Joyful Weddings and Events

Winter Party Playlist

courtney.toney — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:34:15 +0000

As I mentioned in my recap of our Winter Party, we always send our guests off with a playlist of songs that we relate to that season. It is one of my husband’s favorite things to do and, although every seasonal playlist has been great, I have to say that this one is one of the best.

Here is the rundown of what we included this year:

*”Your Ex-Lover is Dead” by Stars

*”No One’s Gonna Love You” by Band of Horses

*”Mushaboom” by Feist

*”You and Whose Army” by Radiohead

*”Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap

*”Her New Disaster” by The Heart Strings

*”I am Still Running” by Jon Foreman

*”Men of Snow” by Ingrid Michaelson

*Hafsol” by Sigur Ros

*”Re: Stacks” by Bon Iver

Our Seasonal Season Parties: Winter Party Number 2

courtney.toney — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:59:42 +0000

Those of you that have followed my blog for a while know that my husband and I throw a party at the start of every season. We invite some of our close friends, have a potluck, decorate with details that celebrate that season and my hubby creates a stellar playlist and we give a copy to all of our guests. It has become a favorite tradition in our group of friends and we always look forward to the upcoming parties. You can see our past seasonal parties here and here.

Since it is almost Spring, I decided I better shape up and get the Winter party up here.

This year, I had literally one day to prepare everything, so it was definitely the most stressful seasonal party to date. I tried to keep my crafting simple, but ended up a bit over my head. Even still, it was a wonderful party and I am happy with how things turned out. Here is a little look, with photos taken either in terrible light or the day after the party.

I love paper cut art, so I wanted to have the feel of that throughout the party. I used my cricut to cut out words related to winter and stuck them all over the long tables where guests sat.

I created a runner by placing different sizes of doilies in the middle of the table. I jazzed up some old votive candles I have by covering them with glitter, flocking powder or yarn. Other than that, I grabbed whatever pillar and taper candles and holders I had in my supply and stuck them on the tables. I also whipped up some turquoise yarn balls and scattered them amongst the candles.

I hung some tissue poms and string orbs (which you will be seeing again, very soon!) from the ceiling and each guest had their soup bowl, spoon and napkin waiting for them at their seat.

Just like our last winter party, dinner was a soup potluck. Each couple brought a different type of soup- which is so fun! Most of us had multiple servings so we could try all of the different varieties. I made little labels so we would know what each soup was and had the cooks fill in the information.

I will be back on Monday with our Winter playlist, which is one of my favorites to date. A big thank you to Classic Party Rentals for providing all of the wonderful rentals.

Alison and Christopher’s Engagement Photos

courtney.toney — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:52:02 +0000

I am so excited for the wedding line up we have going for 2010. We have the sweetest couples who are planning super creative, stylish weddings. One of our first few weddings of the year is Chris and Alison’s Cape Cod inspired wedding at a family home on the beach in Balboa. I cannot wait!

When they booked me, they were living in the Caribbean where Chris was working as a pilot. They then moved back to Orange County and now are up in Northern California while Alison is taking sommelier classes (how cool is that?). Funny thing is, their wonderful photographer- Meg Perotti- moved up to Northern California around the same time. When it came time to shoot their engagement photos, it turned out that they lived around the corner for each other. Here are a few photos from their engagement session:

You can see more on Meg’s blog.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Chelsy and Greg: A Cheery Summer Wedding

courtney.toney — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:02:30 +0000

I cannot believe I have not posted this wedding yet! I have had the photos for a while and just remembered and I am so excited to share this wedding with you today. Even though it is February, it feels like summer here in San Diego (80 degrees!) so this wedding just feels right today!

Chelsy and Greg, along with Chelsy’s adorable mom, contacted me to help them plan their wedding in Orange County from out of state. The wedding was definitely one of the cutest we have designed- infused with Chelsy and Greg’s vibrant personalities and splashes of cheery hot pink and orange.

I loved the bridesmaid’s J Crew dresses and adorable bouquets, designed by JL Designs:

Chelsy and Greg were married at the Newport Beach LDS Temple and their reception was held in the garden area of Mile Square Golf Course in Fountain Valley.

Chelsy’s mom had the ruffled edge runners hand made and they looked darling against the white tablecloths, with Carissa’s fresh and cheery arrangements on top.

We hung paper lanterns from trees, picture frames from bushes and flower pomanders from hooks leading up the walkway into the reception.

I love it when a client tells me that they want no detail overlooked. That is right up our ally! Blonde Designs, who also designed their invitations, made custom water bottle labels, drink and food labels and also cute labels for the favor boxes.

The candy bar we designed and set up was a hit! I do not think that there was ever a time that it was not swarming with guests.

I loved the floral accents- especially the wheat grass flats that we had lollipops “growing” out of.

To create a unique display for the favor boxes, we covered a cork board in fabric (that matched the table runners of course!) and pinned the boxes on with rhinestone-adorned pushpins.

The highlight of the wedding, though, was the dessert table that we designed with Melody of Sweet & Saucy shop. I could not have been happier with how it turned out.

I crafted the fun backdrop and banner (both of which I can custom make for any event. Please contact me if you are interested). Melody’s desserts are cute as can be on their own, but add in the wheatgrass cake stand that Carissa of JL Designs made, fun paper details and an adorable cake and you’ve got a masterpiece.

For the sweetheart table, we cut out Mr & Mrs letters (soon to be added to our etsy shop), adorned their chairs with ribbons and JL Designs gave the table some pop with mini pomanders.

If you meet Chelsy & Greg for even a few minutes, you would fall in love with them. I was so happy to be a part of their celebration and looking at these pictures just makes me happy.

A huge thank you to Melissa Kelsey for the beautiful photos. Melissa flew out from Utah to shoot their wedding- so if you are getting married in Utah, definitely check out her website!

The whole vendor line up:

*Venue: Mile Square Golf Course

*Florist: JL Designs

*Cake & Sweets: Sweet and Saucy Shop

*Photography: Melissa Kelsey

*Rentals: Classic Party Rentals

*Stationary: Blonde Designs

*Hair & Makeup: Lashes to Locks

*Lighting: Classic Party Rentals & South Coast Christmas Lighting

*Photobooth: FotoCabina

*DJ: Dahl Brothers

*Banners and Cake backdrop: JoyfulJoyful (Joyful Weddings & Events on Etsy)

Happy Valentines Day!

courtney.toney — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:33:35 +0000

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentines Day! Though it is an over-commercialized holiday, I think it is always good to spread some love.

If you are looking for some last minute Valentines ideas, here are some fun finds from around the blog world:

Twig and Thistle always has the most adorable pdfs to download and print yourself. Cute goody bags:

Matchbox candy boxes from Brides.com, found on Inchmark: (There are lots of other fun ideas on Brides.com as well!)

My sister in law made some cute last minute Valentines, which you can see over at The Pleated Poppy:

Having a Valentines Day party? These cute water bottle templates from Blonde Designs would be such a sweet touch.

Also found on Blonde Designs Blog:

I am in love with these sweet & simple Valentines, found on Design*Sponge:

Another super cute idea from Blonde Designs:

Some sweet treat inspiration by Amy Atlas (via Hostess with the Mostess and a million other blogs):

Cute & Simple for kids, via the Marta Crafts Department blog:

Heart Banners- perfect for Valentines Day!

courtney.toney — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:08:05 +0000

I listed a few new heart banners to my etsy shop, just in time for Valentines Day.

These would be great for baby and bridal showers as well- or just for a cute little touch in your home!

There are also a couple of our Valentine Phrase banners left- I have one hanging in my bedroom right now and it looks so stinkin cute!

See them all here. For Valentines Day delivery, normal shipping cut of is today, Monday the 7th and priority shipping cut off is Wednesday, the 9th.

The best Valentines Day flowers

courtney.toney — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 05:36:45 +0000

Did you realize that Valentines Day is next weekend? If you are located in Southern California and are looking for a special gift to give someone- we’ve got you covered. My friend Carissa from JL Designs has launched her Valentines Day line and she hit it out of the park! Look at how beautiful these options are:

My personal favorite, The Romantic:

She has some more masculine styles as well, which I love.

The beautiful photos were taken by The Modern Type.

All of her designs are available for local delivery and pick up next week. To see the full line and for information on ordering, please see Carissa’s blog.

Jeanette and JJ: Engaged

courtney.toney — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:28:27 +0000

I love when couples incorporate their story into their engagement photos. Jeannette and JJ spent most of their time falling in love while living in New York- so dreamy! Although they are on the west coast now, they traveled back to NYC to have their engagement photos taken by Tara Leigh. I absolutely love the moments she captured and am seriously ready to hop on a plane right now to go visit one of my favorite places in the world.

I cannot wait for their wedding this summer at Rancho Las Lomas. If these photos are any indication of how amazing they are going to look on their wedding day, we are all going to be in for a treat! You can bet the wedding will be full of personal touches and beautiful details as well.

Happy Wednesday!

Spotlight on: The Treasured Petal florist and etsy shop

courtney.toney — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:52:56 +0000

Today is a special day. It is my friend Kristin’s birthday!! Not only is Kristin the genius behind The Treasured Petal, one of my favorite Southern CA florists, but she also recently followed in my footsteps and launched an etsy shop! I thought I would give her a little birthday shout out and share a few of the beautiful items available for sale in her shop:

Kristin is also a great accessories model

Go give Kristin some birthday love by checking out her shop (super cute hair accessories, fun masks, ring bearer pillows & flower girl pomanders), website and blog.

Mark and Michelle: A Rancho Bernardo Wedding, Part 2

courtney.toney — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:42:37 +0000

Michelle and Mark were married at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, which I love for two reasons:

#1: it is beautiful

#2) it is 10 minutes from my house

I absolutely adore this couple. They are not only sweet and genuine as can be, but their love for each other is so evident. I thoroughly enjoyed brainstorming with Michelle and seeing their wedding day come to life. Michelle was also a blogger on Wedding Bee, so you can see a little insight into her planning here.

The venue has a refined rustic decor scheme, so Mark and Michelle decided to incorporate that into their wedding design, along with some vintage and crafty touches, giving the wedding a personalized and heartfelt feel.

Michelle’s Kate Spade shoes were to die for. And her bouquet, perfectly designed by LaVonne of Adorations Botanical Artistry, was dreamy.

Not only is Michelle sweet and creative, but she is gorgeous as well. When she is with mark they are stunners.

The bridesmaids wore super cute dresses from Banana Republic. They were a steal too! Michelle kept an eye on them as they went on sale, then clearance. Affordable, cute dress= happy bridesmaids. Brides- take note. Look at non-bridal stores for dresses. J Crew, Banana Republic and even places like Nordstrom and White House Black Market have great options.

The ring bearer and flower girl were adorable! The ring “pillow” was made out of a piece of wood and ribbon by Michelle. The super cute flower girl headband was made by LaVonne.

The ceremony:

For the guestbook, Michelle wanted to do something unique. We came up with the idea to use a vintage window and have guests write notes on cute pieces of paper. Michelle would then adjust them on the window after the wedding and hang it in her house. How fun is that?

Reception details:

We hung the escort cards on ribbon attached to an old church window, provided by Adorations. Michelle and Mark designed all of their own paper goods and did a great job! For favors, they gave guests M&M’s as a play on their first initials.

Michelle made the cute signage using her Cricut (a girl after my own heart!).

I just love these two and was so honored to be a part of their big day. Thank you to Mike Larson for the great photos.

The whole vendor team:

*Venue: Rancho Bernardo Inn

*Photography: Mike Larson

*Florist: Adorations Botanical Artistry

*DJ: Bobby Duran

*Officiant: David Nelson

*Hair: Christine Caprioli

*Makeup: Janelle Nelson

*Dessert table linen: Fusion Linens