EARLY FALL AT THE KOHL.

Emily Wuinnan, (now into my "nicest bride list" ) basically gave me colors for her September wedding ceremony at the Stanford Memorial Church and reception at the Kohl Mansion then uttered these words, "I trust your skills so please run away with it",  I did and she loved it.

ARIANNE and NOAH- Chateau St. Jean, Sonoma

It was to be a romantic, rustic elegant, wine country wedding. With a reception on the grounds of a Sonoma vineyard, Chateau St. Jean; in a ceremony where the couple is serenaded by their friends, a 20 member choir; conducted by the professor of Choral Music/conductor of the Yale Glee Club, their very own professor:  to enchant further and mystify the beautiful historic Church of the Incarnation in Santa Rosa and with  the expertise event management/handling of Robbin Montero and Echodawn Wright of ' A DreamWedding", the day delivered,  could not and did not disappoint.

Peaches and Creams were the order of the day.  Phaelonopsis, Hydrangeas, Dahlias, Cafe au Lait, David Austin's Juliet, Patience, Swan spray rose, Stock , Veronicas, Rosemary, Oregano, Thyme and  Hypericum berries, ingredients that made for beautiful personal flowers, church decors, table accents in an alternating high and low ensemble.

With the vineyard as backdrop to a gathering  made very meaningful by family, love ones, and special friends. This day couldn't have been more perfect for our, oh so ever beautiful bride, Arianne Guingona Abela and her dashing prince of a groom, Noah Horn.

Chateau St. Jean

A Dream Wedding

Devorah Laver

OLGA AND SHAWN The Kohl Mansion

A night of summer pastels, sentiments on a Chuppah fabric from pieces of wedding dresses of mothers and grandmothers, olive and herb garlands studded with garden roses, lush table embellishment of cafe au lait, Roses, hydrangeas and stocks, held up by silver candelabras, a beautiful Bride and a Groom with GQ model looks pinned with the elusive "mock orange" bloom for an early summer wedding 

Todd Rafalovich

Toast

 Kohl Mansion

Photos I took below

FOYER PIECE

THIS IS HOW WE "BEACH"!!

San Gregorio State Beach's picnic ground opens up to a beautiful panoramic view of the ocean while to you your right is a short 30 degree hike that would reveal incredible views of seemingly endless shoreline to both north and south of the hill. Julie Andrews eat your hear out.

South view

North view

My philosophy in dining out in the open is to surround yourself and your guests with anything and everything that are pleasing to the eye. As nature provides most of its unbridled beauty, we can only try and compliment it with utmost respect and elegance. I feel we should do our part. It's not that hard. I see people carrying tents, grills and bags upon bags of chips, heavy meals and plastic wares !! Hmmm... the earth is currently in panic mode when comes to un compostable materials so let's do away with plastic ( spoons knives, plates cups etc) as much as possible (not trying to be preachy here) just try. We all have what we need in your kitchen. One Fork for each person, one salad plate and one mason jar very versatile container for all types of beverage (if you can carry a grill to the beach surely you can handle all these)  and yes, linen table cloth and napkins you can reuse over and over again, a roll of paper towel or wash cloth for utility use and you're set.

Make your table look nice and interesting as if you were entertaining at home. Spoil yourself with sights of things you like, eat light, finger foods, cheeses, bread and vegetable/fruit crudete'. A bottle of champagne perhaps, lots of water and lastly a splash of color against the cool blue sea with bright, warm and hardy colored florals.

The Menu:

Sourdough bread

Manchego, Brie, Membrillo (Quince paste) Cream cheese, Hummus

Prosciutto, Smoked Salmon

Sliced organic cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and baby carrots.

Fried Chicken Wings

Parboil chicken wings, Marinate in buttermilk for at least an hour but no more than 3.

Pat dry with paper towel, egg wash, bread crumbs ( with thyme and rosemary powder) rosemary salt, bit of cayenne, SnP. Deep fry or bake.

Beverage:

Water, Champagne, Kettle One, Pink  lemonade, Pellegrino

All these were easily carried, set up and stricken down by Risa, Freddie and Me 

with our most gracious guests Marian and Malu

Was a perfect day at the beach. 

RUBY AND MENAL @ SAN FRANCISCO CITY HALL

I'm always enthused to do an event at the San Francisco City hall with the building's architectural detail and a dome rising 307.5 feet high  one can't help but be inspired. July 5 2014 was a day I got to do it again.

A grand and joyous affair was the expectation of both Ruby and Menal who wanted a bright and colorful event reflective of their cultural ancestry to be done in a mix of organic materials and modern silhouettes. The focal for the ceremony was of course the Mandap After several meetings, discussions and revisions, we came up with a design that Menal's father had put together and thereafter will be utilized and repurpose in their new home.

The colors were magenta, Saffron , deep oranges and hints of Chartreuse.

Bouquets to Arts 2014- de Young Museum

I was way over my head when I picked my art piece. Like always things that pop in your head during selection day do not usually translate into easy mechanics. LOL, but it is always a welcome challenge and a thing I enjoy doing year after year.

Then there at the garage was this rectangular Plexiglas I had custom made for last year's piece that didn't work out at all and ideas started pouring with this chance sighting.

The Art piece I selected was " 7 Indigo flowers left him"

I tried to research but didn't get much. So I thought I work with the title - Indigo" for color and the forms number 7 and triangle. And what better way to showcase this two forms than to float them on a Plexiglas container. BOOM!!!

I had to play with the word Indigo. I just had to. As there were not 7 indigo flowers in this arrangement,as the title would suggest, there were 7 "types" of blue violet flowers , just because I could be a bit of an OCD. another BOOM !!