Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A Soolip Wedding 2009

If you attended A Soolip Wedding on Sunday you experienced Wanda Wen’s vision of beauty and inspiration first hand. As an industry professional, this “modern bridal event” really lived up to my expectations with quality vendors that represented well, and an exciting blend of content. The show was very well done.

If you missed out this sensational happening you’re in luck. I’m offering a week’s worth of consolation prizes in the form of photos and other highlights from the vendors, designers, experts and attendees that got busy at the Vibiana in Downtown Los Angeles.
Entering Door #1

The Beautiful Angeleno Lounge

Fiore Beauty, booth designed by Lollipop Events & Designs

Avalane Flowers made a big impression on me. Look at those gorgeous water lilies! Yes, they are real. I almost spent as much time touching as I did gawking. I was drawn to the botanical beauty of this diplay. The designer is pictured in black. Her name is Ania Norwood.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Heather & Tony

Heather and Tony described their VISION for their wedding invitation as “elegant”, “simple” and “celebration”. Those 3 words would guide us to the perfect invitation to announce their romantic garden event.

The creation of H&T’s invitation started with a brief phone conversation, followed by a BRAINSTORMING meeting at my studio in Cypress. Heather came prepared with a magazine picture of a wedding cake that inspired color possibilities. She described her wedding gown and examined font samples that ornately displayed their first names, while I made notes of her musings and ideas that would help our design take shape.

Since the couple lived in a neighboring city it was convenient for us to meet face-to-face. During the first hands-on session they experimented with combining and layering different colored cardstock. The COLOR choices had been narrowed down beforehand to a collection that met their expressed criteria, including shades that matched and complimented the wedding cake picture. The atmosphere was relaxed and perfect for enjoying a complimentary bottle of champagne. Note: While bubbly is an "on-site only" benefit, paper samples are gladly sent through the US mail.

With Antique Gold and Crème Brulee colors chosen as the perfect combination, we moved to the next task of considering various SHAPES AND SIZES for the main invitation and enclosures. We also considered elements that might embellish and enhance the design. Note: This is a step in the process that is sometimes handled using CAD (computer aided design) drawings to illustrate various design and layout configurations. With simulated paper colors and life-like clipart I am able to produce design concepts that are realistic, easily modified and convenient for emailing to clients.

Looking at BOTANICALS was the next order of business. And when H&T placed a reddish-burgundy Powder Puff blossom against the Crème Brulee, they loved it! We styled a hybrid flower for the top of the invitation; combining the Powder Puff with red-trimmed Heavenly Bamboo leaves, then added a smaller group of leaves to the bottom corner. From there, the ink colors and other design elements fell into place. Note: Petalos di Pauli maintains a seasonal inventory of flowers, leaves and natural elements. We are also happy to process custom requests for special colors and types of flowers.

A year after the wedding of Heather and Tony I still consider Tony the most “dynamic groom” I’ve worked with. Today he still ranks first for being the most enthusiastic and active male counterpart participating in the custom design process. His enthusiasm was taken to the nth degree when he had the entire invitation ensemble matted, framed and hung in their living room for everlasting enjoyment.

Happy Anniversary Heather & Tony! Thank you for being so much fun to work with.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

New Website Launched

One of my recent goals was to revamp the Petalos di Pauli website to give visitors a better viewing experience. Thanks to Leon White Design I already had a fabulous logo as a starting point. It was simple yet classy, and cleverly illustrative of my business. For the website, I needed a photo gallery, one that was easy to update and user-friendly for the viewer. After months of collaborating with Yuri Lee and the team at 360 View, the new site has finally launched with much success! It’s crisp, fresh, and easy to navigate. Even the analytics show that people are staying longer. Be sure to check it out (the blog too) periodically; new photos will be added often.

Welcome You Welcome Me

This is my first Petalos di Pauli post, which gives me the odd sensation of talking to myself. I am oh so excited about rejoining the blogger community. It’s wonderful to have a place to share what’s beautiful, remarkable, amusing, and informative about my craft and industry.

Thank you for being a supporter of Petalos di Pauli. (Is there an echo in here?)