Exquisite Weddings Magazine: Rustic Chic Tablescape

We're so very excited to finally share some of the photos from our Exquisite Weddings shoot we did back in December. The photographer, Terri Rippee did such a beautiful job capturing the rustic, chic tablescape at the lovely Rancho Valencia.

We wanted a table that was rustic, chic, soft and romantic. Our main focus to create our vision was designing a wood table top with benches for seating. The table top was made up of lots of old pieces of wood, fit together to create a rustic look. The linens were made up of a variety cream and white damasks, lace, and crochet linen. We used mercury glass candle holders, and silver candlesticks to add a pop of fancy shine over the wood table top.

The flowers were the perfect blend of wildflowers and greenery for the outdoor setting. The Floral Lab always does a fantastic job!

This cake! Melody from Sweet and Saucy made a stunning cake that matched our design to a T! She used beautiful lace trip, and topped the cake with a pod and balsa wood flower. So, so cute.

The menus were so cute! We found old books at local antique stores and tore the covers off. Love at First Invite designed all the adorable paper and we glued the menus on top of the book covers. It was a touch of "old" and brought color to the table.

The china, and stemware are from Anthropologie. I love the stone colored cermaic plates paired with the delicate lace stemware. It was beautiful together!

The table had an outdoor, fancy 'picnic' sort of vibe with the bench seating. It is perfect for the couple who loves casual elegance. For a bit of nostalgia, we placed cotton candy in the mint green bowls on each persons place setting.

The recepie for our "Lovely Lavendar" cocktail can be found in a copy of the latest issue of EW Mag.


Again, we are so very thankful and excited to see this vision come to life..in print! Thank you to all of the other people who helped make this table amazing.

Exquisite Weddings Magazine: http://www.exquisiteweddingsmagazine.com/

Table Designers: Carter & Cook Event Co. http://www.carterandcookeventco.com/

Florals: The Floral Lab http://www.theflorallab.com/

Cake: Sweet and Saucy http://www.mysweetandsaucy.com/

Linen: Classic Party Rentals http://www.classicpartyrentals.com/

Paper Stylist: Love at First Invite http://www.loveatfirstinvite.com/

Photography: Terri Rippee, Rippee Photography http://www.rippeephotoweddings.com/ and

Location: Rancho Valencia Resort http://www.ranchovalencia.com/

Love,

Ashlyn+Heather

C&C

Utterly Engaged: Designers Challenge

In January we had the privilege to attend an industry event put on by the fabulous ladies from Utterly Engaged. The Utterly Spankin' New Year party was quite the hit! We were able to meet and hug so many of the faces we've seen only through the computer screen and twitter conversations. It was a wonderful evening and we met so many new friends.

Carter & Cook, along with Posh Paperie decided to enter the designers challenge. There were many rules to our table entry. It had to be a form of 'modern', and use some sort of industrial material, paper, or fabric. We chose to focus our table on Modern Craft and the use of all things paper, with a bistro flare! We didn't win the challenge, but did receive an Editors Choice award in the recent issue. Such FUN! Read about it in the latest issue of UE here.

To keep the look clean and simple, we used a table with all neutrals, whites, creams, and browns. The table's main focus and centerpiece was not supposed be flowers so we found very simple cream vases from Ikea with three large white peony blooms, and lots of paper flowers made out of old books. All white china, and white utensils, along with a cream dish cloth for napkins.



Paper was used in so many ways! The table runner was brown craft paper, laid over a white linen tablecloth [yes, we need a hand held steamer! :) ]. We decided to do beer with cheese and bread baskets, so we had brown paper boxes lined with parchment paper to fill with gourmet cheeses and breads.

The beers had darling custom labels that served as place cards, also created by Posh Paperie. Our paper bag styled menu fit our modern bistro spread.

The paper flowers were a definite DIY, and quite easy. I might be putting together a tutorial for those, so watch for that on the Utterly Engaged blog.

The candles were all wrapped in various forms and textures of vellum, paper lace doilies, and a cream paper mache. It's hard to tell in the photos, but the glow from your candles through the textures of paper is so beautiful and soft. This is an affordable way to jazz up your standard glass pillar candles.

My favorite part about the table was the front of the linen. We saw an art piece online, and decided to try to incorporate that into our tablescape. We used dozens of sizes of paper cupcake liners, to create a fun design along the front of the table linen. We secured them with silver push pins. Several of the cupcake liners were spray painted tan to give a pop against the linen.

Heather and I enjoying the party!


Henny, Lucia and Eva..the three lovely women behind Utterly Engaged. Thank you again for such a fun party! And a huge thank you to Jasmine Star, and JD for shooting the party, and all of the designer's tables. All photo credit goes to Jasmine Star.

DIY Projects: Button Brunch!

As we wrap up the fun shoot we did with Wedding Chicks, I thought it would be fun to highlight the few DIY projects that happened to create some of the fun details for the tablescape.

The button garland was certainly a labor of love, but worth every minute of it. It's hard to envision this garland simply by the photos alone. In person, the button garland really made the space fun and unique!

We ordered lots of various buttons off etsy, and found several others at Michael's. We bought a larger yellow spool of thread used for quilting, and got to threading one button at a time. The tricky to part to this is making sure the garland doesn't get tangled up in a mess!

We made several strands of garland with the various colors and shapes of buttons. Make sure you have a beam, or some sort of overhang to tie your garland to. We decided to swoop it in various heights and layers over our table.

The 'favors' for this brunch were individual recipe boxes. We found plain wooden boxes at Michael's, and wrapped the yellow string around it several times, attached a few of the buttons on all sides of the box, and of course a darling Ink and Button fascinator to finish the touch. We also used them as a place card at each guests seat.


The table linens were hand made. We always have the hardest time finding just the right fabric for our tables. We found the delicate and girly floral printed fabric at Joann's, as well as the very fine stripped tangerine and cream linen, which was turned into the table runner.

The floral overlay fit just perfectly, and to add a fun touch, we sewed a cream fringe around the entire border of the linen. The table runner was hand sewn, and on the ends of the runner we glued {because it's just way faster} dozens and dozens of the buttons to tie in our theme.

Thank you again Amy and the Wedding Chicks! To see and read more about the shoot, please visit the 3 part feature on Wedding Chicks, here, here and here! Special thanks to Jessica Claire for all the photos!

Bridesmaid Brunch [inspired by yellow and buttons!]

Amy from the Wedding Chicks was looking for someone to design a bridesmaid brunch photo shoot for a Wedding Chicks blog feature on bridal shower ideas. We quickly jumped at the opportunity! Why? Because we love The Wedding Chicks, and we had been dreaming up brunch ideas for some time now.


The team we were able to work with was truly incredible. First off, we had the chance to meet, and have the table shot by the amazing Jessica Claire. She is a hilarious, sweet girl who had us laughing the entire day...and her work is amazing!! Thank you Jessica for the beautiful images. You are the best! Jessica is actually the brain that came up with the two words, yellow and buttons, that inspired this entire shoot!

The Floral Lab....sigh. We love Leigh Anne. If you need a florist, she is your gal. Her ideas, creativity and talent are inspiring, and every time we work with her, she pulls our vision together seamlessly. She used kumquats!? I die...


Paper and Thread did all the paper: the invitation, the place cards, menus, recipes, and the Cute as a Button sign. Lori is the sweetest. She is not only creative and has a talent to match, but she is just so fun and kind! She was willing to go above and beyond her duty with the darling paper suite, and help Heather and me with any of the other crafty projects. Lori, thank you!!



Erica O'Brien pulled through with 5 knock-you-off-your-feet cakes. They were beautiful! She also made the adorable button sugar cookies for the engagement shoot that afternoon. Erica is insanely talented and if you need a cake that screams perfection, hire Erica.

Those buttons are fake. Yep, it's all fondant. Can we say, awesome?!



Did you notice those incredibly perfect felt flower pieces on our recipe boxes? Or the one our adorable 'bride' Katie wore in the esession shoot? Those lovelies were by one of our former brides Lisa Raser, creator of Ink and Button. We love our brides, and we love when they turn their passion and talent into something beautiful! Lisa, thank you again!!! Those were quite the hit!



The photo shoot was held at Cafe Mimosa in San Clemente. They were so kind to let us set up before the restaurant opened and hang hundreds of buttons from their ceiling. By the way, the mimosas are bomb!

Thank you Classic Party Rentals for the cute bistro chairs! The stemware and mugs were from Anthropologie and our cute shabby chic plates were from TJ Maxx at $4 a piece!


Would you look at these beauties?! Three of the four models are photographers. Katie from Katie Neal Photography, Rachel from Studio Casillero ,and Lauren Bullock in from Bullock Productions. Thank you ladies for looking pretty. All the bridesmaids wore dresses from Ruche. If you haven't checked out their online shop, you must now! They have darling and affordable clothing!

Thank you to Design Visage for the hair and make up. You're awesome!

We'll be back soon with more DIY ideas, crafts, and the brunch inspired engagement shoot!

Love,
Ashlyn + Heather
C&C

Sneak Peek.

We just wrapped up a super fun photo shoot yesterday for the ever so popular blog, Wedding Chicks. I can't wait to share more of the details...but until then, here is just a peek of what's to come. Oh what a fantastic day it was, and we had the privilege of working with the incredible Jessica Claire. Enjoy!

Source: Jessica Claire

Coral & Shimmer [nonpareil magazine] Shoot 1.

We are so excited to finally be able to share more of the fun details that we have been working on since November. Our concept for this tablescape shoot was bold, colorful, and creative while using a variety of gold and shimmery tones. Coral and gold look simply incredible together, and it is something fresh and new that hasn't been overdone. There was a photo I saw of a coffee shop in New Zealand that had lots of lamps hanging upside down on their lamp stand. It was then that I had an "ah-ha!" moment, and thought it might be pretty fun to find different shapes of old lamps, cover them with fun fabric and hang above a wedding table! So, the Coral & Shimmer table was born, with so much help from our fabulous team of vendors.

Table Linen + Bistro Chairs: Classic Party Rentals

Photography: Jackie Wonders Photography

Paper Styling: Posh Paperie

Floral Styling: The Floral Lab

These amazing ladies made this vision come to life, in all of their awesomeness! Thank you all again!! And thank you Maddy & Kristen for allowing us to join the fun of Nonpareil Magazine! See the shoot and write up here!

Leigh Anne from The Floral Lab pulled through and found us the perfect coral peonies for the shoot. I am totally in love with them and really think they make such a dramatic impact on any table. Yes, they are pricey, but as we mention in the article, you only need a few stems to make a big impact on any table. Leigh Anne also sprayed several pieces of the foliage gold, which matches perfectly with the table. Another DIY trick to fancy up your standard greenery and give the centerpiece an antique finish.


These lampshades were a vision that came to life! All you need is your trusty glue gun, ribbon, various old lampshades, spray paint and fabric of your choice to create your mini lamp chandelier. We found our fabrics online from various Etsy sellers, and the lampshades were all found at Pat's Corner for $1.00 a piece! Such a fun bargain.

DIY Lampshade Chandelier:

step 1. Lay your fabric out, and measure the amount you will need for each shade. Don't worry about getting it too exact - you can always, trim, tuck and fold and glue the extra underneath.

step 2. Use your hot clue gun to secure the fabric on one side and wrap it around the shade. The larger, more symmetrical shade you have, the easier it will be. Make sure that it looks "pretty" from underneath, as your guests will be able to see the inside if these are used as a chandelier.

step 3. Spray painting a few of the lampshades is quite easy, and much quicker! It adds some simplicity if the fabric you use is a little busier.

step 4. Once done and dry, tie the inside tops of each shade with ribbon and hang from a ceiling, overhang, tree, or any area in which you can secure these pretties over your table. It is such a fun way to bring a homey feel outside! I also think this would be darling at a bridal shower, or a fun party.

We'll be back soon for round two next...The DIY cookie bar and paper quilling by Posh Paperie!

Nonpareil Magazine

We were so excited this past fall when we were approached by the two ever so talented ladies, Maddy from Inspired Bride and Kristen from Paper Crave, to design a tablescape shoot for their new upcoming and top secret project, Nonpareil Magazine. The online magazine officially launches today. The first issue, Beautiful on a Budget, caters to the DIY bride, with fun tutorials, and ways to class up your wedding, for less! We are so excited to see our Shimmer & Shine shoot in all it's glory. It is such a privilege and we are completely ecstatic to be a part of the very beginning for Nonpareil, and wish you only the best with this new endeavor.

To Jackie Wonders, Posh Paperie girls and The Floral Lab...THANK YOU for helping us execute our vision. You were such an incredible team, as always. I'm going to post more photos from the shoot soon [trust me, there are LOTS!]...so check back for more of the details!!

Love,
Ashlyn+Heather
C&C

C&C Wedding Tablescapes

I know these pictures have already been posted on Style Me Pretty, but I wanted to share a bit more details about this shoot.

Our first table was inspired by peaches. Peach is such a cool color. Word on the street is that Peach is the new pink. ;) This table is catered to the bride who loves the soft romantic fee. Peach, creams and other complimentary shades complimented this tablescape. What I love most is the way the table pulled together. The textures and colors fit perfectly. The peach place mats, café ole dahlias and pinwheels completely seal the look. Hydrangeas and dusty miller with scattered peaches played into the soft, natural vibe. Definitely the favorite!

Our next table turned out incredible. The way the jewel tones popped against the natural backdrop was perfect. Raspberry and greens were the color scheme, while accenting hints of vintage antiques. It was definitely bold and beautiful, but still very classic. The shutter down the center of the table was used as a focal point for all the old green vintage depression glass. The glass was filled with amazing, bright shades of flowers which added to incredible color. We used adorable floral printed napkins found at Pier One.

We seriously have to give most of the credit to Sean and Brianne from Sean Walker Photography. He has such great skills to make these tables look fantastic. Karrie and Elizabeth at Posh Paperie were amazing and put together some killer pieces. Those pinwheels were NOT easy. And Robin from Red Floral Designs did an incredible spread of flowers and knew just the look we were going for on both tables. Thank you all for helping us pull off this vision – it is so rewarding to see it done.

This is why we love our brides…..why we love design…..and why we simply can’t get enough!

[Sweet As A Peach Tablescape]

[Bright & Vintage Jewel Toned Tablescape]

C&C Tablescapes Featured on Style Me Pretty

We are so very honored to be featured again on the famous wedding blog, Style Me Pretty. Thank you Abby! Check it out! Here and here. And we could NOT have done this without our fabulous sidekicks for this special project - Karrie Pyke Designs, Posh Paperie, Sean Walker Photography and Robin from Red Floral Designs.

We designed two very different but equally as fabulous table tops that we felt the need to put into a reality! We will most more photos and details later, but it just feels so good to see your vision become a reality just as blank venues are transformed into beautiful, unique weddings! It has to be one of the {best} and most rewarding experiences as a an event designer when working with our couples. More to come soon!