Festive Fridays: Amazing Proposal Video!

So it's the start of a weekend following a holiday so I knew today's Festive Friday ppst had to be a good one. This video is one for the books.  It's romantic, a grand jesture, fun, sweet and a real tear jerker if you're a hopeless romantic like me.  Tori and I watched this one in the office together and by the end were seriously crying our eyes out.  Well she teared, I maybe have let out the waterworks...

Anyway, super excited to share this one with you.  Isaac, the one proposing is truly a creative and really knocked this one out of the park!  Not only because he rallied a village for his proposal but also because he picked the perfect song and made his fiance's moment perfectly unique!  It's just too sweet not to share!  



Hope you enjoyed this one as much as we did. 

Festive Fridays: Just Dance!

One of our July brides shared with me what a priority dancing was going to be for her big day.  She described it in saying that "dancing would be the heartbeat of their big reception".  I was so inspired by this and then started thinking about how important dancing truly can be.

 Photo courtesy of Once Wed

Dancing is one of my favorite things to do and I just don't do it nearly as much as I want to.  Being an event producer in LA though, I definitely get to see my fare share of others dancing though.  This year I'm determined to dance all night long for my big birthday in November.  Hopefully a few times before that too, but in the meantime, I thought it would be fun to share with you some of my favorite images capturing those hot moves on the dance floor!  So fun and festive and perfect for today's post!

 Check out these awesome moments!  So festive, so fun! 

Photo courtesy of Callaway Gable Photography

Photo courtesy of Next Exit Photography 

Photo courtesy of The Popes 

 Photo courtesy of Caroline Hancox Photography

 Photo courtesy of Rachel Tyler Photography

  Photo courtesy of True Photography

Photo courtesy of Stak Photographer Duo

 Photo courtesy of Allegro Photography

Photo courtesy of  Robert Holley Photography 

Photo courtesy of  Lin & Jirsa Photography

 

 Photo courtesy of Olivia Leigh Photographie

 Photo courtesy of  Callaway Gable Photography 

 

Photo courtesy of  Laurel McConnell Photography 

Yes, yes, now I'm sure your feeling inspired and want to get out and dance!  Have a dance party tonight, get your grove on, practice your first dance or even start to attack your reception music.  Whatever you do, make sure to dance a little this weekend... if you're anything like me it may be ultra cheesy and to something like my new favorite dance song, "Call me Maybe"! 

Festive Fridays: Happily Engaged!

Quite some time ago I was at Disneyland, coming out of a ride and noticed one of my favorite fairytale lines ever just happened to be printed on the wall.  I took a quick photo with my phone at the time, with every intention of blogging it, as it's too sweet not to share.  Being a hopeless romantic, I'm always amused and inspired by sweet nothings like this... Some time after I replaced my phone and gone went that image.  From time to time I would think about this and always hoped to find an image showcasing it.  Today I did just that!

So I'm thrilled to share with you a super sweet, magical, fairytale inspired photo for today's Festive Friday.  Aimee and Dantonio took their engagement photos at the "happiest place on earth" and I'm so stoked they did so I could share this with you!  Thanks to Brandon Wong for sharing these great images and allowing me to finally post this sweet line!

Now that holiday season is in full gear with Thanksgiving behind us and more holidays near, more and more of you will be getting engaged.  Interestingly enough, 40% of couples get engaged between Thanksgiving and Valentine's day.  I always love the holiday season not just for the amazing spirit, yummy scents and gorgeous decor but also because I get the opportunity to meet with so many of you newly engaged couples.  Hearing all your sweet proposal stories and your engagement glow makes this time of year even better!

Hope you have a very happy day and weekend too!

Festive Fridays: Bride Ashley + Father David Bust a Move for their Father-Daughter Dance

Today our newest team member Star shared with us this amazing story she'd seen on Good Morning America this morning and we knew we had to share it with you as today's Festive Friday!

Photo courtesy of Good Morning America

We absolutely adore the story of Bride Ashley Richmond and her Father David Sparks who practiced this choreographed dance for close to two months prior to her big day.  For their August wedding they blew guests away with their surprise performance which started off with one of our favorite song's "My Girl" by The Temptations.  Their dance continued and really took a magical turn including such songs as "Stanky Legg", "Boogie Shoes", "My Dougie" and another favorite "Jump on it".  Off course they couldn't end the performance without a little Beyonce, taking the last steps to "Single Ladies" and concluding with a ring shot!

Our summary really doesn't do this powerful duo justice though, check it out for yourself!   

Also, be sure to check out their live reenactment on Good Morning America from today.

Ashely nor her Father never thought their dance, which was uploaded on YouTube would ever become as popular as it has, however they're so excited by it!

Do you think you have the moves to pull something like this off?  Would you pair up with your groom, bridal party, father or even wedding crowd to put on a little extra special entertainment?  What about your groom and his mom?  We're curious to hear what your thoughts are and see if you've got the moves, what song would you pick?

Festive Fridays: Shawn + Colleen - As you wish...

I'm so excited to share today's post with you as it's a special one and a tear jerker if you're emotional like some of us (ahem, ahem).  I absolutely adore how sweet Shawn was in creating the most special day ever for Colleen.

Check it out!

Don't you just love a good surprise!

Festive Fridays: Taking the Plunge Video

Documented proposals are more popular than ever and I love the creativity behind so many of them! Today my fiance Jonathan sent me over a very cute video someone in his office made about his journey to I do from a very interesting perspective. I loved this video and think most of my groom's will too, but any sports fan really will get a kick out of this! Super unique, funny and lighthearted.

Check it out!

All About the Ring - watch more funny videos

Happy Friday and stay clear of the roads this weekend if you can!

Festive Fridays: Play A Little with JAQK Cellars!

I'm jumping out of my seat to share with you today's Festive Friday! While most of the festivity on Friday's with this series are dedicated to fun, playful photos, today's post is all about WINE! But not just any wine... fun wine!


If you don't know already, I love wine, especially good wine. Over the past year I've had the pleasure of sampling a series of varietals from my new favorite winery, JAQK Cellars.

What's great about JAQK Cellars is not just how amazing the wine tastes but also how beautiful their bottles are. As a designer, I'm impressed by great design and totally awesome branding too. What's so fabulous about this new wine company is they really have it all. Even the stories behind the bottles are exciting.


I recently had the pleasure of arranging a private tasting with a couple colleagues and learned so many new things about JAQK Cellars that I'm excited to share today.

JAQK Cellars has a playful perspective on the finer things in life but also a work hard-play hard mentality. They support pursuing your passion and preach that work is not work when you love what you do. This is the epitome of how I run Sterling Engagements and when I learned this it really resonated inside me… How fun is that? This is why the JAQK Cellars motto is “ Play A Little” . Smart right? They even have an uber fun wine club called The Society of the Tipsy King!


I also love what the JAQK in the name stands for too. Jack, Ace, Queen King! This is so clever to match the “Play A Little” motto with the rulers of playing cards. Even further with uniquely designed and of course playful bottles!

Lastly, I adore how much of the designs on the bottles and meaning behind them center on luck. People often underestimate the power of luck and what it can do for you. JAQK embraces it, entertains you with stories about it through their bottle names and somewhat makes you feel lucky even while drinking a glass!


The wine was delightful before I ever learned any of the wineries background, after knowing what I know, I'm even more intrigued. Check out their website and you will be too! JAQK would be the perfect luxurious wine to serve at your next wedding, corporate or social event. Even better they have these super fun and festive gift sets that are a great gift to give anyone. My favorites are the High Roller, Black Clover and Charmed bottles.


If I didn't tell you enough above about how much I'm loving JAQK Cellars, you can always visit their site, fan their facebook or even follow them on twitter. Our good friend David Dees who lead our tasting is currently on a 6-week road trip spreading the word and and you can see where they'll be popping up next!

Happy Friday!

Festive Fridays: Kids So Cute They Could Steal The Show!

Today's post is so adorable, I just cannot wait to share it.... Kids! How can you resist these precious bridal party favorites?

These photos were so much fun to find, I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed finding them for you to view!

She's such a girly girl, I just love this one!

Photos Courtesy of Leo DJ Photography

He is a tough one...

Photo Courtesy of Clarence Harvey Photography

This is my favorite, I just adore her...

Photo Courtesy of Wedding & Travel Blog

This is a second favorite... they are so well dressed!

Photos Courtesy of Wildflowers Photos

This ring bearer has moves and he is not afraid to use them or work it!

Photo Courtesy of Elizabeth and Jane Photography

I love how everyone is just in their own world here and the kids are the only ones looking head on at the camera.

Photo Courtesy of Allegro Photography

She is so happy with her cake isn't she?

Photo Courtesy of Luster Studios

Can you imagine triplet ring bearers? They are so cute!

Photos Courtesy of Talley Images

Festive Fridays: Fun and Colorful Bouquets to Brighten your Day!

This week we wanted to focus on something festive with flowers. As we began searching for some inspiration, we came across this amazing yellow bouquet! It's so happy and feminine, we just love it! After knowing we had to include this in our post, we decided that today's Festive Friday will be all about bouquets and the magic color brings to them!

Photo Courtesy of Wedding Flowers

One of our favorite color combinations is whites with greens. There is something so fresh and clean about them together yet at the same time whimsical and garden like. This next bouquet combines succulents with green cymbidum orchids for the green element and then uses white calla's for the white elegant contrast. This is one of the prettiest, yet still colorful and fun bouquets! Adore it!

Photo Courtesy of Santa Barbara Chic Blog


This pink bouquet is sweet! We love the texture and the combination of pinks used to make them all pop. It's festive and vivid and still very bridal.

Photo Courtesy of Flower Arrangement Adviser

Sunflowers are one of our most favorite flowers. Sometimes just looking at them brings happiness. They are so bright and vibrant plus BIG!

Photo Courtesy of Delightful Wedding Flowers and Decor

In May we designed a peacock inspired wedding. While our images are not back just yet, this bouquet represents the colors we were inspired by. They were so well together and are bold! Completely pops in photographs, stay tuned for the feature of our peacock inspired wedding!

Photo Courtesy of Black Door Floral

Happy Bouquet Friday!

Festive Fridays: Celebrate your love with Confetti!

Super busy around the office today as we have our final wedding of the season tonight. Before we left, we wanted to shower you with a little paper magic... Confetti!

Such a fun and festive way to celebrate! Amy and Jamie did this right and this photo makes you feel like we are there too! Photography courtesy of Peter Kelk Photography!


We love the expression on Susie's face on this confetti filled photo by Chris Giles Photography too!


Happy Confetti Friday!

Festive Fridays: Something Sweet for Two Sweethearts!

We totally fell in love with these images when we saw them on Jenny Evelyn's blog! Adding festive and fun things to your special day representative of your personality are always the best details!



A few other sweet shots we found that we had to share were these ice cream truck themed shots by Solar Photographers!




After finding those we got a wee bit curious about what other couples can do with ice cream and came up with these awesome photos by Hope Photography!




Anyway, just a couple festive shots that can be done with everyone's favorite frozen treat!

Happy Frozen Friday!

Festive Fridays: Engagement Fun with Callaway Gable!

Who doesn't like to have a good time? Especially when your in love, engaged and being photographed by two of the best wedding photographers around, Callaway Gable. This Festive Friday post is dedicated to good-old lighthearted fun with Brian and Allie Callaway, two of our favorites.


Their photos always capture emotion, their "new-fashioned wedding photography" style is epic and we are always ecstatic to see or hear how much fun our clients have with them.

Look at these recent engagement highlights which truly feature the festive fun they know how to show their couples!

Nicole and Matt at the W in Hollywood. A sexy engagement session even has a couple moments to let loose!



Rachel and Nataniel explore Downtown LA with several looks and styles. We love how adorable they are!!!



Melissa and David fly high at the Santa Monica Airport with their stylish engagement shoot!



We hope you enjoyed these photos as much as we did. For all you couples engaged and looking for inspiration, please feel free to email us with your questions, we are now styling engagement shoots! We've worked on a few with Callaway Gable already and they're incredible, plus of course FUN!

Happy Fun Friday!