Upon arriving to the Bridal Event, guests were welcomed with handmade fabric corsages (made by us!!) and greeted into our design room to begin their journey of our interpretation of the four seasons in France.

Amour in Bloom – SPRING

This is probably my favorite table scape.  The inspiration for this table was to create something soft and romantic reminiscent of falling in love in a field of flowers!  We used lavenders and light pinks to give off the softness of love and put individual blooms in each guest’s cup with their name in it to give the traditional “place card” an extra flair.  Custom menus were created to fit the plate and never ending blooms filled the tables.  I love this one and it’s the closest to my heart.

SUMMER in Marseilles

Our summer table is the most whimsical table as it was inspired by the summer seaports of Marseilles.  We envisioned a classy group of highly esteemed individuals holding an outdoor luncheon on the docks and created the design around bold pops of fuchsia, orange and lime green.  To bring out the feeling of being by sea, we did a pinstripe design for the graphics and used those for our escort cards and menu wraps.  Our imagined group of guests are ones that are not only highly esteemed but a good group that likes to have fun and be a tad bit silly with a glass of wine, so we also created Ribbon Wands to place at each place setting for any time that the guests wish to celebrate the newlyweds.  This one is a fun one!

FALL in love with Paris

Our fall table is a play on the romantic idea that every girl has of falling in love in Paris and then having the wonderful dream come true of actually getting married in Paris!  For this table, we wanted to bring out the “old glamour” and romance of the famous city while still remaining sophisticated and true to its casual Baroque feel.  We created individual bistro menus for each guest and their favor, that doubled as a place card, was a mini statue of the Eiffel Tour.  This table was a favorite of the day for all those who came to our event!

WINTER Luxe

For Winter, we wanted to create an ultra luxe, winter tablescape full of sparkle, glitter and glam.  We had an amazing crystal tree as the centerpiece with a perfectly flocked linen of silver sparkles.  We created luxe menus in the shape of diamonds and had rock candy sticks stamped with “Merci” in blue glitter as the favors for guests.  Escort Cards were placed on mini silver pinecones that were sprinkled with glitter.  This was a fab table that everyone loved as well.

We also created a super modern Head Table that was strictly black and white with some special touches here and there, let’s see if you can find them!

Of course, a bridal event wouldn’t be complete without a couple of things:

1.  a GORGEOUS cake by Two for Two Cakes

2.  a SCRUMPTIOUS Dessert Bar

3.  a PHOTOBOOTH

(Beverly from Especially Yours Chairs, Ivy from Post Etiqutte and Frances (that’s me!) from Charmed Events Group, LLC being silly

Thank you so much to Hotel Sofitel for inviting us to design this event and to simply be a part of it!  A special thank you to Beverly of Especially Yours Chairs for her partnership in putting this event together, Ivy from Post Etiquette who is not only an amazing sister and best friend to me, she is also my co-conspirator in creating the amazing stationary items that were put together for this show case.  Special thanks also to Classic Party Rentals for allowing us to bombard their showroom and pick out amazing pieces that made our ideas work and Nasrin from La Lavande for providing beautiful floral pieces for the designs.  Thank you to the photographers that were part of our show that shared these photos with us:  Jack from Orange Photography, Filtered by Paul, and my good pal Vero Suh .

Other fabulous vendors of the day that were not featured here but integral to the success of the event were:  Bella Bridesmaid of Los Gatos, Spintronix Entertainment, Spa Luxe and Swank AV.

Tip #1:  Location, location, location…YES, it’s that important! I’ve found that some of the best engagement photos are ones that are taken in places that are interesting and bustling with excitement.  My favorite locations are ones where there is a lot of activity and eye candy in its own because, that in itself already creates a great backdrop for your photos, not to mention some great activities that you can partake in as a couple.  In engagement photos, kissing and gazing is great, but sometimes we want to see more than that…we want to see you having fun and being naturally you!  Don’t get me wrong, fields and parks are great too, but those locations lead up to tip #2, see below.

Tip #2:  Props are your friend. Props add so much to engagement shoots because they really spice up a shoot.  They’re also a great way to add interest to your engagement session by backing up a theme that you might have or simply, by giving you more opportunity to twirl with one another and have fun!  If fields and isolated areas are your location of choice, then props will really help to bring out more of your personality as a couple and give your photographer better opportunities of creating really fun and great photos of the both of you.

Tip #3:  Get dolled up.  Since you are already spending the time to do a photo session, one of my best recommendations is to really treat it as a full production and get your hair and make-up done for the photos.  Since the photos will most likely be used in some part of your wedding, you want to make sure you look great and part of that does come from the cosmetics of the day.  So splurge a little and look the part!

Tip #4:  Fashion meets Newlyweds to be.  Equally important to getting dolled up is to make sure that you dress the part!  Photographers usually will let you have at least two outfit changes so I highly recommend that you consult with your significant other and really think about the look that you both want to portray for each location that you choose.  The difference between thoroughly thought out outfits and just grabbing outfits for a photo shoot is tremendous so make sure that you think through how you want the photos to turn out and plan accordingly with your outfits.

Tip #5:  Loosen up, have fun and trust your photographer! Above all, the engagement session is all about you as a couple so have fun with it.  Don’t be nervous in taking photos as it is a guaranteed time to have fun!  Trust your photographer; you did pick them for a reason so let them guide you through the day in posing for shots and have fun.  The more comfortable you are, the better your photos will turn out so if you need to take a time out to be silly to get to that place of comfort, then take all the time outs you need!

Hope these tips will help you have the best engagement session that you can possibly have!  Cheers to extraordinary and stunning photos!

Photo Credits:  Photo 1 – Vivian Sachs Photography, Photo 2 – Joielala Photographie, Photo 3 – Michelle King Photography, Photo 4:  Gladys Jem Photography, Photo 5:  Vivian Sachs Photography, Photo 6 – Mike Larson, Inc., Photo 7 – Akira Image , Photo 8 – Taken By Light Photography

Fabulous Vendors of the Day:

Event Planning and Design:  Charmed Events Group, LLC

Stationary and Graphics: Charmed Events Group, LLC

Photographer:  Lisa Leigh Photography

Florist:  Poppy’s Petalworks

Videographer:  Joe Simon Wedding Films

Linens:  Napa Valley Linens

Chiavari Chairs:  Especially Yours Chair Covers

Cake:  Just Cake

Ceremony and Reception Venue:  Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay, CA