ST. REGIS MONARCH BEACH WEDDING IN THE SPRING

What an amazing night!  I felt pretty good going into this one and suspected that we were in for a great time.  “Birds of a feather, flock together”, and this was true with Bob and Emily.  They were fun, kind, cool, smart, creative and very down to Earth.  So were their families and friends. 

St. Regis is a truly remarkable venue because it has a great combination of high-end/modern/stylish with relaxed/inviting/friendly.  I really like the entire staff at St. Regis.  It all starts with the Valets and these guys are really good to everybody, regardless of the make and model of your car.

Emily loves kids (she’s a horse riding instructor) and had 6 flower girls/ Junior Bridesmaids that just about stole the show with their super cute dresses and personalities.  Emily’s Dad, Gene, gave a wonderful opening toast that made everybody feel so welcome and happy to be there.  He got a little choked up and that got most of us a little choked up too.  There were definitely some tears going on with the Father/Daughter dance (Cinderella, by Steven Curtis Chapman. That song gets me every time!)  Gene is such a nice guy.  Everybody loved Dad!

Bob and the boys looked great and were a ton of fun from start to finish.  Bob was a natural expert at working the crowd, circulating around the ballroom, hitting the dance floor and making everyone feel important and special at all times.

Emily looked absolutely stunning and was such a wonderful person to work with!  She was mobbed by friends and family all night and she always had a big smile on her face.

Bob and Emily were very creative and original with every aspect of their wedding, while at the same time, allowing us hired pros to have input and do what we do best.  This is always the best situation.  Allow the pros to do their job, while adding in all your unique touches to make it truly yours.

I’ve also got to mention that after 1700 weddings, I’ve seen a lot of candy stations.  Bob and Emily’s candy station was the finest work of sugar art I have ever seen in my life.  They hired Candee by Sandee (www.candeebysandee.com) and she put together an amazing display of candy that was also color matched to the wedding.  And if that’s not enough, Sandee was there the entire time, assisting guests with their candy choices and keeping the candy table looking perfect all night.  Some wise person once said, “pick one thing, and do it better than any body else”. Whether it’s being a surgeon, or a taxi cab driver, or a DJ, or a candy expert.  Sandee is the best at what she does and it really shows.  Great job Sandee!

Finally, a big high five to Emily and Bob for their photographer choice.  Drexelle and David from D. Park Photography (www.dparkphotography.com) were awesome to work with.  What a great team.  I’ll let their amazing images tell their story.  I hope you enjoy these pictures provided by them. 

CASA ROMANTICA SAN CLEMENTE WEDDING PERFECTION

If you haven’t been to Casa Romantica lately, you are in for a pleasant surprise.  This is a really charming, warm, beautiful place to have a wedding.  Steve and Meredith’s May wedding was perfect from start to finish. 

First of all, these two are such a great match.  They are both teachers, they are fun, funny, sweet, and very smart. They are also both madly in love and not afraid to show it! 

This wedding was filled with laughter and happy tears.  Many of the tears came from Steve; especially when he saw Meredith for the first time in her beautiful wedding gown.  Two photographers and two videographers from every angle as it’s called, caught the “reveal”.  We all held our breath as Meredith came up behind Steve and tapped him on the shoulder.  He turned around and everybody started to cry.  They held each other for a long time.  I almost started crying too, but I didn’t!

Meredith’s Dad gave one of the best toasts I’ve ever heard.  I hope when my daughter gets married (a long time from now), I will do half as well as he did. 

Dancing at “the Casa” is done inside, in a slightly sunken dance area, surrounded by columns that are perfect for up lighting.  We had the dance floor rocking pretty good the entire night and finished up with “Come on Eileen” and
“Don’t Stop Believing”.  The wedding ended on an extremely high note and we had an official send off in a vintage Rolls Royce.  What a great night!

I would also like to add that Steve sang a song to Meredith during the ceremony that was a surprise.  (The Luckiest by Ben Folds.  My wife Christina walked down the aisle to that same song when we got married) It was priceless.  Steve scored mad points on that one.

They also had a really cool, “beachy” looking, photo booth that was a big hit (www.snapzphotobooth.com)

Finally, one major reason the wedding went so well is that we had a great coordinator.  Thank you Kimi (www.perfectplanningevents.com) for doing such an awesome job!