It’s been a few months since Karen and Christian’s October 16th wedding, but we thought we’d show you their same-day edit hybrid video by none other than Omnistories.

Karen & Christian Interview/Photo Montage/ SDE Hybrid || 10.16.2010 from OmniStories on Vimeo.

Oh and by the way, our first Simply Chic baby is on the way! Yay! =)

Kriselle and Gervin are having a destination wedding in the Bahamas next year so they wanted a passport invitation! They wanted their invitations to closely match a real passport!

I designed the first page with my own passport in hand.

April, of course, beautifully designed the rest of the invitation. I love the map as the background image:

This is probably my favorite page because those images look like real stamps!

Thank you Kriselle and Gervin and have an awesome time in the Bahamas next year!

We were honored when Vanessa and Angelo approached us to design their wedding invitations.  They had their reception at a winery in Temecula, so they wanted their invitations to reflect a fall theme with rich colors and textures that they incorporated into their wedding: chocolate brown and butter yellow.  I wish you could really see the textures of their invitations because that was my favorite part.

We’ve showed you their Save-The-Dates, their invitations, our planning for two years, and now I’ll present to you their actual wedding day pictures taken by Simply Chic (and friends)!

April served as the groomslady:

I took April’s camera so I can get some pictures during the ceremony held at First United Methodist Church in Mission Valley. I have to admit, I’m a pretty good photographer! Ok, not really but here are a few good shots:

Doves were released in the garden in the back but I missed a picture of that moment. Anyway while I was at the ceremony, we had a few great helpers setting up at the Westin San Diego in downtown.

The cocktail tables with candles, rose buds, and a tented sign letting guests know about the photo booth on one side and the hors devours and signature cocktail on the other side:

Karen’s dad was so proud of making the wishing well for cards and notes guests can write to Karen and Christian. He even made the bucket able to go up and down!

The candles served three purposes – 1) let the guests know their table assignments, 2) keepsakes for the guests, and 3) to help illuminate the ballroom. The steel-topped escort tables enclosed a pillar showcasing the newlywed’s engagement photos.

A table with the beautiful tall centerpiece created by none other than Fancy That! Designs:

Menu/reception program cards created by none other than Simply Chic, who also provided the silver chargers:

The elegant cake provided by Edelweiss Bakery:

Table with low centerpiece (this is the table April, our fiances, and I sat on).

Another shot of a table with a tall centerpiece. Notice the lighting in the background provided by La Jolla DJs:

The alter floral arrangements and bouquets of the bride and her bridesmaids were used on the sweetheart table and stage:

Before the guests entered the ballroom, Karen and Christian snuck in through the back for the “big reveal” moment so they can see the beautiful ballroom completely set up!

Karen and Christian’s wedding is our first full production project. We are very blessed to have teamed up with the newlyweds for two years. A huge thank you to everyone who helped make Karen and Christian’s special day a dream come true!

Ceremony: Reverend Molly and Phyllis, First United Methodist Church
Doves: Celebrate with Birds
Reception: Mary and Paul, The Westin San Diego
Photographer: Daniel Galang, Daniel Galang Photography
Videographer: Deejay and Ria, Omnistories
Floral Designer: Christine, Fancy That! Designs
MC/DJ and Lighting: Cameron and Peyton, La Jolla DJs
Photobooth: Amanda and Peyton, Classy Photobooths
Makeup: Chandra Campos
Hair: Cheri Joyner
Transportation: Epic Transportation
Event planning/coordination/design/stationery: April and Ginet, Simply Chic, along with help from Marj, Bernadette, Caroline, Justin, and Neville

From the get-go, Karen and Christian knew exactly what they wanted the feel and the tone of their wedding to be.  They wanted it classy and simple, yet chic; so of course they’re wedding invitations had to reflect that.   We used the same fonts, colors, and textures as their Save The Dates to keep everything cohesive.  We came up with a few different designs and this is the one they chose:

The completed invitation suite minus the RSVP card.

The whole invitation suite including their personalized RSVP cards (which, in my opinion, is a GREAT idea).  They wrote out the names of the people that were invited directly on the RSVP card versus writing out the number of seats each household was given.  This insured that their was no confusion on who specifically was invited!

Invite card with a purple ribbon knot accent.

Inserts (minus the RSVP card).

..and all the supplies to put them together!  One Sunday afternoon + great friends + spaghetti = a productive workday!

Thank you KarYun for letting us design your invitation suite! :]

For the past two years, April and I had the privilege of working with our good friends Karen and Christian to plan and prepare for their October 16 wedding. April and I creatively and emotionally invested into making their wedding a dream come true. This was our first full-service event planning project. They already decided on a ceremony site so the next step was to help them find a reception venue. We spent a whole Saturday visiting different hotel ballrooms around or near First United Methodist Church, their ceremony site. Karen and Christian chose the Westin Emerald, in downtown San Diego, which offered excellent customer service, a neutral-colored ballroom, and wedding package that included a wedding cake, chair covers, champagne, hosted cocktail hour, and honeymoon suite.

April and I found the rest of their vendors through professional and personal connections. Their photographer Daniel Galang and I attended college together at UCSD, their florist Christine from Fancy That! Designs is April’s sister-in-law’s cousin, and I had met their MC/DJ, La Jolla DJs, from a volunteer opportunity with a wedding planner.  Their videographer was originally Starcross’d Creative, the company April’s brother hired for his own wedding and I was in the Yearbook Staff with Marilyn, their Studio Manager, in high school. The amazing Omnistories then took over as their replacement. Most of these vendors were booked a year or two in advance so we had plenty of time to work on the details!

Karen, Christian, April, and I met every couple months then every month to make sure we were all on top of things! Probably the most fun I had in planning was the tastings! We went to Edelweiss in Rancho Bernardo for their cake-tasting. It was hard to choose from such a yummy selection but they were able to narrow it down.

Their reception dinner tasting was a lot of fun too! April and I wanted to put together a mockup of their whole tablescape design. April put together mockups for Karen and Christian’s escort candleholders, ceremony and reception programs, as well as for their table number cards. We even laid out silver chargers on each place setting. We worked with Paul from the Westin Emerald for the menu and Christine, their florist, from Fancy That! Designs for the centerpiece mockups.

Karen, Christian, and both their parents enjoyed everything! They loved the food especially the sorbet intermezzo that added an extra touch of elegance. As Christian says, “we gotta keep it chic!”

We’ll blog more about their wedding and the chic details soon!