Festival of Brides Show at Terranea

For every woman who has ever had a fantasy of a gazillion-dollar wedding, the Festival of Brides at Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes was fantasy-fuel of the most opulent kind. The magnificent displays were set up in the Grand Ballroom and when I first entered I was amazed at the towering floral displays arrayed everywhere. The flowers were so gorgeous. And nine feet tall.

I was heading to the display for Britica Designs, which is an event design and floral art studio. Artist Barbara Schaefer, of MyKickAssGlass, was displaying her Fantasy Goblets in the beautiful table settings created by Samuel Vanwert, event planner extraordinaire. Their table tops were throwing my brain into overdrive, thinking about what kind of food I would create to put on those plates. Check these out. Have you ever seen anything so gorgeous.

And then there were Barbara’s Fantasy Goblets that just make you groan and sigh because they are so beautiful. Sometimes the bride and groom use them for their wedding toast, or the whole wedding party will have them created to keep as a remembrance of their special celebration. Which one would you choose?

After photographing Britica’s displays, I took a walk around the ballroom. Everything seemed super-sized. As I said, the floral arrangements were nine feet tall. The chandelier was immense. The cake was towering. The custom-made wedding dress was hand-painted. The whole ballroom was a kaleidoscope of wonderful artistic creations.

The wedding portraits that hung on the walls in the photographer’s displays were six feet tall and looked like oil paintings you would hang over your fireplace. Each wedding photographer had videography of weddings playing continuously on huge flatscreen TVs, making the dimly lighted ballroom feel like a house of mirrors as I walked around. I would choose Figlewitz Photography to be the ones to record the special day of my wedding. (If I were to have one. You know what I mean.)

On the mezzanine outside the ballroom, artist Rich Flynn had his easel set up and was painting the long room in front of him in his amazing impressionistic style. He calls himself the “Painter of the Moment.” He said he will paint your wedding scene and leave you with a unique portrait of your special event. I watched him for quite a while; his canvases were very interesting.

And last, but not least, the Bridal Fashion Runway Show put on by Bridal Elegance Salon. It was hard for me to photograph these moving targets, so I apologize for the soft focus. The gowns were stunning.

Now it was time to leave Terranea, which faces west on the shore of the Pacific. There were beautiful ocean views out of all the huge windows as I made my way outside. As I walked toward my car, I took this photo of the view of the hill to the east of the resort. Southern California scenery.