The photographs from Lauren Makasian & Rob Delp's wedding are finally here, and they were worth the wait. What can I say, Meghan Aileen from Meghan Aileen Photography really captured the beauty of the event and all the people involved. The amazing flowers were provided by Commerce Flowers with roses, lisianthus, bell's of Ireland, hydrangea, eucalyptus and amaranthus atop a glass trumpet vase highlighted the luxurious sage green ribbon taffeta table linens and a all sage green cake by Hansens. One of my favorite floral touches was the antique hydrangea, which added an accent color of purple, just beautiful!

As you can see the bride was beaming. The ceremony was at St. Elizabeth Church, with inspiring Spanish architecture. The reception was at the Athenaeum, with high vaulted draped ceilings and a breathtaking crystal chandelier. With amazing makeup by Liz Dion and a vintage style hair band accented with a gorgeous crystal piece, Lauren and Rob danced the night away with their guests to live music by Entourage from DeBois Entertainment. Also, I wanted to give a quick mention of the rehearsal dinner location. It was at The Raymond in Pasadena and the food was amazing and the service was event better.

I want to thank my team for doing an amazing job, but thank you most of all to Lauren and Rob for letting me be party of this amazing wedding! I was an honor to get to know you better and meet your family and friends!

To see more pictures check out Meghan's slide show at:
http://www.megfotoproofs.com/041010

 

Lisa Kahn Events was honored to be featured on the Your Wedding Day website.  Please check out the article “Event Planning Excellence Reaches New Heights with Lisa Kahn Events” at http://www.yourweddingday.com/ywd/Details/Lisa-Kahn-Events.html.  The Your Wedding Day website is a great resource for ideas, images and information.  Thank you Allison for your beautifully written kind words.

Although people often joke about southern California’s perfect 72 degrees year-round weather, we do actually have a rainy season.  The months of November through March are considered our wettest time of the year. So, if your event is falling in any month where rain could be a possibility, the best thing to do is to have a plan in place as soon as you begin planning your event. Here are some tips to help:

1)The Back Up Plan: As an event planner I have learned that you cannot predict everything, especially the weather. If you are planning an outdoor wedding, try to book a venue with an indoor location option as well, just in case. This way you can move your event inside at the last minute if you need too. Many of my clients like to have their ceremony outside and reception inside. In a pinch, you can use the inside reception area for both.  Just push the dinning tables to the back of the room during the ceremony.  Once the ceremony has concluded, move the tables and use the ceremony chairs for the dining seating.  Another option is to call a rental company and secure a tent as insurance if it rains. Keep in mind that a tent only works for light rain. Heavy rainfall will soak the ground, leaving guests with wet, muddy feet and possibly even breaking the tent.

2) Make Your Guests Comfortable: Think about your guests and how you can make them as comfortable as possible.  No one likes to get wet, especially if you are all dressed up.  See if your venue can provide canopies or large standing umbrellas (often used for sunny days, but can work great to keep the rain off as well). Provide individual umbrellas to your guests. Make them colorful or try to match to your color scheme. Also, ask your venue to provide absorbent towels to wipe down anything that might have gotten wet. A nice final touch would be to provide something warm and soothing.  At one event we provided a drink station and offered hot chocolate and coffee.

3) Protect Yourself: You have spent all day making yourself beautiful and have probably spent a lot of time and money getting your hair and makeup exactly right.  Remember to carry important makeup items with you for touch-ups or mess-ups caused by the rain.  Also, we ladies all know what bad weather can do to our hair.  Carry a small hairspray bottle to help misbehaving hair or frizzies caused by the rain. Make sure you have an extra large umbrella on hand to keep yourself and your dress as dry as possible. Ask your bridal party to help ensure that your dress does not get dirty.  Have them hold up all sides of your dress to prevent it from getting wet or muddy while you are walking around.  Another trick is to have an extra pair of slip-on shoes.  You can walk around in them and get them dirty, then when you have to, you can put your dress shoes on and no one will know.

4) Take A Deep Breath: Stay positive and don’t let the weather ruin your day. Take a deep breath and make the rain work for you.  You know what they say… rain is good luck!

December through January is what we event planners like to call engagement season.   It is something about the holidays and the beginning of a new year that gives those nervous grooms-to-be a little extra courage to ask the big question... Will you marry me?

Congratulations your engaged! Now what?  Well if you are anything like I was, you have probably already told everyone you know and have begun purchasing every wedding magazine there is.  This is good! This is a very exciting time in your life and you should be celebrating and enjoying it. But before you start planning the big day, here are three steps you should take:

1) Sit down with your fiancé and discuss both of your ideas for the wedding.
Don’t forget that this is their wedding too. Discuss what you both want and make sure that you are both on the same page.

2) Discuss your plans with whoever is financially responsible.
Set an initial budget keeping in mind it can always be altered. Create a draft guest list- this will allow you to estimate how many guests you can expect to pay for.

3) Get a wedding checklist started.
A timeline helps you understand all the steps necessary for a successful wedding. This way you will have a better understanding of when and what you need to do.  If you decide to hire a wedding planner they will provide one for you, but if you are doing it on your own there are many websites designed to help you create one.  One of my favorite websites is www.weddingwire.com
 
Congratulations and Good Luck!

 

I just received some photos from the fabulous photographer Meg Perotti of the Shulman & Friedrich Wedding.  This was the last wedding I coordinated in 2009.  Well what can I say, what a fantastic wedding to end the year with!  This was the second wedding I did at the Highland & Hollywood Center in Wolfgang Puck's Vantage Room (Ceremony) and Annex (Reception), but it goes to show how with lighting and decor you can create a completely different looks in the same venue.  The food was catered by Wolfgang Puck and was delicious. The beautiful lighting was provided by ELS and the amazing décor was created by Tracey Go from the Flower Tray.  But the thing that made this event special to me was working with the bride, Julie, and the groom, Garth, and meeting their family and friends. Everyone, thanks for an amazing event and please keep in touch!

What more do you need then great weather and an ocean view? How about amazing flowers from Yvonne at the Empty Vase and a fantastic photographer like Daniel from Daniel Chin Photography.  For this Mother & Daughter Luncheon in Malibu we used the influence of  chaparral succulents in combinations with lilies and orchids.  The best part of the centerpieces were that you could plant the succulents in you garden afterwards!

 

 

On Halloween, I had opportunity to coordinate the Rabwin & Cacarillo Wedding at Wolfgang Puck in the Highland & Hollywood Center in Hollywood, CA.  I just got these amazing pictures for Gary West Productions and as you can see it was truly a spectaular event. Amy Rabwin, the bride, and David Cacarillo, the groom, both live in NY and we planned the wedding together with the help of Amy's mother Karen Rabwin. The costume theme was "Formal Attire Through The Ages" and Amy and Dave were breathtaking in classic "Old Hollywood" attire.  The food provided by Wollgang Puck of course was fantastic. The fabulous lighting was done by Tim Boldrin at ELS Lighting and the very cool black lantern, which made the event, was the idea of Karen (very good idea Karen!). In fact, for all you DYI brides, a lot of the decor was purchased by the clients and then integrated into the floral design provided by Commerce Flowers.  The end result was amazing decor and great price!