Orange and purple wedding canopy at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point

Most friends usually pick up the phone and call (or these days, text) when they see something that reminds them of a friend. My friends break out their cameras when they see a wedding.

101_0210This wedding took place at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point. It is actually overlooking the ocean, which you can’t see from here — if the photo had been taken with the ocean in the background, the image would be completely washed out.

From what I hear, and as you can see, everyone who came upon this wedding thought the colors were gorgeous and they appear to be quite vibrant. Orange and purple don’t generally come to mind when I think of a traditional wedding — either it was an Indian wedding, or it was simply a very non-traditional bride. Very bright colors like orange and red are often used at Indian weddings, as are the orchid garlands, but Indian weddings also tend to have more wedding accoutrements than a simple canopy.

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Two backdrops and flower balls on branches

I haven’t draped a wedding in years, so I didn’t know what it would be like to put organza back in my hands again. Thankfully, its like riding a bike — you really don’t forget how to do it. I didn’t need to do any tables, which in my opinion is more work, so doing two backdrops was a snap. The day wasn’t without its complications, as is the case with any other wedding, of course. But all in all, it all turned out well.

The decorators happened to have a personal stake in this wedding — the groom was the brother of Sophia Truong, my brother’s design partner. Above is the photo backdrop, in the lobby outside the reception. The location of this backdrop was a pickle — first it was opposite the entryway, then it was along the far adjacent wall, then we had to move it all the way next to the entryway. That would be why that last column seems to be a little too far from the rest, a fact I only noticed when looking over the photos.

And, I’d like to point out that my sister did the majority of the work on this backdrop. I mostly just finished it off. I think I’ve taught her pretty well!

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Preview: Orange and pink at the Universal Hilton

I draped a couple of backdrops for my brother and his design partner Saturday for the first time in a few years. I forgot how much fun it was to see my work go up!

I ordinarily would not have paired orange and pink together, but it came out surprisingly well. Kind of like a rainbow sherbert backdrop. Anyway, I’ll have more and more photos soon!

Overlooking the ocean at La Venta Inn in Palos Verdes Estates

This may be a little late, but better late than never! (Brides, remember that line when everyone asks why the wedding started so late.) Wedding Decorator pal Doris came all the way from Washington D.C. to take pictures of her friends’ wedding just for this lil’ ole blog! Well…not quite.

All photos by Doris. Thanks, Doris!!

As the headline suggests, this wedding took place at La Venta Inn. It so happens I have done a wedding here — a long, long time ago. I remember the place pretty well — spectacular location, as you can see from the photo of the gazebo, although the facility where the reception is a little tight — no 500-person parties here! But if you asked me for pictures, I probably lost them. Oops! Not to worry, Doris has swooped and saved the day.


The flowers, I gotta say, are spectacular. Totally bright and eye-popping, perfect for an outdoor wedding overlooking the ocean. Very summery. These lovely flowers were designed by Be Buds Florist in Torrance. Nice job! The photo above, by the way, is a close up of the gazebo’s centerpiece, and have a gorgeous variety of flowers — orange-edged yellow and pink roses, green cymbidium orchids, pink orchids, pinky-green hydrangeas. There’s just so many!


The pew decorations are simple but effective — red and orangey-yellow roses attached to the chairs. Simple, easy, colorful. Ka-pow! Massive impact. Heheh.


I’ve been meaning to do a post on staircases. Don’t ignore your staircases! I love decorating staircases. They add a lot of drama, without needing a lot of decoration. Think of all the bridal magazines you’ve seen, where the bride’s wedding gown train is spread behind her on the staircase. And those staircases don’t even tend to be decorated! Decorating a staircase is easy, just like in this photo — rose petals, a few bunches of roses, and some draping. Easy elegance.


This photo was labeled a tabletop arrangement — which could mean it was for the gift table, or the sign-in table or a cocktail table. Anyway, here we’ve got more hydrangeas, more of the orangey-yellow roses and — are those coffee bean buds?! How cool are those?! They’re actually called hypericum berries.


This is the sweetheart table. It’s very simple, but in a way, the statement of where the bride and groom are going on their honeymoon — Maui — kind of invokes your imagination.


This guest tables appeared to be set with three different styles of vases, carrying three bunches of flowers, although I’m not clear if all the tables had the same type of trio. I don’t think that’s the case, since in the background, I don’t see the big sprig of orchids at that table to the right. Anyway, I like the asymmetry here — square, tall vase with a green cymbidium orchid sprig in water, topped with a candle, a short cube vase with a bunch of those orangey-yellow roses, and the sprig of bright pink orchids. Really cool. And, I think, looking at the other pictures in Doris’ set, there were other combinations for each table.


Last but not least, the cake. A bakery was not listed on the wedding website so I have to assume that La Venta Inn did this cake, and it is so simple and beautiful. As a wedding decorator, I tend to like wedding cakes that are simple so that they can be dressed up with flowers. I mean, look how this one turned out! And the florist left nothing un-decorated — the cake knives, the wineglasses, everything has blossoms on it. And yet, nothing seems to be dripping with flowers. That’s good decorations, my friend.