Old Hollywood Inspired Persian Wedding at the Bel Air Bay Club by Alchemy Fine Events
A Colorful and Festive Persian Wedding in the Pacific Palisades - Part 2 Cocktail Hour & The Reception
Make sure to visit Part 1 on our blog to view photos from this Jewish and Persian wedding ceremony!
As soon as Jessica and Ilya said “I do”, a joyful spirit was in the air and it didn’t take long for the party to start. A traditional Klezmer band entertained guests as they made their way to cocktail hour in a naturally beautiful outdoor courtyard. An abundance of food, lively music and comfortable lounges allowed guests to eat, drink, converse and become instantly immersed in the festive atmosphere.
A Persian wedding is not complete without tons of food, so to really incorporate Jessica’s heritage, we had the pleasure of creating a Persian feast table overflowing with fruit and nuts for guests to pick at. This served as a gorgeous focal point and also as a teaser for the hot Persian buffet to come later on in cocktail hour. Guests definitely had full bellies and happy hearts!
For the seating cards, we created a stunning display of hand painted tiles that Laura Hooper Calligraphy wrote each guests name on in gold. They doubled as a beautiful take home gift for the guests.
For the reception tablescapes, we really wanted to intertwine the Persian influences with an Old Hollywood glamour flair. We did this by having Krista Jon create exotic floral centerpieces featuring a variety of vibrant and textured blooms upon mirrored boxes and eclectic vintage glassware. The tables were lined with jewel toned glass, vintage gold and brass mirrors and bowls of fruits and nuts to offer to guests. This was complemented by colorful mercury glass votives, as well as crystal pieces on top of bold patterned linens by La Tavola.
Laura Hooper wrote gold calligraphy onto mirrors to create glamorous table numbers.
For additional fun touches, we custom made lace napkin treatments with a large rhinestone button that many ladies ended up wearing as bracelets later on in the evening. We also had AV Event Design display a patterned wash on the ceiling in addition to the fuschia uplighting.
This gorgeously decorated, candlelit fountain looked spectacular as the sun went down.
For dessert, we had Vanilla Bake Shop create an all white tiered wedding cake that we decorated with fresh blooms for an exotic flair. Later on in the evening guests were surprised with ice cream sandwiches from the Beachy Cream girls for a delicious send-off treat.
As the joyous and fun-filled night was wrapping up, Jessica and Ilya’s family and friends sent them off through a sparkler lit tunnel to their Rolls Royce escape car.
This wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty here!
We also recently posted Jessica & Ilya’s rehearsal dinner on our blog which was also featured in Martha Stewart’s Bride Guide!
Planning, Design & Stationery: Alchemy Fine Events
Florist: Krista Jon
Photography: Luna Photo
Lighting: AV Event Design
Rentals: Archive Vintage Rentals
Calligraphy: Laura Hooper Calligraphy
Wedding Cake: Vanilla Bake Shop
Ice Cream: Beachy Cream
Linens: La Tavola Linens
Beauty: Fiore Beauty
Venue: Bel Air Bay Club
Home Decoration & Colorization to Celebration: Emerald Green Event Inspiration
Barnaba Fornasetti’s Milan Apartment: Emerald Green Color Inspiration
I have always had a fascination with designers who create with the ability to take push the realms of their creativity and execute whats exactly in their minds. This is how I feel about Fornasetti and his childlike introspective design direction combing illustrations of doll-like architecture, Victorian faces and Rubenesque forms. Recently featured in Elle Decor, Barnana Fornasetti’s Milan apartment inspires me from such a deep and slightly twisted and dark place it urges me to create Dali-esque settings in which to dine and celebrate in. With big, bold splashes of a rich emerald green (the new black!) as the palette to build upon, Fornasetti infuses elements of classical, modern and trompe l’oeil designs to create a one of kind environment only visible in the depths of his fantastic mind.
With desirous inspirations from Fornasetti’s home fresh in mind, I wanted to illustrate how I would interpret his genius into my designs for a striking and yet slightly studious atmosphere where I imagine guests would sip on St. Germaine cocktails, nibble on caviar and debate modern art while listening to house remixes of Cole Porter.
Form Decor rental furniture, rug & accessories, HER chair by Casamania, plates by Fornasetti, invitation by Alchemy Fine Events, turquoise napkin ring by Sur la Table.
The emerald green matte wall makes for the perfect palette to build upon with copper, gold and black mirrors and accessories.
Colorization to Publication: The New Color Rules & Principals of Design
We are super excited to see our canopied table from our Italy workshop last Spring featured in the latest edition of The Knot magazine! In the Knot they talk about the ‘new’ color rules when it comes to weddings. The days of dying and painting everything in your one color is long gone and new exciting color combinations are more fun than ever! Here is a breakdown of the colors we featured on our tablescape as well as other elements of design that are always important to consider when designing.
When designing your tables, your outfit or even your home, it’s important to bring in the following elements to make a design that is visually interesting with depth and layers. Color, pattern, texture & shine are all elements that we brought into our Italian tablescape through flowers, textiles, metals & glass.
Ren + John’s Art Deco Wedding
Art Deco Wedding in Santa Monica
After a bit of a blogging break we are back! We have been doing more than our share of globe trotting lately designing weddings, workshops & events from Italy to Ibiza to Miami and back again and are very excited to kick off our blogalicious fasting with this colorful Art Deco Wedding. We were so excited to design this fabulously bold and daring fete for our dear friend Ren and her darling hubby John. ‘Dharma & Greg’ as their friends jokingly call them, are the epitome of the free-spirited boho wild child meets the traditional buttoned up good boy. Opposites attract in romance and in this case, the bold splashy designs mixed with a classical charm and romance definitely started a love affair as well.
Ren + John’s Wedding was also featured on 100 Layer Cake!
For the Butterfly Big Top invitations we designed bold striped and art deco influenced geometric designs printed on a suede textured paper for a fun tactile element. Crystal Kluge adorned our black envelopes with beautiful whimsical white calligraphy and topped each envelope with our custom designed matching stamps.
Ren’s Miu Miu rhinestone encrusted heels were to die for and were the perfect bold splash to complement the customized etheral boho gown by Allyson Simone.
When Ren & John first rekindled their romance he took her on a date to Palos Verdes where they stumbled upon the most magnificent church she had ever seen. She decided then and there that that was where she wanted to get married. Several years later her dream came true. The Wayfarers Chapel, designed by Frank Llyod Wrights Son, Llyod Wright, is designed with an art nouveau style and features architecturally lined windows opening up to pine trees and endless views of the pacific ocean.
John’s mother offered up precious pieces of lace from her own wedding gown which we used to make a heart-shaped ring bearer pillow along with the silk ikat fabric from the reception decor.
Los Angeles based designer, and friend and guest of the brides, Yana K, created custom designed bridesmaids gowns in a bevy of colors and styles to allow her leading ladies to wear a gown of their own style and hue.
The bold & colorful bridesmaids all donned art deco necklaces gifted to the lades from the bride. These gorgeous beauts also happen to be my friends from junior high!
Having a former fashion model as a bride sure doesn’t hurt for incredible photos!
For a fun and dramatic seating card display we created a 13 ft tall installment of colorful ribbons and bold plexi-glass letters spelling out FOREVER.
To customize Ren’s dress Allyson Simone added butterfly sleeves onto the spaghetti strap gown. Such a fun and unique look in a sea of strapless gowns!
Each centerpieces was a different color combination to match the three different silk ikats we used for custom table linens.
Each napkin was also adorned with handmade rhinestone encrusted napkin rings.
To create a stunning art deco cake I illustrated a design inspired by this art deco Hoover building in London for Cupcakes Couture which they then transformed into a delicious work of art! For a stunning backdrop I created a geometric design of round and square mirrors suspended on thick black ribbon. To stay in theme with the geometrical feel of the evening I also created a custom designed table linen with baguette rhinestones to match the napkin treatments.
When Ren & John had a chance encounter years after their brief high school romance he sent a darling letter to her parents home in hopes of reconnecting with her. We blew up this letter onto a 10 ft tall heart and displayed a large R + J = HEART in the lounge where guests could read his sweet words.
Sweet Lucie’s ice cream cart made an appearance for a fun after dinner treat.
Michael Antonia of The Flashdance kept guests on their toes all night!
Credits:
Event Design & Planning by Alchemy Fine Events & Invitations
Wedding Photography by Luna Photography
Invitation Photography by Scott Lawrence
Invitations by Alchemy Fine Events & Invitations
Ceremony at Wayfares Chapel
Reception at The Annenberg Community Beach House
Catering by Urth Caffe
Mixology by The Martini Shop
Ice Cream by Sweet Lucies
Cake by Cupcakes Couture
DJ by The Flashdance
Videography by Shark Pig
Bride’s Dress by Allyson Simone
Bride’s Shoes by Miu Miu
Make UP & Hair by Jennifer Budner
