Time lapse video – Ritz Carlton wedding

So here is something fun and different, this time lapse is only 30 seconds long but it covers around 6 hours of setup. I love it.

Ritz Carlton wedding reception time lapse video from Ashley Media on Vimeo.

Kudos to Marc Lehman/The Emotion Picture Studio.

Till next time
Lisa

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Add a comment April 14, 2014

St Regis/Ritz-Carlton Laguna combo celebration

Well as you can probably guess, I hear a lot of really good stories on how couples met/got engaged etc, and I love hearing them. Mine involved meeting in a bar in a country I was not from and him following me back to NZ, and a ring in a box of my fave chocolates which was in the fridge, and 27 years later we are still married!! Exciting, fabulous, not really, but it’s my story so it is endearing.

Well the wedding you see the pics from below, is what I would call a fabulous story, kept me on the edge of my chair, and our planning process was even exciting, as it involved three way calls with me, the bride at the Pentagon and the groom on base in Afganistan!!!! Can’t reference their names or I would have to kill you (lol), but the bride was flown in to a base in the war zone for a meeting and the groom happened to be their consulting for the US government, a friend of the grooms happened to take a pic on his phone of them from a distance as they were meeting which is really cool, because at that time, no one had any idea what was going to happen in the future. The chemistry in this photo is incredible, she looks like Laura/Tomb Warrior (or whatever that Angelina character was) and he is just a really good looking, debonair English gentleman, that all the vendors and hotel staff feel in love with, believe me if this wedding wasn’t going to work out, there was a line of woman ready!!! So a long distance relationship started, with rendevouz in various parts of the world, India, Morocco, Scotland, I mean this is a fabulous story, and it ended up with the three of us coming together (everything is fate) to help plan two very special events to celebrate them finding each other.

So to find a location was pretty easy, her parents and some family live in the OC, but there were friends and his family flying in from all around the world, so no brainer, the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel it must be with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop, but we needed to do a pre-event celebration where everyone would get to meet for the first time, well ……….. I do this quite a bit and it is so fabulous, we have two 5 star/5 diamond hotels within a mile of each other, different ambiances/views etc, so of course the pre-event needed to be at the St Regis, but do we do the wine cellar (which is awesome) or a smaller banquet room that has a balcony that looks out across property, well, as luck will have it, and how often does this happen, Club 19 was available on a Sat night in the middle of the season (great for my couple but not for someone else, if you get my jist) and we got it. So the best venues at both locations were ours for a group of our size, check!

The pre-event was the grooms, he wanted a Raffles/Singapore type feel without going over the top in spending as he did not want to take away from the actual wedding event. Having been to Raffles myself, I knew exactly the feel he was looking for (it’s a very English/downunder thing, the whole Raffles/Singapore thing), so I called in Keith Laverty/floral designer who I knew would get it and could pull it off, and then be able to come up with something that would be fabulous for the Sunday day time wedding at the Ritz. As you can see below, he did a great job, and they were soooo happy. Pulling these two events together with the bride and groom and the three of us in three different parts of the country/world was not a problem, I actually do it a lot with the couple in one part of the country or world and me here, and sometimes we are in different parts of the country and the wedding is in a totally different part of the country, so thanks to technology, email, websites, etc, it’s so much easier now than it ever was years ago, which is why years ago intimate/un local weddings had to have so much time for planning.

For the Sat night pre-event, we had my fave band/Full Spectrum playing, and they danced and danced (Teri oversaw that event as I was doing a wedding elsewhere), for the wedding day we had my fave dj/Peter of Vive Ent, Katie Clark did the photography for both events, Fusion Decor supplied the linens/chairs/furniture etc for both events. We had Naples Chamber Ensemble for the cere/cocktails on the wedding day, we had a Catholic style ceremony with Father Brian, Design Visage had my bride looking fabulous for both events. My teams/family at each hotel from the office to the staff on the day helping us orchestrate both events, as always did a top-notch job, as you would expect, never have to worry about the food or service with both of those hotels.

For the Sat night event, we had everyone at the one table on the outdoor feeling dining patio at Club 19, and on the Sunday lunch wedding, we were inside the more formal/yet not stuffy Plaza room with a chandelier and fireplace and had everyone at rounds and the B&G at a sweetheart table. So between the music, room layouts, floral look/feel, we were able to create two very different events, and everyone loved both of them. Great, great compliments from everyone, including two beautiful letters, one from the bride and one from the groom, afterwards.

Till next time
Lisa

http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com
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Add a comment April 12, 2014

The Center Club, Costa Mesa

Well!! I had not been in the Center Club in probably 5 years, more so because I knew how it had been/was, not aware there had been a ton of money put into it, so was I pleased to get the chance to have lunch and a tour around.

This place is now very hip/cool, and you can either have the run of house (depending on the day/time you are looking for), or use the normal areas designated for ceremony/cocktails and then dining/dancing, and they are all fabulous. I was really impressed/suprised, and their wedding packages are reasonably priced with the normal inclusions you would need and of course the ability to spend more/upgrade etc.

From their arrival at the valet at the top of the stairs, just across from the Performing Arts Center, to feeling quite special being at this private club, to the excellent food, your guests will remember your celebration for sure and compare the weddings they attended before or after to yours, with yours being the standard for the others to strive to be close to.

I would love to help/plan your wedding ceremony and reception, or if you are getting married in a church, your reception, at this really great location.

Till next time
Lisa
http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com
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Add a comment April 11, 2014

St Regis wedding

This was a fun wedding towards the end of last season. We started off with the normal more calm wedding colors, then mom of the groom attended our first meeting with the florist and felt we needed a pop, and my cool/hip couple were all for it, and we ended up with this fabulously bright wedding, with an edge to the look/feel and some cool elements, like the macaroon ‘store’ that the groom suprised the bride with, at cocktails, and the 100 dove release at the end of the ceremony that was a suprise to the guests.

Fabulous job by Bloombox with the ombre look, linens by La Tavola (I had used the sequin one a couple of months earlier and knew it would be perfect for the direction we were heading in), Cloak Photo for rolling with the flow (and thanks for the pics used in this post), Wendy my fave harpist for the cere/cocktails, White Flite for as always pulling off an awesome dove release, A Wish and a Wisk for the fabulous cake that matched the colors/feel we went for, and last but not least, my team/family at the St Regis – can’t do it without you.

Till next time
Lisa

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714 305 7112
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Add a comment April 10, 2014

Pacific Club Wedding

If you are wanting an exclusive feeling location that has a great feel to it but don’t want a hotel, then the Pacific Club in Newport Beach may be perfect for you.

Whether getting married in a church and coming to the Club to have the reception in the lovely dining room with the floor to ceiling windows with a view of the lake, or get married lakeside and then come in for the reception in the room overlooking where the ceremony was earlier, your guests will enjoy being here and remember your wedding as it enabled them to come and spend a few hours at this private club.

They are running a special right now that covers the normal/necessary food/beverage items you would be offering to your guests for around $100 per person.

You must have a professional wedding co-ordinator in order to have your wedding celebration at the club, and I fulfil that criteria!!! lol So let’s get your wedding planned, call or email me.

Till next time
Lisa

http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com
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714 305 7112

Add a comment April 9, 2014

St Regis Monarch Beach Club 19 wedding

I am so lucky to do so many weddings at the unique Club 19 each year, and have done so from the day the hotel opened, so going on 12 years now. And as you can see each wedding is different, that is due to the different visions my brides have and the different vendors that are used. Love it

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

Add a comment April 8, 2014

Hyatt HB outside catering special

If you are a couple having an ethnic wedding where you need to use a caterer who can provide food that your guests expect/want, it used to be you had to find a banquet hall or location where you could bring that in and then have to deal with all the rentals of everything else, as hotels were not that open to outside caterers. Well times have changed, a lot of the 5 star hotels are now open to this and 4 star hotels like the Hyatt Huntington Beach are not only open to it, but offering incentives.

If you are wanting to get married between June 1 and August 31 and book between now and then, you will get the special per person price of $100++ that covers the normal tables/chairs/linens that the hotel has, china/silver, hotel dancefloor, and the incentive is right now a 4 hour fully stocked bar. That is a wonderful deal. You just have your ceremony site fee and caterer to pay over and above this.

I have done many weddings where we have had a chinese, Persian, Iranian and Indian caterer, and would love to help you with yours.

Give me a call and we can get this rolling and you can/will be married within the next 5 months!!
Till next time
Lisa

http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com
http://www.pinterest.com/lisasimpsonwdgs
instagram lisasimpsonweddings
714 305 7112
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Add a comment April 8, 2014

St. Regis Private Dining Room wedding

I have done a few weddings in this room which is located at one end of Motif Restaurant, and can be closed off. With each wedding we come up with more ways to make a celebration better, and I was really pleased with how this one ended up.

Ed and Jenn had an intimate group of family that would be coming with them and we had a great time pulling the vision/feel of the celebration together. The one thing they umed and haahed over was whether or not to do the full room draping. Well I think as you can see below it was a great decision to go with it. It totally transformed the room, and to be honest these pics don’t do it justice with just how beautiful it really looked and felt in there. So romantic and warm feeling, the candlelight really played off all the draping. Even the hotel staff that had been there for years when this picture was emailed to them could not work out where this room was, so bottom line, everyone including the B&G loved the end result.

We had a lovely ceremony at the Botanical Garden with a solo guitarist playing, followed by cocktails on the Motif balcony where the Pacific ocean could be seen in the distance, and then into the Motif Private Dining Room the guests went, oohing and aahing as they entered (and we used the inhouse music system for background music). Aaaah, that is why we do what we do, love it.

Thanks to Bob Ortiz for the photos and always being a great team player when it comes to the intimate celebrations (as well as big ones), Karla at Elegant By design for helping us pull the vision together and make it happen, Design Visage for always making my brides look fabulous from beginning to end, Father Brian for the great ceremony that included the Catholic/religious touches that were important to them, Fusion for the linens/draping/chivaris, and last but by no means least, our wonderful family/team at the St Regis.

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

Add a comment April 6, 2014

Hyatt HB booking incentives

Well it is that time of year when a lot of hotels look at their bookings and realise there are some openings they would like to see filled so …………….. that becomes your bonus with the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa’s Summer Lovin’ promotion.

Starting with a $10k F&B minimum you get to pick your upgrade, the higher your F&B minimum the more upgrades you get to add and these are all things you are likely to spend money on anyway, so it’s a win win, the upgrades are:
Chivaris or chair covers
Wine with dinner
A couples massage
50% discount of the in house company uplighting
Gold Passport Hyatt Points that equal one free night
Free night for your anniversary stay
A day pass for you two and your bridal party to enjoy the resort

So if looking for a location to have your wedding at between June 1 and August 31, this could be perfect for you.
I have been on their preferred vendor list from opening day of this fabulous resort, so know it inside and outside, and the hotel staff are old friends now, so let me help you have the perfect wedding celebration at a reasonably priced beachview OC location.

Till next time
Lisa

http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com
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instagram lisasimpsonweddings
714 305 7112
lisa@lisasimpsonweddings.com

with
Hyatt Huntington Beach Resort & Spa is no exception

Add a comment April 5, 2014

Hyatt Huntington Beach Wedding

Great job with the florals Karla of Elegant by Design, I especially loved the way the cake looked, those peonies were just glorious, and we also had a bit of fun with casino tables provided by Fusion for entertainment along with the dancing portion of the celebration.

Till next time
Lisa

http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com
http://www.pinterest.com/lisasimpsonwdgs
lisa@lisasimpsonweddings.com
Instagram lisasimpsonweddings
714 305 7112

Add a comment April 4, 2014