Antlers, and pom poms, and xerographica! Oh my!

You guys, I'm posting more details than usual on this one because GAAAAAAAAH. 

Here's what Kelly had to say about her cool-ass California wedding:

Mike and I are both very untraditional, so from the beginning we knew we wanted our wedding to be unique, whimsical, and just a freaking good time. We were both so excited to be able to have all of our family and friends in one room for the first time ever. Being both midwest transplants, Mike and I wanted to give our family and friends a true California experience to show them why we fell so in love with it out here. 

After months of searching for the perfect outdoor venue, we stumbled upon the Carondelet House. When we walked in, there was no discussion, we knew this was the place. It had history (was actually the old Otis building), amazing architecture, and also had amazing outdoor areas. The space itself was so beautiful that we did not have to do much to it. Once we found the venue, everything else just fell into place.

Mike and I wanted the decor to reflect the fact that this was a celebration and we wanted to bring the fun. We knew we wanted things to be festive and modern since the venue was really rustic. Gold was a must. We worked with Jihan Zencirli from Gironomo Balloons as well as Confetti System for the rest of the gold decorations. All of my friends helped with the planting, making of terrariums, and setting up the day of. 

I designed my dress myself and had it made by an amazing dressmaker in Koreatown. [Dets to follow in a separate post.] My best friend, Jeff Millbern of Banner Year, made a wood, crystal, and pyrite brooch for my dress as well as wood bracelets and pins for each of the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Mike and I chose wood to go along with our wooden wedding rings which were made by Gustav Reyes of Simply Wood Rings. 

With my background in visual merchandising and costume design, and Mike's background in graphic design, we were able to do pretty much everything ourselves...no wedding planner needed! Had we not have had 125 people, I would have wanted to do the food as well! [Kelly has a food blog on the side.] For food, we ended up using Tres LA to do the catering. We kept the menu simple with a cheese and cocktail reception, tacos for the main event, and late night appetizers that included sliders, burrata grilled cheese, fried mac and cheese balls, buffalo style cauliflower, and most importantly, a full bar. 

Our cake was a gift from Mike's employer, the LA Weekly, and was from Rosebud Bakery. We also served red velvet cupcakes from Lark Cake Shop and Earl Grey Macarons from Bottega Louie for dessert. We ordered the invitations from 2 Be U Design on Etsy, and Mike was able to make the programs and menus to correspond with them. The ex-cheerleader in me had to have pom poms and I found some from Spiritline that we used as favors. 

Neither Mike and I are big fans of flowers, so we decided to use airplants and lots of potted succulents as at home, we love to be surrounded by plants. Each bridesmaid held a large xerographica. We purchased everything from the flower market downtown and because we used so many plants, we were able to prep everything weeks earlier. 

Our amazing photographers, Rad and In Love, helped us to set up our photo booth and I can say that was definitely a crowd pleaser. We were married by one of our best friends and walked down the aisle to Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. My favorite part was the swaying of my bridesmaids to this song as I came down the aisle. Our DJ was the amazing Bennett Schmid from Ameoba and he played all old school 80s, 90s, and hip hop.  People are still talking about how great the music was.

Overall, the day was absolutely perfect, but everything went by so quickly... wish we could do it all again! We could not have made it so perfect without all of our amazing friends and family who helped us put it all together. It was definitely a collaboration and celebration of love. We will remember it always.

Photos by Rad + In Love. Check out tons more from Kelly + Mike's wedding over on the Rad + In Love blog!

What should I put in my WEDDING piñata?

Dear esb,

I've been a long time reader and when I got engaged and things started to roll around I've been tempted to write to you several times about the frustrating things involved with wedding planning: starting from my opinionated FMIL who is not chipping in on any of the wedding but insists on suggesting things that cost (my parents are paying for everything except the church, which the groom is paying for), the guest list, 2 year old in the bridal party (insisted by, you guessed it, FMIL), and even one of the groom's aunts asking me if the beige ("But it's beige, not white") dress she was showing me in the picture was okay for my wedding. (I am a strong believer that only the bride should wear white/ivory/cream/beige unless she herself decides the bridal party should be in that color or ask all the guests to come in that color. And MY dress is beige.) Lots of frustrating stuff. But I've managed to get through, mainly by reading this blog and laughing (sometimes drinking) it off.

So now, I come to you with something fun. My wedding will be at 3pm, on a Yacht Club at the beach. Weddings at the beach here last about 12 hours. We will have lots of time to mingle, dance, drink, eat, etc. My fiance and I were joking around the other day and the idea of a piñata came along. I. LOVED. IT. So we were thinking... instead of doing a garter toss, to put the garters INSIDE the piñata. The piñata would just be for the boys (I don't think the ladies would warm up to the piñata if they're in short dresses) so the ones that get a garter from the piñata will get to put them on the girls.

But... what else should we put in the piñata? I'm also accepting ideas for what the piñata should look like, I'm thinking it should be something like Confetti System's Piñatas.

Should we go traditional and have people go at it with a broomstick while blindfolded? Or have the groom pry it open from above? What song should be playing when the piñata thing is going on? Do you think this is the tackiest idea??

Thanks for your and the readers' help!

La Piñata Lady

*****

GO ALL THE WAY.

Garters, confetti, quality condoms + those little packets of lube (I'm assuming this is going to happen somewhere around 1 or 2am), and of course candy.

Salty caramels have the perfect beachy/kinky vibe.
______________________________

Speaking of salty caramels, has anyone tried Jimmy Fallon's new Ben & Jerry's flavor? OMG.

Confetti System + Martha Stewart = too much of a good thing?

You tell me.

Please note: They skipped the best part. WTF?

(Via 100 Layer Cake)

If I were to get married now...................

from Gracie of woolgathering & miscellany

If I were to get married now... I wouldn't change a whole lot.

Frankly, I'm glad I got married young and poor, otherwise I'd probably be stressing about booking The Flashdance, blog-worthy floral arrangements, and wondering if I'd get to be on ESB. It was perfectly imperfect.

That said, here are some things I would do differently now: 

1) Not wear a dress made from flammable material, rather this hot little Ann Demeulemeester number above (shoes and all).

2) Forgo the stripper satin red opera length gloves and don these white versions of my black Hermes bracelets.

3) Wear these (incredibly affordable) MiniCyn diamond-like studs. I'm very picky about jewelry and tend to wear the sh*t out of a few simple pieces. It's hard for me to add new staples, but French designer MiniCyn has somehow worked her way into the regular rotation.

4) Would've tried to spruce up the dive bar a little. Perhaps with some DIY Confetti System inspired adornments & definitely some white catholic religious candles with personalized labels.

5) Made this Digby & Iona diamond signet ring my wedding ring. It comes with wax to seal your letters with! I plan on getting it now anyway.

6) Would've had Neil Hamburger perform our marriage on stage instead of just performing stand-up at the reception.

in other news....

Did you know that CONFETTI SYSTEM was one of the vendors at Hitched?

I did not know. I actually thought that someone had done a really great knock-off. That's the kind of snide, cynical personal I am. (And I guess that's what I get for not showing up at the event.)

Anyhoo. If I were getting married again, I would definitely go with a sparkly pinata instead of a disco ball on the dance floor.*

I mean. Right?

(Images 2 and 3 via 100 Layer Cake)

______________________________

*Not that I actually had a disco ball.

happy new year

I'll be honest with you, I was all ready to draft an f* this post....

So much pressure to plan the cocktails, find the right sparkly outfit, stop at every party, etc. You know what I'm saying? It's almost enough to make me stay home and watch Steel Magnolias on Oxygen. But we did that last night.

I'm gonna make a little confetti with my three-hole punch. A little gold confetti. Maybe that'll get me in the mood.

xoo.

p.s. Enough already with Confetti System. I think they're cool too. WE ALL THINK THEY'RE COOL. They've been discovered, mkay?

Image via wish jar