Sarah and Noah are bright, funny, kind, loving and two of the happiest people we’ve worked with and their wedding reflected their personalities to a “T”.

Having a bright and cheery palette was important to them and we accommodated with colors as bright as Fiestaware.  But one of our favorite elements has always been the escort card hay we designed to nod toward the rustic “barn” style wedding they were having.  We were so lucky to be able to work with Sarah & Noah.

Images by Damion Hamilton

We are known for our weddings at Sasha Souza Events but we also do a myriad of other events including birthdays, bar & bat mitzvahs, corporate meetings, conferences and team building events.  Today’s event is a Bat Mitzvah for the most wonderful 13 year old girl.  Her family planned her event at their Atherton home for over 100 guests.  But this wasn’t a kitchy, kiddy mitzah… it was chic, contemporary, hip and sweet – just like the guest of honor.  Along with her mother {whom we adore}, we were able to create an event that is timeless and beautiful to celebrate her rite of passage into religious maturity.

The event started with a cocktail party in the front of the house and progressed to the ceremony which took place in the rear of the estate.  The ceremony structure was kept very light and airy with clusters of same kind flowers and a clear podium.  After the ceremony ended, the guests enjoyed a group of fire dancers and Hawaiian inspired mocktails & cocktails.  The dinner was on the rear of the estate lawn where guests selected from a variety of pareve kosher delicacies from stations prepared by Someone’s in the Kitchen from Tarzana.  Guests could seat themselves at the informal arrangement of tall cocktail bars, low tables, round tables and lounges as they danced, did the hora and enjoyed a mind-blowing 24′ candy station.

We hope you enjoy the images as much as we loved putting the event together.  The photographs are by Damion Hamilton Photography.  Please also enjoy the event film by Luke Goodman at the end of the post.

Leah’s Batmitzvah from Luke Goodman on Vimeo.

We have a new feature at Sasha Souza Events and it’s called The Daily Pretty.  Each day, including weekends, we will be posting a single image of our work for you to love.  They’re our favorite images from all our weddings and it’s very tough to choose just one image to showcase each day.  But you can follow along.  We won’t be posting them here on the blog, we will use this for full weddings & events.  But the daily pretty can be seen on our Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook Pages.  We  hope you enjoy it.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sashasouzaevents

Instagram:  http://instagram.com/sashasouzaevents

Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/sashasouza/

Last week, I started you on the journey of Candice & Chip’s three day wedding weekend.  You saw a fun barbeque, a delightful morning ceremony & brunch which was filled with an afternoon of field games.  The rest of today’s post is about the evening activities they had planned for the guests – specifically a fun fajita dinner & concert by their very favorite musician, Bob Schneider.  A Bob concert was the place they met for their first “adult” date.  Since they had met when they were young teens and had not seen each other for more than 20 years, they met at a concert after becoming friends again.  The rest, is history.  Enjoy this amazingly bright & cheerful dinner & concert.

We utilized a combination of mustard, butter, gunmetal & onyx for the dinner tables combining 5 different cloths for the dining table.  The dinner was casual, guests could come any time they wanted to get a bite before the concert that evening.

We continued the handmade paper flowers through the entire event including the dinner & concert.

150 yards of meadow were covered in outdoor string lighting to add an ethereal effect and tie the dinner & concert areas together.

In lieu of cake, which they served earlier in the day, Candice chose to serve a variety of gourmet Vosges chocolate and handmade treats.

The dinner was designed in coordinating tones of sage & coffee.  Additional color was brought in with the pillows on the couches, the fleece throws & gthe lighting on the dance floor.

The couple danced to the Bob Schneider song “40 Dogs” as their first dance.  Bob was amazing, accommodating, talented, professional and has an amazing voice.

Please also watch the wedding film by Lovespun Handmade Wedding Films.  It’s stunning and showcases the entire three days.

Images by: Damion Hamilton & S7Foto

What was so lovely about planning & designing Candice & Chip’s wedding day celebration was that they were very specific about the experience they wanted the guests to enjoy.  For example… they love brunch.  It’s their favorite meal and they often host large brunches at their home for their close friends and family.  So, we chose to do an early morning event with ceremony at 11 a.m. followed by a brunch where guests could choose from several stations which focused on local, seasonal and organic foods.  They also had a bar with freshly squeezed juices, coffee and bloody mary’s.  This was their way of expressing who they are through the meal being served.  However, the morning ceremony was the first piece of what was to be an entire day of joy, fun and reveling in the community they had brought together.  Because of the bride’s affiliation with the Tom’s Shoes, all guests were given a pair to enjoy.  The company’s mission is to provide footwear for  children in need throughout the world whenever you purchase a pair for yourself. One for One.  Get a Pair Give A Pair.

The ceremony was held in a grove of trees with the structure being only a simple four posted canopy of scalloped damask fabric.  The trees held the story of the ribbons that we were using throughout the day and the gorgeous paperf lowers which were part of the entire weekend celebration and were the common thread used throughout the weekend.

Post ceremony, guests enjoyed a day of field games where they could enjoy the day.  The activities allowed guests to play board games, corn hole, ping pong, badminton, bocce ball, horse shoes or just relax and have a hand, foot or scalp massage.  The unstructured nature of the day was paramount to the team building feeling the guests had while they were at the property.

We ended the evening with a wonderful concert which I will share in my next post.  In the meantime, enjoy the wedding images of Candice & Chip.

 images & Damion Hamilton for Sasha Souza Events

Paperflowers by Etsy Seller MCFUNK90

I’ve been dying to show you this three part event for a while now as it was one of the best guest experiences we’ve had the pleasure of putting together.  The wedding day was recently featured in Bridal Guide’s December issue and we will be featuring it on Monday so you can see many more images of this epic event.

What I loved most about Candice & Chip when they first came to us about their wedding was their vision for how the guests would interact with each other – part corporate team building, part wedding day, part extravaganza.  It allowed for tons of out of the box creative ideas to flow into their event and the experience that resulted from it was nothing short of fun, fun, fun.

Their story is also incredible, because almost 25 years after Candice gave Chip his first kiss, the long-lost childhood friends reconnected and fell in love.  I’m excited to show you this entire weekend in three parts!

We started this weekend celebration by picking the guests up by shuttle and escorting them 2 hours from San Francisco to a camp style property where they would spend the next three days connecting and celebrating.  The first part of the experience for the guests was to welcome them to the property with a fun, down-home but still chic, barbeque dinner of local, seasonal and organic fare.  Specialty made condiments, breads and locally sourced meats were grilled on open fire, guests told stories and had s’mores and pie.  It was the most fantastic way to allow the guests to enjoy & get to know each other in a relaxed environment.  And it was the start of something wonderful….

Come back on Monday for the wedding event…

Images

Coming up on the Sparkliatti blog starting tomorrow.  The three day wedding weekend of Candice & Chip.

I’ve received no greater truth in a fortune cookie.  It’s something our clients have known for years….

Some Rules:

Voting is open until January 26, 2013.  Only one vote will count per email address.  If you vote for one person then another, only the last vote you send will count.

We’re so excited to partner with The Wedding & Event Institute to offer: Signature Sasha: Certified Master Wedding Designer Course to our peers in the event industry with two years experience or more!  The next class start date is January 14! Watch the amazing intro video produced by Lovespun Handmade Wedding Films.

Get more information about the Wedding & Event Institute class and sign up now!  I will be personally grading the first 20 students!

We’re gearing up for our second iteration of Sasha’s Favorite Things for Weddings at The Special Event Conference & Tradeshow in January 2013.  Following the overwhelming success of the session in 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona, we’re excited to bring it to Chicago this time and can’t wait to work with Ali Phillips of Engaging Events by Ali on this session, and I know that she and her co-chair are going to do an OUTSTANDING job on the design & coordination of the event and I’m super thrilled to be the selected speaker….

But we need your help!  It’s time for us to start gathering what you think should be considered for showcase to over 700 special event professionals at this event.  If you have a hot, trendy new product or service that you would like to have considered, please fill out the following form….hope to see you there!

Laura & Josh had their 1 year wedding anniversary yesterday and I’m so excited to bring you the second half of this wonderful wedding, shot by Damion Hamilton!  This wedding was so much fun!  A moss framed tent was the centerpiece of the wedding dinner followed by a boldy colored dancing reception space.  After a sumptuous dinner, guests danced to my favorite band/DJ Hybrid – what they are cannot be described in one or two words… they have to be seen in person to be really appreciated, 11 H Entertainment, the Infusion Experience.  Not a single person was seated and everybody danced all night long!

Today I’m showcasing one of our events from last September.  The incredible wedding of Laura & Josh whose 1 year wedding anniversary was yesterday.  Laura & her mother have such impeccable taste when it comes to decor & entertaining.  Laura is the owner of a very chic clothing salon – the L. Bartlett Shop in the West Village area of Dallas.  The wedding was a celebration of their style and their sophistication.  We already featured Laura’s Bridal Luncheon, held just hours before the wedding.

All the images of the day were impeccably captured by Damion Hamilton.

Look for a post this afternoon with all the reception details!

Happy Anniversary to Josh & Laura.  Today they have been married exactly 1 year and tomorrow, I’m sharing their amazing wedding.

Did you claim your seat? Only 3 seats remain!

We love planning events around the wedding and this sweet bridal luncheon is one of our favorites!  Working with the mother of the bride was a hoot!  We loved her Texas drawl and sense of style.  Every lady was invited to wear their Sunday chapeau to this luncheon that was held on the morning of the wedding {the bride was very busy that day}.  We served wine & chic tea style sandwiches, tomato gazpacho and delicate cupcakes.  The theme for the event circled around the pearl accents and rosette linen pattern – both circular in Nature, so we incorporated a lot of circular details.

Enjoy!

Site: Meadowood Napa Valley.  Floral Design: Leah Lowery for Sasha Souza Events.  Photography:  Damion Hamilton  Cupcakes: Fleur de Lisa Cakes  Rentals:  Hartmann Studios Rentals  Linens: LaTavola Fine Linen Rental

Watch the blog for Monday’s Bridal Luncheon… shot by the amazing Damion Hamilton

We had the great honor of working at the home of the client for this amazing party for 100 of their closest family & friends.  The entire town where they live was BUZZING about this event and as guests were arriving in the backyard for dinner and dancing they were awestruck by the decor.  It was so much for to plan this 70′s throwback style event and I am in love with the color palette and linen selection for this event.  The client gave us carte blanche to plan the decor for the party and we had a fabulous time!  Super Diamond really brought an amazing show and people danced ALL NIGHT LONG!

The catering was stunning featuring a stationary food truck theme – guests were noshing all night on gourmet tacos, pork buns, macaroni & cheese and mini lobster rolls!

Floral & Decor:  Leah Lowery for Sasha Souza Events, Location:  Private Residence in Marin County, Catering & Desserts: Betty Zlatchin Catering, Photography: Damion Hamilton Photography, Rentals: Hartmann Studios, Linens & Pillows: LaTavola Fine Linen Rental, Entertainment:  AEC Marin/Brian Poirier, Lighting: Got-Light?

All of our events start with a visual board to show the style of the event and highlight certain elements that we feel are important.  Here is the board for Albie & Kim….we went with an updated ’70s hippy-esque, bohemian, upscale food truck style event for them.  Completely casual, lots of hot colors and the main event was the band that played at their wedding, Super Diamond.

The board is clearly inspiration for the event and not a literal translation but it gave the couple a strong idea of the design direction we were headed – and this was a fun one to do for us.  A total escape from weddings and it kicked off our event season with a huge bang.  With about 100 guests to host at their residence, the couple and the invitation designers were able to hand deliver the majority of the event invitations – custom 40 ounce bottles of beer – to each of the guests.  Although guests were asked not to bring gifts, Albie’s best friend gave him back his childhood Hulk Hogan toy…

Guests were provided with 40 Squared Shirts with a Super Diamond on the front.  These were cleverly wrapped in wrist bracelets with the guest of honors’ names and bucketed by size.  During the event, these were tossed from the stage.

The front yard served as the meet & greet area with amazing passed hors d’oeuvres designed by Rolando Mafnas of Betty Zlatchin Catering.  We even pulled this amazing bicycle rickshaw from the clients’ garage that matched the event perfectly and was a fun centerpiece and conversation starter.

Come back this afternoon for the amazing final details of this spectacular event!

Coming up this week….a super awesome milestone  party for Albie & Kim.

Photo by Damion Hamilton