EEAD MIA

I thought I'd write a quick post telling everyone what it is I've been doing, since I obviously haven't been posting to the blog! I have a huge backlog of parties to share with everyone, but no time to edit and post them, unfortunately. What has been taking up all my time has been this:


Enchanted Events & Design has moved (along with the rest of my family of course). It has been super exciting, stressful and time consuming. The house needed a lot of TLC and personality so I've been spending all of my extra time painting, unpacking boxes, painting, shopping, painting ... you get the picture. On top of everything I only closed my Etsy shop down for a week, so I've been attempting to work through the chaos. One of the absolute best parts though is that I will have a lovely new office, with lots more room that no longer doubles as a guest room! I love it and I will hopefully get a chance to share pictures with you if I ever finish unpacking!

{Giveaway} Free Halloween Cupcake Topper / Favor Tags!

Something free for this Halloween season for all of my followers!
Click on the image to go to the hi-res PDF file, then save or print!

{Event Recap} Alexa's Bright and Sunny Elmo Birthday

I was very excited when a former client contacted me to help her design her daughter's birthday party again this year! Last year I designed a yummy Candy Shoppe party for her 1st birthday. This year Alexa turned two and, of course, is in LOVE with Elmo. However, her mother didn't want to throw the standard Sesame Street party using primary colors. Instead I focused on using really bright girly colors for the design. The tables were covered in red (of course), orange, yellow, pink and white with lots of little Elmo accent pieces and polka dots.


The desserts included lots of mini Elmos all over the table!

Elmo Sugar Cookies

Elmo Cake Pops and Colorful Cookie Pops

Elmo cupcakes and an Elmo candle which sat next to the cake,
which was topped with a pink street sign with Alexa's name on it.
My client also got a super yummy recipe for lemon blossoms from Paula Deen and those were a huge hit, as well as a perfect color match for the design.

For the food table I combined both bright and colorful dishes with kid friendly fare. The menu was made up of a beautiful summer pizza, fresh fruit, croissant and PB&J sandwiches, corn dogs, and fruit and veggie platters arranged to look like Sesame Street characters (thank you Pinterest)!

Cherry Tomato Elmo

Blackberry Cookie Monster

Broccoli Oscar the Grouch
Vendors
Event Design: Enchanted Events & Design
Printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Elmo Cookies: Denise's Creations
Cake: Fenella Higgins
Cake & Cookie Pops: Pop Culture Desserts
Cupcakes: CAKEgoodness
Lemon Blossom Recipe: Paula Deen

{Giveaway} $150 from EEAD! - ENDED

Winners have been announced! See below to find out if it was you.

I thought it was about time for a give away again. It's been a long time since I hosted one and I've owed all of you a post the last 2 weeks. I'm also excited that my Facebook page is just short of 1500 fans! How cool is that? So, I'd like to offer two lucky winners some prizes from yours truly!

FIRST PRIZE
One winner will receive a $100 credit to be used in my Etsy store or as credit toward any EEAD event planning package.

SECOND PRIZE
One winner will receive one set of my new gem adorned vintage jewelry diamond cupcake toppers and toothpicks a $50 value!



Enter below for your chance to win! And check out our Etsy shop for more fun EEAD items available for your events!

a Rafflecopter giveaway The winner will be announced on this blog!

{Press} Sugar & Spice Thanksgiving Table in Bird's Party Magazine

I was over the moon when Bird of Bird's Party asked me to contribute to the fall issue of her magazine. The magazine is always chalk full of fun and amazing parties and this issue includes one of mine, a very girly kid's Thanksgiving table!


Be sure to check out the entire magazine. You can find the full article on my table on pages 126-129. Also keep an eye on the blog because I'll be posting even more pictures of the design closer to Thanksgiving. There were so many fabulous photos taken by the wonderful Sarah of Sarah Vinson Photography. I will also be featuring some tutorials on how to create the fun projects with your own little ones.

Browse Bird's Party Magazine - Issue 6

View Larger - Buy Paper Issue - Past Issues

{Event Recap} LAPSG Magazine Cocktail Party

I was asked to plan a cocktail party for the Los Angeles Private School Guide Magazine this past spring. My client wanted all of her guests to feel really appreciated and loved. The cocktail party was being thrown to thank the school administrators for their support of the magazine. I decided to use lots of red in the design to give the party some warmth. I paired the red with black and white as a nod to chalkboards and the school affiliation of all the guests. I wanted the tie in to schools to be fun and subtle.

I used calla lilies, red roses and white hydrangea arranged in black vases as the floral decor. A trip to the LA flower mart and a little assembly in my kitchen created these centerpieces. I was really happy with how the color popped off of the black and white table cloths.


The food table was packed with lots of fun finger foods for everyone to enjoy as they drank and mingled. I used black and red chalkboard signs to label all of the food and the sandwiches were all held together with tiny heart toothpicks!


Of course, no cocktail party could be complete without a bar! Wine, Margaritas, lemon water and pink lemonade was served to all of the guests.


Vendors
Event Design: Enchanted Events & Design
Printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Photography: Mia J Photography
Client: Los Angeles Private School Guide Magazine

{Event Recap} Happy Picnic!

I'm really excited to share this birthday party with all of you because it's the one I threw for my daughters! I decided to combine both of their birthdays this year. After all, they share all of the same friends and with their birthdays just two months apart I was able to pick the month in the middle as the celebration.


My oldest, Taline, had one request for the party. She insisted on a peanut butter and jelly birthday cake. I decided to run with this and designed the entire party around a summer picnic theme. I focused on lots of gingham, watermelons and picnic ants. They covered the invitation, cake, outfits and the food itself!

I was also very excited to work with a new photographer, Sarah of Sarah Vinson Photography. She was so much fun and did an amazing job of capturing the bright and sunny picnic vibe.

For the food I focused on traditional picnic fare, an array of sandwiches, corn on the cob, fruit salad, pasta salad and sun chips. I dressed it all up with cute little watermelon and ant food pics and served them all in brightly covered trays. The napkin wraps were brown paper bags cut down to size and stuffed with gingham napkins and bright red utensils. My favorite touch was the single serving bags of chips. These worked perfectly for the kids to pick up and snack on as they ran around the park.


The dessert table featured a picnic table cake stand which was surrounded by "Fire Ants" with cookie pop heads and cake pop bodies, watermelon cookie pops, apple pies adorned with marzipan bees, mixed berry pies, watermelon sugar cookies, strawberry macarons, lollipops and sugar free cupcakes. I then attempted a homemade peanut butter and jelly cake. I opted to do just the top tier in the PB&J (in case it didn't turn out) and the bottom tier was a simple chocolate. I was shocked how yummy it was and wish I made more! I made a white cake with a guava jelly and peanut butter frosting filling. I then added some fondant decor from one of my favorite Etsy shops, Parker's Flour Patch, and piped on some butter cream grass. I'm very happy with the end result.


The party was hosted at a local park. So there was a playground for the kids to enjoy during the party and lots of grass to run around on. In addition, the guests were invited to decorate the disposable cloth tablecloths with pictures and messages to the birthday girls; assemble "ants on a log" snacks (celery, peanut butter and raisins); and play croquet, disc golf, Frisbee, football, horse shoes and participate in a potato sack race!


At the end of the party each kid got to take home a mini picnic basket of their own stuffed with toys, treats and even some personalize sunscreen.


Vendors
Event Design: Enchanted Events & Design
Printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Photography: Sarah Vinson Photography
Watermelon Cookies: Denise's Creations
Fondant Cake Décor: Parker’s Flour Patch
Pies, Ant pops, Watermelon pops, Cupcakes, Macarons: Pop Culture Desserts

{Event Recap} Vintage Jewelry Surprise Birthday

I was asked to design an event for my client's mother. Her mother, unfortunately, was robbed 2 weeks before her birthday and 4 generations of jewelry was stolen. My client was inspired to throw a jewelry themed surprise luncheon for her mom. She asked all of the guests to bring one pair of earrings as a gift for the birthday girl. I was very touched by this story and pulled together a simple design with hints of vintage jewelry. The color palette for the party was pink, cream and white with lots of wood accents. The party had a combination of clean, modern colors with rustic accent pieces. It made for a really spectacular combination.


For the dessert table I ordered some fabulous custom cookies with beautiful cameos featured on each one. This was huge hit as it closely resembled one of the birthday girl's favorite broaches which was lost.


The picture on the right is taken with my phone but you can really see the detail of the cameo!


I also included strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, strawberry parfaits, strawberry whoppers, mini doughnut rings and a lovely strawberry cake.


I decided to use cherry blossom branches in tall white bottles as the backdrop of the table. I didn't want to take away from the beautiful wallpaper!
For the lunch the ladies were served a variety of salads and roasted vegetables, a mixed juice spritzer, white wine sangria and lemon water. All the tables had fresh flowers which were purchased the day before in the LA flower district and at a farmer's market by myself and the hostess. At the end of the event all the ladies took home strawberry bath salt favors.


Vendors
Event Design: Enchanted Events & Design
Printables: Enchanted Events & Design
Photography: Next Exit Photography
Cookies: Denise's Creations