For appetizers, I thought a pesto bruschetta with fresh mozzarella and balsamic drizzle sounded so yummy for cocktail hour.

I love ahi tuna, and served on a won ton chip, would be the perfect refreshing bite.

This onion tartlet is a new spin on the traditional cheese table and is a new item for SBB Catering. Its topped with picked onions, I love the pinkish color.

For the salad course, I was inspired by the Parmesan baskets I saw Giada de Laurentiis make a while back. It adds a nice salty crunch to a summer salad. Who doesn’t like a bit of cheese with their greens?

For the entrees I thought a pepper rubbed tenderloin on polenta cake with a bundle of garden vegetables would be a crown pleaser.

For a fish option, this halibut with fresh salsa would be a tasty choice.

For your vegetarian guests, this vegetable wellington with roasted tomato coulis certainly goes above and beyond a boring pasta primavera!

Photos: Kirsten Ellis of Beaux Arts Photographie

Catering: SBB Catering

Rentals: Town & Country Event Rentals

Design: Kelly Oshiro Events

I love designing the food and beverage as much as the tablescape (it must be those 5 years working for catering companies and creating menus!).

SBB Catering was kind enough to create a geranium lemonade and lavender iced tea which would be awesome for welcome drinks.

I found these paper straws online and I fell in love with them. They’re so cool and vintage!

I found this wood Coca Cola crate at a vintage salvage store. I absolutely love the texture of the wood and the old metal brackets.

Who wouldn’t want a cold coke on a hot day?

I love this adorable photo with the flower girls! How cute are they!?!

Photos: Kirsten Ellis of Beaux Arts Photographie

Catering: SBB Catering

Design: Kelly Oshiro Events

This photo will serve as a sneak peek for a larger project I’ve been working on (all will be revealed next week…). I created a menu for SBB Catering to execute and Kristen Ellis from Beaux Arts Photographie shot this beautiful image. I love food photography and SBB & Kirsten executed to perfection. I can’t wait to share more!!!

I’m absolutely in love with the styling (and recipe) by Karen Mordechai and Randi Brookman Harris for Sunday Suppers. So pretty, so perfect, and so yummy!

I love the apple orchards in England, and so for this inspiration board I designed a simple, chic wedding. The bride would wear wellies and her hair down, her neighbors would play music while sitting on apple crates during the ceremony. Guests would bring baskets full of food and drink for the reception. And the table for reception would be decorated with the apples of the orchard.

Description: Orchard, England, white, red, apples

Images from left to right, top to bottom: {Row 1} 1. Corrie Bond 2. Karen Mordechai 3. & 4. Mikkel Vang {Row 2} 1. Deborah Williams 2. Martha Bernabe 3. Marcus Hay 4. Tina Rupp {Row 3} 1. Geoff Lung 2. David Tsay 3. Jim Franco

Just in case you missed the post at The City Sage, I thought I’d share some of my favorite photos from my Valentine’s Day table.

Anne from The City Sage asked me to create a cheap, chic table that her readers could replicate at home. Since I’m not in red roses, I decided to pick a color scheme based on two sources: 1. The wall in my kitchen is painted a super saturated orange, so I figured why fight what’s already there! 2. Pink Depression Glass. I had been looking at pink depression glass for another project and I thought it would be perfectly cheery paired with the orange. Better yet, Anne, unknown to me, has a thing for pink depression glass and sent me her dinner and salad plates for the shoot.

Once I had the color scheme set, the decor was easy. Anytime anybody mentions Valentine’s Day to me, all I think about is the copious amounts of chocolate I eat (my hubbie and I generally kill a one pound box of See’s nuts and chews). So I thought using chocolate for decor would be perfect– cheap, easy, and delicious! I used stemless wine glasses and martini glasses that I already owned and then I bought some pink depression glasses on ebay ($10 for 5).

The piece de resistance, though was the woven crepe paper table cloth. For a whopping $3 bucks the look is chic, but easy to copy and so darn cheap. I started by cutting all the long and short pieces. Then I laid out the long pieces and taped the crepe paper to the edge of the table and placed books about halfway down the table. Then I started to weave my colors. After the first section was complete I glued all the intersection with a glue stick. I then repeated the process on the last half of the table.

I have pegboard in my kitchen which I usually hang my pots and pans on (1920’s cottage = pathetic amount of storage space). I took off the pots and used cut carnations to make a heart (it is Valentine’s Day after all).

.

I hope you’ve been inspired! Big thanks to Anne for asking me to contribute and to Tim Halberg who shot all the photos!

It’s raining again here in Santa Barbara, and I just want to make some homemade soup and watch old movies. Have a good weekend everyone!

Image: Ellen Silverman

For this inspiration board, I used shades of purple, for light lavender to plum, with touches of pink for contrast. I picture this wedding taking place in the springtime, a dachshund would serve as ring bearer and walk with a pretty flower girl. The tables would be dressed in a lavender linen with shades of purple for the flowers to create a cohesive look.

Description: Purple, lavendar, plum, bits of pink

Images from left to right, top to bottom: {Row 1} 1. Meg Smith 2. Beatriz da Costa 3. Isabel Lawrence Photographers 4. Apertura {Row 2} 1. Ellen Silverman 2. Polly Wreford 3. Bucru Avsar 4. Amy Chin { Row 3} 1. Erin Swift 2. Beatriz da Costa 3. Nicolette Camille

I’m looking forward to Saturday morning pancakes and working on loads of crafty projects… Happy Friday everyone!

Image: Burcu Avsar

Happy Weekend! I’m hoping to enjoy a few cups of these, finally crack open the new Martha Stewart Wedding magazine that I’ve been saving for weeks, and, weather permitting,  take a long walk with the puppy.

And, oh yes, do check out this fabulous new blog find: The Brass Petal. Written by Emily Henderson, prop stylist extraordinaire, its about her adventures stylist and what she thinks works and doesn’t work. And oh yes, talk about pretty pictures galore. I found it through The City Sage. Go.read.it.now.

Doesn’t this salad make you want to dive right in? And that’s saying something for a salad. And the aqua plate? I’ll take 6.

Photo by Anna Skoog.

The inspiration for this board was this beautiful shot of spools of thread by Dasha Wright. I love the shades of light and dark pink next to each other. I picture this wedding taking place in the peak of summer, cold strawberry beverages would be served to guests and a refreshing pink sorbet would be the perfect palate cleanser after a BBQ themed dinner. Dahlias in shades of dark and light pink would grace the tables and would add bit of modern touch with their structured blooms.

Description: Fuchsia, pink, dahlias, mid summer time bbq wedding

Images from left to right, top to bottom: {Row 1} 1. i.Anton 2. Rachael Papo 3. Vallentyne Photography {Row 2} 1. Lisa Lefkotwitz 2. Alexandrra Grablewski 3. Katie Moos 4. Cooke Studio {Row 3} 1. Trine Thorsen 2. Dasha Wright 3. Ellie Miller

I’ve been obsessed with this photo for almost two years now. I love the saturated colors of the rock candy against that soft blue backdrop and the angle at which the photo was taken. Divine. Photo by Gemma Comas.

How perfectly modern and chic are these colorful cake stands? By Iacoli & Mcallister, they come in variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.

I’m particularly enamored with this cake stand that looks like a candle holder. The bright red lacquer finish keeps the look modern.

And anything aqua these days, I’m totally obsessed with. I would love to use these for a bright, playful wedding. You can see more of the cake stands right here.

I’ll take the one with powdered sugar, please.

Photo by Frances Janisch.