Simply Modern Weddings

Today was a wonderful day! First, I was able to meet with Jan and Chris for the first time. They both live in Massachusetts and hired SMW to help them with planning their fabulous wedding at St. Edwards and Rancho Las Lomas. It feels so great when I finally meet my couples in person, especially since we have been doing the planning via phone for the last 3 months. (in a way, it’s like meeting with old friends) I am so excited for their wedding day, they have done such a great job working to make the details really special for their guests. Wooohooo…4 more months!

After meeting with Jan and Chris, I jetted over to Crate and Barrel at SCP to see what goodies I could find at their blow-out sale. I was supposed to go with my friend this morning at 5:15am (to be in line when the doors opened at 6am) but I couldn’t do it. That was just way too early for me after partying all Christmas day! However, I still managed to find some wonderful items for amazing prices. The best thing is that I had my eye on some of these items for months. So I was able to stock up at great prices!

Below are some of my dinnerware/decor finds…

oooh I can’t wait to throw a dinner party!!!

Jenn…all I have to say is I Love You! The Jenn I am referring to is the founder of Hostess with the Mostess. If you follow my blog, you probably know that HWTM is one of my favorite sites. I just love all the entertaining ideas they have…it just makes me want to have a dinner party everyday!

Most people get intimidated by hosting a party because they think of all the work that goes into it, but it doesn’t have to be that way. This is why I like HWTM, they have the best ideas for decor and entertaining…without all the crazy muss or fuss. Really it’s about picking a theme and carrying it throughout your party. They have great tablescapes that can be easily created from items you can pick up at Target or cb2 to piece together the perfect party. Not to mention the recipes…yummy! I love all the recipe ideas; oh it is getting me hungry right now!

Here is a smart theme for your next holiday party from HWTM, inspired by peacock feathers. (you know I LOVE my aqua blue!)

LOVE the peacock accent in the napkin fold

Bar setup decor

and a little Ginger-Pear Martini…nice!!!

Since this is our first Christmas as a family, we decided to celebrate it by getting a Christmas tree. The last real tree I remember having was when I was 9 or 10 years old. Other than that, my husband and I grew up with fake trees. So we were very excited to finally have a real tree and decorate for the holidays.

On Saturday, we went to Pelzer Pines Christmas tree farm in Irvine. Here, you can actually pick out a tree and they will chop it down for you. It was soooo exciting!

Of course we spent over an hour roaming among the trees until we found the perfect one.

After taking it home and getting it prepped in the correct spot, we decided to start with our lights. I guess a box of 100 lights was not enough!

So, one quick trip to Target, solved that! As our pumkin spice candles burned, we continued our tree decorating with Christmas music playing joyfully in the background. Ooooh, I am so happy with how the colors came together!

Then, it came time for our beautiful star to be placed on top of the tree…and it fell over! (why would they sell such a heavy star?) Looks like it’s back to Target for us!

The lovely Kim Le with Kim Le Photography tagged me to dish about myself. Below are little interesting tid-bits to give to more insight of the girl behind “Simply Modern Weddings”. Sooooo, here goes:

4 of my favorite things-to-do:
1. Eat
2. Sleep
3. Spend time with family and friends
4. Plan weddings (of course!)

4 things you probably don’t know about me:
1. I was a child model (yeah, go ahead and laugh!)
2. I used to dance professional hula
3. I am obsessed with Bollywood movies, and as a result I can speak a little bit of Hindi
4. I had plans of going to law school after graduating college

4 of my favorite foods:
1. Shrimp/Lobster/Crab (all yum yum)
2. Crème Brulee
3. Gumbo
4. Fried Chicken (I am just a southern girl at heart)

4 of my favorite songs of all time:
1. “Kiss” by Prince
2. “Love and Happiness” by Al Green
3. “Somewhere over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
4. “Cruisin” Smokey Robinson

4 of my guiltiest pleasures:
1. Eating ice cream late at night
2. I love Red Lobster (don’t tease me!)
3. Working on my laptop until the wee hours of the night/morning
4. ANTM re-runs!!

4 of my favorite places I’ve traveled to (*sigh*):
1. Rome
2. Florence
3. Venice
4. Alabama…don’t laugh, but I spent every summer of my childhood there visiting family, so I am a southern girl!

4 favorite things I own:
1. My wedding ring
2. My late grandfather’s military tags
3. Nikon D40 camera that was a gift from my grandma
4. Macbook (best wedding present ever!)

Now I am tagging the following blogs…it’s your turn to dish!
Jasmine Star
Spiraled Stem
Charming Event
Amy Squires

Of course no post goes photo-less! So below is a photo I shot in Venice on my honeymoon.