Richelle + Matthew’s Modern Whimsical Balloon-Filled Wedding (11*18*12)

Yet another 2012 wedding I have yet to share…  But I can’t just skip over it.  It’s so delicious.  So much fun!

I met Richelle for the first time at her venue; she said she was pretty convinced she wanted to hire me, so if it was ok with me we should meet there so we could brainstorm.  I think we talked for three hours (my normal “first meetings” are usually about one)!  She had some big ideas –  I mean, BIG ideas…  Balloons cascading down the side of the wall ideas.  But in the end we created just the wedding to make both Richelle and her husband Matthew smile, while interpreting some of her big ideas in a way that wouldn’t put too big a dent in their new home fund!

Richelle is, probably above everything else, FUN!  She loved the idea of incorporating balloons into her day, in a way that wouldn’t look cheesy, but would make a big impact.  She also insisted on having a cake, a doughnut cake, a chocolate fountain, and a sweets table.  If you follow my Pinterest, you’ll see that she’s my kind of girl. 😉

So we played.  And we played and we played.  I designed a custom stationery suite for her based on a rabbit figurine she loved.  We created an I Spy game.  We made a cocktail area inside the venue with sweets galore, comfy couches, and a photo booth.  Outside in the courtyard we decorated with twinkling lights and hung an installation under the pergola.

I will admit it: balloons are not my favorite wedding accessory.  They can look amazing.  They can also look tacky and strange.  I am pleased to say that despite the wind wrecking our first plan, I felt like the balloons we used at Richelle and Matt’s wedding were elegant, fun pops – get it? – of whimsy, just as they were intended to be. 🙂

Richelle + Matthew’s Modern Whimsical Balloon-Filled Wedding (11*18*12):

• Wedding Design + Coordination: Events by Elisa
• Stationery Design:  Paper Doll Design | Studio
• Sunday Romance Photography (now Stacy Alberto Photography)
• Catering: Encore Catering and Events
• Florals: Flowers by Coley
• Balloons: Balloon It, 3-2-1 Smile
• Cake: Ranch Events
• DJ: Unique Technique

Ana + Gina’s Colorful Rustic Handcrafted Wedding (07*14*12)

As you can see by the date in the blog title, I’m just slightly behind in sharing the weddings I’ve been working on. 😉  But in truth, I realized that I’d started this blog post a while back.  I was encouraged to publish it finally after last week’s marriage equality ruling.  And see?  I’m trying to keep my promise for moar!blogging!

Ana and Gina are one of my favorite couples.  They have such wonderful energy and chemistry, and I immediately liked them.  Mind you, I have a LOT of incredible couples that I like immediately – it’s something I am proud that I can say about just about everyone – but I still remember our first phone call.  Ana had just e-mailed me and set up a time to talk.  They lived in the Bay Area and couldn’t meet in person.  She hadn’t mentioned anything about Gina at all.  “My fiancé is here and wants to meet you too!” she said, as we were introducing ourselves on the phone.  I heard Gina’s voice, and my heart leapt.  It seems a bit silly now, but in 2011 marriage equality was still such an uphill battle.  I’d always wanted to do weddings for everyone, but you can’t really pick and choose your clients.  So I had to wait for someone to choose me.  I remember getting off that phone call and dancing around.  They liked me!  They really liked me!  And I liked them!  This was happening!

Over the next several months, we worked together on decor plans for their wedding.  We always had the most fun when we were together; it felt comfortable, like we had been friends for a long time.  The venue, Hidden Valley Retreat and Spa (which is no longer), was one where literally everything was do-it-yourself.  It was lovely, but challenging, especially given their tight budget, so we had to get creative!  You can see the results in the photos – lots of paper and streamers…  But it was so very lovely.  I’m so proud of the way their whole day looked!  I loved how colorful it was (they were inspired by a painting they loved), and how many fun details we were able to bring in.

On the wedding day, I had a team of four working from 10 am to 7:30 pm (when the reception was already starting, we were still finishing up the cake table that was, thankfully, in the other room), hanging lights and lanterns, setting up tables and chairs, doing table settings, putting together a DIY Photo Booth, and so much more.  We’d have been there sooner to get started, but we were running last-second errands for the wedding!  It is actually because of this wedding that I require additional assistants for venues that aren’t “set up” for weddings, since simply placing, setting up, and dressing tables for 60 guests took two of my staff several hours to complete!

At any rate, the wedding itself was incredible.  Happy and gorgeous couple, happy friends and family, heartfelt vows, beautiful decor, and a great party!  Kaysha Weiner took the most stunning photographs (more on my website).  It’s no wonder that Ana and Gina were featured on Equally Wed!

Ana + Gina’s Colorful Rustic Handcrafted Wedding (07*14*12)

• Wedding Design + Coordination: Events by Elisa
• Stationery: Paper Doll Design | Studio
• Photography: Kaysha Weiner Photography
• Cake: San Diego Desserts
• Cupcakes: Calculated Whisk
• Ceremony Music: Ocdamia Strings
• Reception Music: DJ Carmin Wong
• Hair and Makeup: Charlyn Sanchez

Stacy + Tyler’s Handcrafted Rustic Yellow Wedding

I feel a little silly writing this blog post.  You see, in the intervening year and a half since Stacy + Tyler’s wedding, SO MUCH has changed in their lives too (they welcomed a beautiful baby girl to their family!).  But still, I want to share the celebration, even though it’s taken me much too long to do it.  It was a truly beautiful one, and one I loved being a part of.  🙂  And I’m thrilled to say that one of their bridesmaids has just hired me for her wedding later this year!

Stacy + Tyler and I clicked right away.  Sometimes you meet a couple and think “Oh, they were nice, I wonder if they’ll hire me?”  And other times you walk away saying, “If they don’t hire me I’ll be soooo sad!”  Yup, it was the latter. 😉  Luckily they felt the same.  🙂  It helped that their AMAZING wedding photographer (Jenna, from FlutterGlass Photography) referred me to them, of course.  That’s why it’s so nice to have a great network – fantastic referrals! 🙂

I did their wedding Coordination and styling, and designed their program and a few hand-drawn signs.  But really, I just had a heck of a lot of fun with them.  🙂  And these photos?  Well, they really speak for themselves.  Just check them out and watch the story of their wedding day unfold!

Stacy + Tyler, I know this is a bit belated, but I loved being your wedding coordinator and I’m so thrilled you let me into your lives! 😉  Hoping we can get A and F together for a play date some time soon! 🙂

Stacy + Tyler’s Handcrafted Rustic Yellow Wedding Vendor Credits:

• Coordination and Hand-Drawn Signage: Events by Elisa
• Programs: Paper Doll Design | Studio
• Photography: flutter glass Photography
• Videography: Porcelain Rose Productions
• Floral Design: The Bee and the Bobbin Floral Artistry
• DJ/Musician: Invisible Touch DJs
• Catering/Rentals/Cake: Ranch Events

Belated Happy Anniversary, Michelle + Dave!

I have been SO busy lately, most notably dealing with an internet outage at home that really knocked me off my game (three weeks without internet = a VERY tough time getting anything done!).  My mobile data is almost used up for the month (I’ve never done that!!) and I’m thisclose to my maternity leave…  But I had to leave a little love note for Michelle + Dave, since it’s been a year since their wedding (their anniversary was Sunday)!

They found me on Yelp and hired me sight-unseen to plan their wedding for them, long distance, from Chicago.  From the minute we had our first phone call, I knew they were going to be the kind of clients planners always wish for; the kind that have their own mind about things (you’d be surprised how difficult it is to plan for someone who has no opinion!) but have lots of trust in the people they hire to do the best job they can.  We had so much fun planning and creating their wedding together, and assembled a dream team of vendors.  And THIS happened.

Yup.  Pure bliss.  Nothing makes a planner happier than to see her couple so happy that they don’t care who else sees them nuzzling. 🙂

This is another one of my favorite photos from their wedding:

Seriously?  When the groom tears up seeing his bride coming down the aisle?  This planner melts.  I was behind the bride, way in the background, and didn’t see this happening.  When I saw the photos later on, it took my breath away.  It’s also a great reminder that the First Look (which they had) does not spoil the Coming Down the Aisle.

You can see more photos and videos on my blog:

• The Ceremony
• The Details
• The Stationery
• The Reception
• The Video

And on my website Gallery.  You can also read what Michelle had to say about my services in my Happy Clients section!

I’m lucky enough to have been able to stay in their lives this year and I’m thrilled to say that things are going well for them – and I hope that next year we can celebrate their anniversary together, with our daughters! 😉

Michelle + Dave’s Classic Beach Wedding at La Jolla Shores Hotel Wedding Details:

• Venue: La Jolla Shores Hotel
• Planning, Design, Stationery, Styling: Events by Elisa
• Hair/Makeup: Audra Rene Studio
• Florals: Diane’s Flowers Please
• Linens: Classy Covers
• Lanterns: Concepts Event Design
• Cake: San Diego Desserts
• Cake Pops: Calculated Whisk
• Officiant: Rev. Christopher Tuttle
• DJ/Emcee/Lighting: Hit It Music Productions
• Videography: Porcelain Rose Productions
• Photography: Bryan N. Miller Photography

No, seriously… The Boho Glam Shoot was Featured AGAIN.

I’m flabbergasted.  Seriously.  I feel like Sally Field.  “You like me!  You really like me!!”  It’s hysterical.  This little shoot that Desiree of Penny Blooms Floral Design and I put together in a week…  The one where I dragged my sister in to be our model in the biting January wind (it doesn’t look like it but the poor thing was shivering!)…  The one where I designed the stationery suite in less than a day…  It’s been published again.

This time on Kiss My Tulle, where owner Cris commented specifically on Desiree’s fantastic purple painted horses (and here I was last year questioning her choice…  Not after I saw them, but I kept thinking before they were finished that they should be gold).  Yup.  They’re still gorgeous.

Yes, this makes six features for this one shoot.

I think I need to find an appropriate way to celebrate. 🙂  More photoshoots, anyone? 😉

My Enchanted Unicorn and Rainbow Birthday Party (Featured on Hostess With the Mostess!)

First of all, let me say how much of a thrill it is to be featured on Hostess With the Mostess…  And to see the great responses!  There are certain blogs I’ve been reading since I started my business…  Style Me Pretty, Every Last Detail, Hostess With the Mostess, Kara’s Party Ideas…  And I’ve been featured in them all over the last year.  Oh my, yes, do I feel blessed!  In this new year I look at what I accomplished over the last year and think, “I can hardly believe I did all that!”

This party is very near and dear to my heart.  It’s because it’s mine.  I decided last year that I hadn’t had a proper birthday party in a long time (although I had invited friends over when I first started my business to sort of play at setting up a party) and that it might be my last birthday before having a little one (and I found out a week later that I was, in fact, pregnant with the little one who has been repeatedly kicking my bladder this morning!).  So why not celebrate it with pretty things? 🙂

I also decided that I wanted to celebrate with rainbows and unicorns party because of this post.  An inspiration board I created way back when I officially started Events by Elisa (almost two years ago now!) that, for whatever reason, has been bringing people to my blog consistently every month.  It’s been one of my most popular posts and one of the most pinned photos from my blog on Pinterest (along with some pictures from Natalie’s Under the Sea Baby Shower…  By the way, Natalie is getting married today and I’m a bridesmaid!!!)!  I decided I had to do something with it.  My inner eight-year-old demanded it.

I gathered together a bunch of my favorite people and rolled up my sleeves and went to work.  Like anything else I do, I trusted my vendor friends to come up with the most amazing interpretations of what I wanted – and boy did they!!!  Desiree of Penny Blooms Floral Design went especially above and beyond, crafting the huge paper flowers, putting together those phenomenal rainbow arrangements, and painting the Pin the Horn on the Unicorn (by hand, in front of me!).  Mark of San Diego Desserts couldn’t possibly give me a plain white frosted cake (especially after I gave him such trouble to tint each layer separately!), so he airbrushed away…  Jenny of JennyWennyCakes did such a beautiful job of making the colors on those macarons pop (even though I know that they spread more than she wanted because of all the color!), and the cake pops by Nicole of Calculated Whisk were gorgeous!!!  Alyssa of Hybrid Photography captured all the elements beautifully!!!  But I think you really just need to see them to get the full effect! 🙂

A HUGE thank you to everyone who was involved with helping me to make this a fantastic birthday party!!!  I know this is going to be another extraordinary year!!! 🙂

My Enchanted Unicorn and Rainbow Birthday Party Vendor Credits:

• Planning, Stationery, Happy Canvas, Food, Design & Styling: Events by Elisa
• Florals, Paper Flowers, Pin the Horn on the Unicorn, Design & Styling: Penny Blooms Floral Design
• Photography: Hybrid Photography
• Custom Pinwheels: Pinwhirls
• Rentals: Classic Party Rentals San Diego
• Rainbow Cake: San Diego Desserts
• Cake Pops: Calculated Whisk
• Macarons & Sugar Cookies: JennyWenny Cakes
• Straws: The Baker’s Confections and SerendipityPartyShop
• Bamboo Dinnerware: Sucre Shop
• Twine: Sweet Estelle’s Baking Supply
• Cups: Smarty Had a Party
• Plates: Party City

Emma + Chris’ House of Blues Wedding Featured on Style Me Pretty!

It’s been quite the summer for Events by Elisa.  I’ve had more amazing weddings, fabulous photo shoots, and incredible features in just a few months than I thought possible.  Last weekend I designed a table at my local Classic Party Rentals showroom, to be featured for the next two months and seen whenever anyone goes to pick out their linens or tableware.  I’m hard at work designing an invitation for my cousin’s wedding early next year, in which I’ll also be bridesmaid.  And I’ve had a grand total of FOURTEEN features on all sorts of lovely sites since June.  FOURTEEN!!!

Including today.  Yup, it happened again.  This time on Style Me Pretty California.  Emma + Chris’ House of Blues Wedding is featured today!!!

If you’ve read my four blogs about this wedding, you’ll know how much I love these two.  And how proud I was of all we accomplished on our extremely modest budget.  And how much I adored the stationery that I designed!  This wedding ended up being an extremely personal labor of love for me.  And I was so, SO proud to work with some of my favorite San Diego wedding vendors to make this special couple’s wedding day unforgettable.

That’s why it was such an honor to have it featured on Style Me Pretty!!

See?  Aren’t these two gorgeous???  Not to mention those drop-dead flowers from Penny Blooms Floral Design!

See the entire feature on Style Me Pretty California today, and while you’re there, check out the whole Gallery for even more fabulous photos!!!

Oh yes, and now I get one of these nifty things to put on my website… 😉

***

And on a completely unrelated note…  Four years ago was my wedding day.  Celebrating my anniversary tonight with my sweetheart and looking forward to a fabulous fifth year!!!

(Photo by Beverley Woodward; I’d link to her site but she’s no longer in business!)

Emma + Chris’ Whimsical Music-Themed Wedding at House of Blues San Diego Wedding Details:

• Venue: House of Blues (Ceremony at Naval Station San Diego)
• Planning, Design, Stationery, Reception Florals, Styling: Events by Elisa
• Bouquets: Penny Blooms Floral Design
• Boutonnieres: HBixbyArtworks
• Hair Flower: PetalBlushLove
• Cake: San Diego Desserts
• Catering: O’s American Kitchen
• Photography: We Heart Photography

Rock & Roll Elopement Shoot Featured on Poptastic Bride!!!

I haven’t featured this shoot yet, since I knew it was scheduled to run sometime soon on Poptastic Bride and they wanted exclusivity.  So this might be your first look at it (unless you happened to see it on Facebook!). 🙂

Back in late May, Desiree of Penny Blooms Floral Design and Alyssa of Hybrid Photography and I met up for dinner.  Desiree had worked with us both and thought we’d get along well and wanted to introduce us.  Sure enough, it was as though we’d known each other forever – just like when I first met Desiree, we couldn’t stop chattering about projects we’d do together!!!

Alyssa was planning to have a booth at a bridal show in early July and wanted to style the booth after a shoot, so we started throwing around ideas. I have to admit that our first idea had to be put on hold, as our venue didn’t work out during the time period we needed, but we had so much fun creating this faux elopement!!!

I created the announcement (with a kind of graffiti-inspired vibe and lots of black!) and did a lot of the styling; Desiree did a ton of spray painting in addition to the florals (and you’ve never seen peonies like this!!); Ashley from Unbridled Beauty created a fun retro look with the makeup.  Unique Vintage, Pettiskirt Style, Whole Foods Hillcrest, and Serendipity Party Shop rounded out our look (the latter the night before the shoot – thanks ladies!!!) And of course Alyssa did a fantastic job with the photos!  Our models (especially our “bride”!) were troopers, as it happened to be an extremely cold June morning at Centennial Park!!!

My favorite element, I have to admit, was the snack cake “wedding cake.”  I’d been wanting to do something completely nontraditional for a while, and this was the perfect venue.  We used a drum (that happened to have pink flames on it!) that I’d purchased for my husband’s classroom at a thrift store topped with an old record, and three different types of snack cakes stacked precariously on top of each other (thanks to judicious use of toothpicks!).  I had waaaaay too much fun styling it!!!

Check out our whole feature on Poptastic Bride!

Rock & Roll Elopement Picnic Shoot Vendors:

• Location: Centennial Park, Coronado CA
• Photography: Hybrid Photography
• Styling and Stationery: Events by Elisa
• Styling and florals: Penny Blooms
• Hair and Makeup: Unbridled Beauty
• Dress: Unique Vintage
• Pettiskirts: Pettiskirt Style
• Straws: Serendipity Party Shop

Boho Glam Shoot Published on Pretty My Party!!!

I can hardly believe what landed in my inbox this morning!  Our Boho Glam Shoot was published again this morning!!!!!

Yes, it’s true.  🙂  This gorgeous shoot was featured again, this time on Pretty My Party.  I am so proud of it.  Seriously, when I think about how it came together, I am amazed.  I’ve been in love with it from the moment we set it up, but seeing how much the blog world loves it, I’m just blown away!

Check out our feature on Pretty My Party and leave us some love in the comments!!!

Boho Glam Shoot Featured Again on Done Brilliantly’s Blog!

Two features in one week?  AMAZING!!!

Our Boho Glam Styled Shoot was featured yesterday on Done Brilliantly’s blog!  The thing is, Done Brilliantly is THE blog of Two Bright Lights, THE people you want to notice you if you’re a wedding designer.  It’s the website for the wedding industry to share photos with various blogs.  I’m dying over here.  They had such lovely things to say too!!!!

And of course, what is a the top of the post?  MY INVITATIONS.

Check out our feature over at Done Brilliantly!