Green Tuesday: Green Vendors! Bamboo Beats

For this week’s "Green Tuesday", I wanted to start taking a closer look at green vendors. Over the following weeks we will be talking about how various vendors can be more “green” by either offering organic or sustainable products and participating in green practices.

And yes, this can apply to ANY type of vendor! For example, a DJ might be a vendor you wouldn’t think of in terms of “green or not”, but clearly Jojo at Seattle’s Bamboo Beats has given it a lot of thought. Check out their website page that explains their green practices. We love their green practices (not to mention that Jojo is supersweet and they are great dj’s!)
Thanks Jojo!

Daniela

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Hottest Event trends

As I have said before, as a wedding planner and designer in Seattle, I feel it is my responsibility to keep up with the trends in the industry and make our clients aware of what is out there. While Seattle is a great source of new music and a certain kind of style, California, New York and of course Europe are often a few steps away in offering amazing decor and products to make any wedding or event even more fabulous. This last week we spend the week in San Diego checking out some fabulous new event ideas, trends, rental furniture, floral growers, etc. We attended a ton of fabulous seminars to learn more eco-conscious vendors, ways to save our clients money, etc - and we had a blast! We will be spending the next few weeks showcasing some of our finds on our blog, so for now, we send you to Sasha Souza's blog at www.Sparkliatti.com (she's been on our blog roll forever!) for her commentary on one of the great seminars we attended. I had the pleasure of meeting Sasha, and she is as sweet and hilarious in person as she is on her blog. (For those of you who don't know, Sasha Souza is a fabulous event designer to the stars). Her blog is full of fabulous finds, so keep reading if you haven't had a chance to add Sparkliatti to your own blog feed!

Keep tuned this week for all of our fabulous finds, such as wedding decor ideas, new wedding color palettes, fabulous favor ideas, and fabulous new wedding trends such as scenting your reception!

Daniela

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Seattle Wedding Show

Specializing in event and wedding design in Seattle means keeping up on national and Seattle wedding trends, always trying to stay ahead of the curve; and when it comes to the Seattle Wedding Show, showcasing what we think will be one of the great color palettes for this year's weddings. As a top Seattle wedding designer, we feel it's imperative to be innovative and fresh, and to showcase not only our creativity but also products of Seattle wedding vendors whose work we adore, and even some out of state finds that we like to bring in.

Gray is a super favorite right now, and I was delighted to use it as a neutral for the backdrop of our booth this year - we had a ton of gray duppioni drapes we had custom made for Marissa and Dean's wedding, so we used those to drape our tent poles. Being stuck with using other non-flame retardant draping (The show required using certified flame-retardant fabric anywhere near a heat source such as lights or electricity) we used our slightly sheer voile (which is flame retardant) and draped both the ceiling of the tent and the back wall with it. Since white was not in my color scheme, we lit it up with some raspberry lighting to make the tent glow...














The overlay linens were from Wildflower Linens, featuring a Gray Shimmer linen and a beaded white lace overlay that shimmered in the light; a perfect neutral yet textured and glamorous way to bedeck the table. The fabulous corseted chiavari chair sleeves (in "Silver tinsel") were a HUGE hit with everyone, and they too, shimmered in the fuchsia light. Wildflower has a huge selection of chair caps, chair sleeves and of course, covers, and chair pads in ever color of the rainbow. We chose orange pintuck chair pads to match the napkins.





























The underlay and other linens in our booth came courtesy of the fabulous Pedersen Rentals - I am simply in love with their new "sequin stitch linens" they come in a burnt orange and in this stunning blue green hue - absolutely fabulous, and incredibly affordable! Pedersen's also has THE best flatware and stemware in Seattle! We used their platinum stemware here, and their contemporary flatware - which I wish I owned...
The stationary was from the always creative Brown Sugar Design Studio - I don't know HOW many brides exclaimed their love over the crystal embellished table numbers, but if Brown Sugar should have had a lot of visits just based on that fabulous table number!










The centerpiece was dramatic, and full of tangerine and fuchsia blooms: lush roses, exquisite peonies, orchids, callas, etc mounded on top of clear fluted vase, and then sinously cascading down and around the vase, and trailing down off the tabletop...how fabulous would this be as a headtable centerpiece?

The talented Tania (Azzura Photography) AND the always amazing Janet (Janet Klinger Photography) stopped by and took some fabulous photos of our work, while Bradley Hanson of (Bradley Hanson Photography) did a whole photoshoot of both the tables and our bouquets. Even Kiro news stopped by to interview us! Everythign was VERY well documented!
Enjoy the images from Azzura and Janet Klinger, and we'll post Bradley's as soon as we receive them as well. It was a joy to meet all you wonderful brides, and even more fun in all the meeting's we've had this week with you! I am so excited about all the weddings we're working on this year. So far, we have everything from over the top tent weddings, lush Indian weddings, a few chic hotel weddings, some golf club room transformations and some lovely, highly romantic weddings in new venues.

It was also a plasure to reconnect with some of the fabulous vendors, and I highly recommend all the amazing talents we worked with. Enjoy the photos!

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Bella Signature Design featured in Bride and Bloom Magazine!

The latest issue of Bride and Bloom Magazine arrived today, hot off the press - and we are featured as a "Featured Coordinator"! B&B is an amazing design magazine read by both brides and those in the trade, and while based out of Los Angeles, they have gone nation wide and are found at Barnes and Nobles and all major book stores and magazine shops. We extremely honored when they chose us a few months ago to be one of their featured coordinators!

I was asked how I would interpret the theme "Hollywood Glamour." Since I knew two other Planner/Designers would be interpreting the same theme, and always of course trying to do something new, I wanted to mix the more typical "old Hollywood glamour" that brings to mind black and white, with the new Hollywood of today which is just as glamorous, but in a more contemporary way with clean lines yet overflowing lushness...

I dreamt up a color palette of gray (the new contemporary "black"), lacy nude (Old hollywood glamour) and fuchsia (Fresh color in Hollywood right now). This immediately brought to mind Wildflower Linens, with whom we had worked previously on a photoshoot for Grace Ormonde, and whose linens we have utilized at some of our most luxurious weddings here in Seattle. We used a silvery gray duppioni silk linen, fuchsia napkins and Chiavari chair pads and a fabulous nude "Empress Lace Linen" chair cover. Stunning! We wrapped our vases in a slightly darker slate gray silk, to really make the Fuchsia "Milano" roses pop off the table (and of course used them in reckless quantities!!). The bouquet featured fuchsia Peonies and exotic Aranda orchids, wild Sweet Peas, Astilbe, Tulips and Garden Roses, bound by a slate gray double satin ribbon. Pedersens Event Rentals is our all time favorite rental company here locally, and naturally we went there to pursue their newest choices in stemware and flatware. We ended up using their brand new platinum and gold rimmed glassware which really fit in with our gray and nude palette, and fabulous square gold chargers and white square china. Fabulous! Even the flatware was intriguing, with an almost sparkling yet contemporary design.We invited Jen of Jen's Desserts to create a glamorous cake, and she surprised us by bringing two! Her first design was her sparkling sugar cake, which I think is absolutely exquisite - clean, simple, yet ultra glamorous. It was the one Bride and Bloom chose too! Her second cake was also very creative, and featured a gigantic fuchsia/purpley flower (Jen said she was inspired by the Sex and the City movie!) For invitations, Brown Sugar Design created fabulous menu's, placecards and table numbers to go with a rich letterpress invitation they have in their line, on ecru paper and gray letterpress. The menu's and other table designs featured thick dove gray stock with yummy ivory writing.Check out Brown Sugar website (above) for some fabulous designs! Favors, which unfortunately weren't shown in the magazine (they only have so much room on one page) were by Glassybaby, and if you've followed my blog, you've read my previous blog about these great votiveholders!

And of course, none of this would have been possible if we weren't allowed to shoot in the fabulous Sodo Park, one of my very favorite new venues, and had it all captured by one of my all-time favorite photographers, Bradley Hanson (who is all over this blog!). I can create all the beauty in the world, but if it's not captured in an artistic way, it is lost forever.

Thanks to all the vendors who allowed me to bring them together in the very short two-week time frame we had, and thanks to Bride and Bloom for believing in us!

Daniela

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Covet Mondays: ILee Design Invitations

Happy Monday Morning! This week for our "Covet Mondays" I wanted to write about one of my all time favorite stationery design studios, Ilee Design. For years now, Ja has been hand-painting flowers, creating exquisite motifs, and overall creating some of the most beautiful invitations around. I never fail to recommend her to any of my brides, because she always creates something that is stunning, beautiful, and most important of all, truly reflective of the couple. Even when I am only doing decor for a couple (versus planning the whole wedding) I ask them to send me an invitation, as they really set the tone of the event nd really help me get an additional feel for the way the couple sees their day. The wedding I worked on yesterday was no different, and I was immediately impressed when I saw Shannon and Hans' invitation - bound together in slightl iridescent copper stock, in an unexpected sideways, book style, with the most beautiful green fern motif - it REALLY set the tone for an elegant yet outdoor fall wedding. (And boy, did the weather cooperate!) I did not know Ja at Ilee had created them, but I should have known! When I arrived at Kiana Lodge for set-up, I was impressed by the coordinated tablecards, hand-calligraphied escort cards cards (Ivory ink on cooper cardstock - yummy! - see below) and menus - impeccable. Shannon (the bride) and I went on to talk about Ja's many talents, and the appreciation of pulling together all the details into a whole concept that fits together perfectly.
We presented Ilee's escort cards in a ribbon-adroned box full of moss...
Table cards for each table...

I love it when brides create this first taste for their guests, especially when it comes from great artists such as Ilee Design.

See below for some sample of Ilee's creations...

Daniela

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Covet Mondays: Glassybaby

On our second post of items I covet, I knew I had to bring up Glassybaby. I had long heard about these vessels, these candleholders/mini vases...and the amazing story that brought these glass creations into existence...But honestly, when I first heard the price (and had not actually seen one in person) I thought "wow, $40 for a candleholder." Still, the beauty just from the photographs of these yummy little vessels led me to call them up last month and ask them to be part of a photoshoot we had been asked to do for Bride and Bloom Magazine. Sweet Marissa promptly sent me 8 samples, and I swooned! They feel amazing in your hand - heavy, yet comforting, thick glass with saturated color (there are translucent ones as well!) These are no ordinary candle holders!

Glassybabies come in hundreds of colors, with amazing shades of every hue you can think of. Amazing bridesmaids gifts, thank you gifts for people who helped out at the wedding, or very decadent favors. Best of all, Glassybaby now has a rental program where you can rent them for your wedding! I imagine tables bedecked in every shade of amber to orange, or purple and raspberry...

I so fell in love with these that I bought one of the samples that Marissa had sent - a thick, yummy gray one named "Battleship." Something about the gray glass lit from within reminded me of calm, of hot tea on a gray northwest day. But alas, one Glassybaby is NEVER enough. And with new names like "Molten, Frog Hunting and Windowpane"? I don't know what they will look like, but I am coveting "Molten" just from the name!

Daniela

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Real Weddings - Teaser

One of my a favorite photographers, Bradley Hanson sent me over this fantastic photo from a wedding we worked on together this July. He manages to not only capture the essence of every wedding, but gets every detail in an artful way, makes everyone so comfortable in front of the lens that they are always at their best, and just overall is great to work with. I am always excited to know he is going to be capturing the day - and all my work! We'll be featuring Bradley's work in Desiree and Jon's wedding next week, so be sure to come back and check it out - for now, here is a sneak peek!

Daniela

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Grace Ormonde Wedding Style

A couple of months ago we were invited to submit a photoshoot to Grace Ormonde Magazine - such a fabulous publication! I've been enamored with Wedding Style's glossy pages for years, so this was a huge excitement. We were honored to be a part of it and had a blast at the photoshoot!

You never know what will actually get printed, but here is a sneak peek - two of our tabletops on Grace Ormonde's Wedding Style Website... (you can also go directly to http://www.weddingstylemagazine.com/ and look under "Featured Editorials"

Photography by the fabulous Bradley Hanson, linens by Wildflower

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Bella Signature Design teams up with Wildflower Linens!

We are SO excited to annouce that Bella Signature Design has officially teamed up with Wildflower Linens out of California - their major markets are L.A and New York, and now lucky Seattleites can have them too! We have brought Wildflowers linens to a variety of events so far, from beaded overlays for an Indian wedding, to shantung silk for a beautiful northwest Woodmark Hotel wedding. We have featured them in several photo shoots (see more of that in upcoming posts) and can't say enough about these fabulous linens! We will be adding pictures of these gorgeous linens on the shop section of our website soon (ETA Sept 2008) so keep an eye out!

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