I’ve fallen in love with his films more times than I can count, but today my dears, Joel Serrato is giving us yet another reason to heart him so. I’m talking one insanely beautiful Valentine’s celebration with so many A-list vendors it could nearly make you blush. Flowerwild, Park & Grove and Molly Pollet made each moment magic, and you can see every one of Joel’s shots in the full gallery right here.
Park & Grove Event Studio, a full service event design and production company, is the creation of Marla Weintraub and Sarah Tolboe. After 14+ years of combined experience in the industry, Marla and Sarah launched their boutique event firm in 2013. Prior to Park & Grove, Marla started her career working for Sharon Sacks of Sacks Productions. After 4 years with Sharon, she began working as an event producer at JOWY Productions for 3 years. Sarah started her career doing corporate and lifestyle events for Caravents, where she stayed for 2 years. She then went to work for Lisa Vorce Event Design + Production. She worked with Lisa as her production manager for 3.5+ years before co-founding Park & Grove with Marla.
Our goal for this shoot was to create a Valentine’s inspired dinner setting that even single friends would want to attend! So basically, a gorgeous romantic party without any mention of hearts or cupids ☺
We loved the idea of putting a modern spin on the traditional Valentine’s Day red and white palette, so we decided upon a color scheme of raspberry, white and graphite. The lush Herb Garden at Ojai Valley Inn & Spa was the perfect location for our al fresco celebration. We juxtaposed a variety of organic elements (linen runners / napkins, wood tables / benches) with more contemporary items (marble serving pieces, rimless white plates and clean, crisp flatware and glassware) to create a gorgeous, romantic tablescape.
The insanely talented Kate Holt from Flowerwild created stunning raspberry and deep red florals comprised of sweet peas, ranunculus, garden roses, anemones and foraged greens as well as two complimentary bouquets that would be a pretty extraordinary gift for anyone’s Valentine. To further infuse the raspberry into our design, Molly McGlone hand drew a gorgeous monogram that we had embroidered onto our Belgian linen dinner and cocktail napkins. The menus featured her beautiful calligraphy that she then letterpressed with raspberry ink and edged in silver. All additional paper elements (place cards, wine labels, welcome tag) brought in the modern twist, with her stunning calligraphy on elongated paper.
We had to bring in our favorite elements of the day which include chocolate, cheese and, obviously, libations. We put together a gorgeous display of hand made chocolate desserts and a lovely cheese course on clean, contemporary marble serving pieces. We placed elegant wine decanters on the table and gifted bottles of wine as a departing favor, which we packaged and tied with beautiful raspberry and gray silk ribbon. We created a variety of signature drinks included red wine sangria, a champagne and raspberry cocktail, prosecco with blackberries and a spiked pomegranate punch. For out of town guests, we created an elegant breakfast spread for them to enjoy in their rooms with a fresh baked cranberry loaf, pomegranate tea and tea spoon and a jar of honey with an adorable honey dipper, all packaged in a custom wood box.
Thank you to our amazing team of vendors for creating the Valentine’s Day of our dreams and to the uber talented Joel Serrato for making always making everything look so beautiful!
Photography: Joel Serrato Film Photographer | Floral Design: Kate Holt Creative | Stationery + Calligraphy: Molly Pollet | Event Design + Production: Park & Grove | Location: Ojai Valley Inn | Rentals: Classic Party Rentals