My New Blog

I'm changing my blog site and would love it if you made the move with me. The new site is
www.sacramentoweddingplanner.com/blog/
See you soon with lots of new fun and informative blog posts!

Candy is not Only for Children

Candy Stations are the rage and we have seen many different types in the past few years. We love making them and each one is unique to the event. We have about 50 glass containers to choose from and tons of scoops and decor. We are providing them to our brides, other brides, venues and wedding planners. They just keep getting better and better. We like to display 12-14 flavors of candy in about 20 containers, so it is truly abundant. We can include cellophane bags, personalized tags, and an attendant, but the wedding planner can do these things on her own. We have special pricing for venues and planners so they can pass on the service to their clients at a reasonable rate. Give us a call and we can discuss details!

Feeling the love...

I have the sweetest and most generous clients...
"Dear Kendra,
Thank you for making our special day perfect! You are amazing and we cannot even begin to thank you for all your help, hard work, support, & encouragement. You made our dreams come to life and the entire day was spectaular. It was so nice not having to worry about a thing. I didn't expect to be so calm, but knowing everything was under your control was terrific. Truly it could not have been better - Thanks you so much. Lots of Love, Amanda & Jon Ambrose"

Live Entertainment

Having a live band at a wedding is so much fun. There are many fun "retro" bands, some even in costume like Wonderbread 5 pictured. They were fabulous at this wedding and the dance floor was full all night long. There are a few drawbacks to having a live band that you need to consider. They play sets and in between sets they need a break. This break does not include making announcements or playing background music. The perfect combo is to have a DJ at your wedding also. The DJ can play the dinner music, do all of the emceeing, and play music and coordinate wedding activities (ie: cake cutting, bouquet & garter) during the band breaks. You get the best of both worlds!

A&J Incredible!

Let's start with an incredibly beautiful bride...
arriving in style in the family helicopter, Ruby...
then, walking down the aisle with her loving father...
to meet her adoring (& cute!) groom...
A few fun details...
and now you will have to wait to see more...
If you can't wait... see the slideshow at the amazing photographers website!

L&P Real Wedding

Classic beauty with fabulous bright summer flowers...the Jewish influenced ceremony was under the beautiful chuppah made by Sarah at Cutting, in front of a giant redwood at Capitol Park. The reception followed at the Library Galleria. The food was exceptional, catered by All Seasons, and the photography, as you can see, stunning, by Sam at Sharpe Photography. Thank you team for another perfect event!

Entertaining!

A wedding is not just a ceremony and dinner any more. couples are getting really creative with making it a celebration for all of their guests to enjoy. Photo above shows a Chinese Lion Dancer, there were actually two Lion dancers and 4 drummers at this wedding. The guests loved the Asian themed wedding and the dancers were a complete surprise. Below is the Laguna High School marching band. We had them secreted away so the guests wouldn't see them and then had them enter with the bride and groom on their heels for the Grand Entrance. Make a statement...and give your guests an amazing show!

Indian Wedding Part 2

An Indian wedding celebration occurs over several days...so I decided I needed a few posts to show the different celebrations. The Sikh wedding ceremony is conducted at the Gurdwara (Sikh Temple), the one above was at the Temple in Yuba City. The Barat (photo top right) is where the groom, his family, and close friends parade in a dancing group, often with dohl drummers. They are welcomed by the brides family. This is followed by the Milni ceremony where both sides meet and exchange hugs, garlands and well wishes. All guests share tea and breakfast before the blessing ceremony.
The Blessing Ceremony is in the Gurdwara Hall, where men and women sit on opposite sides and remove their shoes before entering; they also cover their hair with colorful scarves.
The bride and groom then enter and begin the ceremony. During the Palla ceremony, the father of the bride places one end of the scarf, coming from the groom's shoulder, into the brides hand to signify that she is leaving his care to join her husband's. There are many reading and songs and the couple walks around Sri Guru Granth Sahib (the altar area) a total of four times. After the ceremony everyone joins together for Langar, a community meal. Indian weddings are such fun with constant dancing and eating, and the most amazing outfits and jewelry. For more information see indianweddingsite.com

An Indian Wedding Celebration

I love what I do and feel so fortunate that I am continuing to learn about new and interesting wedding rituals. In the photos above I have included some of the pre-wedding rituals for a Sikh wedding. The Indian celebrations typically last the entire week of the wedding.
The Choora or bangle ceremony takes place at the bride's home where the maternal uncle and aunt of the bride give her white and red bangles. Silver and gold ornaments known as kalira are tied to the bangles. The couple are not allowed to leave their homes for a few days prior to the wedding. Gana is the ritual where an auspicious red thread is tied to the right wrist of the groom and the left wrist of the bride; it is a sacred thread that protects them from ill omens.
Vatna is celebrated a few days before the wedding. This is pictured in the center photo above; family members smear the vatna, a scented powder made of barley flour, turmeric and mustard oil, on the bride and groom. This is followed by an auspicious bath.
The Mehndi party is typically the eve before the wedding and many brides invite their relatives, wedding party and sometimes all of the female guests to have beautiful henna patterns applied to their hands and feet.
The Sangeet is a celebration, often at the brides home, where the relatives dance (photo on bottom right) and entertain the bride and groom. For more details check out iloveindia.com.

Green is the word!

The color green is hot this year. When the florist asks if the bride would like greens in her bouquet it use to mean foliage, but more and more brides are using green as a wedding color or an accent color with flowers. This was a fabulous wedding at Wine and Roses and they loved the color green...even incorporating it into their candy station. Happy Anniversary Sheree & Nguyen and congratulations on your expanding family!

The Joy of Blogging

I am loving the blogging world...It's just so fun after only one week to see photos and video all over the place of the fabulous TnT wedding. Check out some of the amazing vendor blogs.
Ford Family Photo
Jensen Video
Sugar & Spice

Sneak Peek

I know many of you are anxiously awaiting photos of the TnT wedding. Here is the sneak peek from the fabulous Rebecca from Ford Photographers. It was beautiful and a perfect wedding! Gotta love the Manolo's!

Photobooth Fun!

Every time we have a photobooth at a wedding I'm reminded how much they rock! Last weekend at the TnT wedding there were people in it all night long. We ended up extending and keeping it going for 6 hours. You can get a double strip of color or black and white photos, one for the book and the other for the guests. The guests just can't get enough and the bride and groom will get some unforgetable photos of their guests having a blast! Thanks so much John from Pro Finish Designs...the photobooth was a huge hit!

Just Fabulous

A perfect wedding with a beautiful bride...starts with the gown. Tracy selected a gown from the Ramona Keveza Fall 2009 Collection and it was fabulous. The TnT wedding was perfect and the bride looked amazing from start to finish. Her makeup was by Shana Beals and looked perfect even at midnight, after many tears of joy. See more photos and the story behind the dress here. Many more posts to come about this wonderful wedding weekend!

TNT Rehearsal

Tonight was the beginning of the TNT wedding celebration, although most in the wedding party started the celebration on Wednesday. We had a fun rehearsal at the wedding site and then headed over for a magnificent dinner at La Perla Bistro with the Amazing chef Chris Jackson. As guests arrived they were greeted with wine and black raspberry spritzers. Then they enjoyed the "All American" passed appetizers - Cheeseburger Sliders, Dungeoness Crab Cakes, Macaroni & Cheese Fritters, and Grilled Lamb Lollipops. The guests cocktailed and visited and then there were some touching speeches by the mother of the groom and TNT...and many, many happy tears in the house. Dinner was next with "station dining". The stations included a Pan Pacific station with lots of sushi among other tasty treats, a Little Italy station with the most amazing gnocchi ever, and lastly the South of the Border Station featuring the house made pork tamales steamed in banana leaves. Every station was incredible and abundant; each a full dinner on its own. For more information just check out the bride's blog http://tracy-girl.blogspot.com/ and there will be more to come about this wonderful weekend...I haven't even touched on tonight's dessert yet!

Your day...your way

The great bit of advice that I pass on daily is "if it doesn't offend, it's okay", spoken by the master Colin Cowie. I am a true believer of this when it comes to weddings. In the photo below: During this celebration we had a traditional ceremony on the patio and then made the reception all about the food with a presentation dinner. This was a night to remember for all of the guests and they were raving about it all night long. Love, friends, food and wine...4 important factors for a perfect day!

When it rains, it pours...

What do you do when a rough January storm leaves you with no electricity on wedding day...send in some portables, add more candles and go on with the show. This ended up being one of my favorite ceremonies ever. It was so romantic, I believe some guests thought we turned the lights out on purpose!

Original ideas....

Wedding cakes are fabulous these days and bakers are doing the most amazing things to the traditional wedding cake. The traditional bride and groom wedding topper is still seen occasionally, but more often brides are electing to have a floral topper. While this is a lovely idea, remember this is just one more place to be original and have your personality or theme reflected. Here we have double height cake layers, about 9" each, and then we used a Buddah statue I found at a downtown imports store. Get creative and let your guests see your style!

J & B continues...

This is a fabulous wedding I coordinated at the River Mill in French Camp. The River Mill is a historic Chicory Mill built in 1873 that is rented out for weddings and special events. It is a "full service" wedding site, meaning that the bride has to get her rentals from them and they provide the cake. They even own the floral shop, so you cannot bring in your own flowers. For this wedding we had them bring in custom linens and upgraded to chivari chairs, plus an incredible amount of orchids. It was stunning and everything glowed, including the bride & groom!

Chilly Fall Evenings

It's starting to cool down in the evenings and the fall weddings are just around the corner. Outdoor weddings are lovely, but it does get chilly after sunset even in Northern California. Lap blankets are a perfect idea for your guests. We offer fleece blankets that come in a range of primary and pastel colors. They start as low as $7 each and can be personalized. Guests just love them! For more info see our store at www.sacramentoweddingplanner.com!

TnT San Francisco E-session

I have the most amazing couples and I feel so lucky that they select me to play such an integral part in their wedding day. Tracy and Tim are all smiles and delight...all the time. Rebecca at Ford Family Photography truly captured their playful spirit during their e-session. These two are norcal locals and San Francisco is near and dear to them, so making the day trip for this incredible photo session was only natural. Keep an eye out for more photos of these beauties...their amazing wedding is coming up in only a few weeks!

J & B part 3

A traditional church ceremony is so beautiful. This is Morris Chapel on the lovely UOP campus. This is an open church, meaning you can bring in your own officiate and musicians. The church can supply a referral list if needed. Many churches will only let their parishioners celebrate their ceremony at the church, but there are some that welcome the general public. If you are not attending a church regularly, it is still possible to have the beautiful church wedding that you've always dreamed of.

Want S'mores?

I love it...and the wedding guests will too! I am so excited to be making these S'mores stations at a few of my upcoming outdoor weddings that have fire pits. You can also use t-lites and make a tabletop roast. I found these great marshmallow sticks that are perfect for a wedding. They will look great in glass containers and then the guests just toss them in the fire after they're through.

source: brides.com

Something for the Groom

Give that groom a bit of attention during your wedding. A custom sculptured groom's cake can be lots of fun and tasty too. It can be served at the wedding, or if you already have lots of wedding cake, present it at the rehearsal dinner!

J & B part 2

Another peak at this glorious May day. Allow time in the itinerary to do some photography before the ceremony. Even if you are not seeing each other before the wedding, there are many shots you can get out of the way, allowing you more time to party later! This is a perfect time to get those detail shots, and after spending months of planning it's really nice to see how things turned out.

A & J so hip and hot!

This is another one of my fabulous couples. They are so beautiful and I'm so excited about their upcoming September wedding. Their e-session with the amazing Beth of True Love Photography shows just how fun they've been to work with!