Brian and Kacey - Calistoga Wedding

Brian and Kacey tied the knot back in June at a private estate in Calistoga. This couple, along with their families, were amazing to work with. I can't tell you how much fun I had planning with them the year leading up to the wedding. Take a peek at how the bright summer colors accented with the chocolate brown worked so well with the lush green vineyard backdrop.

One of my favorite elements was the photographer, Kate Nagle, who created an area during the reception where all of the guests could step into a "photobooth" -- a large cardboard cutout that acted as the frame for the photo. She provided the best dress up pieces - fedoras, sunglasses, wigs and boas to name a few, and had guests pose. The images came out fantastic! Brian and Kacey had great snapshots of all of their guests and Kate had a quick form to gather email addresses so that guests could order photos after the wedding.

We did welcome in quite the heat wave that week, and the day reached temperatures of about 102. The best part of the evening was the dance floor that was surrounded the crystal blue pool so at any moment guests could kick off their heels and cool off when needed.

What I loved most about this wedding was how family focused and truly fun the ceremony and reception were. From the bride's dog as the ring bearer to one of the best father daughter dances I have witnessed, this night was all about the guests being welcomed as part of the family.


The happy couple!

The Bride and her Maids - the tea length dresses had chocolate colored sashes.


The ceremony site - on the other side of the white fence are rows and rows of vineyards.

The dapper men head to the ceremony.


Kacey's golden retriever wore the rings tied to her back on the above fabric "saddle." In the processional, Kacey's mom walked the pup down the aisle to deliver the rings to the bride and groom.


On the other side of the wine bottle, the back label is a photo of Brian and Kacey. Each bottle or table number, had a different image from their engagement session.


One of my favorite shots of the day.

White lights make any party automatically festive and fun in my mind.


The bride and groom in the photobooth.

It was an incredibly perfect summer wedding. Thank you to Kacey, Brian and their families for letting me take part in their big day.

Trisha Dean Events
Private Estate, Calistoga, CA - contact Trisha Dean Events for details
Kate Nagle Photography
Claudia K Florist
Knickerbockers' Catering
Classic Party Rentals

Tea for Two and Two for Tea

This afternoon I sat sipping my favorite tea, a strong black tea with a hint of vanilla, sitting with good friends in the most adorably pink teahouse in San Francisco. Crown and Crumpet Tea Salon is tucked away in Ghirardelli Square and embraces all things girly and sweet. The teahouse has happy hot pink and white-checkered floors and a view of the San Francisco Bay. The décor feels a bit like cheeky modern meets shabby chic. A gorgeous vintage couch sits in front of roaring flat screen fireplace and the walls are decked with all kinds of eye candy – all which lend to Crown and Crumpet’s charm.

The warm home made scones are unreal and the dainty tea sandwiches – egg salad, roast beef and brie with pear to name a few, aren’t the wimpy dried out ones you find at many other places. The desserts were almost too pretty to eat and tasted delicious. The best way to order in my opinion is to share the Tea for Two (or Three or Four…) and get the tower of treats to enjoy with your tea. Also, for a teahouse, they do have quite the robust lunch menu with yummy looking soups and salads.

My visit today was just to catch up with jet-setting friends, but this place squeals bridal or baby shower - they even have a long table that seats 12! There is also a little shop where the owners can whip up adorable party favors or you can purchase a pink polka dot tea pot for those gray days at home when you need a little pick me up and a spot of tea.

The couch and fireplace are hidden behind the blue table holding the fabulous jars full of sweets.



Our table - sweet baby decorations and presents in honor of Baby Em.




The kitchen and the little shop which the owner tells me will be expanding into the space next door.



The tower of treats - I hope you go and enjoy!


Crown & Crumpet

Ghirardelli Square

900 North Point St, E207

San Francisco, CA 94109

415-771-4252

Photo source: From Trisha Dean's personal collection

DIY: Paper Source's Paper Wedding

Having a background in print design I have a love of all things paper and all things related in any way, shape, or form to paper. Hence my love of the store Paper Source. This past Saturday and Sunday they hosted their Wedding Weekend of DIY live tutorials for invitations, place cards and favor boxes, among other things. I attended on Sunday to see what it was all about and use it possibly as an excuse to pick up a few items at one of my favorite stores.

I think one of the niftiest things I saw in action was the embosser. It is not a true imprinted emboss but still looks classy and can really dress up certain elements on the printed pieces for your wedding. By stamping an image on paper, sprinkling on embossing powder and using a heat source (no you can't use a blow dryer, I asked. The blowdryer does not get hot enough to create the effect and it blows away the dust instead of melting it into the stamp) you can easily create embossed images. Here it is in action:

An example of Aubrey (Paper Source staff) embossing table numbers. Paper Source sells all of the items - table number tent kits, red sticker circles, stamps, ink, and all embossing tools. They are all reasonably priced too! Take your number stamp - here she is using a number 5...

...then sprinkle on the powder. You need to make sure you cover the whole stamp and then you can take the excess and put it back in the jar. Use any color stamp ink you want, but in this case you would need to be sure the color would show up on the dark red circle.

There is a clear ink stamp pad you can use and once you put on the clear powder, and use the heat source, it lifts the color red from the paper circle and it becomes a shade darker and glossier. The flowers in the background were stamped with a gold sparkle ink pad and using the clear powder, the gold was able to come through. The red sticker was then laid over the gold flower embossed stamps.
Next you use the embosser - and go over the entire stamp image. This literally takes 30 seconds.

And there it is! By using double sided tape, you tape the two table tent flaps together so it will stand on its own - you might want to wait until the day of your wedding to tape them together so they don't get bent.

If you get the chance, you should head into Paper Source and check it out in person. What was once a stamp - is now a glossy raised version of it. Paper Source has how-to videos on their web site and they let me know that their staff is more than happy to show you how to use these items even if it isn't a special Wedding Weekend.

I have to admit, my first love is letterpress, but for brides on a budget this is a great way to have a fantastic clean and professional look for your wedding print collateral. You could use this on place cards, wedding invites, programs - the possibilities are endless!

Photo source: From Trisha Dean's personal collection

Style Me Pretty + Google Docs = Bride & Wedding Planner in one?

Style Me Pretty, one of the best sites (and one of my favorites!) for all things wedding, has just announced that it teamed up with Google to create an amazing array of wedding planning documents for brides and grooms. These documents allow them to be as organized and together as possible when it comes to planning their big day.

At first I thought - these docs are great! Free access to well designed templates for engaged couples - what a huge help to them. Then, upon reviewing the documents I started to feel...well, a bit uneasy as a wedding planner.

Due to the current economy, planners tend to be one of the first budget items to get cut. As much as we try to educate brides that planners are a necessity to help with one of the most important (and often expensive!) days of their lives go off without a hitch, some brides tend to over look this fact by having a friend or family member attempt to run their dream day - which can end in disaster! Leila Khalil of Be Inspired a Wedding PR agency wrote a fantastic post about such situations here.

This new partnership between Style Me Pretty and Google makes me think...will these documents lend themselves to have the bride believe she can do it all - dream, plan and then execute on her wedding day while trying to actually enjoy her wedding day?

There are still brides that understand the importance of a planner and everything we have to offer them, and I know these documents will not replace the role of a planner. And I believe they will be incredibly helpful - they are pretty nifty I must say! It just makes me realize that our industry still needs to work hard and continue to educate brides and grooms about the repercussions of trying to do everything themselves instead of working with a team of vendors that can ensure them an amazing disaster free day!

Photo by Anna Kuperberg
Wedding: Love in Las Vegas by Trisha Dean Events
Venue: Four Seasons, Las Vegas

Ben & Stacey - Dunsmuir Estate May 2009

Working with Ben and Stacey on their wedding meant a day full of personal touches and fantastic color -- which brightened up the already stunning venue in the Oakland Hills. In fact, even though the weather man promised us 70 degree weather - we barely noticed that it stayed overcast and chilly from all the beautiful warm reds, oranges, yellows and gorgeous greens.













The photographer was the talented Gabriel Harber. This is one of my favorites.













The finishing touches on the back of her dress by Amy Kuschel.













The handsome Groom and his men.













Wait until you see the meadow...













Dunsmuir Estate













Parasols to shade us from the "sun".



















The fabric on the place cards matched the napkins. It was fun to use the different fabrics throughout the wedding as design details.













Ben and Stacey made an incredible rub of spices as favors for their guests.













Ranunculus - one of my favs.



















Strawberry Pie for dessert - Ben's grandmother's special recipe.













The groom with Stacey's maids - check out all the great red shoes.













I love this hat that Stacey's dad wore.



















The ring bearer escaped during the ceremony - with all that lawn how could he not get out and explore!













The reception was held in a large tent strung with hundreds of white lights. Red, orange, hot pink and burgundy candles in mason jars lit up the cocktail area where wine from the bride and groom's favorite winery Imagery was flowing all night long.



















An amazing day was had by all. Thanks to Ben and Stacey for letting me be a part of their day.

Trisha Dean Events
Dunsmuir Estate, Oakland, CA
Gabriel Harber Photography
Jennifer Daily Flowers
Miraglia Catering
Classic Party Rentals