Finishing Touches Tuesday: Anthropologie's Dinnerware

I just love the designs and elements to Anthropologie's Dinnerware line. There are so many exciting shapes and sizes. I could go totally nuts ordering different sets for tabletops online. These plates make the whole table. You do not need much else, a unique plate with simple flowers and stunning food! If you want to step it up a notch put a different print (but not too busy) table cloth underneath. Your guests will walk away so impressed and thrilled with the magical night.

I am missing throwing dinner parties, can you tell. During wedding season my dinner party nights go on the back burner. I will get back in action soon, and hopefully make a stop by Anthropologie on my way to Jimbos! :)

Vendor Love: Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa

I am SO excited to announce that Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa is back in business! They are going to undergo some remodeling to the main portions of the property and because of that they were not able to book any weddings for 2012. They just heard back on the final time lines and we are going to be able to book weddings there starting August 1st 2012. That means there is still plenty of time to have your wedding at incredible location that it is.

The venue is amazing along side the staff, service and food! Check it all that Rancho Valencia has to offer here:

Thoroughly Inspired Thursday: My Baby Shower

I was SUCH a spoiled lady! My 3 sister in laws threw me the most gorgeous baby shower you could imagine. They theme was Safari Chic. Which was very fitting with my South African background and natural glam! Kidding:) The day was truly so special. I had all my favorite ladies surrounding me and showering this lil lady to be with so much love. I can't tell you how overwhelmed with happiness and excitement I was. It was a day I will never forget. Take a peek at some of the fun:

All the flowers were made by the VERY best- Annette Gomez! What a treat to have her work incorporated into the day.


Home made "Giraffe Sugar Cookies with Gold Sugar and a Pink Collar". Yum!!!


Jungle Juice and Delicious Treats!


My beautiful Sister in Laws! Thank you all so much!


Presents were SO much fun to open! Xmas on crack in August :)


Miss Molly took Jay's fake Facebook page to heart and gave us the first branded present. I guess that will make us lean more in the "MacKenzie" direction. "Emerson" you will have to start proving yourself in order to get into the top again.


The amazing group. I love all my friends and all the ones that could not make it. Oh and of course a belly shot with the preggers. Something was in the air around "New Years" :)


Molly's beautiful Baby Boy- Ben!


The love of my life! Jay came and surprised me towards the end of the shower with something I had been gushing over for the babies room. He is such a proud Pappa already. I love that man!

Finishing Touches Tuesday: Meg's Shower

I have the amazingly lucky privilege to be pregnant along side a few dear friends. We are all just weeks apart! Miss Meg is only 1.5 weeks behind me, so we found it totally perfect to have a baby shower bonanza weekend. It was a weekend full of SO many laughs, spoiling, oh and FOOD. :) Meg flew in from Denver for the weekend and we got out last single/alone time together before life changes dramatically. On Saturday my sister in laws threw me the most gorgeous shower (Thursday's Blog Post...) and then on Sunday Shana, Vanessa and myself threw Miss Meg a spoiled day with her closest ladies.

We built the menu around "Meg's Cravings". We had 4 stations:
1. Salt and Vinegar Chips and French Fries with a Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce
2. Chicken Curry Croissants and a Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad
3. Bloody Mary's and Blood Orange Sparkling Juice
4. Fruit Salad with a Thyme Dressing and Double Chocolate Chip Carmel Brownies

Told you we ate well!!! Del and Meg are waiting to find out what baby DeWindt is going to be so the shower theme was just a bi-gender elegant mix of all things beautiful and fun! We did send Meg and Del off with quite the book collection, as we had people bring a book (directions to sign the inside cover) instead of a card. I cant wait to see how the book shelf is coming along back home in Denver.

Wedding Wednesday: Plum Pretty Sugar

I have been searching for a new robe set and I have finally found the gold pot at the end of the rainbow! You are going to die when you see the robe sets made especially for bridesmaids. These high quality fabric robes come in all different prints, which gives you the chance to stand out while each of your ladies beside you can still be their own unique person. You can pick a print that is totally fitting for their look and personality.

I love ALL the prints and am having a really hard time picking out the set I want to sport. I can't be walking around the hospital with a sweet lil bundle of joy and not a cute PJ set right? :)

Check out Plum Pretty Sugar's full line here:

Vendor Love: Nate Donnis

You know you are a crowd favorite when there is a buzz around all chatting over how dreamy and amazing the guitar duo is. I worked with Nate Donnis this past weekend and him and his crew where right on the money all night! Nate's voice is so unique and distinguished. Take a look at some of his work below!

I highly recommend them for a cocktail hour or any other event.

Thoroughly Inspired Thursday: Baby Woodcock's Secret Email

I was doing errands the other day and ended up spending way too long in the bank. The teller was so friendly and sweet and would not stop chatting my ear off. In the beginning I was kinda annoyed because my day to do list was longer then any normal person should squeeze into a day let alone a pregnant one. But I am so glad I stayed around to listen and talk because he gave me a little tip that I just LOVE!

He asked if I had kids and I said the first is in the oven (why people cant tell I have no idea). He then told me what his parents did for him when he was in the oven and I almost died...

Before he was born which happened to be the beginning of the .com era, his parents created him a AOL email account. They would send him emails all the time, recapping major things in his life or just checking in to chat. For instance, his Mom would talk about what it was like to have him in her belly and want giving birth was all about. When he was old enough to realize and appreciate the hidden email account, they gave him the log in and let him sit back and read all the adventures he had lived but maybe forgot! He said it was one of the most special teary eyed days he can remember. How COOl is that!

So baby Woodcock- GMAIL awaits you!

Finishing Touches Tuesday: Simple Florals

One of the many perks of doing a wedding is taking home some of the pretty flowers! As usual the florist had some extra scraps left over from the wedding we did on Saturday (You can never have too many flowers). When I got home and threw the 3 elements together in a glass vase I realized how simple is just so pretty! I love the look of the white hydrangea, dusty miller and ranunculus. Clean and elegant.

If you are looking to add some love around the house, this arrangement is so easy and affordable to do. Often times Trader Joes has these exact 3 flowers and their prices are sometimes better then at wholesale! Have fun arranging.

Vendor Love: MIHO Gastrotruck

It was so much fun to meet and hang out with "HO" this weekend. Kevin Ho and his buddy started MIHO Gastrotruck a few years back and have never looked back since. I meet Kevin at a wedding I was doing at the New Children's Museum. He very sweetly lent his creative artist hand and helped with some of the chalk art murals we were doing around the property. From our time together I got to find out all the buzz about MIHO.

I am not only so impressed with the quality of their food and uniqueness of the truck but their vision for the "event" world. I think we will be seeing a lot of fun things come out of these two gentlemen. Keep them on your radar...

They cook with all locally grown organic meats, vegetables and fruits. They are also not only a street truck but handle all types of catering events. Take a look at the delicious menu!

Thoroughly Inspired Thursday: Favorite Things Party

I just got this invitation in the mail and I am dying over the concept of the party. This may not be as new to you as it was to me, because apparently if you are a Oprah viewer you have seen her do something similar. For me, receiving this was like a big box of chocolates! Can you tell I am pregnant. :) I think the concept is so cute and fun!

So here is how it works: You come to the party with 3 of the same thing. The item has to be under $15 dollars and something that you just love. Ie. a makeup item, gift certificate for a polish change at your favorite spa, cooking utensil etc... Then everyone switches and takes the items they like best. You then walk away with a collection of fun treats that you probably will LOVE because they are everyone's favorite things!

I even think the last line is so creative "Please RSVP with your favorite song and recipe". I can only guess that they are going to make a play list with those songs and maybe even dish out a few of our favorite eats.

Thank you Paige and Kristen for putting on such a fun event, I can't wait to join.

Wedding Wednesday: Margaret and Luke are Married!

I had just received the pictures back from Margaret and Luke's Sunset Beach wedding from the talented Sean Walker Photography. Margaret reached out to me to help her tie the last minute pieces of the puzzle together for the week of the wedding. I was so great to work with both Margaret and Luke, as they were such a fun couple.

I just love how Sean was able to capture so many of the raw moments! Margaret's smile is infectious and she just looked simply stunning! The couple meet years back as they both were swimmers. They tied that theme into their cake which had swimming lanes on the edging and into the escort cards which were mini jars of Swedish Fish that read "Real Catch". Thank you to Claudette from Urban Confections for creating the perfect cake for the two of them.

The vibe of the night was alive and the small intimate group of 35 partied until the late hours! It was a great night. Congrats to you both. Thank you for letting me share in your big day!

Ceremony Venue: Sacred Heart

Venue: Sunset Cliff Estates

Photographer: Sean Walker Photography

Catering: Continental Catering

Sweets: Urban Confections

Floral: Paula from the Flower Shop

Finishing Touches Tuesday: Themed Sweets Table

Congrats to the 2011 Navy Seal graduating class. This past weekend I had the pleasure of helping put together a party to honor the graduation of these brave souls. Not only have they survived hell week but a year long intense series of back to back tests and trials. We are all so proud of them. The crazy part is their journey has only now begun...

We had 400 people come to the Bowman's residence to celebrate the big day. The Bowman's were so gracious to host the event and did so with so much love and dedication. Their son, Gray was a member of the graduating class and they were beaming ear to ear as any proud parent would.

I want to highlight my favorite part of the party from a planners perspective - The sweet table! Claudette from Urban Confections did such an amazing job on the spread. We had agreed to not make it girly and to instead play off the Navy Seal look that they had grown accustomed to. We had camouflage sugar cookies, mini cheesecake tarts, dipped strawberries and mini cupcakes all sitting on top of real ammo cans and barrels. The table was a complete success and crowd favorite.

A special thanks to the always amazing Studio Castillero for taking these incredible shots! I heart you Rach!