Weddings had my heart from the start. The details, the moments, the quiet looks between a bride and groom. I have loved getting to be a part of my client’s love stories.

This year, I am saying goodbye to wedding planning. Not because I do not still love it with the giddiness of college student venturing into a world of peonies and place cards, but because my goal has always been to put my family first. I am so thankful that God blessed Joyful Weddings & Events beyond my wildest dreams- so much so that it grew beyond what my situation could handle. With my two sweet boys now at my side, I simply could not continue running a wedding planning business from home while trying to be the mom I wanted to be. My goal was always to be a mom, not a career woman. After a year of praying and discussing with those close to me, I made the hard decision to step back.

But I did it with joy in my heart. Not only because I have so many incredible memories and friends to take with me, but because I am handing it off to an incredible woman. Bre has been working with me for the past few years and, through that time, she has become a wonderful friend and an amazing wedding planner. You can read a bit more about her here, from when I introduced you to her last year. She has had the reins of the business this year and is rocking it! I cannot wait for her to show you what she has been up to- she will be posting some breathtakingly beautiful weddings soon.

What’s next for me? Getting to spend time with these two sweet boys and my amazing hubby.

I’m not going to lie- it has been bittersweet and has been a bit of a transition. I miss wedding planning already, but am treasuring the freedom to be a full-time mommy!

I am still running my etsy shop and have just launched a new blog. I will be sharing wedding & party DIYs, crafting tips and ramblings about my adventures in a crafty mom’s world. Come and follow my journey!

Other business:

Bre will be taking over the twitter handle joyfulweddings. Be sure to follow her for all of the latest gorgeousness from Joyful Weddings!

I will be now be JoyfulCourtney on twitter. Don’t worry- if you follow either of us already, you’ll still be following us. Just try not to get confused by the name switch

You can also follow me on pinterest and Bre too! (including inspiration for her own wedding coming up in June!!)

I also have a little giveaway on my new blog, so hop over to check it out!

Thank you all for following us and for the years of encouragement & love! Joyful Weddings & Events has been such a blessing to me & I cannot wait to see it grow & thrive under Bre’s leadership!

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!

My class is now up on Cricut’s website! In it, I talk about trends and give project ideas including vase wraps, labels, snack cones, a cute card box idea, drink stirrers and many more. Then I give step by step instructions on how to many adorable scalloped escort cards and table number signs.

Ignore the bad quality of the photos above. They are screen shots of the video. I want to give a big thank you to Amanda Phelps for the beautiful calligraphy on the escort cards.

The video is totally free and you can watch it here any time!

**To make things even more exciting for me, the wonderful team at Provocraft gave me some cricut cartridges to give away!!*** I will be splitting them into two giveaways.

The first will be a set of 3 fun cartridges that are great for everyday crafting and weddings as well:

Paper Lace (my favorite new cartridge!)

Damask Decor

and Carousel

Next week, I will be giving away a set of four wedding related cartridges too!

You can enter to win these three cartridges in 3 ways:

1. Comment on this post, telling me how you would use the cricut for a wedding. Or- if you did use the cricut for your wedding decor- I’d love to hear how!  Also, if you watch the DIY class, let me know what you think!

2. Tweet or post on Facebook about this giveaway. Once you have, comment with a link back here.

3. Blog about the DIY class and the giveaway. Once you have, post again here with a link to your blog post.

You can enter each way only once. You can enter until midnight on Thursday, July 7th. I will announce the winner on Friday the 8th.

Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend everyone!

photo by Matthew Morgan

photo by Meg Perotti

We have a new version of the thank you banner available for sale as well:

photo by Tara Leigh

We also listing our super Just Married banner, featured in Matt & Ashley’s wedding. This extra large banner makes a statement and fills in space in the cutest of ways.

Photo by EP Love

Also new to the shop: the Ashley flag. A sweet vintage inspired version of our ring bearer and flower girl flags, incorporating doilies and loveliness.

photos by EP Love

We have a lot more up our sleeve. Hints: burlap, fabric, silk ribbon. New lines are coming soon in our shop! We will be sure to announce it once they arrive.

Bre has been working for our company for the past couple of years and has been a true blessing to me. She has a great design eye, a love for people, wonderful graphic design skills and is sweet as can be.

While I have been out on maternity leave, Bre has been running the show. Looking forward, she will continue to be as well. With two little boys in my life now, I have decided that I need to focus more on my family and spend  more time as a mommy. I will still be taken a small number of weddings, overseeing the company and writing here on the blog, but you will be hearing much more from Bre as well.

Bre is not only a wonderful part of Joyful Weddings & Events, but also has become a dear friend. I asked her some questions in an effort to show you a little more about the amazing woman she is:

.

6. What is your favorite treat?

Pretty much anything with a peanut butter and chocolate….or cinnamon.

7. What do you like to do in your free time? We’ve heard you are a rockstar athlete

Ha. Well I absolutely love the outdoors. Anytime I have the chance to play outside and be active, I take it! I’ve played soccer since I was young, and I plan on playing until I can’t move anymore.

8. Do you have any goals this year?

I’m hoping to run a marathon this fall!

9. If you could get on a plane right now and go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Oh I would have to say Australia! I have been wanting to go there forever! I would love to experience their way of life, and outlook on leisure…how they take 6 weeks of vacation a year!

A big thank you to Katie Neal who took the smokin hot pictures of Bre above

In Wedding Wire’s words, “this award recognizes the top 5 percent of local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate quality and service excellence in the wedding industry”. Yay! Recipients were selected by an extensive survey of newlyweds and also recent reviews on the site. Thanks to Wedding Wire and to our past brides who have left us such sweet reviews

My wonderful hubby has put this year’s album up online so that you can download it. That’s right- free Christmas music! From us to you  You can even download songs from past years.  Just click here and you can download the album right away.

From what I’ve heard from recipients so far, Isaiah’s version of Merry Christmas is the runaway favorite

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.

Photo by Matthew Morgan

Photo by Jessica Claire

Photo by Melissa Kelsey

If you have been thinking about ordering one of these items- now is the time! I will be accepting custom orders through next Monday, November 29th and then that will be it for 2010. I will be listing ready made holiday, birthday and Thank You banners and flags as I have them ready.