Chivas

Natural Goat Milk Skin Care, soaps, facial cream & bath salts. All made from hand milked goats. They also make a vegan lip balm. The farm is located in Southern California, just a little south of Santa Barbara. The name of the company means goat in Spanish. They also use herbs from their garden in the products.

I heard about them when Lauren, the co-founder, came to an ABC meeting in Orange County earlier this month. We received a bar of soap as our favor. Which is in the photo below. The reason she was there was to promote favors for weddings or showers. They can custom blend scents and make a custom label for the items. They will also stamp them. Our bar was lily of the valley with a tree stamp. They do need at 60 days to make these since they are hand made, but for a unique favor or welcome basket gift, that will be used, this is a great item.

Enjoy,

Good Times

Here are photos of the great food I was served at a luncheon for the Association of Bridal Consultants Orange County on Tuesday. It was held at the new Shorebreak Hotel in Huntington Beach. I will talk about the venue and other vendors in another post.

The salad was made with endive, watercress and apples. It was served with a herbed goat cheese crostini.

The entree was an onion smothered rib eye with potatoes. Yummy and done just right.

And this fabulous dessert was a Peach Galette with Creme Fraiche. Oh My, it was served warm with the flakiest of crusts.

Happy Reading,
Steph

Fabulous Blog Award

I have been tagged for the 1st time!! By Bride Chic for the Fabulous Blog Award. Thank you Amy of for thinking of me! Such an honor {& pretty cool, too}.

These are the rules: List 5 obsessions/addictions that you have, and tag back to the person who gave you the award. Post the rules. Tag 5 more people.

These are my addictions and obsessions~

• Scrapbooking~I didn't start scrapping till I had a child. It brings together my love of taking photos{of my son}with arts & crafts. What's not to love!
• White Chocolate Raspberry~anything!! Red Velvet cupcakes are coming in a close second. 
• Blogs~I have quite a few blogs that I frequent/being on the computer. My husband thinks this should be number one!  Although, I do run my business off of it.
• Weddings~which I hope everyone knows!
• Anything Pink!

Here are the fabulous blogs I am choosing~

A Lucky Orchid Wedding

{Ritzy Bee}

Sparkliatti

In the Now

Parisian Party

Happy Reading~

I also just received my Professional Bridal Consultant {Distinguished Graduate} Designation from the Association of Bridal Consultants.  So very exciting!

2008 vs.1958

I should have posted this last week but, I just read this article today in the Association of Bridal Consultants trade paper. It compared weddings today with those from 50 years ago. The list and photo is from AARP's June Bulletin.

Annual Weddings-1958/1.5 million 2008/2.4 million

Bride's Name-1958/Mary 2008/Jennifer

Groom's Name-1958/Robert 2008/Michael

Bride's Income-1958/$1,572 2008/$30,719

Groom's Income-1958/$2,396 2008/$34,167

Bride's Life Expectancy-1958/65 2008/78

Groom's Life Expectancy-1958/57 2008/70

Stereotype-1958/Blushing Bride 2008/Bridezilla

Wedding Gown-1958/$135 2008/$1,317

Tux Rental-1958/$5.50 2008/$69.95

Bride's Age-1958/20 2008/26

Groom's Age-1958/22 2008/28

Piece of Wedding Cake-1958/35 cents 2008/$4.52

Getaway Car-1958/Chevy Impala Convertible 2008/Toyota Camry

Gallon of Gas-1958/30 cents 2008/over $4.00

Honeymoon Cost-1958/$237 2008/$3,680

Honeymoon destination-1958 Niagra Falls 2008/Hawaii

Most Trendy Gift-1958/Corning Ware Casserole dish 2008/Nintendo Wii

Number of Children-1958/3.6 2008/2.1

My parents wed on August 30, 1958. The bride was 24 and the groom was 35. She was not a 'blushing' bride. She wore a blue dress and he wore a blue suit. They had 2 children. Their honeymoon was at Mt. Baldy, California. She lived to be 71. He is still alive and kicking at 85.

Happy Reading,

Ask Me About Destination Weddings

A Joyeux Day Weddings & Events can now help you with all your honeymoon travel needs. We just completed the Ask Me about Destination Weddings & Honeymoons training that is offered through the Association of Bridal Consultants. We are so excited to be offering this extra something to help you with ALL of your wedding and honeymoon planning needs.

Check out their website.

Happy Travels,

An ABC Garden Party

Yesterday, I went to a garden party and fashion show at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills with ABC Los Angeles. I went to the mansion a few years ago with my Mom so I was excited to see it set up for a party. We had cocktails and hors de oeuvres on the front terrace and then went to the Inner Courtyard for lunch. Lunch was catered by Patina Catering. All the tables were dressed in either pink or green. Of course, I sat at a pink table. The chargers and place settings were fabulous. I will talk more about Greystone as a venue on Saturday.

On a side note. It's been quite a few years since I have been down the Sunset Strip. I am a native Angeleno but I forget how cool this town can be. I went through Hollywood on the way there and then through Beverly Hills and by UCLA on the way home.

Here are some of the dresses from the fashion show. All dresses are from The Ivory Suite. The Bouquets are by Jackie Combs Floral Design. She was the host of the great Floral Workshop I went to earlier this year.

Enjoy,

ABC GLA. Photography Panel at Matteos

I know I am a little late getting this one out but, I went to an ABC GLA meeting in July. It was the 1st one that I had gone to in Los Angles in a few months. Sadly, I missed a couple of really great ones. This one was held at Matteo's LA. It was a very informative meeting with a panel of photographers. They served us a five course meal of fantastic Italian food. YUM!!! We were seated in the 'Townhouse' their upstairs room with an outdoor patio and skylight. It is a light and airy room. We were all seated in a U-shape which is great style for a rehearsal dinner.

Downstairs is old school Hollywood. Dark, with red booths and leopard print carpet. You can imagine eating there with the mob!! Frank Sinatra was a regular in his time. They even have a train that runs around the bar on the upper wall.

The photographers had a lot to say and talked about the various styles of photography and why they price the way that they do. What has digital done for them. What can we as planners do to help the process. Traditional albums v. Montage (modern) albums. I learned a lot and had a great meal. I love learning about the other people who work the wedding and seeing their work.

They all had a lot to say and have great porfolios. Check them out.
Robert Evans Studios
Donald Norris
James Johnson
Kari Kochar
Jenny Stafford-Red Loft Studios
Nicole Caldwell

Happy Reading,

Sizzle & Chill

Last night, I went to Hot Party. It was thrown by ABC Orange County & Invisible Touch. This was just a fun event.

We started off by coming in on a red carpet. Who doesn't like to do that?

We then received either Pomegranate & Almond Sparkling Wine or Chandon & Strawberry Champagne.

How Red Hot is this?

You then made your way around a couple of corners to a Chill/Ice room. It was a beautifully done room in White & ICE!!! They also had an ice love seat. That's ice cream in the squares.

That's my Blue Raspberry Martini in the luge.

I've been working these kinds of events for years. So it is a real treat to be a guest and actually play in the 'casino'. I learned how to, sort of, play Craps!!! Unfortunately, I didn't win the Grand Prize. A trip to the Wynn Las Vegas!!

The back patio had a cool, liquefied dance floor, 2 catering companies, a lounge, a DJ, band and the Red Carpet photo booth.

After the casino closed we had a blast dancing the night away!!!

On a final note. You can't see a place you worked at, promoted/talked about, on a daily basis displayed on a monitor and not take a picture of it. This is the fabulous, Crystal Ballroom at the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel.

I had the pleasure of working in the catering department there till I decided to make a leap into entrepreneurship earlier this year.