Pantone Color of the Year - 2013

Pantone.com

So it's been revealed, Pantone's color of the year for 2013 is Emerald, "a lively, radiant, lush green". According to their press release, "most often associated with brilliant, precious gemstones, the perception of Emerald is sophisticated and luxurious. Since antiquity, this luminous, magnificent hue has been the color of beauty and new life in many cultures and religions. It’s also the color of growth, renewal and prosperity – no other color conveys regeneration more than green."

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on an inspiration board based on Emerald!

Fun and Whimsical Table Design

Since I am loving the Tangerine Tango color more and more these days, I decided to design my next Stuart Rental table with it as the main color, with accents of pink and green, based on the inspiration board I posted earlier this year.

I wanted to take a more fun and casual approach this time, in comparison to my previous design table. In addition to using Stuart Rental's Harmony Orange table linen, I also selected their Tafetta Chardonnay napkins to complement the yellow circles in the table linen. The rest of the rentals used are the Cheers China, Erte flatware and the Sphere glassware.

The centerpiece is made up of paper flowers using a variety of origami and scrapbook paper. Since I used clay flowers last time, I thought why not do something different and decided to try my hand at making those. They turned out to be relatively easy to make! Besides, I think it adds a nice touch of whimsy to the entire design.

For the stationery, I collaborated with Cards de Luxe again and Susanne came up with the lovely design for the table number, place cards and menu cards that are too cute for words!

I love the end result and I hope you do too!

Much thanks to Stuart Rental Company and Cards de Luxe for their collaboration in this table design!

Something Blue 2012

Something Blue is the brainchild of Karla Randolph aka The Card Lady. She puts together this yearly event in both Los Angeles and the Bay Area. It's an event that attracts brides and vendors alike, all looking to check out the new ideas and trends presented.

This year, the event took place at the San Jose Museum of Art in downtown San Jose. It was a fun evening; I had the chance to meet some old friends and make some new ones too!

Here are some photos of the event taken by A Girl and A Camera Photography:

Vintage rentals provided by Milk Glass Vintage Rentals

Paper goods by the talented Karla Randolph

One of our old friends; De Young Flowers

Dessert table by Global Gourmet Catering

Florals by De Young FLowers and rentals by Williams Party Rentals

 

A Girl and A Camera Photography

Another old friend; One World Designs

Another old friend; Patricio Angulo of Oye Productions (Left)

A new friend; Intwined

Another new friend; Henna and Beyond

Something Blue vendors:

The Card Lady
www.facebook.com/designsbythecardlady

San Jose Museum of Art
sjmusart.org

Williams Party Rentals
willparty.com

Milk Glass Vintage Rentals
milkglassvintagerentals.com

Catered Too!
cateredtoo.com

Global Gourmet Catering
ggcatering.com

Michi Sushi
michisushi.com

Sprinkles Cupcakes
sprinkles.com

Rocketfizz
rocketfizz.com

Napa Valley Linens
nvlinens.com

De Young Flowers
deyoungflowers.com

Oye Production
oyeproductions.com

Learn With Lynn
learnwithlynn@yahoo.com

DJ Jason
msdjs.net

Balloontics
balloonaticsevents.com

Bloomingdales
bloomingdales.com

Haute Bride
hautebride.com

Romantiques
romantiqueslingerie.com

Dress
dress-sf.com

One World Designs
one-world-designs.com

Intwined
intwinedbows.com

Engaged and Inspired
engagedandinspired.com

Lena Chavez
lenachavez.com

Halo Blow Dry Bar
haloblowdrybar.com

Henna and Beyond
hennaandbeyond@gmail.com

Photo BoothSF
www.photoboothsf.com

N Compass Cinema
ncompasscinema.com

A Girl and A Camera
agirlandacameraphotography.com

Iliana Morton Photography
www.ilianaphoto.com

Restaurant 3000

I found out about Restaurant 3000 while I was working on my June wedding in Menlo Park. This relatively new restaurant is a hidden gem just off the 280 freeway exit.

Restaurant entrance (from their website)

They can hold private events for around 50 guests for a seated meal or around 120 guests for a cocktail reception. It is available for private events during weekdays after 3:30 pm and on weekends. You can use the cafe area outside the restaurant for dancing or for a buffet setup. This place is perfect for a small wedding or a bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, baby shower or any celebration. There is even a small garden area outside where you can choose to have your event. They also offer off-site catering as well.

Cafe area

Restaurant from cafe area

Garden area

Now, for the food... The chef is classically-French-trained and uses his skills and local, seasonal produce to create fresh California cuisine. I had the opportunity to try their salads, main entrees and desserts. The salads were fresh as can be; the quinoa and roasted corn salad, black bean and avocado with a lemon dressing was to die for, the sweetness of the corn complemented the tangy-ness of the dressing so well.

The pièce de résistance though, in my opinion, is their desserts. I tried their crème brulee (can never resist a crème brulee), very creamy and delicious, and their Grand Marnier chocolate pot de crème, which was rich and decadent. They also make croissants in-house every morning and they are buttery and flaky, just like the ones I had in Paris!

Truffle fries

Grilled chicken with melted brie and pesto on a baguette

Crème brulee; Grand Marnier chocolate pot de crème with fresh-baked cookies

The owner, Joel, is very friendly and jovial, and will work with you on your event needs. Their pricing is very reasonable for that area and they offer customized food and beverages packages too. Go check them out, you will not be disappointed!

Spring 2013 Wedding Gown Trends

Bridal Market took place last week in New York where bridal gown designers showcased their creations for Spring 2013. There were so many beautiful dresses that it was hard for us to pick our favorites but we finally did and here are our picks:

L-R: Monique Lhuillier, Ines Di Santo, Kenneth Pool, Christos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Lace is still very in for bridal gowns and we love these lace sheaths, so very romantic!

L-R: Amsale, Oscar De La Renta, Christos

As a subset of the lace trend, here are some gowns using lace as part of the gowns' necklines, very pretty as well, when you want to add just a touch of lace to your gown.

L-R: Monique Lhuillier, Amsale, Maggie Sottero

Voluminous ballgowns are also still very popular and we love how these gowns can make you feel like a princess on your wedding day.

L-R: Amsale, Ivy Aster, Oscar De La Renta

Short wedding gowns reflect the spring season and these gowns can show off your sassy, cute or demure side.

L-R: Carolina Herrera, Theia

An interesting trend is having a pantsuit replace the typical wedding dress. These are still very feminine because of the fabric used and they are perfect for brides who like to stand out a little bit.

L-R: Vera Wang, Vera Wang, Romana Keveza

Now, if you really want to stand out, how about these colored gowns? There are various shades of red and aubergine to choose from. Can you imagine how stunning it will be if you walk down the aisle in one of these fabulous creations? It will definitely be one wedding that your guests will remember for a very long time!

You can also visit our pinboard for more of our favorites!

 All images by Martha Stewart Weddings

Inspiration Board ~ Cherry Blossoms

Happy first day of Spring! I love cherry blossoms as they always remind me of Spring and they are so pretty. Cherry blossoms have already started to bloom in Washington this year so I like to share with you the inspiration board I have created to welcome Spring :)

Etsy: Cherry blossom photo, pocket mirror, glass pendants

 Butterfly Cakes: Cherry blossom wedding cake

Beau-coup: Cherry blossom pillar candles

Yahoo: Cherry blossom cupcakes

The Knot: Invitation, centerpiece

Dior: Vernis nail polish in Sienna

You can also check out my Cherry Blossom pinboard on Pinterest for more images.

Parisian Macaron Class Recap

On Thursday, I finally took the first step towards making one of my 2010 New Year's resolutions come true; I took a Parisian Macaron class with La Vie Douce Design.

La Vie Douce Design is the brainchild of Venus Wei, a talented pastry chef and designer in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to making delectable desserts for clients, she recently started offering classes teaching students how to make Parisian macarons among other sweets. So, together with a few wedding industry colleagues, we embarked on a fun and entertaining day at Venus' home kitchen.

Upon arriving at Venus' place, we were greeted with goodies at the tasting station, what a great start to the class!

There were three different kinds of creme brulee; lychee, ginger and espresso. I tasted the lychee one, never had this combination before, it was very good! Above the creme brulees were a new dessert created by Venus;  Meyer Lemon Curd Tart in verrine form, topped off with Chantilly cream and candied kumquat. I'm usually not a fan of lemon curd but hers was not too tart and all the elements worked really well together.

Of course, there were macarons for tasting too, there were three flavors of that as well; strawberry, mocha and chocolate-matcha. I tasted the strawberry macaron, not too sweet, perfect!

Then, there was also New York cheesecake bites with a strawberry coulis and salted caramel sauce, and vanilla panna cotta with fresh mangoes and coulis. I love the panna cotta; the slight tartness of the mangoes complemented the sweetness of the panna cotta. 

For the class, Venus provides recipes and a handy resource list so we know where to buy ingredients, baking tools and equipment. For the first half of the class, she went over a list of macaron cookbooks she recommends and showed us how we can package macarons in a variety of ways. Following that, she did a demo of making the macaron shells first, using two different methods, after which we split up into teams of two (there were six students total) and proceeded to make the macaron shells ourselves, with her guidance. My teammate Jeeryn and I decided to make chocolate macarons since the other two teams were making matcha (Peggy and Tiffany) and rose (Sophie and Jenny) macarons.

Here is Venus showing us how to fold the batter and how to pipe teddy bear macaron shells:

Here is Jeeryn piping our very first macaron shell and our sheet of finished macaron shells waiting to go in the oven:

Venus also showed us how to decorate the macaron shells, either before you bake them or after they are done baking. She also demonstrated how to make earl grey tea-infused chocolate ganache and rose buttercream as the fillings for the macarons we made (both of which I can just eat spoonfuls by themselves).

Here are our chocolate macaron shells out of the oven (with "blingy" decorations added by Venus):

Peggy and Tiffany filling their matcha macaron shells with the chocolate ganache:

Sophie and Jenny's completed rose macarons with rose buttercream, how pretty, and yummy too!

I highly recommend this class for all those who want to know how to make Parisian macarons. It is really helpful to actually watch a live instructor go through the process. Take it from me, on my very first try of making macarons, I tried to just follow a recipe in a book and ended up with cracked macaron shells. Venus is thorough in her teaching and offers lots of detailed knowledge and guidance. You also get to learn hands-on, not just by watching a demo by the instructor.

Now I cannot wait to try making macarons on my own :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

It's that time of the year again, the sweetest day, the day of l'amour! I wish you a very happy Valentine's Day and that you get to spend this day with the one(s) you love :)

Etsy: Cake Bunting, Rose Petal Tea Cookie ~ Martha Stewart: Valentine's Day Boxes, Box of Roses

Pinterest: Try It At Your Own Risk

Have you heard of the latest social networking site called Pinterest? According to their website, "Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard. Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests."

To me, Pinterest is a downright obsession. I joined late last year but did not actually start using it until early this year. Boy, once I started, there is no turning back, it is so fun and easy to pin images! I have to limit the amount of time I spend on that website or perusing other websites, pinning images onto my boards, otherwise, I would not get any work done. Even though, technically, finding inspiration online is part of my work, no?

It is a great way for engaged couples to share their wedding ideas and inspiration with their wedding planner and other vendors, or with their families and friends. Even if you are not planning a wedding, you can pin images for places you want to travel to, recipes you want to try, the shoes you want to get, anything you can think of.

Right now, I have some boards dedicated to weddings and some for my personal interests. Since Pinterest is still technically by-invitation only, if you are interested to join, let me know in the comments below or email me and I will send you an invite. I've heard that recently, it's faster to join if you get an invite from an existing member than if you were to request an invite from the website itself.

If you are already using Pinterest, you can follow me here.



(Disclaimer: I accept no responsibility for introducing you to your impending obsession.)

You have been warned.