Inspiration Board: Laura's Baby Shower

After two beautiful boys, Laura and Jeff are having a girl!

We are putting together a baby shower tea luncheon for Laura next month that will be full of pinks with accents of grey. Pink and gray is the perfect palatte for a cool winter party to shower Laura with girlie gifts.

We can't wait!

Feature Friday: Duchess & Bird

We are nothing less than thrilled to introduce you to today's featured business, Duchess & Bird! Two ladies, a decade worth of trips to Paris, and an idea resulted in Duchess & Bird's owners launching their unique shop. Having opened the online boutique earlier this year, Duchess & Bird is "taking flight with inspired luxuries." See for yourself!

These gorgeous cupcake toppers would make elegant additions to any dessert table.

For a truly special party favor for your guests, fill these French Vellum Candy Envelopes with sweet treats.

 Duchess & Bird also has a selection of ribbons and trims, like this beautifully detailed red and gold ribbon.

We can see this gold thread trimming wrapped around clear glass cylinders holding pillar candles for a classy detail.

Duchess & Bird's selections are one of a kind and each piece has a story. These stunning Antique Mirrored Wall Brackets would make a statement in any home.

These French Grocery Lists are my personal favorite. Frame them for fun wall art for the kitchen, laminate them for place mats, or use them to line the back of a vintage china hutch.

Duchess & Bird's wares are reasonably priced, which makes it possible for anyone to have a little piece of Paris in their home-- or choose the perfect gift for someone who "has everything."

There is SO much more in Duchess & Bird's online store and be sure to click over to the Duchess & Bird blog to get to know the ladies. You'll be glad you did!

Lindsey's Red Hot 30th

Saturday night was Lindsey's Red Hot 30th birthday party in San Francisco. The evening began in one of the suites at the Clift Hotel, located just minutes from Union Square.
Below is the view from the room on the 14th floor. It was gorgeous at dusk!
Rooms at the Clift have a sleek, modern style and we didn't need to do much to dress up the suite. Add a few red feather boas and some candles and voila!
A champagne toast kicked off the festivities.
Guests met at the room and the birthday girl opened gifts before heading downstairs for drinks.
A twist on the traditional candy buffet, we chose to do a candy cocktail bar.
Guests could mingle, enjoy champagne, and make their own favors.
Red Hots (of course), sour cherries, Boston Baked Beans, various hard candies and rock candy served in cocktail and bar glasses.
A few cinnamon candles for a flickering accent.
Perfectly placed in front of the mirror to maximize the red impact.
The Clift Hotel is home to the Redwood Room lounge where the ladies stopped for the first round of drinks. The sultry and sexy red decor of the Redwood Room helped continue the "Red Hot" theme throughout the evening.
When you think "San Francisco" you can't help but think cable cars-- we rented one for the evening to take the ladies around town.
The trolley picked up the group from the hotel and took a tour of downtown San Francisco.
Next came dinner at Boboquivaris, continuing with "Red Hot" locations. In addition to the party being seated on the top level of the restaurant (pictured below) the waiter was French-- does it get any hotter? We can't take credit for that one.
After dinner the trolley drove the ladies to Johnny Foley's to dance the night away. The birthday girl was treated to the entire bar singing happy birthday while she was seated on one of the pianos.

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

We were honored to get to be a part of your celebration.

Feature Friday: The Victorian at Hemphill Mansion

Why is it when you return from vacation you feel like you need an extra day to recover from your vacation? At any rate, we're back and ready to roll with Lindsey's Red Hot 30th Birthday this weekend!

Today's Feature Friday highlights the venue we selected for Katie and Jon's wedding earlier this year, The Victorian at Hemphill Mansion in Roseville, California. The Victorian is just that-- a beautiful Victorian style mansion located in old town Roseville at 315 Washington Boulevard.

The Victorian style home, at the corner of Washington Blvd. and Grove St., built in 1909 for Wallace Hemphill, served as a showplace and social center for Roseville society.

Hemphill's Roseville Water Co. provided Roseville its water and electricity from 1906 to 1925. He also owned the local sand and gravel business when Roseville was going through it's first boom. Dr. James McAnally purchased the mansion in 1936 and used it as his residence until 1969.

At one time the property served as a stage coach depot and later as Roseville's bus terminal.

Things we liked about The Victorian...

• Price: Reasonable for a Saturday evening wedding during "prime" wedding season.
• All-inclusive: When we booked the venue we were getting locations for both the ceremony and the reception, a DJ and catering. One stop shopping.
• Space: There was ample room for the ceremony in the garden, cocktails inside, dinner outdoors in a separate grassy area, dancing, parking, restrooms and places for the bridal party and vendors to prepare.
• Flexibility: The staff was willing to let us decorate and orchestrate the evening pretty much any way we wanted (Katie wanted, that is!)
• Ease: Their staff set up, broke down, and cleaned it all up. We love that part.
• The garden/outside areas: Beautiful and well maintained. The greenery and architectural accents made for gorgeous twilight photos.
  

Things we didn't like about The Victorian...

• Parking: Katie and Jon's wedding consisted of about 85 guests and many had to park down the street.
• Trash: There is a staircase leading from the house down into the garden where guests enjoyed dinner and the area beneath the staircase were literal PILES of trash. We hoped this was something only we noticed but still, extremely unattractive.
• Our assigned DJ: He was awful. And we don't give negative reviews or feedback on a whim. First, we hadn't met with him before the day of the wedding because The Victorian's owners assured us they had years and years of DJ experience and they knew exactly what we wanted, which songs to avoid and which ones to play. Second, about a half hour before the ceremony was scheduled to begin he told me he couldn't find his list of songs for the ceremony so we gave him a program to use to prepare and follow along. When it came down to it, he missed a cue for music and after I brought it to his attention that a song should be playing, he didn't know Bach. Dead air is not good during a ceremony! Also, we had chosen a specific version of the Wedding March and it wasn't right. Awful. Thankfully, Katie and Jon were so into the moment they didn't notice, but WE did. It irks us when things don't go perfectly for reasons that could have (should have) been avoided. Add to that, the DJ was cheesy and came off as unsure of himself and disorganized. We will take some responsibility here and say that we should have insisted on meeting with the DJ during the rehearsal. Lesson learned.
• Availability of staff: We found it difficult to find The Victorian staff the day of the wedding. Groomsmen were downstairs getting ready in the dark because there weren't enough functioning lights in the basement and one of the toilets upstairs in the brides room wasn't working properly AND there wasn't any toilet paper (tragic)-- yet we couldn't find anyone to help. We will say that once the wedding ceremony began the staff was present and attentive through the end of the event.

If you are considering The Victorian at Hemphill Mansion for your wedding or another event, it is a great choice. Just be sure meet with the people helping coordinate the day ahead of time and walk the grounds to look for anything out of place early so you can get it corrected before guests arrive.

All in all, we will definitely recommend this venue in the future for those wanting a budget-friendly event at an "all inclusive" location. If you've been to the Victorian and have other feedback please leave a comment below! We welcome reader opinions.

Beyond Platinum Event

Last night we had the opportunity to attend the Beyond Platinum Event at Arden Hills Country Club in Sacramento. This was the first year Arden Hills has put together an event for event planners, vendors and brides and the evening was a success! As expected of an upscale venue such as Arden Hills, no detail was overlooked. The moment we arrived we were treated to complimentary valet service and plenty of AH staff was there to direct us to the "main event".

After picking up our tickets at will call we were welcomed into the cocktail hour. Two beautifully decorated rooms were set to received guests and several bar areas served champagne. Guests checked out models wearing some of the latest designs in wedding gowns and had the opportunity to take some candids in a photo booth.

When cocktail hour ended the rest of the event opened up and attendees could browse various rooms featuring wedding vendors, continue socializing with other attendees, and enjoy chatting and learning about the newest and hottest wedding and event trends.

Overall, it was definitely worth going to and we are already looking forward to next year's Beyond Platinum Event!

Last night's party was the perfect way to begin our VACATION! The holidays are the "busy season" for Pear Tree Events since we specialize in private gatherings-- Christmas parties here we come! We'll be back soon with more inspiration boards, featured businesses, and DIY party details. Don't forget that you can email us any questions, requests, or small businesses you think should be featured. Email us at peartreeevents@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you and will answer emails as soon as we get return!

Feature Friday: Handmade by Heather

Etsy is one our favorite places to find unique, handmade touches for the parties and events we design. Today we'd like to introduce you to Heather Mattos, owner of Handmade by Heather!

Remember Katie and Jon's wedding this summer? We had the sign pictured above custom made for the event. The wooden sign was displayed on an easel at the entrance of the venue to welcome guests and later moved to the lawn where the reception took place.

Best of all, the newlyweds had a gorgeous keepsake they could display in their home long after the wedding!

Handmade by Heather specializes in personalized wooden signs. When we say "no detail is overlooked" this is the kind of thing we're talking about when personalizing an event for a client.

A personalized tiki bar sign will be making an appearance at the In Luau of Christmas party in December!

Every child should have a special birthday outfit, right? Handmade by Heather's birthday t-shirts are a-DOR-able and the child can wear the t-shirt long after the actual birthday.

The "initial tee" would also be a thoughtful surprise for the guest of honor.

Remember that Handmade by Heather takes custom orders of just about any kind! Have an idea? Send her a message. We have a 1 year-old's birthday coming up and will be submitting our order for a custom birthday bib shortly!

Be sure to take a peek at Handmade by Heather's shop and stop by her blog. She has got some amazing recipes, fun craft ideas and gorgeous pictures.

Thank you Heather, for letting us feature you this morning!

Teresa's Baby Shower

Last weekend was Teresa's baby shower! Tom (daddy-to-be) and Teresa, along with their family and friends, gathered to celebrate the pending arrival of their new little one, A.M.

The shower was built around "A is for Apricot, B is for Baby" and the decor was inspired by shades of apricot/orange and aqua/blue.

The dessert table featured French Meringues, Apricot and Blueberry Thumbprint cookies, Coconut-Apricot Macaroons and Mini-Cheesecakes with apricot and blueberry jam.

We made a simple bunting string out of various fabrics that complimented the color scheme-- orange sherbet gingham, blue paisley, a shimmery aqua and apricot and blue florals.

"A" and "M" are the initials of Tom and Teresa's bundle of joy. They took the wooden letters home to use in her nursery!

Instead of traditional flower centerpieces for the tables, fresh herbs were used, giving the tables a country-chic feel paired with the blue linens and white accents. Using fresh organic herbs is also environmentally responsible as they can be used long after the baby shower is over.

How gorgeous is that aqua table cloth? The simple herb centerpiece stands out beautifully against the cool blue backdrop.

We used scraps from the bunting to create custom newborn onesies for Tom and Teresa to use for their baby girl and they also acted as decor for the shower.

The appliques included the initials "A" and "M", an apricot, a flower and a baby rattle.

We wish Tom and Teresa all the joy in the world with their new baby girl!

Thank you so much for letting us be a part of your celebration!