A Whimsical Wedding at the Rancho Bernardo Inn — Tara and Andy McMilllin

December 11th, 2012

The vision for this stunning wedding day was clear:  Soft, pretty, romantic with a touch of whimsy and wink to vintage elegance.

Under the direction of Susanne Duffy from Crown Weddings, this vision was easily transformed into reality.

Meet Tara and Andy McMillin — long time sweethearts and an absolute joy to work with.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Tara several months before the big day when she first came to the J Grace studio to plan a perfect save the date and continued to design for this extraordinary couple to craft vintage inspired wedding invitation suites and all reception paper goods.  Using a palette of ivory, blush, champagne and our favorite discovery of 2012 – -a gorgeous cocoa hued lace imported from France, all of their stationery easily came together.  A custom wedding logo was also created and first introduced in their  save the date and then carried  all the way  through to their gorgeous custom dance floor provided by Platinum Pro.

With more than 300 guests in attendance, the team from Jennifer Cole Florals filled the grounds and Grand Ballroom at the Rancho Bernardo Inn with breathtaking florals, lace accents and candlelight.

Many thanks to True Photography Weddings for sharing these images from this magical day.

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Glamorous Black and White Wedding at the Park Hyatt Aviara : Doug and Linda Moriarty

August 16th, 2012

Question: What’s black, white, red and glamorous all over????

Answer: The amazing wedding of Doug and Linda Moriarty.

What a privilege it was to work with this beautiful couple and play a small part in their stunning wedding held at the Park Hyatt Aviara in Carlsbad California.

I was introduced to Doug and Linda through their wedding planner Catherine Bachelier- Smith of CBS Weddings about a year before their big day and fell instantly in love with this extraordinary couple.  With a clear vision of creating a glamorous black tie event utilizing a simple color palette of red, white and black, we went to work.

J Grace began by designing what would become the signature motif for the happy couple and first introduced it in their darling save the dates.  This flourish design and custom monogram was later carried through in all elements of their event stationery.  A favorite project of 2012 was designing a couture invitation suite combining silk, swarovski crystals and etched glass. To compliment the invitation, J Grace designed coordinating pieces including custom black and white pocket escort cards with a small crystal ball embellishment, luxurious silk wedding menu folios and table numbers featuring hundreds of small swarovski crystals to form the numbers against black silk easels — Va Va Voom.  Thanks to Platinum Pro for transforming their signature motif into one of the most dramatic dance floors yours truly has ever seen.

The jaw-dropping florals and table decor was designed and executed by Karen Tran Florals and as always was a masterpiece.  Many Thanks to Paul Barnett Photography for capturing this magical event.

 

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Sweet Surrender — A Display of Desserts Inspired by the Roaring 20′s

August 7th, 2012

When favorite floral fashionista Aileen Tran from Karen Tran Florals called to discuss a new design concept for a decadent dessert station, we were all ears.  Drawing her inspiration from the fashion of the Roaring 20′s, Aileen crafted this amazing display and asked J Grace to create a suite of paper goods to compliment her design — YES PLEASE!  Keeping to the color palette of all metallic hues, we chose an assortment of patterned handmade papers to incorporate into the design.  Luxurious dessert cones complete with a tassel and small crystal and pearl brooch, custom monogram seals dripping with swarovski crystal embellishments and “Sweet Dreams” take home candy bags were produced with pleasure.  Although the inspiration was born from an era of long ago, and boasted an assortment of heirloom vessels and vintage serving pieces, the concept of  including a dessert station into today’s wedding is very modern and all the rage.   Why not surprise your guests with something sweet beyond the expected slice of wedding cake?

Many Thanks to Terri Rippee for these beautiful photos and Exquisite Weddings Magazine for featuring this visual feast!

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Destination: La Jolla — Stunning Orange, Gray and Cobalt Blue La Valencia Wedding

March 20th, 2012

Working with Michelle Baldwin and Jeremy Kenyon was pure joy!  Never have I encountered a Bride more excited by the planning process than Michelle.  Her vision was clear:  Sophisticated, modern, luxurious and orange, orange orange!  (did  I mention the bride has a certain affinity for orange).

They chose the historic La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla as their venue which we used as inspiration for all stationery products, adopting a modern interpretation of the Spanish Tiles and gorgeous wrought iron the hotel is known for.

A destination wedding, Michelle and Jeremy first enticed their guests to attend by sending a fabulous boxed save-the-date announcement that featured a beautiful picture of the pair running on the shores of La Jolla and a sterling silver luggage tag stating simply:  destination: la jolla.

J grace then designed custom wedding invitations using the same palette of vibrant orange, charcoal gray and just a touch of cobalt blue to further convince guests it was time to book their flights.

Karen Tran Florals worked closely with Michelle and Jeremy to create stunning wedding day decor.  Karen kept the ceremony to mainly orange and white and created a luscious carpet of rose petals for the aisle, an intricate chuppah dripping with white orchids and orange tulips and lovely bouquets for the bride and her attendants featuring modern crystal brooches from the Karen Tran Signature Collection.

Since the wedding took place on a typical warm sunny day in July, Michelle and Jeremy had j grace design custom fans to help their guests stay cool during the ceremony.

Touches of cobalt blue were later introduced as guests moved from the ceremony to the reception to add depth and sophistication.  A favorite reception stationery project of last year were definitely the couture menus Michelle chose to grace each place setting — we especially loved incorporating a small sapphire and crystal brooch on each piece to add yet another layer of luxury.

This dream wedding was masterfully executed by the talents of Susanne Duffy and her team at Crown Weddings and captured by Jennfier Dery Photography.

Learn more abut this wedding by picking up a copy of the 2012 Ceremony Magazine in which Michelle and Jeremy’s big day is prominently featured.

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