In California, stylists dress more than movie stars-they also dress weddings, the surrounding environments, and the wedding's tabletops, in particular. It's their job to develop the look and the feel of the wedding, as well as to articulate its "vision."
Many brides begin this process with a wedding consultant. Angie Hewett, of Moments in Bloom, a prominent Calabasas, California, wedding consultant, first interviews couples to discover their "essence"-who they are as people and what they want for their wedding. Along with a stylist, they develop a vision to suit the couple's personality and needs. Working with a floral designer, storyboards, sketches or actual paintings of rooms and table designs are created from which the couple can make their final selections.
Most stylists start with a wedding theme. Exotic, colorful Asian and African themes, Moroccan, Indonesian, Japanese, Chinese or Korean are popular. White-ivory designs done with a homey mismatched touch or romantic "girly" Victorian with unexpected sparkle, bring renewed interest to classic styling. Boldly contrasting linens or chairs and tables of multiple heights or striking polygon shapes add more depth of design.
Centerpieces are single, twin or odd-numbered mismatched multiples. Smaller mismatched vases encroach outward toward place settings. Flowering vines or individual cut flowers are laid directly onto table linens. Chair slips and upholstered slipcovers carry the dcor past table perimeters with chairs of members of the wedding party sometimes decorated with long-stem roses without thorns or garlands of fragile stephanotis. Swarovski crystal is scattered along tabletops or embedded in the petals for added sparkle. Striking graphic-art designs alternate flowers with sterling silver shells, suspend them in clear acrylic boxes or hang them swaying in bunches above the bridal couple's heads.
Tablecloths are usually layered, varying from soft pastel dupioni silks to hot paisley Italian stretch fabrics to sheer white embroidered organza set with pearls. For stark modern or Indonesian designs, placemats and trays or single runners on white cloth may be substituted.
Southern California's mild climate and long dry season invite weddings "under the stars." Illumination comes from carved or geometric pillar candles or from hanging glass or wrought iron globes set with votive candles. Los Angeles stylist Edgar Zamora places flower-shaped candles into angled "fish-bowl" centerpieces filled with colored water. His beach weddings may feature a "fire-pit" in the center of each table or a fire wall created with layered shelves of votive candles. Indoors, floor sconces covered in light fabric may angle light toward his tables. Tall floor candelabras and chandeliers may hold long narrow candles or look like geometric "Japanese" lanterns.
Lavish flowers like hybrid hibiscus, gardenia, roses of all types, flowering vines, tulips, herbs, white heather, eucalyptus, cynbidium orchids, green anthurium, horsetail and bear grasses, fruits, vegetables, coffee beans, berries and succulents (a type of cactus) are used in profusion.
"Pav" floral designs allow flowers to be carved into striking geometric or architectural designs. The pav design, taking its name from the diamond setting, features petal-to-petal color with no intervening leaves or stems. Horsetail is used as a living "green" liner covering scaffolding, boxes, bouquet stems or the glass tubing of a floral lamp. Utilitarian chemistry beakers achieve new life as striking geometric vases.
Hewitt sees more spirituality and less religion being reflected in ceremonies, allowing greater room for informality, innovation and the adoption of unrelated traditions. More weddings are inter-religious as well as multiethnic. More couples are choosing big celebrations for second and third marriages or for special anniversary renewal of vows. Hewett notes that the only limiting factor on the number of guests is the bride's budget...
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