{before and after's} furniture

 so if you follow along with what i'm up to on facebook, or if you follow my tweets, you know i was putting in quite a few hours working to spruce up some of the antique furniture i've accrued over the past year... i was doing that for the flea market i was selling at with my mom.  she and my dad were looking to unload some of their antiques, so i figured i'd sell some of my cute little tables... so here are the before + after's of some of my stash....

horrible little orange table, but i saw past it and thought she had cute legs + lines

here she is all cleaned up

the whole table was stripped, sanded, then the top + shelves were stained a very dark mahogany brown and the skirt and legs were painted a milky white and to give the paint an aged look we went over it with some brown glaze to add character!

 don't you just love the shape of the top?!?

 she didn't sell, but i was secretly hoping i could take her home to my house if she didn't 

{like how i'm talking like the table is part of the family?} =)

next up was another super cute tiered table....

and here it is distressed with a dry brushed coat of pistachio paint base, then glazed with some antique white, and then glazed with a a little brown for antiquing.

 close-up - aren't the curves of the trim sooo cute?!

 and here are the legs, we left the feet the oxidized copper {i think it's copper at least?} but i just love the color of this table, it's enough to accent a room, but not super bold either!

 sadly, this table didn't sell either, so she's looking for a new loving home to show off in... or perhaps you'd like to rent her for a wedding or event... she's an orange county native right now, so if you're local you could make her yours for $70 

{please email me if you want dimensions, rental price, or any other info}

here's a cute little drop leaf side table, it was solid mahogany...
....had so much character for such a small table!

this one did sell to a really sweet customer and her mom,
here's an after photo i snapped before it went off to its new home!

next is this nice coffee table... it was a little beat up, but i loved the legs {i'm a sucker for nice legs}!
and i really liked the little shell/fan detail on the legs...
:: :: before :: ::

and... after!

i used it as my coffee table in the vignette with the daybed behind it that was filled with our throw pillows, i topped it with some antlers and that enormous glass cloche!

close up of the leg

the table top was really pretty, we sanded off the ugly reddish stain, gave it a new coat of stain so you could really see the detail and pattern of the wood... happy to report this table went to a new home that day too!

here's another great table, didn't manage to get a before photo of this one, but it had a REALLY red colored stain on it and so we sanded it down and gave it a more "today" colored finish

in case you haven't noticed... i'm seriously drawn to table tops with something other than a square or circular shape =)

and last but not least here's another one of my FAVORITES!
here is this solid pecan table before....

and here it is after! the top + drawer front are stained the same color and the body, skirt + legs are painted a light sea-foam that's been topped with a antique white glaze and then given some tiny splatters to give it some character!

 and a close up... you can see the splatters here

she also needs a good home, it's a great size to be used as an apartment-sized coffee table
{and yes all my pieces are females, haha}
she's available for pick up in orange county for $120

i had a few other pieces that i didn't get finished so i'll save those for another post!

again if you are interested in purchasing a piece you saw in this post, or if you'd like to rent one for an event feel free to email me!

{happy anniversary} josh + marci 6.26.10

seriously... it's already been a year since you guys became man + wife??!?! 

where's the time gone?  and how has it taken me this long to blog their wedding...? 

better late than never right?

... on to the real message of this post ...

:: Josh + Marci :: 

like a said above, how has a year already zoomed past us since the day you two said your vows?  

i sure don't know, but what i do know is that my life has been greatly blessed having the two of you in it!  not only did i have the honor of helping plan your most special day {to this date at least}, but i am even more honored to have gained a friendship with you both.  Josh, i know how valuable your friendship has been to my hubby through the stressful law school years and now carving out legal careers for yourselves. and Marci, you have been a bright ray of sunshine in my life ever since we began planning your big day, i thank God that our friendship continued on past our planning together, you make me laugh and i love that we can spend hours on end chatting about life, marriage, future plans and our terrible addiction to wedding blogs!  ok, ok, enough with the sappy stuff, but honestly thank you both for the opportunity to not only take part in the planning, and to be able to witness the start of your marriage, but to also have the great pleasure of watching your marriage grow this past year... love you guys!

now here are some highlights from their wedding at Rancho Capistrano on 6.26.10

....and the piece de resistance, their dessert table =)

i'll leave you with my favorite two images of j+m on their wedding day....

....here's to us all growing old together!



{vendor talent}
*photographer: Hugh Forte {and some images were from a personal friend who shot for me that day}
*catering/cake/desserts: the fabulous Jay's Catering
*floral designs: Jayne at Bits of Whimsy
*dj: Goodtimes Entertainment {my favorite, Tony}
*videographer + love story: Tom from AquaVivus
*all paper goods + jewelry + bridal hairpiece: Joie de Vie Design


{features} thanks to the following bloggers for featuring this wonderful couple's event!
*Amy Atlas - Sweet Designs - p. 1, 2, 3
*Mary Lalande - Jay's Catering
*The Wedding Chicks

{come check us out} the confetti lab @ the party pantry

hey folks, i just wanted to give you heads up that if you're in the LA/OC area this thursday, june 23rd you should head over to the Wedding {party} Pantry in Tustin.  Lauren of a fabulous fete and Brittany of Spruce PR are hosting an event all about throwing parties...  Confetti Lab!

they've asked some "party people" {sorry couldn't help myself} to come lend some creativity and help supply you and inspire your next event!  here's the info

i'll be setting up shop with some of my current favorite party supplies for sale to help accessorize your upcoming summer parties, showers, etc!  and speaking of, need to get back to prepping for it....

see you thursday =)

*blair

{featured} by Hostess with the Mostess

if you haven't seen it yet, yesterday BBE was featured for our design contributions to the ever so fabulous Kacee Geoffroy's baby shower for sa deuxième fille {her second little girl}... just a little of my high school french skills for you! =)

anyhow, i was so thrilled to see that the shower was featured yesterday over at one of our FAVORITE event hosting blogs - Hostess with the Mostess... thanks Jenn!

kudos go out to all the other wonderful vendors who worked on Kacee's shower, the vision really was pulled together beautifully and seamlessly by everyone, and of course Alice Hu Photography's images made the event look picture perfect!

feeling so blessed to have been apart of Kacee's special party!

{vendor team}
:: photography ::                  Alice Hu Photography
:: catering & cake ::             Jay's catering
:: floral designs ::                 Floral Elements
:: fragrance station ::            Kamilyin
:: design & paper goods::    BBE & our sister co. {Joie de Vie Paperie}

la vita e dolce

.... the sweet life or life is sweet ....

I have to say a big thank you to Carlie of gabriel ryan photographers for posting the photos from last month's wedding, they just made my day!  Meagan {the bride} is a long time friend of mine, who married her knight in shining armor on 8.28.10... I had the honor of being one of her maids for her wedding day, but I just couldn't help myself, my design business did their paper goods for the big day, and you know I had to assist in throwing in a little event design love too!

So here's the dessert table we did for their big day

The overall wedding look was very classy and elegant, and since Meagan had spent a summer in Italy, she really wanted to bring a few touches of Italy to their day.  So JDVpaperie created the banner, which we attached to the frames, along with photos from Meagan + Erik's {sweet} lives, and then of course the table was finished off with the actual sweets!  

And since I can't just post about the dessert table, here's one of my favorites of them...

a big shout out goes out to

 * Lisa of Double Take Interiors/ jomestic doi for creating the gorgeous silk overlay 

{she's my fabulous SIL and interior designer}

* also, to Collette's Catering for the sweets and pretty cake!

And if you're ever in need of some awesome and large vintage frames I have both of these babies {and one more} available to be rented for your upcoming event! =)

Stoked{dot}com... Wedding Chicks feature!

Wow, so stoked to see our clients, Josh + Marci up on the Wedding Chicks blog today! I really can't begin to describe how much I enjoyed working on their wedding, and now to see Hugh Forte's images gracing the first page of one of my favorite wedding sites today - that took my wow to another level, so flattered and so beyond blessed!

I was also so happy to see that they posted Aqua Vivus' work too, seriously, if you haven't considered having a videographer... go take a gander at their work - whatever your thoughts were, you'll not only want a videographer... you'll want them! 

What a great day!

{real wedding sneak peek} marci + josh 6.26.10

Ok folks, this past weekend I had the honor of designing and coordinating this wedding for a couple who is very special to me... here are the newlyweds

Josh + Marci

I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed planning their big day with them... they are so mellow, easy going, and fun; which made them a dream to work with!  Josh + Marci are college sweethearts who were looking for a very Anthropology and eclectically inspired day... I'm happy to say we succeeded in that! They were married at Rancho Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano on a gorgeous day here in So Cal, and we were blessed with such beautiful weather! 

{none of the june gloom we've been having here recently}

Anyhow, while we're waiting on the no doubt amazing photos from their photographer Hugh Forte, here are some sneak peek shots captured from their day.  I hope you enjoy these glimpses of their wedding!

gorgeously eclectic bridesmaid bouquets

{dusty miller. cabbage, wild peonies, painted scabiosa, hydrangea, and many other wonderful blooms}

Marci's monique lhuillier dress was gorgeous and so was her bouquet filled with ruffled tulips, dusty miller, freesia, garden roses, peonies {just to name a few} =)

and LOOK at these phenomenal shoes!!! 

I melt just looking at them...

the centerpieces incorporated 5-6 different containers filled with all sorts of florals, and the centerpieces sat on piece of burlap to anchor them - all the tablescapes really were a feast for the eyes. 

We used three varying sized vintage frames, which we attached chicken wire to and painted white, 

then clipped on the vintage shipping tag escort cards with painted mini clothes-pins.

This is one of their 3 cakes, Jay's catering did such a wonderful job implementing the style we were going for.. we gave them burlap to cover the cake bases so that it would coordinate with the burlap on the tables and to echo the brown tones from the wedding invite envelopes {which were made from kraft paper}.  Also, the crocheted ribbon was a used to secure all the pieces of the invite suite, so we used it again to help add some interest to the satin ribbon wrapped around the base of each cake tier!

Don't you just love that sugar flower peony?!?

Here's a little look at some of the mini desserts that were served in addition to the cakes!

Jay's really outdid themselves with the color coordinated lollicakes, petit-four-esq cheescake bites, and chocolate covered cream puffs!  Trust me, they tasted just as yummy as they look - yep, 

I had to sample of course!

And here's a glimpse of the sweetheart table - we used the "M and J" initial mugs as containers for their table... We also plopped these amazing dinner plate dahlias around to help give texture and color to the table... I also added this pedestal & cloche to give them their own little dessert display, that way they could have their sweets without having to leave their table!

Well, that's all for now, but I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of the wedding... I still can't believe how wonderfully well all the details pulled together for such a truly beautiful day! 

Big thanks go out to the following wonderful vendors I was so blessed to work with that day!

Catering & desserts: Jay's Catering

Photos courtesy of Mary Lallande

Paper goods, jewelry & bridal accessories: Joie de Vie

Floral Design: Jayne Hallaian of Bits of Whimsy

DJ: Tony Boldi of Goodtimes Entertainment

Cinematography: Aqua Vivus Productions

Professional Photography: Hugh Forte