This weekend was a wonderland for this wedding planner! stay posted for all of the details…

Every event was unique from a woodland fairyland in the redwoods, an eclectic menagerie of Alice in wonderland and of course a traditional wedding celebration.  I am so grateful for all of the vendors (which should be listed as artists!). Thank you to all that were part of this great weekend!!

Strike the tent, there’s nothing to it….. wrong!!

I just marvel over the production that goes into striking a tent for an event! Living here on the beautiful Mendocino coast we often (almost every weekend!) are setting up a tent to allow our clients to explore the great wide open, or lean directly atop the ocean bluff to host their wedding celebrations. The crew that assembles the tent has such finesse, they often make it look  like they are constructing a pixie stick house for a child to play, however when I get the wild hair to suggest to “not use so many tie downs” they all look at me with crazy eyes and say all at once “no way – you cannot remove that tie down, it is the main thing holding the entire tent up,” so I have to giggle and thank the stars that they know what they are doing and well!

These tents are like an event hall equipped with heaters, flooring, and whatever you desire your look to be, can be created in this space. I look at a tent as a painter’s blank canvas allowing you to paint whatever picture you see for your day’s events. From a oval canvas top tent, to a round style circus tent, or even the coolest of all with a clear top tent (but be careful and make sure you have a tree coverage or this tent is hot, hot, hot inside) can all be used to allow the elements that surround your event to be brought inside with coverage from the weather if it is cool,windy, rainy or hot.

Mendocino weddings can take care of all of your rental needs….

A white wedding is a traditional formal or semi-formal wedding originating in Europe. The term Originates from the white color of the wedding dress, which became popular with Victorian era elites, after Queen Victoria wore a white lace dress at her wedding.

It looks like white wedding are making their come back. For so long the wedding seems to have gone quite colorful, but as the time ticks on it looks like many will be heading back to the traditional “white wedding”.

One of our coordinators spent a few weeks this past month jet setting around the world to two different countries and was honored to attend  a wedding in Guadalajara and Argentina. Maria’s wedding in La Criolla Argentina was a white wedding for sure, so after seeing Martha Stewart’s white wedding post today, I decided to share some inspiration too.

You can see more of Tommy and Maria’s wedding at http://www.facebook.com/mendocinoweddings.

Father of the brides. Love them!

I am so happy to get to know all of my clients and their families, especially the Dad’s while their daughters are venturing out on a new endeavor and they are there in support with wide smiles to proud arms as they deliver their gem to the alter. I wanted to share a super sweet note that I received from a Dad after meeting with them for a consult. We always strive to do our best, and when hear that our couples and their families are able to ENJOY their wedding planning experience it just brings butterflies to my belly!

Sonya,

As I said on the way out, you really do inspire confidence and I just wanted to thank you for clearly being good at what you do!  As you can probably tell by now, all four of us are pretty relaxed about the whole deal, but you get a lot of credit for helping us stay that way.   Of course my favorite daughter (OK, I only have one…) is pretty organized herself, but the way the two of you blew through the key decisions with efficiency was impressive.   We had a blast with Nicolas and the tasting, he is a pro and we are thrilled with him on many levels.  Sitting in the car while the ladies checked out all three hair and make-up places was not the high point of my trip, but hey, I knew what I was getting in for when I signed up.   We know this is going to be a great weekend but bottom line, we couldn’t do it without you, and we are all delighted it is you!!

Look forward to seeing you again in August.  You are the best!

Thanks.

Relaxed father of the bride to be

Oh… my while writing, I realize how many details Wendy and Jason had in their wedding. What a fun way to take over the village!

The Mendocino Hotel was home for the weekend to all of Jason and Wendy’s closest friends and family, their rehearsal dinner was a beach barbecue on Friday night planned by Mendocino Weddings that included local caterer Karina’s catering, and the amazing band Kevin & the coconuts played the steel drums where Wendy surprised Jason with a song she had learned. It was so fun!)

On Saturday guests were picked up by a trolley, and transported to the Cypress grove where they were greeted with a glass of sparkling wine, handed a “YAY” flag, and listened to Mambo This while waiting for the anticipated celebration to begin. Once the Wendy arrived she surprised her guy Jason with the song “Halo” which was sang by a local singer Sally Wells. As the ceremony was taking place, local artist John Hewitt hand painted the scene with water colors for the couple to take home as a remembrance of their special day. Details in the ceremony were plenty. There was a rose ceremony presented to their mothers, the couple’s rings were passed to each guest for a blessing, their mothers wrapped the couple with colorful, beautiful beads, a reading of love was spoken, and under each 117 chairs lay a river rock brought from the couple’s property where each guest was invited to come up for a blessing and placed the rocks around the couple, forming a love circle. Once the ceremony was complete the guests returned to the circle, picked up their rock and through it over the cliff with a loud cheer. Once the guests had arrived back to the Mendocino Hotel they enjoyed yummy cocktails and appetizers in the main lobby before being seated in the dining room on 3 large godfather style tables where they enjoyed a meal prepared by Mendocino Hotel. Some fun games were played, speeches were spoken, the cake was cut (with a large machete!) and then everyone moved into the garden room that was transformed into a 1940s speakeasy setting. Some guests were even dressed in period clothing!

Wendy had a friend perform a joyous belly dance before the bride and groom swayed to their first dance and to everyone’s surprise ( even mine!) the bridal party pulled off an amazing choreographed dance piece that was sooooo fun! Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rRyKKzHPTQ

Ahhh… the party was fun.

Pablo had his photo booth set up in the corner and at 10:30pm we surprised everyone with 3 beautiful cigarette girls passing treats and cigar shaped savory foods, as well as opened up the hot fudge sundae bar which was a hit too.

So here is the synopsis of Jason and Wendy’s awesome wedding day. Thank you for sharing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg6sCjoYVJo