french anemone bouquet

Months ago the lovely  Laura Cassidy of Seattle Metropolitan Bride and Groom invited me to design a bouquet based on fashion!  You all know how I LOVE to design when given a piece of inspiration, so to be given some photos of floral fashion seemed like a ton of fun!  I was the first to pick, so I of course picked bolf, lush, colorful – not knowing that Laura wanted ALL those colors in there.  Here at Bella, my designs are known for amazing.  One fo the things that makes us stand out is HOW we use color – playing colors off of each other to make them  almost luminescent!  I prefer analogous color palettes, (color next to each other on the colorwheel), so when the specs for this photoshoot came in (blue, purple, fuchsia, orange and green – all in ONE bouquet!) I have to admit, I was a bit worried!

The morning of the photoshoot, as I was creating the bouquet, it all fell into place…I found the most stunning orange poppies, the coolest blue thistles, and this amazing green pine that had the most amazing cascading feel to it…The neat things about photoshoots and designing something based on purely an inspirational item is that you get to allow creativity to come in naturally, and that because if this, you see things around you differently.  Had I been given a picture by a bride with the instructions “replicate this”, the creativity , and therefore the piece itself, would undoubtedly been less innovative.  What do you think?

Wish Upon a Wedding Seattle held it’s Launch Party Thursday night at the fabulous Pravda studios.  If you missed it, you missed a fabulous event, some ah-mazing delectables from our awesome sponsors, a roomful of wonderful people, SWEET swag bags and of course, the chance to hear all about Wish Upon a Wedding.  (and of course, my amazing decor.  But more on that in a minute!)

It’s no secret that I adore Pravda’s space – as a designer, a blank white loft space is creative bliss. We took the WUW logo colors of aquamarine and chartreuse (yes, I got to use my favorite color!), and so that our launch party didn’t look like every other WUW launch party across the country, I decided to add in a pop of tangerine. (especially since I refuse to use turquoise flowers).

Yum.  Add in some great lounge furniture (thank you, Pravda), Linens from ABC Party Rentals AND Prestige Linens (who overnighted linens to us -  at no charge.  WOW.) and we had some great tables and seating.

As the owner of Bella, we of course had to be a major sponsor (since as President of WUW I’m not allowed to donate to the weddings), and I had a blast with the florals and styling of dessert tables.

Ah, the desserts.  To be different and fun, we decided to offer a sumptuous selection of sweets.  Where to start?  Trophy Cupcakes (as seen on Martha Stewart) not only offered insanely delicious cupcakes like Red Velvet and Margarita, they matched them to the WUW logo colors.  YES!  Having worked with them many times, they know I’ll go as far as bringing in color chips to match the icing too…the right hue can be critical!!

Judy Tallant of Tallant House created an entire table of dessert bites of every concoction, Gourmondo Catering brought delightful cookies, and I even got to cut a WUW wedding cake from the generous Celebrity Cake Studio.

Many Seattle area vendors donated to the swagbags each new WUW wish grantor received, from Microsoft, to Bon Bon Confections, and event the Seattle Aquarium.

Thank you Tania at Azzura for the fabulous photos!!  It’s always fabulous to work with you!

The best part of the evening was seeing Seattle Wedding vendors out in full force, ready to be a part of such an amazing organization.  After a slideshow, my little speech, and a stunning video by Edit1Media, our registration table was abuzz.

Thank you, Seattle.  Let’s make some wishes come true!!

A few weeks ago, Bella Signature Design was part of one the most amazing ceremonies!  Recently Sasha Souza contacted me about Wish Upon A Wedding, and asked me to be President of the Seattle chapter. (Read Bella’s blog post about Wish Upon A Wedding here).

After creating our board of directors, we had our first board meeting on April 15th, and literally an hour after this meeting, our first wish came in. Normally, WUW operates by finding vendors who want to be involved and having  them ready to go when a wish comes in, but since this was an urgent wish and we were just starting, it was a hectic week!

In less then 10 days our amazing Volunteer Coordinators found Shelly and Jay a custom wedding gown, a beautiful venue to match Shelly’s dream, flowers, music, and more.  (for a list of all the vendors, look below).  Shelly, who has terminal metastatic lymphoma, was so happy to finally marry her love, Jay: they met 10 years ago when she was his caretaker as he was  undergoing a stem cell transplant due to MS.  Now he takes care of her, and they have wanted to marry for a while, until illness and medical expenses got in the way.

On a misty Sunday, that miraculously cleared at the beginning of the ceremony, some of Seattle’s most giving wedding vendors gathered to create this once of a lifetime wedding for Shelly and Jay.  WUW board members came as well, and helped serve food, create butterfly mobile’s (which was Shelly’s theme), helped  with putting flowers together, and welcoming guests. The ceremony was under a flower graced pergola, with beautiful lilacs, viburnum, roses and amaranthus.  Shelly and Jay shared their vows with their closes friends and family, and then headed to the decorated tent to celebrate.  It was an honor to be a part of this day!

Don’t forget about our Wish Upon a Wedding Launch Party May 27th

at the fabulous Pravda Studios – a Swanky cocktail party NOT to miss!

Vendors from the most recent WUW wedding – THANK YOU!!!

Sanders Mansion

Melody Davis of MGDavis Events (Planning)

Jaimie Cordero of Flourish in Tacoma (Ceremony flowers)

Edit 1 Media (Video)

KCB Photography (Photography)

Leslie Wheatley with Seattle Parties (DJ)

International recording artist Enrique Henao (Ceremony Music)

Brassfield’s Salon & Spa (Hair Styling)

Michael Bride (make-up)

Mary Ellen Tuttle of La Votre Bridal Couture (Custom Bridal Gown)

AA Party Rentals (Tent & rentals)

Choice Linens (linens)

Gayle at All About Weddings (Menu’s)

Sweets, Treats & Designs (candy bar)

KISS Wedding Books (Wedding Photo Album)

Act 3 Catering (Catering)

One of our favorite couples, Staci and Brett, were featured in Get Married Magazine in the current issue.

Staci and Brett were so fun and creative, so in love – it was one of our most vibrant weddings ever!

Congrats to Staci and Brett! We will be showing more pictures from this wedding next week, so stay tuned!

On our recent adventure to Vancouver, Canada to design for Grace Ormonde Wedding Style, I met the most amazing talent: Reine, of Reine Weddings.  As the photographer chosen by Grace Ormonde to do the photoshoot at the Vancouver Club for Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine, she contacted me to see what I was going to design.  She was all at once professional, insanely stylish, amazingly talented and just down right cool AND sweet.  During the shoot she was creative and patient, everything from opening the windows in the ballroom to get the curtains to billow inside the room to  throwing in background pieces – you could see she had a vision, and she was going after it, all while making everyone feel super relaxed.  She was shooting in Medium format, which you don’t see as much anymore, and the results are stunning (we can’t post any pictures until the magazine publishes, but it will be so worth it!)  In order to also have some digitals, she invited some photographers along to shoot along with her – how many photographers trust others on that kind of shoot?

I am enamored by her photography – something about it speaks to me!  Her work is edgy and cool, with an editorial, yet warm and joyful flair. Some pictures are incredibly classic, while others just feel very… authentic. A few are super sexy and raw.  While those evoked feelings may not speak to you, my point is this: if you are in the process of picking a photographer for your wedding, THAT is how you should feel when you see wedding photo portfolios. You should see a photographers work – their art, their vision, and it should make you swoon, it should make you want to say, “I want YOU to take pictures of me!”  Keep looking until you find someone that evokes that feeling inside you.  (Heh, and same goes for the floral and decor – I’ll be happy to evoke those feelings in you!!!)

What do you think? What do these images evoke in you?  Whose work makes you FEEL?

I always love browsing through Style Me Pretty’s blog, there is such a great variety of designs, weddings, and ideas showcased everyday!  We were of course delighted to have one of our favorite weddings, the October Wedding of Marissa and Dean on Fox Island, showcased! Thanks,   Style Me Pretty Little Black Book blog! (For more pictures of this lovely wedding, shot by the fabulous Mindcastle studios, click on the SMP link!)

A few weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of designing for Grace Ormonde herself.  Grace Ormonde Wedding Style is one of the most elegant, sumptuous wedding style magazines in the world.  Brides and wedding vendors alike pour over Wedding Style’s pages the moment it arrives on newsstands.  So of course, the minute Grace invited me to design a tabletop for her Vancouver Book Launch Party, my head started spinning with designs!!  The ‘point of inspiration’ I was given by the Grace Ormonde team was to be inspired by a “cultural wedding,”  so of course I started thinking in bright beautiful colors, unique details and lush linens while still keeping with my ‘modern lush’ design aesthetic.  Once the magazine publishes, we will able to release all the photos that the amazing Reine and her photo team took, but for now,  you can see the wonderful video taken by Seattle’s own Cabfare Productions of all the stunning tabletops, interviews with Grace and executive editor Yanni, and some of the designers.  The best place to see the video?  Well, Bella Signature Designs own Youtube Channel, of course!

Enjoy, and come back here to let us know what you think!!!

At Bella Signature Design we have been creating exquisite Indian weddings, as well as Persian, Eritrean and other cultural weddings, for some time. Perhaps it is my love of culturally infused events, our  talent with color, or our staff’s enthusiasm for embracing weddings that aren’t our everyday wedding design.  Whatever the reason may be, we attract a large number of cultural weddings every year, much to my delight.  I’ve traveled and studied garland making to make my own Varmala and Mandap garlands, and even recently learned how to fold ribbon the traditional way for the barat (an indian wedding tradition where the groom arrives on horse or elephant with his family dancing around him).  I am incredibly thrilled to announce the opening of Varmala, a wedding design firm dedicated to cultural weddings up and down the West Coast.  Based in Seattle, we have done events from Vancouver to Los Angeles.  We are excited to continue to grow this new firm with fabulous rentals specific to the needs of cultural weddings, from Mandaps, Agni fire bowls, seating, Sofreh’s and more, which will be available to any of our clients who hire us to design their wedding. So whether you are celebrating a Hindu wedding, a Persian/french fusion wedding or simply want your event to feel like one, Varmala’s full service design  is available to create for you.

Want to see more?  Check out the new Varmala website at www.Varmala.net

Bella Signature Design is proud to announce the launch of our brand new YouTube channel! The Bella Signature Design YouTube channel offers exclusive insight into what we do, from inspiration to actual creation. Bella’s YouTube channel will include behind the scenes looks into photo shoots, events, and even Daniela Isabella’s inspirations for the designs she creates.  Scheduled first are a few behind the scenes looks into photoshoots, including an exclusive video showcasing our work for Grace Ormonde Wedding Style.  Eye candy in the form of Real Weddings will also be featured, so be ready to be inspired!  We hope that these videos will offer a source of inspiration for brides and grooms as well as a better understanding of the creative process behind Bella Signature Design. This has been something that we have wanted to do for quite a while and we are very excited to share it with you! Videos will be uploaded as they are released and we hope you will subscribe, leave comments, and check back regularly for new video uploads. Just follow the link to the new Bella Signature Design channel on YouTube. Enjoy!!

It has been a few weeks since I posted.  At times, that creative spirit goes into overdrive and I could lock myself into the studio and create 24/7.  Lately, it’s been a mixture of creating new and exciting proposals for clients, actual designs for magazine editors, and a few designs for non-profit events.  In the past few months, I’ve created some of my best work ever for my clients, pushing myself to take it up a notch each time, to create designs that are personal, stunning, and meaningful.  I’ve finally achieved a long-time goal and got to create a tabletop for Grace Ormonde herself, which was very fulfilling – that will be it’s own separate post!  I’ve been surrounded by colorful swatches of linens, exposed to new and exciting flowers, learned from some amazing people.  I’m ready to create away this season, and am feeling absolutely exhilarated.  My clients get me, AND my art.  Each client, each experience, pushes me and inspires me as a designer, not only to constantly create something new, but to make it meaningful for my client and their experience.  It’s that passion to create something meaningful, something beautiful that inspires me.  And having found some new inspiration lately myself, I hope to use my passion and exhiliration to go even further with it every day.  Thank you for allowing me to create beauty in your lives.