A Cupcakes and Champagne Photo Shoot with sparkles, glitter and glam

Happy New Year!!!! So excited to share with you a New Years Eve inspired Wedding Celebration. Today's photo shoot was created by Miriam of Miriam Corona Events and Cristina of Unforgettable Events and photographed by PS Photo Media and Clifton Photography. Cristina writes . . . "I wanted to create a design the evoked the feeling of not only a marriage, but also a celebration of marriage in the New Year. The overall "celebration" theme is embedded in all the sparkling details and fun ideas such as the champagne & dessert bar. The concept is filled with a perfect mixture of romance and fun and captures many DIY opportunities for couples to incorporate their personalities and theme concepts. Such projects include the jewel bouquet and boutonniere, champagne bubble streamers, and the custom m&m cupcakes. This was truly a fun experience to put together and I had the pleasure to work with so many creative professionals."

Please read on as Cristina shares with us all the inspirational elements that made up this amazingly glitzy photo shoot . . .

Inspiration Element #1: Breathtaking Location
It was important to have a venue that boasted a breathtaking view. I chose the Castaway Restaurant in San Bernardino for its jaw dropping views across the skyline. Each room is surrounded by windows that offer incredible views from every angle. The balcony areas are perfect for catching the cool breeze and city lights. At night, the view is simply magical!

Inspiration Element #2: Color Palette
I used black, white, gold, silver as the main palette for all the elements included in this design. The black and white added elegance by keeping the colors crisp and clean along the textures and shapes used. Gold and silver was used mainly to add sparkle to the overall design such as the gold chargers and chiavari chairs. These colors meshed very well with the solid lighting we did in blue, hot pink, and gold. It brought out the sparkle in all the details.

Inspiration Element #3: Textures and Prints
To add contrast I decided that I wanted texture in all the linens used. The main table had chiffon rosettes lined with black sequins. This paired very nicely with the solid satin napkins and textured glittered ornaments hanging above. The champagne bar had a black sequin table drape that added contrast and sparkle to the gold and silver accents on the table. The crisp white menu cards had bold stripes to add texture and contrast to the patterned linen. The groom wore a charcoal gray suit with a striped tie and vest to add texture. The bride had on two beautiful taffeta gowns with rhinestone accents and feathers.

Inspiration Element #4: Sparkle, glitter, glam!
I really wanted this shoot to encompass the overall feel of a New Years Eve and wedding celebration with lots of sparkle. Almost every detail in this shoot had bling of some sort; from the glitter ornaments, to the jewel bouquet, to the glitter in the bridal shoes. The centerpiece had multi-sized glitter and sequin ornaments in gold, black, and silver and jeweled goblets that sparkled with the reflection of the uplighting. The linens incorporated were black chiffon sequin rosettes and a sequin table drape and runner. The menu cards had tiny rhinestones to add some jazz to the simplicity of the design and the napkins where tied together with mini disco balls. The bridal bouquet and boutonniere were custom created using pearls, jewels, and beads that were wired and bound together with satin ribbon. The champagne bar was adorned with sparkling bubbles, confetti, and jeweled goblets. To complete the look and feel of "celebration", I had a bride and groom in wardrobe with lots of rhinestone and glitter detail throughout the dress, hair, and makeup.

Inspiration Element #5: Couture Fashion
To incorporate the element of high fashion or couture, I incorporated linens that had embellished details such as chiffon rosettes and sequins. I wanted the menu cards to have an elegant simplicity so we decided to add contrast to to the textured linens by using stripes and different fonts and sizes. The bride also wore two high couture gowns that featured rhinestone, feather, and bustle details paired nicely with glitter heels. Her hair was also beautifully arranged and adorned with a jeweled veil comb. The cake table was also adorned with a sequin runner and the cake was designed with a black and white palette with gold beaded details around the black rosettes.

Inspiration Element #6: Celebration
To encompass the overall theme of one HUGE celebration, we decided to do a champagne bar with a few sweets. Miriam created champagne bubble streamers that read "2012" when lined along the crystal curtain. She incorporated gold and silver champagne flutes and filled them with peppermint cotton candy to add a "bubbly" look. The cupcakes were adorned with black and white m&m's to spell out "2012". To add some sparkle, black and white rock candy lined a beautiful tray. The lighting really made these designs stand out!

Vendors:
Linens, Floral, Decor, Rentals, Bridal Jewel Bouquet, Styling: Unforgettable Events
Champagne Bar, Desserts, Styling: Miriam Corona Events
Photography: PS Photo Media and Clifton Photography
Hair and Make up: Diona Rhynard
Wardrobe: UEA Couture Bridal
Chiavari Chair Rental: Imagine That Events
Venue: Castaway Restaurant
Models: Vanessa Ramirez and Dylan Carbone
Lighting: Amaze Productions Entertainment
Paper Design: Papermints
Cotton Candy: Tasty Clouds
Cake: Cucamonga Cakery

A Berry Sweet Birthday Party {for my daughter}

This is the new home for Brenda's Wedding Blog

Now, I know this is a wedding blog, but I just had to share with you the birthday party décor I put together for my daughter's 5th birthday in later November with the help of Colleen of Bellisimo Weddings & Events. Colleen was absolutely amazing to have on the day of the event - she helped get all the food ready to serve and when it was time to open the presents we were only off the timeline by 4 minutes. Now, with kids being the star of this party - that was just amazing to me. Things would most definitely not have run so smoothly without Colleen. The theme for this party was of course, Strawberry Shortcake with the colors being primarily red, pink and bright green. Many of these ideas can easily be used for bridal showers or any other parties you may be planning. I was able to re-use many of the items I already had on hand to make this party a huge success. The girls had so much fun celebrating. {all photos were taken my myself with a Canon 60d, except for the first one taken with my iphone. I LOVE this Canon camera. HUGE hugs to my hubby for surprising me last Christmas with it}

As guests entered the living room from the foyer they entered thru a wall of ribbons that my mom helped "rip". I bought red and pink fabric and my mom made a tiny slit every 2" inches and then ripped it all the way down. I then attached the ribbons to a tension rod - the girls loved it.

The menus did double-duty and also served as place cards. This would be super-cute for the little ones at your wedding if you have them seated at their very own special table.

The red carnations were trimmed shorter and placed in a teacup I already had {the flowers were actually from the grocery store a week prior so there was no need to purchase new florals}. The milk glass bottles were actually re-used from the Archer Farms lattes at Target and I added the paper straw flags for a little something extra.

The strawberry pillow I purchased from ArtSnack on etsy and used as an accent pillow as well as for the hot strawberry toss game. I downloaded music from the Strawberry Shortcake shows that I played during the game. When the music stopped, whichever girl was holding the pillow would receive a gift set of Strawberry Shortcake nail polish and lip glosses.

Colleen brought this tulle skirt with her which matched the party colors perfectly. We tried it around the coffee table and it fit perfectly - just the right girly touch for the necklace making table. I found the bottle cap charms on etsy from Keep Calm and Cap On and each girl strung their own necklace to wear. {And, yes, I should have pressed the red linen napkins, but I realized I had them last minute to add more color to the table - but the girls didn't even notice, they were to excited to get crafty}. The little bowls that held the beads were from my daughter's Dole fruit cups that I saved after she enjoyed the fruit - I love being able to re-use.

For the "freshly picked berry" balloons I placed their weights into paper berry baskets with shredded pink paper.

Colleen made the tissue paper flowers in 2 shades of pink and I just loved how the chairs looked with the little something on the backside. It's amazing how just one decor element can add so much extra to the party.

The cupcakes were of course strawberry with sprinkles from Realist Mermaid that were naturally colored. You would never know the difference. I also ordered all natural strawberry marshmallows from the same shop on etsy and they were delicious. The cupcake stand is from The Cupcake Tower and instead of using the colored ribbon banding you can use, I used self-adhesive paper and where the strips met, I added a strawberry cut-out.

I just loved how my daughter's cupcake looked on the single paper cupcake stand {with her strawberry shortcake doll joining her in the background for the yummy treats}.