A Beautiful Day Doesn't Happen Overnight: Cassandra Santor

When you meet Cassandra Santor of Beautiful Day, you really can’t help but smile. She carries herself with a graciousness and class that is to be envied and speaks with an understanding that comes only from going through it. For over ten years now, Cassandra has been honing her skills, gaining experience and studying under experts in several wedding specialties.

For most brides, planning a wedding brings a them into exciting and unfamiliar territory – Photo Courtesy of Joan Allen Photographymany of them thrilling delights they’ve been dreaming about and others they never thought of. Beginning with a bakery, Cassandra set her sights on one goal after another, a different aspect of the day to learn about and experience. When the bakery didn’t need a baker but instead needed an accountant, she set about teaching herself their accounting program and returned to them armed with what she needed to get her foot in the door so she could eventually learn about baking. She moved from the office to the kitchen, where she learned about cake design, composition and the finishing touches that creates Amazing.

Little did she know at the time that love would soon lead her to the east coast and dedication would lead her to her dream job. Call it kismet, but when she heard about an opening with Martha Stewart, she overnighted her resume, got a call the next day, and was hired on the spot. Soon she was working at The Wedding List, a high-end, high-touch registry where she spent her days assisting consultants and her nights studying china line charts.  Before long she, after testing in, she had become a consultant herself.  While at The Wedding List, Cassandra became an expert in china and tabletops, doing elaborate settings for some of the most luxurious weddings in the area. When the shop closed and layoffs became eminent, Cassandra not only survived but also thrived by being offered a prominent job with Martha Stewart in New York City. There she continued her work with brides and expanded it to include high-end clients from the entire tri-state area. After being promoted from working with brides to the corporate offices, Cassandra found she was she really missed her brides and the excitement she received while helping them on their journey to the wedding day. She’d begun working with brides and doing coordination of the full affaire on her own and wasn’t creatively fulfilled in the corporate environment. Her Martha Stewart colleague’s graciously referred her to a place they thought she would find inspirational: a floral studio. Soon Photo Courtesy of Joan Allen PhotographyCassandra had added technical skills and experience in that field to her proverbial tool belt. She moved from the floral studio to national sales for a first-class chocolatier, where she learned the art of fine chocolates and favors. Fast-forward to a President’s Day blizzard and Cassandra was ready for change. Being no stranger to the moving box, she packed them up, and headed west to seize yet another golden opportunity. Before long, she was in Los Angeles, facilitating the opening of a pilates studio and sending resumes to Mindy Weiss, when persistence again pays off and she begins setting out on her own.

Photo Courtesy of Joan Allen Photography

She created Cassandra and Company where, over the last several years, she has been working privately with brides, creating beautiful and unique weddings. Last year, she created Beautiful Day with the vision that a beautiful wedding be attainable and accessible to every bride and that the possibilities are limitless and has designed coordination packages with that vision in mind.

Photo Courtesy of Joan Allen Photography

We had the great pleasure of working with Cassandra earlier this year and, in fact are excited to be working with her again. She takes pride in everything she does, no matter how large the task or small the detail.  There truly is no better way to learn than hands on and she has, time and again, proven this maxim to hold true. From career beginnings in her hometown of Las Vegas, NV – the hospitality capital of the world, working with guests in restaurants, to New York City and now to Los Angeles, Cassandra has travelled and learned and taken initiative and created and built something she loves from the ground up, all the while, in one form or another, helping brides to create the day of their dreams.

Thank you so much to Cassandra for taking the time to share her wonderful story with us and to Joan Allen Photography for the gorgeous photos of the work we did together!

tic-tock's Take On: Wendy Rhodes

Photo by Isabel Lawrence PhotographersThere are so many things creating a wedding is and so many things it isn’t. Things it is: an incredible experience; an opportunity to share and learn about a couple, to help them express themselves on their day.  Things it isn’t: like the movies. This isn’t all fluffing trains and watching silently, maybe a little misty eyed, as the bride is escorted down the aisle by her father. It’s a lot of hard work. Long hours go into the decisions, details and processes of bringing a dream to life. It was when she found Florals by tic-tock. Photo by Isabel Lawrence Photographersherself up until three or four in the morning, doing the details, searching for just the perfect thing to tie it all together, that Wendy Rhodes realized she was in love with wedding planning.

In the years since she began, Wendy has somehow mastered the art of making wedding planning seem effortless. The way she laughs when she talks about some of the not-so-glamorous aspects of the job speaks volumes…(climbing up ladders to fix drape, anyone? How about that last second dash to change your clothes for the evening after a day of hard work coordinating, fixing, troubleshooting, problem-solving et al.?).  But it’s when she talks about what she loves about it that the true beauty of it all comes out. Everyone agrees that the details of a wedding are important but not everyone would say the same about the details of the couple. One of Wendy’s self-professed greatest joys in the process is getting to know the couple. What sort of music do they like? Florals by tic-tock. Photo by Isabel Lawrence PhotographersWhat are their favorite books? What do they love? (and what do they loathe?) The wedding day, as Wendy puts it, is really a first expression of the couple’s style, neither his nor hers but theirs. And one of the gifts of being brought into such an intimate part of someone’s life is the ability to help a couple discover that style, express it and share it with their loved ones.

With all of this obvious adoration for the couple’s expression Florals by tic-tock. Photo by Isabel Lawrence Photographers.of their love and the details that go along with it, it’s only fitting that Wendy’s favorite moment is when the groom lifts the veil and sees the face of his bride, as if for the first time.  It’s those moments, the ones that some people seem to forget about or that seem to get lost in the shuffle, and the way that she remembers them, that make working with Wendy such a treasure and a delight.

Thank you so much to Isabel Lawrence Photographers for the use of their beautiful images.



Playing Favorites with Fancy That!

With every season come new trends and new faces in the wedding industry. Every so often you see a trend that you know is going to become timeless and a face you know belongs to a woman who is going to be guiding brides and designing dreams for years to come. Christine Zohrabians of Fancy That! Event Design and Coordination had no wedding planner aspirations but when planning her own, recognized the importance of having the right person to guide you through the process, the necessity of working with someone informed who has the couple’s best interest at heart.  In so many ways, this job is akin to that of a matchmaker, only the love match has been made and now, you know your bride and groom and the next challenge is to match them with the perfect vendors for their day. We’ve had the great honor of working with Christine extensively and are always impressed by the care with which she treats her brides so it’s really no surprise that the couple/vendor match is one of her favorite parts of the process. One of our favorite questions to ask when talking with a planner – whether it’s someone we work with all the time or someone new – is how they keep things fresh. For Christine, it’s easy! She  - and we can personally attest to this – doesn’t allow her bride to take the easy way out. There is no cookie cutter, clipped it from a magazine anything happening here. Sure, inspiration photos are great but Christine enjoys challenging her couples to make it their own by looking beyond what’s now and into what’s them. It is that personal essence that Christine encourages all of her couples to integrate into their day. We each come from such different backgrounds, cultures and families and the wedding day is really a day to celebrate that as well. Whether it’s having traditional entertainment or something as simple as a special toast, she imparts the importance of this element to each of her brides. What if you aren’t her bride? What would she tell you then? Trust your vendors. Think Timeless, Think Classy, Think Chic - so when you look back together 40 years from now – not only would you not change a thing about your love, but you wouldn’t change a thing about the wedding either.



Your Wedding Day Magazine: Lush Opulence

Last night was the launch party for Your Wedding Day Magazine’s summer 2010 issue which features photos from their groundbreaking event “The Making of a Magazine: A Behind the Scenes.” When we were invited to be a part of this event, we couldn’t have been more honored. Held over two days at the Taglyan Cultural Center, "The Making of a Magazine" was an opportunity to show where just where the imagination can take us and what goes into a shoot. Given the concept of  "Lush Opulence: Inspired by the Proper Traditions of English Teatime," We dreamed up a setting worthy of the Queen and her court. Perfectly lit by J Fox Event Lighting and photographed by Kevin Lubera, we used rich fabric draping, antique furniture pieces, a gorgeous cake by Cake Divas, elegant linens from Wildflower, tabletop elements from Classic Party Rentals, and too good to eat food by Divine Food and Catering, we set the stage for the real star of the show, the floral designs. A swooping garland, lush and full of roses and peonies was posted by ribbon beneath a golden chandelier and down to the tabletop where the length of the table was covered not by traditional fabric runner, but by an arrangement rich and textured with roses, hydrangea, tulips, amaryllis and peonies. Throughout the space were accents incorporating ribbons and jewels, porcelain and jasmine, details set about like little discoveries waiting to be made. See what you find in the Summer issue of YWD that inspires you, then tell us what you loved about it.

All images courtesy of and Copyright Kevin Lubera and Your Wedding Day Magazine.

Barbara & Jim Say 'I Do' at The St. Regis

When Barbara & Jim said their “I do’s” on April 23rd, we got to do two of our favorite things [besides creating gorgeous designs]. We spent our day working at the St. Regis Monarch Beach and we got to work with Kathy Nosek of A Divine Occasion.

One of Kathy’s favorite things about weddings is that each one is different and this was certainly no exception. From the way Kathy encountered the couple to the bride’s reception display of her talent for playing spoons, this wedding was unique. Kathy met the couple while she was working on another couple’s nuptuals at Pelican Hill. Barbara & Jim were in town touring properties for the California destination dream wedding.  From virtually that moment forward, from choosing the dress to the wrap of the reception, Kathy was with this couple – making sure their day was everything they wanted. Kathy’s secret to creating that day for couples? Listening, talking with the couple and really hearing what is important to them, taking something unique about them and expressing it through their special day.

Being the former owner of a flower shop and having a degree in culinary arts give Kathy Nosek a special insight and expertise into different aspects of a wedding and helps her connect her clients to the perfect vendors for their affaire. This is where we come in. For Barbara and Jim’s wedding we used creams and whites, roses and hydrangea to  create pedestal arrangements in creams and whites for the ceremony and for the reception? Grand centerpieces atop tall glass cylinders surrounded by candles floating in elegant long stemmed bubble glass in of varying heights, adding that extra touch of dimension and giving them the elegant look they wanted.

But what was most important to Barbara and Jim was that their wedding be about celebration and friends – so they made a weekend of it. They had a two-day horseshoe competition leading up to their wedding day and the night before they took their guests out in the Pacific on a 185’ ocean liner. This couple has really made friends, family and helping others an important part of their daily lives and these days were no different. In lieu of gifts, Barbara and Jim asked their guests to make contributions to the couple’s favorite Alzheimer’s charity. After all, they already have everything they need; Life, Love, Friends, Family and each other.

Thanks to Lawrence Crandall Photography for allowing us to use these beautiful photos.

Inspired by: Kathy Mazza of Bella Weddings & Events

The other day, I was talking with Kathy Mazza of Bella Weddings and Events. We’re working together on a summer soiree for the knot and if you haven’t had the joy of working with Kathy & Susan, you should snap to it! In business together for 6 years, the beautiful ladies of Bella have come a long way in a short time. Most of our readers are either planning their own wedding or are professional planners and, across the board, personalization is what we’re hearing about. Kathy and I were talking about personalization and inspiration and she was telling me how much she likes to encourage couples to look at and celebrate Marriage, not just their wedding. She was talking about this with her clients Monica and Jonathan, a lovely couple who are getting married May 22^nd at Calvary Church in the Palisades followed by a Bel Air Bay Club reception, when the groom popped yet another big question “How do we honor our guests, their own weddings and commitment to marriage”? A brilliant question! After all, friends and family are your support system. They are the people who have seen you to this day and who will be with you along the road to forever and this bride and groom both have parents who are married and families rich with couples who have been united a very long time.

The best ideas begin as questions and the group got to thinking. It was decided that the best way to honor their guests’ commitment to marriage would be to include moments from their own weddings. When Kathy told me about the bride & groom’s tribute to their guests – I seriously thought I was going to cry. With every invitation sent to a couple, the bride and groom included a simple request: a photo from the wedding album of their guests along with the day, the place & the couple’s names. At first, they were a little nervous that maybe people wouldn’t participate and were proven wrong when, within *days*, responses began coming in and photos were arriving in the mail, some new and digital and sent via email, some old and worn by time and still others of couples where only the surviving spouse will be in attendance. The couple have had so much fun collecting and enjoying the photos of their guests and look forward to their wedding day when the photos will be hung from Manzanita graced with shades of green, lilac, yellow and ivory at the reception where the guests can enjoy their memories, learn about the memories of others and create new memories with the bride and groom as they embark upon their journey to forever.

Inspiration: "being in love never goes out of style."

I know we’re not the only ones who eagerly anticipate new issues of Grace Ormonde’s Wedding Style, not only because we’ve been honored by the opportunity to have our designs included but because it’s always fresh with inspiration and images that make you grateful for the gift of sight.

With her new coffee table book, “being in love never goes out of style” Grace once again leaves us breathless. Last night, we had the opportunity to attend the soiree celebrating its release and let me tell you, the ballroom at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills was abuzz with excitement about this new celebration of one of the things we love most: weddings. “being in love never goes out of style” is Grace’s own pictoral anthology of weddings that serves as both testament to her expertise and homage to the art of weddings. From Grace’s own Wedding Style Magazine website: “Art is subjective. Art is meant to be shared,” and with the release of this 400 plus page collection, Grace Ormonde truly shares her art with the world and reminds us all that not only does being in love never go out of style, but continually evolving artists such as her never do either.

TicTock Talks with Ariel Yve

Sometimes, an introduction can be the most difficult thing to write. Thankfully, for those in the know, Ariel Yve needs little introduction. For over a decade Yve has been executing masterful designs in breathtaking venues throughout Southern California.

Favoring the ornate, the renaissance, the feminine, Yves signature style has a fine touch and attention to detail reminiscent of a Marie Antoinette period masterpiece.

As we move into spring, Yve and I took some time to talk about her new favorite things. According to Yve 2010’s bride is finding linens to be a beautiful way to place her personal taste before every guest. “Prints in linens have become a great way to add more texture and a customized look,” says Yve. While in the recent past we’ve been seeing a lot of beautiful overlays, we’re now seeing a developing trend of brides gravitating to a single linen with a pattern reflective of their taste.

Today's ladies are looking for ways to really set their wedding apart. What do you think of one last station of treats at the valet when guests depart? Yve is loving them this year, saying it gives a guest that last lovely moment, making the experience last to the very second they enter their car and leaving them with one final, sweet memory of the bride’s day.

Mad Hatter Tea Party

Yesterday we hosted a Mad Hatter Tea Party and brought together some of the most fabulous wedding planners in Southern California. The Mayfair House was our gracious co-host and Marianne Lozano lent her talents to this mid-afternoon soiree.

For this Alice in Wonderland themed tea party Tic-Tock created dreamy, colorful centerpieces incorporating lots of color, tea cups, miniature playing cards & mushrooms for good measure! For display on the counter buffet we used colorful bird cages flowing from the top with colorful flowers and with the cutest white baby rabbits inside! Not to worry, after the party, the rabbits went off to their fabulous new home where three children will love and care for them.

We’d like to thank everyone who came yesterday. It was wonderful to be together and hear about what everyone is doing this season and we couldn’t have had more fun. It was so great to see all of our friends, say hello and catch up over tea (and a little champagne!).  To be in a room filled with such incredible talent and grace is one of the perks we love about weddings.

Photo Credit: Marianne Lozano



Wish Upon A Wedding

 For many women, their wedding day is one they dream about from the time they are a small girl – traipsing down long hallways in their mother’s shoes making veils of pillowcases and wedding dresses of nightgowns. Young boys may think about kissing the one they love at the altar, of their prince charming moment.

For terminally ill women and men with costly hospital bills and mounting worries, it can be easy for the realization of these dreams to fall by the wayside. Wish Upon A Wedding is here to bring hope. Founded in January of 2010, Wish Upon A Wedding is America’s first nonprofit organization devoted to the wedding and civil ceremony dreams of terminally ill patients. 

Wish Upon A Wedding’s first wish will be granted in San Francisco on March 13, 2010 to Florence and Michael whose story of love and courage is an inspiration to their friends, family and all who have come to know them through this process.

In just a matter of months, Wish Upon A Wedding has grown from a single chapter to a nearly nationwide nonprofit boasting twenty chapters in seventeen states.  As word of mouth continues to spread among wedding industry professionals – everyone wants to know how they can help.  Everything industry professionals need to be a part of this wonderful organization is on their website.  And if you, or someone you love has been diagnosed with terminal illness and has a wedding dream, Wish Upon A Wedding and watch it come true.

Thank You to Stellasweet for the beautiful photos of Florence & Michael.