Mishka Designs

The biggest CONGRATS goes to Elizabeth who tied the Knot at Dreams this past Saturday! I absolutely LOVE her colors and can't wait to see the day of photos! She wanted something styled after Nikki's maracas pictured down below but in her colors of tiffany blue, red and touches of silver.... This time, the artists were Israel and my hubby, Antonio - and I think they did a fab job (even if I am slightly biased - I'm a hard task master for detail - just ask them .... We have a bunch of maracas coming-up next week .... I do try to not post the maracas before the bride has seen them, so we might be a bit delayed .... and I may have to post Mariah's wedding photos without some of the details, as it's taken a big longer with Paulina than we thought it would - this time of year is just a MAD RUSH!

The biggest shout-out of congrats goes to Kimberly who was married ... well, to be honest I'm not really sure because the place and date kept moving around! But I DO know that she was married somewhere in Vallarta this past April 10th and that Tamara (my BFF!) from Incredible Weddings was involved! Kimberly wanted something based on her invites and I think the design that Israel pulled-off was spot on! I'm still working on Mariah's wedding blog and I have oodles of maraca blogs coming right at ya, so my blog is going to look like a revolving door! Promise!

Thanks guys! Was so fun to see your comments after this horrendous week! You guys rock!

I know I haven't been here in a while girls! I still love you, just super busy until June . Here's the blog.... I have some photos back from Mariah's wedding but there is so much going on that I think it might be a week or so before I am able to post! First I need to give a big "shout out" to Amy who was married this March 31st in Las Caletas and Heather who tied the knot at the Grand Palladium in Nuevo Vallarta! Plumeria..... Amy wanted a plumeria flower in pink with touches of orange - we'd never done one of those before and I must admit this is definitely one of my heart hearts! It's hard to see from my photo but the shake me tags were also with a rose plumeria and touch of orange but the orange showed up more strongly . Blue, Silver and White.... Heather told me they didn't really have a "theme" per se, but that she really liked the white flowers we'd done previously but wanted something like that done in her colors of turquoise blue and white ... when she told me that she had a lot of silver accents in her wedding I suggested she add the extra color and I absolutely love how it turned out! Next up will be Mariah's wedding - very different and super cool, so I can't wait to share!

LOL - I totally forgot about this post - I think I wrote it last year? Or the year before? so far, no more elephants outside the window

I haven't "worked" with her as in been a bride, but she took pictures for the caterer at a weddng we designed end of January - super super nice and I absolutely love the pictures she took of the design details, if that's any help .

A big shout out goes to Emily & Bonnie who were married last Saturday in Yelapa! When Emily first came to us she brought with her an amazing invite and STD which I can't share because I can't figure out how to make them into pictures, except for this image which came from their website! haha! Her request was a bit unusual but I was open to at least seeing what we could do to make it work - she wanted us to design some accent touches that they could take with them via boat and put-up themselves. So, Omar and I put our heads together and here's what happened..... Papel Picado Chuppah Top The first request was simple - they just wanted a papel picado chuppah. We decided to base it off of the image up above - I think it turned out a trifle Awesome..... Gift Bags Something colorful and big enough to put a list of things into it - and with a handle - pretty easy requests. Omar used the same design we'd chosen for the chuppah - just a bit smaller. Heart heart! Escort Cards/Guest Book Emily & Bonnie had the idea of hanging-up escort cards somehow so they looked like papel picado lines. They also wanted to use jungle animals as the tablemarkers (this had to be attached with double sided sticky tape, so I don't have photos of them). I then took the escort card idea one step further and thought it would be great to have them double as the guest book pages as well. We used little frogs for the guestbook because they had a little frog theme going-on with their std material.... I do think the guest book is my favorite. Papel Picado Lines We also made papel picado lines based on the same animals as the tablemarkers and the escort cards. Pinata And last, but not least, the pinata. Their only request was that it not be representative of something living (like an animal) - so Omar made a heart similar to the one represented on their website. I think it turned out pretty groovy. Everything went into plastic bags. Which went into a large box. Which was covered with plastic bags. And - wala - design in a box! We have a month chock-full of favors and a wedding ... so I'll be back sooner than you think!

Quote: Originally Posted by ~Melissa~ Oh no! I hope she got her maracas in time! They look fabulous as always. Such a wonderful keep sake! M - thank you! you have no idea how stressed I've been as to whether she really got her maracas in time - and then I found this post to the blog this evening: "So nice to see a company that honors its word and gets the job done - no matter what! The maracas were beautiful and contributed immensely to the fun of the wedding with guests enjoying them no end! THANK YOU for doing the right thing. You are to be highly, highly commended for taking a bad situation (shipping) and turning it around 100% to make it right! With much gratitude, Ginny Laskaris (Mother of Carina, the bride) xoxo" HUGE BIG GIGANTIC SIGH OF UTTER RELIEF!!!

A big shout out goes to Laura who was married at Dreams Riviera Cancun Feb 26th and Carina who was also married at Dreams Riviera Cancun Feb 27th! * Laura asked us if we could possible do a design like "white flowers" but with starfish like her logo. I said, "of course we can!" This time it was my BIL who rocked the design, Israel! You'll be seeing more of his designs in the future.... Carina loved both white flowers and lacy romance and couldn't decide between the two - so she did one of each, in her colors of pink and orange. I really like how the names/dates are in the same font, but a located a little differently on the maraca, according to the design. SHIPPING Now for the story .... we receive so many orders that I don't really pay attention to the shipping address until we are ready to ship the maracas. So, this was why I didn't realize that we were sending both of these beautiful brides' maracas to the same hotel. I'd been reading a few complaints about the cost of our shipping but down here, we don't have a good local postal system and it is very important to me that the maracas arrive on time and in good condition - in order to do that, we have to use reliable shipping companies. One mishap is enough for me to never use that shipping company again - you are important to me! We shipped Carina's maracas Feb 16th - unbeknownst to me until it was done, one of our staff chose to send her maracas via a shipping company I do not like to use (and I think you will see why!) - Estafeta. I shipped Laura's maracas nearly 6 days later via DHL. To cut a long story short - Laura's maracas arrived the day after we sent them. Carina's maracas, however, were put on the wrong truck and got stuck somewhere in Cancun. Even though it was the shipping company's mistake, they refused to deliver the maracas before the day of the wedding - not only that but we had to fight with them to get them to even put the maracas somewhere where the coordinator could get to them - we argued with them for TWO FULL DAYS until they finally located the maracas and did what we asked. Needless to say, Carina did finally receive her maracas the day of the wedding (at least according to the tracking information - I have yet to hear if that really did happen) - and the check is in the mail to return nearly all the money she paid for shipping. I know for sure that, even though using other shipping companies might a lot less expensive, it is definitely not worth the stress and I'm pretty sure the bride will say the same. So, from now on, no experimenting with shipping companies we aren't 100% certain are reliable and, if do make a mistake, will correct their mistake ASAP! Which, I'm afraid, means that, for now, the shipping costs will remain the same. Up next .... papel picado and a design in a box.....

Quote: Originally Posted by astreit Since we are both at the Royal the same weekend, do you think she would combine them for us to save on shipping?? Just an idea! I didn't see this one! Of course I wouldn't have a problem doing that! BUT, the shipping won't go down - it will just be about the same - they charge based on a) size of the box and weight and c) distance. Believe me, I don't like the shipping prices anymore than you do - it's bad for business and annoying - but I have to go with private shipping to be assured that the maracas will get there and to have a tracking number. I never let my family send me anything unless it's DHL or FedEx because, otherwise, chances are you won't get it - or you might get it - next year! If you could find a PV bride willing to bring the maracas up to the states and ship them to you - well, that would be a ton cheaper. :)

Quote: Originally Posted by LynnieS astreit- I had Mishka quote me. . . $130 for shipping!!! I needed 40 so just to let you know! Actually, the shipping was closer to $115 for 46 maracas. I know it's expensive - but sometimes the local shipping carrier can't ship them in a timely manner and we have to use DHL or FedEx which costs an arm and a leg - things can change on a whim here and I have to be prepared for it - favors aren't any fun if they aren't on time :) I wish we had a USPS here, but we don't .... and I seriously doubt any of you would want your maracas arriving by bicycle (when I lived in Mexico City the Mexican mail carrier delivered via bicycle!) :).

The biggest shout out goes to Lindsay who was married yesterday at Cabo Surf Hotel. Back in October, Amy, her coordinator from Fiestas Los Cabos, contacted us about doing some maracas similar to her invites. LOVE the invites, but don't know who they are from (I think I do, but am not sure!) - if anyone knows, let me know and I'll make sure to tell everybody . So, Omar worked some magic again! I absolutely love this maraca.... More maraca photos coming-up and a "design in a box" for a sweet Yelapa couple - it's pretty cool and different, so check back!

Quote: Originally Posted by Malisa Fantastic job! Did your team make the chairs? They are perfect for the beach wedding. Haha! I wish we had made those chairs! no, they were rented :). Thanks for your comments everyone! So fun!

Okay guys, I talked to Rebeca from Dreams PV today and got the skinny on the new outside vendor policies. What Rebeca told me is that the new vendor fees only apply if you are hiring outside a la carte BUT if you have an outside wedding coordinator and/or designer (i.e. us! , and we bring, as part of our service, an outside vendor (i.e. furniture, cake, DJ, photographer, etc.) you won't be charged an outside vendor fee. I'm not swearing this will be like this forever. And I definitely think you should make sure you get anything and everything in writing, but this is what the new policy means today . Any questions, just let me know!

PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED Where do I begin with this wedding?!! Kerry, from Sayulita Wave Weddings, (thank you Kerry & Enrique!!) asked me towards the end of November if we were open for a January wedding - she made it sound so enticing I said "sure" and I am soooo glad we did! From the very start Sara was easy to work with (thank you Sara!!), so funny and completely laid back ... she sent me a slurry of picture boards and some great descriptions of what she was looking for - "Overall, we like earth tones or white with a pop of color. simplicity, romantic, chic, natural - style , not ornate - style, no sea shells or day of the dead, but like the vibrant colors of Mexican textiles." One simple romantic vibrant chic wedding coming-up! PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED The Bouquet, Bout & Corsages I knew from the very beginning, with magenta being Sara's preferred color for the wedding, that I wanted to use some unusual flowers - something more wild and beach-looking ... Sara's bouquet was made-up of silver dollar leaves, white anemones, pink wax flowers and kangaroo paw! We also used the anemone for the groom's bout and interspersed those same flowers in the other bridal party flowers .... I kept mainly to a purple/pink color palette and used orange as a bright pop of color. I LOVE this bouquet - one of my favorites ever! PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED The Ceremony This beach was beautiful. I knew that Sara felt like the ceremony decor was really about the beauty of the ocean ... so we went with bamboo chuppah and chairs (don't those chairs ROCK?!!) and I decided to hand-paint some very colorful wooden fans (with the help of Omar who made the fans and the family of course!) in various florals to give it an artistic feel yet not detract from the scenery. PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED The Cocktail I knew that Sara really wanted some embroidered and hand-crafted pillows but those are pricey here in Vallarta - but the look just wouldn't be complete without them! So, we used a little ingenuity and came-up with these knock-offs (I might have designed them but my sister-in-law Gaby sewed them - she rocks!)! I'm not going to tell you how we managed to do these embroidered pillows, but the other pillows were made from shopping bags! As it turns out, unbeknownst to me, Sara had given her guests the same mesh material shopping bags as welcome bags - we thought it was strange when the guests were showing up with their shopping bags to the wedding - like "how did they know?" haha! PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED We wanted some Moroccan lanterns but they were soooo expensive - so we found some inexpensive material and my husband cut-out all 40 of these beautiful lamp shades - wait 'til you see what they looked like at night! PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED The Papel Picado We actually had more papel picado that we weren't able to put up - the wind was sooo strong the day of the wedding and was blowing our poor little papel picado everywhere! But we were able to put up 3 different pieces ... based on phrases that were special to the bride and groom. PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED The Escort Cards These were soooo hard to do but I was soooo happy I did them when I saw the end-result. Inside each escort card was a bronze heart favor. The heart tequila bottles on the table have a story to them - back last summer when Vallarta was struggling one of our favorite Mexican singers, Alejandro Fernandez, got his friends together and came out to Vallarta and gave a free concert. To thank his friends for coming, he ordered these unique bottles of tequila to be given to them, along with a few extras. I thought that this story was awesome and perfect to display at this wedding - a love story about a country to grace the love story of Sara & Nick - perfect! PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED The Placecards, Napkins & Accents We drew a replica of an accent from Sara & Nick's wedding website, but added a little heart flair to it, since "love" and "hearts" were a small side theme to the wedding. The napkins were made out of a natural white manta fabric and accented with some awesome cream vintage lace! The wine glasses had colored natural twine wrapped around the stems to tell the waiters who was eating what. Sweet! The Table Markers Sara & Nick LOVE to travel and have several favorite spots. We used these names for the table markers - carved into wooden boxes which hung suspended over the middle of the tables and lit-up at night with candles (Omar rocks!)! Looked so amazing!! The Centerpieces Since Nick wanted something beachy but not too beachy, we gave just a nod to the beach and filled the middle of the tables with sand. And, then, drawing into the chic/artistic nature of Mexico, we used tin cans and filled them with wax flowers, kangaroo paw, statice, purple flowers and the list goes on! Interspersed were candles and it really did look beautiful during the day as well as at nighttime. PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED Paper Stars Sara had mentioned wanting stars ... I searched high and low for paper stars - we even looked into making them but talk about a project! I finally found these - in Hawaii!! Absolutely amazing - one of the most beautiful dance floors ever! PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED Nightscapes Just a few pictures taken at night to give you a feeling for how the evening progressed. I'll let you fill in the blank ... these night photos are ...... PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER ALLOTMENT ALLOWED More maraca photos on the way as well as some design inspiration boards - busy month in February although not working on an event per se . Now that I have a camera again (hurray!) look for more before and afters and other goodies on facebook....

Well, we could point fingers at the computer who wouldn't run the picture dvd and then christmas and new years (those ornery holidays!) and the list could get really long - so, instead, THE BIGGEST EVER CONGRATULATIONS to Nikki & Roland on tying the knot this last December 5, 2009! * It seemed as though the fates were determined to deter all of Nikki & my plans for fairly easy, relaxed wedding planning. We had decided on Spiaggia way back when because their prices were great and the location was awesome and everything was going to be simple simple simple - to the point that I didn't even do an inspiration board! Of course, ya'all might know by now, but to make a long story short, Spiaggia sold itself (without informing us) and the new location decided to completely reinvent itself (again without informing us) and, thus, either Spiaggia or the new Cherry 7 up and ran off with Nikki's deposit money, each pointing the fingers at each other. Boo!!! * But, after some hot words from all three of us to the locale in question, Nikki took action, found this incredible, amazing villa (Casa Suenos del Mar) who was willing to rent for a night .... and, after all, fate was right, we were wrong, and the wedding turned out much better than we had originally planned for!! * PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER LIMIT ALLOWED The Bouquet Nikki had decided to do bright, vibrant colors for her Mexican wedding so we decided on the tones of fuschia and orange with a touch of gold and mixed those colors into her bouquet - it looked great against her dress! Roland's bout followed suit -- good man! The Ceremony Well, originally the ceremony was going to be on the sand - so, with the new venue chosen just weeks before the wedding, I had to design something entirely different that would fit the new venue. I quite honestly don't know how this came to me - I knew that I still wanted the vibrant, colorful feel but I didn't want to block the beautiful view or amazing foliage - so we decided to surprise Nikki & Roland with strung roses ... they had originally wanted bougamvilia but that's not something we can order ... we have to "find" it and there wasn't a lot out - in the end, I think this ceremony huppah is one of my all-time favorites.... PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER LIMIT ALLOWED The Guest Cards Nikki & Roland had a theme about certain dates meaning certain things to them, so I thought it would be great fun to make guest cards with chosen dates and have guest write their wishes and thoughts on them only to be opened the day on the card! I found this amazing talavera mailbox when I was out and about! The Maracas Nikki hearts hearts our maracas, so I wanted to do something extra special. Omar painted the flowers around the entire maraca (sounds easy - is not! , and accented their monogram with gold paint - if I had to do it over again, I might add a gold accent to the flower - but pretty nevertheless! The Centerpieces We overlayed the tables with a shimmery orange/cream chiffon and filled adobe pinata bases with alternating arrangements of fuschia and orange roses. Colorful candles surrounded the base and alternating fuschia and orange napkins stood-up tall in water glasses - love it! PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER LIMIT ALLOWED The Kid's Table We made little activity books for the kids to work on during dinner, accompanied by a Mexican wooden toy, crayons and a little ornament. Fun! Candles & Nightscapes Of course, we peppered the villa with oodles of candles and the villa transformed itself into a magical, romantic evening.... PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER LIMIT ALLOWED The Cake Adore this cake .... check out the befores and afters here to see how a fairly monotone colored cake turned into this awesome creation by Memo of Charme! We also surprised Nikki & her daughter with their own individualized cake as they each adored a flavor that wasn't chosen to be "the cake" - we had the waiters bring it out as soon as Nikki & Roland cut the cake and everyone was happy! Firedancers They really did a fantastic job - we had floating globes and acrobatics - a really amazing way to end the evening.... PHOTO MUST BE SEEN ON BLOG - OVER LIMIT ALLOWED DIY I wanted to also say that Nikki did a great job on some of her DIY projects - she worked with us really closely to make sure that everything done, from start to finish, related and looked "just so" - I think she did a fantastic job! Next week, barring disasters, we should have the photos up from Sara & Nic's wedding which took place this past saturday in Sayulita! We have a busy season ahead of us, but I have, in my 'spare time' (haha!) been working on some design inspiration boards ... so I will do my best to get those snuck in here somehow (or on facebook!).

I just read the document for providers and am mad enough to spit nails. I have been VERY supportive of that hotel, to the point where I didn't even mention on here the horrible screw-up they did on one of our weddings last october - I imagine other coordindators are mad as well - be interesting to see the fall-out from this.....

Quote: Originally Posted by PVBride2010 For any ladies that has been married @ Dreams PV, please give me some info on how they went about outside vendors. I am attaching the document she sent me. Please let me know if this is normal procedure or something outrageous! I'm afraid it's true. And Dreams PV was one of the very last "hold-outs" - meaning, it was, to my knowledge, the only HOTEL which allowed us to come-in free of charge. ALL the other hotels I know of (Marriott, Flamingos, etc.) make extra charges on top of the actual costs - and, actually, when you do the math, I do believe they are still cheaper than most of the hotels out there. We (us coordinators/florists) were expecting Dreams PV to come out with this policy any day and I'm actually surprised it took them as long as they did.

Felicidades and welcome to the forum!!

Felicidades and welcome to the forum!!

Felicidades and welcome to the forum!!

Felicidades and welcome to the forum!!

Felicidades and welcome to the forum!!

Felicidades and welcome to the forum!!

Felicidades and welcome to the forum!!