Amy's Wedding & Events

Cocktail Decoration

2009-12-11T16:10:00.000-08:00

We talked about some candle decorations during ceremony or on the aisle the other day, what about during cocktail hour? You definitely would want to carry on the theme throughout the whole event. Here are a few that I found would related to candles decoration or using Christmas ornaments especially we are in the holiday mood!

Check with your venue and see they have a mirror nearby the area that you will be using on wall. If so, you may want to have a table setup there for the decoration. I love having the candles or any type of decoration to reflect in mirror. It would look good on photos too!

If you are having the light bulbs hanging or just want to decorate, why not adding more to tie into your theme? =)

*Again, when using candles - do remember to check with the venue's fire regulation / restriction and make sure you can use candles.

Happy Planning!

Decorate Up Your Aisle

2009-12-08T10:18:00.000-08:00

When it comes to ceremony aisle decoration, a lot of brides and grooms would think of rose petals is the way to go. Yes, rose petals are always pretty in photos and will make everything look romantic. But today's brides and grooms are even more creative to add on some little touch in order to bring out the look they want to achieve.

How about having candles to bring the warm feeling to welcome your guests at the ceremony? I and lot of my brides love candles. It bring out the romantic feel and create the intimate feel even better.

In this holiday season, why not bring some warm and holiday feeling to your wedding / event? I got inspired from the following photos and thought it would look stunning during an indoor ceremony. Especially if you are having an afternoon / evening ceremony.

*When using candles - do remember to check with the venue (for example, church, hall, historical building, or hotel...etc.) fire regulation / restriction and make sure you can use candles. If not, battery light would help to achieve the look. But make sure, if candles are allowed, the containers or vases need to be 2 inches higher then the flame. Something to keep in mind and be safe~

Have a Happy Celebration =)

Facebook or twitter during your wedding ceremony?

2009-12-03T12:03:00.000-08:00

Interesting Wednesday

2009-12-02T13:11:00.000-08:00

The holiday season has finally arrived! I hope you all had a happy thanksgiving and spent some fabulous time with your family~

Once the Thanksgiving departed, everyone is waiting for the next two big holidays to kick in - Christmas and New Year!

For those brides and grooms who are having a Christmas or New Year theme celebration for their wedding, here is some DIY ideas for you to make your escort card more into the theme spirit.

You may think, well, they are just gift's tag... but it can also be an escort card (or if you are having a place card to tie on with your wedding favors). Be creative and make it fun in your way~

Last year, I had a client who created her wedding theme in mask and ball look and feel, and incorporated the theme into her escort card...

Happy Creating~

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T11:00:00.000-08:00

Interesting Wednesday

2009-11-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

Saw this on web and thought it would be interesting to share...

How Do Girls Spell "Couple"?

C-O-U-P-L-E

Closeness - She wants to be close to you
Openness - She wants you to open up to her
Understanding - Don't try to "fix" her, just listen
Peacemaking - She wants you to say, "I'm sorry"
Loyalty - She needs to know you're committed
Esteem - She wants you to honor and cherish her

Agree? =)

Can Your Wedding Wars Predict Your Future Fights?

2009-11-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

Saw this article yesterday on the MSN Lifestyle and thought that it would be a good sharing with you all, no matter you are in a relationship, just got engaged, or even married. The reason why you two are great together not only you love each other but also the appreciation of the each other...and more!

So every time when you get to the stage of argue, think about why and never have it carry on. It's a lifetime learning process to live with the one you love, and make it a happy and healthy lives / family together.

Can Your Wedding Wars Predict Your Future Fights? By Riann Smith

Remember the silly spats you and your spouse got into while you were planning your wedding? Hate to break it to you, but those touchy topics can be red flags for hot-button issues down the road. See what might be in store... Read on

Last Minute Pumpkin Designs

2009-10-30T11:56:00.001-07:00

Looking for more pumpkin designs but don't want to carve and make it look messy? Hope this will give you some ideas and be creative!

No matter you are going to parties or you going to trick or treat tomorrow with kids. Be safe and have fun!! =)

~Happy Halloween~
Amy

Lucky - Jason Mraz featuring Colbie Caillat

2009-10-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

This song been stuck in my head since the beginning of this wedding season... and it never gets bored every time when I hear it from either my couples' weddings, photographer's slide show, or just on the radio~ Love this song and want to share with you all!

Professional Wedding Planner vs. On-site Coordinator

2009-10-14T22:46:00.000-07:00

This is one of the must ask questions I received from brides and grooms most of the time. Why do I need a wedding planner if the venue on-site coordinator can do it all?

For most of the brides and grooms as this is their first time experience, they would think since their on-site coordinator can take care of everything from chairs setup for ceremony to pass hors d'oeuvres then food and beverage during reception, why do they still need to hire another wedding planner? Don't they do the same thing?

As a wedding planner, I love working with all venue on-site coordinator! On the day of the wedding day, the venue on-site coordinator take the role to make sure everything goes smooth from the venue side, meaning they make sure everything from venue provide the best as they promised to brides and grooms. And we, as the go to wedding planner, we oversee every aspect for the event from personal assistance to brides and grooms, family and guests, to venue/setup/vendors and more... We, together with the on-site coordinator and all vendors as a team, create memorable and stress-free wedding throughout the planning all the to the wedding day for brides and grooms.

I recently saw a post from a Wedding PR, Leila Khalil, wrote about her experience of having an on-site coordinator to run her friend's wedding, and why she highly recommend brides and grooms to hire a professional wedding planner for their wedding. This is also good to know what people think of this topic, especially from a 3rd person point of view. I highly encourage all of you lovely brides and grooms-to-be to take a few minutes to read the post. I think it would be a great benefit to you all when making decision, and asking questions to your on-site coordinator.

Please Hire a Wedding Planner by Leila Khalil

Jolie & Tate's Wedding | Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate

2009-09-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

Sunny day is always good for wedding! Jolie and Tate picked the perfect day and weather to tie their knot.

I met Jolie and Tate early this year when they were about to start their wedding planning. They were super excited about the wedding (especially Jolie), who has lots of ideas of how she wants the wedding to turn out. Since the wedding will be taking place at the gorgeous Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate (one of our exclusive private estates), Jolie and Tate wanted to have a bright garden feel with elegant touch, something with antique look. During the planning process, Jolie shopped here and there to look for the type of decoration that she would want, and I was there along her side to provide suggestions and ideas. It was a fun planning!

I'm so glad to work with Jolie and Tate to make the vision of their wedding came true!

Custom Made Ceremony Program from Amy's Wedding & Events

Love the sunny day and blue sky on a wedding day!

This is always one of the best shoot! If you don't have a videographer, this should be one of the must take photo from your photographer! So if you are a bride, you can see how your groom looks when he is waiting for you. ;-)

Love my happy bride! You are just gorgeous!!

What an awesome cake with detail design!

And here you go for my wonderful team
My associate - Sophie, Me, my good friend - Ricky Wong from W Photography, and my 2nd associate - Michael

Special THANKS to W Photography to come out on the wedding day and did such an awesome photo shoot.

The Team
Location: Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate
Rental: Alexis Party Rental
Florist: Seascape Flowers
Officiant: Sweet Pea
String Trio: An Elegant Touch of String
DJ: Santa Cruz DJ
Cake: Just Cake
Transportation: The Santa Cruz Experience

Interesting Wednesday

2009-09-09T11:07:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have trouble asking your girlfriends to be your Maid of Honor and Bridesmaids? You want it to be meaningful but don't know what to do...here is an idea of how you can make your girlfriends feel special~

Saw this from Mints
Idea from Rifle Design

Sweet Words from Client

2009-09-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received an email notification from Yelp that I've been reviewed by someone. When I click through the link, it was my previous client who go married this May - May and Davis Viprakasit. This made my day!! =) And this is why I LOVE my job so much!! To see more brides and grooms to have a well planned wedding of their dream and truly have a fabulous celebration at their wedding with no stress!

"I LOVE LOVE LOVE Amy!!! Amy helped to plan my wedding this past May. She was wonderful, very knowledgeable and unbelievably helpful. I was planning the wedding for San Jose area, but living in Chicago -- Amy made it point to be available whenever i was in town. She was super prompt with her email and phone replies to any and all of my random questions that came up throughout my planning. Amy introduced me to my photographer and florist and baker -- all of whom I LOVED. In addition, she was able to work so well with my mother who is mostly only Chinese speaking. She understood the different Asian customs and traditions that we had to think about for the day as well. The day of the wedding went so smoothly, I honestly didn't have to worry about a thing. Amy coordinated the day so wonderfully, that even my husband commented, "this was the best money we spent on the wedding." In fact, the day after, i realized that i had no idea what happened to the cake riser that we rented, to this odd and end -- and one quick phone call to Amy confirmed that she had taken care of everything. I highly highly recommend getting a planner and specifically hiring Amy. She is such a joy to work with and has become a good friend in the process! :)" - May and Davis Viprakasit

* Photo by: This is iT Photography

Interesting Wednesday

2009-09-02T11:25:00.001-07:00

It's been HOT these days!! Especially the last weekend was over an 100 degrees here in the Northern California. While celebrating a special day of the bride and groom and being hot, I'm sure everyone would love to cool down a bit if ice cream is included on the menu!

I was searching on the web for ice cream catering last night and found that you can actually make ice cream in different styles of spaghetti. With this new idea, if you are a food network fans, you may seen it before. However, as it almost unknown in the US, Spaghetti Ice Cream is a derivation of a traditional European dessert Spaghetti Ice, which is served at many European ice cream shops. Originally it was made only from gelato (Italian-style gourmet ice cream), strawberry sauce and white chocolate. But now we have brought this tradition to rest of the world. Now you can have a Spaghetti Ice Cream made from ice cream or gelato, strawberry sauce and grated white chocolate (or shredded coconut if you prefer), at your next birthday party, wedding or catered event.

See what other styles of spaghetti you can create your ice-cream to...

Check them out and see how you can include this unique idea to your next event!

Interesting Wednesday

2009-08-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sure for some brides; they think the longest of their wedding gown train would look more elegant! I'm up for that! :) How about a wedding gown train that takes about 1.2 miles? You may think, 1.2 miles?? Are you kidding? Nope! A couple in China recently applied to the Guinness World Records with the bride's 1.2 miles / 2 kilometers wedding gown train made with 9,999 silk red roses attached! Very impressive!!

I'm sure they included extra time in the timeline to lay out the whole gown before and after the ceremony...because it took 3 hours to unroll this beautiful train.

For more information, click here.

Find us on Twitter!

2009-08-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

We are excited to let you know that we are now on Twitter! Come find us and see what's new @amieetam!!

We look forward seeing you there~

Jacquline & Kevin | The Carneros Inn, Napa

2009-08-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

I still remember when I first answered Jacquline's phone call last year that she needed a wedding consultant to assist her to plan her wedding. This was a destination wedding for Jacquline and Kevin since they live across the country in New York. I didn't get to see them much, 3 times in total for the whole planning. Jacquline is a very detail-oriented bride who knows what she is looking for and specifically. We worked together via phone calls and emails, and we went everything thoroughly on her vision and design every time. Once we were near by the wedding day at the wrap up meeting to go over all the final details, we all couldn't wait for the day to come. I'm happy to help Jacquline and Kevin put together the wedding they want and seeing that they had a blast over their stay in California!

The Team
Venue: The Carneros Inn, Napa
Photographer: Augie Chang Photography
Florist: Vanda Floral Design
String Trio: Golden Gate Music
Hair and Makeup: Sherrie Long
Tailor: Heidi Johnson

Colorful Wednesday

2009-08-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

Let's continue with our shoes series. Since we have flip flop before, of course we will take a look at some high heels that will make you look even taller and stunning!

A pair of comfortable high heel is very important. (Just in case if you do not plan on changing to flip flop later the night) This gorgeous high heel will be your best friend for the day!

Every time when people look at a bride, I'm guessing, first would be the gown, jewelries, the flower bouquet, makeup and hair...but what else? Maybe not that many people will pay attention to the shoes since they are always underneath the dress and traditional white. BUT, what if you pick a pair of high heel that match with your wedding color? This can show people how creative and detail-oriented you are and as well to bring in more color to your wedding.

How colorful can your shoes be? Here are some ideas for you ~

Jolie & Tate's Wedding Teaser

2009-08-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

Location: Pacific Oaks Vineyard Estate, Aptos, CA
Photographer: W Photography

Fun way to do your walking down the aisle

2009-07-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

Many of you may seen this clip already but I think it's good to share if you haven't have the chance to view. This couple planned a SO MUCH FUN way to walk down the aisle. Very creative and made the wedding ceremony HOT!

They are also interviewed by the Todayshow.com. If you are interested to know to whole story/plan, click here.

Now, enjoy the clip~

Colorful Wednesday

2009-07-22T11:40:00.001-07:00

Found a very useful resource for you all when I was shopping with my bride to DIY her wedding ceremony program. If you are still wondering how to mix and match your color or trying to show your florist the color swatch of your wedding color, visit any of the Paper Source stores and get their color layout for free or purchase their color booklet for $5.

So next time when anyone ask you about your wedding color, you can show them right away~

Colorful Wednesday

2009-07-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about shoes today! Wait?? isn't this suppose to be things related to color??

That's right, we will be covering ideas of the colorful flip flop to make you stay energetic throughout your wedding day!

First things when brides and bridesmaid look for their wedding shoes would be the gorgeous high heels to make them look even more stunning. But you may also want to consider to get a pair of pretty and comfortable flip flop to make your feet happy! Either if you are a super fans with the gorgeous high heels or not to friend with them, your feet will be tired by the middle of the wedding day after all the walking and standing. Be good to your feet and enjoy the party all the way through, a pair of flip flop is what you will need. A lot of retail stores nowadays sell flip flop in many different colors, not just black and blue. You can get a pair of flip flop to match your wedding color or maybe the dress you will be in while dancing.

Get a pair of pretty flip flop to stay energetic throughout the day of your wedding!!!

If you are looking for something in style, check out the ones at JCrew! They have these pretty Camellia flower flip flop that will make you look stunning even if you are on flip flop. Here is our pick for the summer or beach wedding~

Keeping Your Relationship Happy and Long Lasting

2009-07-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Now that you decided to spend the rest of your life with your love one and very excited to plan your wedding and lives together. I want to share with you a few articles that I found from the MSN Lifestyle page about keeping your marriage long and happy. I encourage the two of you to read the articles and hope that you will learn and keep your lives together happy, healthy, and long lasting! :)

Click on the link below:
Making Marriage Work

Cheers~

Colorful Wednesday

2009-07-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

Do you always wonder if there's a way to put your wedding colors together before deciding on your colors during your wedding planning process? Well, with today's technology, there are websites to help you put things together so that you have the perfect choice on colors for your wedding.

To get it started, check out this link and play with the "Wedding Color Palettes"! Let's make your wedding colorful~

Make your 'Save-the-Date' to the next level

2009-07-07T16:26:00.001-07:00

There are a lot of ways to create your save-the-date! Like card, postcard, photo postcard, magnet, or something represent your wedding and personal, and more… Now you can have more way to make it special!

My friend, Andrew Hsu from Studio MSV has introduced the new idea to make your “Save-the-Date” video!

Why do you need a movie for your save-the-date? Here’s why from Andrew:
• Because movies are awesome - and starring in your own movie is doubley awesome!
• Because movies are the wave of the future! (You know YouTube but there's no such thing as YouCards.)
• Because it saves trees! I can post your video on your own special website and you can simply email your guests the URL without dowing a single tree!
• Because it saves on postage - which saves on fossil fuels. Do you hate the earth? >:-(
• Because it's different than the save the date cards your girlfriends got for their wedding last year (which makes your rad!)
• Because it saves money! At $550 per video, it can be cheaper than many Save the Date cards you'd get online (don't forget postage!)
• Because if you use Save the Date Cards instead of Save the Date Movies, you have to say "STD" instead of the less noxious "SDM" :-) hahaha! Just kidding!
It’s show time!! Enjoy the “Save-the-Date Video” by Andrew for Thomas at Thomas John Events.

Thomas and Melissa: Special Message from andrew msv on Vimeo.