Photo Gallery: Nichole & Jordan, Part II

We’ve already viewed Nichole and Jordan’s playful wedding day portraits — now it’s time to check out the decor from their May wedding!

Nichole gives us the lowdown in this Q&A:

What was the main inspiration for the decor?

The venue itself was really the backdrop for the decor. It featured these amazing vertical succulent walls against concrete and industrial panels. The owners designed the space with vintage knick-knacks, upcycled furniture, statues, fountains — a wide range of features, really. They even display some of the old signs from when the building was an actual smog check place! We chose to play off of the existing elements for a mix of contemporary, eclectic, organic, quirky, and even homespun in parts. Most important, we wanted to have a wedding that was tasteful without being overwrought, and original without being fussy. We selected yellow and gray as our color palette, knowing that green would present strongly via the succulents, and the three colors would play off well together.

What are the flowers in your arrangement?

Girl, I wish I could tell you! I left it all to the florist (Bobbe Vagell at Bobbe Vagell Floral Design Studio). I described our personalities, colors and aesthetic, and showed him my dress. We knew we weren’t the roses and orchids type, and we didn’t want to dedicate much of our budget to florals, so we let him pick a unique combination of affordable flowers and arranged them aside grasses and candles to create dimension and different heights. I had seen the Craspedia (billy balls) in some pics, so that was the only suggestion I threw out. He did the rest! We also had him supply the small potted succulents, which we used as both escort card and favor. When the guests took their plant to their seat, it added more decor to the table and made our centerpiece budget more affordable! [Check the photo captions for a list of flower names, courtesy of Bobbe.]

Another cool thing we did with the flowers: Bobbe had access to these long flower boxes, which took up a lot of space on the tables — with the banquet-style seating, we didn’t want smaller centerpieces to be gobbled up. We actually used those long-box arrangements to flank the aisle at the ceremony, and just transferred the boxes to the tables for the reception. Double-duty, half-price.

Tell me about the food.

I can say confidently that the apps, dinners and desserts [from Chris & Jerry at The Food Matters] were the biggest hit of the entire night. They were a-m-a-z-i-n-g to work with.

How about the cake?

That was a last-minute (but very delicious) addition. We intended to skip a cake and stick to a variety of other desserts, but then we got a set of cake servers from a family member and wanted to use them. Our wedding coordinator got us a small cake from SusieCakes. No frills means no astronomical cake budget, and just as delicious. Didn’t even bother with a cake topper.

Can you talk a little about working with Smog Shoppe?

Working with Smog Shoppe was a complete breeze. The obvious benefit of selecting a venue like this is that you already have some of the design and charm built in. There was seating available (the mix-matched chairs and tables) for 96; as our wedding attendees approached 170, we rented the rest — and draped the rented tables with burlap.

The knick-knacks and books came with the joint, as did the awesome chaise lounge (great staging for photos). They also have theater-quality audiovisual already built in (movie screen, surround sound), so you had the flexibility of bringing in a DJ or simply plugging in an iPod. We ran a slideshow of pics throughout the reception and had a DJ work his magic.

Smog Shoppe works in tandem with TACT Event Management to consult with you before the wedding. I can not TELL you how easy it was to work with them. [TACT site manager] Steven Arnold was charming, easygoing, knowledgeable and made us feel comfortable about our decision to get hitched there.

Oh! Another cool thing about Smog Shoppe — well, two:

1. There’s an old supply closet that they gutted and painted to serve as a booth, which we used to take photos of our guests for the guestbook. (Tyler at Photo Box LA was very cool and rad to work with.)

2. There’s a lounge upstairs, which we used for the two of us to relax and have a cocktail together between the ceremony and reception. It also served as a place I could go to touch up makeup, fix my wardrobe, etc.

You also hired a day-of coordinator. Can you tell me about what she handled versus TACT?

So TACT Events is contracted as Smog Shoppe’s exclusive event manager. They met with us twice before the wedding just to discuss layout design (tables & ceremony space, along with furniture), AV equipment, kitchen logistics, staffing etc. It was pretty critical to have them, given that we selected a venue that was not all-inclusive. They provided a greeter and a staff member to be onsite day-of to ensure smooth logistics and troubleshoot problems if they arose.

Save the Date Events did the rest!  We selected Kathy as a “day-of” coordinator, but we also secured extra hours of consulting/research time from her. We bought a day-of-plus-eight-hours-of-her-time package. She referred the florist, got the cake, secured the photo booth, rented the linens, created and managed the itinerary, helped with a LOT of stuff behind the scenes. She was there with her assistant to coordinate vendors, set up tables, and do all of the fun day-of stuff.

Any other funny/interesting/helpful stories you feel are relevant?

One decision we high-fived ourselves for was premixing our signature cocktail in a large plastic water container (my mom’s margaritas, which are semi-famous). We emptied it as needed into a fancy carafe at the bar to expedite the line so no one had to wait for a drink.

We kept the ceremony short and informal and wrote our vows. Guests were invited to grab a cocktail before the big show and gathered around in benches and on couches (some even standing!) when it was time for the ceremony. It was great to see folks smiling in the photos along with us with a beer or margarita already in hand. Lots of laughter and crowd participation.

The photo booth was a huge hit and a must-do. Most companies now bring their own props and provide you with electronic copies of the shots, which were so fun for us to see. The props made their way onto the dance floor and made for some of my favorite pictures of the whole night.

One of the best pieces of advice I took was from a dear friend who insisted that I plan for “Jordan & Nichole time” on our day-of itinerary. We budgeted for 15 minutes post-ceremony to relax and enjoy our first minutes of being married without any distraction or responsibility. It helped to keep the biggest day of our collective lives from speeding by!

Wedding Vendors
Photos: Ashlee Rene Photography
Day-of Coordinator: Kathy Recchia, Save the Date Events  (From Nichole: She was a LIFESAVER!)
Event Management: TACT Event Management
Venue: Smog Shoppe
Food: The Food Matters
Cake: SusieCakes
Flowers: BoVa Designs
Photo booth: Photo Box LA
Bride’s dress: BCBG
Bridesmaids’ dresses: Amsale
Groom’s suit: Hugo Boss from Nordstrom
Groomsmen’s suits: Their own — Nichole and Jordan gave them a gray color swatch to help.
Jordan’s ring, which was so interesting I asked about it specifically, is made of burled wood and titanium: Jewelry by Johan.

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