Thursday, December 31, 2015

Glamorous Beverly Hills Ballroom Wedding

Before you run off to ring in the New Year, we’ve got just the wedding to put you in the glitz and glam mood. Set at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, it’s the ultimate inspiration for the ballroom bride with a classic white-on-white palette, endless floral elegance from The Hidden Garden, and a Vera Wang gown fit for a modern princess. Our girl Jana Williams captured each bit inside The Vault.

Colors
Seasons
Spring
Settings
Ballroom
Styles
Glamorous

From Jana Williams Photography… Ayla and Betzalel were high-school sweethearts whose love has only grown more with each passing year. These two lovebirds were married in a beautiful ceremony at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills surrounded by their family and friends. I was so moved by this wedding.

To me a wedding day is an expression of soulmates sharing their love and making a promise to honor that love in the presence of the ones nearest and dearest to their hearts. Ayla moved me with her grace and her presence. Her Vera Wang dress was literally made for her. She looked elegant and chic, the perfect counterpart to a very dapper Betzalel. It was a day filled with much laughter and tears, but only the good kind. It was the perfect day.

Vault CTA

Photography: Jana Williams Photography | Floral Design: The Hidden Garden | Wedding Dress: Vera Wang | Bride's Shoes: Monique L'huillier | Makeup: Angles And Arches | Band: Nefesh Music | Venue: Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles At Beverly Hills | Rentals: Luna Party Rentals

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How To Pop Open a Bottle of Bubbly in 5 Easy Steps

It should come as no surprise that our first choice sip around these parts is a good ol’ glass of bubbly. Fancy coupes, happy clinking, toasting to love and happiness… all pair so well with the sparkly stuff. But breaking into a bottle can be quite a challenge if you’ve never tackled it (and equally as entertaining), so we decided it was high time to layout the how to. Cheers, loves!

Step One

Make sure to chill your bubbly in advance. Opening a warm bottle is a recipe for disaster and not to mention, it won’t taste so great. We recommend chilling at least a couple of hours.

Step Two

Once your bubbly is chilled to perfection, remove the foil, hold the neck of the bottle at a 45 degree angle and place your thumb over the wire cage. Make sure to point the bottle away from any bystanders!

Step Three

Carefully unwind the cage. Grasp the cork with unwound cage intact and hold the bottle firmly with your dominant hand.

Step Four

Twist the bottle (not the cork) back and forth slowly until you slowly feel the pressure ease out and you can remove the cork fully.

Step Five

Break out the coupes and get pouring! Cheers!

Champagne Cocktails
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Champagne Cocktails
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Vault CTA

Photography: Bonnie Sen

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Editor Picks: The Best Real Weddings of 2015

Truth be told, we don’t like to play favorites because all wedding are worth celebrating. But every now and again we come across a day that speaks straight to our wedding-loving souls.  I’m talking about those weddings we spend far too long obsessing over, emailing around the office, and pinning until our boards overflow. So as the year draws to an end we’ve put asked our SMP editors to sort through the thousands (literally, thousands!) of real weddings we featured in 2015, and highlight their favorites below!

Best Of 2015 Weddings: Editor Picks
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Best Of 2015 Weddings: Editor Picks
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Best of Features

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Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Classic Summer Rancho Valencia Wedding

Leave it to the ladies at Amorology to take this bride’s vision of an “indoor/outdoor English garden-style wedding set against Spanish ranch architecture” and bring it perfectly to life. Along with stunning blooms by Oak & The Owl , they wove in lots of playful nods to the couple’s story – including where they first met at happy hour. Lots more in The Vault from the lens of Carmen Santarelli!

Colors
Seasons
Summer
Settings
Outdoor
Styles
Al Fresco

From The Bride…Ours was a classic love story of boy meets girl at Rock Bottom…Brewery in San Diego. We met at an after work happy hour and immediately hit it off. Our personality types were very opposite – Jason is an unfettered extrovert while I very much cherish my quiet time, my alone time, and my “me time” — yet we also had so much in common! I even cancelled my plans for that very evening to spend more time getting to know him. We were both living in San Diego at the time with no plans to move anytime soon.

Flash forward 4 years and we were both living and working in San Francisco when I was invited to have lunch with a childhood friend who also lived in SF. There was limited parking close to our chosen venue so she suggested we meet at her place and walk through the Palace of Fine Arts, a San Francisco landmark with beautifully landscaped grounds. As she and I walked down the path I noticed a sign that read “Amber, please have a seat” sitting next to a lone chair. As I sat, Jason came from where he was hiding behind a tree, playing Tim McGraw’s “My Best Friend” on his guitar, knelt down, and proposed…cue my friends and family cheering from where they were watching nearby!

One week later (yep, just one week… I was excited!) and we were planning our wedding. Since we had met and fell in love in San Diego (and because the weather is kind of spectacular) we decided it was the perfect place to start our lives together. I scoured the web and magazines for the perfect planner in that area, and that’s when I came across Heather and the Amorology team. I fell in love with a wedding they had created and knew I needed to work with them!

Flash forward again and, a year and a few months later our wedding day had finally arrived. Thanks to our wedding planners, Amorology, it was a perfect day/night. I was adamant that I wanted the convenience of a hotel wedding without a cookie-cutter package. I waxed poetic about the merits of an indoor/outdoor English garden style wedding set against Spanish ranch architecture, and as crazy as that sounds they made the dream a beautiful reality (thanks for existing Rancho Valencia! And Erica, we heart you!)

Everything was customized by Amorology in a palette of creams, copper, and lunar grey with touches of brass and accents of wood. From the free standing beer bar with working taps aptly called “Rock Bottom”, to the moon cutout backdrop built from reclaimed wood that was a nod to a story about a boy and the moon that my mom told me as a little girl. Calligraphy place cards alluding to the moon sat at each place setting atop tin ceiling tiles that doubled as chargers.

They brought in actual church pews for the outdoor ceremony and to play to our love of ice cream we had vintage ice scream scoops to serve as table markers as well as lovely take home favors for our guests. Simply everything was carefully designed to make it feel special and unique to us. The Amorology team and the right, level headed fiance combined to keep me on track so that we ultimately got to experience the most perfect day of our lives!

And while we’re giving props to those that helped us out, we also wanted to say thanks and throw a shout out to Generation Tux for introducing tuxedo rentals to the 21st century, getting my wonderful husband, his groomsmen, and his father looking so sharp, so conveniently, on the big day!

Vault CTA

Photography: Carmen Santorelli | Wedding Planning: Amorology | Floral Design: Oak And The Owl | Wedding Dress: Mira Zwillinger | Cake: Susie Cakes | Invitations: Lovely Paper Things | Hair And Makeup: 10.11 Makeup | Calligraphy: Twinkle And Toast | Lighting: Classic Party Rentals | DJ: Matt Phipps | Groom's Attire: Generation Tux | Groomsmen Attire: Generation Tux | Venue: Rancho Valencia | Backdrops: Backup Backdrops | Ceremony & Cocktail Hour Music: Trent Hancock | Chair Rentals: Abbey Party Rentals | Gelato Bar: Bottega Italiana | Lounge & Tables & Ceremony Structure & Pew Bench Rentals: Found Vintage Rentals | Tabletop Rentals: Hostess Haven

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