I love planning any kind of event! Weddings are my first love but I jump at the opportunity to plan baby showers, kids birthday parties, and bridal showers. They are so much fun! Over the past couple months I put together a little something special for my sister and my niece, Lola Rae, who is arriving in March 🙂 It was fun and relaxed and more importantly, done inexpensively for those on a budget! Take a peek below and enjoy 🙂
I have a lot of favorite things from my 2011 weddings but here are my top 5 (OK, maybe 6 🙂 It was hard to narrow it down!!)
#6: Video shot on Super 8 Film. I had a few 2011 clients love this and even more 2012 clients! It’s so super neat! Unfamiliar with what I’m talking about? Check out some videos from Shark Pig.
#5: Lighting! It’s probably the number one thing that is overlooked which is such a bummer because it can change the entire look and feel of a wedding. I especially love this Violet/Chocolate brown lighting we did at our Big Canyon Country Club wedding!
#4: Coral/Peach! I cannot get enough of this color right now!! A few images of flowers from my 2011 weddings! I hope I get a few more 2012 clients that want to incorporate this color because I’m not quite ready to say goodbye 🙂
#3: Wood Tables! I love rectangular tables but I especially LOVE wood ones! Wood tables at our Malibu wedding:
#2: Vintage Furniture! Vintage furniture can be expensive so it’s not for every client but it’s so super neat to incorporate when you can! A picture of a shoot we did on the beach with vintage furniture from Ribbons and Rust!
and my #1 favorite thing from my 2011 weddings… I bet you can guess it… Dessert Bars!!! This is my #1 because I’m not a huge cake fan. I like to nibble on a lot of different desserts 🙂 and guess what?? This trend isn’t going anywhere! Yippe!! A couple of my favorite dessert bars we did this year:
If someone asked me a few months ago what would be the biggest trend in the 2012 wedding gown collections, I would have said long sleeves (thanks to Kate Middleton). I was definitely not expecting Vera Wang and other designers to push the envelope so far as to introduce a black wedding gown line. Yes, that’s right. Celebrity wedding gown designers such as Monique Lhuillier and Vera Wang have added blush and black dresses to their Spring 2012 Wedding Gown Collections!!
In 2011 we saw less and less traditional weddings as couples began personalizing their weddings with their own unique style. And now in 2012 brides are going to take it a step further with wearing black and blush dresses. Is it too much? Are there some wedding traditions we just shouldn’t touch? Or should we embrace the change?! I want to hear your thoughts!
It’s Halloween time!! Can you believe that? Where did the year go? Ready or not, holiday season is here! I’m actually not a huge fan of Halloween decorations because black and orange is probably my least favorite color combination. But I did manage to find a little inspiration 🙂 Enjoy! XO
I recently returned from Cabo Mexico where I successfully planned my first international destination wedding!! My bride, Rebecca, was kind enough to draft up the below advice for other brides considering hiring a wedding planner. Read below to get Rebecca’s insight on working with a planner. Thank you Rebecca for taking the time to put this together for future brides! xx
“Eleven months ago, my husband and I got engaged and began the journey of planning our wedding. As we listed out all that needed to be done, we became overwhelmed and unsure of where to begin. That’s when a good friend of mine referred me to Constance Curtis Events. Within minutes of our first phone conversation I was at ease as she made wedding planning sound completely manageable. Days later my husband had the same experience at our first meeting. Constance assured us that she was there to help with each step, from locating our venue, to choosing vendors, to narrowing down décor. To get us started, she sent us a personalized month-by-month checklist of everything we needed to get done leading up to the wedding. Then, she took our total budget and created a detailed breakdown of her recommendations for how much to spend on each area so we knew exactly what we were working with.
One of the most valuable aspects of hiring Constance Curtis was having someone to locate venues and vendors within our budget and narrow them down to the best options. This prevented us from spending countless hours of our own research and teasing out vendors who were out of our price range or couldn’t provide what we needed. Since my husband and I both work full time, this was monumental! We found it tremendously helpful having someone navigate and compare the many contracts. My husband is a businessman, so he could have easily taken on this task, but what we didn’t know was what we didn’t know! For example, how many weddings does the venue allow per day? Will there be a coordinator that the venue provides on the day? Does the venue refuse or require outside vendors for certain things? Do they have a site fee or just fees for what is used? Furthermore, when all the contracts are finally compared, how in the world do we create a spreadsheet when they all bill things in different ways? The answer was that we didn’t have to because our coordinator did the job for us!
After sorting out the venue and the main vendors, it was time to start tackling some tricky projects. When I showed Constance a photo of my dream dress that was far beyond my budget, she linked me to a dress maker who gave me excellent advice to purchase an inexpensive, basic dress that was the frame of the original dress and then have a tailor reconstruct it into the dream dress. It turned out perfectly and was a tenth of the price of the original gown! When I let her know about my challenge finding the perfect bridesmaid dress, she sent me several links to bridesmaid dress designers I had never heard of before which helped expand my search. When I explained my thoughts for our table décor, including handmade table cloths from my mom, antique vases I had collected, and various flower arrangements, Constance took all of these ideas and made it come together perfectly. When we faced transportation issues in getting our guests from the airport to the resort and from the resort to both the welcome and rehearsal dinners, Constance arranged for a concierge company to set up a private website for us so guests could arrange their own transportation from the airport to the resort and we could arrange buses to the dinners. These were just a few of the countless situations in which we were able to rely on our coordinator to find the best solutions.
Once the wedding weekend arrived, we were not surprised to find that every detail was taken care of. When we arrived at the rehearsal, Constance handed out printed out instructions for each person to follow, including a detailed timeline of the wedding day, locations and times for family and bridal party photos, the ceremony outline, seating and standing charts, and reception outline including speeches and dances. Our family and friends held onto these like road maps for the next 24 hours, which saved me from hunting guests down and answering their many questions. Beyond leading the rehearsal, Constance acted as a guide and point person for our guests throughout their stay.
On the wedding day, she spent the entire day monitoring the vendors and making sure they followed the specific instructions for the table arrangements, reception setup, placement of décor items, specific lighting instructions, and so on. In between all of that, she was checking on my bridesmaids and I in the bridal suite, making sure we had lunch, advising me on what to tip the hair stylists and make-up artists, coordinating with the photographer, passing off payments to vendors, and making sure that everyone kept on schedule. She even handled details I hadn’t considered. When I was ready to change into my reception dress, she went to my room to get it, brought it down for me to change, and then returned my wedding gown to my room so that I wouldn’t miss any of the reception. After the receptions, she meticulously packed up every item we wanted to save and took it to our room so that we could immediately continue onto the after party. She even arranged a meeting for the day after the wedding so that she, the resort’s wedding coordinator, my husband, and I could review the bill and make sure everything matched our contract.
Of the million decisions we made surrounding our wedding, the best decision, hands down, was hiring a wedding coordinator. I looked in my “wedding” email folder just before the wedding and found over 600 emails from Constance in response to those that I had sent to her over the last year. These emails provided us with a wealth of information and meant that we didn’t have to spend our time researching things that we knew nothing about. We were continuously impressed with her knowledge of vendors and professionalism in working with them, her timeliness in responding to our calls and emails, her determination to make our wedding work within our budget, and her ability to quickly locate answers for us so that we could keep checking things off our list. After the last eleven months with Constance, I would recommend to any friend of mine going through the wedding planning process to hire a coordinator right from the start. Having Constance allowed us to relax and enjoy our engagement and provided us with a great sense of security that we were making educated decisions, saving money where possible, and making our dream wedding come to life.”
Constance Curtis Events is currently seeking a summer intern! Interviews begin next week and the position starts the week of June 6th. This is not an opportunity you want to miss if you want to learn about wedding production! I am very sad my current intern, Chelsea, only has a few weeks left! This semester flew by! I wish Chelsea the best of luck in the future!
Read here what Chelsea has to say about the internship:
I (Chelsea) have been interning in Constance’s office since February after having worked a few weddings with her last summer. Coming with no prior experience, I am walking away with a wealth of knowledge and almost feel ready to run my own show, but it also made me realize how much I still have to learn and how complex the business really is!
The job of a coordinator is more intricate than I could have ever imagined. I got a first taste of this when I began to work on wedding day timelines, which are laid out with every detail of the day to ensure communication between all the players in the event is at its highest. I know that Constance’s attention to these details is what makes her so successful.
As an intern, my days were never the same, and along with developing timelines, my duties included creating checklists for brides that ranged anywhere from 3 months before the wedding to 13 months, researching hotels, ordering rentals, creating price comparisons, and so much more! I was able to attend design meetings that brought together the brides, florists, venue staff, and other vendors that all create a cohesive team managed by the coordinator. I was also able to help produce and got to work with some big shot vendors whose blogs I had been following! I was slightly star struck, and I can’t wait until the shoot gets published.
My favorite part of the internship was of course the weddings! I have been living in Southern California for four years now, and in the past few months I have seen more beautiful venues than I ever even knew existed. Along with the venues, she also works with some really talented photographers, DJs, dessert companies, florists, designers, and so much more. Constance produces first class weddings.
Something I’ve learned from Constance when it comes to the day-of production is that no matter what, always stay calm and smile. As a coordinator, we are there to eliminate any stress from the wedding party and family, not to create it. No matter what curveball is thrown, Constance is always there to knock it out of the park with a smile on her face. With that said, because of her careful preparations, she has already mitigated any surprises before they arise. Before working with her, I always questioned whether people really do need a planner and if I would really have a job, but after working with her, I don’t see how people produce weddings without one. It is so physically and mentally challenging, and no family member should take on that task when they are trying to enjoy the event.
The preparations that go into it would be so much more time consuming for someone that doesn’t know every in-and-out, all the options available, the lingo of the wedding vendor world, and that doesn’t have all the connections. The knowledge Constance can give you off of the top of her head is amazing, and she is so willing to teach. My only regret is not having asked her more questions and picked her brain a little more. Many lessons, though seemingly miniscule, are things that will prove useful to me forever. For example, she taught me that when ordering linens, you take into account that all tables are 30” from the ground so when ordering linens for a 60” round table, you add 60” for the extra 30” on each side of the table and order 120” linens. No, that is not all I learned, but a million little things like this could save a bride and her family from the research and headache!
Constance, thank you for allowing me to take up your time and space and teaching me all about the world of coordinating! It has been a great experience, and I wish it wasn’t so short-lived!
If you are interested in an internship please forward your resume to constancecurtis@constancecurtis.com
Thanks, Chelsea Intern for Constance Curtis Events
Looking forward to receiving your resumes! Thanks,
Hola Amigos!! If you follow me on Twitter, then you’ve seen I’m in Cabo San Lucas researching venues for destination weddings! The past two days have been extremely busy for me and I’m excited to share what I’ve been up to here on my blog!
Day 1: As soon as I landed in Cabo, my surreal experience began. Julia from Terramar was kind enough to send a car service for me to take me to my hotel, Sheraton Hacienda Del Mar. Terramar is a new edition to my vendor team and I couldn’t be more happy about it!! In the picture below, Julia and Gaby (from Terramar) treat me to a welcome cocktail!
As I said, I am staying at the Sheraton Hacienda Del Mar, the home of my client’s wedding in June. I LOVE this hotel!!! The prices are great and I love the authenticity of it. Here are some pictures I took. Please excuse the quality. I own a Sony Cyber-Shot that I got about 10 years ago 😉
The location of my clients reception:
Night 1: The first night in Cabo we headed to Bar Esquina. Bar Esquina is a restaurant in the heart of downtown Cabo that is owned by a good friend of mine from Manhattan Beach. It’s been open for about 3 months and I highly recommended it for a rehearsal dinner location!! Here are some pictures of the restaurant.
To the left is Justin, the owner of the restaurant and to my right is Rodrigo, the catering manager at The Sheraton Outside view Bar Esquina: The menu displayed on chalkboards! Fun chandeliers that hang from the ceiling inside the restaurant:
And then we all went out for some fun!
Day 2: A day of site tours!!!!!! First up…. Las Ventanas! Words cannot describe how nice this resort it. However, given that it is on the pricier side (rooms start at $1,000 US Dollars a night), it’s a perfect destination wedding location for a unique client. After the tour I had a ceviche and tequila tasting!! A very nice treat 🙂
Next I went to Cabo Azul Resort. Cabo Azul has a younger vibe and is recognized by those who live in Southern California because it’s the home of the famous Javiers. My favorite aspect about Cabo Azul was it’s chapel. The chapel has amazing pews, fire torches and waterfalls along the walls! Event Space: One of their suites:
My third tour was at Marquis Los Cabos, another beautiful resort. Circe and Sandra, the resorts catering managers, could not have been more kind!! I’m very much looking forward to working with them in the future.
My last visit of the day was at the incredible One and Only Palmilla. The decor and feel of this resort was by far my favorite!! The mexican tile and hand painted walls is definitely my style!! You feel like you’re in Mexico and I fell in love with everything about this resort including their famous chapel!
My clients arrive tomorrow!! and then the real fun begins 🙂
Many of you probably saw last weeks engagement shoot on Green Wedding Shoes that I created for my best friends Kara and Jason! I’m excited I can now share my favorites with you here! I know there’s a lot, but Aaron Young makes it hard to choose just a few images! Take a peek below at my favorite decor shots of the day!
Cupcakes Couture of Manhattan Beach created the cupcakes! I had them create oversized jumbo cupcakes with Kara and Jason’s initials along with medium size cupcakes with the date of their future wedding!
Close up of the flowers created by Aly from The Vines Leaf! Aly also created the fabric that outlined the backdrop behind our table.
Anthropologie’s new wedding line, Bhldn, has officially launched and I have my favorites! Although everything is to-die-for, unique and FRESH… If I were to get married tomorrow (which I’m nowhere close to ;), here are my picks!
My top 3 favorite gowns! The first two are a little more traditional and the last one is just plain fun!
I would choose this first dress for my rehearsal! Breathtaking! and I’d probably put my sister in the 2nd dress (although when it comes down to it, I probably wont have much say in what she wears! ha! That’s OK though.. she has fabulous taste 🙂 )
I absolutely LOVE long bridesmaid dresses. Always my first choice. So these first two are my favorites but the short one is super cute too!
