Valentines Day Inspiration: Sweet + Romantic Breakfast
First Row: Vintage embroidered handkerchief from Lou Lou and Oscar via Oh So Beautiful Paper; Cupid inspired photoshoot by Simply Bloom Photography via Green Wedding Shoes | Second Row: Pancakes from Burcua Vsar; Vintage xoxo from Bella Lu Lu
I’m so excited that Valentines Day falls on a Sunday this year… I’m looking forward to a delicious breakfast in the morning followed by a day of relaxing with my husband. It’s our first Valentines Day as a married couple! We like to stay pretty low key and since it’s Sunday I imagine we’ll make a great dinner at home, together, to wrap up an entire day full of fun little gifts and sentimental moments. Isn’t that what it’s about, anyway?
Happy Valentines day to you from us girls at Jubilee!! xoxo
The Studio throws a holiday bash!
As you know, we share an incredible studio space with Eric and Amber Langlois of raw photo design and Tom Morlock of Vantage Point Films. We opened our joint space back in early 2009 and have been eager to host a party in our new digs. As the end of the year neared, we really wanted to get together with our industry friends and celebrate an incredible wedding season. During our brainstorming session the studio decided to have a fun, RELAXED, unpretentious holiday party that celebrated crazy tinsel, garland, and fiber-optics. If Eric had his way, we would have also had blown up snow globes in Tom’s office and an animatronic nativity.
Forging ahead with our party theme, we created an invitation to surely set to tone. A raw photo design exclusive:
Our crazy event was catered and hosted by Jordan Caterers, who provided an incredible spread of absolute deliciousness for our guests to munch and feast upon! Jeff and Debbie of Jordans were totally game for our ideas and created a quirky yet delicious menu of mini fondues with yummy goat cheese, coney island pigs in blankets (the crowd favorite), ants on a log, and baby twice-stuffed potatoes with truffle oil. We also had delicious hummus and cheese drizzled with honey and candied nuts. For dessert there was munching of white chocolate covered popcorn and individually wrapped red velvet whoopie pies. Yes, whoopie pies. Yum!
Our very good friend and colleague, Tony from Datura – A Modern Garden created a floral sculpture masterpiece straight out of whoville.
And the super awesome Meredith of Pygmalion Design created this gorgeous ranunculous arrangement that classed up the joint!
No event hosted by raw photo design would be complete without their famous photobooth. I’m certain we didn’t disappoint!!!
It was such an honor to be able to host this party in our space. Thanks to all who could come! BIG thanks to Jordan Caterers for making our event taste delicious. Also, thanks to the Jubilee Events interns and staff for their expertise in tacky lighting displays. See you in the new year!
XO
A Napa Valley inspired bridal shower in Connecticut
I’m so very excited to finally share with you the amazing bridal shower that my mother, grandmothers and maids planned for me back in June. It was an incredible day filled with so many wonderful women. I wish I could relive that afternoon every Sunday!! My very good friends and wedding photographers, Robert and Kathleen, joined us for the day and snapped these fantastic images! The day was also featured on my favorite blog, Style Me Pretty, a while back too.
The shower took place at my grandparents home — which is over 100 years old. It is a great place where we spend many holidays and the most important of occasions. We had a fantastic June day too, and spent the first half of the afternoon out on the front veranda sipping wine and pellegrino. My mom made a delicious and refreshing sangria, and hand chose some great wines.
A lot of my favorite things were on hand… wine, cheese, delicious fruits, veggies, and my friends and family. I can’t really take any credit for the design, look, feel, or details of the day. That’s all my mom! She did such an incredible job! There were wine maps (that I did make… but that’s it!!) that told guests about the wine we were tasting from Napa, a jar for guests to recommend a vineyard for Mike and I to visit on our honeymoon, and lots of pretty signs explaining what guests were imbibing. These little touches are a great way to transform your party and do something unique and inexpensive.
The delicious menu was catered by one of our favorite local restaurants, Jesse Camilles in Naugatuck. Carla and Larry did an incredible job on the food. The menu was really light and inspired by the region: citrus grilled chicken, dill and yogurt salmon, and carpaccio. There were a variety of delicious salads to pair with the meats too (my favorite the baby spinach with goat cheese… yum!).
Nestled on the North side of the house was a variety of pretty dining tables. My mom created purple table runners and used flowy white linen on the tables. The gorgeous centerpieces were created by Lori of Flore. They featured a beautiful variety of flowers such as dahlias, purple calla lilies, green hydrangea, white roses, and purple grapes!! Are they not incredible? So beautiful! My mom had been collecting wine corks for the occasion and had them spread around as accents in various jars. I love that touch (and do it often as they make a great centerpiece). I just love all the purples, greens, white, and oranges. It’s so reminiscent of the region and all the colors we saw while we were out there.
The delish carrot cake was a design collaboration between my grandmother and the talented folks at Let’s Eat Cake.
Guests took home red velvet cupcake lollipops, all hand made by my maid of honor and bestie, Corine. They were so delicious! Something even more incredible and awesome was the fact that Corine has started her own business crafting these and other yummy confections. Check her out: lovely-lollies.com.
What an incredible bridal shower — incredible day! Thanks for letting me share. Hopefully it inspires you to do something personal and unique for your friend or daughter’s bridal shower.
xoxoxoo
Ode to Thanksgiving, Vol. #2 Decor & Details
My google reader is buzzing with a lot of creative touches to enhance the Thanksgiving holiday. I wanted to share some!
The above detail board from The Party Dress. I love when I sit down to a table and there is a place card. Love the ribbon around the napkin, too.
The above dessert tablescape is by the talented Amy Atlas. Look at the details! The table is dripping with yumminess, like burnt butter poundcake, caramel and sugared pears, apple cider, and pumpkin figs. How do you traditionally display your holiday desserts for guests? Most of us bring them out after dinner and serve them in the dining room. Wouldn’t it be an amazing surprise to put something detailed like this to display them?
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How is your tablescape for these years feast shaping up? Are you doing anything special or unique? We’d love to hear!
xoxo
A Jubilee Event: Jessica’s Black and White Grad Soiree
I think it is pretty awesome that Jessica just recently graduated with her Master’s degree. It is even MORE awesome that she threw herself a CRAZY swanky party in Oakville, Connecticut to celebrate her life milestone! When she contacted me a few months ago to design an event for her I was really excited to do so — a nice break from weddings! We had a ton of fun developing her ideas and came up with a fabulous black and white party that included delicious cupcakes from Cakes Unlimited, submerged tulips, gerbera daisies and orchids as centerpieces from Flore Floral Design, and a rockin’ photobooth manned by the ridiculously talented Robin Dini. I also custom created an awesome 5×5 black and white invitation to her event!
We brought in some gorgeous and modern white lounge furniture, including couches, ottomans, and coffee tables. Guests dinned on a lot of yummy appetizers with some Miami flair!
And for the photobooth? I’m sorry, it is a MUST have at any event! It was a huge hit too — almost 1,000 pictures taken of all her family and friends! Here are a few of the many awesome pictures taken that night by the new photobooth queen, Robin Dini.
Vendor Spotlight: Swirl
I met the brains and brawn behind Swirl, a New York based in-house wine tasting company, at BizBash. I was immediately drawn to their booth, for both my love of wine and their unique entertaining service. I enjoyed talking with them the most out of any vendor at BizBash — I just love their business concept, personality, and approach to wine tasting.
Swirl offers customized, private in-home and corporate wine tastings with a fresh, hip spin on things. Where else are you going to compare the wines you taste to your favorite celebs? Is that Sauvignon Blanc you’re drinking a Nicole Kidman (elegant and austere) or a Britney Spears (starts off great, but ends in disaster)?
Their team of savvy “Swirl-ettes” provide an easy and elegant way to get friends together for a bridal shower or bachelorette party. I think it would be a fabulous addition to any dinner or cocktail party as well! A Swirl wine tasting includes everything from hand-selected wines, perfectly paired cheeses and chocolates, to an enthusiastic Swirl expert who guides your guests through the experience.
I love that they are approaching wine tasting without any pretense. Visit their website to learn more about how you can have Swirl at your next party — and also read their blog! I just subscribed to it myself and I am looking forward to reading it!
Vendor Spotlight: Chapeau de Gateau
I came across Chapeau de Gateau on etsy.com this afternoon during my weekly window peeping. I love to poke around and see what the fabulous and talented etsy craftspeople have been up to. Chapeau de Gateau makes mini cake toppers out of ribbon. They have a very preppy “Martha-chic” feel to them and quite frankly, I think they are darling! They would also look beautiful as decor elements for a bridal shower. Wouldn’t they be lovely as a card box (if made on a larger scale) or on the desert table for decoration?
Brown & Green Bridal Shower
This weekend I was super busy with an awesome event, where I got to really exercise my creativity and frugality for a relaxed and casual bridal shower. It was a lot of fun and we were able to do ALL the décor for under $200! Tomorrow I’ll give you the details on how we kept costs so low, and where you can get all these amazing items. Check out our pictures below, and be sure to click on the thumbnails for a larger version!
The Tablescapes
All the tables were adorned with a variety of chunky vases filled with white and yellow Gerbera Daisies that we hand wrapped in twine to give an elegant bouquet effect.
The Details
The yard was adorned with tissue paper “pom-poms” (or tissue flowers, if you prefer) that we hand made. They were all jeweled with small crystals for an added bit of bling, which ended up looking like dew on the petals! All the vessels were wrapped in ribbon in brown, brown & white polka dot, and green. We also made the brides monogram and incorperated it into the tablescapes with some twine and ribbon. I especially love the “mr. & mrs.” we created out of card stock and stamps from Stampin’ Up!
Part of the Brown & Green Shower series
- Brown & Green Bridal Shower
- Brown & Green Bridal Shower: The Nitty Gritty
