“Green” your engagement ring 2012-05-21

Think about having the perfect engagement ring, just the way you want it…

While I’m embarking on a new exciting journey (a Green Wedding Planning Certification course, stay tuned for special offers from La Dolce Idea), I would like to dedicate today’s post to one of my favorite resources for “green” jewelry, Brilliant Earth.

Their mission is to:

• Provide the highest quality jewelry originating from pure sources and harvested using socially responsible practices. Their diamonds come from mines in Canada, Namibia, and Botswana that adhere to strict labor and environmental standards
• Educate about the social and environmental issues affecting the jewelry industry and identifying ways to help. Their precious metals (recycled gold and platinum) come from secondary sources and are re-refined in order to ensure that they are identical quality to newly mined metals
• Support underdeveloped communities ravaged by the jewelry industry by donating a share of their profits (5 percent)

At Brilliant Earth, you can design your own engagement ring by selecting your budget, your center gem, and then choosing a setting by taking into account the style preferences, lifestyle, and personality of your partner.
All Brilliant Earth diamonds and jewelry pieces arrive with a certificate of origin, guaranteeing your purchase is ethically sourced according to strict social and environmental standards. Additionally, for center diamond purchases, you will receive a gemological laboratory report which will detail the weight, measurements and the quality grading of the diamond.

Brilliant Earth also has a beautiful collection of unique antique engagement rings and vintage engagement rings from romantic eras of the past. Among my favorite ones:

Alexis

 Alexis – A stunning Art Nouveau ring featuring an astounding floating, bezel-set, old mine cut diamond at the center, completely surrounded by diamond accents.

Delphinium

Delphinium – A lovely example of exquisite old-world craftsmanship. The center diamond is framed by concentric squares of precious metal and each of the six accent diamonds is set in a bead-and-bright frame

Brigitte

Brigitte – An Old Mine Cut center diamond glimmering in a four prong square-shaped setting with side diamonds held in beautiful squares of precious platinum

Let’s hear from you – What is your favorite engagement ring style?

Find LDI on Ceremony 2012 – Los Angeles 2012-05-10

I am so excited to share one of my fabulous weddings that was published in Ceremony Magazine Los Angeles.

Katy and Jason chose the Hotel Del Coronado for their destination wedding because it holds a very special place in their hearts and it was the perfect canvas for their green, mocha and black celebration (with a pair of stunning Louboutins in green and gold hues!).

Katy walked down the aisle accompanied by bagpiper Larry Samuels to honor her family heritage.

Sharon of Organic Elements did such an amazing job with the florals! Admire the ceremony structure, the pomander balls embellished with delicate burlap, and the bouquets… to die for!

Jennifer of Pink Star Design was the genius behind all the stationery pieces, from the save-the-dates to the invitations, framed seating chart,  and the diecut menu cards.

The grand finale was an irresistible ombre cake by CAKE with cascading sugar paste blooms, and cake pops in three different flavors were provided by Grove Pastry Shop.

Tim Otto was our incredible photographer, such a pleasure working with him!

Ted and Alanna of Modern 8 Films captured the best moments with this amazing video:

I am very honored to be part of this year’s Ceremony Los Angeles, and congratulations to Katy and Jason for having their wedding featured!

Get your copy today!

Read Katy’s testimonial on my Fan Blog, and look at more images of their wedding on my Website.

Postcards from Italy – Giuli & Giordi Photography 2012-05-01

I’m so glad to see a new wave of professional photographers in Italy. A great example is husband and wife team Giuli & Giordi. One of their weddings, Alice + Andrea was recently featured on Snippet & Ink and it was absolutely fabulous.

Everything about Giuli & Giordi is fresh and happy, including their logo and website…

… And I love how they style and tell beautiful stories, like the one of Sara + Fico with a romantic picnic at the beach on a February afternoon.

Here’s the fun stop-motion animation of the engagement shoot:

Giuli & Giordi also offer a “Smile-Set” photo booth. Take a look at how lucky we Italians are with the natural scenery as backdrop!

Get Inspired – Green and Black Damask Soiree 2012-04-24

Here’s one of my inspiring creations: a rich green and black damask Tavolozza for a sophisticated wedding that took place last September. Stay tuned for the pictures, they were featured on a wonderful publication!

Are you looking for ideas about your wedding? Do you have a vision but you don’t know how to put all the details together? La Dolce Idea can help you! Let’s meet and start designing your once-in-a-lifetime celebration today!

You may have noticed this Tavolozza doesn’t have a protective cover like in the past. I decided to show this boards in its entirety but please DO NOT steal it! If you would like to use it for your own PERSONAL project feel free to contact me for permission. Thank you!

What I liked about… Alison and Allan’s wedding 2012-04-15

It was so much fun helping Alison with her celebration! She is 100% American, Allan is 100% English, so we brainstormed to create a wedding that blended both traditions.

Alison’s color palette was midnight blue, deep purple and pewter, a very dramatic combination that went very well with the location they selected, the Hilton Torrey Pines La Jolla for both ceremony and reception.

Bride and bridesmaids carried off-white bouquets by FlowerChild accented with blue and purple blooms, finished with a long silver ribbon.

Both countries were represented in the cheer flags for after the ceremony, and in the ring pillows (Alison’s sister-in-law made them!).

In the ballroom, pewter pintuck linens by Sweet Ribbon Events dressed the tables and silver napkins were tied with blue and purple ribbon. Alison made the individual menu cards in blue and purple. Tall and low centerpieces in the color palette finished the look.

Guests were entertained all day with a fantastic magician (Kevin Viner), an amazing caricature artist (Julia Kelly) and a photo booth from San Diego Photo Booth Rentals.

I designed a fun candy station for the joy of adults and children.

At the end of the night, the happy couple served mini burgers and fries inside boxes personalized with their monogram. The same monogram was used as gobo in the ballroom thanks to Pro Motion Entertainment: Blake did an excellent job with uplighting and kept the music going!

Enjoy the slideshow below…

Thanks to Emilio Azevedo Photography and Pro Motion Entertainment for the fabulous images!

Alison and Allan will celebrate with a second marriage celebration in Nottingham in May: I can’t wait to see those pictures! My best wishes to them!