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!

The Wedding of Mike and Angie 11/06/10

Mike and Angie were such fun to work with! Angie is a school teacher and is incredibly organized! HMC Event Solutions loved her attention to detail and well thought out plans. We worked alongside Angie to bring it all together for a perfectly purple and pink wedding day!

Cupids Arrow Wedding Studio designed this gorgeous arch display which Mike and Angie were married under. The cermeony took place in the courtyard of the beautiful Doubletree Hotel Claremont with a soft wall of falling water behind them.

Fruitwood Chivari chairs lined the aisle and a traditional white aisle runner brought Angie up to the man of her dreams. It was a lovely ceremony!

The reception was held in the Sycamore-Maple Ballroom at the Doubletree.

Angie chose white table linens and chaircovers accented with eggplant sashes & napkins for bursts of color. The walls were lit with a fuchsia color wash that gave the room a dramatic look!

Angie's centerpeices were simple yet elegant with stargazer lilies at the base leading to the beautiful orchids that gave it height alongside the curly willow reeds.

The cake from one of my favorite bakeries, Cucamonga Cakery, alternated a scroll design with dots and eggplant colored satin ribbon. It was beautifully decorated with fresh flowers.

I love working with the team at the Doubletree Claremont. John Gutzwiller is the BEST! Special thanks to Entertainment Express for keeping the guests dancing all night, Michelle Johnson Photography for taking much better picture than we did, and of course to Cupids Arrow for bringing Angie's vision to life! What a fun day working with all of you!

Congratualtions Mike and Angie! Thank you for having HMC Event Solutions as part of your day!

The Wedding of Michael & Jerra 10/30/10

Michael & Jerra are among the classiest people HMC Event Solutions has ever had the pleasure of working with. Everything about them is elegant! It was a huge compliment that they chose HMC to plan their wedding day!

The Historic Mission Inn was chosen by Michael and Jerra for many reasons, but largely because of it's regal architecture and historic elements.

Instead of exchanging vows in Mission Inn's famous St. Francis of Assisi Chapel, Jerra & Michael were married in the gorgeous Atrio at sunset. The Enchanted Trio from A Touch of Ivory Entertainment were accompanied by a mandolin player to bring some ethnic flair as guests arrived. The start of the ceremony was "announced" by an Opera Singer who serenaded guests with Italian love songs as the wedding party entered from the balcony. HMC Event Solutions choreographed a customized ceremony that was executed perfectly as the sun began to set.

Guests enjoyed tray passed champagne and hors d'oeuvres in the Atrio following the ceremony.

The Music Room at The Mission Inn is the largest of the Mission Inn ballrooms and was the perfect room for Jerra and Michael's reception. Every angle was very carefully thought out and planned even to the very smallest of details. They wanted romance and elegance with an Italian supper club ambiance.

Ambiance being the key word for this event, naturally Shawn Adams of Ambiance Designs was the visionary behind the decor. He truly captured Michael and Jerra's vision and brought it to amazing fruition.

Guests were greeted outside the main doors with a shimmering display of crystals as they collected their escort cards.

Inside of the Music Room, there were mini lounges in every corner allowing guests to comfortably mingle throughout the evening.

The guests were seated in vignette style and each table was a little different from the next, including the chairs that alternated mahogany Chivaris and custom satin form fitted chair dressings.

Instead of a traditional head table, a large family style dining table was aligned on the main wall to seat the couple, their wedding party and close friends.

The entire room was lit with an amber glow that color washed all of the walls and the archways.

Guests dined on six courses including grilled seafood, braised shortribs, and house made pasta.

They were encouraged to dance and mingle between courses which was fantastically entertaining thanks to the Marv Robinson Band.

The last picture in this line up is the HMC Event Solutions team which I don't normally include in my wedding blogs, but I so loved the angle of the uplighting in the arches behind us. The Music Room is fabulous!!

Cean One Photography captured the most amazing photos of this spectacular affaire. Please check out his website!

Thank you Michael and Jerra for inviting HMC Event Solutions to be part of your day! We were honored that you chose us and we were thrilled we could help to give you the amazing day that you both deserved!
Congratulations!

The Wedding of Yousef & Carey 10/15/10

Before I even begin my blog on this wedding I have to say PLEASE visit Cean One Photography's blog and look at their photo's of this amazing wedding. The link above should take you right to Carey & Yousef's page!

This wedding was a VERY special event for HMC Event Solutions because Carey is HMC team member Darrick's sister! Both Holly and Darrick were in the wedding so we didn't get the pictures we normally try and take at our weddings... but we knew Cean would capture every amazing moment, and he did! We LOVE Cean and his team!

Planning a wedding for family is truly an honor. Darrick was 12 when his twin sisters Carey and Casey were born. As a big brother, he is always looking out for the girls and wants only the best for them, and Yousef is truly the best for Carey. So naturally, we had to give them the BEST wedding!

I will do my best to paint you a picture!

Carey & Yousef wanted an outdoor sunset ceremony with an elegant indoor ballroom reception. The Padua Hills Theatre in Claremont, CA was the perfect choice.

The sun was in the picture perfect spot as Carey and Yousef were married in the tree lined courtyard. Twinkle lights shone all around and gorgeous red florals defined the aisle.

Carey's couture gown glistened and her cathedral length veil was soft and slightly flowed in the light breeze, She was absolutely breathtaking! Seriously! Check out Cean's blog!!!

The overall theme was romance... and what better color to speak of romance than RED!

Carey loved the black magic roses that Tutta Bella Florist had in every bit of the decor. From the petals on the aisle to the elaborate decor of the gazebo (not pictured), and all throughout the theatre... it was an elegant display. I personally want to thank all of the vendors who were part of this incredible day... Padua Hills Theatre and Chantrelle's catering, Cean One Photography (again!!), Tutta Bella Florist, Entertainment Express, Mariachi de los Monarches, and Cean One Photobooth.
What an amazing day filled with wonderful memories that our family will treasure for a lifetime.

Congratulations to Carey and Yousef and the rest of the family. It was an honor to plan with you and help to make your wedding dreams come true!

The Wedding of Christopher & Kristina 10/01/10

Two words: Rustic Elegance! We LOVED this wedding!

Chris and Kristina were married at St. Peter and St. Paul Church in Alta Loma. Unfortunately we do not have photos from the ceremony, but please visit Enchanted Portraiture's blog for those and professional shot's from this amazing day! The ceremony was emotional and very personal for both of them as they celebrated a full nuptial mass surrounded by all those they love.

The first thing Chris and Kristina said when we met was that they wanted to bring the outside to the inside. Kristina loves sunflowers, and wanted them as a huge part of her decor. She envisioned earth tones and rustic elements with candles and lanterns. They had no idea where they could host this event and be able to capture their vision and still have elegance and romance.

When I suggested the Historic Padua Hills Theatre in Claremont, CA... they had never heard of this hidden gem. It was LOVE at first sight when they stepped onto the property!

The first picture is one of the wine crates that Tutta Bella Florist filled with sunflowers, wildflowers and lots of rustic greenery. It was used for the ceremony and then transitioned for the perfect backdrop to the "guest book" table which was a fun idea in which we had guests write a special note to the couple. Missing from the photo is the glass jar that guests deposited their warm wishes to the couple.

How else can you bring the outdoors into a ballroom but with a tree! Sunflowers, greenery and Spanish moss embellished potted Manzanita trees which were placed on every other guest table.

A lower version of the same florals were created for additional tables to add some depth to the room. We absolutely LOVE having centerpeices at different heights. It really gives a ballroom interest and something to see at every level!


A couple of shots of the room at different angles show the beauty of the room and what guests saw when they entered. Amazing!!

Mohagany Chivari's were the perfect compliment to each of the guest tables.

With the rich wood floors, and neutral tones of the wall drapings, this historic theatre was the absolute perfect canvas!

What we did not get a picture of with our unsophisticated personal camera, was the amazing uplighting in amber which washed the walls with a stunning glow. It was perfection!

This lovely framed poster in the 5th picture down is a wonderful way to help guests find their seats. It was designed by Cloud Nine Paperies and is one of HMC Event Solutions most favorite ideas! We provide the frame and easel as part of our service, making this guest escort idea incredibly affordable while being functional and very stylish! This time it was embellished with yellow flowers which worked perfectly with Kristina & Chris's theme.

The cake was designed by pastry chef Sheryl Lindholm of Chantrelle's catering. The detail does not show up on this picture, but she actually hand frosted this cake with a technique that had the icing looking like rustic wood. It was amazing with the sunflowers and curly willow encircling it.

The sword you see on the cake table was Kristina's grandfathers sword which they used to cut their first peice of cake with. Kristina's grandfather was incredibly close to both she and Chris, and this special element added a sentimental touch to the formality of cake cutting. It's details like that that turn an event into a memorable affaire.

It was such a pleasure to work with Chris, Kristina and their families. What beautiful people they all are and we were so privileged to help make their wedding dreams come true!

Thanks to you all!

The Wedding of Matt & Rebekah 9/24/10

Just a reminder that all pictures on our blog are not professional photographs. These are from our personal digital camera which should serve as a perfect example why you should always hire a professional photographer :)

The Wedding of Matt & Rebekah was such a blast to plan! We absolutely fell in love with this family and were so honored to be part of this incredible celebration.

The ceremony was held in the St. Francis of Assisi Chapel at the Historic Mission Inn. A fabulous feature of this gorgeous chapel is the ornate wall of gold. Cupid's Arrow designed a candle display instead of florals for altar area to bring in soft lighting behind the bride and groom. It glistened beautifully along the golden wall while they said their vows.



Simply Cakes Bakery created an amazing 7 tiered cake which was the perfect centerpeice to this elegant affaire. It was appropriately topped with Cinderella and Prince Charming!

Rebekah chose light pinks and champagne colors for a very romantic feel for her guests. Crystals were accented everywhere for a bit of glam, while the gold in the centerpeices stands and Chivari Chairs added a regal element that is "The Mission Inn". Heather at Cupid's Arrow truly captured Rebekah's vision and brought it to life.

Pro A/V at The Mission Inn brought in Pink uplighting that color washed the walls adding a very dramatic look to the historic statuettes that line the walls of the Galleria. It was exactly as Rebekah envisioned.

She was stunning in her couture wedding gown by designer Stephen Yearick.

Please visit Michelle Johnson Photography's blog for professional photos and to see Rebekah, Matt and their amazing family! John Goolsby of Godfather Films has produced an incredible film which they will all enjoy for a lifetime. Coming soon to HMC Event Solutions facebook page!!!
Lastly, guests did not leave empty handed! Each guest was given a delicious piece of the amazing cake to take home. We even made sure there were forks in each box incase they couldn't wait!

Thank you Matt & Rebekah for having HMC Event Solutions as part of your day! We will always treasure our time with you!