That's right...I won TLC's Battle of the Wedding Designers Aloha Wedding Bells Episode (Season 1 Episode 4)! I had the pleasure of competing with two of America's Best Designers and my friends and colleagues,
Steve Kemble and
Michelle Buckley. I am happy to have beaten the two of them and have the opportunity to design and plan Leilani and Josh's dream wedding!
I wanted to send a special thank you to the vendors who helped me out on TLC's Battle of the Wedding Designers. I appreciate all your help and for being there to make sure that I came in budget for Leilani and Josh's wedding. You are all incredible people and I could have not done this without your support and friendship. Here's to many years of working together and giving all our clients what we do best...quality service with a smile!
The Battle of the Wedding Designers journey was such a great experience and I met some wonderful people along the way. I hope that I can do more of the shows in the future, because I would really love to show more of what I am capable of doing. Plus the challenges are fun. There's a lot of design in me that's wanting to come out and be seen.
What I am most thankful for though is meeting Leilani and Josh and having the opportunity to design their dream wedding with an incredible group of vendors that I love working with! Here's a few photos of some of the details, taken by the incredible Vanessa Honda and Sheena Sales (yes my cousin) of
Vanessa Honda Photography, on Leilani and Josh's wedding day.
This was the final product for the floral. Leilani and Josh wanted the pink and green concept. The original plan was to do really plain (black and white with a splash of color - yellow was the original splash for my pitch) which is below.
For the guest book, I opted to do a painted guest book that is now a piece of art that hangs in Leilani and Josh's home. Additionally, I used Capiz shells for both the escort cards and for the wish tree. The wish tree was shells were later transformed into wind chimes for Leilani and Josh's home.
We had two types of cake due to Leilani's food allergies. The smaller of the two cakes was vegan and gluten free. The cake was designed after my overall inspiration of a Hawaiian Quilt.
The Plumeria wedding ring was made to reflect Leilani's favorite flower which was used throughout the wedding space as well as accent flowers.
Thank you to the following individuals and companies for bringing my design and concepts for Leilani and Josh's wedding come true! For TV purposes we had to produce this wedding for $12,500 and we could not have done it without the help of some of my wonderful friends. These are the individuals I have to thank with all my heart! All of them incredible to work with!
Floral: Wendy Smith at
Your Image Floral Design
Food and Beverage: Doug Biggs at
DJ's California Catering
Location: Robert Cassar and Laura Schneider at
Rancho de Las Palmas
Cake: Jana Richardson at
Jana's Creative Cakes
Rentals: John Leenhouwers at
The Tent Merchant
Linen Rentals (Pitch and Wedding Day): Dick Thomas at
Sitting Pretty Chair Covers
Linen Rentals (Pitch Day):
BBJ Linens
DJ and MC Services: DJ Luke Ferro
Hair and Makeup: Ja'Nice Estrada at
Devenir Beauty
Hula and Hawaiian Music (Pitch Day): Kawika Valoria at
Halau Hula a Kawika laua 'o Leinani
Hula and Drummers (Wedding Day):
UC Santa Barbara's Iorana te Otea Polynesian Group
Photography: Vanessa Honda and Sheena Sales at
Vanessa Honda Photography
Photo Lounge: Miguel and Solana Torres at
Star Photo Party
Ceremony Pedestal Stands: Hans Lammersdorf at
Rotoluxe
Aisle Runner: Stephanie Laudani at
Starry Night Designs
Floor Decal: Lauren Atwaters at
Ten23 Designs
Custom Garter and Dress Tag: Victoria Joanne at
Hand Crafted Creations
Bride's Shoes: Mary Robertson at
Nina Shoes
Tattoo Booth: Melissa Perez and Ross Beardsley
Painted Guest Book: Jana Brody at
Paint Jam USA
Cookie Favors: Cary Goldberg at
Luv Bug Cookies
Coordination Assistance: Gerri Sevilla
Wedding Dress: Prince Charming of
Prince Charming's World
Orchid Lei's: Amy Vongpitaka at
Amy's Orchids
Hotel Rooms: Tawny Byron at
Grand Vista Hotel Simi Valley
Ministers: Deserae Tyae and Chris Kai'aokamalie
Special thanks to Michelle Ah Mook Sang for sharing her Hawaiian culture insights with me.
My deepest appreciation to all of you. Leilani and Josh says Mahalo for making their DREAM WEDDING come true!
Leilani & Josh were married on 5/22/10. Happy One Year Anniversary Leilani & Josh. I love you both very much! Mahalo!
