Dinosaur Birthday Party

On June 27, I hosted about 40 people for my son Jackson’s 3rd Birthday. I created this green, orange and blue dinosaur themed party complete with a dessert table that had a homemade dinosaur cake, cookies, candy dipped cake pops (Fun Fetti and Devil’s Food), candy dipped marshmallows and a full candy buffet (3 colors of Sixlets, 3 flavors of Twizzlers, 2 flavors of gummy bears, M&Ms, jelly beans, peach slices, candy dinosaur suckers). Thanks to Jerri at Sweet Treats & Designs for the candy and the amazing Dinosaur lollipops. For décor, I hung fishing line and attached small pom poms. For favors, guests received a pail (for digging up dinosaurs) that included a sucker, cookie, dinosaur information card and a pack of dinosaurs.

Children's Parties

Elegant Affairs is starting a new branch in event planning - Children's Parties. Whether it's for a birthday, holiday or just a time for a kids together, Elegant Affairs is here to help you plan and execute the best party on the block.

From helping to create a theme and/or color scheme, we can do it all and within a budget of any size. We create extravagant parties on small budgets. From birthday banners to party decor to creating favors to baking and creating tasty goodies. We will come to you home or party venue to set-up and clean-up. We will even help to entertain your party guests if needed.

Since we are new to this arena of party planning we are offering an introductory price of $25 per hour.

Call now for a complimentary consultation!!!

Black and Yellow Graduation Party

To honor my younger sister graduating with her Masters in Education from Pacific Lutheran University, we decided to host a party along with my mom and my sister's boyfriend.

The theme of our event was an ode to Black and Yellow, PLU's colors. I created a dessert buffet table complete with black and yellow sixlets from Sweet Treats & Designs, yellow licorice and I made candy coated cake balls and marshmallows topped off with devil’s food cake cupcakes with homemade yellow buttercream frosting with a black sixlet on top.

As for the décor of the table I used yellow and black tablecloths and I made the tissue paper pom poms.

Channeling my inner Martha Stewart

To prepare for upcoming weddings and parties this season, I have been doing a lot of research about dessert table set-ups and I came across two imaginative ideas for great-looking and tasty treats: cake pops and chocolate dipped marshmallows pops. During my weekly trip to JoAnn Fabrics, I found Wilton Candy melts, paper lollipop sticks and other decorating tools and I decided I couldn't wait to try out one of the new ideas so I went with the dipped marshmallow pops since it was late and I didn't want to start a big project at bedtime. To my surprise they were so easy and fun to make. My boys even wanted to make their own it was such a creative project with very little mess. I had so much fun making them, that I decided to make enough for my son's preschool class as today was his last day of school, marking his three-year end to preschool and is now an official kindergartner. To make the presentation a little more artistic then just placed in a styrofoam block, I used a tin container lined with red tissue paper, it also made transporting the 30 pops a lot easier.

Spotlight: Christopher Flowers

This past weekend, I had the immense pleasure to work with Christopher from Christopher Flowers at an amazing wedding at the Alderbrook Resort. I was so impressed with his work, I wanted to feature him here.

Why did your start your company?
"I started Christopher Flowers after working for another florist for just over a year. I wanted to develop my own style and concentrate on events and weddings. It was scary at first, but I started out small and have been able to let the business grow naturally. "

What is your favorite part working with brides?:
"My favorite part of working with a bride is taking all her ideas and inspirations (sometimes vague and sometimes very specific!) and then adapting them into a unique design that reflects her personality and also complements the setting. When clients trust me to create something for them it always turns out great."

What makes Christopher Flowers stand out from the rest?:
"I think some of the things that make me stand out are my natural, balanced design style and harmonious sense of color. I'm also very organized, and work hard to keep each event on track so that everything turns out the best it possibly can."

Advice you would give a bride in selecting a florist.
"It's a very personal decision, and each bride is looking for something different. I recommend looking for a Floral Designer with a portfolio that displays a wide variety of styles; an experienced florist who has created a diverse range of designs will be able to take your vision and make it happen. Pick your favorite two or three florists to meet with, and be candid with them about your budget. If they know how much you want to spend, they can suggest options that will work for you."

What are the new trends you're seeing?
"I'm seeing a resurgence of very romantic, lush arrangements with a wonderful mixture of botanical textures! I love this style, and it can be adapted to many venues through the use of different color palettes. Colorful, multi-cultural influences, and garden-inspired designs are also very popular, along with the use of unusual, homegrown flowers and foliage. "

Christopher Flowers
www.christopherflowers.biz
info@christopherflowers.biz
206.619.5337
Blog: web.me.com/smith4flowers


All photos by Barbie Hull Photography (http://www.barbiehull.com/)

Testimonial from Bride and Groom

"Lori did a good job with our wedding. Even though there were some bumps on the day of the wedding, none of the guests could tell, and I owe that to Lori. Lori ensured I had everything I needed the day of my wedding, she even made a pit stop at Southcenter mall on a Saturday afternoon to get me a last minute necessity - I don't even dare to go to that mall on Saturday afternoon. The wedding ceremony and reception went very smooth; everyone thought it was perfect, just as we planned, and we had a GREAT time. Lori made our vision come to life.

Lori doesn't just look at this as a job, she really does care about her clients. My Matron of Honor accidentally threw out my enhanced drivers license during the whole wedding madness and without the license I didn't know if I would be able to take our honeymoon cruise. The cruise line suggested I bring my marriage certificate with me to the terminal, but Lori took it with her at the end of our reception to mail it in for us. I called Lori and left a message explaining the circumstance to her. Even though it was a Sunday afternoon after a hard days work and she was spending time with her family she went out of her way to bring me the certificate - I don't think a "normal" coordinator would have done that. Everything worked out fine and I got on the cruise, but I was very stressed on Sunday and Lori helped me calm down immensely."
~Krista and Eric Herman, April 17, 2010

Caterer Check-List

When going into a meeting with your cater whether an in-house cater at your reception venue or an outside cater here is a list of important questions to ask before finalizing and/or signing a contract. The most important thing to remember is to get everything in writing and don’t rely on verbal promises.

Food
• Is there a particular style of food they specialize in?
• Can we create our own menu?
• Do you work with fresh foods (non-frozen)?
• Will the food be prepared on-site?
• Ask about a sample tasting.
• What is the price per person of a plated dinner vs. buffet-style? Does that cost-per-person just cover the food, or are charges such as staff, rentals, and linens included? What service costs are included and what costs are additional? Are set-up and clean-up included? How much is overtime if the reception runs long? Are gratuities included?
• Who will be in-charge/running my wedding? Who will be responsible for their staff? What will the staff wear?
• Can we bring in outside food (special family or cultural dish)? If not, will they use family recipes?
• Can they prepare specialized meals for food allergies (gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, etc.)?
• Do they have a license and liability insurance and a liquor license? (You can always ask to see their licenses)
• How many other weddings and/or events will you be doing on the day of my wedding?
• Is there a cake-cutting fee?

Alcohol
• Do you provide a bartender(s)?
• Host Bar vs. Cash Bar
o If doing a cash bar, can you get a discount for reaching a certain amount?
o Signature drinks
• Can you bring in your own alcohol?
o If so, what are the extra prices (i.e. corkage, etc?)
• Can you make special request for alcohol (specific brands of wine, beer and liquor)?

Misc.
• Do you provide tables, chairs, linens, plates, utensils, glasses? If not, who do they recommend or do they handle rental orders?
o For those items, what colors and styles are available
• Will they set-up my tables as I want them including the folding of napkins, placement of centerpieces, favors, place cards and menu cards?
• How much time is needed for set-up and clean-up and what are you responsible for doing?
• Ask to see their contract?
• What kind of deposit is needed to hold a date?
• Ask for testimonials and see their portfolio of work?