I had submitted our office space to IKEA's business website a while ago, and I recently noticed a bit of activity coming from the IKEA website. I checked it out and sure enough, our office is one of their featured spaces! We think it's great, since we put a lot of work into our office space, as it is a true reflection of our businesses.
Check out the listing on IKEA's site by clicking here.
Happy Planning!
kathryn
Tuesday, March 24
Wednesday, March 11
Classic Party Rentals Open House
Last night I was able to attend the Classic Party Rentals Open House in Burlingame. It was such a fun time not only to see colleagues and friends, but to see all the new and exciting design trends in rentals. There were so many vendors involved, so I won't list them all, but will share some photos from the night!
Design from Natalie Bowen Designs
Design by Nancy Liu Chin
Design by Spiral Hand Designs
Wedding Planner Friends
kathryn
Monday, March 9
It's Planning Time!
We have so much exciting stuff going on right now, I'm trying to keep up with the blog while getting all these new things together. We are currently planning all the 2009 weddings and events. It's the time of year that while there may only be a few events we are producing, but we are planning the events that are coming up, and that means tons of meetings! I am just so excited for the weddings we have coming up this year, and being able to share the photos and tips here on my blog.
While most of our clients are wedding clients, we just produced a wonderful event last week at the Julia Morgan Ballroom for one of our corporate clients, and it turned out just perfect. I had my right hand girl, Brittani, with me, and our spring intern, Erika, to help set-up and run this large event. It went great, and while I don't have any professional photos from the event, I thought I would share just a few.
While most of our clients are wedding clients, we just produced a wonderful event last week at the Julia Morgan Ballroom for one of our corporate clients, and it turned out just perfect. I had my right hand girl, Brittani, with me, and our spring intern, Erika, to help set-up and run this large event. It went great, and while I don't have any professional photos from the event, I thought I would share just a few.
Here are some of the vendors that helped make this event happen:
Caterer: Thomas John Events
Florist: Natalie Bowen Designs
Band: Pride & Joy
Lighting and A/V: Enhanced Lighting and Sound
Happy Planning!
kathryn
Tuesday, February 24
DIY Floral Workshop
This is a great floral workshop being put on by Huckleberry Karen Designs. She was my client three years ago, and now has a thriving floral business. Check out the details below:
Huckleberry Karen Designs D.I.Y. Workshop
Date: Sunday, March 29, 2009
Time: 10am-12:30pm
Location: Fort Mason in San Francisco, CA
Cost: $75 per person (group discounts available - please inquire)
Space is limited!For more details or to register you can email Karen at huckleberrykarendesigns@gmail.com
Happy Planning!
kathryn
Huckleberry Karen Designs D.I.Y. Workshop
Date: Sunday, March 29, 2009
Time: 10am-12:30pm
Location: Fort Mason in San Francisco, CA
Cost: $75 per person (group discounts available - please inquire)
Space is limited!For more details or to register you can email Karen at huckleberrykarendesigns@gmail.com
Happy Planning!
kathryn
Friday, February 13
Happy Valentine's Day
I wanted to make a quick post before the long weekend with some quick Valentine's Day ideas. I've always loved Valentine's Day; one, because I love all things love, and two, it falls two days before my birthday, so I have always felt extra spoiled around this time of year. What I love most about Valentine's Day is that it can be whatever you make of it, it doesn't have to be what you feel you are supposed to do. Here are some fun ideas for those of you still pondering what to do:
- Instead of doing a lavish prie fixe meal out, go to a wonderful late morning brunch and then to a museum. Spend the day together and just relish in the joy of having time with each other.
- Scour the internet for a new recipe to try for dinner, and make it together. Put on a favorite cd, light a fire, and eat on a blanket in front of it like you're on a picnic.
- Take a road trip to a fun place you may not have been together before. In the Bay Area, there are plenty of places; Half Moon Bay, Point Reyes, Monterey, Carmel, etc. Walk around the town, have a late lunch and enjoy the new sites.
- Take in a sporting event. One year I took my boyfriend to a Warriors game, he was beyond thrilled!
- Order the Book of Us, get some mini cheesecake bites, a lovely bottle of champagne and crawl into bed and fill out this book together. It will make you laugh, cry and remember all the things you felt when you first fell in love and why you're still together. It's a must have for any couple!
Whatever you do, make sure that you enjoy every minute of it, and not take things like the one you love for granted. Wishing you all a very lovely weekend!
Happy Planning,
kathryn
Monday, February 9
All Things Champagne
I really enjoy celebrating special moments in life with a prefectly chilled bottle of champagne. I have a few favorites that I tend to purchase, and they typically are the ones with less sugar. For some time, I wasn't aware of what makes up the different tastes and sugar levels in different champagnes (or sparkling wine if you will). So, when I received this champagne cheat sheet, I thought I would share it on my blog. What a better time than now right before Valentine's Day creeps up on us!
Champagne has become synonymous with romance and celebration. Unlike wine, choosing Champagne is a much simpler process because there are far fewer choices. Contrary to legend and popular belief, the French monk Dom Perignon did not invent sparkling wine. It was first produced by an English scientist in the 1662, who added sugar to a finished wine to create a second fermentation. This was six years before Dom Perignon set foot in the Abbey of Hautvillers and almost 40 years before it was claimed that the famed Benedictine monk invented Champagne. Although the Dom Perignon did not invent Champagne, it is true he developed many advances in the production of this beverage, including holding the cork in place with a wire collar to withstand the fermentation pressure.
By definition, true "champagne" comes only from that region of France that bears the same name. Specifically, the Champagne region is 90 miles northeast of Paris, close to the border with Belgium. Champagnes typically come from one of three areas within that region: Reims, Marne, or Cote de Blancs. Outside of France champagnes are known as sparkling wines and produced quite successfully throughout the world. Unlike most wines that are named after vineyards, champagnes are named for the houses that produce them. These houses, in turn, produce various brands of champagne, which are known as marques. When you select a bottle of Champagne, it will be these marques from which you will choose. Examples of well known marques include: Krug, G H Mumm , Laurent-Perrier and Taittinger.
Most of the Champagnes produced today is "Non-vintage", meaning that it is a blended product of grapes from multiple vintages. Most of the base will be from a single year vintage with producers blending anywhere from 10-15% (sometimes as high as 40%) of wine from older vintages. If the year is particularly good, some producers will make a "Vintage" wine that must be composed of at least 85% of the grapes from vintage year.
One of the beauties of Champagne is its remarkable diversity - each style appealing to a different palate and budget. The primary types of Champagne include Blanc de Noirs, Blanc de Blancs and Rosé:
Blanc de Noirs - A French term (literally "white of blacks") for a white wine produced entirely from black grapes. Common examples are: Tesco Blanc de Noirs, Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs (sparkling wine) and Piper Sonoma Blanc de Noir (sparkling wine).
Blanc de Blancs - A French term that means "white of whites", and is used to designate champagnes made exclusively from Chardonnay grapes, Blanc de Blancs counts for less than five percent of Champagne produced. Examples include: Piper-Heidsieck, Mumm Napa Blanc de Blanc (sparkling wine), Dom Ste Michelle Blanc de Blanc (sparkling wine) and Piper Sonoma Sparkling Blanc de Blanc (sparkling wine).
Rosé Champagne - The rosé wines of Champagne are produced either by leaving the clear juice of black grapes to macerate on its skins for a brief time or, more commonly, by adding a small amount of still Pinot noir red wine to the sparkling wine cuvee. Examples include: N.V. Billecart-Salmon, Laurent-Perrier's Cuvée Rosé Brut and Legras Brut Rose Champagne (all French Champagne).
Arguably the most important characteristic when choosing a Champagne or sparkling wine, the sweetness is a combination of the amount of sugar added after the second fermentation and aging.
Brut Natural or Brut Zéro - (less than 0.3% sugar)
Extra Brut (0.3 to 0.5% sugar)
Brut - dry (0.5 to 1.5% sugar)
Extra Sec or Extra Dry - dry (1.2 to 2% sugar)
Sec medium - sweet (1.7 to 3.5% sugar)
Demi-Sec - sweet (3.3 to 5% sugar - dessert champagne)
Doux - sweet - (over 5% sugar - dessert champagne) T
The most common is brut, although throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century champagne was generally much sweeter than it is today.
Prestife Cuvée - Also known as the Tête de Cuvée or "head of the class", a Prestige Cuvée is literally the best of the best, usually made with the top grapes from Champagne's 17 grand cru villages, places like Avize, Bouzy and Verzenay. However, along with the impressive taste, it also can have an equally impressive price. The two prestige cuvée Champagnes first created, Moët's Dom Pérignon and Roederer's Cristal, still dominate the market and are the icons of what Champagne has come to express.
And there you have your champange guide to take with you on your next beverage shopping trip.
Happy Planning!
kathryn
Champagne has become synonymous with romance and celebration. Unlike wine, choosing Champagne is a much simpler process because there are far fewer choices. Contrary to legend and popular belief, the French monk Dom Perignon did not invent sparkling wine. It was first produced by an English scientist in the 1662, who added sugar to a finished wine to create a second fermentation. This was six years before Dom Perignon set foot in the Abbey of Hautvillers and almost 40 years before it was claimed that the famed Benedictine monk invented Champagne. Although the Dom Perignon did not invent Champagne, it is true he developed many advances in the production of this beverage, including holding the cork in place with a wire collar to withstand the fermentation pressure.
By definition, true "champagne" comes only from that region of France that bears the same name. Specifically, the Champagne region is 90 miles northeast of Paris, close to the border with Belgium. Champagnes typically come from one of three areas within that region: Reims, Marne, or Cote de Blancs. Outside of France champagnes are known as sparkling wines and produced quite successfully throughout the world. Unlike most wines that are named after vineyards, champagnes are named for the houses that produce them. These houses, in turn, produce various brands of champagne, which are known as marques. When you select a bottle of Champagne, it will be these marques from which you will choose. Examples of well known marques include: Krug, G H Mumm , Laurent-Perrier and Taittinger.
Most of the Champagnes produced today is "Non-vintage", meaning that it is a blended product of grapes from multiple vintages. Most of the base will be from a single year vintage with producers blending anywhere from 10-15% (sometimes as high as 40%) of wine from older vintages. If the year is particularly good, some producers will make a "Vintage" wine that must be composed of at least 85% of the grapes from vintage year.
One of the beauties of Champagne is its remarkable diversity - each style appealing to a different palate and budget. The primary types of Champagne include Blanc de Noirs, Blanc de Blancs and Rosé:
Blanc de Noirs - A French term (literally "white of blacks") for a white wine produced entirely from black grapes. Common examples are: Tesco Blanc de Noirs, Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs (sparkling wine) and Piper Sonoma Blanc de Noir (sparkling wine).
Blanc de Blancs - A French term that means "white of whites", and is used to designate champagnes made exclusively from Chardonnay grapes, Blanc de Blancs counts for less than five percent of Champagne produced. Examples include: Piper-Heidsieck, Mumm Napa Blanc de Blanc (sparkling wine), Dom Ste Michelle Blanc de Blanc (sparkling wine) and Piper Sonoma Sparkling Blanc de Blanc (sparkling wine).
Rosé Champagne - The rosé wines of Champagne are produced either by leaving the clear juice of black grapes to macerate on its skins for a brief time or, more commonly, by adding a small amount of still Pinot noir red wine to the sparkling wine cuvee. Examples include: N.V. Billecart-Salmon, Laurent-Perrier's Cuvée Rosé Brut and Legras Brut Rose Champagne (all French Champagne).
Arguably the most important characteristic when choosing a Champagne or sparkling wine, the sweetness is a combination of the amount of sugar added after the second fermentation and aging.
Brut Natural or Brut Zéro - (less than 0.3% sugar)
Extra Brut (0.3 to 0.5% sugar)
Brut - dry (0.5 to 1.5% sugar)
Extra Sec or Extra Dry - dry (1.2 to 2% sugar)
Sec medium - sweet (1.7 to 3.5% sugar)
Demi-Sec - sweet (3.3 to 5% sugar - dessert champagne)
Doux - sweet - (over 5% sugar - dessert champagne) T
The most common is brut, although throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century champagne was generally much sweeter than it is today.
Prestife Cuvée - Also known as the Tête de Cuvée or "head of the class", a Prestige Cuvée is literally the best of the best, usually made with the top grapes from Champagne's 17 grand cru villages, places like Avize, Bouzy and Verzenay. However, along with the impressive taste, it also can have an equally impressive price. The two prestige cuvée Champagnes first created, Moët's Dom Pérignon and Roederer's Cristal, still dominate the market and are the icons of what Champagne has come to express.
And there you have your champange guide to take with you on your next beverage shopping trip.
Happy Planning!
kathryn
Wednesday, January 28
The Special Event Conference - San Diego
I am posting from my hotel room here in lovely San Diego. I am attending The Special Event Conference, and it has been great so far. Basically, you sign up and attend different seminars during the day, and at night, there are different parties being put on all around the downtown area where we are. I've learned so much, and met so many people in the industry!
Yesterday, my classes consisted of Wedding Disasters and How to Avoid Them. Even though they had some crazy stories (an aunt passed away during one reception, yikes) I felt I could actually outdo them on some of my own stories. I did take away from it though a few more key things to add to my emergency kit. Then I went to a seminar put on by some of our Bay Area colleagues about taking a wedding concept and working it through the entire event, even down to the food, dessert and bar stations. Stations are becoming more and more popular as a way to save some money while planning a large wedding and choosing not to have a seated plated meal. I even went to a class on whether or not to do reality TV, as I've been approached to do a few shows in the past, and usually it didn't work out since I was either already booked, or I didn't have an underage teen getting married who was pregnant (hello, MTV). After that, I attended a class that really didn't help too much, as once you start a business, you know the basics. This was really for people that do wedding planning as a hobby, not their full time career. Not much to learn there, since this is what I do 24/7. The last seminar of the day was How to Be a Good Planner, or something in that realm. It was very informative, and there were about 250 other planners from all over the country and sharing stories, and also creative ways we've all handled certain uncomfortable situations was great to hear.
The Special Event then hosted an amazing party at Stingaree, a great club right across the street from our hotel. We were feted with drinks, and so many tasty delights (too bad a few of us already ate before hand!). It was nice to meet people from all over that do the same work we do. Many of them are the ones you see on TV doing celebrity weddings, reality wedding show, etc., so it's always nice to hear that their challenges are the same as ours.
I am excited to visit the trade show today of all the vendors that are displaying their work. Then I have a few more seminars, a quick dinner at Nobu with some friends, then back on the plane to San Francisco tonight. The conference lasts until Friday, but there is just too much work that needed to be done back at the office, so two days was all I could spare. I am looking forward to implementing some of my new discoveries in some of the 2009 weddings I have, and also into my business.
Happy Planning!
kathryn
Yesterday, my classes consisted of Wedding Disasters and How to Avoid Them. Even though they had some crazy stories (an aunt passed away during one reception, yikes) I felt I could actually outdo them on some of my own stories. I did take away from it though a few more key things to add to my emergency kit. Then I went to a seminar put on by some of our Bay Area colleagues about taking a wedding concept and working it through the entire event, even down to the food, dessert and bar stations. Stations are becoming more and more popular as a way to save some money while planning a large wedding and choosing not to have a seated plated meal. I even went to a class on whether or not to do reality TV, as I've been approached to do a few shows in the past, and usually it didn't work out since I was either already booked, or I didn't have an underage teen getting married who was pregnant (hello, MTV). After that, I attended a class that really didn't help too much, as once you start a business, you know the basics. This was really for people that do wedding planning as a hobby, not their full time career. Not much to learn there, since this is what I do 24/7. The last seminar of the day was How to Be a Good Planner, or something in that realm. It was very informative, and there were about 250 other planners from all over the country and sharing stories, and also creative ways we've all handled certain uncomfortable situations was great to hear.
The Special Event then hosted an amazing party at Stingaree, a great club right across the street from our hotel. We were feted with drinks, and so many tasty delights (too bad a few of us already ate before hand!). It was nice to meet people from all over that do the same work we do. Many of them are the ones you see on TV doing celebrity weddings, reality wedding show, etc., so it's always nice to hear that their challenges are the same as ours.
I am excited to visit the trade show today of all the vendors that are displaying their work. Then I have a few more seminars, a quick dinner at Nobu with some friends, then back on the plane to San Francisco tonight. The conference lasts until Friday, but there is just too much work that needed to be done back at the office, so two days was all I could spare. I am looking forward to implementing some of my new discoveries in some of the 2009 weddings I have, and also into my business.
Happy Planning!
kathryn
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