"Tora revised"

Blacks

19" x 7" x 4"

 "Tora revised"

 Cognac and Crestwood Tobacco browns

"Tora revised"

Opal umber

Wedding Auction Package

This is too good to miss. I've teamed up with Darcy Miller, Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta and more to offer a wedding package for auction, benefiting the Martha Stewart Center for Living, a service which promotes and facilitates health care resources for older adults. It's worth $12,000 and includes a $1,500 White by Vera Wang gift certificate, bridal shoes, engagement photos, a meeting with Darcy and planning services from me! I just checked the bidding and right now it's a bargain -- check it out yourself. If you're getting married, this sounds like the best deal in town!

Bidding ends on November 30, so don't wait!

LOVE AND POUTINE

There are two reasons Viva is completely head over heels about one of Ottawa wedding photographer Blair Gable’s recent engagement sessions. 1) Viva loves Elgin Street Diner poutine. 2) Viva loves when an engagement session really represents the couple and in some way tells you something fun about who they are.

Viva’s favourite weddings aren’t always the most glamorous or the most expensive. A wedding full of special touches that represent the couple are. And while the latest trends can be tempting, your wedding day should really include details that exemplify you as a couple - trend or not. Viva believes the same goes for your engagement pictures and this fabulous engagement session shot by Blair demonstrates just that.

After chatting with bride and groom-to-be Kaitlin & Keith, Blair discovered that they ended many dates with a late night poutine at none other than the Elgin Street Diner of course. And so the photo shoot begins. The video below by James Park is a sneak peek at the behind the scenes. Be sure to head on over to Blair’s blog to view some of the very cool images taken of these soon to be newlyweds.

Poutine Engagement Shoot - Behind the Scenes from Blair Gable on Vimeo.

Love at first Bite

With the Twilight Saga continuing and Breaking Dawn in the theaters this week , we thought this would be the perfect time to share our Twilight and Sleepy Hollow inspired wedding with all of you. Some of you may have already seen it on Green Wedding Shoes but we just couldn't resist posting it here ourselves!

We love couples who think outside the box and are open to doing something that has never been done before! We got just that, when we started working with the sweetest couple, Lora + Gary!

Lora + Gary are from the U.K. but wanted to have their dream wedding here in sunny California! We only got to meet a couple of times with them in person and did over a year's worth of planning with them via email! So you can imagine our surprise one day when the couple emailed us wanting a Twilight meets Sleepy Hollow meets Tru Blood feel for their wedding. We were thrilled and could not wait to start brainstorming ideas. We knew we had to incorporate pumpkins, old world scripts, antiquated silvers, tons of candles, and eerily romantic quotes from the movies so the guests would really get the inspiration behind the whole event.

The couple had fallen in love with the Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse, where the weathered wood and natural setting seemed to be the ideal backdrop for this hauntingly beautiful and elegant affair. The only challenge was bringing the feel to life in the middle of a bright and sunny August day!

Nicole Deanne did a great job on all of the ladies make-up! Lora was a complete knock-out!!

Aren't these images taken by Brandon Kidd already blowing your mind!? We are so in love with how romantic each shot looks!

Such a sweet moment! Love when the mother of the bride gets the first peek!

The couple had an adorable first look! The hid on either side of this old truck and then popped out and exchanged love letters with one another...what a great way to start the wedding!

We knew the perfect addition to the team would be Kate from Flowerwild, whose loose and romantic arrangements were spot on with the vintage theme. Kate and her team did a breathtaking job translating the colors and inspiration perfectly into each floral masterpiece.

Can we take a moment to admire Lora's jewelry...did you see her killer headpiece? Out of this world gorgeous!

We thought the wine box ceremony that JP Reynolds officiated was just the sweetest and neatest idea! The couple tucked away a favorite bottle of wine along with letters in a wooden box, to be opened on their 5 year anniversary.

Since Lora + Gary were such a joy to work with it made all of the design decisions seem easy! First we selected a color palette that would work for the summer wedding yet fall theme....ice blue, ivory, rich chestnut with touches of burlap, and of course blood orange.

The escort card table helped set the mood immediately for guests. We used pumpkins of different shapes and sizes to display "scrolls" with guests' name and the name of their table, which were named after the spooky towns that house the vampires and headless horsemen...Sleepy Hollow, Forks, and Bon Tdmps!

Anatomical heart with the words "thump, thump." What could be more perfectly eerie and romantic?

Creepy black crows held up the banner over the escort card table that read "Bitten and Smitten."

Instead of a traditional guest book, they had a family photo table that displayed Lora + Gary's "Bloodline."

The dining tables; Sleepy Hollow, Forks, and Bon Temps!

Since all of Lora + Gary's guests were from overseas, they really wanted their favors to be a little piece of California, and what could be better than California Poppy Seeds that guests could plant on their own?We couldn't resist spooking the favor up! We put the packages of seeds in burlap bags that read "Dawn is breaking." Guests were surprised to also find a scroll with eerie instructions on how to properly bury their seeds!

Lora + Gary are also an incredibly romantic couple and wanted their wedding to incorporate sentimental notions as well. To further decorate the tables and to bring a sweet element to the mix, we compiled and framed our favorite romantic quotes from Twilight, Sleepy Hollow, and Tru Blood. A favorite was "before you my life was like a moonless night." Cori from Brightly Designed created all of the paper elements that perfectly mixed romantic vintage with subtle dark accents.

Found vintage props, such as shadow boxes, old binoculars, vintage quills and ink wells enhanced the table decor.

Kate was awesome in helping us with our last minute request of adding Garlic cloves to accent the tables. These, in addition to the blood oranges we tracked down and sliced, added an unexpected element to the dining table and dessert table props that hinted at the vampire undertones.

U.K. tradition to throw confetti at the happy couple. Such a beautiful shot, love that they did this earlier on in the evening!

Toasts were a riot! As you can tell from Lora's face, no embarrassing story was left untold. Don't worry, Gary got his fair share too!

Guests got a kick out of the dessert table that housed salted caramel macaroons, mini cupcakes, and mini cheesecakes. It was definitely "Love at First Bite!"

Brandon Kidd Photography snuck the couple out of the reception for these amazing sunset shots! These could not be anymore beautiful-definitely a perk to having your venue in the middle of nowhere.

There's no better way to spend the night than dancing it away! Congratulations Lora + Gary we will treasure working with you forever! Thanks again to Brandon Kidd for these stunning images- the weekend would have not been the same without you guys!