Triple Wedding Weekend: Post 1

Labor Day weekend is a huge weekend for weddings, especially in California. Saturday, I went with Raymond Thompson of Images By Lighting to Pasadena. We were working at the BEAUTIFUL Atheneum. The Atheneum is a venue location on the California Institute of Technology campus. During the week it is used as a luxury teachers lounge for the professors of CalTech. On the weekends and nights, the ballroom, dining room, lounge area, and courtyard are available to rent for private events. You will fall in LOVE with this venue....

(Excuse the Ladder, all of these pictures were taking while we were setting up)

This is the view towards the campus. They sometimes set up chairs and have the ceremony along this aisle. Isn't it gorgeous !?!

One of my favorite aspects of Images By Lighting is their attention to detail. Ray and Curt really concentrate on making their lights blend in with the venue. You will never go to one of their events and see, pipes/bases uncovered, or lights that stand out. These pinspots in the picture below, are aligned with the columns and light up all of the floral arrangements on the tables. A Close up of the table arrangements...

This picture is a great angle of the courtyard, and view of the building. We up-lit all of the columns and spread a gobo across the dance floor. The lighting really set the mood once the sun set and the dancing began!!!
A few of the columns that we "up-lit."

Some of you may be wondering what I mean by up-lighting columns. Well.....Ray snatched my camera for some action shots while we were setting up, so let me explain. For this event, we placed Par 46's around on plates to light up all of the columns. We used one of Images favorite colors (321) which is a rustic amber. It works great for weddings! Here is a picture of me coloring the light with the gel...

And TaDA...We have the column lit, and the light covered to blend in from across the room!Hope you enjoyed this post from the Atheneum in Pasadena, California!

Whoo Pig Sooie

So this was my view of the Razorback vs. Missouri State game Saturday afternoon. Kickoff was 4pm here and I conveniently got done with a wedding at 3:45. So then I was headed downtown to ESPN Zone (who I called earlier that morning) to watch the Razorbacks play their first game of the season. When they finally got the station to my tv, we were up 7-0 : )

Let me give you some background info on this subject: See this was the first game at War Memorial Stadium in as long as I can remember that I wasn't in the audience. I mean I remember when JJ was #1 running the football back for TDs, Cedric Cobbs, Brandon B., Miracle Markham 1 (Jones to Decori Birmingham), Miracle Markham 2 against LSU for the boot in the pouring down rain, DMAC and Felix running so smoothly, when we beat KY during one of Houston Nutt's early years, when we beat South Carolina when they were ranked #2, and yes I could go on and on and on.....
All to say, I was very sad that I wouldn't be in Little Rock for the Razorback game...then I discovered that outside of the state ESPN was picking up the game. That made my day much better. I will now be a regular at ESPN Zone on College football game days : )

Football games in Arkansas aren't always about the game, but friends and family tailgating and catching up. So yes I miss that and them too. Here are a few pics from Game Days!

Me and My Wonderful Parents before heading to a home game in Fayetteville last year

Me, my cousin Hayley, and my Momma at the Alabama game last year.

AND a few of my Favorite friends: (L-R) Natalie, Ashley, and Chelsea supporting the Hogs!

Best of luck to the Razorbacks this year!!! Go Hogs : )

Solvang

Sunday after the wedding, it was time to strike then head back to LA! After all of the furniture and supplies were loaded back into the truck, our job was complete. All of us went into Los Olivos for Lunch, then Clifford, Brandon, and I headed to Solvang while the others took the truck back. We were on a mission shopping for a hair clip (yes for bridal veils- if you read an older post) AND we found the perfect one! I immediately fell in love with this friendly, cozy town in California. For starters the town square had a square lawn with a gazebo that reminded me of the TV show Gilmore Girls. They might have done some of there filming here, I will have to check. Isn't it cute...

We browsed several shops and saw some wonderful things! I got a really cute ring. Then on the way home Clifford and Brandon gave me the cutest bracelet that I had tried on in the store for Brandon's cousin. Thanks guys, you are too sweet! Also while we were window shopping I spotted this OWL purse...so Unique, I had to get a picture for all of my fellow Kappas and Chi-O friends : )
We left Solvang around 6pm with coffee for everyone : ) we really needed it! Luckily Brandon and I sang along to "the BEST radio station ever" (we prob. said this 15 times on the way home) to entertain Clifford for the drive. The station really did play great songs. They just kept getting better and better! HA The drive wasn't too bad either, it was the sun setting over the pacific ocean.

The Firestone Vineyard Wedding

This wedding with TFS Studio was filled with lots of little details, which I absolutely love!!! First a little about TFS. TFS is "The Flower Shop" and TFS studio which produces and designs events. This particular wedding, we were in charge of all the floral arrangements, the design of the ceremony, cocktail area, and reception. The bride fully participated in every detail which I thought was so great. She really made this wedding her own, including making all the paper products (invitations, napkins, menus, and misc. details).
Didn't she do a great job !?! She has a press that she used to make these, very creative and so chic.

Now on to the "TFS" details : ) The Ceremony was held under this Gorgeous Oak tree in a field looking over the vineyard. It was a simple but classic look including wooden folding chairs with programs on them, and a paper flower arrangement on the grass in the front (hasn't been done yet in the first pic).

A view once the crowd filed in...
The colors for this wedding were: white, ivory, beige, and gray. It really looked so great together. The cocktail area was filled with furniture supplied by TFS Studio in lounge arrangements. This allowed guest to be in the same area but in a comfortable setting too. There was even a fire pit in the middle of one seating area, this became a popular spot for guests later in the evening... (and a fav. detail of mine)As people began to enjoy the nights festivities.... The mixed-matched furniture really carried the brides colors into the cocktail hour. I especially loved the cream chairs with gray and white pillows, as well as the wooden benches. Great way to incorporate the "rustic" feel of the venue with the classic look of the overall wedding.

The Reception area was filled with so many personal touches. It was set in a barn at the Firestone Vineyard. (Southerners reading this...not like a barn we think of-no horses or pigs-more of an "event" barn) With the rustic walls and beamed ceiling, our goal was to make the reception look elegant and not too rustic. Here is a view of the area from the front corner....

Favorite part of this wedding: The Light bulb Chandelier designed by TFS Studio and made on-site!!! It was so cool! It consisted of 60 different shaped bulbs and 20 of them were actually lit. Everyone loved this unique detail! It was a great DIY project : )
Here is a closer look at the masterpiece...Now to the Tables... We made the fabric candlesticks by covering glass ones in fabric, then wrapping gray fabric around them in a neat design. All of them were different and looked so good on the wooden head table dressed with a lace runner.

In this picture you can see 2 of the different table arrangements. We wanted to keep the rustic feel of the barn but not have it "too rustic." We did this by using the lanterns, and dressing the tables with gray runners on the white tablecloths. Along with arrangements of succulents in silver trays, roses, white hydrangeas. The decorative touch of the "ribbon" drapery was carried through the decor...Here pictured is one of two dividers along the open edge of the barn. This was just an added detail to dress up the open wall. We also used this look for the stage backdrop...doesn't it look great? This was a fun touch that the Bride designed, she thought it would be a great photograph with them sitting in the Mr. & Mrs. chairs! Such a fun idea! The Band that night was so awesome, everyone was up singing and dancing along. But the other entertainment was the photo booth. Again, we dressed up the photo booth to match the room...Note to EVERYONE...When in a photo booth keep in mind that people in the room can see your actions when the flash goes off inside ; 0 And for the last picture of the night...The TFS Staff that was still on-site..Brandon, Juliet, Clifford, and me! Such a fun group!

Venue: The Firestone Vineyard

I am a country girl at heart and love being outside. So I was thrilled to find out the venue location for the weekend wedding was at the Firestone Vineyard. I absolutely fell in love with this venue so I decided to do a whole post just on it. The vineyard is located about 10 miles from Los Olivos, California.

Here is the few of the winery from the road leading to the house...

Here is the view from the gate...

And once you turn onto the street you can see the house...

We didn't decorate anything in the house because the wedding was outside under a huge oak tree and the reception was in the barn (more to come tomorrow)! But here is a view of the back of the house. Isn't this gorgeous, the land, the house, and the grape vines!
It was so cool to be on an actual vineyard. I have heard my parents talk about how beautiful they are for years, but now I got to see for myself. It is definitely something you should see if you are ever in California, even if you don't like wine!

Road Trip : )

After working hard Thursday and Friday on wedding preparations....(This was the "linen" table we set up at the warehouse, where Cheri and I made the table runners : ) ...guess I could start a linen/drapery company...just kidding! )

....the TFS Studio crew hit the road bright and early (6 am) Saturday morning to head to Los Olivos, California (about 40 mins past Santa Barbara). The drive was 3 hours north of LA, and was along the pacific ocean, then curved through the mountains, to arrive at....WINE Country!!!! Enjoy the pictures of the drive...more to come on this FABULOUS wedding designed by TFS Studio!

The view from the truck window....then the view of the beautiful Pacific Ocean below... Then you curve through some mountains....

And arrive @ Wine Country : )

Friday August 28

L-R (Ashley, Ashley, Me, Megan) (Borrowed this pic from Megan!)

This night was so much fun!!! I met up with Megan (a friend of an AR friend) and her friends for a wine event. It was held in Hollywood at Marbella. These three were so much fun to be around and reminded me so much of my friends at home. (Who I miss dearly...Love yall) They are really are great girls. We mingled, laughed, danced, and sipped a little wine too. In LA, there are so many different people with different morals, backgrounds, personalities, etc. So it was really nice to hang out with a few girls whose backgrounds and lifestyles are similar to my own! Love them : ) and so glad Matt introduced me to Megan! Thanks for a great night ladies!!