Happy birthday to Posh+Folk!

Today marks Posh+Folk’s one-year birthday! Our first year went above and beyond all expectations, and we are so grateful to our wonderful couples for the opportunity to collaborate on some truly stunning weddings over the past year. Many thanks to the fabulous venues and vendors we’ve had the pleasure to collaborate with as well!

Here are some pics from our very favorite events over the past year:

We loved the relaxed, artistic vibe at this wedding in Big Sur. How beautiful is that trailing bouquet from Crimson Horticultural Rarities? Photos by Shannen Natasha.

This wedding at Ventana Inn combined a coastal, rustic, and black tie vibe to create the feeling of an intimate dinner party amidst the redwoods. Florals by Plan Décor and photos by Fondly Forever Photography.

Vibrant arrangements and traditional Vietnamese music filled the atmosphere of this garden reception at the Rengstorff House, preceded by a ceremony at the ever-stunning Stanford Memorial Church. Florals by Flowerstory and photos by Noah Hawthorne.

Bold florals and interesting copper vessels from Christine Cater accented this romantic French-inspired wedding. Can you tell we love working at Ventana? Photos by Arnau Dubois. (P.S. dogs make some of the best additions to your bridal party!)

We’ve yet to see the professional photos from Ben & Anna’s wedding on Treasure Island, but for now here’s our iPhone pics. We took a very industrial space and made it incredibly romantic for a nighttime ceremony. We can’t wait to see it captured by Ryan Flynn Photography and Owl & Tree. Florals by Flowerstory.

And last but certainly not least, this intimate wedding at Bluxome Street Winery was a stunning day filled with laughter and love – a welcome escape from the drizzling cold outside! Florals from The Floral Loft.

We are so excited to see what the next year has in store and can’t wait to help our clients bring their visions to life. Cheers to 2016!

www.poshandfolk.com

Wedding colors (or the lack thereof)

When you’re engaged, one of the most common questions you’ll be asked is “What are your wedding colors?” There seems to be a deeply ingrained belief that weddings need a theme revolving around one or two colors.

The wedding industry supports this too. At the rental store, they’ll often plop a big swatch book filled with bright and colorful linen samples in front of you, and ask you to pick your colors.

But before you start fretting over Pantone books, we’re here with a moment of truth…you don’t need a strict palette of colors to create a beautiful wedding. Quite frankly, we feel that often the most tasteful weddings don’t have a color theme of any sort.

Don’t get us wrong – it’s completely fine to let a color inspire you, but imagining a wide color palette to support this is far more effective than simply draping everything in one or two colors.

At this Palm Springs wedding, bright jewel tones gave a strong impression of color, while being grounded by neutral linens and the surrounding desert environment. Photos courtesy of Joy Marie Photography

Say your favorite color is purple. Conventional “wedding color theory” would have you select purple for anything and everything: ie, linens, napkins, flowers, bowties for the guys, dresses for the bridesmaids. Please don’t do this. Instead, choose a classic neutral linen and then let your florist create centerpieces with some vibrant purple flowers mixed in with whites, greens, and touches of supporting colors (for example, pink and burgundy). This subtle combination of colors will still give a presence of purple without being an arbitrary color you’ve gone nuts with.

Inspiration board courtesy of Snippet & Ink

The above inspiration board from Snippet & Ink is a great example. It’s inspired by yellow and pink – but rather than the actual colors, the most important part of the design is the feeling that these colors evoke. Refreshing beverages, bright greenery and shades of white add an elevated feeling to create a beautiful spring palette without drowning in an array of colors. The theme is fairly subtle while still giving the impression of a pastel-inspired color palette.

By embracing the atmosphere of your venue and determining what a timeless look means to you, there’s absolutely no reason a wedding has to have a theme to it. But maybe we’re just rebels.

www.poshandfolk.com

Designing a Mandap

Never underestimate the power of a sketch!

When it comes to custom design elements, such as the mandap from this wedding, we always start with a drawing. It helps us work through our ideas, and it’s so helpful for our clients and vendors to be on the same page with us visually.

Here’s a sketch from the beginning of the design process:

To transform our sketch into reality, we worked with Carol from Under the Chuppah. Since we were looking for a very specific shade of pink for the fabric (a muted dusty rose), we scoured fabric providers all over the state. For the floor of the mandap, we wanted a very saturated color that had a traditional Indian feeling to it. So we worked with the bride’s mother and she picked up some wonderful fabric during a trip to India. Carol and her team worked their magic on putting it all together.

For the finishing touches, florals from Fig & Twine were tied to the structure. The mandap was decorated with simple gold poufs and furniture from the bride’s parents’ house.

Photo courtesy of Andria Lo

www.poshandfolk.com

Venue Spotlight: Allied Arts Guild

Photo credit: Tanja Lippert

THE SPACE

Nestled among residential streets in the quiet town of Menlo Park (and literally down the street from our office!), Allied Arts Guild is a hidden gem of an event space. During the day, local artisans sell crafts in shops spread among the gardens. You can also hold private events here. We’ve been lucky to do several of them and love seeing how intimate and magical this setting can feel.

Photo credit: Tanja Lippert

WHAT WE LOVE

Winding pathways, shady trails, and beautiful architectural details highlight the venue, offering the chance for the bride & groom to escape the party for a moment alone together.

Photo credit: Posh+Folk

TIPS & TRICKS

1. There’s the coolest Mediterranean courtyard hidden within the walls by the restaurant, that would make a lovely dinner space for a very small group.
2. Our top pick for a ceremony is The Merner Lawn, followed by cocktails in the Blue Garden.
3. The Merner Lawn can also be an amazing spot for dinner with long tables.
4. Because of the residential neighborhood, they do have an early end time of 9pm. But there are several good after party spots in nearby Palo Alto or even Menlo Park (i.e. Rosewood Sand Hill).

www.poshandfolk.com

Chalkboard Menus

Instead of doing individual menus at each guest’s place setting, it’s sometimes fun to do a big wooden sign or chalkboard.

For a big wedding, we suggest going oversized and also propping the sign by the entrance to the dinner area so everyone has a chance to see it. For a more intimate wedding, the sign can be near the tables.

If you hire a professional calligrapher to make the sign, it won’t necessarily be less expensive than individual menus (even though it’s just one menu). However, if you’ve got good handwriting and a creative streak this can be a great DIY project that’s very affordable. You can even find chalkboard material in convenient sizes at hardware stores like Home Depot.

Here’s an example of a large chalkboard menu from a recent wedding at Scribe Winery:

Photo credit: Gia Canali

www.poshandfolk.com

Signature Cocktails

Wedding season is nearly upon us at Posh+Folk and we’re diving into all the details now. One detail that we love (and we know guests love too) is the Signature Cocktail.

Photo credit: Delbarr Moradi

Here are some of our suggestions on how to choose your Signature drink:

1. Try using seasonal fruits for maximum freshness and flavor (bonus points if the fruit is locally grown in the region where you’re getting married).

2. Consider selecting 2 specialty cocktails. We love when the bride and groom each choose a drink that they like. It’s great when these drinks contrast nicely so they appeal to different guests, ie, perhaps one is light and fruity (ie, a bellini or spritzer) and the other is more traditional (i.e., a negroni or moscow mule).

3. Talk with your caterer or bartending company to make sure they can be efficient with preparing and serving whatever drink you choose. Ideally your caterer would be able to do mix batches of your cocktail before guests arrive at the bar to keep lines down.

Photo credit: Adrienne Gunde

Photo credit: Delbarr Moradi

We came across this recent blog post on Green Wedding Shoes with some tasty recipes. The Bee Sting sounds particularly delicious for a hot summer night!

www.poshandfolk.com