Wedding Planning Tip: Draping & Lighting

If you have attended events at a local venue several times, you know what to expect when you walk in and in your mind the venue will always look the same aside from table decorations.  What if I said that your venue could be completely transformed by using elements like fabric draping and uplighting?  These elements will add a touch of personality and flair to your event, making it stand out from other events that guests have attended there. Adding decor elements such as draping and lighting gives your event a personal touch and will stand out in your photos. Before you meet with your decor vendor, discuss the limitations of your venue space with your wedding coordinator or site coordinator. This is to ensure that you are allowed to either use staples, tape or nails etc on the walls of the venue. Otherwise you will have to use pipe and draping around the perimeter of the room so that nothing is physically attached to the walls. You will also want to get the measurements of the venue space so that you can accurately get a quote for the draping panels and determine how many up-lights you would need to achieve the look you are going for.

You may have seen a previous post about my own wedding at the Card Center in Chico, where the talented WeDo Designs and Lisa's Flor Decor absolutely transformed the room by using draping and uplighting.  In case you missed it, here is the before and after pictures:

https://the530bride.wordpress.com/tag/the-card-center/

WeDo Designs recently used draping at the Elks Lodge in Chico and transformed the outdoor space.  The vivid colors caught the guests eyes and tied in the walk way with the rest of the event space.

For an indoor ceremony setting, jaws would certainly drop with this dramatic ceremony entrance! Image courtesy of http://venuesafari.com/dreamy-drapes-using-fabric-draping-at-your-wedding/

Pin spot lighting on the cake, and uplighting throughout the reception hall adds a very rich element to the overall atmosphere.

Image Courtesy of http://www.avantdecor.net/gallery.php

I also recommend saving some images that you find inspiring and showing them to your planner and or decor vendor so that you can give them an idea of the look you are going for. Just remember, the options are endless and don't be afraid to step outside the box and show your personality!

Happy Planning!

The 530 Bride Visits the Chico Bridal Showcase

The Chico Bridal Showcase had a great turn out today, with crowds of local brides and grooms planning their wedding.  Many couples attended with their entourage of friends & family members.  Brides from Chico, Orland, Redding, Red Bluff, Corning, Gridley & other local areas came to book services with the areas premier vendors.  Photographers, caterers, bakeries, wedding venues, florists & event design, DJ's and many other specialty vendors were among the show exhibitors. Couples recieved raffle tickets to enter into the prize wheel, for chances to win everything from wedding packages, gift baskets, photography sessions, and more.  You can imagine the excitement when a bride learns she has won one of these great prizes! There were many bridesmaids & other wedding party members who attended with their bride-to-be and they were there to help with everything from holding the brides bag, writing her information on the various vendor drawing entry forms, & of course tasting cakes & catering samples!

Inspiration Lane offered brides the opporunity to see examples of decor and table-top design by vendors including Cambray Rose Florists, Dream Coordination Group (Salvagno's Event Designers), Jaz Events, Special Times Catering & WeDo Designs.  Nice Work Everyone! Lovely Layers Cakery

K Stone Photography

Top Tier Cake Design

I enjoyed meeting with vendors and saw a lot of new faces, brides really have so many wonderful & professional vendors to choose from for their wedding needs! Some of the other exhibitors included: Dustlight Wedding Videos          TreCreative Film & Video

Blue Sugar Cupcakes                  Dream Coordination Group

Snapshots Photobooth               Shared Travel

Tracy Lynn Photography        LeRoy's Video Productions

CLS Communications             The Arroyo Room

Reflective Images                   CARD Community Center

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company    WeDo Designs

Cyr Photography                     Heavenly Blue Fine Lingerie

The Collective Bride             Kinders BBQ

Lake Oroville Golf Club           Honker Bay Ranch

Always Elegant Bridal           Lisa's Flor Decor JB's Beverage & Bar               Roots Catering

Bon Voyage Travel             Anselmo Vineyards

Drozian Photography        As You Like It Weddings Cambray Rose Florist        J Kiendra Productions

Poise Photography            Chico Catering Company Your Perfect Day               The Palms

With over 90 vendors, I am sure I missed a few but they all have something great to offer! A special thanks to Weddings North Valley for their hospitality, and for more exhibitor information visit their website, www.weddingsnorthvalley.com

If you attended the bridal show, leave a comment about your favorite booth to enter into our drawing for a $50 Bed Bath & Beyond Gift Card!

Rustic Chic Inspired Photo Session

Our recent photoshoot with Jocey Shannon and Jenn Martin Photography was so fabulous that we had to share some teaser photos! Our gorgeous model Andrea looked stunning in gowns by Always Elegant Bridal. Floral Arrangements and Lettering created by Lisa's Flor Decor, and Hair and Make-up by Hello Glam! We can't wait to show off some of the other photos in our upcoming Bridal Magazine, 530 Weddings. Enjoy!

On the road to 'I Do' Regina and Max

Regina and Max - September 4, 2011

Regina: "We met through a mutual friend at a get together in January of 2005, when we were 17 and a half.   Max was very shy, so I  made a bold move and put my number in his phone (even though  he didn't technically ask for it).  We started talking the next day, and never stopped.

We've been together over 6 years now (February 20th is what we consider our anniversary). Max asked me to marry him on October 12th 2010..It was just a random night when I got home from work he had rose petals trailing to the bedroom, where he was all dressed up and was on one knee. I remember being so stunned when I walked in the door!    We are both so excited for our wedding to get here, and to top it off our honeymoon will be in Fiji!

Regina and Max will be getting married at The Palms Pavilion in Chico, CA and will each have 6 members of their wedding party, and a guest list of around 140 people.  Their wedding colors are turquoise, hot pink, with some touches of peacock accents.

They have chosen Special Times Catering as their caterer who will also supply the table linens. Lisa's Flor Decor will be creating the bridal bouquets and the boutonnieres for the guys. The orchid centerpieces and votive candles will create a simple but elegant overall decor.

Regina and Max are really an energetic couple who just keep each other smiling and laughing, and you can really tell they have something special.  Their guests will no doubt feel honored to witness these two starting their new life together as husband and wife!

Real Northern California Weddings

Veronica & DanielChico, CA 10.10.10

With all of the planning leading up to my wedding day in October, I had begun to get overwhelmed with all of the details. Eventually, I let myself stop stressing and try to enjoy everything that was happening. I knew my vendors had everything under control so it was time for me to just be a Bride!

Initially I had wanted to hire a wedding coordinator, but I had confidence that I could handle organizing the details myself, and although there were a few rough patches I must say everything went rather smooth!  (Believe me when I say I was far from a DIY Bride)

My theme was black and white damask, with an accent of red. (Oh and of course some bling)  When I booked WeDo Designs, I knew that the owner, Rabina Khan really understood my vision and from samples of her work I knew she would be able to exceed my expectations.

The wedding venue was The Card Center in Chico, which offers an outdoor area for the ceremony as well as indoor reception area with a patio for the cocktail hour.   The Card Center staff provided me with a floor plan of the reception area, and we were able to work on the layout and plan out how the tables and chairs would be set up.  We also decided we would use floor to ceiling fabric, and up-lighting to really transform the room. See the before and after photos below.

When I met Lisa Hunter of Lisa’s Flor Décor, I was hooked on her artistic creations with flowers and centerpieces. I had so many different pictures of designs I liked, but she was able to choose designs and flowers that were cohesive with my wedding theme. She made sure that the centerpieces were an appropriate height for the room and really accomplished what I had asked of her. I loved that she was willing to mix things up and play with different heights and centerpiece ideas. When it came to the altar, Lisa brought my vision to life and I couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out.

I really loved our aisle, and Lisa's Flor Decor made a beautiful Monogrammed "E" covered in Roses.

Speaking of flowers, every bride dreams of walking down the aisle holding her beautiful bouquet! I loved the mix of flowers used in the my bouquet, and the Gerbera Daisy’s had a dark center which matched the bridesmaid dresses.

I wore a Casa Blanca wedding gown and the Bridesmaids wore Black Alfred Angelo gowns with Red Accents.

Daniel wore a black Tuxedo with a White Vest, and the Groomsmen wore Black Tuxedos with Red Accents from Mens Wearhouse.

What is a wedding celebration without appetizers and a delicious dinnner? Leslie with Shelly’s Creative Catering really brought her A game to the wedding and not only was the food amazing but she was also great at keeping the festivities on schedule. The cocktail hour consisted of an open bar, fruits, cheese and crackers, and veggies, followed by a tri-tip and chicken buffet dinner.

Christy, with Christy's Creations created a cake that tasted amazing and fit perfectly into our theme. It was a three-tierd white cake with fondant. The photo-booth was a blast, and the photos served as our wedding favors. Chico Photo and Video brought the booth to the reception, provided props and also a cd of the photos for us to be able to see all of the pictures. Having the props really added to the fun, and since there was no limit on how many pictures we could take I think the kids at the wedding probably went in the booth over 20 times! Tracy with Tracy Lynn Photography captured some great shots, and really made us feel comfortable in front of the camera. She knew I wasn't a picture person so she really had a challenge on her hands!

Cheers!

Lisa's Flor Decor

If you are looking for a florist you can depend on to take your floral arrangements and decor to the next level, chances are you have heard of Lisa Hunter and her amazing work. Lisa is the owner/operator of Lisa's Flor Decor and she puts her all into making your day, even more fabulous than you could have imagined. I can say this because she transformed me from a bride who wasn't into flowers, to the girl who couldnt take her eyes of her centerpieces at her wedding because they were breathtaking. With the help of her husband Greg, she constructs pillars, altars, aisle runners, flower boxes and anything else you can dream up. In addition to Weddings she can also be booked for Bridal Showers, Prom, Valentines Day, or any other special event.Dont take my word for it though just let her work speak for itself.