Harlem Nights

August has become a full month of celebrations; with my birthday, my husband‘s birthday and capping with our daughter, Brooklyn Joy’s birthday too (well she’s technically Sept 2nd…but still).

These last 5 years, I have been honored to share this eventful month (and even my actual birthday) designing wedding celebrations for a few of my happy couples. Last year, in the middle of all this celebrating, we added our handsome little Jackson Porter Gray’s birth to the calendar as well, just over a week after another beautiful August Wedding.

I had the pleasure of designing and producing the wedding celebration for the always eventful Dedra & William at the breathtaking Casa Romantica in San Clemente, CA. We nurtured a lasting bond with a little less than 6 months of wedding planning, included in that time William throwing Dedra a surprise “all-white” birthday party at our LOFTon2nd in Pomona, CA

I was absolutely overjoyed when Dedra called to inquire on my and the Loft’s availability for another August celebration…William’s 50th. She wanted a memorable casino-inspired evening with about 50 friends. So I said, what do you think about giving it ‘a little soul’…’a little gangsta’…’a little pizzazz’? Lets go for Harlem Renaissance…

The Theme: Harlem Nights. The Location: LOFTon2nd. The Task: Turn our Historic Pomona brick lined loft into a Speakeasy. We made custom invites, brought in the casino tables, had DJ Alex bumping Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington, chose a few of their favorite drinks (including Will’s somewhat hard to find, Heineken Dark), some “stick to your belly” catering, brought in my staff and a couple “Cigarette Girls”, and custom cigar labeled Twix bars in a vintage leather piece. The Loft was transformed and between the guests dressed-to-the-nines in their best (and I mean they went all out) 1920’s attire and the feathers, hanging crystal valances and cobalt blue, you would almost forget you may need to take an Uber home, check in on Facebook or post a few on Instagram.

Here are a few shots from the night, taken by two of our favorite photographers, Rich & Vanessa Mora of MoraCreativeStudios.

Welcome to SUGAR WILL’S…