Palm Springs wedding planner – Palm Springs Florist, Palm Springs Event Services

Who Walks The Bride Down The Aisle? You Get To Pick!

June 17, 2013 By Dinah Leave a Comment

Father’s Day brings walking down the aisle to a wedding planner’s mind. But some brides want a non-traditional ceremony entrance. Here are three suggestions for anyone who is looking for aisle traveling companions for their wedding:

Your Mom. She’s been there from the very beginning, loves you like crazy, and will be thrilled to be asked.
Your 2nd Favorite Man. Ranked just below the ring-bearing hunk, chances are there’s an uncle, cousin or best friend in your life that you’d love to have with you on that special stroll.
Your fabulous self! Trust us- you’re going to be radiant, and perfectly capable of coming down that aisle

In the Jewish tradition, both parents walk the bride down the aisle. Photo by Super 8 Girl

In the Jewish tradition, both parents walk down the aisle. Photo by Super 8 Girl

Filed Under: advice, Palm Springs, weddings Tagged With: aisle, bride, event planning, My Little Flower Shop, Palm Springs Florist, Palm Springs wedding planner, Relationships, wedding, wedding planner, Weddings

Our New Promotional Video! Check it out!

June 6, 2013 By Dinah Leave a Comment

Filed Under: event planning, Palm Springs, weddings Tagged With: bride, My Little Flower Shop, Palm Springs, Palm Springs Florist, Palm Springs wedding planner, wedding centerpiece, wedding flowers

Yes, You Are Having A Celebrity Wedding!

May 10, 2013 By Dinah Leave a Comment

Getting married makes you a star in a way in your own family. A family wedding is a big deal – there’s no denying it. So believe it or not, in their eyes, you are a having a celebrity wedding! The “paparazzi” chasing you may be a little nutty – everyone wants to spend time with you and find out how the wedding planning is going. Just like Hollywood celebrity brides, you’ll get the same questions repeatedly. Have you chosen reception centerpieces? What’s the wedding dress like? Have patience.

My own celebrity moment, with the help of Design Visage of Orange County, CA

They’re not trying to drive you crazy, the just want to share your excitement and happiness. So when Grandma Ethel asks again about your linger-eee, smile and know you’re loved. Enjoy your moment in the spotlight.

Be well, and love well.

Dinah

Filed Under: advice, humor, Wedding planning, weddings Tagged With: advice, bride, centerpiece, Help and Advice, Hollywood, Palm Springs Florist, Palm Springs wedding planner, Relationships, wedding, wedding dress, wedding planner, Weddings

Wedding Planning Balance: Your Budget and Your Priorities

January 3, 2013 By Dinah 2 Comments

A reception at Craft, Tom Colicchio’s temple of fine food seemed beyond our budget when my husband and I planned our wedding. But in retrospect, there was a path to our twelve-course tasting menu with wine pairings. Very simple: slash the guest list. Even then, we wouldn’t have been able to do that, because having all our guests was a top priority.

You’ll be happiest with your wedding if you plan knowing you have to balance the two: your budget and your priorities.

BUDGET

First Step! Wedding Budget. I mean it! Write it down and everything. Before you start meeting with anyone, have a firm grasp on your – say it with me- BUDGET! Any wedding vendor worth their salt (in Palm Springs or anywhere else) should be able to take the parameters you give them and do their best for you. My Little Flower Shop makes a point of working with brides- we make your vision come to life within your wedding budget. If a vendor turns up their nose at your numbers, it’s time to walk, supermodel!

PRIORITIES
Simple, beautiful centerpiece. A few blooms make a big impact! Photo by Djamilla Rosa Cochran Studio.

What’s most important to you? Sure you can spend $5,000 on amazing favors, but that may mean you’ll have a smaller cake, or fewer flowers (Don’t do it, for the love of beauty and grace! Cut something else!). Pick what’s most important to you and spend your money accordingly.

And if what’s important to you happens to be earthshatteringly delicious, beautifully presented and flawlessly served food, I recommend you give the folks at Craft a call.

Live well and love well.

-Dinah

Filed Under: advice, humor, Palm Springs, wedding, weddings Tagged With: advice, Budget, Craft, humor, Palm Springs, Palm Springs California, Palm Springs Florist, Palm Springs wedding planner, Relationships, Tom Colicchio, wedding, Weddings

Wedding Movies, Take 1? Take 2? Take as many as you can before Valentine’s Day

December 8, 2012 By Dinah 1 Comment

It’s the season when Hollywood breaks out the movies to bring on that itch to get married. Coincidence that most engagements take place between Christmas and Valentine’s Day, and that there’s usually a matching break-out bunch of rom-coms featuring diamond sparklers and lacy veils around the same time? Maybe, but I don’t think so. Here are a few of the Wedding themed films/TV entertainment coming out this December:

The Big Wedding – this one looks like it might be a Big Hit!

Cheerful Weather For The Wedding – a “will she or won’t she?” set in 1930s England
The “Royal Pains” Wedding Episode – a 2 hour extended episode of your fave handsome MD in The Hamptons’ adventures
The Big Wedding – a star studded (we’re talking Robert DeNiro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon and a slate of young guns too) remake of a French wedding comedy about a not-so-happy couple keeping up appearances at their son’s wedding.

There are certainly more. Keep your eyes peeled for dresses, bouquets and other ideas that spin your wheels. Hollywood wedding inspiration, take 1!

Be well, and love well.

Dinah

Filed Under: celebrity weddings, event planning, relationships, Wedding planning, weddings Tagged With: Christmas, Diane Keaton, England, Hamptons, Hollywood, hollywood wedding, movie wedding, Palm Springs Florist, Palm Springs wedding planner, Robert DeNiro, Royal Pains, Valentine's Day, wedding movies

The My Little Flower Shop Blog is now featured on Dwellable.com!

November 20, 2012 By Dinah 2 Comments

Palm Springs is definitely a prime vacation spot. We’ve got fantastic hotels and resorts, but did you know we’re also chock-full of vacation rentals for folks who want to rent for longer term stays? And for local businesses, we certainly want to encourage visitors to stay, play and SHOP! So where do people look to find vacation rentals in the area? Dwellable.com!

Dwellable.com is a fun, easy to navigate website that compiles area vacation rentals for a growing number of resort areas, including Palm Springs. And now, My Little Flower Shop is one of their featured blogs

! We’re looking forward to helping entice more vacationers (destination brides & grooms!) to our beautiful valley with many blog posts to come.

Check out the site, and all they have to offer!

Be well, and love well.

-Dinah

Filed Under: advice, event planning, humor, Palm Springs, weddings Tagged With: Dinah, Dwellable.com, My Little Flower Shop, Palm Springs, Palm Springs California, Palm Springs Florist, Palm Springs wedding planner, Travel, United States, vacation rental, wedding

Bridesmaids & Groomsmen’s Gifts – Avoid Envy!

November 19, 2012 By Dinah Leave a Comment

I’ll never forget a wedding rehearsal dinner I attended where the proud groom beamed as his groomsmen opened their gifts: (then brand-new to the market) ipod shuffles! I stole a glance at the bride across the room gifting garnet jewelry to her dearest friends, matching the maroon dresses they’d wear the next day. Dresses they’d paid dearly for, and would likely be on their way to Goodwill within 48 hours of the bouquet toss.

Gifts that mean something will touch Bridesmaids more than matchy matchy jewelry.

The groomsmen were gleeful as they tore open the little boxes from Apple like kids on Christmas morning, and high-fived one another. The girls sat drinking champagne quietly. Let this be a lesson, brides. Chances are, your bridesmaids already own lovely jewelry they can wear to your wedding. So what if it isn’t matchy matchy? They’ll all show a bit of personality. That leaves you free to give them something that really reflects how much you care, and is not made of Swarovski crystal. Best of all, you get to see your girls high-fiving at your rehearsal dinner. Christmas morning here we come!

Be well and love well,

Dinah

Filed Under: advice, event planning, humor, Palm Springs, weddings Tagged With: Apple ipod, bride, Christmas, Dinah, groomsman, humor, IPad, Los Angeles, Palm Springs California, Palm Springs event planner, Palm Springs Florist, Palm Springs wedding planner, Rehearsal dinner, wedding

Trend Alert! Justin & Jessica Celeb Wedding Trends! Oh, How Wedding Journalists Annoy me!

October 31, 2012 By Dinah 1 Comment

So I’m flipping through the LA Times and I see that they’ve shoe-horned a little wedding section into the paper this past Sunday. It’s your usual assortment of articles, the charming quirky dress saleswoman at Saks, the etiquette of putting photos on Instagram, nothing that those of us who actually make our living doing this haven’t written about a hundred times. But there was one piece that really stuck out. It was the obligatory “What’s new & hot in weddings” article. It illustrates my whole problem with the idea of “hot wedding ideas”

Titled “Weddings from a Simpler Time,” the piece describes the “boho chic” trend, and discusses such elements as mason jar centerpieces, wildflowers, picnic tables, and popularity of the craft marketplace Etsy.

Love the boho chic mason jar look? So do we! We don’t care if it’s trendy, we want your wedding beautiful and you happy.

Um, LA Times? 2010 called and wants its wedding trend article back. They write that “one out of every four weddings in 2011″ had this vintage type theme. Are they aware that we are approaching the end of 2012? Don’t they know editors have moved on to Roaring Twenties/ Great Gatsby weddings? Here’s my take- it’s still beautiful, whether or not it’s “popular”

Now if you read this blog, you know how I feel about trends. Basically, they are all well and good, but I really think brides should have weddings they and their partners love, not that are dictated to them by the editors of magazines. And this article goes to show why! They often have no idea what they are talking about. The people who see the trends as they develop in the field are the designers (hint – us)! We can help you find the pieces of what’s new that fit into a look you already love to keep your wedding fresh and unique. So this Halloween, read the magazines, just keep in mind they aren’t sent from on high. As the LA Times demonstrates, sometimes they are the ghosts of wedding trends past! And who believes ghosts should design your wedding? No one.

Live well, and love well.

Dinah

Filed Under: advice, humor, Palm Springs, weddings Tagged With: Classic Party Rentals, Dinah, Halloween, Instagram, My Little Flower Shop, Palm Springs California, Palm Springs Florist, Palm Springs wedding planner, Relationships, wedding, wedding trends, Weddings

The Wedding Planner Goes To A Wedding

September 28, 2012 By Dinah Leave a Comment

I have to go to a wedding this weekend – as a guest. At one point in my career in events I moaned “Why can’t I ever just go and be a guest?” but these days I actually feel kind of uneasy at a wedding without a timeline in my hands, or a headset in my ear. I’m the ultimate accessory at this shindig – a groomsman’s wife. So while my husband stands up looking handsome in his suit and tie, the poor bride, bless her heart, will have an event professional perched on a folding chair analyzing her celebration. It has nothing to do with her – she’s a perfectly lovely girl. It’s a hazard of the profession that parties and weddings I attend personally (and didn’t have a hand in planning) become case studies. Sometimes I come away with brilliant, unique ideas. Other times, things are woefully underplanned, and it’s painful to watch. Even then, I end up making notes and learning a thing or two.

English: Wedding Planning also includes table ...

Picture me here – this weekend.

So I guess in the end, when you work in the event industry, anytime you go to an event, guess what? It’s work. So to paraphrase seven little men, “Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to the wedding I go!”

I’ll be sure to share lessons learned and/or brilliant ideas.

Be well, and love well

Dinah

Filed Under: event planning, humor, weddings Tagged With: bride, Consultants and Coordinators, event planning, Palm Springs Florist, Palm Springs wedding planner, Relationships, United States, wedding, wedding planner, Weddings

Family Holiday Advice from My Little Flower Shop, Palm Springs florist

September 18, 2012 By Dinah 2 Comments

You know those movies about wacky families that really love reach other under all the craziness? Well, Julia Louis Dreyfuss may not be cooking your High Holiday brisket, and Jane Lynch may not be sorting the sweet potato casserole recipes that will end up on your Thanksgiving table, but the sweet families on the silver screen aren’t that different from yours.

Here’s how I know. One of the men who invented the entertainment industry as we know it, Louis B. Mayer, was the son of a scrap metal dealer who became the most powerful man in Hollywood. Mayer would tell people his birthday was the Fourth of July because he was fiercely patriotic. He wanted America to be all marching bands, fireworks and apple pie. So that’s what he put in the movies. He created the images we all associate with our culture and our country.

English: Apple pie. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These days, filmmakers continue to put their dreams and ideals on screen, but in a more modern way. We see their crazy families, but with softer edges, a lot of humor and a sympathetic eye. And there’s frequently a happy ending. With some good dialogue, could that be your Aunt Phyllis instead of Shirley MacLaine? Can you soften the lens this holiday season to see your family more as human beings who love you and less like a clown car full of confused commuters? I bet you can. Remember, Louis B. Mayer created his own reality. Think more apple pie, less fireworks.