Necia and Jacob

A beautiful late summer wedding in the garden. Necia and her Mom must have had loads of fun putting together all the vintage touches. They purchased all the plates , cake stands and spent their time making all the detailed Diy's. Even the programs were handstiched.
Jake and Necia are photographers working with Mike Larson so they have seen the best. We were honored that they chose the Dana-Powers House to hold their wedding.


Our sign out on the road
A very cool picture at the entrance. Love the blue hydrangeas

Scads of presents stacked on our gift cartA tray set at the back of the aisle for Fans and programs
A beautiful ceremony. The gazebo was framed in oak branches. The bridesmaids wore simple white blouses and gray skirts. Looked fabulous. Check out the shoes!

Our door filled with placecards
Family wedding pictures nestled in my shelf on the back deck. I think it works well to incorporate into what is already here.

A large childrens table. Each child had their own totebag with their name on it. Necia made little cloth flags that were set in the canning jars

The tables were so pretty and in keeping with the rest of the theme. White ironstone pitchers set on a vintage napkin. The table numbers were twisted wire made by the bride
Our drink table. I had this vintage yellow rose that I could not resist using since it went so well with the theme

They had two photobooths. Loved the color coordinated curtains


The lights were strung over the dinner garden by the lighting crew of Kramer entertainment. We hung the white lanterns



A dessert table was set up after the buffet
The cake matched the programs!

Vendors
Catering: Upper Crust
Cake and desserts: The cakery
DJ Melissa from KramerEntertainment
Flowers: Panacea
Photographer: Mike Larson and staff
Lighting: Kramer Entertainment lighting division

amanda and aj

Amanda and Ajs wedding was filled with diy projects that couldn't have been sweeter. Amanda has an eye for detail that started at the arbor where guests walked in and ended as they left at the end of the evening. Everything coordinated down to the smallest detail. It was obviously a family affair from her Dad building the fence dividers, friends putting together the flowers to her Mom overseeing everything to make sure it was what Amanda had envisioned.


The shutters were really perfect in their simplicity. Loved the flowers hung casually on them

Amanda made these pom poms out of pattern paper, coffee liners and tissue paper. They were connected with buttons strung on twine. So cute!
The favor stand with a chalkboard sign
The flower on Amandas dress was copied on the guest book and flowergirl pail. The corrugated tin on the guest book was copied on the drink tags.


Our antique coke bottle box used to hold the signature drink


a sign made by the brides aunt

loved the vintage suitcase for cards
The wooden fences were made by the brides father and visually separated the ceremony site from the reception
The cakes were arranged on white cakeplates which were later used as thank you's for the many friends who helped out. If you look closely, you can see the buttons decorating the cakes which were made out of marizapan

The table settings were a compliation of old books, vintage candlesticks, old wood box frames filled with simple white flowers and their table numbers were done on corrugated paper tied with strips of lace
The pathway was lined with brown paper luminarias to light the way home for their guests.
The caterer was BelloForno www.belloforno.com
The photographer: Beth Armsheimer www.betharmsheimer.com
Cakes: Windy City Bakery 805.868.3821

Hilary and Warren

Hilary and Warrens wedding was one I had been looking forward to. They both had such great energy that I knew it would be fun. All was in place for a beautiful day. umbrellas in an old wheelbarrow, a beautifully decorated arbor that Hilary had purchased in Los Olivos, signs hand painted by Warren on wood from his Grandparents ranch and then the rain came. Not a huge amount but enough to keep us wondering.

We moved the ceremony indoors when it kept sprinking just enough to keep the chairs wet. I was worried that guests would be more concerned about the weather than being in the moment of the ceremony. I had the caterers light all the candles on the tables, The guests stood on the dance floor behind a few chairs for grandmas and parents. It was beautiful and everyone was able to relax and enjoy the ceremony which was done by the grooms uncle.Darling arrangments by Adornmentsflowers.com. They used tomato cans that they applied a rust finish to. beautiful imported roses and surrounded by peaches and berries. Very effective for the barn
Beautiful bride!
Another beautiful cake by the Cakery (www.slocakery.com)
The little girls did not mind the rain at alldarling peach jams handmade by the bride and groom from his grammas orchard. The label is a picture is of a nest that they found in the tree when they were picking the peaches

A delicious dinner was supplied by Testa Catering of Santa Maria
Music was by Guy Ryder 1.877.54ryder
Photography by Linsey Hahn from Paso Robles

Jodi and Blake had a beautiful day filled with lots of love from family and friends. Family did the food and they had a delicious mac and cheese from Testa Catering(805.739.0809)

The first dance of Jodi and Blake
A beautiful cake by the Cakery. ( 805.545.7777) Chocolate and red roses
Manzanita trees from the grooms family ranch adorned the wedding site.The wedding was the week of the big fire off 166 and the family didn't know if they lost their ranch or not. Centerpieces were a smaller version.

Redecorating

It seems like I have been working on our tv room forever. Its always a slow process since we have to work projects in between weddings


One thing I wanted to get rid of was the 70's looking tile around the fireplace. I did not want to deal with a big tile project so I collected oyster shells and glued them right over the tile. I used tubes of lexan . Using both sides of the shell adds lots of texture and color. I saw this in a magazine was was drawn to it because of the brown spots on the shells. (I think I am in my brown phase) I am hoping it stays stuck with the heat of the fires

I actually started The project a few years ago with antique shutters that I bought at Rons Nursery.(www.rons-nursery.com) We replaced Eddies easy chair with a new brown leather from traditions in SLO. My slipper chairs were re slip covered (3rd time) Did them in a brown and beige wide stripe.(bought them at the thrift store for about $20.00 for 2. I love them because they are small scale and easy to move around. I painted the walls dark brown. It' s the same color as the couch fabric.

The light fixture was purchased from Sydney at the last fall sale at the barn Left it chippy and rustic. I love the look. It had been bugging me that the ceiling fixture was off center by about 2 feet so my darling Eddie redid it all. No small feat since the room is lath and plaster. We also decided to add a switch which meant tearing a 5 foot swath thru the lath for that project. Painted the ceiling pale blue. Picks up the blue in the above mentioned shutters.

A new flat screen tv (which we are loving) and a new 8 foot high bookcase made by the Herbert Brothers (herbertbros@charter.net)of SLO has really made the room completely different. I am still working on accessorizing it.
Fabric for the couch was ordered a year ago. It just came in so the couch is next on my list of projects. By the time I get it all done, it will be time to start over!

wed on a summers day

The photographer(Ashley Blake just sent a link to her blog with more great pics of Christina and Stephens wedding I should give up trying to take pictures!
www.ablakephotography.com/blog

Publish Post

Handmade and adorable

I have been looking forward to Christina and Stephans wedding when she told me she was making all of the flowers in her table arrangements out of cloth. I knew she had to be artistic and I was not disappointed.
The flowers were all done by Julie anne Martens from los Angeles(www.honeyfloraldesign.com)
818.425.4360. They were beautifully done. Julie specializes in really personal designs

Christinas brother who is a chef provided the meal. He used some of our serving pieces and provided the chafing dishes


The place cards were attached to cording strung between the two fence posts. pots of lambs ears decorated the bases





The cake was by the Cakery... always tasty!(www.slocakery.com) or 805.545.7777
The program and a small pack of birdseed to throw after the ceremony. I loved the line "wed on a summers day. "
a close up of the wedding arch. I loved the moss, the fabric (it had a small brown velvet ribbon stiched on it. the pieces of driftwood wired to it were a great natural touch
The rose petals along the side of the chairs work well because they don't get trampled
The tables were very simple but look closely at the flowers in the urn (handmade out of fabric) and the table card holder is a piece of wood wrapped with raffia covered wire.
This wedding is a good example of having a theme and applying it to everything.
Ashley Blake did the photography (805.234.5775)
AMS DJ provided great music(805.202.2020

Black and White

Amanda and Landon had a beautiful wedding. Black and white was carried throughout. Very elegant. The wall behind the head table was covered in a mesh of white lights, then covered with a curtain of muslin that had been trimmed with the black and white damask print(waverly). A large black mirror was hung in front that had been embellished with stick on monograms. I though it was a great idea as the mirror could be reused. Amandas friend Shelli was responsible for all the damask as she made runners for the tables and the skirting for the candy, coffee, cake and head tables also. The tables had simple vases in groups of three with all white flowers. This works really well as the tables are 60 inches wide and sometimes a single vase can get lost.
The guests really enjoyed the photo booth provided by Mike Larson (slophotobooth.com) or 234.7678. DJ Sean from AMS Entertainment (202.2020)warned the guests not to do anything in the photo booth that they didn't want everyone to see as the pictures would all be on a disk for the bride and groom!
Flowers were by Lori Boe.(805.709.26340 or loriboefloraldesign.com. I especially like the flowers along the window ledge.
Barbara Koenig did a beautiful ceremony as usual. (805.489.0710)
The sit down meal was provided by Testa Catering of Santa Maria. Always delicious food. (805.310.81350) I love their strawberry salad.

little girls dancing

One of my favorite images is this one of little girls twirling and dancing out on the dance floor. They were having such a good time. It was a very sweet moment.

Pretty in Pink

Christie and Andy got married in the garden on July 18. Hot pink lanterns decorated the dinner garden. They really brighten up the garden and add a bit of extra color.
The caterer was Bruce's prime rib from Lompoc with my staff doing bussing etc.
The DJ was Bob Criswell 705.7992
Flowers and photography were done by family and friends
The Minister was Dennis Mogavaro who got married to his wife Dorothy in our garden a few years ago. Dennis does a really nice ceremony.
One of the highlights of the reception was Christies dad singing a Kenny Chestney song (Ithink) to the bride and groom.