More from Amy Squires!

The delightful Amy of Amy Squires Photography sent over some more stellar images from Nichole and Mike’s red, turquoise and black wedding. I can’t get over how striking the color combo was- the fiery, moody reds against cool teal was so sassy. The black made it edgy (and not too patriotic.) After the wedding, Nichole’s mom told me she was a bit wary of the funky color scheme, but was beyond thrilled when she saw it all come together on the wedding day. Thanks to Amy Squires for sharing these gorgeous images!

You know how I feel about black dahlias!

Gotta love the blue bling!

A little something for the flower girl to hold.

It took a lot of intricate wiring to assemble this arch.

The lighting was out of this world!

Black baccara roses, black magic roses, james storei orchids, tulips, blackout lilies, black dahlias, and burgundy cymbidiums.

Drama, drama, drama!

Lots of sexy red candles.

I’m off to bed for a few hours so I can wake up early for a flower mart expedition! I’ve got two rad weddings this weekend and I’ll be working mighty hard.

Me, In My Oasis

One day I wrote a comment on Jasmine Star’s blog in response to a beautiful Anytime session she shot. I told her that I was so gaga over those cheerful, sassy shots that maybe sometime I would be brave enough to do an Anytime shoot of my own! Well, seriously 3 seconds later, I received an excited email from Jasmine saying something like “Just got your blog comment. Let’s do it! It’ll be ultra fab!” Despite the fact that I usually feel awkward and stiff in front of the camera, I trusted Jasmine to make me look ultra fab.

I ran into JD and Polo (Jasmine’s hubby and puppy) at the dog park one night, and I was asked him where I should do the shoot. JD said I should choose somewhere that is meaningful to me. Right away I remembered my favorite place to hang out as a kid- my childhood friend Julie’s backyard in Modjeska Canyon. Modjeska Canyon is a charming oasis in the middle of O.C. It is a small town and everyone knows each other. There are foothills, horses, creeks, trees and tire swings. There are hiking trails and old silver mines. This was my only taste of the great outdoors as a kid growing up in a manicured gated community in Orange. We used to play in the treehouse and send messages in a bottle down the creek. All that idyllic kid stuff.

Julie’s parents’ eco-friendly garden was named best garden of 2008 by Roger’s Garden and featured in the LA Times. When the wildfires hit the canyons last year, Julie’s parents had to evacuate and weren’t sure if their house would still be standing when they returned. They were more crushed by the idea of losing their garden than losing their house.

Here are some favorites from Jasmine’s teaser. Check out the full blog post here!

Delphinium, garden roses, and ranunculus. Shoes from target. Woot!

Lilacs, viburnum, anenomes.

Mums, leptospermum, parrot tulips, viburnum, and lemons from the garden. I felt very Martha Stewart in this pic.

Sibling rivalry caught on film.

Jasmine is truly an artist. When she arrived, she did a quick sprint around the garden and I could just see her wheels turning. She was imagining shots and planning how to best use our 1.5 hours of sunlight. She made me feel so comfortable in front of her lens, and she was always paying attention to the little details like my hair, the angle of my feet or showing off my earrings. She didn’t just tell me how to pose, she actually showed me! At one point she even built a little dam in the creek so she could shoot me on a bridge from the water. I thought she might fall in (she was wearing those red cowboy boots of hers!) but she stood tall! Basically, Jasmine rules. The end!

BTW, I had the hardest time finding cute springy outfits that weren’t mini skirts (I don’t do mini skirts. Actually I prefer not to do skirts above my knee!) The first outfit came from The Gap. (Thanks to Rachel for posting the skirt! You had the self-control not to buy it, but I didn’t!) The white bedazzled dress is by Beth Bowley, and the maxidress is from the Modern Romance boutique at Fashion Island.

Thanks a million to my spunky friend Loann of Let’s Get Beautified for doing my makeup. She was my wedding makeup artist, and I don’t trust my face to anyone else!

If you had to do an Anytime shoot, what location would you pick?

Making Mercury Glass

Mercury glass, also known as “poor man’s silver”, is clear glass coated with a solution of silver nitrate and grape sugar to produce a mirror-like finish.  Over time, the silver coating chips and flakes off, giving it that old, tarnished look that I adore for vintage-inspired weddings. Be prepared to pay a pretty penny for authentic mercury glass (up to 1000 buckaroos for a single vase!) Even faux mercury glass can be pretty pricey to use for a one-day event. But boy is it gorgeous.

For Julia and James’ whimsical wedding, my mission was to track down over 50 various mercury glass bowls and vases in curvy, antique looking shapes. As I searched my favorite glass wholesalers, I was disappointed with the puny selection. Most of them were completely sold out or lame looking (for example, the shapes were modern cylinders, not at all reminiscent of the ornate mercury glass vessels from the 1800s, or the paint strokes were machine-made and too “perfect” looking.) Panic ensued.

I decided I would buy as many good reproductions as I could get my hands on. I found 15 gorgeous hurricanes at Pier 1.

Mini candle holder from Pier 1. Love the engraving!

Large hurricanes from Pier 1 on the left and right. The crackle finish made them look extra ancient.

It sank in that I would have to create the remaining 35 myself! This DIY adventure was inspired by a post on
The Everyday Bride where she explained that Krylon Looking Glass Paint can achieve a mercury glass look.

This technique requires you to spray several even coats on the inner surface of the vase.  This was a bit tricky since some of my vases were fluted and difficult to spray into, causing the paint to pool up and dribble.  Very frustrating.  After I got the hang of it, the results were quite pretty.  However, this technique gives the look of new mercury glass that hasn”t begun to chip and flake off with age. I wanted a more distressed, antique looking mercury glass. I think I nailed it.  Here’s how I did it:

Step 1: Clean your vase thoroughly.  Dust and grime are no good.

Step 2:  Cover the inner surface of the vase with silver leaf adhesive. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so.

Step 3: Apply rub-on silver leaf sheets in patches to the glass, making sure to leave plenty of uncovered areas. I did some large patches, and some lighter, flakier patches for a varied look.

Step 3: To achieve an even more roughed up look, take some sand paper and strategically scratch off some of the silver leaf.

Step 3: Cover the inner surface with spray-on leaf sealer.

Step 4: Spray 3 or 4 thin coats of Krylon Looking Glass Paint over the silver leafing to smooth out the look.

Voila!

Ok, so it is a little bit of a process. But I had an assembly line going and watched a million episodes of Seinfeld. It became really relaxing.   I do enjoy me some mindless labor from time to time!

Just For Fun: Flower Pot Escort Cards!

In a post long ago I included this rough doodle of a fun idea to display escort cards:

Each guest would have a teeny tiny container filled with their own special arrangement. It would be an escort card and wedding favor in one. I just love all things tiny. Well, the incredible calligrapher Lisa of Pen and Ink saw the sketch and thought my idea should be brought to life. She offered her help and promptly sent me beautifully scripted escort cards to use for my mini-baby project. Thanks so much, Lisa!

At the flower mart, I scooped up some yellow daffodils, acacia, navy blue privet berries, spray roses, billy balls and delicate lily of the nile. I purchased tiny flower pots (about 1.5 inches tall), lined them with cellophane (water tends to leak through the terra cotta pots leaving discoloration) and stuffed them with a bit of wet floral foam. I then created mini arrangements with the cutesy spring flowers. These would be adorable in mossy boxes, as shown, or at each place setting.

Lisa's handiwork is so beautiful. I wonder how she came up with all those names! "Jayden King" and "Anthony Colette" have such a nice ring to them.

I love navy blue, yellow and white together. I'm dying to do a wedding with that palette!

Like I said, I love all things tiny!!!

Thank you to my husband Joe for snapping these pics, and to the sweet Lisa of Pen and Ink! Your work is incredible!

Julia and James’ Scrumptious Florals, Part 2

My favorite detail from Julia and James’ wedding was the cake table.  When the cake delivery man arrived, an inspired Angel said “What if you just put the cake on top of some books?” He thought it was a little strange, but he did, and it looked perfect!

We saved some of my favorite flowers for the simple white cake- delicate hyacinth and tuberrose, craspedia, coral colored anenomes, and dusty miller to name a few.

A closeup of the book page hurricanes. This one was a lovely English poem.

Here’s me and my assistant looking very serious and intense as we decorate! I have to hold my breath whenever I put flowers on the cake. It’s stressful! One little bump with your elbow and you’ve blown it!

Here’s me and Angel celebrating another fabulous 2009 wedding! Thanks for the iced soy chai, Angel!

The TPetal and Love and Splendor gals: Montita, Shana, Myself, Angel, and Anna.

And my amazing husband Joe, who accompanies me on almost every wedding to be my moral support and do the heavy lifting.

Thanks again to my cousin Jason for snapping pics of the florals- you are awesome.

Stay tuned for instructions on how to create your own mercury glass vessels and book page hurricanes!

Julia and James’ Scrumptious Florals, Part 1

Back in my UC Berkeley days, Angel and I would often escape to Mondo Gelato (now called Gelateria Naia) to indulge in rose flavored gelato. I clearly remember it’s delicate flavor, aroma, and perfect bubble gum pink color… if love had a flavor, it would be rose gelato. So when Angel, wedding planner extraordinaire, used such terms as “rose gelato”, “pink grapefruit juice”, and “lemonade” to describe Julia and James’ wedding colors, I knew this would be a sweet affair! Pair those bright colors with cool grey, and we had the perfect color palette.

Julia and James were so mellow and open to ideas. The decor would be charming, whimsical, and unique, aka Martha Stewart approved Both Julia and James are writers, so they wanted to creatively incorporate books and writing into the decor wherever possible.

After meeting up with them, I sketched out a few ideas for their centerpieces:

The sketches, although rough, were exactly what Julia had in mind. Mercury glass containers would overflow with fluffy, scrumptious flowers, including roses, ranunculus, stock, acacia, and more. Those yellow balls on a stick represent billy balls, or craspedia. They remind me of those big lolly pops everyone used to sell for high school fundraisers that taste like nothing. Remember those?

Without further adieu, some beautiful images, courtesy of my cousin Jason (my talented web designer!) who tagged along to snap all the girly details!

Jason was in the right place at the right time, and was able to take a few quick pictures of the radiant bride right before she walked down the aisle!

White peonies, yellow peony tulips, tuberrose blossoms, ranunculus and sweetpeas wrapped in lace.

The bridesmaids’ colorful bouquets just popped against their demure gray dresses.

Parrot tulips, anenomes, roses, craspedia, sweet peas, ranunculus, and velvety dusty miller all tied together with a bubble gum pink ribbon.

There was no shortage of cute kiddos in this wedding:

The beautiful Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pasadena needed little adornment, just some cheerful, springy florals along the aisle.

At the Westin Pasadena, guests were greeted by this charming escort card display:

Angel of Love and Splendor gathered different shaped galvanized trays and filled them with watermelon sour ball candies- the perfect bed for those beautiful escort cards. I snuck a few candies and they were delightful

Bud vases filled with various spring flowers added even more color and whimsy to the table.

We also prettified the gift table with mercury glass hurricanes and florals.

Mercury glass bowls contained lush arrangements of florals, acacia (the tiny yellow pom poms that grow abundantly on trees in early spring) and fuzzy geranium leaves. The arrangements were so soft to the touch.

Some tables had clusters of 3 unique mercury glass vessels. If you’re wondering about the hurricane candles, they are decorated with pages and images from old books (love stories, poetry, etc.), as a nod to Julia and James’ love of literature. I actually took the page below from one of my childhood favorites, Little Women.

Another ode to literature- the table numbers created by Angel herself!

The sweetheart table was decked out with beautiful candles, florals and old books:

Have I showered you with enough sugary sweet florals for one day? Wouldn’t want to give you a toothache Check back later for Part 2 which will showcase my favorite detail – the incredible CAKE TABLE!!!