The Carter & Cook team is expanding! First comes love, then comes marriage then comes….

On March 1st, Beckham Paul Carter was born and we (Ashlyn & Travis) could not be more in love with our little precious boy! Heather is due soon and we expect her baby girl to make an appearance early May. Beckham cannot wait to meet his little girlfriend! Hence the lack of tweets, blog posts and Facebook updates the last couple of months. But stand by because we have baby showers, real weddings and DIY projects coming your way real soon. We are just trying to get a bit of sleep around here these days… More to come!

Tara & Ryker were the lucky couple to wrap up our 2011 wedding season this past November. From the moment Tara called us, we knew it was going to be FUN, hip, full of color and hearts at the Smog Shoppe in LA. The entire day so perfectly fit her sparkly personality….so much so that not even the craziest rain storm could stop the day from being SO MUCH FUN and filled with endless love. I know we say this every time, but it is such an honor and privilege to be a part of this special day in our couple’s lives.

Carter & Cook came alongside and helped Tara establish all her creative ideas. She had a strong vision from the get-go! We also designed all the flowers for this wedding, which was such a fun color palette of endless pinks & reds. Dinner was catered by their favorite Kogi Food Truck & dessert was a table filled with delicious doughnuts from a local bakery. Also, we were so thankful to work with Michele Waite again for the 2nd time this past year. She and her hubby are wonderful photographers and we are so thankful to call them friends.

Mr. & Mrs. Block….you two are wonderful, beautiful and the kindest couple. We adore you and wish you many, many blessings over your marraige. We love you!

And a big thank you to Green Wedding Shoes for the feature!!! Definitely one of Tara’s favorite blogs.

Their first look got to me. I cried like a baby while watching from the sidelines. Such a beautiful memory…..Michele captured it all perfectly of course.

vendors:
photography: Michèle M. Waite // venue: Smog Shoppe // event planner + floral design: Carter and Cook Event Co. // wedding dress: Priscilla of Boston // hairpieces: Jennifer Behr and ban.do // shoes: Kate Spade // bridesmaid dresses: H&M and Rachel by Rachel Roy // makeup: Phoebe of Fiore Beauty // groom suit: J.Lindeberg suit and vest, Dsquared2 shirt, Howe tie, and Paul Smith socks and shoes // invitations+ paper goods: My watercolor painting was used as the save the date image and then put together by Paper and Thread. The invites were by Hello!Lucky // catering: Kogi BBQ // cake: Doughnuts from Donut King // music: DJ Flo from KIK Entertainment // photobooth: Photobox LA // heart pillows for photo booth: jeezejulia // photo table assignments: Printstagram // guest book poster: Etsy sellerPERSONALIZEDprints // soda favors: Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shops, Pasadena // plates and cutlery: Bambu // floral vases: Ikea // striped fabric on tables: International Silks & Woolens in Los Angeles // ring: engagement ring from Lang Antiques and Estate Jewelry in San Francisco, wedding band from Etsy seller Seashores // rentals: Classic Party Rentals // sequin linens: La Tavola Linen // heart sparklers: Amazon

Lisa & Greg were married this past summer in her parent’s beautiful backyard in San Diego. It was a joyful event full of so much love & a big celebration! Backyard weddings are always intimate & special and the perfect setting for these two to wed. Lisa & Greg are full of so much fun and spunk…we were so blessed to be a part of the big day. Congrats Lisa & Greg and we wish you only the BEST marriage has to offer. Cheers!

Vendors:

Coordinators: Carter & Cook Event Co.

Photography: Katie Neal Photography

Catering: Alexanders On 30th

Late Night Food Truck: Hamiltons Tavern

DJ: DJ Artistic

Rentals: Allie’s Party Rentals

Cake/Cupcakes: Friend of the Bride

Florist: Friend of the Bride

Early December we teamed up with some of our favorite local San Diego talent to create two lovely tablescapes. We gave both of our C&C coordinators, Alex & Megan an opportunity to dream up something fabulous. Alex decided to go for a rustic, winter woodland tablescape with hints of plaid, neutrals, faux fur, antlers & blue tones galore. She knocked her vision OUT OF THE PARK with her very first design project. We couldn’t be any prouder of her! You can also spot this winter table design in the last issue of Styled. Magazine here:    Check out the January issue, pages 34-12.

Here are some of the incredible photos Katie Neal Photography was able to capture for us! Stay tuned in a few weeks for the next  table inspiration designed by our coordinator, Megan!

A HUGE thank you to the following vendors:

Photography: Katie Neal Photography

Flowers: Modern Bouquet

Rentals: Pow Wow Vintage Rentals

Paper: Paper & Thread Studio

Design/Coordination: Alex for Carter & Cook Event Co.

Since Paige was literally raised all over the world, their wedding had many different cultural influences that played into their day. We worked with Paige + Kyle on the design for their day. They incorporated lots of color + texture inspired by their travels across the world and the years Paige lived in the Middle East. The couple chose Condor’s Nest Ranch which ended up being the perfect backdrop for the colorful details brought it. Some of the custom details included country table names painted on zinc with gold fringe, custom Ikat table runners, gold bottles, textured dessert backdrop, and hand painted signs. Paige created a custom design, pulled from the rug they were married on, that was used on their save the dates, invitations and throughout the wedding details. And all the gorgeousness was captured by the amazing Studio Castillero.

The day was full of surprises! Paige surprised Kyle by hiring their favorite videographer (Craft House Productions), and Kyle surprised Paige by singing to her and playing the keyboard during the ceremony. Be sure to watch their gorgeous video by Craft House Productions below…

And a special thank you Jen at Green Wedding Shoes for featuring their wedding!!

Vendors
event design: Carter and Cook Event Company // photography: Studio Castillero // videography: Craft House Productions // venue: Condor’s Nest Ranch // flowers: Buds and Blooms // invitations + paper goods: Paper and Thread // desserts: Petit Madeline Bakery // makeup: Morgan Gates // hair: Krystle Gersztyn

Winter time has come, the holiday’s are over and it’s time to take your dried out pine wreath off of the front door and replace it with something a bit more fresh! I’m here to share with you a cozy ,wintery & feminine DIY wreath for the new season at hand. And who doesn’t love a monogram?! I admit, I may just be obsessed with monograms. Just a little.

Glitter Monogram Pom Pom Winter Wreath

Materials:

• 10″ foam wreath (Michaels $3.99)
• Thick and fuzzy white yarn (Michaels $4.99)
• Dried, natural pom-poms (Michaels $4.00)
• Natural/Cream colored crepe paper  for pinwheel ruffle flowers (Party or local Paper store $2.00)
• 5″ glittered metal initial (local paper store [Paper Tales] $4.00)
• Scissors, fishing string or white thread, hot glue gun

Step 1:

Wrap wreath with yarn. Start by hot gluing the start of the yarn on the designated back side of your wreath. Begin to wrap and keep the yard pulled semi-tight, but not too tight to loose the plush look of this particular  yarn. Once complete, cut the yarn and glue it to the backside of the wreath.

Step 2:

Prepare all your details! Create 6-8 crepe paper pinwheel ruffle flowers by folding the crepe paper accordion style while keeping the center portion gathered. See photo. Glue to complete the look.

Using the string, tie the sparkle initial on both ends so it hangs perfectly centered inside your wreath.

Step 3:

Choosing a side (I liked the lower left corner best), begin clustering and gluing the dried natural pom poms in the midst of the crepe paper pinwheel ruffle flowers to the yarn covered wreath.

And volia! There you have it. Another easy, fun DIY wreath for the season. If you’d like to make it to fit Valentines day, use red & pink crepe paper for the ruffle flowers for a pop of color or glue colored hearts in the centers of the ruffles. Enjoy!

Photos: Ashlyn from Carter & Cook Event Co.

This wedding wrapped up our crazy 2011 season and we cannot be more thankful for a better way to end the year! Tara & Ryker — we adore you…adored all the fun wedding planning and LOVED your special day. Despite it being one of the craziest storms LA has probably seen in 30 years (I kid…but really.), the day was so blessed and beautiful not a drop of rain could stop that. We were able to work with so many wonderful vendors and had the opportunity to work again with the wonderful Michele Waite. More of this bright and heart filled wedding coming in February.

Hello friends, brides, blog readers….

Image: Michele Waite Photography

We wanted to wish you a very happy 2012! whether you are just engaged & planning your wedding this year (!!), newly married, lover of all things creative & fun…we hope this year brings you lots of joy and inspiration and we hope we can play a part!

Many of you may or may not know, but both of us, Mrs. Cook and Mrs. Carter, are expecting new little babies in the coming months. We are excited for what this year will bring and the many new adventures. While we are enjoying a new phase of life, Carter & Cook will continue to grow and flourish with wedding planning, design and even a new venture we are taking on, floral design! While we’ve had our hand at it over the last couple of years with various events & photo shoots, 2011 granted us the opportunity to do floral design for two of our weddings, one in Los Angeles & the other in Chicago. Our team has also expanded with some insanely talented coordinators that we are blessed to have on staff. More on this to come, but we wanted to spill the good news!

Also more to come is a sneak peek of Tara & Ryker’s colorful Smog Shoppe wedding which will be featured in February…just in time for Valentines Day.

So cheers to you and yours in 2012 and we wish you a very happy new year!

Love,

The expanding Carter & Cook Team

I recently hosted a baby girl shower for one of my best friends, Lauren who has her second little princess on the way. The theme was Sugar & Spice after the old nursery rhyme “sugar & spice & everything nice…that’s what little girls are made of…”

Here are a few photos of the party! The yarn pom pom balls, tissue paper floral garland, Sugar & Spice banner & ombre starburst mobile and baby yarn pinwheel wreath were all easy DIY projects that anyone could do!

DIY Projects:

You can find the yarn pom pom tutorial on one of my favorite blogs, Creature of Comfort, here. These can be a bit time consuming if you’re making a lot, but they were a darling touch scattered on the table and fixed to the craft paper bags stuffed with ‘sugar & spice’ donut holes! After the party, I string them with yard and created a pom pom garland in my house!

I found inspiration for the paint chip starburst mobile on Pinterest from this photo here. Here are the supplies I used:

And lastly, the tissue paper floral garland was found on another fabulous blog, Oh Happy Day. Photo of my supplies:

Planning, Flowers & Design: Carter & Cook Event Co.

Kyle & Paige’s wedding was recently featured on Green Wedding Shoes & I wanted to highlight their wedding film that is so perfectly captured by the fabulous Crafthouse Productions. We’ll be posting their full wedding soon!!

Paige surprised Kyle with the wedding video……what an incredible wedding gift & surprise! Enjoy the story…

Paige & Kyle from Crafthouse Productions on Vimeo.