Feathers Over Flowers

 These beautiful boutonnieres were made a month before the wedding date for a third the cost of live flowers. The bride made each of these boutonnieres unique to each of the groomsmen. My favorite was the one made for the Best Man (second from left) which has an anchor button because the Best Man is actually a captain. The feathers and dried flowers held up to the hot summer heat, looked amazing throughout the event, and I am sure would last a lifetime if the men saved these feathered gems. 

Stella & Dot Jewelry

Looking for jewelry for your bridesmaids? Or even yourself? Stella & Dot has everything you need from clean and classic, to runway inspired and celebrity loved pops of color and mixed metals. Your entire wedding party will look amazing. And, over half the line is under $50! Want to earn free gorgeous jewelry for your bridal party? Ask me about hosting an in home trunk show. You invite your friends, provide snacks, and I bring the bling.

Stella & Dot is a boutique-style jewelry and accessories company reinventing the home-based business opportunity for the modern woman through its social shopping business platform. Stella & Dot offers its’ on trend, celebrity-coveted product line exclusively through a growing network of trained independent stylists. For more information, visit www.stelladot.com/sites/annalisagross or email me at stylistannalisa@gmail.com.

Happy Shopping!

Annalisa

The Book of Love

Despite my husband’s wishes I purchased about 50 antique books from flea markets this weekend. Of course the question I came home to was "why?” I said, "Centerpieces, that's why". I hope that one of my brides will fall as much in love with these beautiful antique leather and cloth bound books as I did. I was able to pick-up some amazing titles and even in different languages. When you open these books you can tell they have been loved and hopefully they will add some love and warmth to someone's table decor soon.

Jewel of the Gaviota Coast

"The Arroyo Hondo Preserve is a magnificent canyon located west of Santa Barbara between Refugio State Beach and Gaviota State Park. The old ranch is rich in early California history and has an abundance of outstanding natural features. Purchased from the Hollister family in late 2001, Arroyo Hondo is now protected forever and managed by the Land Trust as a natural and historic preserve. Visitors are invited to come explore its beauty and diversity.”

This reserve offers several unique areas to hold your ceremony or reception. Ranging from barn to beach. The natural setting is priceless but requires extra work on the couples' part because everything must be brought in including generator and restrooms. The couple who runs the reserve (and were also married there) are friendly and want to make sure you enjoy your visit. Camping is not normally available within the reserve, but for an additional fee guests can be permitted to camp overnight.

http://www.sblandtrust.org/arroyohondo.html

The Story of Brian & Lisa | Save the Date!

There are so many ways to tell your friends and family about your big day, but why not do it in style. I have seen everything from magnets, wine bottles, and now even Youtube videos. I had to share this with my wedding community because I cannot believe how creative Brian and Lisa were with their wonderful announcement. Just imagine if they were this creative with their save the date what fabulous things are in store for their wedding guests. Enjoy!

Giving Back for Challenged Athletes in 2012

I want to give back to an organization that has truly touch my life. I hope to raise $10,000 for Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) in 2012. The Challenged Athletes Foun
dation has raised more than $30 million to provide grants for prosthetic limbs and other specialized equipment to help deserving individuals pursue an active lifestyle.

In an effort to give back I will donate my fees to CAF, therefore making your 2012 wedding or event planning tax deductible. CAF is not just another cause to us. CAF has touched our lives and those we love.

In May 2010, Stacie and 22 others climbed to Mt. Everest base to support CAF, accompanying her aunt and uncle in their summit bid. Stacie's uncle Paul overcame brachial plexus palsy, a nerve condition that severely limits muscle strength and dexterity in his right hand, to complete the Seven Summits (a task completed by less than 200 people in the world). Paul & Denise Fejtek will be returning to Kilimanjaro on the 10th anniversary of their summit and the first of their "Seven Summits for CAF".

During Stacie's training and fundraising for Mt. Everest, fate introduced us to Danielle McLaughlin, who later became our roommate. Danielle lost her left foot to synovial sarcoma when she was in high school. Since then, Danielle has mentored young adults that face limb loss due to cancer and has become a beneficiary of CAF. Danielle received an athletic limb from CAF which she used to not only compete, but won the gold medal in the World Paratriathlon.

CAF exists because it is not a lack of desire, courage or ability that keeps many challenged athletes on the sidelines -- it is a lack of funding. Your donation will pay for hand cycles, sports chairs, and hi-tech prosthetic limbs that will go directly to assist challenged athletes, including among others American soldiers wounded in Iraq. This equipment will allow them to once again fully participate in life.

All members of the CAFrica Challenge are paying their own expedition expenses and travel costs. Your donation will go entirely to CAF, a registered 501©3 nonprofit organization. We would like to have your support as we pursue our quest to reach the summit and reach our $10,000 fundraising goal for CAF. Please share some of your good fortune through contributing on our personal fundraising site today: http://cafrica.kintera.org/colbyandstacie

Learn more about CAF at :http://www.challengedathletes.org

Paul and Denise Fejtek wrote a book about their amazing journey for CAF through the seven summits. 100% of the proceeds benefit CAF: http://StepsToTheSummit.com/

Flowering Love

Rachel and Dustin were married on September 10, 2011 (yep..9-10-11) at the Cal State Fullerton Alumni House. Rachel is an unbelievably creative individual and hand-crafted thousands of these beautiful paper flowers. The effect was amazing. She combined her striking paper flowers with an array of succulents. When I asked her about the time it took to make all of them she said, "These flowers are priceless and I will never make one again." The time put into these flowers is only a drop in the bucket when compared to the time Rachel and Dustin have been together. These two started dating in sixth grade and were together for 16 years before taking the plunge.

Bar Flare

This elaborate and ecological bar display was the brain child of Island View Catering. A full bar with several hand crafted local beers on tap. Not only were the beers handcrafted, but the father of the groom built the tap stand. Their signature cocktail the colorful habinero, basil gin conncoction they titled "Buddah's Delight". This wedding had almost 250 guests and to save on costs and be more eco friendly they posted a sign that said, "Save your glass and save the planet".

Tweet Tweet

Who doesn't love bird houses? A different little spin on packaging bridesmaids jewelry. Instead of a typical jewelry box why not personalize each gift. After all the ladies standing up for you are the most important in your life. Each house was painted to match the personality of the bridesmaid and then the jewelry was placed in a silk bag inside the opening. The bride shared a story about each bridesmaid when she handed out the gifts. To top it of the gift tag read, "Tweet tweet thanks for being so sweet".

Fried Green Tomatoes

This year my tomato plant went absolutely nuts. I am so happy to have a piece of earth to call my own in Los Angeles. My urban garden is 6X12' raised bed that my husband built for me. My tomato plants took over the garden then the eight foot wall and then the 12 foot lattice only to attempt to conquer my neighbors tree. So what to do with all the tomatoes? I have made sauces galore, bruschetta is a nightly occurrence and of course fried green tomatoes.

The most important aspect of making fried green tomatoes is after slicing them place them on a cooling rack with a paper towel to dry before frying.

Did I mention my 3 year old chocolate lab, Troubles, likes to pick tomatoes. She doesn't eat them, but instead very gingerly places them on the doorstep. My label for this years sauce is called "The Troubled Tomato" with her picture on it.

Did you know the average American eats 22lbs of tomatoes a year? To find out more tomato facts and how to prepare and buy the freshest tomato check out:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/tomato.htm

Rock Solid Marriage

Does the idea of adding your guestbook to your book shelf just so it can collect dust drive you bonkers? I can't even stand the idea of keeping books, other than reference books, so there was no way I was adding my memories to my shelf. There are many ways to get creative and do something different for your guestbook. Tired of the framed picture with all the signatures? Are you really going to hang that in your home? If you want something that will last, but with a little different spin consider turning to different materials. Wine glasses, corks, rocks, votive candle holders, plates could all work and be a very creative element in your wedding. I like the idea of having daily reminders of not only my wedding day, but all the people who shared in our day and our lives.

I am an avid gardener, spending most of my sunny days cultivating my Los Angeles urban garden so rocks seemed the obvious choice for my guestbook. I bought a 50lb bag of decorative river rocks from my local hardware store (about $40). Note: the river rocks need to be washed before guests sign them because they are very dusty. I also bought some smaller river rocks for those guests who weren't ready to commit to the big rocks. I purchased fine point gold paint pens for guests to add there notes to the rocks. I displayed the rocks in different glass containers with a frame that read, "Please sign our "guestbook" because our friendships like these stones will last a lifetime".

Downside, for my husband only, we will be toting around 50+ pounds of rocks for the rest of our lives.

Pan Fried

My husband and I, like many newlyweds, received a beautiful high-end set of pots and pans as a wedding gift. We received a set a of Calphalon stainless steel pots and pans. Excited about all the culinary masterpieces I would create I jumped in and found out stainless steel requires different cooking techniques than non-stick. All these new shiny pans and my husband was actually upset I gave away his old non-stick fry pan because he was burning his morning egg whites. No matter what he did they would stick to the pan. Thank goodness for the internet! I found my new online cooking best friend. Rouxbe cooking school has amazing step by step tutorials. The trick is to determine the heat of a pan by performing a simple water test, making sure your oil has legs and then you let the sizzle lead you to success.

Learn how to pan fry like a pro:

http://rouxbe.com/cooking-school/lessons/170-pan-frying

Kind Words from Michelle

"My wedding planning process was whirlwind, as we planned the event in 5 months while I was simultaneously working full-time, taking classes at city college, and applying for grad school. It was a crazy time! I am not what you would call a "planner", instead I put in the minimum amount of work in the hopes that everything will work itself out in the end. While most things turned out as planned, there are still nagging details that have to be taken care of such as oh, the actual day of the wedding. While everything may look perfectly planned in spreadsheet form, that does not automatically translate to real life. The thing that really stressed me out the most was sticking to the timeline. Thank goodness for Stacie! From the moment the bridal party started getting ready, Stacie took charge and made sure the photographer stuck to the timeline. She coordinated with the groomsmen to ensure that me and my future husband did not see each other before the ceremony. She got me through the pictures, into the limo, and off to the ceremony right on time! This was great because I'm not a very detail-oriented person, so having Stacie there to efficiently manage the photographer and the other bridesmaids was awesome. There were so many little details I had not thought of, such as grass stains on my white shoes (and the bridesmaids' shoes). Upon arriving to the reception, Stacie whipped out a "bridal kit" including grass stain remover and went to work on my heels. Thanks to her, my shoes were gleaming white for all my reception pictures. However, Stacie's real shining moment came when someone stepped on my dress and broke the bustle! I ran to Stacie in a panic, and she calmly pulled out her sewing kit and sewed my bustle back on in a matter of minutes. Amazing! I didn't miss a beat and continued to groove on the dance floor the rest of the night. Stacie also organized an after-party and made sure everyone got taxis to the location."

"Overall, I can't thank Stacie enough for helping plan my special day. I literally couldn't have done it without her. A word to all the future brides out there: hire a day-of planner to worry about all the details so you can enjoy your special day."

-Michelle

Married: June 5, 2010

Photos taken by Adam of Embrace Life Photography http://www.embracelifephoto.com/

Kind Words from Amanda

"I don't really do details. While wedding planning, I used this mantra to be 'the laid-back bride", and, for the most part, it worked out well for me. Until my wedding day. At 8am on the day of, my sister comes knocking to whisk me off to go do pre-wedding beauty regimen, and I'm frantically listing all of the things... we'll call them 'details'... that hadn't yet been done. Or, in some cases, thought about. The list easily took up a whole page, and I had less than a minute to myself. I'm talking about centerpieces (very simple, one type of flower in a mason jar), stringing lights (who knew it'd be such an issue to hang paper lanterns) and finding something so that my heels wouldn't sink into the ground (extra damp from the rain the previous night). Panic was in the neighborhood.
Enter Stacie Smith. She took one look at me, and my list and went to work. She started by looking at the list and telling me not to worry. She made me hand over my telephone, took down my sisters number to get a hold of me if she needed and sent us off for the pampering that, at that point, I desperately needed. And then she went to work. When I returned a few hours later, the centerpieces were done and set out-- and she used extra flowers to decorate other places in the venue. The paper lanterns were hung, complete with beautiful colored fabrics to hide the lines and extension cords. There was a small platform for me to stand on, also decorated with flowers. Furthermore, she'd been answering my phone all morning, giving directions to guests, talking with caterer and photographer, even making sure the groom was staying with the timeline. By the time I returned, the place looked far more amazing than I could have imagined. Stacie, looking fabulous herself, handed me a glass of champagne and sent me on to the man of my dreams and the rest of my life.
I can't imagine stress I would have been fending off had Stacie not been there to step in save me from myself and allow me to enjoy one of the most wonderful days of my life."

- Amanda

Married August 27, 2010

Chalk Another One Up

I love using chalkboards to announce the evening’s menu, provide directions or just to welcome your guests. It’s a more whimsical way to convey a message.

Science Fact: Chalk is actually sticks of calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate. Chalkboards were originally made of smooth, thin sheets of black or dark grey slate stone.

DIY: Reinvent old frames by turning them into chalkboards. Any frame size will work because you can never have enough cute little signs.

Things you will need:
1)Desired color spray paint for the frame (I like white because it matches everything and creates great contrast)
2)Staple gun (craft one is fine)to attach your painted “chalkboard” to your frame
3)Chalkboard spray paint
4)Plywood or thin smooth wood. Have them cut it to the size you need at the home improvement store.

Friends of Smith & Co. : Island View Catering

Island View Catering provides unique culinary diversity and presentation – ranging from simple gourmet twists to old favorites, like macaroni and cheese, to cutting edge signatures, such as their passion fruit salad dressing and boysenberry, chipotle glazed tri-tip. Not only does this company offer compelling food, but provides a personable staff the will pull out all the stops. No Kitchen? Not a problem for Island View with their 30ft commercial kitchen trailer they can bring culinary delicacies to even remote locations. I have had the pleasure of working several events with IVC and highly recommend them to all of my clients. Especially those clients who want out of this world grilled meats.

http://www.ivcatering.com/

Perfect Pasta

Pasta maybe the world's easiest food to make, but it is also an indication of a good cook. Pasta takes roughly seven minutes to cook (depending on pasta type and elevation). While pasta is the go to for large groups it must be enticing and imaginative. Have your caterer cook a pasta dish, even if you don't intend to serve pasta. You can gauge their creativity and ability to use flavors and colors this way. A drab soggy pasta is my worst nightmare, but time and time again I see lifeless pasta in the buffet line.

The choice of pasta speaks about the chef as well. Angel hair is delicate, but must be served promptly or it clumps. Rigatoni is playful and reminds me of the pasta necklaces I made when I was a kid. In my opinion Farfalle is the ultimate pasta. It’s elegant, it’s bow-tie pasta after all. It has attractive cut edges and a great surface-area to volume ratio. Go farfalle!

Reduce and Reuse: The New Wedding Mantra

Why is it that brides feel like everything has to be new? The typical wedding mantra is; something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue (and for those diehards a ten pence in your shoe). Shouldn't there be more of the borrowing and reusing of those old things at weddings. Since I specialize in shabby chic, vintage or rustic type events I find beauty in the old. I love reusing mason jars as vases, candle holders or as favors. How about reusing old wine boxes as for those centerpieces? Boxes with character! To give it even more character consider purchasing a custom branding iron and really leaving your mark. While we are reusing and reducing don't forget about the recycling part. Ask your vendors what they do to be more green. Does your site or caterer recycle?

Get your own branding iron: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/monogram-steak-brand-and-carving-board/?pkey=e|branding%2Biron|2|best|0|1|24||2&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_-

Sage or Kelp..Napkin Choice???

Out of all the questions you will ask yourself while planning your event, napkin color and cost seems to really bog people down. I follow the philosophy that if I can buy it for cheaper than I can rent then buy! Colby (my husband) hates this about me. I have an attic and garage filled with event goodies.

I was faced with this very decision and thought there was no way out except to rent expensive napkins that weren't even the right color. Then I found tablelinensforless.com with a variety of colors that were cheaper than I could rent them for. I found these beautiful "kelp" colored napkins. This was the natural decision for me since I actually received my Masters degree studying a type of algae known as kelp (specifically Pelagophycus porra).

Well, get ready for the sad part. I did what every bride does and I waited too long and it sold out. So if you find a color you love act quick or choose a different color. So I now own 180 sage colored napkins. Sage napkins for spring, Christmas, St. Patrick's Day and pretty much the rest of the year.

Find the great napkin deal: http://www.tablelinensforless.com/catalog/premium-cloth-napkins-p-6407.html?campID=4&gclid=CK6nv5H42akCFQo0QgodHxhRXA&kword=linen%20napkins

Find out about kelp: http://smbaykeeper.org/kelp.html

Eco Wine

I like to focus on green aspects of events. It’s the little things that add up. I searched for an affordable California wine, in ecoglass, with synthetic cork. It is seems silly, but the 12 cases of wine for one event here and another event there has a considerable footprint. By choosing a California wine I reduced transportation costs and ecological footprint.

Ecoglass reduces production cost and uses less materials. Synthetic cork seems cheap, but it’s what more and more European wines are doing now. Cork is harvested from the cork oak, Quercus suber, found mostly in Portugal and the Mediterranean. These trees live for about 150 years of life in them and can only be harvested every 9-12 years. Therefore it is hard for the trees to meet the demand of the growing wine industry. While natural cork is compostable, synthetic cork is recyclable!

Science Content Warning: Cambium cells, the inner portion of the bark, forms multiple layers. When the layer facing inward die it becomes woody. The layer of cambium facing out make new cells that fill with suberin. Suberin is an an oily compound that makes the cork waterproof, but also keeps the cork flexible.

Find out more about cork: http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/cwes/forestree/treevia/facts2.htm

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/02/wip_organic_cor_1.php