddings of 2011.
Looking for planning and design services for your upcoming wedding? Give us a call to set up a time to chat…
The new issue of Exquisite Magazine is hot off the presses and we are thrilled to have Sarika and Prahbu’s wedding featured as a “Real Wedding.” This east coast couple selected San Diego to host their multiple days of wedding events and we were honored to have been part. We invite you to read more about Sarika and Prahbu’s Wedding and see more images from the talented Justine Ungaro .
“Seeing all the people who choreographed and practiced songs to present to us was so touching—I just felt so much love.”
Reel Life Pictures captured the main event and the surrounding days in motion.
- Ceremony and reception location: Hilton San Diego Bayfront, hilton.com/sandiegobayfront.
- Caterer: Royal India, royalindia.com.
- Event designer, coordinator: Liz Beck Events, lizbeckevents.com.
- Ceremony and reception décor: Sonali Flowers, sonaliflowers.com.
- Reception stage décor: Manjit’s Flower Cottage, decorandflowersbymanjit.com.
- Officiant: Dr. Shukavak Dasa, shukavak.com.
- Caramel covered apples: Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, rmcf.com.
- Bridal outifts: custom designed by Khushboo Doshi.
- Jewelry: borrowed from her mom’s jewelery box.
- Shoes: Jimmy Choo, jimmychoo.com.
- Makeup and hair: Humeira.
- Groom’s attire: custom designed by Sarika Singh.
- Bridesmaids’ dresses: Khushboo Doshi.
- DJ and lighting: DJ Sunil Puri.
- Invitations: Aara Designs.
- Paper elements: Pink Star Design, pinkstardesign.com.
- Ceremony canopy, linens, and rentals: Sonali Flowers, sonaliflowers.com.
- Photography: Justine Ungaro, justineungaro.com.
- Event photographers: Doug and Ashlee Wylie of DnA Photography.
- Videography: Reel Life Pictures, reelifepictures.com.
- Custom made favors: Ganesh statues from India
We had so much fun working with the fabulously talented Annette Gomez of Flowers by Annette Gomez on a table top design for Exquisite Wedding Magazine. Set on the lawn along the beach at Hotel Del Coronado, we were inspired by a 1950’s romance in a modern setting. Playful details ran adorned the table including a cameo polka dot linen, handmade malts with straw tag, and custom made chair skirts.
I have included the inspiration along with the lovely photographs from Terri Rippee.
TABLE DESIGN: COASTAL ENCHANTMENT |
“Combining the feel of the 1950s with modern day style, this table was all about ‘charming’ and ‘fun.’ Liz Beck from Liz Beck Events and Annette Gomez of Flowers Annette Gomez chose a warm welcoming palette—cottage colors like butter, papaya, coral and jade. For the retro feel, they added polka dots to the mix, employing the Cameo Bingo coral linen and Kate Spade plates. Circular seating cards embellished each of the straws in their signature milkshakes, and the custom-made Chiavari chair skirts added to the flirty fun feel. See below for the recipe to make your very own Marry Malt.”
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A MARRY MALT: 1 ounce white rum 2 ounce Kahlúa coffee liqueur 1 cup vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and cherry. Mix all ingredients together in blender. Add whipped cream and a cherry to garnish.
SET THE SCENE: Photography: Terri Rippee, Table designer: Liz Beck. Florist: Flowers Annette Gomez. Linens and napkins: La Tavola. Chairs: Classic Party Rentals. Paper elements: Brightly Designed. Vessels: Z Gallerie. Décor accents: Private Collection. Glassware: Kate Spade. Gown: Bliss Bride . Tuxedo: The Gentlemen’s Tux Club.
Check out more tabletops from the spring/summer issue of Exquisite Weddings.
Congratulations to Sarah and Scott, married at Estancia Hotel and Spa in La Jolla. I just can’t say enough about the happiness that this couple exudes and it was infectious on their wedding day. Amidst a torrential rain storm, the sun sun came out for these two on their wedding day! It was perfect…
I asked Sarah and Scott to share a little about their day with us.
Enjoy!
The look for our wedding was romantic, classic and BEAUTIFUL!!! We had all ivory and blush flowers with greenery mixed in that were absolutely gorgeous. We used fairly neutral colors in the overall decor and really let the love and enjoyment of the evening take the center stage. Even though the decor was not over the top, both the ceremony and reception ballrooms were absolutely stunning. They were perfect!
We are very close with our families and every single person in our immediate family was a part of our wedding. Each of them walked down the aisle and our siblings stood up with us while we were married. We each had our friends fly in from literally all over the country to share with us in our special day. Scott and I made sure to save enough time before all of the wedding festivities began to spend time with all of our friends and family, especially our bridal party, to let them know how much we loved them and appreciated all of the love and support we’ve gotten from them!
Both our ceremony and reception were very low stress. We had a string quartet playing for the ceremony and cocktail hour. Our Reverend was phenomenal! He used humor and the perfect selection of readings to describe us and our relationship. He kept our guests hanging on his every word and got us in and out in the perfect amount of time.
Scott’s most unforgettable moment was the ceremony. It was such a special and important moment for him, to make our marriage official, and it was by far his favorite part of the day!! Our ceremony definitely set the tone for our reception which was also incredibly fun!! Everyone loved every single thing about our wedding and thought it really exemplified us as people and as a couple. We could not have asked for anything more.
For me, the most unforgettable moment was when Scott and I got to see the reception room by ourselves before anyone else had gone in. Scott got to see his surprise grooms cake and we were able to take in each and every beautiful detail of the ballroom and really appreciate it before all of guests were there. Our DJ was already set up so we had an impromptu dance party with just the two of us on the dance floor!! We loved it!! It was really special for us to just take that second to breathe and enjoy each other and see how all of our hard work had paid off.
Scott’s surprise Red Wings logo cake was definitely a favorite!! It looked incredible and was delicious!! We had a marble slab ice cream station which was also delicious and so fun. All of guests loved it!! A favorite of everyones across the board was the photo booth we had at the reception. It was so fun for both us and our guests and was the perfect guest book for us to look back on and laugh!
If I could give a piece of advice to brides to be, it would be to make sure it’s YOUR day! Don’t try to please anyone else or incorporate anything that we didn’t want. We both really took that to heart and it definitely helped us plan our day and make it perfect. Also, be mindful of how many small details you leave until the day before the wedding, they add up! Start chipping away at anything that you can get done, when you are able to get it done, even if it seems ridiculously early.
Most importantly, enjoy your day!!!!! Don’t let anything stress you out on the day of, at that point, the hard part is already done! I remember every single detail of our wedding day and I would not change one thing. It was perfect.
As for our honeymoon, we just got back from a cruise in the Caribbean with my entire family. It was absolutely lovely and a wonderful escape after the wedding, but definitely NOT a honeymoon! We’re really hoping and planning to get to Greece this summer and enjoy the beauty of the Greek Isles!!!
Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Symons!!!
Thank you to our amazing vendors that worked as an amazing team in bringing everything together.
Venue: Estancia Hotel and Spa
Photographer: Tim Otto
Flowers: Modern Bouquet
Entertainment: Mobile Dance Party
Photobooth: Classy Photo Booth
Officiant: Reverend Christopher Tuttle
Cakes: Sweet Cheeks Baking Company
Ceremony Music: Caprice Strings
Today, we pay tribute to the life of Elizabeth Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011). Married 8 times to 7 men, Ms. Taylor was not a stranger to weddings. She may not have found her one true love but she will forever be an icon in the bridal fashion world.
Marriage One: Conrad “Nicky” Hilton (6 May 1950 – 29 January 1951) (divorced)
From Love Tripper: Hollywood tabloids had already breathlessly reported on the star’s four carat diamond engagement ring, and now thousands of fans flocked outside the church to catch a glimpse of the actress in her bridal attire. Elizabeth emerged from the limosine in a creation by MGM studio designer Helen Rose– a white satin confection embellished with seed pearls and beading which had taken a number of workers two months to complete. A sweetheart neckline was covered with a chiffon overlay to reveal just a hint of decolletage [cleavage!]. A three-quarter length veil was attached to a cap garnished with pearls combined with a pearl tiara. To complete the all-white motif, the bride carried a bouquet of white orchids.
Marriage Two: Michael Wilding (21 February 1952 – 26 January 1957) (divorced)
Elizabeth’s second trip down the aisle was not quite as traditional and far more subdued than the first go round. Yet, she is just as stunning in her 3/4 length sleeves, low neckline, delicate gloves, pearl necklace and a small spray of flowers. In exchange for the veil, she has simple flowers in her hair still indicating that she is the bride!
Marriage Three: Michael Todd (2 February 1957 – 22 March 1958) (widowed)
Out of all of Elizabeth’s bridal looks, this one is my favorite. Of course, I have SEARCHED high and low for the designer information and have yet to find it. If anyone cares to share, please do so!
Liz married movie producer Mike Todd in February, 1957 in Acapulco only 3 days after her divorce from Michael Wilding. Todd was 24 years her senior, but Taylor acknowledges that of all her marriages, this, although tempestuous, was her happiest. On 22 March 1958, Todd’s private plane, Lucky Liz, crashed near Grants, New Mexico. The marriage had lasted 418 days. (squidoo.com)
Marriage Four: Eddie Fisher (12 May 1959 – 6 March 1964) (divorced)
It wasn’t long before Elizabeth fell in love again, however, this time with entertainer Eddie Fisher. The pair were married just over a year after she became a widow. When it began the romance caused a scandal, as Eddie was wed to Singin’ In The Rain star Debbie Reynolds at the time, earning Elizabeth a reputation as a man-stealer. (Hello Magazine)
Elizabeth wore a sheer draped emerald green dress with cascading bouquet.
Marriage Five: Richard Burton (15 March 1964 – 26 June 1974) (divorced)
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had a long, and somewhat torrid romance, which ended in divorce, not once but twice. The wedding was just nine days after her marriage to Eddie Fisher ended.
For the first wedding, Elizabeth wore an empire-style chiffon gown in daffodil yellow for her wedding to Richard. She finished the look off with the emerald and diamond brooch presented to her by her husband. In her hair, the award-winning star wore lilies of the valley and white hyacinths.
Marriage Six: Richard Burton (10 October 1975 – 29 July 1976) (divorced)
The second marriage of Richard and Elizabeth took place on October 10, 1975 in the Chobe National Park in Kasane, Botswana, Africa. The officiant at their wedding was an African district Commissioner from the Tswana tribe.
Elizabeth wore green with lace frills and guinea fowl feathers, while her husband dressed in a red shirt, white trousers and red socks for the simple 20-minute ceremony held in the remote village of Kasane, Botswana.
Marriage Seven: John Warner (4 December 1976 – 7 November 1982) (divorced)
When they announced their wedding, the press mocked her, but friends (including his ex Barbara Walters) supported their union. Friends said he was dull, but just what she needed. Apparently, being the wife of a public political figure. She was told to cut back on all the frank talk about her personal life, sexy dress, and ostentatious jewelry. At first she embraced the position, but eventually it became to restrictive to be the good, quiet wife of a politician. She cursed at photographers, drank, and spoke freely. (Blogger of the Bride)
I could not find a photograph from their wedding but I settled for this one.
Marriage Eight: Larry Fortensky (6 October 1991 – 31 October 1996) (divorced)
She met the construction worker while both were in rehab at Betty Ford and wed him despite skepticism that a love affair between a blue-collar guy and Hollywood royalty would last. It did — for several years. This was Taylor’s last try at wedded bliss. She wore a custom Valentino gown for this 2 million dollar affair. Michael Jackson walked her down the aisle at his Neverland Ranch.
RIP Dame Elizabeth Taylor
It is only fitting that Michelle and James had a fairytale wedding. After all, James proposed to Michelle at the happiest place on earth and a princess was born! They were married this past September at The Hilton Torrey Pines. Like a true princess, Michelle had four dresses and the modern version of a glass slipper. They worked with violet, silver and white to bring their wedding together. Michele even incorporated her beloved Disney with a similar version to their signature font used in all of the stationery pieces.
We are excited a share a piece of Michelle and James’s Fairy Tale with you…
Michelle’s first gown was an Ines di Santo trumpet gown followed by a Vera Wang ball gown. Once the party began, she changed into a lovely violet gown from China followed my a mini party dress. After having Christian Louboutin sign each pair of her wedding shoes, Michelle danced the night away.
We incorporated a traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony following the couples nuptials. They were surrounded by immediate family as the couple served them tea as a sign of respect.
In embracing this fairytale, we used white Cinderella pumpkins for each place card which guests were able to take home. The rings were carried in a silver carriage down the aisle by our ring bearer.
Michelle envisioned a snow white reception (no pun intended). White chiavari chairs with white chiffon and crystal linens were accented with lavender up-lights. Our bride and groom sat at their sweetheart table with floating crystals and orchids accenting their white backdrop.
Guests were treated to a variety of gourmet desserts. White chocolate covered ice cream was followed by decadent cake created by the onsite pastry chef. The real treat was the custom donut bar. Mini donuts were made onsite and guests could pick their toppings. It not only tasted fabulous, it smelled yummy too. It was a personal favorite of the groom!
Congratulation Michelle and James. May you live HAPPILY EVER AFTER!!!
A very special thank you to all of the amazing wedding professionals that worked with us on this wedding.
Venue: Hilton Torrey Pines
Photographer: Ian Grant Photography
Videographer: Side by Side Video
Entertainment: Entertainment at Large, DJ Mike Hogan
Florist, Linens, Chairs: Flowers by Azhar
Stationery Designer: Pink Star Design
Cake: Hilton Torrey Pines
Donuts: Sensational Treats
Ceremony Music: Caprice Strings
Makeup: Flirt Makeup
In honor of the beginning of March and what should be some spring like weather, we thought we would share a recent photo shoot that has just been featured in Exquisite Weddings Magazine. We had the privilege of working with Annette Gomez of Flowers by Annette Gomez to create a table top at The Hotel Del Coronado.
We all worked a little outside of our comfort zone with an ultra feminine interpretation of a seaside garden. A lot of our inspiration stemmed from the 1950s with cottage colors, polka dot patterns and a specialty milkshake topped with a cherry. We hope you enjoy the photographs as much as we all enjoyed working on the shoot.
Thanks Terri Rippee of Rippee Photography
Table Designer: Liz Beck Events www.lizbeckevents.com
Flowers: Annette Gomez www.flowersannettegomez.com
Linens, Napkins & Chair Pads: La Tavola www.latravolalinen.com
Stationery: Brightly Designed www.brightlydesigned.com
Location: Hotel Del Coronado http://www.hoteldel.com
Models: Carmel McAndrews and Andrei Razmeritsa
These are the pieces that I have been so excited to share. This wedding was not just an “explosion” of details, it was intimate, genuine and FULL of love. What more could any of us ever want from a wedding day?
Cie did a fantastic job of putting words to her wedding day. Who better to tell the tale than the bride herself?
Chris and Caroline have known each other since middle school, became friends in high school, and ended up in neighboring dormitories in college. Their friendship developed into a love and they started dating when the bride returned home from New York where she completed her Master’s. On their one year anniversary of dating, Chris proposed to Caroline on the beach on an island where her French family lives. It was sunset, summer, and perfect. It was important to her to have a classy wedding with notes of rustic European elements of home and a French countryside ambiance.
They had a unique unity ceremony to incorporate each generation of their families, which was lovingly referred to as “Love Grows.” The fathers of the bride and groom laid the foundation of healthy soil, the last surviving grandparents (of the bride) planted a seed of life, and the mothers watered it with encouragement and strength to grow. Vintage keys and chandelier strands hung with ripped fabric from aqua mason jars (collected by the bride on Etsy) containing romantic flower bouquets on the aisle chairs. Handmade by the groom’s father sat wooden, stained flower boxes on grass that contained petals for the recessional. The mirror was reflective during the ceremony in that it looked into the past and showed their future together.
A string quartet created the melodies, Ave Maria, Claire de Lune, Canon in D-the bride’s favorites, as 200 guests gazed at a large tree adorned with gauzy swags of creamy linen burlap with vining greenery, hydrangeas, roses, and a hanging chandelier in front of a romantic, ornate mirror (a find on craigslist!). The flower girls wore ivory dresses with oversized lemon yellow bows that matched the bridesmaids’ yellow d’orsay high heels, accented by aqua paisley ties and vests worn by the groomsmen.
The wedding evolved over a period of one year into a charming, romantic, vintage, unstructured and glowing work of many talented minds and hands. Many childhood memories spending time with her French family every summer in the countryside, she wanted to mimic the feel with lots of unstructured flowers; including English garden roses, hydrangeas, sweet peas, dusty miller, feverfew, dahlias, lavender, vining foliage in creams, shades of yellow, soft pinks, and other colors with aqua and grey accents. Loose and romantic really transformed memories into reality.
The feel was loungy, comfy, and summery, with sparkles of more vintage chandelier pieces (a great find at an architectural salvage store) finding their way into little places throughout the area. Guests noshed on spicy ahi tuna, roasted lamb chop with tarragon mint crust, crostinis with roasted garlic, and brie with papaya quesadillas. Of course there was a very French presentation of various domestic and foreign cheeses accompanied with fresh fruits, breads and crackers.
The next area of interest was the reception that was located on another lawn. Guests passed a beautiful and abundant floral centerpiece incorporating garden florals and maidenhair ferns which was surrounded by framed wedding photos of both sets of maternal and fraternal grandparents. From there, guests were greeted with two vintage and rustic aqua and yellow doors. They were tasked with finding their table number by way of antique skeleton key, chandelier crystal, and name on a tag that read “love is the key to my heart” that hung from individual hooks. All elements were found at second hand stores and handcrafted for personalization. When guests arrived at their banquet tables, they found a personalized CD with a photo from the couple’s engagement and a playlist hand picked by the groom. They also had a kiss from the bride, in the form of lemon and vanilla macarons overnighted from Beverly Hills, a most special and favorite French bon bon.
The recurring home-y feel bled into the cocktail hour, where white cotton vignettes of furniture sprinkled the lawn for guests to relax and talk. The sign in table was a unique album with various envelopes handmade from colorful paper with the purpose to enclose notecards that read, “for a happy home…”, “for a healthy heart…”, “for a lasting love”….and “for a marriage made in heaven…” and guests could write their advise and experience for the bride and groom. Signature drinks were the “French Kiss” (Chambard, champagne and a raspberry kiss ) and the Mint for Each Other” (bride’s favorite mojito!)
Florals in gradient shades of creams, yellows, pinks, peaches in charming vintage, various vessels such as milk glass, jadeite, rustic, galvanized garden buckets, and repurposed (from the ceremony) aqua mason jars sat atop linens in shades of buttercream yellow with white hemstitch runners. The overall intention of the tables achieved the natural “just gathered from the garden” look that the bride so loves, each table very uniquely different from others while contributing to a cohesive feel, with flowers loosely gathered and arranged, and a variety of rustic and vintage vessels and containers. The guests dined on julienne beet root salad, halibut filet with lemon beurre blanc, filet of beef medallions, and double roasted chicken breast with thyme. The band played lovely tunes, including many french favorites sung with talent that met French standard.
Leading out of the candlelit dinner lawn and indoors to the “after party”, a white baby grand piano, aqua lighting, a white dance floor, and tufted leather white vignettes of furniture invited the guests to dance the night away to live music. The feel was loung-y, classy, glowing, and warm with a touch of modern flair that intrigued all ages of the guests of the wedding. The adjacent lawn to the dance party had more surprise fun for the guests, including a homemade damask wall papered photo booth, lovingly made by the father of the groom, complete with a chandelier decal and a full assortment of costumes gathered from friends by the bride (and of course, handmade paper mustaches). A cigar bar was set up at 10:00 pm, as well as an old world style espresso machine to keep the party alive. Late night snacks were a must, a very non french, traditional american snack of mini kobe beef sliders under melted white cheddar cheese and shots of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry milkshakes.
The band and party went until past 2:30 am, when the bride and groom ran under their sparkler send off to their getaway car, a white 1956 Rolls Royce. The happy newlyweds continued their dream come true on a two week Mediterranean cruise, where they reflected back on the wedding so carefully planned over 14 months, and so perfectly implemented.
Congratulations Cie and Chris! Cheers to a lifetime of love and happiness. May you always smile the way you did on your wedding day…
Bustle Blog By Liz Beck 
