This coming Friday, the 9th, I (courtney) will be participating in one last holiday boutique. If you are in San Diego, come check it out! It is from 9-12 and 5-9 at a home in Poway.

It is called Ubuntu and it is particularly special to me. My bible study girls and I started it last year in an effort to do something bigger than our everyday working and mommy-ing. Every seller participating will be donating a portion of their sales to a charity of their choice. It is so fun to see what different causes are represented.

I will be donating to Blood Water Mission- an organization our family is passionate about that builds wells in areas of the world that do not have access to clean water.

Here is a flyer and some more info about Ubuntu, courtesy of my friend Mollie over at  YellowMeDaisy:

Courtney’s shop, Joyful Joyful, will be selling at two boutiques coming up in Southern CA. If you are in Orange County or San Diego, definitely come check them out!

The first is this coming Thursday in Mission Viejo. The Market at Saddleback Covenant Church will have lots of great handmade items and baked goods. You can find out details at their blog. It will be held at:

23401 Madero Mission Viejo

The weekend before Thanksgiving, it is Queen Bee Market time again! It will be held in Del Mar again and will definitely be one of the best shopping events of the year! There will even be a concert by Mindy Gledhill! More info below and on their site.

We are going to have a super cute new product available at both boutiques. Here is a little peak:

I am so excited to be participating in the Queen Bee Market again! If you have not heard of Queen Bee, it is a killer handmade & vintage boutique in Southern CA.

The next boutique is on Saturday August 6th in Downtown San Diego and I cannot wait! I am working away on banners, tags and a couple of fun new products. If you are local, you definitely want to come. So much cute stuff!

Here are the details:

Saturday, August 6th
Bayfront Hilton Downtown
1 Park Boulevard
San Diego, California

9:00-6:00

Let me know if you are going to be there so I can say hello! Also, you can enter to win a $50 gift certificate to the market by spreading the word. Make sure you mention I sent you- then we both get entries!

With not much time to prepare or even think about the party, I decided to make it super simple. We had our guests bring their own picnic lunches and we provided beverages and desserts. I made a tiny bit of decor and it was fun and cheery without being stressful for me. There is something that is just so nice about sitting around in nature with your friends that makes you smile.

Here is a peak at the party!

We served white sangria and sparkling lemonade and I found an excuse to finally buy that white drink dispenser I had been eyeing at target for months. For dessert, we made angel food cake and whipped cream, as well as coconut milk whipped cream- mainly just for me since I cannot have dairy right now, but it was tasty!- for our guests to make strawberry shortcake.

Sweet, simple and springy.

If you want to see our last spring party, you can hop over to our old blog to take a look. If you want to get a head start on some summer party planning, you can see one of our summer parties over there too.

Wait- can you believe that it is almost summer? How did that happen?

]]> http://joyfulweddingsandevents.com/blog/2011/06/10/seasonal-season-parties-a-spring-picnic/feed/ 0 http://joyfulweddingsandevents.com/blog/2011/05/03/queen-bee-market-2/ http://joyfulweddingsandevents.com/blog/2011/05/03/queen-bee-market-2/#comments Tue, 03 May 2011 21:18:11 +0000 Courtney http://joyfulweddingsandevents.com/blog/?p=2909 If you are in San Diego this weekend, you have to check out The Queen Bee Market. So much goodness- I cannot even tell you.

I was a vendor at the last one- sat out this time around because of the baby- but I will definitely be there supporting my friends and shopping away!

It just launched yesterday and I am so excited that one of my baby showers was featured on the first day! Last week, I showed you the bow-tie baby shower we threw for my friend Jesi Haack. Well, a few weeks ago, I got to be on the other side of that and my sweet wedding industry friends threw me the most creative shower ever!  Jesi, Melody of Sweet & Saucy Shop and Carissa of JL Designs made the day so special and detailed- I could not get over how cute everything was! Along with super cute invites by my friends at Posh Paperie and gorgeous photos by Carlie of Gabriel Ryan Photographers, the shower was darling and made me feel so special and excited for little Hudson. Thanks friends!

To see all of the details, hop on over to On To Baby.

Guests were greeted with a little ribbon bow-tie clip I made, which everyone wore throughout the shower. Instead of a guestbook, Carissa of JL Designs wrote a mad lib to fill in about the baby, which was a lot of fun.

For the decor we incorporated in pops of mustard yellow, kelly green and baby blue. Carissa used a variety of white ceramic vases to keep it light and modern and filled them with an array of monobotanical arrangements using our theme colors – white pom pom dahlias (jesi’s favorite), white hydrangea and yellow ranunculas. Wrapped around each vase was a striped or polka dot “bow tie”, which I created using striped and polka dot ribbons in coordinating colors. To deviate from the standard diaper cake, I crated a bow-tie garland using diapers and ribbon.

For lunch, Carissa, Melody and I made light options including bow-tie pasta salad, chicken salad sandwiches with coordinating ribbon picks and tiny sized tomato basil soups. Melody of Sweet and Saucy Shop created an adorable spread of desserts, including Bowtie Sugar Cookies, a Pumpkin Cake w/cinnamon cream cheese frosting & salted caramel w/ruffle buttercream & fondant bowtie, Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes w/cinnamon cream cheese frosting & salted caramel, Red Velvet Cake Lollipops and Lemon French Macaroons.  Drinks were served in mason jars with ribbon bow-ties and striped paper straws.

The shower was recently featured on Hostess With the Mostess- thanks Jenn! And a big thanks to Jesi for having sweet Maverick early so that we could hang out with him at the shower!

Vendors:

*Photos: Gabriel Ryan Photographers
*Floral and Event Design: JL Designs
*Event Design and Planning: Joyful Weddings & Events
*Dessert and Hostess: Sweet & Saucy Shop (adorable cake stands from Sweet & Saucy Supply)
*Invitations: Posh Paperie
*Cute “Baby Haack” bag & Logo Onesie: Wedding Chicks
*Sandwich picks: Joyful Joyful

I am leaving you with a bit of Holiday inspiration from an event I was honored to have my work be a part of. Hosted by Leila of Be Inspired PR, this California Christmas party was absolutely gorgeous and had a team of amazing vendors. You can see my “merry & bright” banner hanging over the incredible dessert table.

Here is the amazing vendor team:

*Host & Producer: Leila Khalil of Be Inspired PR

*Floral & Design: Carissa Jones of JL Designs

*Event Design: Cortnie Purdy of Canvas and Canopy

*Photography: Leo Patrone

*Stationery: Wiley Valentine

*Desserts: Cupcakes Couture

*Food: Contemporary Catering

*Scent Station: Kamilyin

*Furniture: Found Vintage Rentals

*Let It Glow Tanning Station: Danielle Crouch of Plush Tan

*Banner: Joyful Joyful

Merry Christmas everyone!

]]> http://joyfulweddingsandevents.com/blog/2010/12/24/merry-christmas/feed/ 1 http://joyfulweddingsandevents.com/blog/2010/12/01/ubuntu-a-san-diego-boutique-this-saturday/ http://joyfulweddingsandevents.com/blog/2010/12/01/ubuntu-a-san-diego-boutique-this-saturday/#comments Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:59:16 +0000 Courtney http://joyfulweddingsandevents.com/blog/?p=2424

This Saturday, I will be selling my items at a boutique here in North County San Diego. This boutique is extra special because a group of friends and I are putting it on in response to wanting to do something this holiday season to think outside of our little world. To use what we have locally to share God’s love with those in need.

We named the boutique Ubuntu which means kindness, compassion, humanity in Bantu. You can read more about the definition in the photo below. Each one of us selling items will be donating a portion of our proceeds to a charity of our choice.

I chose Blood:Water Mission, which is a grassroots organization that empowers communities to work together against the HIV/AIDS and water crisis. They build wells and AIDS clinics and save lives daily. You may remember the Build A Well project my husband launched a while ago. I am so excited to be able to continue our commitment to getting clean water available in Africa.

The boutique is from 9:00-12:00 in Escondido and I would love it if you locals could stop by! There will be lots of cute handmade baby items, purses, jewelry, gifts, decor & some items handmade in third world countries.

This year, I got much of my inspiration while shopping during our trip to New York. I fell in love with a super soft tan and white striped yarn at Purl Soho and knew that it had to be incorporated into the party. I also found a great fabric there with a neutral leaf print and brought some home with me. I went with a more neutral feel, bringing in burlap fabric and ribbon along with my New York finds and accenting with color from fall produce. My goal was to use things that I already had for decor- no buying flowers this year. Only items already in my supply as well as produce from the market that I could reuse. Here is the result:

Guests were welcomed with white pumpkins from Trader Joes, stacked on vintage crates. I also made a garland out of the yarn and paper circles and hung it on our front porch.

I lined our window sill with large mason jar candles accented with yarn:

I created centerpieces out of pieces of tree trunks borrowed from a friend, as well as some flowers I already had, squash, pomegranates, pods and candles.

I am in love with the little felted acorns I bought from etsy seller greenbaboondesigns. They are just so cute!

On the third table, I put a fairy tale style pumpkin (also from Trader Joes) on a vintage pepsi crate and set jars filled with fall items on the sides.

I used burlap strips, yarn and fabric as trim on the vases:

White and brown base linens were provided by Fusion linens and I made the runners out of burlap.

For drinks, I used mason jars and cut strips of brown paper shopping bags to wrap around them. I added a little yarn and then had guests write their names on the paper to claim their glasses. Essentially free and way cuter than sharpee on a red plastic cup!

I also wrapped glass water jugs from Ikea to match. The green striped paper straws were left over from an event earlier in the week. I purchased them from etsy seller HeyYoYo.

I scored this oversized mason jar at Target on clearance and love it:

Our seasonal parties are always potlucks, so it is fun to see what seasonal inspired creations our friends bring. I only got a couple of photos of the food, but here is a peak:

Since we have little ones at the party, I always try to think of decor that is safe for them on the coffee table. This year, I put on some burlap with cut paper circles they could play with and not break.

At the last minute, I decided to throw together a quick wreath. I wrapped a cardboard wreath form with strips of burlap and then added a yarn bow and hung it with the same yarn. Super quick.

At each party, we give out a mix of songs that fit with that season. In addition, we gave out little sachets of mulling spices as well. This is such an easy and cheap favor! I bought mulling spices from Trader Joes, wrapped a small amount in cheesecloth and then wrapped that in a piece of burlap and tied with yarn.

We set up a photobooth for our guests to take photos, which was a fun addition to the night. I hung burlap and then made fabric letters to hang.

Our seasonal parties are so much fun and we love sharing this special tradition with our friends. I already cannot wait for Winter!

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