Tag: abceyevents
Behind the Scenes: Adam & Amanda’s Tulum Destination Wedding!
Amanda Cey, CEO of ABCey Events, led the charge in planning her beautiful destination wedding this past May in Tulum, Mexico. Her special day took place at Casa Malca, with her closest family and friends. ABCey has the inside scoop on all the details that made Adam & Amanda’s wedding possible! To see our full portfolio, click here!
For as long as I can remember, I dreamed of getting married (along with almost every other little girl that has ever existed)! And, I always knew I wanted a destination wedding so that I could extend this dream into a long vacation for all! With 15 properties rented including 6 hotels and 9 private homes, we set to take over this yoga-esque bohemian beach town. Our arrival dinner began at Hartwood and Gitano, continued to El Tabano for our all white welcome party, and finished at the Papaya Playa Project for Sunday evening’s farewell dinner.
Event Planner/ Bride: Amanda Cey, ABCey Events
Adam and I met while living a few blocks from each other in Russian Hill, San Francisco. I was immediately drawn to his sense of humor, which I now know to be heavy sarcasm from his Bostonian upbringing! He made me laugh and as time went on I never wanted to leave his side. We had a rather long engagement (due to the birth of our daughter this past October), and were finally able to tie the knot on May 9th at an intimate beach-side estate called Casa Malca in Tulum, Mexico.
Venue: Casa Malca, Tulum, Mexico
It was silly to think that I could plan this event on my own (even being an event planner), with a newborn in tow, and in another country! I brought an assistant, the lovely Caitlyn McSorley and also hired Gwen Grosset, Destination Weddings Tulum to make sure everything ran smoothly on the ground!
Day of Coordinator: Caitlyn McSorley and Gwen Grosset
I fell in love with my “Octavia” Vera Wang dress from the Spring 2015 collection, but was unable to even try it on until just a few months before the wedding (I was 6 months pregnant by the time I saw it for the first time). I instantly fell in love with the disorder and edginess of the dress, but it was also so unique and organic which worked beautifully with the natural setting.
Dress: Vera Wang
Suit: Hugo Boss
Florals: Neil Hunt, Hunt Littlefield
Rentals: Planner 1 Events
The bridesmaids shined in a variety of blue hues that created an ombre effect when standing up at the altar, and looked gorgeous with the stunning ocean backdrop. There wasn’t really any overarching main theme, although blue tones dominated, along with ombre tones throughout (dresses, cake, tags, menu’s, etc), and lots of natural beachy elements to compliment the vibe.
Bridesmaids and Groomsmen:
Ombre Cake: Carolina Galarza, Chef Patissier
Rings: Pade Vavra
Jewelry: Ippolita
Barefoot Sandals: LoveMely
We brought close to 10 duffle bags of event decor that included everything from teal colored sand (so much for not bringing sand to the beach), driftwood, and sea shells (who has time to collect these the week of a wedding)? There were also ceramic starfish for the ultra long dinner table, custom made “LOVE” multi-colored sunglasses, a variety of blue parasols and lanterns, beautifully calligraphed chalkboard signage, ikat patterned pillows from Bali, Mexican pompoms, hangover kits, custom vow books, laser cut wood keys, ombre tags, and program fans! We found use for almost everything, except the vintage marquee “Hitched” sign didn’t quite make it in one piece!
Decor: ABCey Events
Program Fans, Menu’s, Pocket Schedules: Suite Paper
Calligraphy: Rona Siegel Fine Arts
Flower Girls: Ella Corthell, Aydin Levy & Riley Jacobson
Officiants: Nicole Doherty & Linzi Oliver
Music: DJ JoIll, Shawn Barry, and Arpason
A.V. // LED Dance Floor: Plug In Audio Visual
Pillows: Ikat and Batik
Hangover Kit: Jennifer’s Cookies
Pom Pom Decor: Artisan Revival
See how we pulled off this elegant outdoor affair as captured by the amazingly talented, Larissa Cleveland here! We’d also like to extend a huge thank you to all of the vendors and people who made this day a huge success!
Photographer: Larissa Cleveland Photography
What did you think of Adam & Amanda’s Tulum Wedding? Need help planning your destination wedding?! Let us know with a comment or message us on Facebook or Twitter!
ABCey’s Weekend LineUp: 6.26.15- 6.28.15
It’s almost the end of June, the summer solstice just hit and it’s pride weekend, so why not close out the month with some fun events? There is a ton going on this weekend and the girls here at ABCey want to share our top picks!
1. 37ft. Intricate Wooden Burning Man Temple Unveiling
Friday, June 26, 2015 | 11am | 499 Octavia| Free
Today, there will be a free dedication event for artist David Best’s The Temple at Patricia’s Green. The San Francisco Arts Commission partners with Burning Man to reprise David Best’s popular Hayes Valley Temple from 2005. This 37 feet high sculpture made from wood will be in place for one year. It is meant to be a place of remembrance where people can write personal notes to loved ones on the artwork itself. Go and check out this amazing piece of artwork!
2. LGBT Night at AT&T
Friday, June 26, 2015 | 7:15PM – 10PM | AT&T Park| starting at $30
The Giants will be celebrating LGBT culture this Friday at 7:15 in their division game against the Colorado Rockies. Go and support your World Champions. Don’t forget, there will be post- game fireworks so you don’t want to miss out!
3. Beatnik Shindig
The 2015 Beatnik Shindig has cars, poetry, spoken word and jazz. Held at the Fort Mason Center and in North Beach this is the largest Beat Generation Conference held in 20 years. There will be free events as well as ticketed events, but tickets don’t cost anymore than $15. For a list of the weekends events click here.
4. Pink Saturday
Saturday, June 27, 2015 | 3pm-8pm | Castro District| $10
Pink Party is where all the pre- parade festivities will occur! It will all take place in the Castro District from 3pm-8pm. With 5 blocks of DJ’s, drag and other live performances across four stages there is sure to be a ton of energy, dancing and fun! There will be food trucks and a VIP Area as well. Don’t forget to bring $10 to donate at the gate, proceeds will be going to LGBT nonprofit organizations. Check out the Facebook event for stage and performance details.
5. Grateful Dead Concert
The Grateful Dead will be preforming a couple farewell shows at Levi’s Stadium this weekend as part of the “Fare Thee Well” Tour. These Bay Area Shows will take place just before three farewell concerts at Solider Field in Chicago. With 65,000 tickets sold pre night the are sure to be great crowds and excited fans for these finals shows.
6. Pride Parade
Sunday, June 28th, 2015 | 10:30am | Civic Center | Free
Fleets of colorful floats, vehicles, motorcycles and marchers will go along market street this Sunday in the San Francisco Pride Parade. The Parade will begin at Beagle street and end at Civic Center plaza. This year’s parade theme is “Equality Without Exception” so come out ready with lots of energy and excitement!
7. Alice’s Summer Thing
Sunday, June 28th, 2015 | 12pm- 4pm | 320 Bowling Green Dr. San Francisco, CA | Free
Alice 97.3 will be hosting their annual free concert in Golden Gate Park at Sharon Meadow this Sunday. This year they are featuring Kelly Clarkson, Matt Kearney, Rachel Platten and Elle King. There will also be food trucks, fun activities and plenty of good vibes, so be sure to stop by if your looking for some free music, food and fun!
Which events will you be attending in San Francisco this weekend? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!
4 Tips: How to Send an Online Invitation!
Sending an Evite or Facebook invite can be a little tricky! Not everyone replies in a timely matter and sometimes it’s hard to get a hold of people with tight schedules. Plan for your gathering in an organized fashion! ABCey has put together some tips on how to successfully send an online invitation for your event!
1. Make a Guest List
First things first, know who you want to reach out to! It’s important to know who you want to include in your guest list. Family? Friends? Friends of friends? It’s important to take into consideration all those who should or will be present at your event! Rough estimating with numbers is a good start before jumping into an invitation.
2. Create the Invite
Short, simple, and to the point! The key to creating a perfect invite (especially online) is to keep it to the point! Nobody likes a lengthy description. Staying true to the “Who? What? Where? When? and Why?” should make it easier for guests to understand. Create your invite in a timely fashion. Your invitation is sure to be ignored or forgotten about if you send it 2 months in advance… 1 month in advance is your best bet!
3. Check-In with Your Invitation
Don’t create your online event invitation and expect people to reply! Always make sure to update your invitation with “Don’t forget!” or “Save the date!” ‘s from time to time. Reminders can help people remember your event! Also reaching out to guests individually may help you to get a better understanding of who will be present.
4. Get Creative!
Sending an invite isn’t solely about spreading news to people about your event. It’s also about getting them excited for the party/meeting that’s to come! Add pictures and use fun phrases when trying to publicize it! People are drawn to things that are pleasing to the eye. Have fun with it… Besides, this is an event to look forward to!
Were these tips helpful? Let ABCey know with a comment below or message us on Facebook or Twitter!
Get Organized! 2 Helpful Event Planning Apps
Event management is no walk in the park. From vendors, to clients, to caterers, to conferences, to meetings… there’s so many components to planning! Sometimes it’s tough for event managers to stay organized. But with the development of event planning apps such as Wunderlist and Basecamp, there is no doubt an event can flow efficiently! ABCey encourages you to manage your events at the palm of your hands without worry of lost post-it notes or hand written to-do lists!
1. Wunderlist is an online tool and app that allows you to input tasks and to-do lists for yourself and other colleagues. We recently discovered Wunderlist and in our experience, it has shown to simplify the process of planning! It allows you to check mark what is done, know what needs to be done, and also make separate folders to keep everything organized! It’s a great way to jot tasks down while on the go or even help to overview components of an event.
2. BaseCamp is another essential tool for an event planner. Not only does it allow features like Wunderlist, but it also enables you to appoint tasks to fellow colleagues. Communication is made simple with messaging features so you can easily contact your people when important jobs or problems may arise while planning. Communicating with people across country? No problem! BaseCamp even allows the correct time zone to be correlated to fellow business partners. Deadlines will be met accordingly and less stress will dealt with.
The Wunderlist and BaseCamp apps can definitely simplify an event management job. These are just two of many great tools for event planning. Know any other helpful apps? Let us know with a comment or send us a message on Facebook or Twitter!