Happy Birthday Pamina!

I was contacted just a few days ago to put together a Birthday Dinner Party, so I procured the caterer, rentals, linens, music entertainment and the flowers. Pamina loves pink and orange, so I made the floral design in those colors. Since the dinner and dessert was to be outside, even though there were heaters, I brought orange fleece blankets for warmth and cuddling.

Click here to view the photos.

My Friday

My friend Kelly is a fellow wedding and event planner in Florida (we've never met, just know each from an industry "members only" message board). ANYHOO, this girl is a nut. A couple of weeks ago she created a montage of what kind of day she had as a wedding planner. This is her montage:

You can read about the details on the post on her blog. Stuff about creating a new DVD cover for a client, getting a tour of a gorgeous new venue, loving her Starbucks, shopping for a client, updating menus and budgets yadda, yadda. She looks so glam - hair styled and sporting Nicole Richie sunglasses. So "J-Lo". So wedding planner-ish.

And then there's MY kind of day as an event planner. Here's my montage:

(To view up close click on the montage. Hopefully I don't have any chin hairs showing.)

Left to RIGHT, Top to Bottom:

1. Went to the flower market to get flowers for Mariela's Birthday Party.

2. This is what greeted me at the entrance. I love gerber daisy's. They are just. Happy.

3. She's my intern. Don't mention anything about her height, she's a little self-conscience about it.

4. Stopped at McDee's before going to the flower market. So there Starbucks. Don't see a drive-thru at your place! Now I will have money left over to buy that McGriddle, and not spend it all on a Venti.

5. Yup. That's me. In my usual state of glamourousness - a baseball hat and no makeup. Didn't take a shower either, cuz flowers don't care.

6. I'm glad to see my lil' intern is very Green, and drives her electric car to work.

7. I wonder if David Tutera has ever had a power lunch at Funtown Hot Dogs?

8. All the flowers I purchased unloaded and in buckets on my front porch. Some one's gotta be the white trash on our street....

It was a great day.

Seriously, it was fun. I took Raina with me and we had a great time, she really likes to help me. And the flower market is literally across the freeway from Lego Land, and we have passes. So we went for a couple of hours which was also a lot of fun since we usually have "the boys" - dad and two brothers there, and they don't like to go on the kiddie rides. And it is so worth going there just for the Granny Fries. Omigawd. They are the best. They fry diced green apples, coated in sugary cinnamon, accompanied with a vanilla cream to dip them in. HEAVEN.

But I had to drive home like a maniac to pick up my son from school in time. Of course I hit traffic on the freeway. Took some side streets, hit every flippin' red light. When I got there to the school, they had him waiting in the office. The office ladies already know I'm NOT one of the totally-have-it-together-moms like all the rest of 'em.

But that's okay. They didn't get to see really happy gerbers....

Happy Birthday to Mariela!

Over the weekend I did a birthday party for Mariela who is my good friend. When we started planning her party about a month ago, she gave me a budget to work with for the decor. But then her dear husband secretly "slipped" me some more funds so I could go all out for her. She loves pink -like myself- which made it easy to do. However, since there were going to be gentlemen friends there, I toned it down just a wee bit and the flowers were more mauve in color than pink. But the guys don't seem to mind - I don't even think they notice!

I put together the floral arrangements, the tables (we used what tables we own - 54" rounds and 6' banquets), the poles with the willow with cymbidium orchids, hanging crystals and candles, the candy table (remember my glass vase find?) etc. I didn't get pictures of it, but I also provided pink fleece blankets for the ladies shoulders and laps. They were a big hit. Also in the corner of the backyard, I set-up one of those portable round patio fire things and the guys were hanging out around the fire, smoking cigars and drinking port. It was THE BEST port wine I have ever had!

Shown is the set-up during the daytime, then photos of it during the nighttime with the candles glowing. It was so difficult to capture how purty it was with the candles......the photos don't do it justice.

Come back in a couple days and I will have a link for the photo gallery. I will also post "a day in the life of an event planner" which is kinda silly....

UPDATE: Click here to view photos from the party.

Taking care of business (cards)

I was running out of my event planning business cards - they are so four years ago, and designed some new cards. My old cards were not reflective of me at all. At them time I had them "professional" and safe, they were black and gold with a photo. *yawn* borrrrringggg.

Now that I am -ahem- older and don't give a hoot, I decided to design cards that were more me and my fave colors. I made four differnt cards and one postcard. Here they are:

For weddings:

For children's parties:



For social events/tea parties



For showers:

Yup. Livin' the dream....

This is why I haven't been posting or commenting on y'all's blogs much. It's the last couple of weeks of summer, and want to take advantage of living five minutes from the beach before school starts.

When school starts and I don't have to be Activities Director anymore, I'll have a bunch of things to post about!

Tie One On

I have to order some red bow ties for a birthday party I am doing on Saturday, and thought I would share the info of Solid Color Neckties. I used to buy from them when they were just on eBay, but now they have a great website. I like to have all my staff/servers wearing ties when we do tea parties or other events, and will try to match the color of the event. For $3.75 each you can go all out! Okay, so they aren't silk Italian ties, but they are great quality and look so cool!

One of my staff with their tie.

Here are some other ideas on how you can "tie one on":

~ Is there a wedding in your future? The ties are great gifts for all the groomsmen and the fathers of the wedding party too. They can even do little boys ties to match (so cute!). They also have women's scarves to match.

~If you are going to be hosting a dinner or cocktail party at your home and will be having catering or bartender staff - get them matching ties to "tie in" the colors of your theme.

~ Or if you are hosting a bridal or baby shower dress up the hubbies or other fellas to be the "servers" and have them wear ties to match the shower colors. Don't want men folk around the shower? Pay some teen gals to come assist and do the same. Just have them wear black pants, white collar button shirt and then provide a tie. But have hubby pre-tie it for them, then they can just slip it around their collar and tighten.

~Useful for prom, to have the fella's tie match her prom dress.

~ Cool idea for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. As soon as an invited young gentleman has RSVP'd to attend the Bar or Bat Mitzvah, mail him off a tie in the event color and include a note from the guest of honor saying something like "Green Tie Required."

You get the idea....

If you have any other ideas on how to "tie one on", feel free to leave a comment!

Congrats to PresentPast Collection

Heather just launched her new and beautiful store at The PresentPast Collection tonight. So to show my support, of course I had to buy something!

See, see what I got.........*opening shopping bag*

12 Georgian Eggshell Homer Laughlin Cake Plates (for my tea parties).

Paper Millinery Bouquet (2 bunches).
Have no idea how to use them, they just sang to me.

.....and Antique Ledger Paper.
Again, clueless.

Boy, this whole blogging thing is getting expensive! JK.

I wish Heather the best of luck and much success with her endeavors!

Nothin' but net

This net is a great idea if you are having a wedding - it can be used for a huppa or for a sweetheart table, or for just an intimate dinner area in your backyard!

Children also love to be enveloped by a "canopy" (I was having a tough time keeping my kids out of it when setting this up!) and this could also be big enough to fit a lager table for approx. 12 children for their birthday party. I also purchased one in hot pink for a girl's party or bacholerette party. You can find them from this eBay seller, they are simply bed canopies and come in different colors and sizes. For this purpose I got the queen/king size.

Then to do-it-yourself, you will need four 8' pipe, cross bars and bases (you can rent pipe & base from party rental company or make your own out of PVC pipe and market umbrella bases). The corners of the net already have a metal ring so all you have to do is secure them to the poles.

If you can attach a cross bar over and across the top, you can hang a chandelier or I call them "candle-iers" in the center of the canopy by putting a heavy gauge wire or zippy cable tie through the canopy net holes and attach onto the cross bar. Then use a sturdy ribbon (one with wired edges will work) to secure the chandelier to the wire or zippy tie. This is so you don't rip the net. You could also use paper lanterns or tissue paper pom-poms to hang from the top. Go wild!

(To view a close-up of the faux cupcakes I made, click here.)

Does this make my GLASS look big?

The other day I was at Marshalls (cuz we all know about my shopping/hoarding issues - that's a whole seperate blog) and came across these beauties. So I bought 'em all. They'll be perfect for a candy table or to use as centerpiece vases.

Chai me a river

Ever since I had my first really good Chai tea about a month ago, I have been addicted.

Bad. Like drinking about four cups a day bad.

So now I am on search for the best-tasting Chai tea. At least what the local markets can offer until I get my shipment of loose leaf Spiced Chai tea from my wholesale tea importer to try theirs.

The ones from grocery stores and Trader Joes aren't too bad. Even beats Starbucks. A whole box of tea with 20 teabags is cheaper than one Venti. After trying all the above brands (I like it hot), I have to say that I prefer the Bigelow brand as far as taste and spiciness goes. The Trader Joes' pre-sweetened mix is a lot easier - there is no brewing and it already has the dry milk/sugar mixed in the powder - just put in hot water and stir. But it is higher in calories. And I have a little bit of lactose intolerance, so I usually make mine with vanilla soy and sugar or Splenda.

My least favorite was the Stash brand. Just had too much of a "bite" to it, almost metallic taste.

So if any of you are Chai lovers what brand do you like?

Tiara Swap

So after being pathetically late in making Heather of Bluhm Studios her tiara for Holly Doodle Designs Tiara Swap, I finally got it off to her! You can view all the fab-u tiaras the group made at Flickr, here.

The photos are not my best since I can't access my PS, as my main computer had a hard drive crash this morning. I am very afraid, because my beloved Photoshop is on that computer...cute techy-geek hubby will have to check it out tonight....crossing my fingers he can fix it.

Here is the tiara I received from Heather. The colors are absolutely perfect, and I adore the vintage bling and pom-poms! The "R" could be for either my name or my event planning company Romanza Events. Perfecto!





And here is the tiara I made for Heather. She likes vintage buttons, and glitter. But she LOVES birds, so I thought this lil' cutie birdie could oversee her work as she creates so many wonderful things that she does for so many people. She even has her own tiny tiara! She is dressed and ready for a tea party...



The materials are: raised wallpaper on the bottom portion with glitter highlighting the raised scrolls, silk flowers with rhinestones centers along the bottom edge, tinsel ribbon on edges, vintage music sheets cut into hearts & edged with glitter, a party cup cut in half for the bird's nest filled with feathers, vintage buttons I got from a gal at etsy, a rhinestone spray and pink tulle at the top. The bird's "tiara" is made from a tinsel pipe cleaner.

It is much sparkly in person, and I hope Heather likes it. I have been so insecure at trying my hand for the first time in these crafty ephemera projects/swaps since these ladies are hard-core talented at it!

Thank you Holly for hosting such a unique and fun swap!

Wedding ceremony and thimbles

The tip of my finger is still numb.

On Saturday I conducted a ceremony only. Very sweet couple and so were their friends and family.

The set-up was very simple, and they had everything under control. So to be useful, I offered to help them with pinning on the corsages and boutonnières. About 19 of them.

I have put on a few hundred corsages and boutonnières in my career, with speed and accuracy and absolutely NO PIN showing. Yes, I pride myself in fixing the one who has a "bout" totally askew and pin sticking out from a fellow buddy who attempted to pin it on him, or a grandmother who's corsage is limping to the side because there was nothing to anchor it to on her flimsy georgette fabric dress.

But these were silk flowers. They were pretty cymbidium orchid silk flowers fashioned into corsages and bouts. Translate: very hard, thick plastic "stems". So I am pushing, and pushing and pushing pins into these suckers with as much grace as I could muster considering the hardness of the stem. I seriously could have used a thimble.

The tip of my right index finger was pretty sore after all that, and seriously - it is still numb on the tip!

It was a fairly warm, muggy (for OC) July day, and I thought this was a clever idea the bride did for fans. The ceremony program was printed on the outside of a folded two page program, then the wooden stick was glued to the inside. So this version may be a lot less expensive than having ceremony fans printed.

Here is how you can D.I.Y. your own fan programs:

Purchase program card stock, either printed from the dealer, or blank and print at home. Another option, print and then fold a piece of 8.5" x 11" card stock in half. Use a bone folder or a ruler to press the edge down.

Purchase the wooden sticks, which need to be longer and bigger than traditional tongue depressors.

Place double-stick tape to the program edges, hot glue gun the sticks to the inside and press. Add a ribbon in your color(s).

This idea can also be used for menu cards if you are having a daytime outdoor event or meal.

Elevator Man & 37 (Erika's Bridal Shower)

I helped with a bridal shower last weekend (just trying to get caught up from last week). I did the floral and linen decor for a caterer that I work with occasionally. Totally a very last-minute gig, not my best floral work with such short notice, but the host specifically wanted gerbera daisies. And then she put out photos of the Guest of Honor, so we had to elevate the centerpieces so you could see them. That's the thing with event planning - have to be flexible and resourceful.

The shower cake had a heart on it with "Elevator Man & 37" piped on the frosting. The host of the bridal shower told me the story of how they met less than a year ago. At the time, the bride-to-be was working in a hi-rise in downtown L.A. and the groom-to-be is an elevator engineer who was working on the hi-rise's elevators. They noticed each other as she would come and go from her office on the 37th floor, but never spoke. So whenever she would enter the building, his buddies would radio to him that "37" is in the building and he would position himself to be in the area to see her. And she was referring to him as "Elevator Man" to her friends at work, since they did not know each other's names. After a while she kind of gave up, thinking maybe he must be married since he was not saying anything to her....

Finally, as she went into the elevator one day he followed her in. They finally talked! After work that day, they met over coffee. The rest, they say is history.

I thought it was a really cute story, could be a Lifetime movie or something.....

To view all the photos of this event, visit my gallery.

A Special Day Princess Tea Party for Regina

Yesterday I had the honor of donating my services for a tea party, for a very special girl, Regina. The Fox Family (their daughter goes to school with Regina) contacted me last week so that they may graciously give a gift certificate to her to enjoy this tea party before she begins chemotherapy today. You can read Regina's story and her fight with brain cancer on her mom's blog.

To view all the photos from this very special event click here.

A Tea Party Fit for a Princess

Yesterday I set-up a tea table, catered and served a tea party for a little girl turning three. I was sourced by a children's party production company to provide tea services for this event. They provided the Princess appearance, the dress-up and the entertainment. This was a last-minute booking, so we had to scramble to make it happen, and we did.

We had a great time. And the birthday girl was the cutest lil' thing I have ever seen, so full of personality! During the storybook time she kept jiggling her head so she could feel her clip-on earrings dangle. She was just adorable.

I have to say my "Strawberry Creamy-Dreamy" sandwiches were a hit with the girls! I had fun making them, and not only were they cute but very yummy too. Unfortunately I didn't have time to take a good shot of it, so I just cropped this from another pic. I don't think I will make the Mini Mac 'n Cheese bites again they were too much work and didn't turn out the way I made them in the past.

To view all the photos visit my gallery. Professional images will be available in a few weeks from my assistant and photographer Stephanie Warner.

Also, the Client was so hospitable because as we were setting up the party, she brought us teacups full of Chai tea, sweetened and with milk. I literally gulped mine it was so delicious. I had never had Chai taste so good! I kept asking the other girls if they wanted theirs, so I could finish it off! I'm still thinking about that cuppa and would love more!! Starbucks cannot compare to what she made!

Today I am really tired and need to catch up on everything I am supposed to be doing!

Happy 4th of July and I hope you had a fun and memorable holiday!