Amber & Chirag’s Wedding – Malibu, CA

Last month I had the privilege of coordinating Amber and Chirag’s beautiful wedding at Rancho del Cielo in Malibu.  The view was absolutely breath taking and I was particularly excited because this was my first Hindu wedding!  They also had an American ceremony so things were pretty crazy when we had to transform the ceremony area from the Hindu ceremony to the American one.   Amber and Chirag is such a fun couple and my new photographer friend Rob and his wife Felicia definitely captured Amber and Chirag’s personalities and style.  This wedding was definitely a labor of love for Amber and Chirag’s friends and family.  Everyone pitched in to make sure this was a wedding to remember.  I am honored to have shared their special day with them.  Here are just a few shot from Rob.  You can check out Rob and Felicia’s work at http://www.robertpaetz.com.  Love their work!

Thank you Amber and Chirag for a fun and memorable day!  I wish you two the very best in all your future endeavors!

Enjoy the pics from Rob and Felicia!

~B

Utterly Engaged 1 Year Anniversary BBQ Hoedown

A couple days ago my friends at Utterly Engaged had their 1 year anniversary celebration at the Irvine Park in Orange.  Their BBQ Hoedown theme for their party was just perfect since its summer and summer is all about grilling and having fun outdoor. I was too busy eating so I didn’t take as many pictures as I usually would 🙂

Enjoy!

~B

Avia Hotel

The last couple of weeks has been nonstop for me.  Whether its work or a mini vacation I am glad to be back in the swing of things again.  On a more personal level I’ve been suffering from insomnia lately. 😦  I find myself sleeping no earlier than 2am.  Not good.  Last night was one of those nights.  I couldn’t sleep til 3am cus I just couldn’t turn my brain off.  I hate it when I have to much to do on my “to do” list and it usually hit me at the worst time…right before I go to bed.  I’m sure there are some of you out there that can relate to me.  I keep picking up my blackberry and adding things I need to do.  That’s how I plan my day, week, and month 🙂  I guess if I don’t have that system I won’t be able to function since I like to do a gazillion things all at once!

After a sleepless night and a long day at work I was so glad I was able to make it to an industry event at the new super cool Avia Hotel in Long Beach.  The event was held on the roof top of the hotel with an awesome view of course!  I will be the first to admit that I always look forward to the food when I go to an industry mixer 🙂  Avia Hotel’s food did not disappoint me!  The staff were super friendly too!  I met a couple new industry friends so all in all it was a good end to my nonstop day 🙂

Enjoy the pics!

~B

The candy station was by Candee by Sandee 🙂 http://www.candeebysandee.com

Hotel Maya in Long Beach

I usually blog about events I’ve done but today I’m gonna do something a little different.  I am going to blog about my new favorite venue!  I met a potential client there today and boy am I glad I went.  I’ve heard of Hotel Maya and have seen pictures of it but being there was even better!

Those of you who know me well enough know that I came from an interior design background and I absolutely love love love boutique hotels!  One of my many dreams is to design and own a green boutique hotel one day.  I’ve always love the hospitality industry and can’t wait to get into that again. Hotel Maya just have this wow factor for me!  I don’t know what it is. I feel like I can live there.  It is truly a fusion of the Latin American beachside resort and modern Southern California style like they say.  I love all the colors and textures they used in the space as well.  I can chill there all day!

Check out their website at http://www.hotelmayalongbeach.com

Have a great 4th of July weekend everyone!  Until next time!

~B

Cherie & Jason’s Wedding

Last weekend I assisted my friend Cat of Lemon Drop Socials on a wedding at the famous Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes.  I’ve heard so many great things about this beautiful and charming chapel and I’m so happy I finally got a chance to see it in person!  It was definitely a busy week for Cat and I because not only were we coordinating the event we  were also doing all the flowers!  It was pretty much nonstop the week of the wedding!

Since Cat wasn’t able to make it out to the rehearsal I had to go to the rehearsal on my own.  It was definitely something different for me since I’ve never done a wedding where I meet the bride and groom for the first time the week of the wedding!  When I met Cherie and Jason I instantly felt like I’ve known them forever!  They are so easy going and are so so sweet to each other.  I knew their wedding day is going to reflect them.  Fun and easy going!  🙂

The reception was held at the Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach.  The location was perfect because we are just minutes from the ocean.   I love living in California!  I also got a chance to work with my friend Huey of Huey Bui Photography.  It’s always fun working with Huey and his wife Mezzi.  I’m so excited I’ll get to work with them again next April 🙂

And now a little bit about the flowers Cat and I worked so hard on 🙂

I really love the theme of the wedding because it was so organic and natural.  All of the table numbers were named after all the trees in the forest.  I also love the containers we used for the centerpieces because they looked like tree trunks.  The monarch butterflies we added were just the perfect finishing touches.

Cherie and Jason, thanks for being such a fun and easy going couple!  I had a great time!  Thanks again Cat for asking me to assist you on this!

And of course here are the photos I took.  🙂

Enjoy!

~Betty

Quyen & Neil’s Wedding – Las Vegas

Last weekend I was in Las Vegas for my first destination wedding!  Before I start talking about how awesome and beautiful this wedding was I have to tell you a little back story.

I think it was all meant to be for me to be a part of Quyen’s big day!  Quyen and I went to high school together way back in the days.  She was 2 years younger and we got to know each other through choir.  Well, fast forward more than 15 years later we bumped into each other last fall.  We were catching up a bit and she found out I’m a wedding planner and that I had my own flower shop 10 years ago.  She was so excited because she was planning her wedding and thought that it would be awesome if I can help her with wedding flowers and coordinate her wedding too!   8 months later here we are!

So now I can talk about how beautiful this wedding was.  Boy was it a challenge for us because we were both crazy enough to try to tackle a destination wedding doing all the decor as well.  All the details for this wedding was done by Quyen and her bridesmaids.  Favors, goodie bags for out of town guests, place cards, menus, you name it!  Quyen and I both have a type A personality so organization and good planning really helped us plan this destination wedding.  Things were pretty hectic the weeks leading to the wedding but I am so glad everything came together for Quyen and Neil.  This wedding was definitely a labor of love from all the family and friends.  We could not have done it without everyone’s hard work.  Quyen and Neil, thank you so much for letting me such a big part in your big day!  Enjoy your honeymoon in Aruba!

Here are some photos from their beautiful day!

Enjoy!

~B

Viva Las Vegas!

Just a quick update…I’ll be leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow for my first destination wedding!  I’ll be back on Sunday so I will try to return all your emails and calls as soon as I get back.  🙂

Not only will I be coordinating the wedding I am also doing the floral design and decor as well!  This is gonna be pretty crazy!  Stay tuned for pics…

Have a great week everyone!  Thanks for stopping by!

I’ll leave you with some pics from last weekend’s girls night in dinner at my friend Diane’s house 🙂

Enjoy!

~Betty

Delish red velvet cupcakes from Porto’s brought by Mai

Yummy cranberry curry fried rice made by Diane aka the host 🙂

Delish pork spring rolls from Brodard brought by Thao

Chicken alfredo made by yours truly 🙂

Lasagna made by Michelle

Baby Jacob was the only male allowed in the house hehe

The Wedding Pantry Grand Opening Party

Earlier tonight I went to the grand opening party for  The Wedding Pantry.  The Wedding Pantry is the coolest wedding planning boutique that is quickly becoming the talk of the town.  It is located in the old town Tustin area so if you are ever in the area you have to drop by to say hi to Eva Chiou.  The Wedding Pantry is also the new home for Utterly Engaged.  If you haven’t heard of Utterly Engaged then you have been missing out!  Utterly Engaged is a super cool and chic online wedding e-zine.  Eva Chiou of Red Velvet Occasions and Lucia Dinh Pador and Henny Vallee of D’lsh Design are the founders of Utterly Engaged and I’m are proud to call them my friends.

A couple weeks ago I dropped by to say hi to Eva and was able to take a sneak peak of the shop before the actual grand opening.   I’ll have to upload the pics later since I am having some technical difficulty with wordpress right now 😦

~B

My adventure in photography

Sorry I’ve been MIA but it’s for good reasons 🙂  I’ve been pretty busy lately doing all sorts of things.  Beside from my events I’ve been going to photography workshops and learning as much as I can so I can improve my photography skills for my events.  I started a photography blog recently so check out my latest photos at http://www.bettylang.com.

~Betty

Happy Mother’s Day

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day with their loved ones.  My family will be celebrating Mother’s Day this Wednesday since my mom said she doesn’t like how crowded the restaurants get during the holiday.  We will be celebrating my baby sister’s 18th birthday the same night too!  So it’s going to be a fun family night!

Sorry I’ve been a little behind with my blog.  I’ve been pretty busy the past couple weeks.  That just means I’ll be updating on those events soon!

I would like to dedicate this post to my mom in honor of Mother’s Day.

I know most people say their mom is the best mom ever but I am not exaggerating when I say I have the best mom in the world!  My mom has always been there for me.  There are certain things my mom have in common with most parents out there like wanting us to go to college and find ourselves a decent job so we can take care of our own family one day.

When I first open my own flower shop my mom was there to help promote my business.  She would tell all her friends to come check out my flower shop and advertise for me the only way she know how.  She still tell people I do flowers even though I’m a wedding planner now.  I always have to remind her I’m like Jennifer Lopez in “The Wedding Planner” 🙂  After a couple of years of doing mainly wedding floral design I decided to go back to school to get my degree in interior design.  She probably thought I was a lil crazy at first but supported my decision anyway.  I kept telling her to hang in there and wait for me….to become rich and famous lol.  After about 5 years in the interior design world, life aka the bad economy kinda forced me to start Vanda Events.  I’ve always had a passion for event planning so I think it was just meant to be.  Even though at times she would nag me about my personal life and want me to settle down and get married and give her some grandchildren already. 🙂  I keep telling her the universe is not ready for me to settle down yet and I can’t fight it 🙂

I think my mom is partly to blame for my craziness lol.  I still remember when I was a kid she would tell me you should always learn as many things you can in life.  So I really took her advice literally!  So I started with my love for languages and took German and French in high school, took mandarin when I was in junior high and took sign language in college.  🙂  I do have one big thing I am especially thankful for…my mom is an amazing chef!  Again I’m not just saying that cus she’s my mom.  Thank goodness I also love cooking and have been cooking since I was a kid.  I also love to eat pretty much everything.  My mom also said to have an open mind and try something at least once and if you don’t like it then you don’t have to try it again.  I pretty much love everything I’ve ever tried so again I thank her for making me have an open mind with food.  🙂   There is that saying “jack of all trade and master of nothing”.  Well, I like to think I’m the master of jack of all trade 🙂  I don’t think I will ever stop wanting to learn everything and try my best to be the best I can be at it.  Life’s too short to just sit around and let life passes you by.  I know financially I am not where my mom would like me to be but I am happy doing what I do.  I’ve been a starving artist for this long so what’s another couple of years.  I’m gonna keep going on my creative journey and go wherever the wind takes me.  At the moment I’m a wedding planner, freelance interior design, and an aspiring photographer.  I wonder what I will have up my sleeves in a couple of years? 😉

Happy Mother’s Day mom!  I love you!

P.S.

I will try my best to give you some grandchildren in a couple years 😉

~Betty