I was really fortunate to be introduced by Randi (Always Fabulous Events) to Jaye and James.
They are very laid back and were opened to my ideas. My mission was to help enhance the look of their Polynesian-themed wedding reception at the Arthur's Catering by Colleen. Randi had Synergetic Sound & Light took care of the lighting, draping and other non floral decor - They had big palm tree-shaped like balloon and hanging lanterns! It was too cool!

Jaye loves Birds of Paradise, so I used it as the "soul" for the centerpiece (it's kinda hard not to have this gorgeous plant as the star). With every event I get to do, I always strive to give a custom look so for those clients who let me fly, I definitely will take the opportunity and fly as high as I could! ^_^ Since Jaye and James had their wedding ceremony by the beach in Cape May 2 months earlier, I decided to bring back the beach feel by pouring a pile of sand underneath the tealight. I did try to make the whole look feels like it's a mini island with its own beach.

 

I designed the cake topper using the same flowers used in the centerpiece to keep the flow. Just added a few curly willow to add a little drama-rama. Hehehe... ^_^

And...I am so in love with the flip flops on the cupcakes (they looked to good to eat!!)

Thank you so much Jaye and James for giving me this wonderful opportunity to be a part of your special day! I really appreciate your open mind and warm welcome!
Many happy wishes always!! ^_^

And of course, many thanks to the fabulous Randi! I am so glad we finally got to collaborate! Woo hoo! Here's to more fun future collaborations!


For more pictures of this wedding, please check out the following sites:
Papertini Online Photo Album
Always Fabulous Events Blog

A week after Sasha's wedding was my sweet friend, Ethel's wedding. It was a great honor for me to do her invitation (I forgot to take pictures of this...so unfortunately, I cannot show it to you all...) and flowers! Ethel pretty much left everything to me (YAY!! YAY!!) and just asked that they have blue and white and that I don't forget to stick to her budget, of course. ^_^

The reception centerpieces were pretty much traditional style, with not much adventurous designs involved. This turned out great and blended well with the banquet hall. For the short centerpiece, I used Iris, Delphiniums, Roses, Veronicas, Baby's Breath, Hypericum Berries, Curly Willows and Salal Tips. For the tall one, I used Football Mums, Roses, Dendrobium Orchids, Baby's Breath, Pittosporums, Salal Tips, Birch Branches, Lily Grass and Ivy.

    

As for the altar arrangements and her bouquet, now that's a different story. Hehehe... ^_^ I added green feather picks and a wire bouquet collar for some pizzazz. To my surprise, it turned out great because the wire collar somewhat matches with her wedding gown design (she looked absolutely gorgeous in it! I almost cried!)! I seriously thought I hit the jackpot when I gave the bouquet to her. ^_^ I added decorated dried curly willow (they came decorated with green-leaf-like-materials) to add some height and accent to the altar arrangement.

 

Oh, before I forget: For Ethel's bouquet, I used Mini Calla Lilies, Dahlias, Veronicas and Roses.

Another awesome thing from this wedding is her cake! Oh my goodness! Look at that design! Isn't that awesome or what?! I couldn't stop staring at it and the one sad thing was that...I actually did not get to eat it! :_(  I ate too much at the reception...what could a girl do?? So many good food...so little tummy space...

Sasha and I had been talking about her wedding plans for about a year and one thing that never changed was her theme of Sapphire and Diamond. She also did not want to have floral centerpieces and I found this as an awesome opportunity to showcase a different style of wedding decor. She was very open to my suggestions and ideas and she also had lotsa great ideas herself!

One of the great things about this wedding is that the decor ideas are very much DIY friendly and I will share the sources and tricks to do a couple of these ideas.

To view more pictures from Sasha's wedding, please visit Papertini's Online Photo Album.

Thank you so much Sasha and David for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your special day! Many happy wishes and God bless you always! ^_^

This centerpiece is so easy to do, it's not even funny. Here's how:

Materials:
1 (one) strand of White Feather Boa - Cut into 4 smaller strands
- You can get this at any arts and crafts store (Michael's, JoAnn, AC Moore, etc.). It usually costs about $ 8 - $ 10 each.

1 (one) rectangular, clear vase
- For this wedding, we used the one from www.save-on-crafts.com:
4" wide x 3" deep x 6" tall at $ 1.69 each (when you order 12; excluding S/H)

1 (one) 1.5" Diamond Ornament
- Sasha bought hers from Michael's Art and Craft store, but you can also purchase it from Accent Decor
- Suggestion: Use a bigger size 3" or 4" to make sure the Diamond get the full attention.

Approximately 1 (cup) of MIXED of Large and Small Blue Diamond Beads from Accent Decor

1 (one) bag of Clear Marbles
- From any dollar store near you (I went to Dollar Tree to get these for Sasha).

Assembly:
(1) Mix in the mixed size diamond beads and clear marbles
(2) Fill the vase to the top
(3) Place the Diamond Ornament on top, center.
(4) Circle the vase with the quartered feather boa strand.

It should take you less than 5 minute to do all this for a table. ^_^ Badabing, badaboom!

 

Okay, so this one is more work than the first centerpiece and you need to make these WAY AHEAD - give yourself a minimum 2 weeks to finish these and they will look much better.


Materials:

1 (one) Tall, Clear, Cylindrical Vase (or whatever shape you desire as long as they're clear)
- For best result, the vase needs to be 12" height with 5" diameter if cylinder, or 4"-5" deep if rectangular.
- For this wedding, I used this vase from www.save-on-crafts.com:
12" tall x 5" diameter @ $ 4.99 each (excluding S/H)

1 (one) Submersible LED Light
- For this wedding, I used the lights in blue hue.

4-5 bags of clear marbles (they can be colored, as long as they are transparent)
- For this wedding, I used half container of the Cobalt Crushed Glass (4-10 mm) from Accent Decor

1 bag of vase filler
- This is the same kind of filler used to create the "iced branch effect"
- For this wedding, we used the ColorFill "Diamond" Vase Filler by Garden Splendor from www.save-on-craft.com (1 lb bag @ $ 3.29 each; excluding S/H)

1 (one) strand (minimum 3-4' length) of accent beaded garland
- You can get a similar style garland from Seefred.com for $ 3.75 each (excluding S/H)

Food Color
- To color the water

1 gallon of Water
- A faster way of doing this it just fill an empty 1-gallon milk/juice container and put a couple drops of the food color (or until the desired hue is achieved), stir.
- If the color is too dark, then just dump half of the container and add more water to tone it down.


Mixed of Small and Large Hanging Crystals
- Sasha fell in love with the crystal ropes from etherealdecor.com and so she bought these for the decor.
- Suggestions:
(1) I would suggest not to use these for this project as they are heavy and that is why for this wedding decor, I could not put more than 5 short strands on the curly willow. These would be perfect to be used with a sturdier branch like Mitsumata or Manzanita.
(2) So, in lieu of the hanging crystals, it is better to make your own strands using clear or colored beads (of different sizes) and string them together using a fishing line. These are available at any craft stores and they cost significantly lower and you get to put more hanging strands on these branches to create a more dramatic effect.


"ICED BRANCH EFFECT"

Materials:
For 1 (one) vase, you need a minimum of 20-30 branches of Dried Curly Willow
(remember, they are skinny branches, so the more the better!)
- I got these from Nettleton Hollow (3-4' height at $14.50 a bunch of 40-50 branches; excluding S/H).

Half a bag of ColorFill "Diamond" Vase Filler by Garden Splendor from www.save-on-craft.com (1 lb bag @ $ 3.29 each; excluding S/H)

Tacky Glue

Method:
Since we got this awesome idea from www.save-on-crafts.com, please follow the instructions on their website.


Assembly:
(1) Fill the vase with the marbles (NOT the vase filler) first.
(2) Tuck in the submersible LED light (make sure you turn the light on first) as center as you can in the marble pile.
(3) Sprinkle some of the vase filler (NOT the marbles) to cover the LED light.
(4) Tuck in the branches in the marbles until they are secured.
(5) Fill the vase with the colored water about 3/4 full.
(6) Pour in the vase filler.
By pouring these last, it will create a "floating shaved iced" effect because some will fall into the bottom of the vase, some will suspend in the middle of the vase, and most of them will stay afloat.
(7) Place the accent beaded garland by twisting and turning them around the branches (random placement is better).
(8) Hang the crystal/homemade clear-bead strands randomly on the branches.


Hope you find these useful and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me!
Remember...Suggestions and ideas are free! ^_^