January Guest Blogger: Sarah Burton, Event Planning Queen

Sarah Burton, owner of ido Signature Events, Lake Cumberland area’s only wedding & event planning firm! Sarah is also the co-founder of Cumberland Weddings Magazine and an expert on all things etiquette.  So many elements of design and event planning overlap so I often use Sarah as inspiration.  Here is what she had to say about personalized favors:

"As a 26 year old, I often find myself asking the famous question of a toddler, “why?” When Liz presented me with the topic of personalized favors, I had tons of ideas running through my mind, but with that was why in the world do we give favors? At almost every wedding, shower or event we go to, there are always favors, so before I share a couple of awesome ideas with you, I want to take a step back into history about why we have favors. 

Centuries ago, European aristocrats would send their wedding guests home with some type of a miniature gift, called a bonbonniere. Just like now, they were given at other events besides weddings back.  A bonbonniere was a box made of porcelain, crystal, stones or metal, hence why there are little crafty favor boxes today.  Inside of the box you would find delicacies made of sugar.

There are tons of options when it comes to personalized favors for weddings or events; however the most popular are still edible ones. 

These are two fairly new favors that are showing up for different events.  Above are Rice Krispy Personalized Cupcake Flavors.  These would be super cute for a wedding shower, baby shower or bachelorette party or even an event at a salon and spa. On the right are brownie pops, these are perfect for every event.  They could have the initials of the bride and groom, the initial of the guest at each seat, company name, etc.  Brownie pops could also be dipped in pink chocolate or blue chocolate for baby showers too.

Wine bottles are always great favors for events, for 2 reasons: 1) your guest can drink the wine and 2) they’ll keep the bottle.  We have many great wineries now in KY and I always love to keep stuff local.  There are different ways that you can personalize the bottles labels, pictures or even just small stickers.

There are also tons of smaller items that you can use for favors.  I actually recommend hitting the grocery store the day of Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter – great time to get good treats half price.  If you want to stick with tradition and do a smaller favor and cute packaging there are tons of options for it as well.  One of my favorite places is Nashville Wraps; they have cute boxes in all shapes and sizes.  The picture below is actually some that I purchased there for an event I did.  I wrapped the silver boxes in black ribbon and then included my company sticker on top to hold the ribbon together!

The sky is the limit when it comes to personalization, but I do think that personalization is the key to a good, fun and memorable favor, as many people keep those favors for years to come!"

Sarah can be contacted by phone at 606.307.0156 or through her website http://www.idosignatureevents.com.

Stripes!

I am a BIG fan of stripes! In fashion, in home decor... well really in everything!  The lines are so simple but they do so much.  Vertical stripes in clothing give the illusion that someone is taller than they really are.  Stripes in certain colorways provide a well known theme (think navy and white stripes being very nautical).  In decorating, they can add drama to a space when painted in bold contrasting colors.  Or tone on tone stripes can provide a subtle touch of movement.  Pinstripes give a space a fashionable feel, evenly spaced stripes are clean, vertical ones are traditional and tailored, wide stripes give a contemporary edge, and stripes of various widths are playful!  I love that stripes can be used in every style of design- they are universal.

Here are some photos I found inspiring.  (as a result I am now selecting my color scheme and planning to stripe my own foyer.)

Happy stripe-ing!

Colors for 2011

I am loving this year's color forecast from Sherwin Williams.  there is a little something for everyone- understated tones, bright & bold, exotic shades and fresh hues.  Some of my personal favorites are:

Bracing Blue (6242)

Peppercorn (7674)

Parakeet (6711)

Armagnac (6454)

  
Whole Wheat (6121)

Looking forward to using a number of these shades in the coming year!  Happy painting!

New Year, New Look

Happy New Year everyone!  December was a wonderful business boom, and as a result my blogging fell off.  But I'm back and ready to go for 2011!!!

As I type, people are taking down Christmas decorations and packing them away.  As the clean up winds down, they are looking around and realizing the house seems bare. It's a bit of a letdown following a magical Christmas season. I experienced the same feeling myself.  After having a tree up for 2 months, my living room seems very blah now. There was a simple solution, though- simply re-accessorizing my space.  Within an hour, I moved some chairs, reworked the bookcases and strategically placed some greenery.  Voila!  A whole new look without spending a dollar.  Suddenly I'm noticing pieces that used to blend into the background and I once again love my space!

Happy re-arranging!

Table Linens for a Fabulous Holiday Event

Very excited to announce the kick-off of our monthly guest blogger series.  Hope you enjoy this one about table linens from Cassie Bernardi at Pomegranate! 

"My job at holiday meals has always been helping my Grandmother decorate the tables.  I never really liked to help prepare the food, but I can remember running to the hall closet at my Grandmother’s house and pulling out the dry cleaned, white linen cloths.  Getting to choose one for the kid’s table, then the adult table.  Picking stemware.  Opening the cedar chest of silver and setting each place.  Then my sisters and I would run outside and cut holly from the yard, make place setting cards and set out the China.  I can almost remember the excitement of this ritual as much as the creamed peas and twice baked potatoes that make my mouth water in memory.

It sounds somewhat fancy, but my family is really a casual bunch.  We love to eat and laugh and play games at the holidays.  But my Grandmother did impart a tradition of “getting out the fineries” for the holidays.  It made the holidays so special to me and I loved helping her set each place.   

My grandmother passed away several years ago, and my mom, aunts and uncles now take turns hosting the holiday meals.  I still like to take charge of the table setting whenever allowed. 

As much as I love the crisp white linens, I am obsessed with color and love prints (how could you not working at Pomegranate).  This year, I don’t want to stick with the traditional red and green of Christmas or gold, rust and brown of Thanksgiving.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am totally inspired by Anna Spiro’s Absolutely Beautiful Things blog.  I love the colorful plates, and bold flowers she uses below.  I also love the idea of mixing formal with informal… just because we use the silver does not mean the flowers cannot be arranged in assorted mason jars. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love to dig through my Aunt Annie’s antique tablecloth collection to mix-n-match with the white linens that have now been passed down. Starting with a white linen cloth and then layering with a colorful smaller cloth turned on an angle allows the addition of color and print without having to find a tablecloth that fits the table exactly.   The cloths from the 40s and 50s are my favorite for their bold pallet and simple print design.

I also found some awesome ideas for adding a little extra touch with these cute details.  I love this idea of using butcher paper on the kid’s table from Southern Living…

Another idea is letting the kiddos help make place card holders.  It keeps them busy and out of the way while they wait for the main event.

I absolutely love the holidays! Spending time with my family and pigging out are two of my favorite things to do!  Setting a beautiful, creative, unique table is one of the ways you can make the day and meal that much more special.

Hope you have wonderful holiday season!"

-Cassie 

Don't forget that Pomegranate is having their warehouse sale December 8th through 11th at 951 Floyd Drive in Lexington KY.  It's a perfect excuse to load up on some fabulous linens for your holiday tablescape!

Happy shopping!

Holiday Tricks of the Trade

This week has been all about Christmas decor for me.  I hosted the holiday preview party for Polka Dots & Rosebuds and was honored to speak at the Living Well Holiday Edition at the Fayette County Extension Office.  In light of that, I thought I would share some fun and unique tips for you to put to use this holiday season.

- In lieu of weaving wide ribbon through the tree, try a table runner.  It gives a dramatic and luxurious look!

- Replace your traditional tree skirt with gathered fabric.  You can fluff it up to fill in holes between the gifts.

- Place your basic ornaments toward the center (trunk) of the tree and work the more decorative ornaments  further out on the branches.  It allows the fancy ornaments to stand out.

- Refresh old ornaments with a little spray paint and repurpose them as place card holders, fill with flowers to serve as a party favor or simply cluster them on a tiered plate stand for tabletop decor.

Happy Decking the Halls!!