The Venue Vixens {Check it Out}

We are super happy and excited to announce the launch of our fabulous new team, The Venue Vixens!  We Vixens are four professional, experienced and, if we may say so, amazing wedding planners who have come together to offer our take on some of the coolest lesser-known venues in the area.  Our goal is to showcase these venues and provide some of the most important details about them in order to help you plan your next event.  How do we make this happen?  We take on all the legwork; we personally visit the venues and talk with owners and event managers.  With our combined years of experience and different areas of expertise, we evaluate each property for its strengths and weaknesses and ask those questions that are vital for event planning.  We feel that we are providing a truly amazing service, and we hope that you take advantage of it the next time you are planning a special event!

So who are The Venue Vixens?  Our A-Team of planners includes Lora Ward of A Day to Remember, Kendra Pfeiffer-Wershing of Pfeiffer Event Planning, Laurie Shmalzel of The Center at Twenty-Three Hundred, and of course yours truly, Catrina Arcularius of Catrina Maria Event Planning and Design.  These ladies know a lot about event planning and each brings a fresh eye and a different perspective to the venues we visit.  So check us out at www.thevenuevixens.com and let us help you find the perfect venue for your next event!

Thank you to Beth Baugher of True Love Photography for such great photos of the Vixens!

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

Garden Wedding at Young’s Vineyard {Sneak Peek}

A sneak peek of Stephanie and Raul’s wedding at Young’s Vineyard in Plymouth, with a beautiful outdoor reception beneath a canopy of lights, a super fun photo booth with props, and lots of delicious desserts.  We’ll have more on this beautiful evening soon!

Read Full Post »

An Elegant Affair at David Girard Vineyards

Morgan and Brandon (who are sweet and shy and absolutely lovely together) had a gorgeous day surrounded by the sweeping views of David Girard Vineyards in Placerville.  The ceremony was absolutely incredible!  Millington Strings classical ensemble played as Morgan was driven up to the ceremony site by her father in a rare red and white vintage car. All Seasons All Reasons catered the event, providing delicious food and top-notch service, while DJ TJ of the Entertainment Team was great as the evening’s MC.  The white reception tent at David Girard was personalized with eggplant and ivory satin draping by CMC Events, florist Debbie put together knock-out centerpieces and bouquets, and Cake and Candy Specialties created the cake.  Mark Lydell Photography captured the day on film, including lots of kisses between our bride and groom!  Congratulations Morgan and Brandon, you two are the sweetest!

Beautiful shot of the David Girard tasting room and pond.The stunning Bride – we love the expression on her face!Gotta love groomsmen and their sunglasses!  Of course, yours truly had to snatch them before the wedding and try to fit all 9 pairs of them into one teeny-tiny apron pocket.  We seriously need to consider bringing a “Groomsmen’s Sunglasses” basket with us to every wedding…Love love love this shot of the Mother of the Bride displaying her locket pictures of herself and her lovely newborn daughter.  How can you look at this and not tear up?!It is such a meaningful moment when the Father of the Bride sees his daughter for the first time on the wedding day.  There are few things more touching.

We love these last few pics of the Bride and Groom!  What a beautiful couple, don’t you think?

Thank you again to Mark Lydell Photography for all these stunning images, and to Morgan and Brandon and their families for allowing us to play a part in their day!

CMC Draping, Mark Lydell Photography, All Seasons All Reasons Catering, TJ (Entertainment Team), Millington Strings, Cake and Candy Specialists, Florist Debbie

Read Full Post »

The Bewildered Bride-to-Be…

OK, things are about to get a little more personal around here.  If you’ve been following our blog you might know that I (Marianna, the youngest of the sisters) recently got engaged to my high school sweetheart, Darwin.  Having worked with my sisters on weddings for a few years now I thought I had a pretty good idea of what it meant to be a “bride-to-be.”  I thought that, knowing everything that I know about weddings, planning my own wedding would be a snap.  Let me tell you, that has not been the case.  Sure, I know how a wedding should flow, what does and does not work when getting 150+ people to your reception, and what exactly a MOH is responsible for.  What I didn’t know was how all that knowledge changes when you’re thinking about your own wedding.  You could be the most organized, knowledgeable, on-top-of-things bride imaginable and all this planning would still be COMPLICATED.

Now that I know what it’s like to be on the flip side of this crazy adventure we call wedding planning, I want to share the things that puzzle, frustrate, and sometimes completely exhaust me.  It’s amazing how much has already come up in these first few months of being engaged!  I want to share my the things I’ve been “bewildered” about and the solutions I’ve come up with in hopes that you other brides-to-be find answers to some of your own questions.  At the very least, I want to let all the ladies out there know that even a wedding planner finds all this to be a bit of a challenge!

So, the next time you feel like you’re about to tear your hair out over the font on your invitations or the color of your napkins, grab a margarita, put your feet up, and see if you’re bewildered about the same things I am!

‘Til next time,

Your Bride-to-Be, Marianna

Read Full Post »

Grand Opening Recap

We had such a great time at the grand opening parties for our new studio space in downtown Sacramento!  We celebrated on Thursday night and on Second Saturday with great food from Tres Hermanas (get it? tres hermanas…three sisters), delicious homemade sangria, and lots of fabulous company!!  We were so happy that so many people came to check out our new space and celebrate with us – check out all of our photos from the events below.

Our new space!

Yet another incarnation of the glass-topped table

Catrina and the lovely ladies of 2Chic Events

The three sisters – Mairead, Catrina, and Marianna

Thank you to everyone who came out to support us, we can’t wait to really begin using this fantastic space!

Read Full Post »

Grand Opening Celebration

This Thursday the three sisters here at Arcularius Events will be busy celebrating the grand opening of our new studio space in downtown Sacramento.  We’re sharing the space with Garden of Weedon Boutique Floral Design and Instruction and Jenn Bartell Photography and Design, which means our new space will practically be wedding planning heaven!  Moreover, Arcularius Events is undergoing a name change and will soon become Catrina Maria Event Planning & Design.  What better way to celebrate a new space and a new name than with a party?  The studio is at 2418 K Street in Sacramento, so feel free to stop by anytime between 5 and 10 PM to check out our new digs.  For those who can’t make it on Thursday our doors will be open for Second Saturday as well…that means there’s no excuse not to come!!

We hope to see you all there!!!
-Catrina, Marianna, and Mairead

Read Full Post »

The Knot Networking Bash, SF

The Knot: what bride-to-be doesn’t love it?  We totally love the Knot, too, and were ridiculously excited when we were picked as one of The Knot’s 2010 Best of Weddings vendors.  Besides all the warm fuzzies that we got from receiving this award, we also got to attend the 2010 Knot Networking Bash in what may be San Francisco’s coolest venue, the California Academy of Sciences.  We got to meet tons of wedding professionals from Northern California and learn all about what The Knot is up to, all while surrounded by the Academy’s gorgeous exhibits.  It was definitely a party to remember – check out all our pics from the event below!

The Academy was given a modern nightclub feel with chic lounge areas scattered around the building

We fell in love with the earthy centerpieces, which included lots of succulents and biodegradable pots, and which perfectly complemented the safari feel of the decorations

BBC did a fantastic job catering the event, offering fun specialty cocktails, delicious fresh finger food, and yummy cupcakes

All in all we had a wonderful time, met great people, and fell in love with The Knot even more!  Thanks again to all who nominated us for the 2010 Knot Best of Weddings!

Read Full Post »