On the last weekend of August, Stella and Michael said “I do” in the presence of hundreds of family and friends. The pair combined their Armenian and Greek heritages for a cross-cultural picture-perfect ceremony and reception that elegantly highlighted food, family, fun and tradition. Stella confides that the best part of the wedding was not planning it. She left the grand task in the capable hands of Kristine from Chic Sparkles. And for good reason. Though nestled in New York, Stella and Michael chose to wed in Stella’s hometown, Los Angeles. Looking to avoid the hurdles of planning a cross-country wedding, the pair’s first order of business was booking a wedding planner. Kristine transformed Stella and Michael’s vision of a traditional, yet modern wedding into reality. She helped the couple plan and execute every last detail, from welcome baskets at the guests’ hotel to picking their venue, LA Banquets’ Brandview Ballroom. The wedding was planned around creating various areas for the guests to congregate. Out on the Patio (one of the first events at our brand new Patio at Brandview!), guests enjoyed hookah in an intimate setting under billowy drapes. Inside, guests mingled at the open bar, picked up treats at the dessert station, and bites to nibble on at the seafood station all while being serenaded by a solo harpist. For Stella, the highlight of the wedding was the cake cutting. While she and Michael prepared to slice into their gorgeous six-tier cake by Art’s Bakery (designed by their wedding planner), Michael’s friends prepped champagne bottles by giving them a vigorous shake. As the couple sliced into the cake, the champagne bottles were popped, spraying everyone and everything with a bit of bubbly. “It was like nothing I have seen before! Not the traditional off-to-the-corner cake cutting!” And the wedding itself was full of many things some of the guests had never seen before. Many of the out-of-town guests had never experienced an Armenian wedding and loved the all-night family-style food service provided by Anoush Catering. In another nod to Armenian culture, traditional Armenian dancers walked the couple into the banquet hall at the beginning of the reception. Our deepest congratulations from everyone at LA Banquets to Michael and Stella! Photographer: Armen Poghosyan, Wedding Planner: Kristine Piloyan, Chic Sparkles, Flowers: Avant Garden, Cake: Art’s Bakery, Venue: LA Banquets Brandview Ballroom, Catering: Anoush Catering
By admin
October 10, 2013
by Vrej Sarkissian, CEO of LA Banquets Meeting in high school and getting married 15 years later? Or meeting at the office and tying the knot after 6 months of dating. We all know the story of every couple’s love and relationship is unique. Though they all start differently and take varied, sometimes meandering paths, many relationships will eventually take a walk down the aisle. Yet all too often the weddings of vastly different couples end up looking and feeling the same. Why? Of course one argument is that weddings are ancient and traditional institutions...that the very thing that makes a wedding a wedding is committing to the same traditions your parents did and their parents and grandparents before them. Without a doubt, these traditions are important, and give meaning to our events. But it’s important to make a distinction between aspiring to tradition and merely emulating other weddings. Rather than draw inspiration from Pinterest, bridal magazines and web editorials, couples are using these images as blueprints for their weddings. In search of a perfect wedding, couples are watering down their personalities, forgetting to include their passions, and producing a crop of weddings without visual or stylistic distinctions. The problem with aspiring to the chic or rustic elegance presented in these images is that the images are styled to appeal to broad audiences, and purposefully omit personal touches. What results is undoubtedly a beautiful wedding, but one that doesn’t always reflect the couple’s personality and story. The most remembered weddings are neither the most lavish nor picture perfect. They are not the ones that were timelined down to 5-minute increments, nor the ones where not a single petal on a single flower was out of place. Guests don’t remember perfection. They remember personality and passion. Think about what defines your relationship, and what makes your love unique. Celebrate these on your wedding day. Do you and your spouse-to-be cheer on your favorite sports team together every Sunday afternoon? Why not incorporate the team colors in your wedding. Are you both as in love with your dog or cat as with each other? Try donating to a humane society instead of passing out wedding favors. Take pictures in your wedding finery with your furry friend or name your signature drink at cocktail hour after your pet. If you love it, show it! Don’t forsake tradition, and don’t not include items you find beautiful. But rather, remember to look inward on your wedding day and include the meaningful reminders of who you are and what your relationships is about. Honor the passions that make up your relationship on your wedding day for a truly special day all about the both of you. Header Photo Credit: http://www.intimateweddings.com/blog/wedding-fashions-for-cats-and-dogs/
by Vrej Sarkissian CEO of LA Banquets Imagine you’ve just attended the wedding of the richest couple in town. To thank you for your presence, the couple has sent you home with a small metal box containing...a few sugar cubes? Today, you might scoff, but hundreds of years ago, medieval European aristocrats lavished their guests with such gifts! Bonbonnieres—small boxes made of precious metals, stones or crystals—were filled with sugar cubes or simple candies. Since sugar was one of the rarest commodities at the time, they were quite extravagant treats! The wedding favor tradition has endured for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. And many of the favors themselves have been around just as long. Jordan almonds for example, have been served to guests at weddings and banquets since at least the 1500s! But unless you’re planning a medieval themed wedding, leave the sugar cubes and Jordan almonds in the Middle Ages with a few modern wedding favor ideas. Celebrate your “hoppily ever after” with custom craft beer Inviting a beer loving crew? Brew your own special blend of beer for your wedding and let guests know how “hoppy” you two are together. Serve the “I Do Brew” during the reception and send guests home with their own bottle. Don’t forget to save an extra case to enjoy after the wedding! Get lucky on the wedding night...with lottery tickets Hope all your guests get lucky with scratchers or lottery ticket favors. Purchase tickets for the lottery to be drawn the date of the wedding or the closest date after. Insert the tickets in a little card with a note like, “We’ve been so lucky in love. Share in our good fortune.” If the draw will be the night of the wedding, call out the winning numbers during the reception. (We’ll let you decide if you want to include a disclaimer stating that by accepting the favor, your guests agree to share any and all winnings with you!) Giving is better than receiving with charity donation favors In lieu of giving to your guests, give to those in need. Making a donation to a respected charity in the amount you have budgeted for favors will make a far greater impact than any little knick-knack. Print a note on a photo or card and distribute them to your guests to let them know their presence at your wedding helped someone less fortunate. The best wedding favors represent you and your future spouse, while reflecting the themes of your ceremony and reception. Traditional favors will always endure, but wedding favors are a great venue for a bit of fun and whimsy in an otherwise traditional wedding. And remember, you can always include the Jordan almonds in your candy bar! Almond Joy Photo Credit to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/enovember/
By admin
September 12, 2013
by Vrej Sarkissian, CEO of LA Banquets What’s your definition of a large wedding? 100 guests? 200? How about 300 or 400? The most spacious of our LA Banquets venues easily accommodate 500 guests, and weddings that size are a weekly occurrence. When your guest list swells in size, it doesn’t mean you have to let go of the intimate wedding you always envisioned. Over the hundreds of weddings I’ve seen at our venues, here’s what I’ve learned about making large weddings feel intimate and fun. 1. Facetime: Meet and greet with your guests I can’t stress how important it is for the bride and groom to personally greet and talk to all of the guests. This is true for weddings of any size, but particularly so of large celebrations. Stop at each table during dinner or after the cake cutting and thank everyone for coming. Ask your photographer to come around to each table with you and take pictures with your guests. You might need to cut down on dancing time, but your family and friends will remember and appreciate your gesture. 2. Family Style Dining You can’t have a wedding without food, and for a large wedding don’t even think about a buffet. With a guest list in the hundreds, buffet lines will become unmanageably long leaving you with cranky, hungry guests. A timed and plated dinner service is also difficult to orchestrate for large weddings and can break up the natural rhythm of the event. One of the best ways to make a wedding feel more intimate is to serve dinner family style. With family style dining, you recreate the atmosphere of dinners at home with everyone sitting around the table, passing food and conversation around. Each table will feel like its own intimate dinner party. 3. A Separate Lounge With the music thumping on the dance floor, your guests may tire of yelling to each other across the table to have a conversation. But you don’t want to turn the music too far down either. A separated lounge area with comfortable seating will provide your guests (and you!) a place to get away from the main action for a bit. Guests can mingle in a quieter setting, catch up with far-flung relatives and relax for a few moments. If weather permits, consider an outdoor lounge area as well. 4. Photo Fun with Photo Booths Some of your friends and family may be shy about dancing, but they don’t need to miss out on all the fun. Photo booths are a great way for your guests to interact with each other and entertain themselves. And you’ll get likely a lovely scrapbook of all the silly photos. For large weddings, focus on creating a fun, inviting atmosphere and the intimacy will follow. Take time to meet with your guests and personally thank them for attending. Large weddings are all the more reason to celebrate! flickr credit: http://goo.gl/XuWJ0E http://goo.gl/W07Vsy http://goo.gl/kVcV8D http://goo.gl/11SIvU
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--by Vrej Sarkissian, CEO of LA Banquets-- After the excitement of your engagement dies down, you and your partner may decide, why wait? With 40% of couples waiting over a year after their engagement to marry (and spending some 15 hours a week planning the wedding!), you may realize that married sooner, rather than later, is the best course for your relationship. But a last minute wedding, doesn’t mean you have to nix your dreams of an elegant ballroom affair and run down to the courthouse. In fact, a last-minute wedding, or any special event, can be just as magnificent as the year-long planned event. And, last minute deals may add up to big savings, as long as you’re willing to be flexible with your options. Location, Location, Location Your first step will be to secure a venue. Call around and find out if your desired venues have any availability in the dates you are considering. If the venue has had a cancellation, you’ll be in luck. The venue will want to re-book that date and may offer you inviting incentives to close the deal. With a last minute wedding or special event, ask for flexibility with minimum guest counts, per-head costs, incidentals and anything else you can think of! Once the venue is booked, you’ll have a solid date which you can use to narrow down the rest of your vendors. Food, Flowers and Photography Ask your chosen venue for help in sourcing vendors for catering, flowers, photography, and entertainment. They are likely to have a preferred vendor list and may even know off-hand who will be available for your event. Your venue will have a good relationship with these vendors and may be able to call-in a special favor. Again, many vendors will offer discounts if they have an upcoming available date that they’d like to book, so don’t be afraid to ask! For other wedding day musts like decor and dress, consider rentals. Yes, you can rent your wedding dress! If you’d rather keep your dress, your best bet will be to buy a preowned dress (at a fraction of the cost) or off the rack. Again, remember that flexibility is key when you’re planning a last-minute event. If you can’t wait to get married, or just want to throw an end-of-the-summer bash for 300 of your closest friends, know it is possible! And it might even be possible at your favorite LA Banquets venue. Give us a call and we’ll work with you to get your wedding planned or that party started in no time at all. Header photo pic credited to: Earls37a via flicker
