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Oceans of Love was the theme for a wedding reception that took place in Malibu at the edge of the Pacific Ocean but played upon a color scheme popular on an island in the Atlantic -- Cuba. And of course, Oceans of Love also referred to the waves of love for the couple, Tanya and Jared that was showered on them on their special day.

But we get ahead of ourselves...

The story actually begins several years ago when Pauline Parry, owner of Good Gracious! Events, and Heidi Vail, mother of the bride, and a caterer herself (Heidi's Events and Catering in Tempe, Arizona) met and became friends through their affiliation with the International Caterers Association. When Tanya and Jared became engaged and it was clear that the wedding would be in the Los Angeles area (his family is from LA, plus it's hot, hot, hot in Arizona in the summer!) they knew they wanted to work with Good Gracious! Events for planning, design and catering of the wedding.

"Both Heidi and Tanya had lots of great ideas and knew what they wanted," Pauline says. "I took their inspirations and brought them to life."

The day began with a ceremony at St. Monica's Cathedral in Santa Monica where Tanya and Jared were married.


Wait! Let's get a close up of those blue Christian Dior stunners peeking out from Tanya's amazing dress...


After cocktails at the Loews Hotel also in Santa Monica, the couple and their guests were transported along historic Pacific Coast Highway in style ...

... where they arrived at the edge of the Pacific Ocean at the Adamson House in Malibu ...



When we said close to the ocean, we meant it! This is the world-famous stretch of Malibu beach where Gidget cut her surfing chops and which has been the site of many a movie.

This photo also shows the placecards which were color coordinated with the tables and in keeping with our hot Cuban color scheme.

More about the venue...


The Adamson House is located, as we've said, right on the beach. It's best known for its gorgeous tile work and its quintessential Southern California Spanish-style architecture. While events can only take place on the property, not inside the house, tours of the house are offered for events during cocktail hour. It's well worth timing your event before sunset to guests can see the house.

Back to Tanya and Jared's reception at The Adamson House!

Upon arrival, guests were greeted by servers with trays of champagne and martinis, both garnished with edible hibiscus flowers. They were led back to the fountain area of the house overlooking the ocean.


The band, already in full swing, was dressed in white dinner jackets; the ladies in black sequin gowns. The dance floor was surrounded by Havana-style lounge furniture and cocktail tables.

We wanted this area to reflect and enhance the colors of the ocean and the sunset over it so our main colors in the cocktail area were saffire blue, emerald green and a wallop of dazzling hot orange.

Tray-passed appetizers (see menu below) as well as a roving cart were served during cocktail hour. We also had two identical stations that allowed guests to build their own shrimp cocktail. Guests could choose from traditional cocktail sauce, chimichurri, olive tapenade, pesto or grain mustard aioli in vintage champagne bowls.


At 7 p.m., guests were invited to their tables. The tables were "square draped" in sand-colored hem-stitched linen from Wildflower Linen. There were four tables of each color -- fuschia, purple, green, yellow and orange -- with matching flowers by Flower Dec, napkins and chair seats by Chameleon Chair Collection and chair ribbons by Wildflower.


A California Oak tree stood over the seating area. In its branches we placed hanging lanterns and soft ambient lighting along with votive candles placed at each table. The overall feeling was one of warmth and serenity.

Wine was poured as guests found their seats and settled in for a memorable dinner amid oceans of love.


Of course, the serenity of the moment gave no clue of the activity that went on only hours before. Because The Adamson House is a State Historical Site and open to the public, all work had to be done after it closed which was at 2 p.m. Guests were to arrive at 5 p.m. This gave the armies of vendors three hours to create three completely different areas.

You could say that we descended upon the venue like a tidal wave in order to create Oceans of Love!


Dessert was served in the courtyard with a buffet as well as this amazing wedding cake.



The bridesmaid's bouquets taking a well-deserved -- and very photogenic -- break.

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