A night on a  Moroccan Terrace – The Welcome Party!

We started the design plan with a canopy that was a clear ceiling structure that would serve as our dining room for the party. The clear ceiling allowed guests to be able to enjoy the late summer sky as they first arrived at the event….We added beautiful Moroccan styled lamps floating from the ceiling frame of the canopy, which in the day time caught the sunlight, and at night glowed from within!

We covered the ground under the canopy with a golden shade of tan carpet to resemble the sands of the dessert and repeated a similar color in fabric swags in the ceiling of the tent.

The tables popped with vibrant tones of color…magenta, citron and gold tones in an intricate pattern on a chocolate background.  I added lots of gold candles to the table tops, and a one/ two punch of color in a simple low centerpiece (the linens were the show stopper!)  Then for authenticity I added small vessels of various spices on the table tops to enhance the olfactory experience! Fragrance is an important element, but select it wisely so it does not interfere with the dining experience!

My clients and I picked charger plates for the table that resembled a basket weave pattern (I could see Alibaba’s serpent appear from the baskets in the old town market place!) and the napkins wrapped around them in a vibrant tone of citron green!  While charger plates are sometimes thought of as an ‘extravagance’ they are truly an element of fine dining!  The purpose they serve is to keep the place setting clean for the arrival of the main course!

Carol Smith from Invitation Factory in La Jolla created beautiful dye cut menu cards in a shade of purple that added a slightly different shade of color to the table top, and it finished the place setting perfectly!  Carol is an artist at her craft!  Every detail is attended to, and her work is perfection!

Each table was named after several familiar sites in the Middle  East…this one was named after the famous hotel in Dubai!  Carol created all the social stationery for all the events

Jeffrey Strauss from Pamplemousse Grille in Del Mar catered the party.  The food followed the décor theme and his sugar cookie camels, dusted with powdered sugar, were a hit on the over the top dessert table

Décor lighting is an event designers’ best friend!  The sun set over the party, and the ambient lighting created a colorful and inviting setting for dinner in the canopy!   Everyone enjoyed one anothers’ company in this relaxed atmosphere!

Party Number 2 The Rehearsal Dinner

When you visit San Diego, one of the first things you think of are our beautiful beaches!  Who doesn’t want to party on the beach?  One place that this can be done is on the beach at La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club!  The sand is perfect and the beach is sublime!  This was the site of the rehearsal dinner, and after the previous night filled with intoxicating colors and aromas, we decided to cool down the palette for this evening of steel drums and firepits!

My clients told me that they really wanted to create a picnic style feeling for this party…and so…we did!  We used various lengths of long tables so that large family groups could sit together and friends, new and old, could gather.  The brides’ dad really wanted a neutral color palette so we obliged with taupe linens for the tables.  As usual, Father did know best!

We chose a khaki colored linen with crisp white napkins, tied with raffia and shells and starfish. Not only did they look pretty at the place setting, but the shell helped to keep them on the table top in the breezy setting!  We lined the tables with organic shaped glass vases in shades of green and aqua glass;  spikes of white miniature cymbidium orchids filled the vases and large glass hurricanes helped the keep the candles from blowing out!  The wind is a formidable foe to people such as me when working right on the shore line!

The grills were hot, and the food was perfection for this grilling party on the beach!  The chefs at The La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club created mouth watering treats for everyone to enjoy!

Everyone had a good time…the kids faces say it all!

Carol Smith from Invitation Factory helped again with all the stationery products and created custom napkins for the party too! Again, shells were the anchors to hold them in place!  Good little weights, those shells!

Carol also made these adorable drinks straws with custom flags!  So clever.

As the sun set, and the lights came on, I had to wonder, did the guests know that their next day, wedding day, would be sheer magic!

Party Number 3!  It’s the Wedding Day!

Dum, dum, di, dum, dum, dum, di dum…Here comes the bride!

What a magical evening lie ahead for this beautiful bride and her groom, their families, and all her wedding guests!  The beautiful, ethereal and amazing Grand Del Mar was the location of this special wedding!

Linda Howard  of Sensational Celebrations in Los Angeles,  brought all the elements together for this wonderful wedding!  Linda is pretty sensational herself!  Working with her was a breeze, and it was a seamless process!  Just like a well choreographed dance!

The wedding ceremony took place in The Capella at the hotel, a romantic chapel, designed with a distinct feeling of a small European chapel, with high wood ceilings, and stained glass windows that cast wonderful shadows of colored light as the sun beams thru them!

As usual the kids stole the show, until the bride made her appearance, and then jaws dropped!  She was gorgeous!

Once the pronouncement had been made, and the bride and groom kissed, everyone headed to the terrace for cocktails.

One hour later  the moment had finally come…the doors opened to the ballroom and the party started!

The bride told me from the first day we met, “I want a night club feeling in this ballroom.”  Well, if you have ever been in this ballroom, the place exudes the personality of a grand room in a large room in an Italian villa….a night club in a villa?  Sure, no problem!

I sat down with my design team  and we drew up the plan!  Just had to show the bride and her family how this all would create that perfect night club…see what you think?  Did we do a good job?

Glistening mirrored tables with mylar and crystal chandeliers floating over them!

A ‘super bar’ that reflected light all around!   We solved the problem of long lines at the bar (which the brides’ dad was really worried about) and created an amazing visual as guests entered the space!   Some guest tables were draped with floor length white rosette linens and encircled with clear ghost chairs while other custom fabric wrapped tables, some  square and some round, were set with Italian leather covered dining chairs.  Some of the tables were set taller with  bar stool height chairs. And other tables were set in vintage 1940’s style cabaret booths!  Lush bouquets of white flowers everywhere!  The scene was set with a night club atmosphere.  The walls of the ballroom were draped in white and a gleaming white dance floor reflected the stage lighting!

Now all we needed was the entertainment!  Wayne Foster Orchestra to the rescue!  What a fun floor show they provide to amaze your guests!

But there were the timeless elements in this wedding too!

A bridal bouquet of gardenias and stephanotis…understated elegance…

Romantic rhinestone frames holding seating cards

A traditional tiered wedding cake…from the talented pastry chef at The Grand Del Mar!

And a very apprehensive young boy…every time I see this photo I wonder what he was worried about?  Perhaps his own wedding some day?

Three magical days…one amazing family…many talented professionals and me!  The luckiest designer in the world!  I’ve said for years, it’s the people that keep me coming to work every day!  My team was so good that day!  They are good everyday, but that day they were superstars!  My partners outdid themselves…the detail they saw in every single aspect of the planning of these events!  They made me look like a superstar!

Without acknowledging  Aaron Feldman of True Photography would be a huge oversight!  Thank you Aaron for capturing all the magic that I created and for helping me tell this story of love!

I was recently asked by a bride if when she hires me, if she is ‘merely paying for a name,’ as was suggested to her by one of my counterparts in the local floral industry…I’ll be honest…the comment threw me flat up against the wall.  I’m glad she said it in an email…had it been face to face, she probably would have been troubled to see the anguish on my face…

Are you kidding?  I have given my life to my work and my clients…but, there was no way that this bride could know that!  There was no way that the person who made the comment could know that.  But none the less, day after day, year after year, I’ve honed my craft and my skill to create world class events for EVERYONE who hires my firm to create an event for them.  And for those that merely hire my company to provide the floral for their events, they are rewarded with beautiful, lush floral creations,  on time deliveries, and excellence in service before the wedding.

But as the day wore on, I kept hearing those words ring in my ears and they continued to bother me, and for those of you who know me well, when I’m bothered, I’m called to action.

It got me thinking…what IS in a name?  Is that what my clients are doing?  Just ‘paying for my name? Well, yes, of course, that IS what you are paying for!  You get my “name”, my heart, my soul, and my commitment to excellence.  Then I began to wonder, what is it that keeps people paying $200 for a pair of Tory Burch flats, when you can go to Target and buy a pair for $24.95 with a shiny embellishment on the toe that looks a lot like Tory’s?  After all, I’m sure the person that made the ‘paying for a name’ comment can copy one of my floral arrangements with no problem, just as the Target designers have tapped into the Tory Burch logo.

Well, for Tory Burch, the answer is simple:  high quality materials presented in tasteful and beautifully appointed stores, staffed by professionals who treat you with a high level of service, topped off with a beautiful carry away bag to bring your new shoes home in.  For Target, well the scenario is a bit different: chinese plastic components in the shoe, set in rows of metal shelves, under fluorescent lights, sometimes presented in a paper box, sometimes not, sent home in a plastic bag (with really cute red bullseyes) with little or no service provided to the customer.

Please, don’t get me wrong…just get me!   I love Target with a passion…many of you have seen me shopping  at Target  for the newest Bey Blade or Lego Chima for my Jamesy, or for a fun new burst of color in a throw pillow, or even a quick gallon of milk!  They rock!  But I’m never going to compare that experience to the experience you have in Tory Burch Fashion Valley!  The two are like oil and water.

So is that what sets a designer like me with a lifetime of experience apart from the copy cat?  What makes it all a different experience is that I come to work each and every day for the client that calls me and says, I want something different…I want something that reflects our personality and I have heard that you are the one that can make that happen!  I feel sort of bad…I have only done one wedding where there was a chalkboard, but it was a doozy…I tend not to focus on the collective personality of a Pinterest wedding where everyone has a chalkboard, and burlap wraps each vase, and a Mr and Mrs sign is cleverly printed and hung from the bride and groom’s chairs.  The experience of a designer is also that of a higher level of service.  One of the things that my customers tell me over and over again, it is YOU, Kathy Wright, that made the experience so amazing.  So if ‘paying for a name’ means that I may appear to be more expensive than the “copy cat,” in fact, I am saving my customer hours of shopping and searching out the right services and products, that I actually become a bargain when you add up all the factors.

So now, I’ve come full circle with this thought that has haunted me and taunted me all day long!  I’m so proud of the work that I have done for the people in San Diego who are my clients now for over 40 years.  And I’m proud of my staff for all the long hours they work, all the emails they tolerate from me into the wee hours of the night about getting some little detail for some event just right, and I’m proud of all my subcontractors who tolerate me moving a piece of furniture to the right a another foot so that the edge of the dancefloor sparkles in the bright white light coming from above.

Yes, when you hire me, you are paying for a name.  It is a true statement.

I have avoided blogging for so many years, saying, what on earth do I have to say that anyone would want to read.  Now that I’ve written this blog, I have found that I’m writing it as much for myself as I am for you.

If you enjoyed it, I’m glad.  I’m going to make an attempt to continue to blog.  I’ll be posting again soon, and the next one is going to feature an amazing three day event that captured the personality of a very vibrant bride, her more conservative husband, and a family that was a just a wonderful joy!

KW

We started with a 20×20 and created the hub of the carnival… The Fun Zone! Loved the lights and all of the color!

One of Hire Elegance’s awesome new pieces… I call it ‘The Big O!’ haha!

We asked Felipe (of Felipe Dance Floors) to create for us a red and white striped dancefloor that was like no other…. and here it is!

Candy! Candy! Candy! Sugar high! Sugar high! Sugar high! Another one of the elements from the Carnival…. CANDY STATION!

33,297 gumballs on one table!

Carol Smith (of Invitation Factory) created so many amazing signs and paper goods… all CUSTOM just for this party!

So who else, but the esteemed DOC of The Grand Del Mar, gets to sit in the dunk tank? “When I saw it (says KW) I nearly fell over! It was called ‘The Royal Flush! It was awful… haha… but he’s a good sport and sat there while everyone tried to ‘Dunk the Hunk’!”

Sunday February 26, the Omni Hotel in downtown was rockin’ as The Wedding Party Bridal Show rolled into town…beautiful bridal fashions, fabulous truffled mac and cheese (thanks to Authentic Flavors!), and wonderful sweet treats (from Continental Caterers), all enticed brides and groom’s from all over San Diego!  We were fortunate to have been the designer of the coveted Nuptials Launch Party area on the 4^th floor of the hotel.  

 We covered the walls with two shades of off white fabric (thank you to West Coast Drape), inspired by a partial stone wall in the space, in those same neutral tones.  Kool Party Rentals brought in so many fun and unique tables and chairs to create a platform for our design work!  Lisa Lippe with Details Defined projected a montage of her work on one of the walls, inspiring all who came into the space.  Lisa arranged for hand rolled cigars, and the grooms (and some of the brides) were happy to take the finished products with them.  She left no detail ‘non defined’…almond champagne, chocolate cupcakes, and latin swing music filled the air in the space.

 I always like a jolt of color to wake up the senses…this time I chose deep red as the punch, and the accent was natural green.  Olive green…what a great color!  The white furniture and the off white walls begged to be hit with color accents, so I obliged.  I filled vases with colored water (ancient Chinese secret for big impact, little money) and danced them up and down the clear plexiglss table top.  The white calla lilies come complete with olive green stems (hum, perfect…thank you Mother Nature) and the white butterfly orchids created the perfect soft draping juxtaposition to the tall stalky calla.  I chose a bold white square dinner plate and clear glass stemware (thank you Classic Party Rentals for letting me use your goods) to continue a clean contemporary feel on this table.

 The round table was dressed with a very textural gold charger plate, gold rimmed stemware and fancy gold flatware (stemware and flatware from Classic Party Rentals;  plates from KW, some of her faves).  The flowers were much more lush and traditional…every red flower on the planet was in that bouquet.  But look at those red anemones!  Love them…thank goodness for Spring!

 Carol Smith, from Invitation Factory, was awesome…she created the perfect menu cards for both tables.

 If you missed it, come on down to the US Grant show this Sunday, and look for our work in the following displays

            M Bride

            Barnett Photography

            Imagine Events

            Wynn Austin Events

 And of course on stage for the M Bride fashion show!

Draw fall inspiration from a real Napa wedding.

Photo Artistry  - la vie photo