A NEW twist on the monochromatic wedding!

Usually when I see a monochromatic theme, it's with one color- but at Casey and Clint's real Northstar Wedding, they couldn't choose just one. They went with eight BOLD colors: lime green, red, blue, lemon, purple, turquoise, neon orange and hot pink, all set on a black backdrop. The results- very dramatic! Congratulations you two! xoxo

Crazy for Burlap!

Trending right now is burlap at your Wedding! See the latest images from real Northstar at Tahoe Weddings:

Mmmmmm Yogurt!

Who doesn't love frozen yogurt? With food trucks trending in the wedding world right now, nothing could be more unique than this! Yogurt truck pulls up at your wedding, rehearsal dinner, or farewell  BBQ, and guests help themselves to lots of flavors and toppings. Mmmm, sounds fun, memorable, and tasty!

And guess what, Mmmmm Yogurt is local!

Unique Guest Book Alternatives

I LOVE all the fun new twists on traditional guest books that make your wedding so, well...you! Check out some of my favorites from real Northstar Weddings over the past couple weeks:

 Baseballs- this guest thinks the groom hit a "home run" marrying his bride! :)

 Not sure what they call it but I dubbed it the honeycomb guest book. Guests wrote little notes and filled the honeycomb with their messages to the bride and groom. Imagine how stylish this would look hanging in your hallway? Plus, instant access to your guests' best wishes every time you walk to the kitchen!

 "Message in a bottle"- guests slipped notes into however many wine bottles they liked. Each wine bottle was labeled with 1st anniversary, 2nd anniversary, etc. through their 50th. Each year on their anniversary the bride and groom plan to open the bottle and read what their guests intended to them to read at that moment in time. Brilliant!

And this was a note on an always classic photo frame signature guest book. I just loved the message and would wish that on every happy couple! xoxo

Wedding Advice from Glow Event Design

We are so lucky to have some tips from a pro event designer like Christina with Glow Event Design, and even better is that she was a REAL Northstar bride last year! Guess she knows what she's talking about then huh? Read on...

What was your favorite design element at your wedding?

My favorite design element to our decor was that everything we used was natural - nothing plastic or fake. I was really inspired by the beauty of Tahoe, and I wanted our day to reflect upon the beautiful plants and trees around us. For an aisle runner, we used flower blooms and pine cones to fill glass hurricanes placed at every-other seat. We brought in aspen trees and a wooden archway to decorate the ceremony site. Our tables were named after ski resorts we'd been to, and we placed the table name signs in wooden frames at each table. Probably my favorite decor item was the escort card tray which we filled with split green peas. We also used the peas to fill mini hurricanes with tea lights placed on the cocktail tables.The peas were actually the inspiration for the green in our color scheme.

Did you have a theme?

I called it "Mountain Chic." We wanted everything to be authentic and natural, but still very upscale and sophisticated.

Describe your color palette.

Our main colors were green, cream and chocolate brown. We added accents of coral for a pop - and also because coral tied in with the existing orange color on the outdoor patio furniture!

What would you have done different?

We got married in August and had prepared for extreme heat during the day. We rented extra umbrellas, had a cold drink station, etc. Unfortunately, a cold-front blew in the day of, and it was actually FREEZING! We had purchased a few blankets to place around the fire pits at night, but not many. If I could do it all over again, I would have made a contingency plan for the cold weather and stocked up on fleece blankets to give out to guests, and added a warm drink to the bar menu (like a spiced wine, hot chocolate, etc).

Any other words of advice?

Relax and enjoy your day! Don't stress about last minute details - none of your guests will know if the napkin is folded wrong, or their place card is crooked. The day goes by in a flash, so make sure throughout the night you take the time to look around and savor the moment.

Wendy + Abe

What a unique Northstar Wedding and once again a first for us! It all started with a scenic gondola ride up to a ceremony in the round. Their chuppah was held by friends to signify strength and unity. Seven special guests blessed them as the occasional mountain biker whizzed by and cheered.

Next guests arrived to the reception. Wendy and Abe always had their hearts set on three kings tables of 50 guests each on the lawn. Even though we had measured and did a rough set, we really weren't sure if it would fit until all of the rented tables arrived the day of. And look how amazing it turned out!

This wedding had so many gorgeous details and was a real labor of love for the both the bride and groom. And I say what a SUCCESS! Good luck you two, thank you for the blessing and congratulations! xo

Jaime + Tia video engagement shoot

Jaime and Tia E-shoot from damon chamberlain on Vimeo

Congratulations to Jaime and Tia! They were just married here at Northstar, but before that came the engagement shoot. I love this idea! An engagement VIDEO shoot instead of photos. What a treasure to have to watch forever. Thank you Frontside Films for sharing, and best wishes you two- xo!

Gift time!

While you are busy receiving Wedding gifts (hopefully you are sending thank you cards), I too have gifts for you!

First of all California sales tax just went DOWN! That's right effective July 1, 2011 it will drop by 1% saving you a fist full of cash on your Wedding. While I personally am not responsible for this gift, I just had to share it with you. Thank you legislature!

Secondly, Overlook just had a fancy new tent installed! It still has the same elegant ceiling treatment, but it is two feet taller with larger windows should you need to keep the walls on, and a nifty mesh wall too. It's on a easy to use sliding track and would be useful for privacy or for keeping guests away from the dinner tables during cocktail hour. Ok, so I didn't personally buy the tent either...but I took the photos. You're welcome! xo

 

First spring wedding...or was it winter?

This adorable spring wedding kicked off Memorial Day weekend at the Resort, was the first wedding of the season here at Northstar, and the very FIRST ever ceremony on the stage. Weather caused the move, but I think it turned out oh so unique. I mean, how many people can say they got married over a roller skating rink? Congrats Christina and Bill! xo

Pinterest!

So the name is fun to say, but more than that, Pinterest is "a place to catalog the things you love". OK, so you know how while cruising the web for fabulous wedding ideas your "favorites" folder in your browser became so big you can't find anything anymore without sending out a search party? Well imagine your "favorites" folder evolved into an wedding inspiration board complete with photos- brillliant!

Golf tournament for your wedding weekend?

This is a great deal here at Northstar! Check it out:

A Cinderella Story

OK, seriously? This was too ironic. And let me preface that there is no disrespect to Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York, but I could not resist a little Royal Wedding humor this late on a Friday afternoon!

New! Online lodging reservation system for your guests!

Ta daaaaah!!! Online lodging reservations for groups are now available. If you have a Northstar lodging webpage, we will revise it shortly for you. Otherwise please update your personal wedding web sites and / or save the dates with: www.northstarattahoe.com/groupreservations.

Ceremony Arch or ???

One of our Northstar grooms plans to build a Chuppah for his Wedding- brilliant! So, when he asked me for ideas, I dug through my photos from the past few years and thought I could share some inspiration with you too!