A sweet and simple bridal shower

I love planning showers. I feel like I have more room for creativity and fun themes and I love crafting all of the details and the invites. So fun!

I thought I would start sharing some shower ideas with you, starting with a sweet bridal shower I threw for my friend Amy last fall.

When it came to inspiration for Amy's shower, I took a look at her wedding colors and her engagement story. Her fiance, Andrew, proposed while they were kayaking. The stopped for a moment, and he had a friend who was scuba diving pop up from the water with a ring. How cute is that? Their first date was also kayaking, so it made sense to incorporate that. So, for the invitations, I made a simple invite with a kayak on the bottom:

I made the kayak and oar out of fabric, then cut out the paper "a + a" (for Andrew + Amy) on my cricut . I glued them all together, taped it on the invite and then photocopied it onto cardstock. This a great way to cheat handmaking invitations. I was not going to have time to cut out all of the kayak's by hand, so this still give a cute handmade look, without the hours of work. I copied two to a page, cut them and then glued them to a shimmery pink cardstock backing. 

 

For the shower decor, we decided to go simple and keep to the "a + a " theme in the colors of her wedding: mainly a watermelon pink with accents of green. It was very fun and cheery.

I made this sign for the front door using Amy Butler paper from Michaels and my trusty Cricut.

It was a brunch, so we set up a small food table with homemade coffee cake, scones (made by me- my first time and they turned out delicious!), fruit and cupcakes (who doesn't have cupcakes with brunch?).

I made the labels with my cricut and double side taped them on to the platters.

My sweet friend Shae, who is an amazing baker, made the cupcakes for us. They were delicious! To make them extra cute, I cut lots of little "a + a"'s with my cricut (surprise, surprise) and we glued them on to toothpicks and stuck them in the cupcakes. I loved how they turned out!

In addition to coffee, tea and water, we also served pink sparkling lemonade. This is my go-to drink for showers. You can find it at Trader Joes.

We had all of the ladies write words of wisdom or encouragement for the Bride-to-be. How cute is that paper?

We set the tables in a U-shape so that everyone was close together. It created a great intimate feel.

Simple cheap placesettings, all purchased from Target. 

My good friend Holly, who co-hosted the shower with me, made the sweet arrangements, which we placed on sheets of the same shimmery pink paper from the invites to give a little more pop to the table.

Good old lanterns always make a yard more festive.

For favors, we put colorful jelly bellies in little favor tins from Target. To dress them up, I glued on the "a + a" logo. As you can tell, my Cricut was my best friend for this party.

I had extra a's cut out, so we sprinkled them on the tables as confetti.

I loved this banner I made, but I couldn't get a good picture of it because it was so windy.

We even incorporated the logo on the ground with a little chalk:

Since the shower was outside, we offered guests white paper parasols. (We have these available for rent or sale by the way)

Overall, it was a sweet, simple and fun shower.

I have often been asked for ideas for shower games (specifically those that do not involve toilet paper). My favorite shower game is a get to know the bride & groom game. We do a video interview with the Groom, in which we ask him guests about his bride (her favorites, what his favorite things about her are, and some other funny ones thrown in) and then turn it into a DVD. At the shower, we ask the bride the questions and she has to guess what he would say. After she gives her answer, we show his answer on the TV. It is always really funny and sweet. The guests have to guess beforehand how many the bride will get right and the guest that gets the right number wins.

Another fun simple one is to have guests list as many movies and books with the words "wedding" or "bride" in the title. They have a minute or two and the guest with the most at the end wins. I have to say, when I am a guest at a shower, I always win this one. I have an unfair advantage- most guests don't think about wedding planning books.

I'll be back in the next few days with more shower theme ideas. In the meantime, don't forget to enter to win a copy of Ceremony!

Lindsay and Chase at the Hotel Fig

I finished off my 2008 wedding season with a jewel. Lindsay and Chase were married the day after Thanksgiving downtown at the Hotel Figueroa. If you are local and have not seen this hotel, you should definitely check it out. It is so cool! Total bohemian style- very unique and moody.

Lindsay and Chase are two of the coolest people I now (she is an amazing singer/songwriter and he played football for Purdue in college) and they are so super sweet. It was a true joy to help them plan their wedding. They had the right perspective throughout the whole thing- on their marriage and getting the most out of their wedding day. Lindsay was very specific about how she wanted her room- vibey, mellow, lots of good music, no stress. Brides- I highly recommend this! Figure out how you want to spend your time the morning and afternoon leading up to your wedding and communicate that to your family and bridesmaids. It will make a huge difference on your stress level and enjoyment of the day!

On to the wedding:

Isn't she gorgeous? 

I absolutely loved all the detail on her dress. It was stunning.

The Hotel Fig is a great spot for a unique, intimate wedding. Very affordable, flexible and they have a ton of decor and amazing furniture that they throw in.

Seriously, everything I just showed you was included in the rental price of the room. The chiavari chairs, the candles, the lanterns, the runners, the amazing dark wood huge tables- all included in the rental cost (which was less than $1000 for a weekday!). Made our job easy! 

The ceremony:

I hate it when I got caught in pictures!

Lindsay did not want any floral decor: just her simple ivory rose bouquet. So, we made it for her, which was a lot of fun! I tied it with ivory satin ribbon and applied some vintage-style lace ribbon tape (by Martha Stewart at Michaels). I wish I had taken a good picture of it. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was simply beautiful. 

The wedding was in the early afternoon, so rather than serve a meal, guests were served appetizers during the cocktail hour and then cool lounge-y pods were set up with delicious pita, hummus and other snacks for the reception. 

The area that the ceremony took place in was transformed into a comfy lounge area, complete with a real fire in the fireplace and oversized cushions to lay on. Lindsay and Chase had their first dance right in front of this area:

We set up a dessert bar featuring all sorts of black and white (most importantly- chocolate!) treats from Trader Joe's:

We embellished the jars with vintage lace ribbon tape and the bride used these cute cards from Paper Source for the labels. 

The beautiful cake:

Since Lindsay is a musician, the wedding was chalk full of good music. The bride painstakingly choose songs for every minute leading up to the ceremony: we had some Ryan Adams, some Coldplay, some Eastmountainsouth, and then the bridesmaids walked in to an Ingrid Michaelson cover of "Can't Help Falling in Love With You". Lindsay's entrance song was gorgeous: "Beyond" by Amel Larrieux. As a music lover myself, I adored all of the choices. The most fun moment though, was when the bridal had exited right after the ceremony, the guests were surprised with "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey. It was such a happy moment! 

Since the wedding was the day after Thanksgiving (aka the day I start playing Christmas music and get out decorations), Lindsay decided to throw another Christmas surprise in. During the reception, we set out a fun white tree with beautiful gold Snowflake ornaments. The ornaments had customized ribbon with the bride & groom's name and date and each guest took one at the end of the night as their favor. 

In lieu of a guestbook, we had guests write a love note to the bride and groom and stick in a gorgeous gold shimmery envelope. The basket Lindsay provided was handmade by women in Africa and was purchased from a company that raises money to support communities in Africa. A sweet way to give a little back from the wedding. 

They had a huge wedding party and it was such a blast! The bridesmaid dresses were very cute:

I know I have already posted so many pictures, but I just have to show you a few more of this gorgeous couple:

Lindsay and Chase: I cannot tell you how joyous your wedding day was for me. I, along with everyone there, could feel the love you two have for each other. I pray that God blesses your marriage greatly and I hope to make up to one of your shows soon!

Their vendor team:

*Photography: Robson Muzel 

*Cake: Wonder Bakery

*Officiants: Oasis Christian Fellowship 

*DJ: The DJ Circle 

*Limo: Prompt Limo 

*Live performance: Hope Hazlett 

200 Posts & a big Woo~hoo!!!

This is my 200th post! Which, for some reason, really excites me. So, I am going to do a giveaway to celebrate. More info below.

I finally found my camera battery charger, so without further delay, here is a look into our Ceremony Magazine features:

Jennifer and Michael's four page spread, with photos by Chenin Boutwell.

You can also see the entire spread online on Ceremony's website . Click here.


I also had a full page ad, which was a first. I loved how it turned out:

I was also honored to have many decor and design ideas featured.

The Orange County edition, as well as the San Diego and LA editions, are in stores now. It is a great magazine- lots of real weddings and good decor inspiration. We are absolutely honored to be featured!

**I am giving away two copies!** To win, just leave a comment telling me what your favorite wedding venue is. Or, if you don't want to, you can just leave me some love. I will choose the two winners this friday, so be sure to enter by noon on the 16th.

Happy Tuesday!

Joyful Joyful #19: Remembering

I had so much fun with my Joyful Joyful series this year. I am already looking forward to next Christmas to post all of the fun ideas I did not get a chance to share this year. 

I am taking down my last Christmas decorations today (our dead tree is looking very sad... it has been a busy couple of weeks!) and thought I would share one last fun holiday idea. 

I decided to start a new tradition this year for my son. Every year, I am going to take a cute piece of scrapbook paper (about 3"x 8") and write down memories from that year's Christmas. I will turn each piece of paper into a link for a paper chain. Every year, I will add to it with special memories from that year. I thought this is a fun alternative to scrapbooking to remember Christmas moments from each age- quick, easy and it can be a decoration after a few years as well. How cool will it be for him to have that to look back on when he is grown? When we have other kids, I will make each of them their own as well.

Some things on this year's link are:

Isaiah:

*Your favorite gift this year was the slide that santa brought you. It was all set up when we brought you down in the morning. It took you a little while to figure out how to do it, but after that, you would laugh every time you hit the bottom. You also loved the thrift store bought little cars from your sweet little old lady friend from church. Better than all of your light up, flashing, high tech toys.

*You did not attack the tree as much as we thought you would. You took a couple of ornaments off here and there, but overall did not have too much interest. We had very few ornaments from 3 feet down though, just in case! 

*When we first brought the tree home, you stared at it, then went and stole your dad's wallet, pulled out a credit card and proceeded to hit the branches of the Christmas tree with the credit card. We had no idea where you got this idea, but it was hilarious. 

*You loved to read your Christmas books. Especially "Spots First Christmas"

*You looked so cute in your Gingerbread men and Snowmen footy PJ's. 

*You did not know what to think about Santa. You did not cry, but did not want to sit on his lap for more than 5 seconds. You looked very cute in your picture with him- wearing your dapper 3 piece suit!

*You loved getting to play with all of your cousins for three days straight. I think that was the best gift of all! 

I am so excited to start this little tradition. Since I still cannot find my camera battery, I have no picture of it. Sorry about that! 

Thank you all who were supportive and encouraging of our Joyful Joyful series. We look forward to spreading some Christmas cheer again next year. Until then, we hope you will enjoy our year long wedding and party inspiration. 

Happy January!

More of Phil and Krista

The lovely Emi and Michael of Evoke Photography just posted a blog featuring Krista and Phil's fun mango and eggplant wedding. I've posted a few times with photos (here , here and here ), but they have featured many more gorgeous ones on their blog. Hop on over and take a look!

By the way, some photos from this wedding are going to be featured in a big magazine in the Spring. Yay! 

And it gets even better...

Right after I posted that last blog, I had a knock at my door. A big box full of the new Ceremony Magazine!

Not only are there design and wedding theme ideas from me in there, but also a 4 page spread of Jennifer & Micheal's wedding. It is our first full wedding published, so we are very excited!!

I will post pictures as soon as I find my camera battery charger... it is hiding from me somewhere.

Happy happy tuesday!

Get ready for some inspiration!

Today is an exciting day: Southern Weddings Magazine is in stores!

I love the wonderful ladies over at Southern Weddings and their blog is a daily read. We have been honored to have our weddings featured numerous times and I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy today. It is sure to be filled with gorgeous photos, fun details and lots of inspiration. Here in Southern California, you should be able to find it at Barnes and Noble or Target or you can also purchase it online later this afternoon.

I just took a look at their most recent blog and there was a sneak peak inside. Guess what is at the top? Bouquets from Jill & Harry's wedding! Yay! 

Lara and the girls at SW- we are so excited for you! Congrats!

Happy New

Happy New Year!

photo from evite.com 

I cannot believe that it is already 2009!

2008 was an amazing year. Definitely a different one- adjusting to a new home in a new county and figuring out how to be a mom and a wedding planner at the same time and how to do both well. A year of growth, learning, new friendships, lots of love and lots of joy. I want to thank you all for being a part of it. Family, friends, clients, vendors- all of you have made this past year so incredible!


Looking ahead, there is a lot of NEW happening for us in the new year.

*A new official member of the Joyful Team (info soon to come!)
*An updated website (yay!!)
*Another move (not so yay...)
*Some amazing venues that are new for me to work at (so exciting!)
*Some absolutely incredible weddings coming up! I cannot wait to see them come to life and share them with you- planning them has been so much fun!

The most imminent new of all is that I am making a change to my work schedule. The beauty of running my own small business and working from home is that I can work at any time. A challenge of running my own small business at home is that I end up working all the time. Finding the balance between time spent being a mom and time spent running  my business has been a difficult one and I finally feel like I have somewhat figured it all out (today at least!). The biggest thing I have learned is that I have to take a day off. A no email, no answering the business phone, sit on the couch and read, take my son to the park for hours, go on a day date with my hubby kind of day off.

Thus, starting now, I will be taking Mondays off. Sundays as well, if I don't have a wedding. Clients and vendors, please still feel free to email me or leave me a voicemail, but know that I am not ignoring you if I don't get back to you until Tuesday. My husband says he is going to forcefully keep my laptop shut if at all possible :)  That being said, if you do have an emergency, you can call me and leave a message and I will get back to you if it is urgent.

Here is to a Joyful 2009!!

J Crew Bridesmaid Dresses in Action

Jumping off of that last post , I thought I would share a couple of photos of my weddings in which the bridesmaids wore J Crew dresses:

Rachele & Darin's wedding at The Dana on Mission Bay , with photos by En Luce Photography .

Eric & Cindy's San Clemente Wedding , photos by Joe Broccardo :