Art Deco with a Touch of Glam...

Thank you for being so patient! It's been a very busy time for us here and I'm not blogging the way I would love to do!

A CHANGE
So, here's our February 15th creation. Before I walk you through the design, there was a change we wanted to note - a few days before the wedding the bride decided that she wanted to utilize the Hacienda's antique candleabras to really recreate a Hollywood Glam look and, as nothing we can make in Vallarta can replace $60,000 antique candleabras, the wedding table was changed! The Hacienda is a very beautiful venue and, as you can see on the left, the candleabras have a very distinct look. The photo in the middle was the actual look of the table on the wedding day and the photo on the far right was the Art Deco centerpiece that we created.

Art Deco

This was, by far, the most difficult wedding I have ever designed, mostly because the materials that we needed were not readily available here in Vallarta! Ostrich feathers were shipped in from Mexico City, Art Deco broaches were flown-in from the United States, crystals were sent via courier from Guadalajara! There wasn't a detail of this event that was easy - even the roses were carefully selected for their color and ordered months ahead of time (over 1800 roses!!). Sometimes working in Vallarta can be a very difficult process as often times I find something I love only to be told that they only have 7 and I need 30 and nothing can EVER be ordered (if you are a coordinator you are laughing because you know what I say is true - if you are a bride, ask your coordinator and give them something to laugh about ;).

Anyway, the task was Art Deco with a touch of Glam, colors of champagne with shades of pink and accents in gold and black. I spent months researching Art Deco to make sure that I would capture the look just right. This was our inspiration page:

And here's what we came-up with!

CEREMONY

The Hacienda is really beautiful and has many frescos, so we wanted to do something that would add to the ambiance and not clash. So, the bride wisely chose gold chiavari chairs and we accented the aisle with over 1,000 roses in shades of pink and cream. I realized that we had enough flowers to add a ceremony aisle that the bride had wanted but decided not to do due to costs, which made us happy we could do that for her. (all photos by Socorro Sandoval)

BRIDAL BOUQUET and GROOM BOUT

Not quite what I had in mind, but still beautiful, was a bouquet of cream roses and ostrich feathers, accented with a broach from the groom's grandmother and champagne ribbon.

THROW BOUQUET

We mimicked the bridesmaid's bouquet, only the broach was different - this was the original intended broach for the bride's bouquet. One of the prettiest throw bouquets we've ever made!

WREATH

The bride requested an orchid wreath for her departed father so we made one with over 30 stems of dendrobium orchids and placed on a seat reserved in memory of him.

COCKTAIL

The cocktail was to be super simple, so we strung and hung over 6 dozen roses from the water fountain. Escort cards were accented with swarvoski crystals which were later handed to host and hostesses to seat guests for dinner!

CENTERPIECES

I knew I wanted fabric for the centerpieces to bring-in a texture and give it a shine that paint could not do and to replicate some of the old Hollywood 1940/1950's film sets. The difficulty was finding just the right color, which I managed to do and was lucky enough to find just the right amount (we bought all they had!). To give it a bold statement and the leaning towards art deco, and also to empahsize the broaches, we added a stripe of black ribbon. Ostrich feathers accented the beautiful bouquet of roses at the top and pink crystals hung from the feathers. I based the centerpiece off the idea of a dress and the bride's bouquet! To light-up the crystals at night, we added candles which had accents wired with gold and crystals in black and pink.

ACCENTS

I fell in love with this fabric the instant I saw it for the color and texture, as it's not every day Vallarta gets fabric like this. Menus accented with ribbon, a feather and swarvoski crystal accents were to be placed inside. We found, quite by accident, gold accents which were very similar to the bride and groom's invitation. It seems an older couple who use to own a craft store decided to retire and sold some of their unique things to one of our vendors! Sweet! We utilized the accents with different color ribbon to indicate who was eating fish, lamb or vegetarian.

CAKE

Omar, the ever talented, spent days creating this cake topper which mimicked the insert the bride and groom had created for them from an artist in New York city. The final touch was, again, swarvoski crystals to accentuate the bride's dress and the groom's shirt. And Memo, from Charme, of course did an excellent job of recreating the art deco image from the invites and utilizing our special find of gold accents with black ribbon!

ON THE WAY OUT

We utilized over 220 candles, all accented with gold wire twisted by hand and black and pink crystals and placed in various nooks and crannies - one of which lit the way for guests as they ended their evening of frolic and fun!

Next week I PROMISE the inspiration board for orange, red and teal....and then we have some unique maraca and fan orders to share so tune in!

Shades of Blue and Cherry Reds!

Well, I got it all backwards! I thought orange and blue would be hard and red and blues would be easy - I couldn't have been further from the truth! But the goodies I did find are quite the catch!! Without further ado....

INSPIRATION BOARD

Most of these photos will show-up again - I just wanted to put a little something together to show you the beauty of this color combination from some of my favorite shots. The one picture that won't show-up later is the beautiful floral inspiration in the upper left corner which I found at Wedding Poop Blogspot (no, I DID NOT make that up - go there and see!).

INVITES, ESCORT/PLACE CARD/TABLE MARKER INSPIRED

In the upper left hand corner we have the pretty embossed invite version I found at the ever famous Project Wedding. Next to that I love the bold, modern yet fanciful twist of this handmade invite over at Etsy. These interesting word cut-out handmade invites were also found at Etsy by AmyZo. Next to that is the more reserved, yet elegant invite at Budget Dream Weddings. Underneath I love the way this invite is wrapped with the pretty red floral graphic done at Project Wedding. This more flamboyant invite was actually an invite to a museum auction but I thought it would look great as a wedding invite for the right bride and groom and found at Paper Style. And, over at Perfect Memories Events Blogspot, I found this whimsical red and blue circle invite.

CENTERPIECES

I didn't find a lot, but what I did find I love! First up is this delightful centerpiece collage in the upper left-hand corner, found at Brides. I love the cut-out metal floral vase paired with blue candles and red accents - now, I'll admit, not an easy look to achieve here in Vallarta - but not impossible! What I adore in the next photo is all upwards - I love what appears to me strung red flowers and the pretty light blue Chinese lanterns - so whimsical yet dramatic! The reason I don't love the table scape as much is I would love to see some sort of touch on the white covered chairs - I'm not a fan of the white-covered chair but do think they can be incorporated fairly well if there is some sort of accent-action going on. Anywho, I found that photo at Life, Love and Lipstick.

In the middle row is the larger version of the centerpiece I love mentioned up above. Next to it is a more breezy, beachy idea which was found at I-Weddings. Of course, this photo is missing the blue accent - what I would have loved to see is the white vases replaced with blue vases - then I think this photo has the possibility of fabulousness!

In the bottom row, these pretty, light and airy vases filled with red buds was found at Flickr. Next to it we have an aqua and blue affair found at Wedding Bee. And lastly, but not leastly, beautiful blue wrapped vases filled with luscious red flowers at Project Wedding.

BOUQUETS, ACCENTS, ETC.

Well, I didn't find enough of each of these to make them their own collage, but I did find pieces of all to create this one! Upper left-hand corner is a full-blossomed bouquet at Brides. Next to it are these wonderful blue-inked ceremony programs done by Hy Studio. I found a few bird inspired pieces - enough that I might just do a whole blog on them! These bird favors and the bird coasters underneath were found on Flickr. I've used bird cages before, but I really love the ornateness of this birdcage in particular which I also found at Flickr.

Underneath the red bouquet are my favorite favors - little metal photo frames which doubled as escort cards at I-Weddings. Underneath we have cute Mr. and Mrs. chairs at Hy Studio, little favor food boxes (yum yum!) also at I-Weddings, and I adore this monogrammed dance floor at Wedding By Color.

Again, blue lanterns which I've mentioned before but love them, so here they are again, at Flickr/OnceWed. Little collection of favor items (like matchbooks, retro pins, etc.) over at Brilliant Event Planning. Beautiful, elegant blue laced pillow at Once Wed. I know I almost never get consulted re: bridesmaid dresses, but I love the color of this blue and the look of these found at Bon Mariage. Snazzy blue boxes with bright red flowers found at Flickr. This memory space with antique candle holders, red candles, red flowers and blue foto frame at I-Weddings. And this ceremony program idea was also found over at Flickr.

MISHKA DESIGNS' TWISTS

We didn't have time to do an example of a blue/red favor as Omar is working on some upcoming projects, but I clumsily tried to do a photoshop example from our maraca/fan examples earlier to hopefully just give you an idea of what you could do (with our help, of course!)!!

Mid-month will find us focusing-in on a requested color palette of lime, red and chocolate brown - should be interesting!! If you're a bride or a coordinator and would like a blog on something for your upcoming wedding, drop me a note!!

Center Me To Pieces!!

I thought the subject of this mid-month blog would be easy but I was OH SO WRONG!! I saw soooo many BAD BAD BAD centerpieces (I felt bad for brides who are looking for new ideas!!) and many, many copycat pieces and very little truly original pieces. Of course, I realize that I'm somewhat picky when it comes to centerpieces - I'm not a big fan of tall centerpieces because they a) block the view from people sitting across and b) in an outdoor setting there is also danger of them blowing over. And you have to be careful with candle centerpieces because, while many of them look good in a photo shoot (as we all know!) they do not stay lit here in Vallarta unless they are protected!!

BUT, with all that said, I did find a few centerpieces I felt worthy of note ... so here we go!!


LIGHT AND AIRY
First runner-up is this flower box, daisy display that I found at Our One Heart. I think, for a casual, fun beach wedding this would be a good option and I love the use of yellow - something we don't see too often!!

Next we have a floating candle, orchid and rock display found at California Wedding Ideas. Now, I know we've seen floating candles before, but I've never seen the combination done with orchids and rocks and I think, for Vallarta and the right bride, this could be a really, great natural centerpiece.

Not to be beaten is this driftwood, orchid centerpiece which I found from a DIY bride at the Wedding Bee. I really like it - it's simple, yet very beachy and a little elegant!

I know I said I'm not fond of tall centerpieces, but I did like this tall submerged orchid piece found at June Bug Weddings. Of course, this isn't a piece we could use on the beach, but it would be a possibility inside the right villa.

Last, but certainly not least, I absolutely love this colorful, simple yet whimsical Gerber arrangement found at Elizabeth Anne Designs. Beautiful!!

A LITTLE DARKER
I have tree branches on my mind these days for an upcoming event, so it's no accident that I bumped into these tree creations. The first is from Project Wedding and I not only like the unique centerpiece but I also really love the combination of the runner and purple flowers NOT to mention the use of the white chiavari chairs with dark seat cushions. Really nice!

The next tree concoction came from the Wedding Bee and I absolutely adore the use of branches, flowers and candles. I know it's a tall piece, but it would work for a villa wedding!!

Again, another tall piece, but truly original is this fruit/flower display at The Knot. To be honest, I would like this piece a little more if they took the purple flowers away from the top of the fruit display and just left the white branches, but, in any case, I think it's a nice piece.

Of course, my favorite is last - I love this combination of coffee beans and flowers found at Kim Vallee's Blog. I could easily see this with the use of tulips or very open roses.

FLOWERS FLOWERS FLOWERY
Two interesting floral pieces were this floral cake base and tall glass vase - I would prefer not to have this piece so tall (again!) but I did think it was different and beautiful in it's own way. This piece was found at Precious Moments Florals Events.

Monograms have still not died out (and probably won't) so here's a neat idea to incorporate the monogram into a centerpiece, found at Brides.

ORIGINAL, OUT OF THE BOX
Again with the carved fruit, but I just love utilizing it somehow ... I think this pineapple cut-out isn't quite finished for a centerpiece, but it does give some great ideas, so I included it anyway! Found at Erin Cooks.

Another version of the use of couple photos for centerpieces, but I thought this one was really well-done and there are so many different things you could incorporate into this idea, aside from photos. Found at the Wedding Bee.

And, of course, the best for last .... I love the use of the Chinese umbrellas and natural grasses and calla lilies down below - true inspiration found at Project Wedding.

Next month we have a special treat for ya'all, as Omar has been busy painting various examples of made-to-order maracas to show you just a few of the possibilities for the bride who wants something uniquely hers so be sure to tune-in!!

Beach Weddings Every Which Way!!

I think we saw two days so far this month with some sun - but I'm sure you all were as okay with that as I was, because at least it kept the first part of this month a little cooler!

This mid-month I want to show you some ideas I found for beach weddings, especially since we are on the beach! I have a doubt that we will ever get by an entire year without someone wishing to focus on our lovely beaches! :)

BOUQUETS

I love these colorful bouquets - the first of which I found at Beach Weddings by the Knot and the second at the Hawaii Wedding Blogspot. Of course, we can't copy these bouquets exactly, as there are a few flowers not available to us here, but we can get the general look and feel. I love the simplicity and tranquil feel of this pink and green bouquet found at Project Wedding as well as this bout found at Beach Weddings by the Knot. Of course, I try to save the best for last, and I think this bouquet wrap is FABULOUS with the mixture of burlap and crystals, found at Style Me Pretty.

CEREMONY

Finding a well-done beach ceremony is a little tricky, but I did find 3 that I found worthy of note. This first design huppah design was found at Project Wedding and I love the use of fabric with the shells - very beach shabby chic! I also thought this heavy seashell laden ceremony set-up was original and could be perfect for the right couple, found at Brides Buzzing and designed by Colin Cowie. Last, but not least, is this seashell ceremony aisle from The Knot.

FAVORS AND ACCENTS

These pretty, yet simple floating candles I found at PhotoLulu. I'm not sure where I found this photo, as I've had it for a while, but I really love the idea of mosquito repellent and sunblock laid-out in a nice way, available for guests to use when they need. I believe I found the cute star fruit at The Knot. This pretty hanging candles were found at Beach Weddings by the Knot and are something we could easily do here, although perhaps not with those exact votives. I love wine glass charms, and this one was found at Hot Ref as were these pretty sailboat favor candles - they were also really cheap!! Last, but definitely not least, was this really nice favor bag found at My Wedding Favors, which could also double as a place card setting!

PLACE CARDS/ESCORT CARDS

Three new place card ideas ... the first is a way of displaying them, which we've seen before, but I like the simple, plain type on these cards which belays the rather casual way of displaying them - these were found at Trista Lerit. I love the calligraphy on these rocks and think they would work great as either place cards or escort cards, found at BPJ Designs. And lastly, I adore these wave escort cards found at Beach Weddings by the Knot.

CENTERPIECES

First, we have this candle with seashells which I think is understated but elegant found at My Dream Wedding, followed by a colorful display of orange roses with beach twigs at Beach Weddings by the Knot. Still colorful, but with a much more casual air, is this centerpiece and place set-up by Social Couture. Back to the elegant side of things we have these submerged orchids and tulips at Project Wedding as well as this really fab coconut shell filled with floating orchids. I love using coconut shells, or scooping out a pineapple and utilizing the pineapple or a watermelon, etc. - I think we have a variety of different textures available in Vallarta which would make a more organic beach side wedding truly unique and fabulous!

CAKES AND CUPCAKES

These simple, yet elegant beach wedding cakes at Budget Dream Weddings and at Wedding Flowers and Reception Ideas. I love this cupcake display found at Wedding Ideas and Details.

Well, that's all for this mid-month update. Next month I will focus on bouquet and centerpiece ideas, so check back!!