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Things We Love |
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She left her heart in San Francisco. Melissa A. Panico, with MAP Events, swoons over the elegance and the urban Bay Bridge views.
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On her A-List, Linda Pitelli of Eventful Designing is captured by the magic and imagination of Los Angeles and it's major star factor.
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Northern California’s wine region is ranked as one of the nation’s top five destination wedding locations. Robbin Montero unites the wedding, wine, and tourism industry of Northern Califorina.
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 THE ERA OF THE COCKTAIL has made a comeback, and we are,
once again, becoming a cocktail culture. With this in mind, what could
be more appealing than turning cocktail and bar accessories into your
wedding gift registry theme? With the accessories you see here, you’ll
be all set for company.
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 Skip the never-ending search for the perfect favor and head straight to the valet! Surprise your guests with an old-fashioned donut cart stationed upon the exit.
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 Any diamond will carry a romantic message to a beloved bride, but only one will set her heart on fire. A diamond that is so perfectly cut that it has all the classic elements of a diamond’s beauty—brilliance, dispersion and scintillation. A diamond that sparkles like a red-hot fire. A Hearts On Fire diamond.
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Gretchen, owner of Flower Power L.A., laughs when she reminisces about
how taking “a silly little class” led to her start in the floral
business. She and a friend were taking an extension course in Flower
Arranging, and she admits, she frequently thought about not going. “But
being responsible school graduates,” she explains, “we decided we’d
feel too guilty if we didn’t attend.”
Fortunately, Gretchen continued her floral classes and when she brought
her arrangements home each evening, her husband viewed her talent and
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encouraged her to keep on going. “My husband would always say, ‘You
know, I think you should do something with this. I think you’re really
good,’” she recalls.
It was when her husband received a promotion, she was able to quit a less than desirable job and explore her new passion, flowers. Gretchen says, “I set out with basically zero knowledge of the floral industry.” But she was fearless, and she had one valuable tool: a great business plan. Within six months she was so successful, her husband was encouraging her in another direction: to please move her rapidly expanding floral business out of the house!
No problem, Gretchen thought. She’d discovered that she was “more than happy to live and breathe flowers.” She says “I read voraciously and started to find my own style. I began doing work on several television program sets. One wedding set was even nominated for an Emmy!” In fact, she often turns to her mother, her official First Assistant, to ask, “Does it look like a REAL florist did it?” Gretchen says her mother’s only response is to chuckle and roll her eyes.
Living and breathing flowers and doing what she really loves still catches Gretchen off guard with a sense of astonishment., she explains with her excellent sense of humor, “My staff laughs at me and says ‘Oh, Gretchen’s having a moment’ when they see me choke up as we stand back to see how we have made a bride’s vision come alive.” She continues to explain that meeting and exceeding a couple’s expectations is extremely important to her. “For me, this is always challenging and incredibly satisfying. This is not just a way to pay the bills; this fulfills my heart’s passion.” In fact, Gretchen continued to explain that sometimes it is the couple with the tightest budget that becomes the most fun. “I love to see the look on their faces when they ‘feel’ what I feel.” That feeling is no different than the feeling she receives with the more affluent budgets too: no wedding is “just another wedding, but rather, an opportunity to re-invent and create something that is uniquely theirs, regardless of the budget,” states Gretchen.
Calling on her sense of humor once again, Gretchen shares one of her most memorable accomplishments, in addition to the Emmy nomination, which was her first wedding, a full dress military affair. “I was really nervous,” she recalls, “and not surprisingly, I bought way too many flowers because I didn’t want to run out. But thankfully so, because when we got to the wedding and I realize there was one more bridesmaid than on my list, I nearly fainted.” After breathing into a paper bag for a minute, Gretchen gingerly approached the bride to confirm how many bridesmaids she actually had, and of course, it was one more than she had bouquets for. It was just a stroke of luck that she’d purchased all those extra flowers, and she was able to create the additional bouquet while riding in the back of the van to the wedding. She laughs, “And I wasn’t exactly fast at putting together bouquets back then!”
The rest of the story seems to bring Gretchen close to “a moment” again. “So the wedding is starting, and the military honor guard whips the swords out and my bride starts to walk away. Just before she goes through the canopy of swords, she looks back at me and whispers ‘thank you.’ There isn’t an Emmy in the world that can top that!”
“Sappy as I am sometimes,” Gretchen says, “I am a total perfectionist and I don’t approach events with a me-me-me attitude. If something needs to get done, I will make it happen. I am totally focused on the outcome and consider us all a part of the team. “
Having the occasional (or maybe frequent!) “moment,” and “sappy”??? Well, we at YWD have another word for that: caring.
Whether yours is a Southern California wedding, or anywhere else, Gretchen invites you to call. She is perfectly willing to ship her flowers anywhere. And by having Flower Power L.A. on your side, not only will you have beautiful flowers; Gretchen will care deeply about your wedding, too.
By Susan Hart Hellman, Executive Editor
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Flower Power Los Angeles
1378 Main Street
Venice
CA
90291
Phone: (310) 396-9200
Regional
Website
Directions
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Tips |
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# 1 - LOUNGING ANYWHERE
Wonder what to do to a resort ballroom to make it more interesting and intimate? You can create individual lounge areas by renting tents of sheer flowing fabric and adding sofas and coffee tables with lots of candlelight in them. You’ve suddenly created that romantic lounge atmosphere in a standard ballroom and given it more intimacy. Your guests can move to different “rooms” during the cocktails hour or or they can dance the night away. Jill La Fleur, The Wedding Planner
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#31 FLORAL DECOR
No wedding is complete without flowers. Try updating the traditional
centerpiece by using masses of your favorite flowers in a variety of
complementary tones for added texture and interest. For instance, if
your bloom-of-choice is the gerbera daisy, try one centerpiece with
dozens of red gerberas, another with orange, and another with
fuchsia-colored bunches. Let your imagination run wild!
Ariel Yve, Soiree Design Group
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# 6 RECIPES FOR FAVORS
Gather together the favorite recipes that you remember as a child. They could be special family recipes, holiday menus, etc. Have them bound in small books, affix a wedding label on the front with your monogram and date that you were married. And there you have it, a unique favor that your guests will use again and again. Also, it is a wonderful way to acknowledge grandmothers and mothers.
Melissa Lee, Events of Santa Barbara
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