Pretty Planner Weddings & Events Teams with Bikini.com

This summer has been a real scorcher, and we've been dreaming about destination weddings... beachy soirées with amazing tropical feel cocktails, incredible ocean-inspired gowns, and of course... the prettiest white bikinis.

Sometimes, dreams come true.

Recently, our owner and creative director Hailey Erin Yeager was asked to be a destination wedding contributor for major lifestyle blog Bikini.com. And lucky you, dear reader... we're taking you along for the ride. Weekly, we'll be featuring Hailey's Bikini.com articles, in addition to special edition posts on Pretty Planner Weddings & Events weddings, real weddings we love, our vendors picks, styled shoots, and favorite industry trends.

Without further ado, here is Hailey's first Bikini.com article:

Beach Wedding Brides Rejoice-- The Crop Top is Back!

The crop top wedding gown? It might just be the wow factor beach brides seek.

Choosing a wedding gown is arguably the greatest sartorial saga of a woman’s life. The choice between a mermaid shape and a sheath is suddenly defining. The decision between white and ivory feels epic. After trying on a million dresses (and not being able to walk in any of them), your mother-in-law is finally weighing in.

Resist the urge to cry, scream, and settle for that mediocre dress you found at some unimpressive sample sale. The crop top is making waves on the catwalk, infiltrating the chicest of street style, and now contending to be your favorite wedding accessory. Our advice? Take the plunge and show a little skin.

Whether you’re drawn to the boho or the structured, clean lines or vintage lace, the crop top gown is a sexy and versatile silhouette that achieves the elusive, coveted balance between timeless and edgy. For the bride looking to showcase her personal style without losing the tried-and-true feel of a wedding dress, crop top gowns couldn’t be more on point.

So the question is, which crop top gown are you? Take a look at our top picks, and let us know your favorites.

Grace Loves Lace Avril Gown. The sheer top and lace-adorned skirt are the perfect bohemian beach wedding pairings. Just add water... 

Elizabeth Stuart Moonflower Gown. Modern yet classic and sexy yet demure, this crop top gown is a sure-fire showstopper. 

Houghton Cameron skirt & Chloe Top. This modified high-low crop top gown combines screen siren sex appeal with serious vintage goodness. 

Mara Hoffman Artemis Corded Bridal Skirt. This unique champagne stunner shows just a sliver of skin, but its subtle geometric embellishment and figure flattering shape put this crop top gown at the top of our list. 

Daughters of Simone Caterina Bridal Gown. Let your inner gypsy run free in this festival-inspired beauty by up-and-coming indie designer Daughters of Simone. 

Thanks for stopping by friends and fans... we'll see your pretty faces next week! 

xx,

The Pretty Planner

Photo Shoots, Trend Spotting, & Wedding Gorgeousness

TGIF lovelies! We're back in full swing now that it's wedding season, but even the most passionate planners need a break sometimes. So for the next few minutes, we're going to take a breath, have a few sips of a well-deserved mimosa, and give you little rundown on what we've been up to over here at Pretty Planner Weddings and Events.

Photo shoots...

Blue Valentine Shoot. Photo: Elisabeth Arin Photography / Styling & Concept Design: Pretty Planner Weddings & Events / Floral Design & Rentals: Botanica Floral & Event Design / Cake & Sweets: Pretty Sweet / Venue: Inn at Park Winters

Keeping up on the latest industry trends...

Botanica Bohemian Nights Event. Photo: Carmen Salazar Photography / Floral Design & Rentals: Botanica Floral & Event Design 

And of course, producing the most beautiful weddings...

#Fereirawedding. Event Styling & Coordination: Pretty Planner Weddings & Events / Floral Design: Thistle & Honey / Bride's Gown: Vera Wang / Bridesmaid Gowns: Badgley Mischka / Makeup: M Event Mobile Beauty 

Thank you for following, and we so appreciated your patience while we got the The Pretty Planner blog up and running again. Stay tuned for another pretty post next week!

xx,

The Pretty Planner

Sneak Peek: Local Fashion Blogger Andrea's Industrial Glam Wedding

Hi Loves! My apologies for being silent on the blog front. It's wedding season and we've been busy making magic happen! Speaking of magic, I wanted to share with you a sneak peek of our client, the lovely Andrea Ryncarz's bridal shoot by the talented Jessica Burke Photography. Andrea, or as her followers know her "Miss Andrea Lee" is the creator of Tickled Pink, and if you follow you've been ogling her part industrial, part preppy, all parts glam wedding design for months now.

Looking at this photo, I'm not sure what's more incredible-- Andrea's sunkissed blonde hair, her stunning Sarah Seven gown, or those flawless blooms by Twiggs Floral Design. Thoughts pretty people?

Photo c/o: Jessica Burke Photography

Pretty Planner Blog is coming back in a major way. Stay tuned for next week's blog entry, where we update you on all the amazingness that's been happening over here at Pretty Planner Weddings & Events.

xx,

The Pretty Planner

A Colorful Los Angeles Bat Mitzvah: Lily

Lovely Lily's Bat Mitzvah, with its Moroccan lanterns dripping in bright Spring flowers, it's ceiling draped in sherbet-colored globes and market lights, and it's fancy gold dusted cake pops, is just the thing to jumpstart a dormant imagination and brighten a gray day.

When I met thirteen-year-old Lily, I was blown away by her grace, her artistic aesthetic, and her old soul. About five minutes into our meeting, Lily's mother Liza asked her what theme she would like for her Bat Mitzvah. Not missing a beat, Lily replied "Mom, I don't want a theme-- I want a FEEL." As a stylist, my ears perked up. When pushed to elaborate, Lily explained that she wanted warmth, sophistication, ambience, and fun on her big day. Oh, and she definitely wanted Moroccan lanterns to be involved.

With sparkling mint-mango mocktails served with gold topped swizzle sticks, tiers of birthday cake and red velvet cake pops, Moroccan lounge furniture, henna-inspired light, and a room filled with candles, lanterns, music, and laughter-- we created something warm and glowing in the dead of Winter for our girl.

Without further ado, it is my absolute pleasure to share with you a few of my favorite images from Lily's exotic, Winter-color pop reception.

Color Palette:

Gold sparkle, Orange, & Fuchsia

Event Coordination & Design: Pretty Planner Weddings & Events /  Photographer: Miriam Greer / Ceremony & Reception Venue: Ohr Hatorah in Culver City / Floral Design: DB Creativity / Cake Pops: Surprise Surprise Bakeshop / Catering: Tony's Catering / DJ & Lighting: Aaron Hillier of A Night to Remember DJs / Bartending & Mixology: Jackpot Bartendology / Rentals: Town & Country Event Rentals

Love to you, Miss Lily.

xx,

The Pretty Planner

Expo Season Survival Guide

You've found the love of your life— in my humble opinion, the greatest feat of all.

Months later, years later, (what might feel like a lifetime later) the question's been popped, along with two or three bottles of bubbly, and happiness doesn't even begin to describe. There is absolutely nothing like floating around in that blush-colored, engagement-inspired cloud of amorous bliss.

The goal here, friends, is to keep on floating, even when the time comes to make big decisions for your big day.

Photo Credit: Joy Marie Photography 

Planning a wedding is a beautiful, exciting experience— but the journey to your dream wedding is filled with choices and challenges. Big, fancy soirée or intimate affair? Beach or barn or ballroom? Lace or Taffeta (or neither)? Your colors? How are you going to make this all happen in your time frame, on a budget, and with a nagging family member (or three) in tow? 

Word to the wise bride— arming yourself with tools to minimize the anxiety and maximize the creative energy is key. 

One of our personal favorite tools in the bridal arsenal is the expo.  Bridal expos allow brides to explore all of the deals that their area's vendors have to offer, and provides those brides with bountiful opportunities to meet some of the best in the business. Curating a beautiful, personal, and well-executed wedding requires (amongst many things) a "dream team" of vendors— and utilizing expo season is a great place to start scouting.

Why is composing a "dream team" important?

Hiring and working with vendors who have great energy and an aesthetic you connect with helps ensure that 1) your day will have a great energy, and 2) you won't need to worry about your wedding looking, feeling, and tasting the way you want it to. At Pretty Planner Weddings & Events, one of the core principals of our business is treating our clients as friends and collaborators to ensure that we're in tune to the unique creative vision of each individual client and couple.

Every pair has a different and beautiful story to tell— favorite foods and wines, amazing travel stories, personal moments and defining values. The best events showcase the elements of those stories in innovative, timeless, and touching ways— and the best event planners succeed in making the journey feel just as rewarding as the final product.

What's your story?
Photo c/o: Style Me Pretty 

Come visit us during expo season for yummy treats, a sweet promotion, to talk wedding coordination and design with our founder, Hailey Yeager, and chat with Dina Poulos, the owner of our partner, Bride To Be Couture, about your dream wedding gown.

We'd love the opportunity to become a part of your "dream team."

Expo Schedule

Cal Expo Bridal Showcase
Saturday, January 12, 2014
10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
*Fashion Show featuring Bride to Be Couture 3:00 p.m.

Cal Expo Dream Wedding Show
Sunday, February 23, 2014
10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
*Bride to Be Couture will be featured in their fashion show

Firehouse Wedding Showcase
Sunday, March 2, 2014
10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Vizcaya Open House
Thursday, March 6, 2014
6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.


Till next time, dear reader.

xx,

The Pretty Planner

Dream Chasin'

I've always loved to celebrate. 

Some people aren't big on gifts, or their own birthdays, or making a fuss, but I think life is all about celebrations—celebrations of milestones, of the people in our lives, of our accomplishments, and perhaps most importantly—of love. 

I founded Pretty Planner Weddings & Events as a vehicle for celebrating the beautiful moments and the cherished details that make each of my clients who they are. This might seem like a novel concept, but drawing out who a person is can be a pretty serious challenge. Case in point— myself. 

At some point during law school, I became really, really worried that I had lost track of who I was. I worried that law wasn't creative enough for me, and wouldn't lead me to the types of people or the lifestyle I wanted. I worried that I  wouldn't be able to travel and experience the world with such crazy hours and insane pressures. I worried about never having time to write or read or have meaningful relationships. Ultimately, I worried that I wouldn't be happy. All typical quarter-life-crisis concerns of course, but they were relentless. 

It was a relatively normal day during a relatively dull class when I stumbled upon a spread by Elizabeth Messina, a wedding photographer renowned for her dreamy, ethereal imagery.  I felt immediately connected to her work, and more of myself than I'd felt in a long time as I perused through her images. Though the reaction was strange, it was what I needed. I decided to go with it.

Photo Credit: Elizabeth Messina

Many women become fascinated by weddings because they're fascinated with getting married. Fair enough. I think somewhere inside, if you're a woman, there is pressure to find your person and celebrate that. However, my then-boyfriend Adam and I had no such plans, nor was there any pressure for us to make any. We were both young and focused on getting through law school. The fact that weddings had no relevance to my own life, oddly enough, meant nothing to me.  

I allowed my initial, gut reaction to Elizabeth's work to inspire me, and resolved to make time for myself, each day, to luxuriate in images of beauty, of celebrations, and of happiness. 

During classes I would spend hours poring over wedding and design blogs, saving gorgeous images to my desktop, and making little lists of projects—"you must do this when you have time!" scrolled in margins and hidden in legal pads. I became preoccupied (a very loose term) with the concept of celebrations as stories, and telling the stories of other beings through the beautiful details that make them who they are. 

Soon, the images completely took over my desktop. I turned to categorizing them in a document, ushering each image where it belonged during Civil Procedure class, or creating lists of the vendors that contributed to their beauty during Constitutional Law. By the time law school was over and it was time to start studying for the dreaded Bar Exam, my innocent little document had reached over 1,000 pages. 

Just like that, the simple joy of a creative outlet and escape from the pressures of law school had become a passion. 

Moving forward, this blog will be dedicated to that passion— to love stories, to the beauty of details, and to chronicling the journey we must all make... from living the life we believe we should live, to living the life that makes us happiest and brings us the closest to who we are. That, dear reader, is a journey worth celebrating.

xx,

The Pretty Planner