Real Party Inspirations: An "UP" - themed birthday celebration

Hostess with the Mostess posted this celebration the other day on their blog. We loved the movie! Love the colors; love the concept; love everything about it. Just wanted to share.

Source: For the full article post from HWTM, click here.

Starting to plan...for a Brilliant Thanksgiving!

As we head into our first holiday season, we are excited to start thinking about Thanksgiving! We're starting to look at traditional menus with a modern twist and brilliant shades of fall in the decor, especially for our tablescapes. Share your ideas with us.

For now, we turn to Real Simple Magazine - love their magazine for everyday ideas.
- FOOD/MENUS: Turkey+ gravy with all the fixings. Mash potatoes, roasted carrots and sweet potatoe casserole! And don't forget all the desserts - pies, pies and more pies! Here are 4 menus we found from Real Simple to sizzle your tastebuds for now.

Easy Roasted Turkey, RealSimple.com

- DECOR/CENTERPIECES: Photo & ideas below from Real Simple Magazine. For details on the decor below, click here.

Real Birthdays: "Little Gym" Birthday Party - by BB Events

Despite the rainy weather outside this past Saturday, the energy level at the Little Gym was tremendous. Our birthday girl had a fun-filled program, complete with the tumbles, jumps and cartwheels at the Little Gym. Plenty of food, snacks and sweets awaited her and party mates after their session of exercise. What a way to spend the day!

We had fun putting together the favors, which were the Little Gym water bottles. We stuffed them with yummy treats and personalized it with a birthday tag. We also helped put together the dessert/snack table, which we filled with a variety of treats. We personalized the snack packages a much as we could with tags and labels to add a special touch to the celebration. The birthday cake is from Nothing Bundt Cakes, who also now have bundtini's - perfectly bite-sized and brilliantly delicious. Last, but not least, the birthday banner - easily made and easily re-usable for more birthdays to come (just change the number)!

Venue: Little Gym

Cake: Nothing Bundt Cake

Photos by Chi (for now...more to come!)

Halloween Treats...or Tricks?

Here are some treats that caught my eye as I was browsing one my favorite blogs, Hostess with the Mostess. I will likely be making a few of these this year for the Halloween party.

1. Spooky Spider Eggs (from Sunset Magazine).
They use their Bacon Deviled Eggs recipe and then top it with black olives in the shape of spiders, but you can use any deviled eggs recipe.

2. Halloween Candy Kabobs (from Sweets Indeed!)
These candy kabobs are a brilliant creation. Sweets Indeed has a lot more kabobs for all occasions. Imagine these added to your candy or dessert buffet? Or wrap them in cellophane, as they make the perfect party favor!

3. Graveyard Pot de Creme (from Sunset Magazine)

Click here and here to see where I got these brilliantly fun Halloween inspirations from Hostess With the Mostess daily blog.

Real Wedding: Brilliant Florals by BB Events

We were asked to play a different role in the wedding this weekend. We were challenged to help this couple design and create a romantically, classic wedding reception at Hans Fahden Winery in Calistoga. The venue is unique for its cave dinner reception, as well as gorgeous garden ceremony. Words can hardly describe the beauty of this venue.

Sparkling red and gold hues set the tone for the cave dinner wedding reception. Check out the candelabra centerpieces we created and the glowing brilliance of the reception decor. We loved how of the centerpieces, cocktail reception florals, and the cake floral decor turned out at this beautiful Calistoga venue. We also contributed to the bridal party flowers by making the bridesmaids blushing pink bouquets to go with the richly red bridal bouquet made by Angela's Flowers in Santa Clara. Not shown here are also some red rose boutinneres and a corsage we made for bridal party.

We executed this event brilliantly and beautifully, IMHO!

CONGRATS X & J!!!

Venue: Hans Fahden Winery, Calistoga

Florals, including cake: BB Events (yes, that's us!) & Angela's Flowers (bridal bouquet only)

Cake: Maria's

photos here by chi

Bump-Set-Spike Cupcakes

My friends and family decided to throw spontaneous bbq-potluck at the park this weekend because the weather has been so nice. Our tradition is to EAT, TALK, and PLAY! The guys love playing volleyball. So, that sparked my creativity to make "Bump-Set-Spike" cupcakes. I've noticed that cupcakes with cupcake flags have been a trendy thing lately to personalize your desserts for any occaision. See below at my attempt - easy peasy & not to bad looking, IMHO (in my humble opinion; although next time I think I'll add the words "Bump-Set-Spike" somewhere in the design).

Brilliant Baby Shower Gift - DIAPER CAKE!

Yes, this gift is brilliantly beautiful because not only is it made of useful pieces, it's totally fun & pretty to look at. It can even double as a centerpiece! One of our friends is about to pop and having her baby shower this weekend, so Helen & I got together and created this! There are lots of online videos/tutorials, so just google this DIY project and personalize it to your friend's shower.

We used about 70 infant/newborn diapers, used a paper towel roll's cardboard center as the anchor for the middle of the cake and accessorized the cake with ribbon to match the shower's theme, little booty socks, and pacifiers. We topped it with a Teddy Bear burp cloth (but you use a big fancy poofy bow for the top)! This was definitely a fun project & we'll be making more of these. (I guess our preggo friends know what they're getting for their shower - hehe.)

To Tip or Not to Tip?...That is a very important question.

According to the Merriam-Weber Dictionary, a "tip" is "a gift or sum of money tendered for service given or anticipated." The tipping etiquette in the event planning world is confusing. I think it is confusing because there is really no general consensus or "rule" on tipping vendors. After researching and talking many, I found these two websites that sum it up the best. Have a look and decided for yourself how you want to tip.

1. From Frugal Bride website, click here.
2. From Martha Stewart Wedding website, click here.

In the end, though, it's all about how good of a job you think your vendor did for you. Did they make your event brilliantly beautiful? Did they help make your day one of your best days ever? The same Merriam-Weber dictionary defines "gratuity" as "something given voluntarily or beyond obligation usually for some service." Thus, your tip is an optional payment to show the vendor your appreciation of their excellent service, if they indeed did give you excellent service - so you decide!

E & D's Wedding - by BB Events (TEASER)

From vacation right back into weddings - LOVE IT! Yes, I just got back from vacation last week.

We had a gorgeous weekend in Monterey for E & D's wedding! The bride and groom chose a brilliantly beautiful color combo of cranberry and lemon...so cheerfully elegant. The ceremony was at the First Presbyterian Church in Monterey, followed by a reception at Club Del Monte on the naval academy campus. Here are some non-pro teasers (ie. from my humble camera)! Stay tune for more...

The three floral pieces featured in the photos above were made and designed by BBE to decorate the reception area.

Wedding cake by Patisserie Bechler

Center pieces by Fleurish Floral Designs

photos by chi

Inspiration: Brilliant Summer Wedding in Carmel Valley

I came across this gorgeous wedding posted on StyleMePretty by Anna Kuperberg Photography and Mints Designs. I was immediately drawn to the colors and details that just made me smile! Love the perfectly rounded yellow balloons, with the pinks, greens and oranges. The bridal party looked absolutely smashing - the groom and groomsmen in their bow ties was such a fun detail! And the bride and bridesmaids in their light pink and yellows were a perfect match.

Source: HERE

K & J's Wedding - by BB Events

We finally got the professional pictures for K & J's wedding by Noah Hawthorne and they are amazing! We posted teasers from our own humble camera back in May, but here they are. To recap, the couple started their day off with a gorgeous ceremony at the Skyline Community Church, with an intergrated Hawaiian lei ceremony to honor the groom's traditions. After the photo session, the couple rushed back to the hotel, where they did a Chinese Tea Ceremony to show their respect for the bride's cultural traditions. Finally, it was on the reception at the Oakland Asian Community Center, where they kicked off their evening with Storm Troopers, followed by lion dancers. And that's not it - the groom surprised his parents with a Taiko performance in the middle of the evening. This was the first time his parents had ever seen him perform! This was one energy-packed wedding day...and a very joyous one, for sure!

Congrats again, K & J! And thanks for allowing us to be part of your special day!

Ceremony Venue: Skyline Community Church, Oakland

Reception Venue: Oakland Asian Community Center

Florist: Katharina Stewart Floral Art & Design

Cake: A Sweet Side, by Karl Fong

Photography: Noah Hawthorne Photography