About 6 months ago now, I received a phone call from a very kind young woman named Mikela. Little did I know at the time what an amazing person she was. From the very start, I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with her and hoped I would get the opportunity to work with her planning her October wedding. And thankfully I did…

Mikela decided as her wedding approached that she was going to need assistance the day of her wedding as she was planning her wedding long distance in the OC area from the San Jose area in Nor. Cal. And, not to mention, she moved UP her wedding date by a few months, so she was in a bit of jam and needed to wrap up all the loose ends. That was where I was greatful to step in and assist.

I didn’t actually have the pleasure of meeting Mikela in person until we met a few months later when she was in town to do her walkthrough at her lovely venue, the Westin South Coast. We met up with the Westin’s Catering Manager, Tiffany, for a tour of the facility, options for the reception layout and the cocktail area. After our meeting with Tiffany, we began to finalize logistics for her timeline, including what time hair and makeup was going to start, when they needed to leave for the Church (the beautiful Saint Edwards Church in Dana Point), and how to work out the kinks between having both a DJ and a Band doing the reception entertainment. It was a great meeting and we finished laying most of the ground work for how the wedding day was going to run…

On the day of the wedding, I headed over to the Westin to start getting the ballroom ready for the evenings festivities. Thankfully, Tiffany and her wonderful staff at the Westin had everything completely underway. It was very refreshing, as so many times when I have worked with hotels that isn’t always the case. Tiffany delivered exactly what she promised, and was such a pleasure to work with!

Time just flew by and it wasn’t long until all of the wedding guests arrived at the hotel to enjoy cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres on the waterfall terrace. Peter and Mikela arrived shortly thereafter in style in a limo provided by Mission Limousine, and I was thrilled to meet Peter for the first time and great Mikela as his new wife (one of my favorite things to do…).

Before Mikela and Peter mingled with their guests, I was able to escort the two of them into the ballroom for them to see it all set for their reception. Mikela was so pleased and almost started crying she was so happy! We were also able to capture that moment, and Royal Photo Studio did such a great job at making sure every detail Mikela worked so hard on was not only caught in pictures, but also in videography… Everything from the gorgeous, highlighted wedding cake by Cinderella Cakes,

To her darling party favors…

To the gorgeous Centerpieces and floral designs by none other than the very talented Flower Allie

The Devine Sweetheart Table, also decorated by Flower Allie…

And the Ballroom was a glow in the amber hughes and custom gobo, provided by Fly By Night

I also simply loved Mikela’s idea of having a “Sweet Table.” It wasn’t just a candy station, but it also had delicate cakes, sweets and fruits to temp any guests palette… I even had to sneak a bite of a few because they looked delicious!

As guests danced the night away (literally until after midnight) to the talented Walter Aziz and his band, and to the hippy tunes spun by Emiliano of Fly By Night DJ’s, I simply smiled and sipped on my tea (it was actually cold out then) enjoying watching two amazing people start their new life together in style.

Thanks Mikela and Peter for letting me share in this special day with you two. It was simply a pleasure!

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