7 Aug

San Yisdro Ranch wedding

We hope you don’t tire of us talking about how beautiful some California venues and locations are. Sometimes we think we’ve seen it all and then Elizabeth Messina sends us a peek at a private Santa Barbara wedding like this one and our love for SoCal goes up a notch. The San Ysidro Ranch is exceptionally gorgeous. It’s the place Hollywood goes to escape and icons like John & Jackie Kennedy spend their honeymoon. A weekend retreat if you’re a CA resident, or an intimate destination wedding? Sure!

pink bridal shoes

pink floral bouquets

San Yisdro Ranch wedding

soft floral bouquet

San Yisdro Ranch wedding

San Yisdro Ranch wedding

San Yisdro Ranch wedding

San Yisdro Ranch wedding

San Yisdro Ranch wedding

San Yisdro Ranch wedding

San Yisdro Ranch wedding

San Yisdro Ranch wedding

{Venue: San Ysidro Ranch / Event planner: Imagine / Florals: Mindy Rice Floral Design / Photography: Elizabeth Messina}

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

Also, here are a few photos of Elizabeth’s gorgeous photography on the COVER(!) and inside the new issue of The Knot magazine. Get yourself a copy to check out the rest of the pretty!

Knot Magazine cover by Elizabeth Messina

Knot Magazine feature, shot by Elizabeth Messina

The Knot magazine

The Knot magazine

You can view even more images of this feature over on Snippet and Ink and Grey Likes Weddings.

{Photography: Elizabeth Messina / Styling: Catherine Sheppard of The Life Styled / Florals: Kat Flower / Prop stylist: Jeni Maus of Found Rentals / Hair and makeup: Erin Skipley}

 
Related Posts with Thumbnails
3 Aug

Viceroy Hotel Anguilla

Hiya Cakelet’s! Jillian’s here to reflect on a honeymoon adventure she recently took to Anguilla and St Barths. Truth? Jillian + Scott were actually married 5 years ago, and had themselves a fabulous honeymoon, but there’s no reason not to plan another, right? Couples have a honeymoon, baby-moons, and now we’re coining the five-year-moon. The first stop on her five-year-moon, Viceroy Hotel Anguilla. Take us away Jilly…

{ bottom bar photo c/o scottclarkphoto.com }

Viceroy Hotel Anguilla

Scott and I are so excited to share our experience in the Caribbean. We’ve traveled all over Mexico but never to the Caribbean, and were taken back by its relaxed and tranquil beauty. Katie of Ever After Honeymoons planned an exquisite trip for us and a few other bloggers, including Jen Huang who captured every detail of our trip (on film!). Katie, who’s traveled just about everywhere, was a delight to work with. I’ve honestly never thought about having a travel agent help me with my travel plans, but as a busy blogger and mom, it was fantastic to have everything planned. We just had to show up, slip into something comfy and go straight to the pool bar. The house special — frozen rum cocktails, of course!

Rum cocktial

Viceroy hotel Anguilla

Viceroy Hotel Anguilla

Just steps from our villa was Scott’s favorite, Bocce Ball. We relaxed on yummy plantain chips and enjoyed breathtaking ocean views.

{ photo of scott c/o scottclarkphoto.com }

Viceroy Hotel Anguilla

How cute are these? Katie was so sweet to have guest favor totes in each of our rooms filled with perfect destination goodies like Evian mist, Bobby Brown lip balm, Sofia Champagne cocktails, Pretty Plum Sugar robe (that’s Katie rocking the robe below), and for the fellas, mini whisky bottles and ice rocks.

Anguilla favor bag

Viceroy Hotel Anguilla

Viceroy Hotel Anguilla

I loved the neutral and whimsical style of the Viceroy Hotel designed by the ever fabulous and witty, Kelly Wearstler. The marble, soft wood texture and airy vibe really complimented the landscape, while  seamlessly connecting you to your surroundings.

Viceroy Hotel Anguilla

{ photo of jillian c/o scottclarkphoto.com }

Viceroy Hotel Anguilla

One of the many highlights of our trip was traveling with one of our favorite photographers, Jen Huang. So with a wee bit of hesitation, of course I was like, “Um… do you mind taking a few pics of us?”. And she did, so graciously! These were some of the pics she took of us behind our villa overlooking the serene landscape (I’ll share more in part 2).

Viceroy Hotel Anguilla

viceroy anguilla honeymoon

Viceroy hotel Anguilla

Ok, let’s just talk about the Viceroy for a moment. The resort was phenomenal! Much time was spent on those chairs above – sleeping, reading and gazing into the ocean. There are three different pools, each having a different experience or view of the property. And, as a bounce the waiters come around with cold towels, smoothies or popsicles, yum! Such is the life. It really is the perfect getaway.

{ photo below of jillian c/o scottclarkphoto.com }

Viceroy hotel Anguilla

The hosts at the Viceroy were super sweet and held an intimate dinner for us. They’re quite the pros at hosting a ton of weddings a year, so we got a little glimpse into what it would feel like to say ‘I Do’ in this gorgeous setting. With the help of their in-house team that can assist with all of your planning, a destination wedding here would be fab. Decor? Honestly, you don’t need much here. The natural landscape is inspiration enough!

Viceroy hotel Anguilla

Viceroy hotel Anguilla

After a long night of sipping on coconut mai thai’s, eating caribbean barbecue and s’mores by the fire, we all took the party back to our villa. It was so nice to dip into our sauna and gossip under the stars. Part two’s coming up next!

{ spa photo c/o scottclarkphoto.com }

Viceroy hotel Anguilla

travel planning: Ever After Honeymoon / photos by Jen Huang Photography and Scott Clark Photo / resort: Viceroy Anguilla

Looking to book a vacation at the Viceroy? Contact Katie, hello@everafterhoneymoons.com, and receive a complimentary couples massage.
 
Related Posts with Thumbnails
7 Jun

Last month Elan Artists, Bridal Bar and us hosted a party at the Carondelet House in Los Angeles. The theme of the night was “Downtown Confidential”, attire was to be retro chic, and the invite promised an evening of mingling with fabulous cocktails, seasonal tastes, and invigorating vintage and modern sounds. What a place to have an event guys, seriously. When you walk up to the Carondelet you’re greeted with a gorgeous exposed brick façade. Once you enter those wrought iron gates… wow. Take a look!

Los Angeles wedding venue

If you’re looking for a venue in SoCal, we’d highly recommend taking a tour of this space. We loved the open courtyard right in the center of the house and can totally see it being used for guests to mingle during a cocktail hour.

Los Angeles wedding venue

Carondelet House

Perfect lounge area (there’s a couple of these in the house, actually. One with a romantic working fireplace!).

Carondelet House party

Carondelet House party

The cocktails served up by Pharmacie were amaze! These guys know how to mix a mouth-watering drink with some unexpected flavors. From using chili peppers to thyme, or serving up a refreshing mint julep, the cocktails they treated us to that evening kept coming and were worth the trip alone.

20's theme party

Carondelet House

Pharmacie cocktails

Hey, it’s us! Junia, Amanda, Jillian (sipping on some yummy cocktails, of course).

Elan Artists band

The music. Oh the music. You’d think we were at an actual wedding because bands from Elan Artists had everyone on the dance floor! We don’t see many weddings with real live bands much, but after seeing these folks bang out classic jazz, and mixing in contemporary hits (like Beyoncé), we’re convinced that you need them at your next event. They brought such energy to the event!

We left the party in love with the Carondelet House and can’t wait to hear if any of you book it for your wedding! If you’re interested, read all about the details of the space here.

Photography: Scott Clark / Cocktails: Pharmacie / Soda: Dry Soda / Floral design: Peony and Plum / Wine: One Hope Wines / Cupcakes: Fantasy Frostings / Music: Elan Artists / Sponsors included: Bridal Bar, Tres LA

 
Related Posts with Thumbnails
22 May

There are but a handful of birthdays that should most definitely be accompanied by epic parties. One of them being your 30th! Lucky for us, Sarah Sherman Samuel of Smitten Studio did exactly that – threw an epic party of Palm Springs and Alice in Wonderland proportions at one of our fav estates, Casa Verona. While the invitation set the stage for a monochromatic color scheme for guests to arrive in black & white, the birthday girl stood out, donning an adorable gold sequins little number.

30th birthday invites

30th birthday invites

casa verona palm springs

casa verona palms springs

Pink flamingos are fun. Gold painted flamingos… amazing!

palm springs 30th birthday party

party cocktails

palm springs 30th birthday party

For my 30th birthday I knew I wanted to have a destination party to share with my closest friends, so we picked Palm Springs, rented this amazing house and went from there. I’ve always loved the whimsical sense of “Alice in Wonderland” but wanted to do a modern twist on it to fit my own personal aesthetic. My version is more “Alice in Palms Springs”… what happens when Alice meets the Rat Pack.

gold and black confetti

This theme was shown through over-sized bow headpieces, Alice and the White Rabbit Place cards, “drink me” labels on the glasses, top hats, cat mask, rabbit ears, gold painted flamingos, giant paper flowers, and the mix of fanciful patterns. Black bow ties served as napkin ties and double as party favors. As the party went on some of the guests wore them on their heads, around their neck and on their wrists as boutonnieres.

bow-tie escort cards

black, white and gold party decor

I designed and had printed all of the textiles which I then made the napkins, table cloths, and table runners from. I also made circle confetti to dot the table tops and gold geometric bunting to frame out the bar area. The centerpieces where made of candles and drinking glasses that I bought at the 99 cent store. I sprayed them all white, and then I painted the glass candles to look as though they were dipped in gold, and for the glasses that served as candle holders, I used a gold foil pen to pretty them up with a dot pattern.

black, white and gold party decor

dessert table

washi tape flags

palm springs 30th birthday party

palm springs 30th birthday party

party masks

chevron photobooth backdrop

chevron photobooth backdrop

Accessorizing in a photobooth is a must! For cute bow headbands and balloons like you see in these pics check out the Pop-Up Shop now! We’ve got fun and sparkly statement accessories from ban.do (like this super cute bow headband) and Geronimo Balloon Troopers (one of our fav ways to add color and fringe to your decor is with their balloon arrangements). *Sarah, you may have to throw another party just to include today’s Pop-Up Shop goodies! *

palm springs 30th birthday party

The happiest of birthdays to Sarah and a huge thank you for allowing us all to recognize that each birthday is yet another reason to get creative and throw one heck of a party!

Event Design and decor: Sarah Sherman Samuel / Invitation and Stationery Design: Sarah Sherman Samuel / Photography: Mike Carreiro of Studio Eleven / Fabrics: Sarah Sherman Samuel / Smilebooth: From the 100 Layer Cake Pop-Up Shop / Location: Casa Verona, Palm Springs, CA / Catering: Food Mechanic /  Make-up: Ximena Rolfe / DJ: Sven Barth

 
Related Posts with Thumbnails
16 Apr

Hello Cakelets! Amanda, here. I’ve been knee deep in wedding planning land as you can imagine (along with our planners Bash, Please), but you’ve been on my mind and I’m excited to start sharing some of Tim and I’s wedding inspiration and plans with you! Starting with “the” wedding venue. First of all, thank you for sharing your wedding venue ideas with me…there were so many good ones in there! We’ve landed on Casa Romantica in San Clemente.. with its beautiful ocean view, slight retro feel and glamorously exotic vibe. It’s a very intimate place.. our guests will walk through a butterfly garden on the way to the ocean bluff for the ceremony, the reception will be held in the open-air courtyard, with palm trees and lush plants. Oh, and there’s this cute little beehive outdoor fireplace for guests to cozy up after dinner, on our mid-century Yeah Rentals furniture. I can’t wait to see how Max will capture our big day.

casa romantica

Another thing that was important to us was to have our family and friends close together for the weekend and not spread out and driving all over Los Angeles. We wanted everyone to be able to walk to restaurants, shops, the beach, a wine bar perhaps.. and San Clemente is about the cutest little town for this. Tim and I love California so much, and this will be the perfect place to woo our guests.

Stay tuned for more updates on our wedding, including our engagement photo post soon!

{top and bottom photo by Studio 7 Wedding Photography, second to last photo by Lin and Jirsa}

Related Posts with Thumbnails
 
Related Posts with Thumbnails