Ritz-Carlton Sunset Terrace/Plaza wedding

We loved working with our bride for this more intimate celebration.  She was a very busy working woman and definitely needed me to help her pull the vendor team together that fit with her budget and vision/style.  So as well as our fabulous partners at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna, we had Dj Al, Flowers by Karen, Naples Strings for ceremony&cocktails, Design Visage for hair/makeup, Tony Florez for photography-thanks for the pics, and Teri there on the day to oversee/run the event.

Everyone knows I love a white glossy/seamless round dancefloor, finally found a smaller one for Plaza and looks like the guests had used/messed up the cushions on the benches!! lol

Till next time

Lisa

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Add a comment November 3, 2016

Hyatt Huntington Beach

Interesting trend now of couples choosing hotels for their weddings but using the spaces differently or getting creative with the spaces.  Julia did this exact thing by using a traditional ceremony site but then doing dinner/dancing at the Red Chair Lounge a more casual/loungy vibe space.

The palm tree pic I took  as sunset was happening, and the rest of the pics are courtesy of Tony Florez, always great to see/work with him.  I loved the colors and the modern tight look Julia went with and that Karen’s Flowers pulled off.  DJ Mister Bill was right on with his music throughout the dancing portion, and Naples provided elegant strings for the Huntington Beach/Pacific Ocean backdrop ceremony

There were 2 cakes, the soda can and the donut were both personal and the guests all got it, and a trend that has been big this season, a small cake for the traditional cutting but cupcakes for the guests to actually eat.  The sweetheart table and we had to go with a more traditional napkin fold (which my brides know I am not a fan of) but there was a wee breeze and the rental napkins were satiny and could not hang off the table without sliding right on off, lol. We love intimate weddings!!

Till next time

Lisa

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lisa@lisasimpsonweddings.com

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Add a comment October 16, 2016

The Caribbean comes to Laguna Beach/Dana Point

Loved my time with Natasha and Jim from beginning to end.  We pulled together an awesome vendor team and everything turned out fabulously.  Colors, deep blue and bright orange, Natasha told me, and that is what we did, right through to the blue dancefloor.

Natasha is from Jamaica and a lot of the guests were from the islands and other places, so we really wanted to bring her heritage to the celebration. Plus she referred to herself and I called her, our Caribbean queen. Look at the back of her fabulous gown and the bouquet her friend made for her.  Yes, she is a bling bling girl, as you will see!

Melissa of Flowers by Cina nailed the Caribbean tropical look, must be because like me she spends a lot of time in the Caribbean and loves it.  Look at our beautiful linens for the sweetheart and cake tables from La Tavola, did we say bling bling, and our B&G chairs from Monico Décor as always.

B&G should always look at something pretty if a band stage is no opposite them, cake meet sweetheart table, sweetheart table meet cake, and inbetween we had a magnificent round blue dancefloor with their initials in silver, another fine job by TMMPRO

Doesn’t the ceremony site look awesome, oh and that Pacific Ocean backdrop worked out well too!!

View of the sweetheart table before the lights got dimmed and the uplights went on

Different views from the sweetheart table, cake and other areas.

As always it takes a team, I have already mentioned a couple prior, but here are more.  tony Florez photography, some of the pics above are his and the bad ones are mine, lol.  Shane Productions/video, xoxoxo.  Uncle Larry was the officiant.  For music, we had strings for the ceremony, Naples Chamber Music xoxoxoxo, for cocktails we had 2 steeldrummers from Essence Entertainment, and for mceeing and dinner/dancing we had Dj David Krieger.  Linens/napkins/chiavaris were from Chiavari chair rentals, and of course, our family at the Ritz-Carlton Dana Point worked with us to ensure a great time was had by the couple in the planning months and on the day, as well as a great experience for all the guests.

Till next time

Lisa

http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com

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Add a comment September 26, 2016

Church and Island Hotel celebration

Brian and Rona picked a church in downtown Los Angeles and a hotel in the OC for their wedding reception, so a lot of driving for everyone but worth it, we had a great celebration for this great couple.  The churches in LA are so ornate but we enhanced this one a bit more, Rona wanted the outside entrance doors prettied up, and navy was their color so I suggested that we get a custom runner for the church and Brian made that his task and it turned out great.

Then the fabulous looking ballroom at the Island Hotel

We had a martini ice luge, and used it to showcase the blue again. Great job as always, Dan at Carving Ice.

Don’t see caketops that much anymore, I really loved this one.

This cake picture was before the lights were dimmed, further up is the pic as the guests saw the cake/room, quite a bit different!!

Lighting does make the difference.

Details! And my fave napkin fold this season.  Rona and Brian were great and trusting of me guiding them to the right vendors for their style and budget.  Florals/Elegant by Design, Photo/Tony Florez (thanks for the pics), Design Visage for bridal beauty, Jeff Holmes/Moondance Mobile Music-dj, Shane Productions/video, ALS for transportation, Veronika/belly dancer, Monico Rentals/linens and chiavaris, and my pal TMMPRO for our beautiful dancefloor.  Last but not least, Kelly and the team at Island Hotel, awesome to work with, and Miss Kelly folded and placed every napkin in the room this night!!

Till next time

Lisa

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Add a comment August 15, 2016

Hyatt HB destination wedding

Kalena wanted an informal cape code feel family wedding celebration, everyone including the bride and groom were coming in from other states and as they were already married it was a good excuse to get everyone together in one place to vacation together.

There was no ceremony, just the party.  Thanks to Tony Florez for getting group pics for everyone to remember the trip by as well as some nice romantics of the B&G around the hotel.  To Jeff Holmes/dj for keeping that dancefloor floor, this group liked to party.  To Karla/Elegant By Design for understanding the vision and bringing it to a reality, and we got runners and napkins from Monico Décor, and to Courtney and the team at Hyatt HB for as always helping us ensure everyone leaves an event saying it was the best ever!!

Till tomorrow

Lisa

http://www.lisasimpsonweddings.com

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Add a comment February 10, 2016

Balboa Bay Resort-Newport Beach

My lovely Stacy,so enjoyed helping pull her vendor team and vision together, just a lovely special person.  Unfortunately it was raining on her day, that doesn’t happen to me very often, but the weird thing is, when it does we all agree in the end the backup we did ended up looking better than we think the original plan would have!!  Is that fate stepping in again??!!  The ceremony was supposed to be held on the Fountain Patio which I never really liked because there is an exercise room with people in it working out on one side and no blinds, the view above the wall/backdrop to the ceremony is the hotel building, but the neither of the harbor view sites were available so she booked it, but on the good side she was one of the first weddings in the upstairs room that was a restaurant that got turned into banquet space now called the Bayview Room, great views, great dancefloor area already in there and you feel alone up there not in the middle of a busy hotel.

So 1 hour before the wedding the rain just came down, it did stop but by then the ceremony tile area was going to be wet and slippery and I just felt dangerous for everyone, so I ran around the hotel trying to find a room or area that was covered, in case the rain came again, but also with a view or nice backdrop, the banquet room the hotel had as a backup wasn’t doing it for me.  I found an outside cocktail area to the ballroom which due to no event in the ballroom could be used, and the ballroom had beautiful chandeliers/high ceiling so we set chairs in there also to give a cathedral kind of feel, and I took the bride down to both areas so she could decide where she wanted to get married, I felt good about both.  She picked the outside cocktail area, we then used the comfy banquet chairs instead of the white folding chairs to give a warmer feel and set it up.  It turned out aok, the other wedding that was there stayed outside and the guests got wet!!  When the ceremony ended and the bridal party had exited, I gave the signal and the mariachis started playing and they then led the guests through the hotel up the stairs to the balcony where the cocktails were going to be, everyone was smiling as they followed.

Stacy wanted all low centerpieces and karla/Elegant by Design did a great job in making them lush, as well as working with us while we waited to work out where the ceremony was going to be.  The silver and white palette looked great in this room, it really is a pretty/friendly room.  We had the dining all on the carpeted area and the dancefloor was the area infront of the inside bar, giving lots of space and making the dining portion seem more intimate/everyone together.  Thanks to Tony Florez/photography, Susanna/Fine Art for another work of art cake, Harpist through Essence Entertainment, and of course Jeff/Moondance Mobile music/dj-always good working with him, rentals through Monico Décor.

Till tomorrow

Lisa

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Add a comment January 17, 2016

St Regis Monarch Beach celebration

So many lovely details for this wedding.  I had done Rasha’s sisters wedding at the St Regis a couple of years earlier, so it was lovely to see the family again.  Believe it or not the bride’s brother in law (my past groom) did the basket weave design on the B&G chairs!

Flower Allie did a wonderful job with the florals.  A floral wall behind the sheart table.  I loved the gold vases for the tall centerpieces and the tall floral/vase for the placecard table piece.

The groom shopped around and around for the ‘right’ food truck and found ‘The Burnt Truck’, their names go on the truck and the food was really good and a variety of options which you normally don’t get for a wedding food truck.  Good job Ramy

One of my fave things for 2014 and 2015 was a round dancefloor, and I love that the grooms seem to really like it too.

Thanks to Tony Florez for the photos and for always being a pro to work with, and to the team at St Regis, Marissa in catering and the awesome peeps on the banquet floor, I love how we all work together and enjoy working together, that is one huge benefit to the wedding experience that people don’t realize.

Till next time

Lisa

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Add a comment January 9, 2016

Sunset Terrace & Plaza Room, Ritz-Carlton, Laguna

Cathy’s wedding was my first for 2015 and she got such a beautiful day in January and look at her ceremony backdrop, awesome.  They were planning everything from Washington DC, so you can imagine how happy they and everyone were to leave cold/snowy east coast and enjoy our everyday sunny/warm weather, no matter what time of year, lol.

Cathy had an idea for how she wanted the table setup in Plaza Room, but guest count had to be at a certain level for it to work, she finally got there and we were able to make it work and it turned out great.  We had fun pulling her vendor team together and the vision, and it was a great celebration.  Thanks to my vendor peeps: Father Brian, Design Visage for beautifying the lovely ladies, Keith Lavery/floral designer who got it and made it happen, Naples Strings/cere&cocktails, my fave band who always work with the little space they are sometimes given to setup and play in and in this setup the guests danced on the other side of the table from them, Full Spectrum/Adam, muah!!! Monico Décor for the rentals, Tony Florez for always being so easy to get along with, and to my peeps at the Ritz who have been my work family for the past 15 years and make 5 star events happen easily.

Till tomorrow

Lisa

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Add a comment December 8, 2015

Sunset Terrace/Plaza Room-Ritz Laguna

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Here’s a fun wedding we did this year.  Black/white/feathers were the priorities for the reception, and letting the ocean backdrop shine for the ceremony.  All easy to do when you pick a beautiful location such as the Ritz-Carlton Laguna to have your celebration at.

Thanks to Tony Florez for the pics, Elegant by Design/Karla for bringing the floral look to reality, Design Visage for enhancing everyone’s beauty, Jeff/Moondance Dj, Chiavari Chair Rentals and Monico Décor for the rentals, and as always, our friends at the Ritz for always helping us pull off a five star celebration.

Till next time

Lisa

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Add a comment December 1, 2015

Grand Ballroom Ritz Carlton Laguna wedding

Well finally I blog my fabulous Holly and her fabulous wedding.

Holly and Michael got married at their church.  I have done a few weddings for couples from this church, some I attend the church on the day and get them up the aisle and some I don’t.  With Holly she customized her service option so I came to the hotel earlier in the day to ensure she was having a nice morning and on track with getting ready, got them off to the church and I headed to the church, got everyone up the aisle, then back to the hotel I went to ensure setup was still coming along fabulously.  Lovely Teri was at the church and kept everything on track from there until they got back to the Ritz.

I really enjoyed the process with these two.  Holly had great taste and was very resourceful in sourcing the detail items she wanted for pricing I was amazed by, you go girl.  She was up for mixing up the layout/look of the room which I always love to do.  There was only one decorator/florist who was going to be able to pull their vision off and that was my friends at Square Root who gave way more than was paid for, because that is what vendors do you have great relationships with and who want to be part of a great celebration. We had some great corner seating areas with decaled mirrors/candles/cushions.  Design Visage beautified Holly and everyone else (she had such great bridesmaids, fun and supportive, loved them) and Holly loved DV so much she is now a regular customer for her normal hair/makeup needs!!  Michael wanted only two things, a ‘tree style’ centerpiece and a martini luge, he got both.  Thanks to Ice Bulb for the luge, fabulous as always.  They wanted a more interactive dj style, so Invisible Touch was the obvious choice and they also did the lighting.  Monico Décor for the rentals, Tony Florez and thanks for the photos as always, and to our fabulous team mates at the Ritz-Carlton.  We are so lucky we get to work with great vendor teams and hotel staff, and wonderful wonderful couples.

Till tomorrow

Lisa

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Add a comment June 16, 2015