Last week, I had the amazing opportunity to attend the The Grand Del Mar Wedding Experience 2012. For those who haven’t been to the hotel, you have to go! From the moment that you enter the lobby, the hotel transforms you to a whole different world. I just love all the European and Mediterranean architecture. When I got the invitation, I was beyond excited, and needless to say it was above and beyond what I expected! I’ve had the amazing opportunity to work and have weddings at The Grand Del Mar in the past, but coming to the resort as a guest is a completely different experience. When I arrived at the entrance and gave the guard my name and told him I was checking in, he asked for my name, and next thing you know when I pulled up the valet said “Welcome Mrs. Austin” Impressive! Right after when I got up to the desk to check in, they knew who I was instantly when I walked up. I love that, it definitely made me feel special!
After I checked in I had an appointment to get a spray tan with Plush Tan with the owner Danielle. She was a sweetheart and did an amazing job. I’m still nice and tan even though it’s raining outside at the moment. After my tan, I just relaxed and did some work in my hotel room (which was very big & plush) until some of my friends arrived. The first night, the big event was a surprised to all of us, so I didn’t know what to expect. After everyone arrived we had tray passed champagne & hors d’oeuvres while everyone mingled. Then we were all invited over to the Elizabeth Ballroom and the whole entire ballroom was transformed into an amazing carnival! It was amazing, everything from the music, the lighting, the plethora of fun carnival food, candy, & games! The event was put on by Paige Levy the Wedding Director at The Grand Del Mar in collaboration with Kathy Wright from Kathy Wright & Co.
The following day, we had the option to either have breakfast in our rooms or dine at the restaurants. I decided to head over to Amaya and had their Dungenous Crab Cake Eggs Benedict! (pretty much heaven) and then we were shuttled to The San Diego Zoo Safari Park for an adventure! That night we had our farewell dinner at The Grand Del Mar’s Fine Dining Restaurant Addison. It was a gorgeous night with fabulous food!
Thank You to Paige and the team at The Grand Del Mar for such an amazing experience!
What can I say, planning is in my blood and when my birthday (number not disclosed) was coming up I decided to plan a gorgeous night of celebration for my closest friends. My goal for the night is to bring my closest friends both old and new all together in one place. We tend to have friends from different times in our lives and the thought of having everyone come together is the best gift a girl can ask for.
I went with a Moroccan theme because I felt that it went so well with Santaluz and goes well with the Fall season. The colors I chose for the party was jewel tones. There is something so romantic and mysterious about the shades of purple, blues, and fuschia!
The AMAZING photos were captured by my very good friend and extremely talented photographer: Braja Mandala Photography!
The party took place outdoors in the courtyard, so when guests arrived, the sun was starting to go down and they were greeted with a mixture of gorgeous Moroccan lanterns strung from the trellis at the entrance. Up on the hill it can get chilly at night so I had jewel tone padshminas available in case some of the ladies got cold.
I decided also to add a fun element and as favors gave away colorful bangle bracelets that were adorned on a large manzanita branch in case any of the ladies were in the mood to do some belly dancing!
Even though it was a “dress to impress” type of party, I wanted it to have a very casual and relaxing atmosphere. Instead of having formal tables, I decided to go with a lounge type of atmosphere. I had lounge furniture and pillows scattered around the courtyard to create the warm and welcoming ambiance
Me with my handsome husband. He is probably the kindest person I have ever met. I am so lucky to have found him.
The other Fabulous Men in my life! My bff Thomas Bui and Bob Stevens. I am so grateful to have them in my life.
The fabulous Elizabeth (who is the catering manager at Santaluz) and my bestie Thomas
One of my favorite shots of the party! Lighting is so important and is most often forgotten about!. I just love this shot with the candles, fireplace and the string lighting. It is so romantic!
I love the uplighting behind the tree and my gorgeous birthday cake!
It was such a relaxing and wonderful night thanks to all of my friends. I just wanted to send special shout outs to my amazing friends that helped me put everything together. I definitely could not have done it without them!
I had the amazing opportunity this month to meet the fabulous & talented Ines DiSanto, one of the hottest bridal gown designer out there. I was invited by Michele, owner of M Bride to attend the trunk show and to meet Ines. However our plan was disturbed by the massive blackout that we experienced. Talk about bad timing! I got even luckier when one of my amazing brides called me and said she had a one on one appointment with Ines and would love for me to come. I tell you, things always happen for a reason! Ines was such a sweetheart, and seeing her talk about her gowns and drawing up the designs was fascinating. It’s always such an inspiration to meet such talented and down to earth women entrepreneurs. I know they didn’t wake up and receive the success that they have, there is always a lot of heart and love poured into the business along with time for it to grow. With Ines, you can look at her designs and know there was a lot of heart poured into it. The details are just gorgeous! Here are some pictures of just a few of my favorites, a long with a picture of me and Ines. If you wanted to try them on or look at Ines’s collection in person, give Michele a call at M Bride. She is so much fun, I guarantee you’ll leaving there in good spirits!
It was such a pleasure to be featured on SD Wedding Scene!! In case you haven’t heard of this blog, be sure to check it out. Braja & Gene are amazing photographers and they have did a phenomenal job in putting together this blog. As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of video (not because I like to be on video, I’m actually rather camera shy!) but it helps brides and grooms be able to “meet” me online and get a feel of my personality and style in a way that pictures can’t show. When you hire a wedding planner, there is a sort of chemistry that has to be present between you and your wedding planner. It’s probably one of the most important aspect of hiring a planner. Part of that chemistry is trust! I met with a potential bride yesterday, and she said one of the most important expectations in hiring a planner is trust. Isn’t that the truth? I know everyone says, “Trust Me”… no one would go and say…”Don’t Trust Me” that would be silly. So you always have to go with your gut feeling. Anyway, going back to what I was saying, that is why I love video, and I think it’s a genius idea that Gene Higa & Braja Mandala started this video blog. You can definitely see their personalities shine in them. And let me tell you, they are fabulous! Here is their feature on me =) but don’t forget to check out their photography work because they were named one of the top 10 photographers in the world. Yes you read that right!
I love doing bridal shows. It gives me an opportunity to meet and talk to so many blissful brides and the opportunity for them to meet me to see if we may be a good match for each other. With wedding planners, so much of it has to do with personalities that mesh with each other, like chemistry. So if we had the opportunity to meet and chat and you would like to continue the conversation in detail, please contact me at info@lechicweddingconsulting.com
I did a bridal show yesterday at The Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego. My inspiration for the design consists of my favorite styles. I love blending the old with the new, the masculine with the feminine, the modern and the romantic. In my design, I decided to got with a modern lucite table and chairs. I love that the table and chairs look very simple, clean, and refreshing. The florals consists of blush colors, with blush pinks, whites, and touches of yellow bringing in the Spring season. The centerpiece sat on top of a tall real crystal candelabra that is absolutely breathtaking. The crystal mimics the look of the lucite table. On top we had the a real crystal chandelier hanging from the chuppah that has a floral arrangement as well. From the chandelier the florals draped down, with tulips swayed to the centerpiece and crystals hanging out from them. Talk about gorgeous!! On the table design, I had one champagne shantung runner across the table and two glass chargers to mirror the table and the candelabra. The subtle touches are the pearl beading around the chargers that adds that romantic touch. The napkins are also the champagne shantung and for the menus, I used doilies to add a little bit of the more organic and a soft touch to it. I hope you enjoy the design =)
Special Thanks To:
The amazing chuppah with the draping, crystal chandielier, crystal candelabra, and stunning floral designs are courtesy of the beautiful Blush Botanicals ladies.
The chargers, napkins, lucite table, lucite chairs, table runner are courtesy of the fabulous people at Concepts Event Designs
The special couple that took their time to come and capture all the beauty (if not for them, my awful photography skills would not do the design justice) Braja Mandala & Gene Higa
Thank you everyone for helping me, it means the absolute world to me!
When I “found” Found Furniture Rentals, I was in love! What a genius idea! One of things I can remember doing with my dad (the few times that I saw him) for as long as I can remember is scouring through flea markets in Australia to look for hidden gems. Although I didn’t get to grow up with my dad because I live in the United States and he lived in Australia, I always find it so fascinating how much I have in common with him. One of our common loves is finding and admiring vintage things. I give huge props to Jeni the founder of Found Furniture Rentals and I am a huge fan!
I was so ecstatic that I was invited to The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe’s Retreat with the best vendors in the industry! Even though we love to plan, we love to party as well! It was a wonderful time and the team at The INN treated us like royalty. The ambiance during dinner in the outdoor courtyard was so romantic. There was string lighting everywhere and the beautiful centerpieces were done by Sharon and her team at Organic Elements. The flowers were so beautiful! The colors were blush pinks and champagne and gold. The beautiful linens and chiavari chairs were provided by Concepts Event Designs. After dinner we were invited into the ballroom that was completely transformed by Concepts Event Design. The walls were completely draped in white and had crystal accents hanging from them. The room was lit up by blue uplighting and the amazing white dance floor covered the room. Surrounding the dance floor was different style lounge furniture so that guests can take a break from dancing and mingle. And Mingle we did! We were dancing the night away with Tim Altbaum Productions Entertainment providing the music! When we took a break we headed over to the photo station wall provided by Concepts Event Design. Enjoy the gorgeous photos by Emilio Azevedo Wedding Photographer!
And a HUGE THANK YOU FROM LE CHIC WEDDING CONSULTING TO THE AMAZING TEAM AT THE INN FOR SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME!
Almost all of my couples take engagement photos (which is very important) but when Vanessa told me that her and Billy were going to be doing an engagement video, my interest was peaked! She actually was the one that introduced me to Ryan Southwell of Ryan Southwell Films. I took a look at his video blog and was swept off my feet! He does such an amazing job capturing the story of his couples. Not to mention, the shoot. I don’t know how he did all the crazy shots! I told him, when I watch the videos, somehow I imagine him hanging from a tree or something silly. That’s not how he does it, so you’ll have to hire him to find out his secret =) Check out his video blog, and you’ll feel like you are watching a music video!
Watch this video of Billy & Vanessa and you’ll see that they are just madly in love! We had so much fun at their wedding at the Rancho Bernardo Inn on Saturday, I can’t wait to see what Ryan Southwell has in store for us!
I had the absolute pleasure of getting the opportunity to interview Sasha Kollman at the Diamond Boutique in Del Mar, California. What is better than spending some time around sparkling baubles? I absolutely love the Diamond Boutique. They have such a wonderful collection of unique and dazzling diamonds and rings along with a very wide range of wedding bands for both men and women. Everyone there is very friendly and helpful.
P.S. Del Mar (if you have never visited is absolutely breathtaking and one of my favorite areas in San Diego. It’s such a hot spot for Destination Weddings to San Diego!)
I had the absolute pleasure interviewing with the girls at Bliss Bride in Del Mar, California. They are an adorable boutique bridal salon in San Diego. Visiting this store, you will have a truly blissful experience, since the boutique is reserved exclusively for the bride when you set an appointment. They carry exquisite designers such as, Christos , Claire Pettibone, and Vera Wang to name a few. We talked about what to expect when you are getting ready to go dress shopping, and the different style of dresses. I (Wynn Austin) had a chance to model the most stunning gowns (fresh off the runway!) What kind of girl would object to that!
