Meghan and J.J.’s wedding featured in another ad for one fine day events, this time on the knot:

I am thrilled that Stephanie Anderson with one fine day events used a whole set of my images from Meghan and J.J.’s wedding in her ad on Grace Ormonde Wedding Style magazine! Check it out – and be sure to stop by Stephanie’s site as well!

There’s a new resort in town – or will be very soon, the Ritz-Carlton is scheduled to open December 9th. Today, a few fellow photographers and myself had the honor of getting a tour around the gorgeous hotel, which will be a fabulous site for weddings, with 2 outdoor sites and two ballrooms featuring large windows – not to mention the outstanding Ritz-Carlton service! From a very inviting looking Spa, to lounge areas by the fireplace to a Traci Des Jardins Signature restaurant and ski-in/ski-out, this top-notch hotel will offer everything the heart desires.


Best of all, a lot of it will be open to the public, such as above mentioned restaurant and the spa, as well as the outdoor area for skiers in the winter – so that us locals can enjoy the addition as well! I am very much looking forward to doing so, and to shooting weddings there – the views are truly spectacular.


Here’s us, with Rolly, the catering manager (right) – in fab safety outfits since it’s still a construction site!

All images courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton.

I’ve known Kathy ever since she helped me-then-clueless put together my own wedding, waaaay back when. After 11 years at the North Tahoe Event Center she has hundreds of weddings under her belt, and quite a few stories to tell – there was the 4-day 450 people Hindu wedding with a parade from Crystal Bay to the Event Center, complete with Sheriff escorts; the groom who nicked his neck shaving the morning-of and Kathy-to-the-rescue used white-out to cover up blood on the collar; the hiring of bag pipers for a Scottish wedding; tasting gelato for another (I bet she enjoyed that!), or planning fire works – if you can imagine it, she can put it together! Having raised 3 daughters and one son, Kathy can handle anything.


Kathy embraces all cultures and will only suggest top notch vendors for your wedding, always your best interest in mind. Her career started with floral design school in lieu of college; she went on to work for Wanda’s in Tahoe City before she was hired by the Event Center. Now with all 4 kids out of college, she went off on her own and started Absolutely Flawless Events.


You can reach Kathy at 775.224.4712 or via email at kathy[at]absolutelyflawlessevents.com; her website is still in the making.


As a side note, I did her logo and business cards:

Katina with Sierra Floral Designs called and asked me to get some shots of bouquets and table top pieces she was putting together for a bridal show:

I only met Katina a little under two years ago at an open house. We instantly got along and liked each others’ work. Not only that, Katina is a wonderful person who gives her time to volunteer medical missions abroad, such as in India in 2006; she is a trained intensive care and recovery nurse.


Katina moved to Tahoe in 2002, after backpacking through Asia with her now-husband, and started Sierra Floral Designs a year later, craving something more creative and “happy” than hospital work. Naturally, she turned to floral design, which is in her blood, having grown up with a florist-mother mentored by Liezet Arnold, a dutch master designer with a store in Sacramento, who then also took Katina under her wings.


Katina spoke very passionately and put the way she feels perfectly:
“I am inspired every day by beautiful things. I am always checking out top designers in N.Y., London, L.A. and San Francisco to keep up on the trends and bring them to Lake Tahoe and Reno. On trips I visit markets and floral shops to look for different flowers and ideas! I have a distinct style which is influenced by my European mentor and all of my world travel. I love glassware and build a lot of my arrangements down inside dramatic vases. Organic elements as well as crystals, beads, colored wire and feathers are elements I use for added interest, and to create something truly unique.


I love texture… fall is my favorite time… seed pods, pine cones, grasses, intense colors! All about a visual “POP” and contrasts of colors! I truly believe that flowers set the whole mood and feeling of an event and are one of the most important elements.


I meet with my clients for a couple of hours to get to know them and find out their style, likes, dislikes and then I can design something that is “theirs”. The flowers make such a statement about the couple that this is a very important aspect.


When it comes to my flowers, I’m a control freak… not trusting them in the hands of anyone else. I am always on hand for all set-ups and often involved with other aspects such as coordinating linen and referring vendors; a good team of vendors is very important.”


Sierra Floral Designs has grown tremendously and is now referred by top event planners, venues, and photographers in the area.


Katina somehow manages to have time for her adorable daughter Reilly, for snowboarding, hiking and camping – and, the latest project she is working on is another admirable one bound to bring joy to someone: she is planning to reuse the flowers after an event to make arrangements for hospitals and assisted living facilities. “It will be great to brighten up someone’s day who is not expecting it”, she says. 


Her style and personality are so wonderful, see for yourself and give her a call!

If you haven’t been to Tahoe House, stop by next time you’re in town! They have delicious European inspired pastries, breads and gourmet foods. Today, it’s run by sisters Barbara and Caroline, and was founded in 1977 by their parents; their mother is from Switzerland, thus the European delicacies. I always feel a little closer to home when I walk in there…


I sat down with Barbara to chat about wedding cakes. She started doing them in 1994 on the side as her own endeavor, to be able to do something more creative and fun, and it took off – she now does about 100 cakes per year! In fact, she did my wedding cake as well – me being the spoiled German when it comes to baked goods of course chose to go with the Swiss baker! It was delicious, I even got a small version of it for our first anniversary.


I asked her what the most popular flavors are, and she said, clearly light cake with strawberries and cream for the summer, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for fall and winter weddings (which is also her personal favorite). She is very accommodating to make a cake to your taste, using only the finest ingredients, some even imported from Switzerland.


Barbara is getting married early May herself, to the funny and smart Jonn I always enjoy seeing at Tahoe Vista Post Office; they’ll say their I-do’s at Squaw Valley Chapel and celebrate at Graham’s; Barbara’s long time friend Heidi Wilson (who even worked at Tahoe House for a bit after moving here!) will provide their photography.


In her very limited free time Barbara enjoys skiing, of course, having grown up in Tahoe; and traveling to Switzerland, which she doesn’t get to do nearly often enough.


See you at Tahoe House!

One of the leading Lake Tahoe wedding and event planning companies, Blue Sky Events, is owned by Kerry Hawk, who started this career at the Zephyr Cove Resort, which wanted to use its 5-acre lakefront property for corporate and team building events. After just having gotten married at Valhalla herself, Kerry recognized the potential of the lakefront location, and within a few years built a very successful wedding business for the resort, gathering experience in every possible aspect of wedding planning, from dealing with the forest service to cake tastings to last-minute floral adjustments. In 2005 she decided to go out on her own and hasn’t looked back. Her husband Jason recently joined the continuously growing company to handle its business aspects.

Kerry is eager to share her love for Lake Tahoe with her clients, and her enthusiasm is truly contagious. Always positive and happy, she runs her team of consultants flawlessly and with attention to every detail. Her clients are like family, and not one ceremony goes by where she doesn’t tear up! And now that she’s a mom of a 2-year old boy, the mother-son dances really make her heart jump as well.

In her personal life, Kerry enjoys snowboarding at Kirkwood, which is somewhat of a second home to her. She loves the smaller mountain and takes every chance she gets to go out there and have fun.

Blue Sky Events has a featured wedding on the knot, and the family event they put on for South Lake Tahoe last New Year’s earned them a huge article in the Tahoe Tribune. Keep your eyes open for them, they’re everywhere, putting together anything from small personal affairs to big ballroom events!

Blue Sky Events is a pleasure to work with – find out more here!

I am working on a vendor category; rather than just having a links page on my website, I will introduce the vendors I respect and trust with some background and personal information about them. I am looking forward to offering a platform to feature great people! I will interview them to gather in-depth information not on their web site and give you an idea what they’re all about.