Recently the Carter and Cook team had the chance to be pampered by the best skin care professionals in San Diego. This wasn’t our first visit to FACES+, but each time we leave we are even more impressed than the last visit. From the moment we walked in we were treated to the best care, thanks to Chelsie Dillard and Danielle Spitters, RN. The services we received are some of the ideal treatments for a bride who wants her skin to be in tip top shape for her special day.

After changing into a cozy robe, Chelsie had us relax in her heated (<–yes, heated!!!) treatment bed, while giving our faces the “skin prep”. The prep starts with deep pore cleansing, followed by microdermabrasion to smooth the skin’s texture and reduce scarring, pigmentation, and wrinkles while gently exfoliating dead skin cells from the surface. After applying the enzyme and doing a few extractions (sadly, some of us require more than others…), our skin was ready for the laser treatment! We were then led into Danielle’s laser room where we got to lie on another heated bed and experience the Laser Genesis Skin Rejuvenation. This helps with redness, large pores, uneven skin texture, fine lines, scarring, acne and rosacea. After the Laser Genesis, Chelsie applied a soothing mask to calm and hydrate our pores. With the mask on, she treated us with LED light therapy to stimulate collagen production while penetrating the active ingredients of the mask down into our pores at their deepest level. She finished up by applying custom serums and moisturizers to fit each of our skin’s needs. Each treatment was so relaxing and everything smelled delicious!

And if that wasn’t enough, we ended our day at FACES+ our first ever airbrush spray tan! The SunFX Airbrush Spray Tan is 100% natural and organic and Chelsie applies it with a hand held airbrush wand for the most amazing, streak-free tan. Mine lasted at least 7 days, maybe more! I am now a huge fan of the airbrush spray tan and have already scheduled my next appointment with Chelsie.

Chelsie and Danielle offer numerous other services that they would recommend to brides, mothers of the brides, and of course bridal parties! Chelsie specializes in Chemical Peels and Acne treatments, while Danielle specializes in Fraxel Restore, Fraxel Dual (which are great for skin resurfacing), Thermage (a skin tightening treatment that can be used anywhere on the body!), Laser Hair Removal and Laser Vein Removal.

And just for our readers, Chelsie and Danielle are offering 20% off your first Laser or Skin Care Treatments! Call or email them today to set up your complimentary Skin Consultation.

Thank you to Chelsie and Danielle for making our skin beautiful!

A little pop of color to brighten your day….wishing all you friends a very happy weekend!

Flower Design & Photo: Carter & Cook Event Co.

We were asked by the lovely Victoria from A Subtle Revelry to design a party based off of a colorful photo with lots of sprinkles for her fabulous new online celebration & party magazine, Styled. Our minds immediately thought of sprinkled rimmed milkshake glasses, ice cream sandwiches and confetti. Lots and lots…and lots, of colorful confetti!

So the Confetti Sprinkled Celebration was born….with lots of bright colors and a whole lot of spunk. This celebration would be perfect for so many occasions — a birthday bash, engagement party or a super fun laid back wedding reception. Either way, we were thrilled to have Paper and Thread Studio design all the paper goods for us, and Anika London Photography captured the party. Oh, and Ariel? Yes…she’s adorable.

Enjoy the fun & Happy Friday!

Design & Florals: Carter & Cook Event Co.

Paper Items: Paper and Thread Studio

Photography: Anika London Photography

To get lost into much, much more of all the pretty AND for a DIY on our confetti garland– visit the online magazine, Styled. HERE and see our feature on pages 32-37.

What an absolute *honor* to be featured in LA’s Daily Candy 2011 Spring Wedding Guide. Thank you Daily Candy for the feature on Carter & Cook today! Check it out more of the article here along with the other superb wedding talent highlighted. This is a happy way to start our week off, and quite ironic since we’re off to Los Angeles today for a site visit and time with one of our LA couples…

Where oh where do we begin with these two darlings?! Kaitlyn and Justin are some seriously sweet and wonderful people. And their style?! Impeccable…to die for….adorable. We are thrilled to be working alongside these two and designing a wonderful ‘old world’ themed wedding reception. All in which will take place inside a private Encinitas Barn!

Here are a few of their engagement photos, take by Sandra Eckhardt while they were living in Germany. We cannot wait for your special day K+J!

We also wanted to share a peek into their day with these custom, hand drawn invitations by Posh Paperie. We cannot get enough of how darling this wedding will be.

Heidi & Greg were married this past weekend at the Darlington House in La Jolla, CA. We had the honor to work with them and be a part of SUCH a beautiful and special day. They have hearts of pure gold and it was such a blessing to kick off the 2011 wedding season with this wedding! Curtis Nemetz Productions captured the emotion of the day in every perfect way. Thank you for sharing this with us Curtis!

Here is a sweet love story of their day…

Greg and Heidi San Diego California wedding from curtis nemetz on Vimeo.

An art that I simply love and adore is flower arranging. They add so much glamor, elegance and detail to any tablescape so when I get the opportunity to challenge myself in other ways creatively, I enjoy designing centerpieces….and taking photographs. Here are a few centerpieces done for a recent event. My most favorite part is the gorgeous pink proteas. I feel they certainly are ushering in Spring, don’t you?

Photo Credit: Carter & Cook Event Co.

Flower Arrangements: Carter & Cook Event Co.

We can’t just share our tablescape without sharing the rest of the crazy FUN evening can we?! HITCHED went OFF and we had a roaring good time! So thankful to the Bash,Please and Urbanic gals for inviting us in.

Pictures above by Brandon Kidd Photography. Featuring Urbanic Paper, Mae Mae Paperie  & Fiore Beauty’s adorable pup!

The second set of images above are courtesy of Erin Hearts Court Photography! Fashion show by The Life Styled, Ban do, Aqua Lillies synchronized swimmers, Found Rentals & US in the Smilebooth all at the Ace Hotel! Enjoy this RAD video of the night by Shark Pig of the event….

Hitched Palm Springs from Shark Pig on Vimeo.

What an honor to be ‘snagged’ and participate in HITCHED, where creativity had no bounds. We both thrive off of creative people, and this event was swarming with them. 

We were paired with Luna, lead floral designer from Arrangements. They are a floal design company based out of Palm Springs…and she brought some show-stopping florals for our table! 

We were going for a modern tablescape that had bits and pieces of mid-century shapes and patterns while reflecting 2011′s current fashion trends – military, bright neon poppy red, pink tulle & sparkly glitter gold. Oh, and antlers too! 

Gosh, those chairs are killer. Thank you Modernica.

Special thanks to ALL the photographers at the event, and those who sent us photos of our tablescape. The photos here are from Brandon Kidd and Erin Hearts Court. And a special shout out to Mae Mae Paperie who completed the look of our table with her divine paper design skills. The Messy Baker also provided custom made deer antler cookies (!) in which we placed in the bowls at each place setting. 

Vendor Credits: 

Design: Carter & Cook Event Co. 

Floral Design: Arrangements 

Menu, Place Card, Table Number: Mae Mae Paperie 

Sugar Cookies: The Messy Baker {rachel.m.barone@gmail.com} 

Antler Chandelier ,Place Mats, Tulle Stir Sticks: Carter & Cook Event Co. 

Custom Painted China: Carter & Cook Event Co. 

Table Linen: La Tavola 

Photography: Brandon Kidd + Erin Hearts Court 

Venue: ACE Hotel, Palm Springs 

We’re back from HITCHED in Palm Springs. What an event of a lifetime. Truly a wonderful experience and a dang good time! We were able to meet so many new friends and other vendors in the industry who are doing things the cool way. So refreshing.

Brandon and Kristin Kidd from Brandon Kidd Photography sent us a disc of their take from HITCHED. Here is a brief peek at some of the FUN! More, oh so much more…coming soon.

All photos courtsey of Brandon Kidd Photography.