Category: Events & Parties

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Woods Wedding – Selby Gardens

Lisa Muccio Day of Coordination. Selby Gardens. Michael’s on the Bay. Kirstin Shontere Photography. Ms. Scarlett’s Flowers.

I highly recommend the services of Lisa Muccio as you plan your wedding or other large event.  She is a very organized and sweet person.  Her interaction with anyone involved with our wedding was very well received.  She is an excellent communicator and helped the event go VERY smoothly.  There were all sorts of things Lisa did for us “behind the scenes.”  Things just “magically” happened.  She didn’t constantly come to us asking what we wanted done.  She anticipated lots of “problems” and already had built-in solutions ready.  I have never used a wedding planner and did not know what to expect.  I now KNOW she was indispensable!! 

– Dr. Jamie Lawson, Mother of the Bride
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Daniel & Sarah’s Wedding – Sarasota, Florida

Twinkle lights, eucalyptus, and tuscan-style chairs…

Simple & elegant with a sprinkle of fun details perfectly describe everything about Sarah & Daniel’s wedding. From Sarah’s dress to the gorgeous flowers (by Kinspoke) and the cake stands piled with donuts (Five-O Donut Co.).

It was an absolute honor to plan & coordinate this wedding. My personal photos are below. Wedding Photos (above) by Jeremy Rinehart.

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A Charcuterie Board Christmas Party – Hors d’oeuvres Stations + Two Winter Cocktails

I love me a good charcuterie board. And really who doesn’t? So this Christmas I planned a party with boards & platters scattered about the house. The dining table held the largest selection of meats and cheeses. And though this was a party meant for mingling, I left the chairs. Have a few morsels from one board, then move to a new table or chair! See the recipes below for a Smokey Old Fashioned and an Amarula Coffee – both are guaranteed to warm you up this winter.

Smokey Old Fashioned

  • 1 tsp Smoked Maple syrup
  • Bourbon of choice (Michter’s is Josh’s choice)
  • 1 dash of aromatic bitters
  • 2 dashes citrus bitters
  • 1 Filthy black cherry (NOT maraschino)

Stir the above ingredients until maple syrup dissolves. Then pour over a large ice cube and stir again.

Coffee with Amarula + homemade whipped cream

  • Brewed coffee (regular or decaf)
  • Amarula (It’s a South African cream liqueur)
  • cinnamon sugar in a salt shaker
  • 1 c. Heavy whipping cream whipped until peaks form with 1 Tbsp Maple syrup

Mix the coffee and Amarula in a carafe to your preference. Try a ratio of 3 parts coffee to 1 part liqueur. Guests can pour their drink and top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.

*I forgot a picture of the dessert board but it held bite sized brownies and chocolates along with some cookies a guest brought. (You can see it on the table beneath the TV that showed photos from past Christmases).

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My Little Girl’s 4th Birthday Tea Party

My parties keep getting smaller and smaller. If I spend less on food to feed a crowd I feel justified spending more on the fun extras!

This was G’s first “friends party” instead of a family & friends party. I decided family would make a way to celebrate with her, but I wanted to do something fun that was just for her and her little friends. Introducing a “garden” tea party.

I use the term “garden” loosely.

It was outside.

In our front yard.

Which shamefully needs a gardeners assistance.

 

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Sweet Shoppe 1st Birthday

We are entering the season of dinners and parties and dinner parties 🙂 and I can’t help but get excited. I want to plan all sorts of special evenings and yet it is the hardest time of the year to do so with all the commitments everyone has, not to mention it’s wedding season in Florida so my work schedule picks up as well. I’m a planner at heart, and I love events. I love the planning, the decorating, the cooking and baking. It’s a serious passion. I’m already thinking ahead to my kids birthdays and trying to rein myself in at the same time.

For G’s 1st birthday we did a “Sweet Shoppe” theme, and I thought I’d share the details here.

Continue reading “Sweet Shoppe 1st Birthday”

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DIY Bridal Shower

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My sister’s bridal shower was last weekend. It was a perfect channel for my need to create. If you don’t know it already, I should tell you now that I am super frugal. Why spend $10 when I can spend $1 and make something myself! It’s cheaper and so much MORE fun! So this is officially Lisa’s version of a frugal, DIY wedding shower.
The frames are 4×6 wood frames that came 2 in a package at the dollar store. I painted them with a dry brush using white acrylic paint to give it the imperfect finish (perfect with the beach scene photos).

The flowers are from Sam’s Club. I bought them about 3 days early so they were in full bloom for the shower. And the glass containers are a jelly jar and olive oil bottle I cleaned out when we used up the contents. Now that’s recycling! And cheap!

This picture has another 8×10 frame (dollar store & paint) and I glued on an “H” that I bought from a craft store. The little white vase below was $.99 at goodwill. So cute!

For more variety I painted a few soup cans with white acrylic paint and used those as vases too. I chose different sized cans to pair together. They probably aren’t something you’ll want to save and reuse. They did start to rust on the inside.

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Chocolate covered pretzels are a great favor. I’ve used them for more than one party. They’re really easy to make. They just take a little time depending on the number of people and how many you plan to give per person.

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What’s your favorite favor to give or receive?