Aurora and Ryan's Halloween wedding was a feast for the eyes and the taste buds. The organic pumpkin pies were their guests favorites.
We had pumpkins serve as vases, which gave the decor the personal touch the couple wanted and orange really goes amazingly well with purple. It seems to be one of the latest color trends, (remember pink and chocolate? It was everywhere a year ago) Melinda and Tyler's wedding on 10/12 featured orange Indian style overlays on dark purple with purple napkins.
There's always that sports fan who can't do without the ball and the beer...
The local food was market fresh, the Martini mashed potato bar deliciously organic and the fish was sustainable.
The wine wasn't organic but local and brought in by the couple's parents.
Stephanie and her mom made the escort cards, orange paper flowers on long stems holding the cards. Guests hurried to take bunches of them home, they were too cool.
Uptown supplied their shiny metal bathrooms, it was powered by a bio diesel generator which was also used for the DJ and lighting by ELM Concierge.
From happy sunlight to saturated sunset colors into the star spangled night... the lighting was spectacular, nature is the best show, Elm's swirly out side effect were pretty cool too.
200 guests partied with one of the Nature Preserve's best DJ's, Gil Goren.
La Camelot handcrafted embroidered cuffs and gloves are perfect for vintage loving ladies.
It's a nice notch up from the knitted wrist warmer.
There was nothing but a plain huge horse arena with amazing ocean view. Then we came with eco friendly trucks and built a tent for 250 guests.
We worked on this for 9 hours and then we got the lanterns competing with the sunset.
What was
Antiseptic does corsets with a Xena touch and if it would be reclaimed leather we could also have a good green conscience. Their creations would surely rock a fluffy, silky multi-layered skirt and will definitely last forever. Romp (UK) is the first company working with organic farmers, using only their leather for their fashion. My inner vegan is upset, but as long as people eat meat why not support the ethical farmers and create awareness by advertising organic leather? It's that Native American motto to use every little bit of the "respectfully killed" animal... I have a bunch of gorgeous leather shoes and boots, some already of an vintage age, restored every year. Too cool to toss but buying new ones, I don't think so, the idea to wear a tortured MC Donald cow on my feet is disturbing.
Hip and healthy girls found another perfect venue to polish up: the chi-nailbars in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills pamper hand and feet with organic goodies, amazing for bridal parties. Invite me:)
Actually I love my green couples even more, those amazing people who care enough for life around themselves that they arrange their wedding in a waste-less way, like Blake and Steven, who will get married in May 2010.
Let's do pictures, shall we? Stephanie and Randal got married at the Malibu Nature Preserve on September 26, on a former horse arena overlooking the ocean.
Their photographer, Leslie Talley, was totally hands on...
And Randal needed a break...
Olivia and Andrew got married on Sunday, October 11, 2009. Their theme: "classy country with a touch of Shakespeare" resonated perfectly with the Upper Las Virgines Ranch in the hills of Calabasas, CA; the theme actually was born while strolling through the cozy property. The ranch was saved from big development in 2003. Over 1000 mature California oak trees were saved along with habitat for threatened California red-legged frogs, endangered Least Bell's vireos, endangered Southwestern willow flycatchers, and San Fernando Valley spineflower (once thought to be extinct). Money spent on the venue goes back to protecting nature, how much greener can you get?
We kept it eclectic with integrating the couple's lineages, the bag piper for Olivia, Persian music for Andrew, and their life style: wild flowers in vintage vases, Olivia and I patrolled dozens of thrift stores for six months, serving an all vegetarian menu with mostly organic and local ingredients presented family style and Argentinian Dulce de Leche cookies as they will live in Buenos Aires for half a year.
We tried our vintage vases on many designs and fell in love with the "garden toile" linen. Buying it in Downtown LA and without having it hemmed saves some cash but the best is: it's reusable for a long time. It turned out to be even more beautiful than we imagined under ancient oak trees and with our overhead retro lighting and bare light bulbs on Shepard hooks. (Olivia saved as I am the bargain hunter and got some bride share reduction for this one)
DJ Tony from "Good Times" brought his Congas and rocked the party until midnight.
Photographer Jared Iorio was complimented by everybody as being everywhere but felt like a friend not a stranger doing his job. Tip: use an up and coming photographer who gives you a deal as he wants to fill his portfolio. ( Jared's photos )
