New York Engagement Session || Wina & Jimmy || Ira Lippke Studios

New York City is one of Wina & Jimmy’s favorite places – so it was the natural setting for their engagement session, by the AMAZING Ira Lippke! These photos perfectly depict how Wina & Jimmy’s style is quintessential New York. The first thought that I felt when looking at their photos was how much it reminded me of Chuck & Blair – my favorite couple from Gossip Girl! See how Ira took Wina & Jimmy thru Central Park with the most beautiful cherry blossom backdrop, the luxurious & modern Setai on Fifth Avenue, the steps of the grand New York Public Library, and then Times Square at night!

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Engagement Session || Shanine & Ron || by Lane Dittoe

Very excited to share our beautiful couple Shanine & Ron’s engagement session photos by Lane Dittoe! Shanine & Ron will be traveling down from Oregon to be married this month in April at Shanine’s parents private residence in Malibu.

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Happy 1 Year Anniversary || Katherine & Terence

Happy 1 Year Anniversary Katherine & Terence!! 

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Unique Wedding Idea || Wedding Movie Poster

We had such a great time getting creative with Ella & Sam’s Movie Awards Themed wedding! To tie in with the wedding theme, movie posters were made using Ella & Sam’s studio engagement photos. Since Ella & Sam lived in Shanghai, we thought Old Shanghai would be fitting! For couples who LOVE movies, this is a great idea for you!


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Gossip Girl’s Royal Wedding || Vera Wang Wedding Gown

It’s no secret that we absolutely LOVE Gossip Girl, and tonight’s Gossip Girl is the Royal Wedding of Blair & Prince Louis of Monaco. Whether it happens or not, we won’t spoil it, but watching the show the last couple of months with preparations of the wedding, that introduced some of our favorite wedding icons such as Sylvia Weinstock for the wedding cake, and Vera Wang for the gorgeous gowns that Blair, Serena and her bridesmaids would wear. Here is a behind the scenes video by E! Online with Eric Daman, Gossip Girl’s costume designer, with Vera Wang – one of our absolute favorite wedding gown designers. ALSO, one of our lovely brides will be wearing Blair’s same wedding dress. We can’t wait to see her in the dress in July!

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Featured on Smitten Magazine || Jane & Frank’s Modern Wedding || Ritz Carlton-Laguna Niguel

We are excited to share Jane & Frank’s Modern (and Gossip Girl Inspired) wedding at the Ritz Carlton-Laguna Niguel is featured in the latest issue of Smitten Magazine. To see the full magazine, click here. Photography by Christine Farah. We will be sharing more photos from this wedding soon!

(click on image for larger view)

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Terranea Resort || Palos Verdes Wedding || Ana & Eddie

Ana & Eddie’s wedding took place at the beautiful Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes , with the most breathtaking ocean views. The style of the wedding was elegant, romantic, opulent, yet also relaxed which the location lent itself well to. The wedding colors were light turquoise blue, creams and golds with accents of lavender  violet purple to exude the style. To pay tribute to their Korean culture, we incorporated traditional Korean dancers, along with performing the Korean Pae Baek Ceremony, in front of all the guests. Photography: by Aaron Delesie, Videography: by Elysium Productions, Floral Designer: The Mille Fiori, Linens: Wildflower Linens, Hair/Makeup: Joyce Luck Style. The wedding was also in Style Me Pretty as 4-part feature.





































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The Special Day’s Biggest Fans || Karen & James || Beverly Hills Wedding

As we have shared with you before The Special Day’s Biggest Fans are posts of real testimonials from our real clients. We want to bring you true and honest perspectives through their eyes… the couple, the bride, the groom, the family, the bridal party, the guest.. really, it can be anyone that considers themselves our biggest fans. Thank you Karen & James for being our guest blogger and for being one of The Special Day’s biggest fans!

We first found out about The Special Day because Carolyn was the planner for Karen’s sister’s wedding.  Upon meeting Carolyn, it turned out that she had also worked on another close friend’s wedding the year before.  Talking to our family and friends, we learned more about The Special Day and the services they offered.  It was really important for us to find a wedding planner because we felt the vendor relationships, the insight, the experience and most of all, the day of coordination would be difficult to do on our own.

Throughout the entire planning process, from the initial meeting to the wedding day, The Special Day really showed their expertise.  They found us incredible vendors who were professional, accommodating and easy to work with.  The planning schedule we put in place really helped take a load off our minds and limited the amount of stress that we’ve seen with so many of our other friends during their wedding.  The styling and innovative ideas proposed to us really helped make our wedding unique and memorable, while maintaining the classic/traditional feel we were shooting for.

The Special Day was a crucial part in making our wedding so successful and memorable.  After the wedding, all of our guests were so impressed with everything.  We got countless compliments on everything from the unique table set up, the lighting, the flowers, the food… a lot of friends and family telling that it was simply “The best wedding (they had) been to.”

We are so happy with our decision to go with The Special Day and think it was invaluable in so many ways.  They really shined in all the areas we were looking for in a wedding planner and would highly recommend them.  Thanks for everything Carolyn!~

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Happy New Year – 2012 !!!!!!!

Wishing everyone a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR in 2012 ! ! !

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The Resort at Pelican Hill Wedding || Nancy & Ed

Nancy & Ed just celebrated their wedding anniversary at the Pelican Hill. The day before their wedding it was raining cats & dogs, and then on the day of the wedding it was bright & sunny. This year on their anniversary it was the same – pouring rain the day before, and on Dec. 13th, it was a gorgeous day in Newport Coast.

Nancy & Ed were such a fun couple to work with, and always enjoyed whenever they would come down from San Jose for our meetings. The wedding theme was based on the blending of 3 cultures – Korean, Chinese and Mexican (since Nancy’s Korean and Ed is Chinese/Mexican). We carried this theme in every way from food, to signature drinks, to wine, to the decor, and the attire. The color scheme was a beautiful amethyst jewel toned purple with emerald green. Absolutely gorgeous Asian-inspired emerald green linens & chair covers with gold knots were custom made by Wildflower Linen. The abundance of orchids and candles galore were by Nisie’s Enchanted Florist. The ladies were prettied up by Joyce Luck Style. The A M A Z I N G photographs were by Ray and Erwin of Apertura Photography, and none other than the talented team from Elysium Productions produced the Same Day Edit!

To keep the spirit of Nancy & Ed’s fun personalities, they had a hip hop dance choreographed for their entire wedding party, which during the reception they changed into Adidas suits and rocked it out!

It’s also fun that we get to brag that Ed was part of the Ipad project (he works for Apple), and Nancy is our foodie guru in NorCal that we always defer to for best & delicious food! Needless to say, we enjoy a lot of time spent together eating the most amazing food!

Enjoy the deliciousness of their wedding!




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