I wanted to share these beautiful images we captured of the sweetheart table at our most recent wedding at the Citizen Hotel in Sacramento.  It got me thinking as I put these images up, that maybe not all brides understand the different options when it comes to head tables, so here you go!

Whether you are doing a head table for you and your bridal party, or a simple sweetheart table for just the bride and groom, you’ll want to put some thought into the decor and design you will use for this feature table.

Though it is nice to be able and re-use or re-purpose the bridal bouquet and bridesmaid bouquets, it’s also nice to add a little more finishing touches to this table to make it look beautiful!

Short arrangements always work best so that guests can see you and your bridal party.  Make sure your florals are complimenting to the rest of your decor and centerpieces.  If you plan on using a floral piece from your arch at the ceremony, be sure to have additional pieces if your table is large, and make sure your designer knows that this will be used for the head table following the ceremony.  You’ll want to be sure he-she designs something that will fit on the table, and will be easily removed and transported to the reception.  I always suggest incorporating plenty of candlelight to add some lighting as your evening progresses.

When it comes to table design styles, we’ve done various options of head tables:

Standard Head Table: where the bridal party typically faces guests

King’s Table : where the bridal party, sometimes including parent’s join around a large rectangular table.  This is also a great option if most of your bridal party has significant others that may feel left out if you are using a traditional head table

Sweetheart Table: for just the bride and groom

Upgraded linens and upgraded rentals are also a great way to have your table stand apart from guest tables.  A subtle variation in linens or a beautiful laced overlay as you see in the photos here are add a touch of elegance to your special table.

What will you be using for your head table at your wedding?  I’d love to hear!

Inspiration Friday!  Here’s a feature we worked on that was featured on Wedding Chicks this week!  We titled it Tweed and Prep: think college buddies, books and beer!  Tweed and fun prints were used throughout for this vintage feeling inspiration shoot.

Get the look:

Photography:  Tinywater Photography

Event Design:  Platinum Planning

Cinematography: Love Spun Films

Hair & Make Up:  Luxe Image Hair and Make Up

Cake-Desserts: The Cookie Drop

Groom’s Attire: R.Douglas Custom Clothing

Stationery: Herdah Warner

Bicycles: Practical Cycle

Luggage: Crimson and Clover Boutique

Pub: DeVeere’s Irish Pub

Clothing Stylist: Felicia Constantine

Floral Design & Paper Flowers: Botanica Floral Designs

Don’t you love how we displayed the dessert bar?  Vintage suit cases, an old vintage window and stacked books displayed the cookie bar.  Fun flags created by Herdah Warner were the perfect touch to this cookie dessert bar.

Our couples’ friends played on bicycles, played croquet, and enjoyed the finest beers.

Paper boutonniere flowers created by Botanica Floral Designs featured fun patterns and textures for the men to wear.

A paper flower bouquet was created for the bride to be.

Tables were set with a tweed print cap created by Mimi & Co. Couture Linens.  For centerpieces, we used vintage brass vases filled with organic feeling foliages and accents of florals.

Hope you enjoy this little inspiration-filled post!  Have a great weekend!

Yet another real wedding of 2011 to share with you all!  Yes, wedding season is in full swing again, and I just can’t wait to share all of the fabulous weddings we have coming up with you!

This Lake Natoma Inn wedding with oranges and greens was held just a few weeks ago.  These are just a few images I captured, so I am hoping to share some pics of our beautiful bride and groom when the professional images come on in.  For the moment, here are just a few of the details…

The centerpieces were created with orange ranunculus, orange cymbidium orchids, orange ‘Milva’ roses and green hydrangea.  The green hydrangea really softens the orange vibrancy.

The bridal bouquet also featured the cymbidium orchids, mokara orchids and touches of ivory to compliment the bridal gown.

The ends of the chairs had groupings of simple poseys of green hydrangea and ‘Milva’ roses.  Following the ceremony, these were moved into the reception and used on the head table for additional decor.

Finally, we decorated the arch with smilax vine, roses and hydrangeas to “frame the couple” for their photographs.  It’s always suggested to add florals to a structure such as this, it allows for a “pop” of color, and will make your photos look that much more amazing!

The colors orange and green were used in combination for a few of our weddings this past year.  I love these colors together, they are so fresh and fun!

To check out the other orange and green weddings we have done, see the posts below:

Old Sugar Mill Wedding: Tiffany + Travis

Fall Inspired Table

Sacramento Wedding Reception

Orange and Green Wedding

Hope you enjoyed this great wedding!

We are excited to share with you our latest interview with the wedding website wedloft!  Wedloft is a great resource for brides and grooms planning their weddings as well as wedding professionals.  Check out inspiring real weddings, fashion and decor ideas and expert advice to help you through the planning process.

When Michelle asked to feature Botanica Floral Designs on their blog, we were thrilled!  She had a number of questions about our business and what makes Botanica Floral Designs unique.  You can see some images she pulled from our site displayed on their blog, as well as the full article by clicking on the image below:

Instead of having a traditional guest book that just collects dust on your shelf, why not have a three-dimensional guest book that’s a little more personalized, especially if you are a wine lover!

Save up those wine corks and have your guests write a wish and drop the corks into a stylish apothecary jar you can display in your home.  I love this look, as I had been just collecting corks myself, but thought it might be a fun concept for a wedding.  Hope you do as well, and maybe this will be an extra special touch for your winery wedding!

Wishing you a Happy Friday as you kick off the start of your weekend!  Enjoy the beautiful Spring weather and get outside to do something fun!

Here are a few bouquets from one of our weddings this past weekend.  Our bride was looking for a green and white wedding with a natural feel.

The bridal bouquet featured white lisianthus, white spray roses, Queen Anne’s Lace and white ornithogalum.

The bridesmaids carried green and white bouquets as well; however, we had the green tone be the more predominant color.  Flowers used here included green hydrangea, Queen Anne’s Lace, white chrysanthemums and seeded eucalyptus.  Long satin streamers in the sage green color hung from the front of the bouquets.

Hope you enjoy both of these beautiful designs.  I think the look would look lovely if you have an outdoor garden wedding or just love nature!  Hope you are all having a wonderful Thursday!

I have some of the most amazing friends {and to boot}, they are uber talented at their trade!  So, here we are back again with some stunning wedding inspiration that you’ll just love!

Featured on a blog I follow on a daily basis, Snippet and Ink… here’s a retro-themed surfer shoot chocked full of ideas you too can infuse into your own wedding.  But first, let me introduce all the wonderful people who help make this happen!

Amber Novey with Platinum Planning achieved this pulled together look perfect for any beach bum at heart.

Lovespun Handmade Films captured video of the day, Jessica is not only a sweetie, but so gifted!  The old video projector is one of Jessica’s vintage memorabilia pieces, just love it!

Tinywater Photography…I think the photos speak volumes, Caroline oozes talent and always has the most beautiful lighting and color.

Rona with Luxe Image is so knowledgeable about make-up and hair, she did a phenomenal job!

Alice Koswara created all of the cute surfboard place cards and signage.  They were simply the perfect look!

Yummy cookies from The Cookie Drop, I can attest, they are yummy!

Idea Farm Designs provided the most intricate necklaces that were over-the-top awesome!

Oh, and that super cool car, thanks to TNT Automotive for the Edsel, that thing rocks!

Flower Inspiration:  Elements of driftwood, a fun color palette, underwater feeling flowers, teal glass elements.  These were all bits and pieces we pulled together to make this table feel a little retro with the colors, but totally do-able for any wedding these days.

Here on the bouquet handle, we finished off the stems will natural jute and a St. Christopher pendant.  A lot of surfers from the 60′s wore St. Christopher pendants to protect them when they surfed.  It was also a sign of love to give your romance a St. Christopher pendant.  My husband was an avid surfer when we lived by the beach, so I thought I’d embellish the stems with something to add a little personal touch.

Can’t you imagine sitting here with your friends and enjoying dinner?  So fun!  Even just for a small get together!

Retro Inspired Surf Wedding Video from Lovespun ~ Handmade Films on Vimeo.

Hi everyone!  Hope you all have been well!  I wanted to share this image of a purple garden inspired centerpiece we recently created for a themed concept for Amber with Platinum Planning Events and Design.  Amber brought me this super cute watering can in a pastel-purple shade.  She was looking for something outdoor-garden feeling, and I just love the combo of the dark and light purples mixed with the greens. Here we used ornamental kale in purple, Florigene carnations in the ‘Moonvista’ variety, lavender roses, stock and green berzelia.  Hope you enjoy!

Happy Monday everyone!  Today I get the pleasure of sharing this double-feature shoot featured on The Inspired Bride and Somewhere Splendid that we styled and designed for Valentine’s Day… I know, a little late now, but nonetheless, definitely worth the wait!  We teamed up with Caroline from Tinywater Photography who shot the images here which you are going to L-O-V-E!

Be sure to check out The Inspired Bride and Somewhere Splendid for more inspirations and lust-worthy party and wedding ideas!

Get the look:

Photography: Tinywater Photography

Floral Design and Styling: Audrey Gardemeyer of Botanica Floral Designs

Coming from a Swiss-Italian heritage, I grew up eating traditional foods infused with our families recipes passed down and shared throughout generations.  Pizzelles, an Italian cookie made from simple ingredients is something my Mom has made for us growing up, and something I thought would be fitting for a colorful dessert bar for this engagement shoot we designed recently.  We’ve all seen the colorful macaroons, cake pops, and cupcakes, but here is a sweet treat I haven’t seen done for a dessert bar before… hopefully a new trend to emerge?  I hope you all enjoy!

My good friend, Caroline of Tinywater Photography was so kind to capture all of these edible treats, and enjoy a few as well!  This colorful combo brings a smile to my face, I just love the unexpected “pops” of colors we used to liven’ things up a bit!  From the hot pink candelabra I painted… which used to be gold… I know, very fun, to the yellows and blues, I am loving this look!

Pizzelles are made on a flat press that has intricate designs on both sides.  They can be created in a number of ways including: flat, rolled, cup shaped, cone shaped and then… the options are endless after that, from filling the pizzelles with whipped cream, dipping in chocolate, adding sprinkles, and so on!

I created all of the paper products you see from the heart cut-outs to the cute tags on each of the variations of styles of pizzelles.  I love all the different prints of papers.

Hob nob pink and blue glasses filled with chilled milk are a perfect pairing for the yummy pizzelles!

Yellow football chrysanthemums and yellow flowering acacia blooms were an attractive and interesting hue to add to the colors.

I love cherubs, and I couldn’t resist putting a flower halo on this one I picked up that matched the colors perfectly.  I know he is a little eclectic, but he will look lovely in my garden!

Hope you enjoyed this little inspiration we dreamed up.  Stop back in and enjoy more ideas next time!