A Bride's Best Friend - wedding coaching and consulting

A Winter Wedding in Red and White

Working in the melting pot of cultures that is the Bay Area, I have the pleasure of working with diverse couples. Tamar and Venkat hired me to plan their American wedding, while at the same time preparing for two other weddings in India and Israel.  (Wow!)

The days started out with Tamar and her bridesmaids getting ready at her parent's home on the Stanford campus:

I love it when couples make time in their day for a few moments to themselves.  Here a few of my favorite snaps from their first look:

Tamar is a graduate student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where both her parents are professors. With the Cardinal blood coursing through Tamar’s veins, the Stanford Faculty Club was the perfect venue choice.

Because of the size of the wedding and the season (they married in December), we had to flip the room from the ceremony set up to the dinner seating plan while guests enjoyed cocktails and a collage of videos of Tamar & Venkat at different dance competitions in another room.

Whenever a room flip is involved, careful planning and a well-staffed event is key.  We repurposed the chuppah from the Jewish ceremony and used it as a canopy to showcase their cupcake tower at their reception. The ABBF team, the amazing staff at the faculty club, our lighting designers and floral team worked double time to transform the ballroom in 60 minutes!

Tamar and Venkat met ballroom dancing, so it was a no brainer that they would choreograph an amazing first dance. But they also wanted their guests to experience their love for dance firsthand, so we hired one of their teachers, Jen, to give a swing dance lesson after dinner and spread the love around to everyone.  Having Jen there to teach the lesson and having Ron Grandia as our emcee was a perfect fit.  We got double the music libraries, and the smoothest flow from each part of the evening to the next.  The cupcakes were a big hit, as was their wedding albums which we displayed from their India wedding (which had just taken place a few short weeks before!)

Congratulations and Mazel Tov to Tamar, Venkat, and their wonderful families!

XO,

Elle
P.S. I couldn't resist throwing in my fave goofy shot of the bridal party.  Love that they took the rain with good humor!

The Wedding Team:

Venue : Stanford Faculty Club

Photography:  Teresa Halton Photography

Lighting & Draping:  Enhanced Lighting & Sound

Emcee & DJ:  Ron Grandia, A Different Kind of DJ

Dance Instructor & DJ:  Hep Jen

Videographer:  Andy Hirsch, Blue Moon Productions

Hair & Makeup:  Christina Felix, Christina Hair Artistry

Cupcakes:  Sibby’s Cupcakery

Flowers:  Shawna Futagaki, Flower Divas

Linens:  Classic Party Rentals