Green was the theme at Jade and Jonathan’s Smog Shoppe wedding–a venue that is California’s greenest event space.  The building is enveloped in lush greenery that scale the walls and the  unique reception room reflects an old smog shop with a modern architectural vibe. Small trinkets already sat on the shelves inside the Smog Shoppe, which made the couples simple ivory and green decorations the perfect added touch.

To see the gallery of Jade and Jonathan’s intimate July nuptials please visit the Leila Peterson’s Photography blog here.

{Jonathan and Jade's engagement pictures by Leila Peterson Photography}

Below are some images of the interior of the Smog Shoppe in Culver City {Photo Source}.

Jade and Jonathan, may your life together be filled with love and happiness in every way possible. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your amazing day!

Torrance,California – January 31, 2012 – WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding Marketplace, is excited to announce Master Plans Events & Designs has been selected to receive the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2012 for Wedding Coordination and Floral Design!

The esteemed annual awards program recognizes the top local wedding vendors from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism within the wedding industry. While many industry awards are selected by the organization, Master Plans Events & Designs was selected based on its stellar reviews from past newlywed clients.

Master Plans Events & Designs is recognized as part of the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire local vendor community, comprised of over 200,000 wedding professionals throughout the United States and Canada. The Bride’s Choice Award recognizes  the best local wedding vendors across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on their overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is thrilled to honor the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “Since the launch of the Bride’s Choice Awards™ program four years ago, thousands of outstanding wedding professionals have been recognized by the bridal community for their supreme service and dedication to the wedding industry. It is with great pleasure that we congratulate Master Plans Events & Designs for their continued professionalism and commitment to enriching the wedding planning experience for engaged couples.”

We are happy to announce that Master Plans Events & Designs is one of the very best wedding coordinators and floral designs within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire. Thanks to their positive feedback we were able  to receive the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ for 2012. For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/master-plans-events-torrance/d0cc76e251fa2559.html. To learn more about the Bride’s Choice Awards™, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

About WeddingWire, Inc.WeddingWire™, the nation’s leading marketplace serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 reviewed wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers. WeddingWire also offers a comprehensive suite of online planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire is the only all-in-one marketing platform for businesses online and on-the-go. WeddingWire offers one simple solution to build a professional network, improve search visibility, manage social media and reach mobile consumers. Businesses that advertise with WeddingWire appear on WeddingWire.com, ProjectWedding.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), Brides.com and Weddingbee.com.

It was a beautiful September day in La Canada Flintridge that became the perfect setting for a lovely couple. Here’s to Richard and Sheila, two people who radiate so much love for each other.

And a few snapshots of their stunning fall wedding:

Just the right amount of “bling” for the beautiful bride to dazzle her groom! {Thank you: Jennifer Jasso Photography!}

The Newlyweds exchanged vows at St. Bede’s in La Canada.

Sneaking a smooch during the car ride {Provided by Classy Chasis} to the reception site at the

La Canada Flintridge Country Club.

{Jennifer Jasso Photography}

{Florals by Master Plans Events}

Congratulations to Richard and Sheila! Master Plans was so honored to be a part of this magical moment in your lives.

May your journey and new life together be blessed in every way.

My latest craft obsession has been DIY Cake Stands. They are incredibly easy to make and are perfect for friends who love to bake and entertain.  Recently, Master Plans created unique plate stands as an alternative to holiday gift baskets. We loaded up the stands with goodies and favors, wrapped them up in cellophane and sent them off as the perfect holiday presents!  I typically find gently used plates, bowls, and candlesticks at thrift stores to create one cake stand for less than $5.00. Here are the step by step directions for making your own cake stands at home– for a unique gift or event decoration on a budget!

Now that the holidays are over, I’m thinking about making different stands to use on the dessert table at my friend’s bridal shower.  I’ll be looking for gold candle sticks and ivory plates for a classic vintage look. I hope to keep you posted with some of the pictures of the finished dessert table after the shower!  Find some plates and bowls in your wedding colors and consider using these cake stands for a reception’s dessert table as well!

Need a little help creating some for your special event? Let MP know and we will gladly do the crafting for you

Happy Crafting!

Here is my challenge for all the happy couples:

Always remember the reasons that make the two of you work together so well. Nobody else can have what the two of you have. Your bond is personal. Your relationship is one-of-a-kind.

Grab a pen and write down activities that reflect your personality as a couple. Embrace those ideas as a launching pad for the theme of your special day that will make your guests say, “That is so them!”  Choosing the overall theme for a wedding can be a daunting task, especially with so many blog sites and bits of inspiration available at the click of a mouse. This makes staying true to the characteristics of the couple’s relationship that much more important.

What have been some of your favorite dates as a couple? Favorite movies? Favorite places?  When your heart is connected to these different memories hopefully it will be easy to recall why you loved those moments so much.  If your wedding is supposed to be a reflection and celebration of your love for one another, why not relive those moments that pushed you to fall just a little bit more in love?

Maybe this means going beyond a two-toned color scheme and embracing the freedom people have within their weddings nowadays.  Below are two popular, yet unique picks for wedding themes today, complete with inspiration boards to get you started.

Once upon a Pixar story: the spirit lifting film UP is the inspiration for many couples today who have shared a love for the movie’s inspiring storyline. {Images via Wedding Chicks}

Maybe your story began when you met under the lights of a Ferris wheel. You want to offer fun for all ages with red, sky blues, and whites at your romantic carnival inspired wedding. {Images via Style Me Pretty}

Keep it personal. Make it you. And you can never go wrong!

We’re so excited to announce that we have a new blogger who will be sharing all the inspiring visions to all of you about weddings, designs, DIY projects and inspirations. Meet ELISSA!! She’s a very creative and talented assistant to our team and can’t wait to share with you her thoughts.

Toree and Bobby selected a gorgeous rich jewel tone theme, following peacocks and their colors.  Their ceremony took place at La Canada Presbyterian Church followed by their reception at La Canada Country Club.  The bride’s bouquet and shoes was definitely unique.  She decided to go with a bouquet made of broaches and shoes painted with peacock feathers. The reception conitnued the theme with elegant table linens and chair covers. They ended the night with an awesome grand exit with bubbles to their car. Congrats to you both Toree and Bobby!

Special thanks to Poshak Photography for the photos!

Arlene and Mike are two very loving and sweet couple to one another and what better way to show than select a vibrant yellow to show it off. They’re wedding took place at Descanso Gardens and reception at La Canada Country Club.  It was a perfect day, not too hot for July.

Special thanks to Marianne Lozano Photography for the awesome photos!

Wedding trends follow in the same pattern as fashion trends.  Colors, textures, fabrics and designs all matter.   But since YOUR wedding is unique to you, you can design and create your wedding day however you desire. Below are some color palettes that we have seen at numerous weddings.  Remember, you’re not limited to these palettes and ideas.. this is just what’s currently most popular. And as we all know.. trends come and go.. be on the look out for the next one!

Images courtesy of Smithers Oasis Floral

Every year, I am honored to be asked to work with World Team International with the most humanizing cause… to stop human sex trafficking.  It’s always a challenge since there’s a lot of design and creative thought that goes into transforming a blank and not so appealing space into something spectacular.

This year, the banquet took place at Azusa Pacific University’s Chapel Hall with the theme, “Igniting Your Flame”, a call to action to do get involved and save lives of those trapped in sexual slavery.  Taking this theme to heart, I worked in conjunction with Carla Domen, from GBK Productions to pull out all the stops. Using large paper lanterns as the room’s backdrop with red/orange gobo projections of floral patterns and a bamboo grid of tropical flowers in red, yellow and green to highlight the speakers and guests of honor, the room definitely was night and day from what we had to seen. The guest tables alternated between collectons of submerged orchids and floating candles to paper lanterns lit aglow from votives inside and sitting ontop of tropical leaves with petals and orchid flowers around.

Here are our before and after pictures for comparison: