Real Wedding! 10.10.10 Wedding at Town Hall

One of our associates, Erin, had the pleasure of working with our clients Sarah and Eric who were married on 10.10.10 at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church and held their reception at Town Hall. We loved that they planned an intimate event focused on the food, family & friends, and of course having some fun. Take a look of some highlights from their Big Day, courtesy of wedding photographer Emily Main!

Five Quick Tips from Internationally Acclaimed Photographer, Mallory Samson

What a special treat to have Mallory Samson, of Mallory Samson Photography, provide some insightful tips for our readers this week! With her savvy eye for not only capturing the classic moments of a wedding, Mallory also captures the spontaneous intimate moments that show the true spirit of the couple's magical day. Mallory's work is featured in two books: Outdoor Weddings: Unforgettable Celebrations in Storybook Settings, and Real Weddings: A Celebration of Personal Style. Her photos have been featured in magazines such as Vogue, Town & Country, Martha Stewart Wedding, In-Style Wedding and Brides. I've had the pleasure of working with Mallory at the Hahn Estate in Montecito and her photos from this wedding were featured in British Brides!


Here are Mallory Five Quick Tips:


1.  At one point during the reception, walk away and observe everyone celebrating your marriage.


2.  Plan the wedding with your guests' experience in mind, not just your own.


3.  Stay together. You can easily get pulled apart and not experience your wedding day together.


4.  Make sure to hire a photographer you love. The photos become the memory.


5.  Put a lot of thought into the guest list. It can be a great time to get in touch with long lost friends.


Mallory answers a couple questions about her own wedding...


What was your favorite thing about your own wedding? 
Everything!!!!


If you could change one thing about your wedding, what would it be?
I would have been a guest!


Thanks, Mallory!


If you would like to be featured in our Five Quick Tips column, please contact me at info AT amynichols DOT com.

A Few Tricks Up My Sleeve!

I've been delinquent in blogging, but I promise, it is because I have a few fantastic things in the works! I am working with a client on an amazing party this Saturday, and I cannot wait to share the party with you for two twin girls. A few hints: fuchsia, black, double-happiness theme, and a big, glittery dessert table! Stay tuned!

Everything's Coming Up Roses - Guest Feature on the Amy Atlas Blog

We're thrilled to be a guest feature on the Amy Atlas blog today! I recently planned a three-year old princess birthday party for a lovely little girl named Rose, and as Amy Atlas said, "everything's coming up Roses". The photos were taken by the very talented Carolyn Quilici. This party was such fun to work on, and I'm really excited to say that I have many more fun kids parties up on my sleeve and cannot wait to share them once they're ready! Take a look at Amy's blog for the complete feature. Thank you, Amy and Lisa, for including us on your beautiful blog!

Miss Match or Mismatched?

I previously had a wedding blog called Amy's Guide to All Things Bride and every now and then I re-post a story from that blog. Here's a favorite from May 2005!

To match or not to match, that is the question.

Having just attended four weddings in the past five weeks, you could literally say I’ve seen it all. Each wedding was beautiful, but one in particular stands out in my memory, and is the inspiration for today's post. Embrace variety -- mismatching will make your wedding (or next party) not only beautiful, but memorable.

TABLES - Why not include a variety of table shapes and sizes? Round tables generally seat ten, but also come in smaller sizes to seat small groups of six or eight. More and more rental companies are also offering oval and large square-shaped tables as well. Mix it up!

I used this "mismatched" bouquet idea for a client's wedding in 2010

BRIDESMAIDS BOUQUETS - Choose a color, but give each girl a unique flower. Take white for example. One bridesmaid could carry white calla lilies, another white hydrangeas, a third white orchids, a fourth white lily of the valley. The same could be done with blue and purple flowers (blue hydrangeas, hyacinths, irises). The options are endless no matter what your color scheme. (Photo credit: Julie Mikos)

BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES - Again, choose a color (or even a color range) and let the girls go crazy. Allowing each girl to choose her own dress shape and style enables bridesmaids to find a dress that flatters them, and may even increase the chance that she’ll wear the dress again! Thankfully, many brides are doing this these days.

TABLE LINENS - Green’s your thing? Rather than picking one color linen and using it throughout the reception, choose a variety of green linens in different patterns — a dark green and light green stripe, a green jacquard, a green floral. To unify the look, you can line each table with a white cloth, and then use the green linens on top as more of an overlay or accent.

FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS - No need to have the exact same arrangement at each table - why not mix it up with alternating colors, varying flowers, and differing arrangement heights? So long as the color palette is similar throughout, you’ll have a cohesive effect.

Sneak Peek -- a Birthday Party Fit for a Princess!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of planning a birthday party for a client's daughter's third birthday! We chose a pink color scheme with accents of yellow for her princess party. I cannot wait to share the rest of the photos, but for now, enjoy these sneak peeks from Carolyn Quilici Photography.

Five Quick Tips with Fine Art Wedding Photographer, Jose Villa

Photo credit:  Joel Serrato Films

We're putting a new spin on this today's Five Quick Tips, which are from Jose Villa, owner of Jose Villa Photography.  Jose's tips are geared towards wedding vendors, in order to help them work cohesively with not only the bride and groom, but with all the other vendors to create a truly magical day for the couple.

I've had the pleasure of working with Jose a few times. We did a wedding together at Holman Ranch which was featured on OnceWed. Jose and I also worked on a wedding at the gorgeous Hahn Estate in Montecito (near Santa Barbara) -- one of my favorite venues! This wedding was featured in three different posts on StyleMePretty.com: post 1, post 2 and post 3 -- thank you Jose for the amazing images!

Without further ado, here are Jose's tips!

1.  Be a good listener - not only with your clients, but all vendors.

2.  Ask questions,  Make sure you know who your client is and what they most like about your work.

3.  Learn to work well with others like wedding planners and all other vendors. Remember, you're all there for the same reason. Work as a team.

4.  As a photographer, I suggest to other photographers to get a chance to do an engagement session, if you can.  This is a great way to really get to know your clients.

5.  Complete what you promised the client.  Don't be "one of those."  Follow up and be considerate and professional.

Jose is getting married in April and shares a few thoughts about his own wedding...

What is your favorite thing about your upcoming wedding?
One of my favorite things about my upcoming wedding is of course photography and cinematography, but also location! I'm in love with my location.

At this point everything is at our finger tips as we plan this amazing emotional event.. The material stuff is the easy part, now let's let the emotions pour out -- I'm ready.

Thanks, Jose, for your tips and best wishes for your big day!!

If you would like to be featured in our Five Quick Tips column, please contact me at info AT amynichols DOT com.

A Look Back: Wedding Window Interview

Today Wedloft by WeddingWindow.com did a look back on the interviews they conducted in 2010, and I'm honored to be one of the interviews they referenced! They also included images from several of my weddings in the post.

Click here to see the recap for 2010 (featuring many other professionals), and click here to see my interview where I talk about how I got into this business, what makes my business unique, among many other questions. Thank you to Michelle and the WeddingWindow.com team! Happy 2011!

Sneak Peak! Pink and Green Dessert Table

Hello! I am back from my blog/holiday vacation and ready for 2011!

This past Friday, I had the honor of filming a segment for the show Home with Lisa Quinn on the Live Well Network!. The segment will air as part of a wedding episode (exact air date TBD).  I had a real treat the morning before the shoot, wedding hair stylist and makeup artist Sarah Hyde did my hair and makeup! My hair had so much bounce and curl -- I felt like a girl from Mad Men! Here's a pic of the finished product.







I also asked local photographer Dana Hargitay of EnLuce Photography if she would take some pictures behind the scenes. Dana recently relocated to the Bay Area from Los Angeles; it was fun getting to know her during the shoot. Here are a couple pictures of the dessert table I created -- many more to come!

Happy New Year!!