Event Planner: Esther of My Bride Story | Photos provided by Esther of My Bride Story 
Esther from My Brides Story shares another one of her fabulously coordinated and themed weddings with our KOKO Living readers. This party is surely an inspiration for any event, but so whimsical for a wedding. 
Event Planner: Esther of My Bride Story | Photos provided by Esther of My Bride Story
Jinhee & Mark’s truly divine California wedding, shot by the amazing Sarah Yates. Event Design & Coordination: Esther Kim of My Bride Story
Jinhee rocked it in Monique Lhullier and chose
lush summery hues like orange, blue, pink, peach and just a hint of
khaki for her color palette – flawlessly paired with the lush green
landscaping of the Adamson House in Malibu. The oceanside historic
Spanish mansion was an absolutely perfect choice – one look and you’ll
agree, we swear!
Now -this-is a drink station! Guests sipped on strawberry mint lemonade and mariposa plantation iced tea served in cute little mason jars. Sidenote: it was also personalized with their invites – custom-made postcards welcoming them to Malibu. Adorbs!
This location is utterly fantastic! Lanterns on tree stumps are such a cute and unique idea for seriously romantic ambiance.
Kristine Shin worked her magic on those incredible floral arrangements (even incorporating apricots and peaches! Ah!), which totally stole the show if you ask us.
And – we can’t get over this luscious-looking cake. It is just about as perfect as it gets.
Gorgeous location, gorgeous photos, gorgeous couple. Congrats you two!
Photography: Sarah Yates
Event Design & Coordination: Esther Kim of My Bride Story
Florist: Kristine Shin Designs
Caterer: The Food Matters
Rentals: Smart Party Rents
DJ: James of All The Above Events
Cake: Sweet Lady Jane
Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Hair & Make-up: Galleria Wedding
Ceremony dress: Monique Lhuillier’s Ava
Bridesmaid dresses: J. Crew
From the bride…To make a long story short, in the winter of 2007, we went to Las Vegas and eloped thinking that we were going to have the wedding ceremony soon thereafter. Due to our busy lives, two years had quickly passed by without a wedding. I often checked Style Me Pretty for inspiration, but I was absolutely clueless as to where to begin. I came from Korea a few years ago and had attended only a handful of weddings. Planning a wedding in America was very new to me but I always knew in my heart that we wanted an ocean front wedding with an intimate, private setting. La Venta Inn in Palos Verdes was the perfect venue; we finally had to book it. We definitely wanted to stay away from having a typical huge Korean wedding ceremony.
The moment we hired Esther Kim as our designer/planner, she quickly booked our extremely talented photographer, Marisa Holmes, our florist, Hannah Koo Designs and our our cake designer, Kaylas Kakes . She also booked Dear Darling for all calligraphy to turn my inspirations into a reality.
We wanted a soft vintage elegance with a feminine romantic twist. The color schemes included peach, light cream orange and blush pink. I have a love of collecting teapots so we decided to use teapots, urns and antique milk jars for all the arrangements to represent a light, airy, garden-like feel. We also used candle lights throughout the reception to create a warm and romantic atmosphere. Hannah Koo Designs incorporated a variety of garden roses, scabiosas, astilbe, lissianthus and curly willow as well as other natural garden elements in her designs. Peaches and apricots added a fresh look to the aisle treatments and table settings.
La Venta Inn already had a Spanish villa vibe and the venue coordinator was kind enough to let us rearrange some of their furniture. The couch and ruffle pillows were moved outside in front of the fountain where the guests signed in and took Polaroid pictures. Having the vintage couch near the sign in table definitely created a casual & fun atmosphere during cocktail hour.
But I must admit, the huge hit was the dessert bar!! Kaylas Kakes provided the cake, cake pops, mini cupcakes, rice krispies and all the vintage props and cake stands while we hand selected our favorite french macarons from Paulettes’ in Beverly Hills. Esther Kim then picked up all the desserts and styled the station with her magic hands along with some of my own personal collection of tea cups we brought from home. The dessert bar would not have looked as perfect without the added calligraphy work from Dear Darling.
We still receive so many compliments about our wedding and every vendor truly exceeded all of our expectations. We have to admit that having a great team of vendors makes a world of difference and we are forever thankful for their team effort & dedication.
Event Designer/Planner: Esther Kim of My Bride Story / Photography: Marisa Holmes Photography / Floral Designer: Hannah Koo Designs / Wedding Gown: Shin Bu / DJ: Adagio Weddings / Bakery: Kaylas Kakes / Calligraphy: Dear Darling / Bridesmaids Dresses: Jill Stuart / Linens: Elegant Specialty Designs / Coordination: Katie Lee of Bella Destinee / Venue: La Venta Inn
By: Sally Shin of Harvest Event Design & Coordination
Have you ever set up a lemonade stand when you were a kid? I
remember my makeshift lemonade stand growing up and being so excited to
make five whole dollars at the end of the day. We would take our
earnings and dash to the candy store for lemonheads, now and laters,
bubble gum, and beef jerky...yes, I liked beef jerky of all things.
Well, this familiar drink booth is my next project for an upcoming summer wedding in July. Perfect to quench the thirsts of guests after an outdoor ceremony, why not give them a nostalgic experience of lemonade served from an actual lemonade stand? The bride and groom's color scheme happens to be lavender and lemon which is the inspiration behind this crazy idea to create, build, and serve the most memorable glass of lemonade.
Anyone else want to build one this summer for your young entrepreneurs, check out this link.
Build a Fabulous Lemondae Stand
Image via JK Photography
Weather reports forecasted rain... and it did! But the day cleared up nicely for our ceremony on the Grand Lawn. 
Romantic shades of purples, blues, and silvers highlighted their dinner reception.
Magnificent cake from Grace at Sweet Jems! Best red velvet I have ever had, and am not the biggest fan of red velvet! 
Nancy Park of So Happi Together was featured in the e-magzine Utterly Engaged. Take a look at her her event themed "Kitchen Rustic Vintage". The wedding cake topper was a hand rolled paper topper by Nancy. Looking at her pages below, the dream is truly in the details and we love it!
Links: Event Design & Coordinator, Nancy Park of So Happi Together
Photographed by Connie M Chung
Florist: Cesar Haro Custom Floral Design
Cakes/Pastries: Kayla’s Kakes
Stationer: Jane Gahng of Olive Hue Paper Goods
Wedding Attire: Vivian of Tomato Weddings - 323.733.0105
Rentals: Classic Party Rentals – Orange County
Hair: Theresa Huang Makeup and Design
Makeup: Clara Kim Beauty
