Doesn’t this salad make you want to dive right in? And that’s saying something for a salad. And the aqua plate? I’ll take 6.

Photo by Anna Skoog.

I’ve been obsessed with this photo for almost two years now. I love the saturated colors of the rock candy against that soft blue backdrop and the angle at which the photo was taken. Divine. Photo by Gemma Comas.

How perfectly modern and chic are these colorful cake stands? By Iacoli & Mcallister, they come in variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.

I’m particularly enamored with this cake stand that looks like a candle holder. The bright red lacquer finish keeps the look modern.

And anything aqua these days, I’m totally obsessed with. I would love to use these for a bright, playful wedding. You can see more of the cake stands right here.

I knew I wanted to make a prop for the bride and groom portraits so I decided to hand cut “love” out of the paisley fabric. To do this I printed “love” in large letters on my printer and cut out the letters to create a template.  I pinned the template to the fabric to cut the letters out. The I took the template and pinned it to stiff yellow card stock to cut out a second letter which would serve as the backing for the sign.

I repeated this same process for “Mr” and “Mrs” these letters were used on their chairs at their sweetheart table.

Since this wedding featured food stations, it was important to make the typical dinner menu sign tie into the decor and feature paisley once again. I took foam core and cut it to the right size for the menus. Then I wrapped the paisley fabric around the foamcore like a present and hot glued the fabric closed.

From there, I printed the menus and other signage using the fonts that were featured on their invitations.

The wedding took place at the father of the bride’s estate, but the ceremony was held next door on their neighbor’s lawn. To get from the ceremony area to the reception guests would have to walk through the bride’s dad’s jungle ravine to get to the reception. We provided flip flops for the ladies so it would be a more comfortable to walk to the reception.

Since the jungle ravine area was landscaped with many different paths, the florist and I decided that a trail of flower petals would be the best way to lead guests up the reception. I used the couple’s monogram and the same font from their invitation (by cevd) on a large poster board that would be placed on the bridge that lead into the ravine and invited guests “to follow the petals to the party.”

The couple wanted a very funky, retro inspired party, rather than a traditional wedding reception. Seating, would be small cocktail tables and dinner would be four food stations served on small plates. They knew off the bat that they wanted their photos taken on their vespas and that large light bulb strands would be strung overhead. They also knew they wanted paisley featured throughout the design. Finding the right paisley proved to the toughest part of the design. I found one option that would work, but the fabric company had stopped making that design. I even looked in New York when I was there for the B-List and had no luck finding the right paisley. Finally, in May I went once again to Michael Levine’s in downtown Los Angeles and found the perfect paisley.

The paisley incorporated their colors, cobalt blue and goldenrod yellow, and had little funky 60’s style flowers throughout the pattern. I put in my order for 30 yards of fabric and had the fabric shipped to my linen vendor to make runners for the cocktail tables, cake table, and food stations. I took a swatch of the  paisley to the cake vendor, Rosebuds, and they were able to pipe the pattern onto their cake. I also sent the fabric to the florist, Collage, so she could use it as a reference for the paisley pattern of rose petals I wanted down the aisle. Once the fabric was found the rest of the details came almost immediately.

Today I’d like to welcome a new sponsor to the blog, Hazel & Harlow! I love the rough, organic texture of these rose rings, which are available here. I think these would make a lovely anniversary present.

Likewise, I love this swallow pendant with white and green topaz stones.

And this is quite the lucky horseshoe! I love the delicate filigree work. This would make the perfect lucky charm for a bride on her wedding day. To check out the full Hazel & Harlow line click here.

Have a lovely Halloween everyone!

Images: Cooke Studio

I’m so excited to share with you the fashion from Wendy’s wedding! Take it away Wendy:

The ceremony was inspired by a short film in Akira Kurasawa’s “Dreams”; the fox wedding.  –Have you seen this?  The music played was Michael Nyman’s “String Quartet No.2: 3.III”, which is more unusual but beautiful; when it started, the bridesmaids and I started the long walk from behind the hill top to the top of the aisle.

The girls were instructed to keep their parasols down over their faces, and to walk tightly in pairs of 2 (except for my sister in the lead).  Guests had no idea I was in the back of this long, colorful train.

One by one, they peeled off down the aisle (folding up their parasol and trading it with my dad for their appropriate bouquet), and then stood along the side of the chairs instead of in the front front. The flower girls tossed pink carnation petals, which I liked because they kind of remind me of peach blossoms (again, an inspiration from Kurasawa’s “Dreams”).

When it was finally my turn, I kept my triangular-shaped white parasol over my face until the right moment in the music and, like the others, closed it and took my bouquet from my dad and walked down the aisle with him.

Thank you for sharing Wendy!

Vendors:

Makeup: Makeup by Tilly

Hair: Ashleigh Wests at 19 Blue Salon

Bride’s dress & shoes: Giusepe Papini

Bridesmaids dresses: Alvina Valenta

Parasols: Luna Bazaar

Personal Training: Casey Pfeifer for Innate Wellness Center (highly, highly recommended by Wendy)

About a year ago, one of my readers, Wendy, contributed a series of posts about going to Italy to get her wedding dress made by Giusepe Papini.

Now a year later, Wendy was kind enough to send photos from her day. Stay tuned for more details on Monday! You can check out the original “Made in Italy” posts: here, here, here, here and here.

Images: 1. Don Wenderski 2. by Wendy

I’m so happy to present the lovely Chelsea from Frolic! with her tips for photo styling. Enjoy!!!

I am Chelsea from Frolic! and am excited to be on Kelly’s lovely blog today! She asked me to share a little about my thought process when I style weddings or party tables. I love everything to look pretty and just right but it also has to be simple, quick and inexpensive. Here are a few tips for those styling their own wedding or party tables.

1. Think about Location. I like my tablescapes to grow from their environments. I spend a lot of time at the locations and if I have a style in mind to begin with, I search out the perfect spot. This green and white table was inspired by the blooming pear trees it was sitting under. I didn’t want to outdo all the gorgeous natural beauty but simply play off of it.

2. Stick to one or two colors. It makes the shopping and planning process so much easier ( and cheaper!). I based this entire table around a swatch of Liberty fabric and a bucket of apples.

3. Pretty chairs are important. Chairs can make or break the entire atmosphere. Go with cheaper centerpieces and spend your dollars on chairs. It will be worth it! They don’t have to match either. One of my favorite tricks is to mix and match Chivari chairs with chairs I already own. Just make sure they are the same colors and around the same heights.

4. Anything can be a centerpiece. It doesn’t alway have to be flowers. Don’t rule out anything. I am a big fan of using seasonal fruit for centerpieces and doubling them up for favors. Helps with the budget too!

5. Make your table look homemade. Rental cloths are usually the most practical and realistic for the budget, but it doesn’t mean your tables have to be sterile. The first thing I usually start with is a plain white rental cloth and from there I add homemade runners and napkins.

6. Use pretty packaging. Not the crafty type? Don’t fiddle with cellophane and ribbons. Find favors and drinks with pretty labels that match your color scheme. Often you can buy in bulk online or through a local store. I based this entire table around Bon Maman strawberry jam and it made my life so much easier!

7. Hang flags! Bunting is so simple and inexpensive to make. Anyone can do it and it really creates a fun atmosphere. I made this one out of tape!

8. Use handwriting. It adds a personal, warm flair to your day. If you don’t like your handwriting or don’t have time, source it out to a friend with pretty writing or calligraphy skills.

9. Have fun! Only decorate with things you like and don’t feel pressure from other people to include colors or elements that don’t reflect your style. It should be an enjoyable process!

Photos: 1,4,5,7,8,9 Chelsea Fuss for Project Wedding. 2 + 3, Chelsea Fuss for Once Wed. 6, Chelsea Fuss.

Thanks for the post Chelsea!!!

Shoes and macarons? Yes, and yes. Photo by Vogue Girl Korea March 2007 via Fashionation.

Right now.

I love the circle closure and the color is to die for.

Asymmetrical pattern? Check. All my favorite colors? Check, check, check.

By Mar y Sol via Snippet & Ink.

You may notice that things look a bit different around here. I’ve updated the layout so I can feature bigger pictures, and most importantly I’ve changed the name of my blog from Santa Barbara Wedding Chic, to Santa Barbara Chic.

I’ve also updated my main website, as well, be sure to check out the new design page, featuring flowers by me and photographs by the lovely Tim Halberg.

Why the change the name, you ask? Because I feel like this blog has evolved and “wedding” in the title wasn’t capturing the true essence of my design blog. So I hope you enjoy the new look and a move towards featuring more design inspiration from the world at large.

And don’t worry, I will still be featuring inspiration boards, Santa Barbara wedding locations, and the occasional vendor spotlight. More of my work is on its way (some of it is in the process of being submitted to other blogs/magazines, hence the delay). I hope you enjoy the new direction I’m going in and let me know if any of you run into any technical difficulties with the new layout.

Images from top: 1. Polly Wreford 2. Tim Halberg, design by me 3. Jim Franco 4. Chris Everard

I love appetizers when they are pretty little bites like this.

Yum! Have a good weekend!!!

Images from top: 1. Alexandra Grablewski 2. Beatriz Da Costa