Two weekends ago, I was brought to the ER because I was short of breath. Silly me, I thought I just had a flu and took the over counter med for a week, but my fever never went away. Luckily, I didn’t catch the swing flu (he he =D yep, the DR was so worried and made all of us wore masks), but pneumonia, not sure if this is much better. hahaha.

Anyway, when Canna saw Sharla at the flowermart last week, she told Sharla I was in the hospital and we had a big wedding on the 4th. Sharla immediately offered help, handed Canna her card and asked us to give her a ring if we need anything. Yep, I was almost in tear when I heard it from Canna. And this is why I love the wedding business. Not only we create beautiful things, but we have sooo many designers in the Bay Area who are not only talented but caring and supportive! =D

Gladly, the wedding went well, and we worked SO hard to pull all details together. (Thanks, my dearest Mints team!!)

Sharla hold her self-made bridal bouquet in her wedding. See more her beautiful creation from Sharla Flock Design

p.s. “Sharla, THANK YOU!! THANK YOU”- from everyone @ Mints and my sweet family =D

Wil and I had our tasting at Citronelle at the Carmel Valley Ranch yesterday and it was an amazing experience. Last time we had a mini-lunch in the relaxing lounge area by the fireplace and we really liked the salad and the petite baquette, and this time we had a 4+ course meal and OMG! the food was soooo delicious! Now I am very very much looking forward to our big day coz we have so many foodies coming and they won’t be disappointed for sure!

From room design to tasting, food presentation to service, everything was beyond 5 stars! First of all, the room is contemporary and spacious with a nice view of the nature. Our waiters were very friendly, attentive and knowledgeable, gave us detailed descriptions on every dish, which is a great assurance as I want my guests to have the best dining experience! Last but not least, the food was excellent and was a work of art! Every single one was executed so well that we just started stuffing things into our mouths and totally forgot to take pictures! hahaha… and we were not even hungry! We actually did our cake tasting at Layers right before the dinner and hahaha I hope they didn’t think we were such a pig! =P At first, we didn’t plan to add dessert to our menu as we already have a wedding cake plus a dessert table, which will be designed by L’ Atelier Vi. We even planned to take the desserts to go since we were really full after the 3rd course!! but we got busted by Chef Anthony Keene, who came out to say Hi and insisted we should try the “Kit Kat” chocolate bar and the Napoleon cream brulee. And I bet it was his trick to get us hooked coz after the first bite, we were determine to add these to our menu as well. Citronelle is really the best of the best!

BTW, do you know that President Obama recently took his wife for a special dinner at Citronelle in Washington DC?

~Hors d’oeuvres~

Wild Mushroom Bouchee
Shrimp Cocktail
Charred Yellowfin Tuna, Jasmine Rice Cake, Mango
Crab Cigar
Charred Beef Tri-Tip Miniature Sandwich

~Starters~
Tuna
olives, chorizo, crispy potato

Sea Scallop
duck foie gras, carrot ginger sauce

~Entrees~
Pacific Salmon
dungeness crab risotto vanilla bean

Sea Bass
paella style

Roasted Filet Mignon “Au Poivre”
potato gratin, shallot confit, peppercorn sauce

~ Dessert ~

Fair enough. I don’t like being over-made too, but it is really money worth spent to have someone professional make you look special and polished on your wedding day. First of all, the products they used can last for the whole day and so you won’t look melted under the sun. You know what I mean. Second, you don’t have to worry and be relaxed on your day! One of my friends decided to do her own make-up, and with so many things going on, she forgot to bring her make-up bag to the hotel.

As make-up is very personal, you need to find someone who make you feel comfortable and listen to you, and I can assure you that having one professional make-up artist makes a big difference! Out of many ones in the Bay Area, many of our customers recommended Maria Chang of the Professional Makeup Artistry. She has over 18 years of experience and her approach to make-up is “realistic yet provocative.” Many brides told me they felt so pampered and lucky to have Maria Chang to do their make-ups. I bet the images speak better than my words.

When we first met last year, I thought she looked familiar, but with my small brain and limited memory, I couldn’t pinpoint where I saw her face. =P and it took me about a month to figure out she was the beautiful bride whose wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty and The Knot.  Last year, Gloria and Mints worked on 2 weddings together and it was so much fun working. Her attention to details and sense of style are what you need to have a gorgeous wedding. Why? Gloria is obsessive with colors and designs and boy I am not kidding here. Let me give you some examples.  With her extensive fashion design background, Gloria came in well prepared with the mood boards and she usually spent hours scouting around to find the perfect items for her clients. For instance, we were working on a butterfly theme wedding, instead of buying what’s on the market, Gloria went extra miles and spray painted the butterflies to blushing pink color matching the invitation and the rest of the decor.  That’s impressive.

But most importantly is her flawless execution and yes, this is really the key to having your dream a reality. When planning our weddings, many of us probably would go to every single wedding blogs and sites and clip/ save a ton of pictures. I am guilty of that as well! I have a huge image bank. The problem i s we end up with so many ideas we want to used for our weddings and most of the things don’t match or basically too much too many. What Gloria really good at (beside her tasteful designs) is to filter and sort through ideas and help the couple figuring out a unique style, ensuring everything from a tiny place card to the lighting of the room compliment each other to enhance the wedding theme and the couple’s personalities. To make sure everything comes out perfect, she partners with the best vendors in each category, such as Nancy Liu Chin Designs, Jean Marks Weddings, Good on Paper Design and of course Mints Design.

As the images show, her designs are just absolutely beautiful!

Floral Tips: Meeting with a Floral Designer by Nancy Liu Chin
It’s been almost ten years since I planned my wedding to KC(Kevin) at Kohl Mansion in Burlingame, California. Perhaps it is naive of me to think that all people who are newly engaged should know what to do. After all, there’s endless wedding planning books, articles on how to plan the perfect wedding, and plenty of blogs…yet, today, a bride asked me if it was necessary to meet with me in order to get a floral proposal. Of course, meeting a floral designer is a must unless you are planning a destination wedding and even at that, I recommend a phone interview.

So to help newly engaged couples, I writing this post on how to prepare for your meeting with your floral designer. I truly hope this is not only helpful for engaged couples but for all event planners, floral designers, wedding enthusiasts…and many more.

Wedding 101: Meeting with a Floral Designer****

****(or Florist….I will be using the term Floral Designer in this post for simplicity. Keep in mind that I am using both these terms to mean someone who will be creating wedding flowers. It’s interchangeable!)

What should you prepare for?

1) Flower Knowledge

Do you need to know the names of all the flowers?

My God, I hope not. If all clients knew the name of all cut flowers, then most of the floral designers around might be out of a job. To me, it’s like asking if a patient needs to know all the medical terms before they see their doctor. It would be unproductive and a waste of one’s time. If gardening is a hobby, I can image that you might want to know more about how flowers are produced, cultivated, and cared for. However, for someone who is planning a wedding, there’s more productive things to spend your time on.

Keep in mind, a good, knowledgeable, informed floral designer should have a portfolio with plenty of flowers for a couple to look through. I keep a “deck” of colorful cards which are coordinated by color and alphabetized so that I can “flip” through it during meetings and show clients what flower I am describing. If you serious want to know more, sure, you can go to Sierra Flower Finders on the Internet. But honesty…

Bottom line: Describe characteristics of what you want the flowers to look like?

And here are so good examples.

“Romantic, fluffy, large head flowers like roses, peonies that evoke a garden feel.”

“Modern, architecturally interesting blooms that have beautiful shapely stems. French Tulips in a single vase is very elegant to me.”

“Something unusual with lots of spiky tips, fussy, different. Something that wouldn’t be fun to touch but would look very different from the standard fluffy flowers.”

“Simple, happy flowers that make me smile like sunflowers, daisies, mums.”

“Bold, dramatic flowers that works for a grand ballroom”. (see dramatic and bold flowers in this inspiring board)

Photography by Kevin Chin

2) Create a Check List

It is very helpful to create a check list of things you need. Email a copy to your floral designer ahead of time is wonderful. You can also bring a copy. Whatever you like.

Of course, you may not know all the flower pieces that you might need so here is my check list.

Personal Flowers
Bridal Bouquet
Bridesmaid Bouquets
Groom’s Boutonniere
Grooms men’s Boutonnieres
Usher(s) Flowers
Reader(s)
Officiant
Mothers and Father’s
Grandparents
Sponsors Male and Female
Ring bearer, Coin bearer, little Boys that need flowers
Flower girls, Junior Bridesmaid, little Girls that need flowers

Ceremony Flowers
Altar or Ceremony Large Pieces
Ceremony Containers or Stands
Chair or Pew Decorations
Aisle Decor
Welcome Table
Gift Table
Refreshment Table
Foyer Arrangement
Door or Entry way
Car Decor

Reception Flowers
Centerpieces
Head table or Sweet Heart Table
Bar
Food Stations
Dessert Stations
Cake table
Bride and Groom’s Chair
Dance Floor Decor
Cocktail Table
Place Card Table
Door Ways
Lounge Decor
Walkways
Fireplace Mantels

Photography by Wendy McLaurin Richardson.

Bottom Line: Get organized and have a list ready.

3) Style, Color, Concept

Of course many couples go to meetings thinking that they will see something in a floral designers portfolio and instantly love it.

I wish this were the case. But it is so NOT.

I think many couples come for inspiration. That’s wonderful. However, to make a wedding flowers truly unique, come with colorful tear-out pages from magazines or tag books.

Collect magazine or books. Going to the book store to purchase wedding books is a great idea. There’s a plethora of coffee table books on weddings, event decor, and flowers so for most people you will be able to find lots of ideas. There’s also an abundance of magazines that come out bi-annual, quarterly, monthly that contain great images and photos.

Many of you know that I am very fond of The Bride and Bloom magazine, Inside Weddings, Martha Stewart Weddings, and regional Bride’s and The Knot magazines. You can find plenty of real weddings, stylized weddings, and floral concepts in these magazines. Tag them, tear them out, scan them into your computer….Do whatever you want. Many of my clients are creating storyboards or inspiration boards. I’ve attached one for you to review. These are great tools to bring to a meeting.

Photography by Lisa Lefkowitz

Bring swatch samples. If you haven’t picked your bridesmaid or bridal gown, that’s fine as well. You can go into home depot and pick out some “paint” chips if this helps. Buy a Pantone book if you really want someone to know what you mean by green because I guarantee you, that if a bride walked into my office and told me her wedding color is green I would ask her, “is it moss, forest, sea, celery, pea, chartreuse, apple, lime, sage, vivid, Kate Spade, Kelly, spinach, pepper green?

Bring Invitations, photos of the location. I guess the bottom line is this. Bring all the things that you think is useful for someone who is creating your weddings flowers. And it doesn’t have to be a whole novel, a few printouts, consolidated into something concise is perfect.

Bottom line: Go to be informed, be prepare to show and tell.

4) Ask and you shall receive

In advance of your meeting, be sure to have a list of questions that you need answered. During the meeting many will be addressed however if you don’t have a prepared list, you might forget a few important questions. Jot down at least a few key questions. I’ve prepared a short list of what I would ask a floral designer. Hopefully this will help you.

Can you suggest a few cost saving tips? What flowers hold up the best during the month of
my wedding?
(This question will show if the floral designer is truly knowledge about flowers and thinks off the cuff.)

Have you worked at my venue before? If not, would you mind going to do a site visit.
(This question shows that a floral designer is attentive to the details and wants to be prepared. It also reflects their experience level.)

Do you drop off the flowers or does your staff or crew do the complete setup?
(This question will answer what type of day of service you will get. And if the price for such service is warranted.)

What was your favorite wedding? Do you have an example in your portfolio? What made it so special?
(This question will show you what the floral designer deems tasteful, interesting to them. I love this question because only a couple brides have ever asked me this and I think this one is by far the most interesting. It shows me that a couple wants to get to know me as a designer. )

How many events do you do a week? Will my wedding be the only one that day?
(This question might be important to some of you if you feel that you need your vendors to focus on just you for that week.)

Have you ever gotten so ill that you couldn’t complete a job? If so, what would happen to my wedding?
(It’s important to know if a floral designer has contingency plans. I know that we do so I think others should be prepared as well)

Bottom line: Whatever quality is important to you, make sure you leave that meeting feeling that you get a good sense of a floral designer’s values, creativity, knowledge, and depth.

I learned about Good on Paper Design by Lisa Wong Jackson about 4 years ago and I was particularly fond of her simple yet chic eco-friendly designs. I forgot where did I find her wedding pictures that have been featured on Martha Stewart Magazine, Project Wedding as well as tons of websites and blogs and her wedding was put together by an amazing team, including Nancy Liu Chin, Lisa Lefkowitz Photography, and of course herself. I like the way she combines color and nature and makes the mundane things look modernish.

Since we were kids, Canna and I are inseparable even though I am into books and she is into lipsticks and heels. Disregarded our differences, we walked to school together. We sneaked out to play together. We bought our first sanrio pencil cases together. We traveled together. We cried and laughed together. So it is really true that I can’t plan my wedding without her being by my side. As Canna is a certified bridal make up hair stylist, it is really my privilege and it is really personal to have her do my makeup and hair. Thank you mom for giving my such a talented sister! Now I can just simply cross out one more thing on my to do list!

Before we started Mints, Canna got her professional training from Make Up Forever Academy and Bebridal will be featured on The Knot this coming fall!

photo by Myrtle and Marjoram Photography

all images by Sarah Seven

About 2 weeks ago, I was very tempted to visit Bridal Galleria one more time as it was offering 10% discount on all Vera Wang dresses, yet I decided I should hire a local designer, Jinza, to custom made my dress and I am so proud that I am doing so! Not only it is my strong belief that we should support local businesses and designers as much as possible, but it also means my dress will be one of a kind and perfectly fit!!

I knew I was at the right place once I walked into Jinza bridal boutique on Union Street. Her work is beautiful, feminine, flattering yet not too exaggerated. The details are intricate and I have to admit that I am soooooo fall in love with all the lace dresses (all laces are imported from France). hm…I can’t disclose my dress details here as I really want to keep it a surprise but well, I guess I may at least show you some of her work.

By the way, Jinza will name her dress after brides if you are the first to purchase the design. What a cute idea!

all images from yelp.com.