Beach Wedding Cake Stand perfection

Quite possibly the most perfect beach wedding cake stand ever. I think it belongs in my exclusive collection, don't you?

Here's to another great wedding! Kelly McWilliams www.WeddingsbySocialites.com Sent from my iPhone

Destination Wedding Rule #2

Destination Wedding Rule #2: This one is more of a tip than a rule. Put great consideration into a mid-week wedding. Your wedding costs will be less because of mid- week packaging from your vendors. This means you can do more with your budget. Also, travel will be less expensive for your guests! It's very important though to send save the dates 9-12 months in advance so everyone can get a couple days off of work.

Destination Wedding Rules, #1

Destination Wedding Rule #1: Give your guests time to do as they wish. A couple planned events & gatherings are good, but make sure to leave at least 8 hours of "free to be" time. This will allow your friends and family to make your wedding celebration a truly unique experience.

Lemon Yellow & Caribbean Blue Wedding Tablescape

I admit being completely against yellow for I don't know how long. In fact, when I got the opportunity to design this concept for Bride & Bloom magazine, I was 100% disappointed to hear "Lemon is your design theme".
Um, I changed my mind. I now LOVE yellow. I can't get enough of it. It makes me happy. Weddings are happy. So that makes sense.

What I will say though is that I think yellow should always be paired with another color that translates into a dim light situation well. Which is why when I met with Floral Designer Beth Traucht at Floral Artistry we decided to use some white flowers like these Cattleya Orchids to "pop" in the evening along with some crystal pieces to reflect candlelight.

For the invitation I chose a simple panel invitation and then embellished it with ribbon and the yellow liner. I was floored when Karen showed up with the cake below and it matched almost exactly to the invitation!

This is hands down one of the most amazing cakes I have ever seen. Karen of Kakes by Karen has completely outdone herself this time. Each one of those tiles on the cake is individually hand painted. The 4 tier cake took 5 hours to design and cut the tile pattern and then 10 hours to just to paint!

I want to thank Krista from Impressions Photography for taking so many phenomenal pictures that day and braving the heat with me at on the beach at Sunset Cove.
Wondering where we found this amazing location? It's South Seas Island Resort on Captiva Island; one of my absolute favorite wedding locations.
You can see more images in the summer '09 issue of Bride & Bloom magazine, on newsstands now.

Remodeled! Check out the new Weddings by Socialites Planning Studio and Staff

The last month has been CRAZY! Between the amazing events we hosted (Wise Bride & We Wed Brunch) and the studio remodel, we're a tiny bit tired. But oh- it was so worth it! Stop in when you can, but in the meantime, here's a sneak peek:
This is the front room. Basically a spot to chill out for a bit before entering the client consult room. It's also where Jackie naps after being hit on the head with falling ladders. Long story. Very excited to say that I am featured in all 3 of these magazines on newstands now (Brides Florida, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, and Bride & Bloom).
The client consult room. As you can see, I have my mini library in here. It's easiest to have a nice big table to pull 40 or so books and magazines out for inspiration. And we're also so happy to have a staff meeting space that doesn't require someone sitting on the floor (happened all the time and it was usually me). I also have some of my tablescape collection back there (along with the necessary celebratory champagne). Oh, and that's the entire collection of Pacific Weddings magazine. I won it a few months ago on a blog contest, ha!
Lastly, the office. Where all the magic happens. Er, uh, wedding planning & designing that is. I am the messy desk. And that is my mess on the floor. Whitney will no doubt have a stroke when she sees the mess I made. That's Kandice being very excited about a picture of a car that we're renting for a client. If you had any idea what it took to get this photo, ugh. The magazines- I do actually read all wedding magazines before they make it into the mini library and yes, I am obviously really far behind.
Up next, all the girls of Weddings by Socialites...

Pretty DIY tablescapes

I got together with Impressions Photography and AMC Video to produce this short video of some tablescapes several weeks ago. Here is my honest opinion when it comes to DIY. It is not easy and it is very time consuming, and isn't always less expensive. However, if you are having a very small wedding, perhaps just a table or 2, it can be worth your while and really fun. For these tablescapes I picked up all the candlesticks, cylinders, and vases from Homegoods. The roses are from Sams club, which you can order online.

If you aren't going the DIY route, looking at DIY projects you've found online at places like Wedding Bee, Style MePretty, and Snippet and Ink can be great to bring to your florist, wedding planner/designer, and stationer for inspiration!
Oh my gosh, I nearly forgot the amazing cake! Kakes by Karen let us borrow this modern creation from her studio bakery. I have to admit, I had a very difficult time trying to pick just one cake. She's so talented. And NO, I do not recommend DIY wedding cakes- ever!

Becky+Noah=Epic! YOU+ME Session

Our second photographer couple of the year, the amazing Becky & Noah, are hanging out at our friend & fellow photographer Mike Larson's workshop on Oahu.

I knew they were dying to see a sneak peek so I wanted to put up a few quick shots from their YOU+ME bride & groom session...but I couldn't stop at just a few! So here are our fav 21 :) Their absolutely epic wedding day story coming up soon!

Love...

... is beautiful.



Could there be a more vibrant, happy bride than Becky?

With the help of Noah & Nathan, his best man, we scouted out some awesome locations on Kauai. Loved the textures of this wall and the trees.



Our favorite grove of trees in Kauai.



And our favorite tree on Kauai!





We fell in love with this ranch & had been plotting how to sneak in all week, but luckily Noah knows everyone on Kauai & can sweet-talk his way past any gate!







Stopped in town on the way to the beach.

Cuz it's not Hawaii without some shave ice!

We made it just in time for sunset.

Chris' fav.



My fav.



We almost lost three 5Ds, our radio poppers, and our fearless rock-climbing assistant (thanks Kali!) getting this last shot of the day!



Stay tuned next week for their full wedding day story - it, and their love, is simply beautiful.