Terra & Amyn

Terra and Amyn's Fall wedding was all about involving their friends and family in their weekend of wedded bliss! The bride's side is strong Italian, the groom's side is Indian - together their group was full of fun and love!

Instead of having a typical rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding the couple invited all of their guests to partake in Amyn's families Indian wedding traditions. Dawned in a emerald saris, gold jewelry and henna - Terra rocked the look!


The wedding was at the Palace Ballroom on September 24th. The spaces dark brick paired with the couples use of color looked incredible! Terra and Amyn took a bit of Indian flair and mixed it in with Terra's Italian background and family traditions. Can you say canolis for dessert!? YUM!I loved their unique guest book! They had their guests sign a Seattle neighborhood print which they matted and framed for their home.
Their centerpiece flowers came from Pike's Place Market and Taj Downey of Ballard Blossom's did the girls bouquets and ceremony flowers.
One of Terra's family hobbies is knot making. Terra's father hand tied dozens of monkey knuckle knots with awesome gold rope. They served as table number markers and decor throughout the reception.
Ryan Flynn of Ryan Flynn Photography took of all of the pics and I must say he did an Uh-Maz-Ing job!! The couple walked around downtown near their venue and snapped city scape pics.
Could she look more beautiful?! I love this photo of the bride, perfection!
Terra's dress was gorgeous!! She purchased it from neighborhood boutique, Belletown Bridal.Let me tell you about these shoes! The ladies got ready at Terra's apartment (Suresh did the girl's hair and make-up) and a fire alarm went off...elevators were shut down and the ceremony was to start shortly...down the stairs the gang went...did I mention they were over 20 floors up?! Luckily that was the most dramatic occurrence of the day:)
Rows and bundles of light pink orchids hung in front of pipe and drape for the ceremony.
Meet the party people!Top Pot Doughnuts, one of the couples favorite dessert/coffee shops served as a photo opp!
Terra is very close to her grandmother and I LOVE this photo of their hands! One of my favorite parts of the wedding is when Terra's grandmother and her new husband had their first dance as a married couple after Terra and Amyn had their first dance. Did I mention they are nearly 90 nears old and boogied to reggae?! It was awesome!!
Pre ceremony sneak almost peak! DJ Kuhnex of Goat House Production's kept the dance floor packed! Terra and Amyn were such a pleasure to work with!! They were so happy and light hearted and that really shined on their wedding day!

Christy & Matt

We all know 'that couple', the couple that when you meet them you say, "oh yeah, they're perfect for each other", cue Matt and Christy. I was lucky enough to meet Matt and Christy a few years ago and we became fast friends! Knowing them as dating, then engaged and getting to help plan their wedding with them was so special!

Their wedding was held on July 23rd at the Seattle Tennis Club and was that perfect combination of simple elegance and fun. The Tennis Club set the tone for a gorgeous backdrop and unique touches that the couple brought to the venue made it so 'them'!

Christy wore a beautiful Amy Kuschel dress from Belltown Bride and her dainty accessories and purple shoes added the perfect touches! She was stunning!! It isn't often the groom's shoes get a shout out. I totally dig Matt's shoes - shout out!!





















Marigold and Mint provided all of the flowers. Christy chose all white blooms which looked so pretty! Her tables had single stem drop in buds and cones lined the seats during the ceremony.


The ceremony was on the water and as requested, Mount Rainier made an appearance on the sunny and 70 day!

British Motor Coach provided a vintage Rolls Royce for the perfect photo opp!

Marigold and Mint also placed the flowers on six delicious cakes baked by Rosellini Sweets. Christy, originally from New Mexico, also lived and worked in New Orleans for a few years before moving to Seattle. She brought traditional desserts from both regions, biscochio cookies from NM and a pull cake that all of the girls participated from NOLA.

All of the details such as the signature cocktails, dessert flavors, notes and candy favors were written on slabs of slate. It looked great and is something they can re use for many future occasions!

The rings...brilliant!! All three rings were designed at Seattle Diamonds.
The details...
All of the above photos were courteous of one of my FAVORITE photographers on the planet, Shannon Galasso of Riso Studio. Love her!!


Entertainment...Contrast Music, a fab string quartet, provided the ceremony music. And Oncore, one the best cover bands in Seattle rocked the reception. The dance floor was packed!


And lastly hair and make-up was done by Salon Maison.

Get Inspired!

One of my favorite parts about planning a wedding is creating an inspiration board! An inspiration board pulls in the feeling, flavor, colors and vibe of your event onto a single page. You can show a vendor such as a planner, photographer or florist your inspiration board and they are instantly caught up with your ideas of how the big day should look. The best part of an inspiration board is it is a perfect way to capture your thoughts and ideas! While planning your wedding you can easily get inundated with magazines, websites and blogs of pictures and ideas and it can get hard to keep track of everything and/or to keep your vision cohesive.

Here are two of my favorite inspiration boards that were put together by Clutch Events Associate, Sarah Gai. Sarah has a special talent in that she can hear just a few sentences of your vision and can whip up a spot on board that makes a bride giddy with excitement because she captures 'that feeling'.


The bride Sarah created this board for wanted a classic and clean look with a pop of fun yellow!

The words used to describe the below board were a mix of modern and vintage Montana. I think she nailed it!

You can easily make yourself an inspiration board by going to one of my favorite wedding blogs, Style Me Pretty. You will see the below 'build a board' icon and from there just click on the pictures of real weddings you find inspiring and you can build your board!
For my own wedding I'm creating inspiration boards for my photographer, my florist and my hair stylist to get them in tune to my inspiration! Happy planning!

A Crafty Couple!

SODO Park was the perfect venue to accentuate the craftiness of 10.10.10 spunky & clever couple, Kate & Elliot! What was super fun about working with these two is how complimentary they are to each other. Each meeting would begin and end with comments like, "Elliot is really great at detailed 'to do lists, he is getting things done" or "New fun projects keep coming up because Kate has such great ideas and is so artistic". I'm paraphrasing here, but you get the idea. They brought out the best in each other and it showed during their fabulous wedding!
The bride, a fab designer, created their own invites, programs, menus and more. When walking through the front doors at SODO Park there was a ~ 8' X 15' faux store front that Kate & Elliot hand painted to welcome guests to their Wedding Haberdashery.
The white chocolate & golden raspberry cake is from TM Dessert Works in Ballard. And yes, that is a giraffe and cat cake topper! The couple also had super yummy cookies, cakes and cupcakes from Simply Desserts in Fremont.

The couple ordered over 100 apothecary jars of different shapes and sizes. They made many of them into mini atriums filled with dahlias, moss and succulents. After the wedding K&E planted the succulents at their yard!
Other jars were filled with craftiness such as vintage spools, buttons, scissors, clothes pins, ribbon, measuring tape, etc. It gave the their long tables a vintage, haberdashery feel.

Their photographer, Win from LifeBox Studios did an amazing job moving them about all of the nooks and crannies that SODO Park has to offer. A little October rain didn't keep K&E indoors!

A major hit of the reception was the photobooth from 321Photo! The couple put together an eclectic 'prop bar' which let guests to dress up & get creative! It definitely made their photo collection one to remember.
The Horah is always one of my favorite parts of a Jewish Ceremony. Try not to laugh and have fun during this part of the reception, I dare you! Plus it is a great way to get the entire group on the dance floor ready to help you celebrate! DJ Ollie with Gen X Pro kept the guests on the dance floor from beginning to end!

One of my favorite florists, Kimberly Neff with Lilies & Lemon Drops incorporated deep purples, plums and magenta into her gorgeous bouquets. Kate and her bridesmaids made a trip to Pike's Place Market for their centerpiece flowers the day before the wedding. The couple hosted a family style lunch served by the always decadent, Herban Feast. They also chose bride & groom 'old time' feeling signature cocktails, a French 75 and a Spiked Arnold.
Bride Kate wore an amazing Jenny Packham dress! Loved it! Groom Elliot, wore a dapper suit with purple shoes:)
This couple proved that having a Sunday afternoon wedding doesn't mean you have a to have a formal low key event. This was one of the most rock'n parties that I've been too! They spent their engagement thinking about the details that would add to their overall aesthetic and guests experience. The result was UHmazing!

Wahoo, Get Hitched Give Hope Results!

Uh, what a night! What an event! What a success!! Get Hitched Give Hope 2010 surpassed our expectations beyond belief! We had a goal to raise $50K for Making Memories Foundation and guess how much we raised?? Wait for it...wait for it....$64,000!!!!! Hi Cloud Nine, it is SO nice to meet you!

If you weren't there...well, sorry, but you missed out! 500 brides, grooms and wedding community members made their way into the glamorous Four Seasons last Thursday and gave to a great cause while getting great deals! I won 50 glassybabys for my own wedding, aaah yeah!

So check out some super rad photos from La Vie Photography of the event and the team that put it together!




Shout out to the fabulous guy and gals who put on the event!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of those who donated their time, goods and $$ to such a great cause! Feel good about yourselves, you rock! And if you want to read more about the event or see more pictures check out our recap page!

Cute Little Pumpkin!

Trick, Treat or a Baby Shower for little Olivia Gai?! How about all three! Throwing a baby shower for Clutch Associate Sarah Gai on Halloween was SO much fun! We chose an appropriate theme for the holiday and the event, "Cute Little Pumpkin", awwww! And used fun colors for the season and the gender, a soon to be little girl - purple, orange and black.

We incorporated orange and white mini pumpkins throughout the living room and dining room. And to the right in the below picture are festive bat/malt ball favors for the lovely ladies to take home with them.
What would Halloween be without yummy treats!? We did witches brew mimosas made with prosecco with a oh too perfect orange label and straight up OJ for the expecting mommies. Dishes like a cheesy strata and a chicken, spinach, mandarin orange salad were a perfect combo for a late brunch. Especially when you top it all off with a peanut butter cupcake for dessert!
As a take home for Sarah and a cute touch of decor we hung onesies on clothespins in each of the windows in white, purple and orange. It is a baby shower...we have to get a little corny right? The chair says 'Mummy To Be'...bwah haha!
A fun game that got everyone involved was to bring a picture of themselves as a child dressed up on Halloween and Sarah had to match them to everyone's name - super cute and a fun blast from the past!
Sarah and I!! No, we didn't plan our fall green outfits:) And below...eat your heart out Martha Stewart, I quilted it myself!
And because Sarah is the most prepared person with a thank you I had to showcase her shower gift. How cute is that stork? She drew and colored it herself....ah, love her!!

I'm so happy you had a great shower Sarah and I can't wait to meet Little Olivia!!

Christie & JJ Get Married!

Who is a fun couple? Christie and JJ are a fun couple! And they let the fun fly at their September 18th Wedding!

Step 1 to Fun - They chose an entertaining new venue, Urban Light Studios. The space is broken up into unique, artsy rooms like a tiki bar, library, Chinese room and a log cabin (Random tidbit...the log cabin room is from the set of Northern Exposure).


Step 2 to Fun - Hire boisterous vendors! Case in point, their photographer, Stephanie Haller! (How many of you thought I was going to say myself? Bwa hahaha! No!) Stephanie took awesome pics of the couple and their family throughout the studio. To see more pics take a look at her blog!

And while we're on the subject of 'boisterous vendors'....Christie's Italian Grandmother and Aunts prepared a delightful Italian meal! Talk about a wedding feast made with love!

Like the close ups? Shanelle of Pacific Artistry did on site hair and make-up for Christie and her bridesmaids. Who could say no to that face?!
Step 3 to Fun - Save $$! The couple was able to save pennys left and right by doing things themselves and having friends and family assist them when possible! A few examples you could do yourself are 1) They had their close friend officiate the ceremony and MC the reception. 2) Christie had a craft party where many of the decorations were put together in a cost effective manner. Bonus, she has sold many of them to a future bride! 3) The couple sent out their Save the Dates via email directing guests to their website and had a close friend do the rest of their paper design. You can find other tips throughout the blog on ways to save money as well!

An awesome picture on Greenwood Avenue outside of Urban Light Studios! It shows off Christie's gorgeous dress she purchased on Ebay which was an unworn gem from JCrew! I think I should incorporate a life size lion into all of my receptions...what do you think?! It was a definte fun photo backdrop!
Christie had found her amazing necklace on Etsy before she was engaged and had kept her eye on it for months. She loved it so much she made it her 'signature piece' for her wedding day!
The couple had an fab friend bake some delicious tiramisu cupcakes and they also had a yummy strawberry cutting cake from Simply Desserts in Fremont.
A close friend to the bride put together the bouquets, bouts and a few large arrangements for the space. And another close friend took the lead on serving and bartending!

I hope you liked the 3 Steps-o-Fun and the enjoyed the loverly images from Christie & JJ's wedding!!

Get Hitched Give Hope!

Get Hitched Give Hope is just around the corner! It is next Thursday! Now is the time to buy your tickets and read the online program so you can check out the goods, services and events that will be happening at GHGH!

It is going to be such an amazing night! There will be fabulous food and cocktails, marvelous music, great live/silent auctions and amazeball raffle items! And remember it isn't just for brides and grooms! It is for anyone who wants to support an incredible cause! The money the GHGH team raises on Thursday goes to Making Memories Foundation who grants wishes to woman/men with stage 5 breast cancer - BOO cancer!

So pick out your party dress and some swanky shoes and head to the Four Seasons on the 28th!

Need some incentive?? The first person to contact me in reply to this blog will win two free tickets to the event!! WAHOO!!

Nautical Nuptuals

Meet Adam and his sweet Melissa! The lovely couple were married in June at one of my favorite venues, Roche Harbor Resort. Enhancing the already gorgeous aesthetic the marina provides the two chose white and navy decor for their nautical nuptials. Please enjoy these gorgeous photos taken by my new photog obsession, Shannon Rice of Riso Studios.

Playing up their vintage digs Adam & Melissa took some retro pics in the Presidential Suite where Teddy Roosevelt once stayed at the Hotel de Haro.



Talk about a beautiful bride!! Melissa got her got her make up done by Sequoia Leopold of My Flawless Tan & Make up and her hair 'did' by Kate McCarthy of GEM Salon.
A little bocce anyone? The couple meandered around the grounds of the resort taking charming action shots like the ones below.


A fun wedding feature was that the pair used all of the spaces that Roche Harbor had to offer. The ceremony was in the sunken garden, the cocktail hour was in the courtyard, the reception was in a faboosh white tent by the shore and an after hours party was held in the main hall.

The tent, chairs and lanterns were ferried out by ABC Party Rentals and the flowers were provided by local Friday Harbor florist, San Juan Florist.



Can we please just take a moment to absorb how insane this candy table is? I know, I feel better just looking at it too. The bride displayed yellow and white candy in apothecary and mason jars she collected before the wedding on top of a nautical navy striped linen rented by Prop Gallery West. I love it!


Melissa and her father danced to Sweet Melissa by the Allman Brothers and later on guests boogied into the night dancing to the rock'n band, Oncore.



I hope you enjoyed a piece of the Hay Wedding!
Grazie!!