air plants and umbrellas

Did anyone else see this insanely amazing wedding from Feather Love? Not sure exactly where I stumbled on it yesterday but the air plants got me. It's creative in a way that only Flora Grubb could be (the groom is Flora's brother). I'm thinking air plants might be the new succulent? Which would be nice because while I love love love succulents to death and used them for my own wedding, I'm starting to feel that they are becoming a wee bit tiresome when it comes to wedding decor.

Don't get me wrong, I will love them for always in the same way that I love mason jars. But I want to see something new and inspired from time to time too.

Just look here and then go see the entire 4 day event including a HUGE party at Flora Grubb Gardens after the actual wedding in Carmel on Feather Love's blog.



How amazing is the huge Tillandsia bouquet? Gorgeouso. The bride is beautiful too, which always helps. Sometimes I want dark thick indie model hair with bangs too. But it would look real weird with my freckles I think.

Final thought: if your name was Flora Grubb, could you do anything EXCEPT open a beautiful garden shop? No. No you couldn't.

the weekend: wedding

I didn't take all that many pictures, actually. When you have an awesome photographer on hand, it seems silly to take photos yourself, you know? But I did take a few during the actual rehearsal because Michèle hadn't arrived yet...



a rather large wedding party, all lined up and waiting for instructions



the beautiful bride



the happy couple



sunset over the ocean



here comes the bride (and her dad)

I can't wait to see their real photos. So excited so excited so excited.

Michael from the Flashdance was the dance party DJ and he was in. sane. Like totally killed it. I haven't had that much fun in months, seriously. Blatant, shameless promotion here, but if you're looking for a DJ you HAVE to hire him. I'm certain that if someone else had been on the tables, the party would have been way less fun. As Melanie said, he's like musical crack. And if our wedding was next year, instead of last year, I would hire him in a nanosecond.

While we were milling about the lobby, waiting for photos to begin, one of you lovely readers stopped me and said hello (What's up Melissa!). OMG. I cannot believe that there are people who read my blog often enough that they would recognize me. Thanks so much for saying hi Melissa. The wedding was amazing and you should totally plan yours at L'Auberge, if you can convince them to squeeze in a few more people for the ceremony. And hire Michael!

Besides a lot of wedding fun, I went to a yoga class taught my first friend in san diego (we met in kindergarten), Wren. Anyone in north county looking for a sweet little studio with an excellent instructor should definitely drop by her class. She teaches Saturday at 9:00 am and Thursday at 7:00 pm.

And we managed to squeeze in a stop at Roberto's on the way out of town. I haven't had Robertos in probably 10 years. OMG it's good. Why aren't there taco stands like this in LA?

Melanie and Sky are on their way to the Maldives. Happy honeymooning you beautiful people! We have such a rad family.

these two are v. v. cute

Did anyone see this insanely adorable engagement shoot on Green Wedding Shoes?



You need to go see the whole thing here. Dying.

Photography by the groom, Tim Melideo.

Go see this wedding...

on OnceWed.

Dying. Die-ing.









photos by Kirsten Ellis

our wedding: the rehearsal

Keeping with my theme of showing parts of the wedding that no one ever posts, here's our rehearsal!

I actually loved having a rehearsal. Up until that point the whole ceremony thing was a complete mystery to us. We've been to plenty of weddings and everything, and we loosely knew what the elements were going to be, but we weren't exactly sure how it was all going to come together. Which is where our super cute coordinator Allison came in. Yay. Someone in charge.

I forgot my mandatory ribbon bouquet from my shower, so I had to user a glass of water. Which was actually perfect because it was like 98 degrees that afternoon. Also, I didn't appreciate that you actually need the placeholder object for practical purposes, (like how am I going to hold both parents' arms with something in my hand?), not just for decoration.



(coordinator + clipboard = relief)









(we love palm springs)



(Brock's older brother Sky married us, which was completely amazing, but more on that later).



(I had both of my parents walk me down the aisle, which was really nice. I think I'm smiling so big because I'm trying not to start crying. In the rehearsal. Must save something for the wedding)





(again, listening to Allison the coordinator. Sooo glad someone was in charge).








Post Wedding Notes:

I felt so good after the rehearsal. Totally relaxed and ready for the real thing. And I can't recommend having at least a "day of" coordinator enough, to help orchestrate all of the logistics because there are A LOT. And it was great to show up to the rehearsal, laugh with our friends, give out presents and not have to be in charge. By then I was REALLY tired of being in charge. Did I mention that already?

And I also learned that wearing bright colors makes pictures so much more fun! And I believe it was east side bride who posted about planning your outfits during the days leading up to the wedding with photographs in mind. Seriously, do it. You forget that the camera will be pointed at your all. the. time.

If anyone in the LA area is looking for a great coordinator, I'd be happy to pass on Allison's contact info.

All images again by Michéle M. Waite.

speaking of groovy 70's weddings...

I present, my parents:







brown tuxedos, anyone?

This was actually my first wedding. My mom's bouquet and high-waisted dress are just hiding me. :)

31 years and counting...

my first wedding

I'm in San Diego this morning, (not at work, re: this post), at my parents' house drinking coffee and looking through old photos. Being that our wedding is soooooo scary close, it seems like a good time to share my first trip down the aisle. Just for fun.





Here's me, 18 months old as a flower girl in our friend Gail's groovy 70's wedding. She and her family will be at our wedding too, which is kind of a nice full circle thing.

Family lore says that I would only walk down the aisle if my dad was waiting at the other end. And I apparently didn't totally grasp the idea of sprinkling flowers here and there, laying a path for the bride's big moment. Instead I walked straight to my dad, turned the basket over and dumped my entire allotment of petals out at his feet. I've always sort of done things my way. Hee hee.

real wedding: laura and jason II

More pretty details from Laura and Jason's heartfelt, do-it-together, it takes a village wedding.



The always beautiful ring bowl from paloma's nest (courtesy of moi, of course).




And some misc. pretty shots from the celebration. I love the one of the Bride & Groom at dusk with their dog, after the rain has stopped.

More photos coming...

(photo credit: Vanessa, my dad, and me)

handmade details of laura's georgia wedding

Looking through the r.wood studio site last night motivated me to finally post some pretty details of laura and jason's colorful Georgia wedding. Finally.



Shots include: millinery supplies from our bridesmaid hair pieces; details of Laura's handmade chuppah, the groomsmen carrying the chuppah in and the bridesmaids again, which i know i've already posted but it ties the colors in so nicely! Plus teeny vintage medicinal jars with zinnias and marigolds grown on the farm.

More to come...

photo credits to friends Olivia and Vanessa.

martha's real weddings

oh, this is outstanding news. (I'm sure i'm late on this train, but still) Martha Stewart has posted real weddings. FINALLY. i mean seriously, what was the hold up? it's all we really want to see. and of course we've seen these in the mag already, but still. i like being able to visit them from the comfort of my computer.



These are some good-looking groomsmen, if you ask me. And their suits are amazing. I love how stylish they all look. I'm so over the rented tuxedo. Isn't that Vince from Entourage there in the middle?

real wedding, georgia style

Next week I'm heading south for the wedding of one of my bestest friends, Laura. Laura and her hubby-to-be live in Athens, Georgia and have an amazingly rich life made up of running an organic farm, owning a delicious, pioneering restaurant and hip, local bar, plus Laura is a nurse and Jason is finishing his PhD program at UGA. They have carved out an enviable existence in their little corner of the south. And their wedding is going to be rad! Hopefully I'll be back with some "real wedding" type photos to share, but for now, here's an inspiration board I put together for Laura earlier in the spring.

The wedding is at Tucker Plantation, in the countryside outside of Athens and it will be catered by their restaurant, farm255, which is fed by the farm, fullmoon co-op. Laura is growing most of the flowers for decoration and almost everything used in their celebration is from friends and local vendors. It's like the epitome of a "green" wedding, without really trying. Except that we are all flying across the country to be there of course, but we bought our terra passes like good, environmentally-friendly citizens.

Board credits: most of the images I saved before I had designs on blogging, so I'm not sure where all of them are from... eek! But I would guess, martha stewart and Snippet & Ink are major contributers. The dress is Alix & Kelly, the invite is Pica Press, the beet card is Yee-Haw Industries, the hair piece is Easter Yu.