Terranea

Kathy and I were extremely lucky to have the opportunity to tour the gorgeous Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes with our friends Leila Khalil of Be Inspired PR and Carissa Jones-Jowett of JL Designs. The property is currently under construction (it's set to open in June 2009) but it's still stunning, and it didn't hurt that the weather was gorgeous the day we were there!


They have a number of areas for weddings and events (check out the floorplan) including three beautiful ballrooms, a number of patios and terraces, plus two stunning ceremony locations with 360 degree ocean views

No detail has been overlooked at Terranea and every event space has a different look and feel - we stopped counting the number of different types of light fixtures after a while because there are just too many!

Guest accomodations are modern and luxurious and range from traditional guest rooms and suites (the majority have ocean views) to private Casitas and Villas. The Villas are absolutely gorgeous feature full kitchens and private jacuzzis.

And of course there will be top notch ammenties - an exclusive spa, three pools (one has a slide and tile designed by Paul Frank!), a private beach, and seven restaurants.

Many thanks to Douglas Hoagland, Director of Catering for giving us the grand tour. Of course we couldn't leave without take a photo of us in our hard hats :)

Love,
the Bella Girls

Samantha & Dave ~ Private Estate

As it took us a while to get into blogging, we thought we would periodically go back in time and show you some of the great images and amazing couples and vendors that we had an opportunity to work with.

Working with Sam & Dave on their wedding was so much fun, and how excited were Susan and I when we found out that Sam was part of our same sorority. Here is a great pic of the happy couple…

We were thrilled with the opportunity to work at one of our favorite venues, the elusive private estate in Silverlake.

Amy & Trisha and the entire team over at Hidden Garden did an amazing job on the florals. Too bad I don't have any pics of the crew taking a dip in the pool to secure the large floral arrangement that we had floating.

And the amazing view from the ceremony, the florals on the chuppah were gorgeous!

A couple of shots from the cocktail reception, and of course a peek at some of the amazing food provided by Rhonda from Dompierre Catering.

Finally, a great pic of Susan and I working. We don't usually get any of these, and none where we look so good. (Thanks to Michael, must have been the lighting!)

Many thanks to the amazing team that made this day such a huge success!

Michael Brannigan with David Michael Photography

Kristine & Amy with Paper Tape Films

Aaron & KC with Vox DJ's

Amy & Trisha with The Hidden Garden

Rhonda with Dompierre Catering

As always,

Love the Bella Girls

Bride & Bloom Magazine Feature

How excited were Susan and I to be invited to be one of the Featured Planners for the Spring 09 edition of Bride & Bloom magazine.....

We were given a spring color palette of blues and greys, and we decided to add a punch of lilac/purple to make everything pop! Hope you loved it as much as we loved putting it all together!

Here is the final spread, and some of the detail shots that went into making it happen.

We couldn't have asked for a better SoCal beach location to shoot our 'Beach Chic' spread than Shutters poolside deck.

Susan and I loved working with our printer La Bonne Vie Studio to create the custom letterpress invitations. The calligraphy on the names and monogram were courtesy of Laura Hooper Calligraphy. Anybody catch the KBS logo (Kathy and Susan with Bella), we got a kick out of that and making up our fake couples names and wedding date. That may have taken longer than the actual printing of the invites.

Of course not every detail was included in the actual published spread, one great element that we just loved were these custom maps from Laura Hooper Calligraphy. We loved it so much we are using them for an upcoming May wedding!

We loved the mint julep cups we picked up, and LOVED the lilac rose arrangement that Hidden Gardens provided for each place setting!

Who ever said that a bridesmaid dress is a one time wear? Here is Susan modeling our fabulous bridal bouquet in her maid of honor gown from a recent wedding. Coincidence that the color is a perfect match?

Another detail that didn't make the magazine, were these custom hankies we had made with our KBS logo. Special thanks to Li'l Inspirations for these beautifully made hankies.

And here is a 'self' portrait of the team (minus Trisha who had to head back to the shop) that was on hand for the shoot. Our dear friends Josh & Michelle Beller with MiBelle, Inc that did such an incredible job photographing the table scape. Our amazing publicist Leila Khalil from BeInspired PR, we can't thank her enough for this opportunity!

A huge thanks to the entire team of amazing vendors that made this spread possible --

Photography - Josh and Michelle with MiBelle, Inc
Location - Shutters on the Beach
Floral - Amy & Trisha with Hidden Garden Floral Designs
Cake - Leslie at Fantasy Frostings
Linens - Wildflower Linen
Chairs - Chameleon Chair
Rentals - Town and Country Rentals
Custom Letterpress Invitations - La Bonne Vie Studio
Calligraphy - Laura Hooper Calligraphy
Hankie Favors - Li'l Inspirations

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Postage Increase Coming...

Susan and I have chatted about this topic on several occasions recently, with our couples invites going out right around the USPS's May 11th rate hike. You need to be aware of how this will affect your reply cards.

We think the blog from the Martha Stewart team does a great job answering all your questions. Check out their story.

I think that the Forever stamp is the way we will be going over the next couple of months....appropriately named for wedding replies, don't you think? :-)

As always happy to share our 3 cents, or in this case .42 or .44.

Love, the Bella Girls

The Golden State

We are so excited to announce and support the grand opening of The Golden State, co-owned by our past client James Starr. The Golden State is set to officially open for business on Thursday, March 5th. Be sure to check it out!

Golden State is located at - 426 N Fairfax Avenue, LA CA 90036 - 323-782-8331


Here is a little teaser pic from Mollie & Jim's wedding, it was such a great wedding with tons of details so stay tuned for a full blog with all the goodies. Here is one of our fav's by Michael with Evoke Photography.