ST Regis Monarch Beach wedding

My lovely couple were actually runners up in a competition to have a free wedding at the St Regis. At first I guess they were disappointed they did not win, but as I pointed out to them, now they get to pick/choose and make all decisions themselves and have their wedding, and they did, it all turned out so great. So pleased.

The couple lives in San Diego but come from the east coast and all the guests/family came from that area to, and S Ca gave them our normal wonderful summer time experience by the coast.

Thanks to Tony Florez for the pics above, always cool/calm on a wedding day, and of course to Kelly O’dell and the banquet/setup team at the St Regis, love love being there/working alongside them all. The other vendors I knew would be a perfect match for Cheryl and they were: Florals/Elegant by Design, Karla, Dove Release/White Flite, Pamla (does the best releases out there), Video/Vantage Point, Steve, Design Visage for keeping everyone looking be ut i ful all day/night, Fusion for the dancefloor, linens/chivairs, Jessica and the inhouse av team for the uplights and perfect cake pinspot.

Till next time
Lisa
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Add a comment November 29, 2013

Hmmm, small world

While everyone was dancing/having a great time at the wedding here in S CA, I took a minute and looked through their engagement book the guests were signing. Bride was from USA/Idaho, Groom was from Scotland, they now live in Dubai, they met in a pub in London, Sherlock Holmes. I am from New Zealand, I have also been to that pub and it was around the time they were there. How’s that for small world/fate, 8 points of contact theory or whatever it is. Yikes.

Till next time
Lisa

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Add a comment November 27, 2013

Ritz-Carlton Dana Point richness

This couple booked me for a smaller service, and when their service began I was suprised to see how many vendors they had on board providing so many of the elements that it took to achieve this beautiful celebration, but the one they did not have was a florist, still, this close to the wedding. I asked why, and found out they had met with a large number of florists but my bride did not feel any of them ‘got it’.
I immediately knew who they needed, it was Square Root, so off we went to meet with them and of course they secured them, because ‘they got it’.
All turned out fabulously, but a small tip, I am not a fan of vendors that combine services, such a video/photo, florals/invites, djs/lighting etc I always have to wonder which is their passion and which is the element that actually pays their bills which could become their focus, but when it comes to a complete look, when you have many companies providing linens/chairs/dancefloor/furniture/rental prop items etc, you are paying delivery/setup/pickup fees to each of these companies, and this is one time where a floral designer is likely to have in inventory a lot of these items also and you can do a one stop shop, which always makes the floral designer happy as they feel it gives a cohesive feel in all aspects of the look/decor/floral. With this wedding Square Root could have provided everything this couple needed and not only saved them money, but saved them a lot of time and frustration (as some of their vendors were not familiar with the hotel and had to get liability insurance and you could tell were out of their element, the groom admitted he found most of these vendors online), one of their vendors actually hit them with quite a lot of extra charges the week of the wedding when they realised they didn’t have all day to setup so they needed to bring extra bodies in and did not realise how large the property is and load in and out was not direct so added labor for that as well as other things that were just amazing to me, but my couples hands were tied> Some of their contracts had a 30 day out no changes policy so even trying to tweak the contract down to minimum items to cover monies paid and start to move things to Square Root for a more cohesive look, was not an option.

The wonderful suprise vendor, was their photographer, my old pal Victor Sizemore. We had worked together a lot in the mid 2000s and then he moved to LA and then out of state (even though he flies in for weddings all the time) and we just drifted apart. So, yes, they had found him on line, had no idea where he lived, but loved his work and booked him. It was so great to see him again and work with him, hope to do that many more times in the future now.

Thanks of course to Square Root, Alex as always a blast to work with and have around during setup and he stepped in and fixed some elements provided by one of the vendors (who thought what they had was aok) but it was not up to Alex’s standards and he went over and above to ensure everything was Square Root quality/look in the end. The team at the Ritz of course, my home away from home for the past 12 years.

A note here, no sofreh lady was involved in the creation of this sofreh. The bride has really great taste and she wanted to provide elements that meant something to her and actually put the sofreh together herself as it was that personal to her. So the groom and bride chose to do this together and we gave them time earlier in the day to be able to do that, then go and start getting ready.

I really enjoyed this couple, she was so sweet and cute/pretty, and our groom was just so in love with her, the way he always looked at her melted my heart. I am so pleased they ended up with such a beautiful celebration to look back on.

Till next time
Lisa
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Add a comment November 24, 2013

Another Thank you note, yay

Just emptied the PO Box and got a lovely card, which has a photo of my lovely couple on the front, that says, Thank you with love and thanks, and on the back in her handwriting ……….

Lisa, Thank you so much for helping us plan our wedding. We were so pleasantly suprised at how amazing the day was and how smooth and stress-free it was for us. Thanks so much! Regards, Noelle & Jeff

Till next time
Lisa

http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com
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Add a comment November 23, 2013

St Regis Monarch Beach wedding

Noelle was probably the most efficient bride I have ever had. She was on top of things before she needed to be and when I gave her tasks they were done in minutes. Great couple and a really intimate group that came to celebrate with them. They went over and above with the food/beverage selections, lucky guests, in fact so much so, the St Regis Executive Chef came down to Club 19 to handle/oversee the dish up himself!!!

We pulled together the perfect vendor team for their celebration, thanks to http://www.jamesjohnsonphotography.com for the pics below (love working with James, he does a lot of movie/LA peeps weddings, so always love it when I can pull him down to the OC), Keith Laverty for the floral design, Fusion for the furniture/linens/chaircovers (yes another bride for me this year that loved the material look as opposed to the chivari), Peter/Vive Ent for the mceeing and dancing/party music, lovely Linda Trott for her always wonderful way she does a ceremony, and the last vendor we had was a flamenco guitarist (like me they love everything spanish and had their honeymoon in Barcelona, where I had been back to only a few months earlier) who played pre ceremony, flamenco for the ceremony songs, cocktail time and most of dinner, I loved it. Giving their celebration such a relaxing, special feel. The relaxing I know was their main goal, and it was achieved.

As always, thanks to Kelly and the team at St Regis, they are such a pleasure to work alongside, we all have the same goals, an event the B&G will treasure forever and the guests will remember.

Till next time
Lisa
http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com
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Add a comment November 22, 2013

Terranea Resort

Here in S Ca we wedding planners are very lucky to work at some of the top 5 star/5 diamond hotels/resorts in the world, and people spend a lot of money to come from all around the world to enjoy these locations, but we tend to not take the time or get to do that ourselves, so it was time……

I had a window mid summer during the week, so spent 30 hours at Terranea and felt like I had been away for a week. OUr room was lovely and was on the ground level so our patio opened right onto the grass which was great for access to get around. We watched the sunset with a drink in hand at the restaurant that is on the cliff and an added bonus in the summer is a pop up barbeque/picnic style bench area right next door that has live music. A lot of locals walk through that area with their dogs for their evening walk and some even stopped for a glass of wine/to watch the sunset etc. There was a large firepit with rocking chairs etc around it, and it was fun seeing people chatting/interacting that when they first sat down did not know each other. We then went over and had dinner at the large restaurant on the other side of property by the pool, the food was delicious. We sat outside and on a lovely summer evening didn’t really need the heat lamps but they did make it comfortable to where it was hard to leave when we were done. We saw through facebook that some friends were also at the resort, so private messaged them, then met them up after dinner on the upper terrace and had a night cap infront of the lovely fireplace up there.
Next day, a lazy morning, went and got breakfast at the spa and enjoyed it sitting on a chaise looking out over the Pacific, so lovely. Then made our way to the adult pool closer to the ocean on the other side of property and spent the rest of that day there until 5pm, having lunch and cocktails and just enjoying the view, when it was time to head south and home.

If you are looking for a taste of an Italian getaway without going to Italy, this is the place for you. And it’s not a half bad place to celebrate your wedding at either!!!

Fabulous time
Till next time
Lisa

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Add a comment November 21, 2013

Hyatt Huntington Beach celebration

It was such a pleasure to do/be a part of this celebration, the groom was a brother of a bride I had done her wedding with last year, and that bride was a friend of a bride I had done the year before, and it looks like I may be doing another friends wedding next year, love it. So not only was this a great way to see past brides and catch up with them, I was suprised to have one of my past brides I did not realise even knew this family be in attendance at the wedding, how fabulous was that, 3 of my past brides in attendance, and I just loved the parents of the groom so seeing them again and working with them was really nice.

Thanks to Lin and Jirsa for the pics above.

Till next time
Lisa
http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com
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Add a comment November 20, 2013

Balboa Bay Club/Resort – Newport Beach

Things are changing at the Balboa Bay Club, even the name, as the property is now called the Balboa Bay Resort.

I liked the way it was/felt, it did have the feeling of an exclusive yacht club, and the view of multi million dollar yachts infront only helped, but for a lot of todays brides it was not what they were looking for and a lot of people thought it was an exclusive club and never considered it for their events. I will mention though, I think a lot of people don’t realise they have a large ballroom that still has lovely chandeliers in it, which you don’t get to see too often anymore in the more modern ballrooms, so that is one case where keeping the old is going to be a plus for some couples looking for that kind of elegance.

I did two weddings at the club this year. Both got married at churches and we did the cocktails/dinner/dance in the Commodore Room/Patio for both. I used the space a bit differently than the hotel normally saw people doing, and I was really pleased with how they turned out. They were great to work with and the food was excellent.

So what is changing going into 2014, the restaurant areas are all being updated, definately a more modern/contemporary feel and definately places you want to linger in after a great meal. They have turned a restaurant on the 2nd floor into banquet space, giving a wedding of 100 or less a wonderful view of the boats and Newport Harbor which for an evening wedding really gives the best of the harbor in daytime then enjoy the sunset and then the change in atmosphere once it’s all about the darkness and lights outside. They have a lovely ceremony site which has the yachts/water as your backdrop and they also have a beach/sand option dependent on day/times. Something I also found out that I think is really unique and fun, after the ceremony/photos are done, the B&G only or B&G with bridal party get to head out on the harbor in the resorts duffy boat drinking champagne and enjoying the time alone or fun of it, imagine if your photographer goes with you the photos they could get.

I can help you plan a great ceremony/reception or reception only at the new Balboa Bay Resort, so give me a call or email and we can get things started.

Till next time
Lisa

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Add a comment November 19, 2013

Elegant St Regis Monarch Beach wedding

Had a lot of fun with this bride and groom in the planning months, and her mom!!!

When they booked me they already had the St Regis booked and the key vendors on board but wanted me to take them through the planning months and keep them on track with what needed to be done and when, and as we went along we finessed the total look. I was able to direct her to the two vendors that really pulled the vision together/gave it the wow factor needed to tie everything together, the draping and backdrop for their sheart-headtable area and their ceremony rotunda, the dancefloor, chivaris and white south beach looking furniture we had outside in a ‘lounge’ area. Think you will agree when you see the pics below it turned out fabulously.

Remember I said we had a lot of fun, these vendors they had participating in their event reflect that, steel drums for cocktails, not just one but a duo, caricature artists for cocktail time and then one during the dancing-end time, and cigar guys for after dinner in the lounge area. Oh and I said mom was fun too, she showed up with toilet rolls that had their names on them and a wedding/marriage cutesy design, LOVED IT. Those went right into the bathrooms and I am sure got a lot of laughs, I didn’t stay in there to find out!!!!

Thanks to Lin and Jirsa for the photos above. And of course to the St Regis Monarch Beach team.

Till next time
Lisa
http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com
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714 305 7112

Add a comment November 17, 2013

November Thank Yous

Thank you so much!! Everything was perfect.
Thank you
Nichole

I am in the Hong Kong airport. Everything was amazing thanks to you. Thank you so much for sheltering us from the placecard/seating chart chaos, we wouldn’t have known there was a problem. In fact my groom still doesn’t know. I jsut know you worked some magic and I am so glad we had you there to pull it off. I am still reeling over how beautiful everything was.
Everyone has said it was the best wedding they have ever been to and we have been singing your praises since. My Maid of honor is definately using you as her planner as soon as she finds a man. She wants to know if you also match make.
It was so fabulous. Thank you so much, I have an event mid-March I want your help on. Thanks again. Kendi

Till next time
Lisa
http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com
http://www.pinterest.com/lisasimpsonwdgs
instagram lisasimpsonweddings
714 305 7112

Add a comment November 16, 2013