Tic Tock Tea Party (4/28/11) Part 1

I just could not let it pass without blogging about one of the most extraordinary events I have had the pleasure of attending in my 11 years in this wonderful industry!

I was among a group of wedding coordinators and event planners invited to an exclusive tea party hosted by Eddie Zaratsian of Tic Tock Couture Floral Design. What a fabulous day of pampering this was!

Eddie is an amazing artist in his craft and created a stunning backdrop to this elaborate tea party.

We were all transported to a relaxing and elegant setting fit for a queen! With one day until the royal wedding, we all felt like royalty as we were greeted with fabulous hibiscus cocktails as we arrived to the open air lounge.

Once we entered the ballroom... we were all in awe! All of this... for US? WOW!

Just look at the details that Eddie and his team carried out throughout the ballroom! AMAZING!!

Pictured third down is our generous and talented host Eddie. I can't wait to work with him on future events!







I have to apologize for the spacing in part 2 as you scroll down... Technical difficulties!

Tic Tock Tea Party (part 2)

The amazing Cean of Cean One Photography set up a photo station to capture moments with friends. Pictured with me in the first picture is Mary Jo Gallegos of An Affaire of the Heart, Annette Hoegner of A Classic Touch Events and Cean Orrett of Cean One photography. We had so much fun together! By the way... All of these fabulous photos were taken by Cean! He did an AMAZING job!!


The second picture down is another shot of the three musketeers! I was so happy to share this wonderful day with these two women who are just phenomenal!!

The third picture down is a fabulous station set up for Eddie's designers to create custom made corsages, hair flowers, or whatever we could dream up to wear for the party. What an incredibly extra special touch!

My favorite part! Dessert! Yes... in the fourth picture down you counted SEVEN mini desserts! And yes again... I ate them ALL!!

What a wonderful and relaxing afternoon this was. Eddie and his incredible vision really pampered us all, and it was such an honor to have been invited. I will be watching the mail for next years invite :)

The Wedding of James and Raquel - 2/12/11

HMC Event Solutions celebrated our first wedding of 2011 in the Sequoia Ballroom at the beautiful Doubletree Hotel Claremont. As always, Director of Catering, John Gutzwiller was incredible to work with during the planning stages.

James and Raquel chose a theme of Romance & Roses... perfect for the Valentine weekend!

This was a very special wedding for Holly of HMC Event Solutions, since James (or as the family calls him "Jimmy") is her youngest brother! We had a great time planning with Jimmy and Raquel over this past year. Raquel was a very relaxed bride and gave an enthusiastic "thumbs up" to all of our ideas. We were so excited to create a backdrop of romance for the two of them!

Please click the below link for Enchanted Portraiture's professional photos from the ceremony, and to see James & Raquel, and the all of the magic of their wedding day. We would also like to personally thank Curtis Bloom, Enchanted's wonderful photographer, for all that he did to keep things light hearted & fun for everyone all day, and for capturing all of the memories that this family will treasure for a lifetime!

Now... for some of the details:
Raquel carried a stunning bouquet of white roses while her bridesmaids and the rest of the wedding party had deep red roses. Carol's Secret Garden did a fabulous job on not only the personal flowers, but also on the decor throughout the church and ballroom which was equally as breathtaking.

We chose damask linens in black and white to add romance to the pops of black and red all over the room. Cristina Barragan of Unforgettable Events provided all of the linens and chaircovers. The room was elegantly lit with the red uplighting which color washed the walls and added a bit of drama to tie it all together. Guests gasped as they entered the ballroom!

Raquel's mom Martina is very crafty and enjoyed putting together heart box favors for the guests to enjoy. They added a little more of the spirit of romance to each guests setting.
The menu's were designed to add a little sparkle to the table and were printed on a shimmery white background. Cloud Nine Paperies is HMC's favorite place for printing custom items like these!

Cucamonga Cakery created the centerpeice to this event. It was 5 layers of decadent red velvet with hand crafted sugar roses and swags of fondant & crystals. This picture does not do the cake justice. It was breathtaking!

We were so honored to be part of this wonderful family wedding. Special thanks to Brett & Michael of Entertainment Express for keeping the guests on their feet all night, and HMC girls Kandis & Colleen for all of your hard work and extra efforts which allowed Holly to enjoy the day with her family.

Congratulations Jimmy & Raquel!

The Wedding of Andrew and Stephanie 12/19/10

The Wedding of Stephanie and Andrew was such a blast to plan! I got to work alongside Stephanie's mom Betsy who is one of my very favorite people! This was the third wedding HMC Event Solutions has done for this family.

I'm sorry to say that my personal camera malfunctioned so my pictures did not come out well enough to use. The cake you see is all that was in focus. Cucamonga Cakery created this delicious confection and Cupids Arrow Wedding Studio embellished it with fresh flowers. It was lovely, and so was the rest of the event! You will just have to trust me for now! Please stay tuned, and when I get some images from the photographer, I will add them! In the meantime, thank you Cates family for having us as part of another of your wonderful family's weddings.

Congratulations Stephanie and Andrew!

The Wedding of Regina and Robert 12/17/10

Christmas time at The Historic Mission Inn is simply magical!

The Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn is one of it's most famous events. Regina & Robert decided to work with the Christmas ambiance that the Mission Inn already had in place for this special event.

The Monterrey Room is three floors up the famous Mission Inn Rotunda which has a full wall of windows overlooking the spiral staircase. The Christmas decor outside of the window, and the Christmas tree inside the ballroom were the perfect compliments to the wedding design.

Regina LOVES all things that glitter and glow! She chose a shimmery gold fabric for her chaircovers which was accented by a deep red satin sash. These were perfect for the red linens embroidered with a gold design that we used on all of the guest tables.

The florals were something we worked very closely on with designer Elizabeth Godfrey of Riverside Mission Florist. She found the perfect stands to elevate the centerpeices. The florals she displayed on them were at the perfect height so they would not look too busy against the ornate linens.















The cake was embellished with a fabulous ribbon that Regina and her mom searched high and low for! Bakers Oven iced a decadent three tiered cake to smooth perfection and added the ribbon around the base of each cake level giving it elaborate design! It was stunning!






We decided to display the escort cards on the existing antique buffet which was outside of the Monterrey Room. Cloud Nine Paperies designed these guest cards and the table names. It was such fun for Regina and Robert to choose the names of their favorite romantic films instead of using table numbers. The guests really loved it!

Once again, another HMC Event Solutions couple lives happily ever after! Congratulations Robert and Regina!

The Wedding of Marco and Andrea 11/20/10

The Wedding of Andrea and Marco was so much fun! Andrea is ADORABLE and Marco is her Knight in Shining Armour! These two are so smitten with eachother and could not wait for this wedding to take place!

The Mission Inn's Galleria was the perfect spot for this celebration of their love. They were married in the St. Francis of Assisi Chapel then guests enjoyed cocktails in the Atrio before they entered the magnificent Galleria.

The walls were draped with satin white fabric which shimmered so beautifully with the ambient light from the amber tinted up lights along the walls. Amber Event Productions is the best! They did an amazing job draping this room! We always LOVE working with them!

Candles and crystals were everywhere adding to the romance that the beautiful florals brought to each table.

One of my favorite features of this ballroom were the crystal balls that hung from the Chandelier which brought the eye up and gave the room tremendous depth! Thank you Heather from Cupids Arrow for your amazing talents!



























The cake was simple but incredibly elegant with it's perfectly smooth texture and romantic design hand done by Simply Cakes Bakery. A simple "P" to represent the couples new last name together was accented by a single red rose at the top. Lovely!

In a little nook outside of the Galleria we set up a posh lounge for guests to catch their breath after dancing all night. Entertainment Express, as usual, had everyone on their feet... so the occasional breath of fresh air helped to keep them going!

Please visit Michelle Johnson Photography's blog to see this wonderful couple and the professional photographs from the day.

The whole HMC Event Solutions team loved this family! Thank you Marco and Andrea for an incredible experience. We had such a great time planning with you and your families!

Association of Bridal Consultants Annual Conference 11/7-11/10

The Association of Bridal Consultants Annual Conference was held at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix, AZ in November 2010. If you are keeping track of my posts in order, then you have figured out it was an early flight out on the 7th of November after a late night at Mike and Angie's wedding the night before! Well worth it though!

I met up with my very dear friends in the wedding biz for 3 days of education, tradeshows, and engaging key note speakers. What is always exciting about conferences in the wedding industry is that each meal, seminar and speaker event is done in style!

I wanted to share some of the fun moments and great ideas with you, my faithful blog readers! Please enjoy!

From top to bottom, the pictures are as follows:

1. Mary Dann, Annette Hoegner, myself, and Mary Jo Gallegos all ready for the opening event: Red and Black Cocktail Party at the Arizona Grand

2. The Welcome Party

3. Breakfast in the Pavilion. I loved these adorable chairs and fun colors! I'm thinking "bridal shower"!!

4. The highlight of the conference for me was seeing my friend Mary Jo recognized for achieving her designation as a Master Bridal Consultant! What an incredible effort it was. She is now one of under 100 Masters in the world! WOW! Congratulations my friend!

5. Snack time at the conference was always a treat! This yogurt parfait bar was such fun! I love this idea!

6. Lunch was a Caribbean water theme complete with ocean blue design! Loved it!

7. A Caribbean lunch would not be complete with out the sounds of steal drums!

8. Mary Jo, Annette and I went out to celebrate Mary Jo's new designation at a fabulous BBQ place. I love this picture of three competitors who are actually amazing friends!

9. My dreams came true when I woke up on day two of the conference to find a chocolate themed breakfast waiting in the ballroom! WOW!!!

10. Lunch on day two was an international theme. The table we sat at was an Asian inspired design. Each table was different and all elegantly done. I really loved this linen!

11. Here I am with David Wood, the President of ABC. What a great guy who charmed us with his whit and knowledge.

12. The Keynote speaker of the event was David Tutera. He is very charming and has alot of fun stories! Anytime a speaker like David comes to one of these events, take it all in!
We all still have so much to learn no matter how long we have been in this wonderful business of brides!

Can't wait for next year!