Planning a Green Event - Part 4: The Dress

Who knew that you could opt for Green wedding dress? I hadn't even looked into the options until I met wedding gown designer Adele Weschler. She recently made an appearance at Mon Amie Bridal Salon in Costa Mesa in which she featured her collection of eco-friendly dresses. Here are a some pictures from the fashion show. Adele is the one on the right in black and yellow.







Be sure to check out her website for photos that do much more justice. But all of her gowns are created with very carefully chosen fabrics such as organic hemp, organic silk and vegetable dyed. It was very interesting to listen to her talk about how each gown was inspired by nature and its movement.

So now you know! There are some great choices for Eco Couture wedding dresses so be sure to ask at your bridal salon the next time you go! If you come across some great eco designers that you feel should be showcased, we would love to hear about them! Cheers!

Eco-Chic Bride's Bouquets

We were recently asked to make some Green bouquets for filming so here is what we came up with.

The inspiration for this bouquet came from a photo taken in Maui during one of their gorgeous sunsets. We used locally grown garden roses and succulents to give it an earthy yet ethereal feel with a hint of tropical. This one was a bit tricky to design mainly because we had to hand tie delicate garden roses with very hardy and heavy succulents. But the work certainly paid off (with a few garden rose casualties in the process)!

And for those of you who love succulents, did you know that you can take its clippings and plant it in the soil to grow? Well, that's exactly what we did with those chocolate brown plants (aeonium arboruem variety). These were from a previous event in which there were some extras, we planted and clipped off the newly grown blooms.

This bouquet of whites and ivories also incorporates locally grown flowers. But we put a twist on this classic color combo with some elements you wouldn't normally see in a Bride's bouquet. Take a stab in guessing what they are and leave your comment below!


Notice the leaves? Also locally grown, you might even have this plant in your home.


Thanks for taking the time here at our blog today!

Planning a Green Event - Part 3: The Alcohol

Its pretty amazing to think that you can choose to have green components for your event to every detail, including the alcohol you serve. There are so many fun and exciting solutions to what you decide to give your guests in their drinking options. Here are just a few organic and/or eco-friendly beverage ideas to get you started in the imbibement.

Based out of New Zealand, Green Man beer is not only organic but the company also reuses and recycles their bottle and cartons.


Wolaver's Organic Brewing is the nation's first certified organic beers.


Peak Organic Brewing sources from local farmers who grow organically.


Tru Vodka uses ingredients from local growers and plants a tree for each bottle sold.



Parducci's Winery is big on being Green in all areas of their business including sustainable farming practices, water conservation, recycling, 100% Green power, earth friendly packaging, and (the coolest part) they are the first US Carbon Neutral Winery.


If you have come across any great and green beverages you would like to share, leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you!

Cookie Monster Inspired Birthday Party

Now, weddings aren't the only special events that call for great decor. Kids birthday parties are perfect opportunities to turn on your creative flair. We decided to use Cookie Monster as our inspiration point. And we've got some great DIY projects for you so stay tuned for the details. Enjoy the pictures!
















And a special thank you to D. Park Photography for snapping these great shots for us!

Planning a Green Event - Part 2: The Invitations

Ah, the invites. To paper invite or to e-invite. That is the question.
Well, this one will depend on the formality of the occasion and how important the invites are to you. But for me personally, there's something very special about receiving a beautiful invitation in the mail that was prepared just for me. So, while there is www.evite.com and Facebook (which I use frequently for casual gatherings), opt for recycled papers and seeded plantable ones (my new fave).

For a nicer selection of green wedding invites, www.earthlyaffair.com, www.mygoodgreetings.com and www.invitesite.com are good places to start. This sample shot from www.invitesite.com is so pretty. This a great way to intro to your guests that your event is going green.


Seeded paper is a relatively new product we came across and loved it so much that we decided to use seeded paper in our marketing material:


That little red heart has flower seeds embedded into it and all you need to do is place it under some dirt and add water. The larger postcard is made from 100% recycled materials. Love it! Check out www.botanicalpaperworks.com for their great green products.

Happy Invitation Shopping!

Planning a Green Event - Part 1: The Venue

We've spent quite a bit of time exploring the eco-chic options in the floral world. And although there is still so much more to delve into, I wanted to share some great tips to creating a fantastic Green event. Since there are so many aspects to Greening up an event, we'll be breaking this up into multiple posts.

So let's start with the one of the first decisions that are made in planning any event: The Venue! The truth is, its difficult to make any other decisions without the location picked out. I've come across some beautiful locations in California that practice sustainability, a few of which are actually LEED certified. For those of you who have never heard of LEED, it stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. They are a third party certification that verifies a building's environmental responsibility and the qualifications to a LEED certification are tough. But these buildings are designed with true innovation by incorporating reusable materials and minimizing energy expenditure. And, as you are about to see, they are gorgeous!

My favorite venue in San Francisco is the Bentley Reserve. To name just a few stand-outs to this location: the floors are made from reclaimed wine barrels, the lighting is automatically set to dim as the sun rises and as people leave a room, and a piece of the Golden Gate Bridge is showcased in a glass meeting room table on the second floor. And they are LEED certified. It is absolutely stunning! This venue was my first choice for an event when Floral Sense was in San Francisco and still is even though we have moved to Orange County. Here are a few photos from their website but it really deserves a visit to appreciate its beauty.



In the Los Angeles Area, definitely check out Marvimon. This building was an 80-year-old building which was reconstructed into a retro urban chic venue. They even took the wood from the reconstruction to make some rad tables and benches that are actually used in the building.



Not too far from Marvimon is SmogShoppe located in Culver City. Incredibly energy efficient, the building used to be an old automotive shop which is completely turned around to this beautiful urban oasis. Their outdoor walls are what I call 'living walls', innovatively decorated with a variety of succulents grown in wooly pockets. And the entire venue is 100% solar-powered!



In Orange County, Hotel Seven4One is a boutique hotel located in Laguna Beach which boasts of an ultra modern feel. The hotel offers wedding space in addition to accommodation. And you can bet that your event will be green from the energy efficiency of the building to the locally grown foods served from their kitchen.



And in San Diego, Hotel Solamar is a beautiful venue dedicated to recycled products, waste reduction and use of organics.



If you can't book at a green venue, there is no need to fret since there are other choices to make towards sustainability in choosing your venue. If you are having a wedding, try to keep the ceremony and reception in close proximity to each other or in the same location. This will minimize on emission expended getting to and from the locations. And if possible, think in terms of reducing the use of electricity by having an outdoor event during the day.

Happy Planning!

No Plastic Day - June 8, 2010

Yep, today is an official world wide event of NO PLASTIC! So what can you do today to reduce your carbon footprint? Here are a few tips from the No Plastic Day website:

1. No Plastic Bags - Unfortunately, plastic bags are practically omnipresent and completely non-biodegradable. So, take a reusable bag with you today and use it wherever you might receive a plastic bag. Or if you already have these bags at home, reuse 'em!
2. No Plastic Bottles - I know. Plastic bottles are so convenient. But just for today, commit to using a resuable bottle or purchase beverages in aluminum cans and glass bottles. If you have plastic bottles, be sure to throw them into the recycling bin.
3. Limit Your Garbage - Have you noticed that most packaging is made of plastic and much of what we throw out is made of the same material? Try to find a second life for things like plastic boxes that would otherwise be trash.
4. Be Creative - This is the best part. You choose how you want to think outside the box in reducing plastic waste in your life. Go for it!

Happy No Plastic Day!

Camera Tricks with D. Park Photography

I'll admit. We were bored. So what happens when you have a bored designer and 2 bored photographers with a camera and a flashlight? This:








Yeah, you'll have to contact D. Park Photography about the camera setting and photography lingo if you wanna do this yourself. I got nothing for ya but some fun pictures.

Grand Opening of ClubEuro Community Event Center in Fountain Valley, CA

I'm not gonna lie. For me, the highlight of this grand opening wasn't so much the venue as was the food from Jay's Catering. In fact, that's what got me motivated enough to come. Mary from Jay's Catering said that they would be lighting food on fire so how could I turn down such delectable entertainment?

Okay, okay, the venue was pretty neat too. I mean, it WAS their grand opening so let me back track a little.
ClubEURO hosted their Grand Opening on Thursday night as the self-proclaimed newest venue in Orange County.


This is certainly a fun venue, located inside EuroMasters Classic Cars Showroom, with a great collection of beautiful cars.

And for all you car lovers, this would be a dream come true. Even I, who just appreciates my car to take me from point A to point B, had some unexpected 'heart-skippin-a-beat' moments when my eyes came across some of these beauties.




The amount of space available makes the location very versatile. This is the way one of the rooms was set up for the evening but you could definitely change it up to wherever you imagination takes you.


The room next to this one was where all the food was set up and I just loved the way Jay's Catering displayed their serving station! Check out this take on banana cream pie!

Here's the part where they set your food on fire!

Why can't all food be served this way?!

They also took TV dinners up a notch and brought it with them!

This one was mine and I promise that it was yummy. Not even a bite left!

As a designer, I love entertaining innovation...especially in food. Great job Jay's!

And sending my love to ClubEuro on your grand opening!