Flashback: A friend’s wedding at the Castaway in Burbank

As I wait for the pictures from the Sunday wedding of a friend to download, I figured I would flashback to a wedding I decorated and attended two years ago at the Castaway in Burbank. I did blog about it before, but I did not include the photos of the decorations, which is what I know so many of the readers of this here blog want to see. Also, I want to note that while I have stamped the following photos with my Wedding Decorator address, these fine photos were shot by Taipei L.A., the photographer of my friend’s wedding. My own photos were marred by the bright sun streaming into the windows, so thanks to Moonie for sharing these photos, and kudos to Taipei L.A. for great photos and service.

Decorating this wedding was particularly challenging because of many factors. First off, we had to deal with a blockade of firetrucks and officials who at first wouldn’t let us drive our van full of equipment and flowers up the hill because of a brush fire in the hills behind the Castaway. There was the fact that my mom had put together a lot — WAY MORE than usual — displays for this wedding, so there was of course way more equipment than usual. Then there was also the fact that my husband and I were attending the wedding, and had to leave early to shower and get dressed for the reception — we were too busy decorating to attend the church ceremony, unfortunately.

But of course, as you can see by the pictures, we pulled off the decorations with our usual aplomb, style and finesse. Did you expect anything less?

The Castaway in Burbank is generally easy to work with, considering how busy they get. Their prices guarantee steady traffic, not to mention a great location overlooking the L.A. basin and the San Fernando Valley. I’ve worked at the Castaway many times, and on a scale of 1 to 10 for cooperativeness, I’d give them an 8.9.

The only thing I might complain about is the high traffic (since doing decorations like these take time, usually at least 3, 4 hours, a 1-hour cushion between parties is of course difficult) and the lack of tablecloth skirts. They skirt their tables, as many independent restaurants do, with folded tablecloths pinned to the first tablecloth. It makes it difficult for draping the table.