Have you ever dreamt of becoming an event designer? Or if you are an event designer, are you in need of some fine tuning? Well, its your lucky duck day, because Angel of Love and Splendor Workshops is pretty much your event planning fairy godmother. With a few waves of her magical design wand, your design dreams will come true. She hosts a yearly workshop geared toward aspiring + current planners and designers... anyone who wants to learn how to start + grow + elevate a wedding business and just announced her 2015 workshop dates! We cannot emphasize how incredible this workshop is for you creatives (there realy is no emoji to do it justice). Let us walk you through the foot stompin, soul healin' times of last years workshop.

The Workshop Experience - Stop #1: Welcome Dinner The Salon at Heriloom LA 

Here is a peek into what you will experience by attending.

This was the INCREDIBLE experience for the 15 lucky ladies who signed up for last years workshop. Gents, fear not, you are more than welcome to attend this as well. 

"I kicked off the 2014 Love & Splendor Workshop with a welcome dinner at The Salon — the private tasting room of Heirloom LA.  They are set apart in the industry as champions for sustainable, local, & organic foods. They put together beautiful menus that feature the best of the season. I knew I wanted to share the intimate “tasting” experience with my attendees for this welcome workshop, so there was no better setting than the The Salon." 

The Design Lessons 

Angel embraced a black & white palette for this event, with a slight “newspaper” influence. Because the color palette was a two tone limted combo, she brought in lots of layers, patterns, and textures to add visual interest.  Menus read, “Extra! Extra! Eat all about it!” and were formatted in columns like a page out of the newspaper. A chalkboard was covered with modern b&w typography prints featuring inspirational quotes, offering uplifting “headlines.”  A geometric b&w patterned rug from Found was added to anchor in the room, along with a black dining table and industrial bar cart for the welcome drinks.

La Tavola‘s abstract b&w patterned runners and napkins made the perfect statement on the tabletops flanked by opaque  goblets from Casa de Perrin, with white chargers, and ebony flatware. Carissa from JL Designs topped tables with white bud vases filled with b&w textured blooms. When hosting a foodie event it is important to design around the fact that the tables will fill up quickly with food! The petite floral pieces added just the right amount of height and interest to the tables. Placesettings were noted with placecards hand-lettered by calligrapher, Anne Robin.  

As the attendees arrived they were offered a beautiful hand-crafted drink. They noshed at one of Heirloom’s signature crostini stations: a feast for the senses brimming with artisan cured meats, fresh milk cheeses, olives, organic pickled vegetables, 

The Workshop Experience - Day #2: Ace Hotel, Los Angeles 

"I was so thrilled to host my first workshop at the Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. For this initial experience, I was looking for a venue that was centrally located (in LA), stylish, with fabulous in-house dining (knowing that breakfasts and lunches would take place there).  The Ace in DTLA fit the bill perfectly.  I was very pleased with everything from the space to the service and loved hosting my workshop there!  I had a good number of attendees staying on-site (from as far away as Greece and Canada, and three US states) which made it extra convenient, too." - Angel, Love & Splendor Workshop

Angel set the workshop up in Segovia Hall (the main meeting space at the Ace DTLA) and brightened up the industrial-inspired space with colorful La Tavola runners punctuated with coral charm peonies (one of my favorite blooms of all time).  Thee workshop logo on the gift bags by Julie Song Ink prominently features this very bloom!  Each guest was greeted with a placecard penned by Anne Robin. 

Bonus!

Check out the swag that you will get if you attend . Each guest had a a custom tote bag hanging from their chair, filled with a collection of curated gifts including:

Classroom Crash Course

The first day classroom topics were: starting your business, contracts, attracting and booking the clients you want, building strong vendor relationships, handling paperwork, branding, social media, and more. Attendees learned while munching on a delish breakfast of soft scrambled eggs, a seasonal frittata, bacon, chorizo, and a decadent waffle station. YUM! If only school was that cool right?! 

Angel also had some guest speakers including Jen Campbell of Green Wedding Shoes and film photographer Ryan Ray.

The Workshop Experience - Day #3: Ace Hotel, Los Angeles 

At this portion of the workshop, attendees were given a more in depth view into the design process. Angel and Carissa of JL Designs showcased an inspiration-to-reality tabletop. This gave the attendees a glimpse of the creative process, and how Angel works with a client in pulling together various elements and ideas and produce a cohesive design that WOWs.  

For this special tabletop, Angel was drawn to Delftware and the iconic white and blue patterns of traditional Delft pottery. With Carissa’s help, they designed a table that was Dutch-inspired, mixing in things like mango and acacia wood, monobotanical arrangements of blooms (many indigenous to the region of inspiration) and modern candlesticks.  I loved the way the table looked and felt: layered, textural, lush and feminine yet natural and almost pastoral… with a breath of fresh modernity.  

The foundation was created by a gorgeous wooden farm table from found vintage rentals, set atop a gorgeous blue rug and surrounded by unique but complementary wooden chairs.  The table was topped with the most beautiful blue garden collection china by Casa de Perrin.  Chic teak flatware kept the tabletop from looking too traditional, as did the mix of floral vessels (traditional pottery mixed with the clean lines of the wood bowls). Cut crystal and dark blue goblets, along with sparkling salt cellars, added the perfect finishing touches to each setting.  La Tavola‘s linen in Wedgewood was the perfect shade of inky blue to create an “anchor” with a runner and napkins. There were even hand-painted macarons by Sweet and Saucy to match; exquisite!  The design lesson was wrapped up with a Q & A session. Too fun!

Now on to the next! Can you belive this workshop?! Talk about bang for your buck! 

The Workshop Experience - Day #4: The Washbow, Culver City

For this special farewell dinner, Angel surprsied attendees with this stunning setup! Can you imagine after four fun-filled days of learning and meeting new friends, to be able to just show up to this VIP dinner?!  Angel didn’t even reveal the dinner location until the night of the event itself! SO FUN. She provided direct transportation for my attendees to keep the excitement high. With the help of us at The Venue Report, she hosted it The Washbow. 

This modern gem in Culver City has a sprawling indoor space that is an ideal blank canvas for any event.  For the intimate style of this dinner, however, they decided to keep the festivities outside in the beautiful urban garden space.  There is a striking metal “pergola” on-site at the Washbow that was perfect for hanging charming bistro lights, along with foliage-draped chandeliers from JL Designs.  It

Gifts Galore!

To foster conversation and a feeling of camaraderie, we all sat down to one feasting table (made up of multiple wooden tables from Found Rentals) in beautiful bentwood chairs.Casa de Perrin tabletop wares stole the show in a variety of textures: walnut florentine chargers as a base, white collection china, gold flatware and a mix of red and cut crystal goblets for an extra pop on the tables. The look was unabashedly luxurious while still feeling accessible. Each seat was set with a wooden box filled with curated treasures like a name tag by Anne Robin, travel candle from Rosy Rings, beautiful matches, my homemade gluten free granola packed into Weck Jars, handmade Malvi marshmallows and Solstice Canyon almond butter. Yes, more gifts!! 

Heirloom LA blew everyone away with a phenomenal family style meal featuring all the best the season had to offer: a red grapefruit salad with speckled lettuces, fresh figs and sunflower seeds; grilled coho salmon and crispy pork belly served alongside roasted root vegetables and a warm sunchoke salad.  

"I loved looking up and down the table, watching new friends share in this meal together.  It was magical.  Heirloom LA put together a decadent mini dessert display, accented by ice cream cakes made by Sweet and Saucy Shop with Sweet Lucie’s ice cream (what a collaboration, right??).  My friends from Sweet Lucie’s even came out with their signature cart to scoop their ice cream in person. Guests mingled in stylish lounges by Found Rentals and hopped in and out of the fun Flipbooth (a photobooth that prints out perfect flipbooks!) until we had to say farewell." - Angel, Love & Splendor Workshops

Are you in awe of this experience yet? 

Now for the announcement... You can join in on the next one! Angel just released tickets for a stunning workshop in San Luis Obispo! If you’re interested in learning more about how to start, build, elevate and nurture your own wedding/event planning business, you should really join her for the next Love & Splendor Workshop taking place this fall, September 14-17, 2015, in beautiful San Luis Obispo!  Save the date!  Registration JUST opened! Head here for details. 

All Images: Ryan Ray Photography

WHEN/WHERE: Monday, September 14th thru Thursday, September 17th at Greengate Ranch and Vineyards in San Luis Obispo, California

WHO: Aspiring and current wedding planners and designers of all experience levels, as well as other event creatives who want to learn more about how to run a productive, profitable, passion-driven business.  Last year Angel had  floral designers, stationers, calligraphers and bakers in attendance at the workshop.  The material can be adapted to many different creative entrepreneurs.

WORKSHOP SPEAKERS + COLLABORATORS: This year’s line up includes Angel Swanson, film photographer Ryan Ray, Jeni of Found Rentals, Diana and Josh of Casa de Perrin, Jesi Haack of Jesi Haack Design, Melody of Sweet and Saucy Shop, Emarie VanGalio of La Tavola Linen and Theoni Collection, and MORE to be announced... 

Head here for more details and the registration link!