Sometimes visual aids can teach us much more than a week-long class.
At Felici Events, we think about working smarter, not harder, and then rewarding ourselves with a donut. Part of our corporate events, product launches, and nonprofit event-planning packages include social media for the client.
This recurring Star of David motif was a great way to tie in a 'light' theme of one of our recent bar mitzvahs. This modern take on the star was not only featured on the man of the hour's cake, but was repeated in the invitations, dinner menus and table numbers. A theme like this helps an event become more connected and adds fluidity. This subtle symbol is a great way to remind everyone at the gathering what a great time it is for this young man or woman; a time to celebrate the young adult's coming-of age and first of many steps into maturity. Cards and Star of David logo were created by Lazaro Press, who did an amazing job of bringing out the star shape amidst the existing circular pattern.
Christine Dahl of Christine Dahl Pastries paired the offset yellow Star of David with blue fondant on the outer layers of the cake. Between each layer of the three-tiered cake sat a transparent box filled with lights and shimmering sparkles.
A Brand New Way to Plan Your Wedding
Congratulations on your engagement!
Join us for Santa Barbara Wedding Experience the weekend of February 24-26, for a brand new way to plan your wedding. You don’t want to miss this wedding planning weekend full of exciting events, activities, and opportunities which will allow you to discover first hand all that Santa Barbara has to offer! Escape to Santa Barbara for a weekend getaway, stay in a luxury hotel, relax, and enjoy being inspired for your wedding day. Beyond the traditional wedding fair, Santa Barbara Wedding Experience is the result of a collaboration amongst an entire community of Santa Barbara’s top event professionals and venues. We believe that there is no better place on earth to get married and we want to offer you a weekend full of innovative and inspirational Santa Barbara wedding style to prove it! This weekend-long experience will not only offer a great time but it will also allow you to imagine and actually experience what your ideal Santa Barbara Wedding could and should be.
Sign up this week for a chance to win a complimentary engagement photo shoot from the talented Cheryl and Tim Halberg of Fotocielo (a $750 value).
To find out more or to make a reservation visit: Santa Barbara Wedding Experience Brought to you by:  
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A few weeks ago, Felici Events along with Scott Topper Productions helped the Jewish Federation with their 5th annual Vodka Latke fund raiser, raising money for The Young Adult Division, which empowers Jewish identity and builds community and leadership among young adults. - Community Action, - Professional Development, - Friendship...
Here is a time lapse video of the event.
Mazel Tov!
http://youtu.be/ignD6mpP6fs
Once the song is completed, hosts can choose to hire Kerri-Anne for a live performance or have the recorded song play during the event. Kerri-Anne also works closely with a team of videographers, who specialize in creating documentaries and montages of events that will feature the custom song on a DVD. The DVD can be accessed online through Facebook, and shared with family and friends.
With several combinations of services, Kerri-Anne works with any type of budget to make each event unique and special. For contact information and samples of her songs, visit Kerri-Anne’s website at giftofsongs.com.
An elegant and fun way to create themes can be done thru color schemes and shapes.
A great example is this REAL FELICI WEDDING for Jennifer and Stephen who used purple and green spheres as their inspiration. To convey the theme to guests right off the bat, their invitations by Lazaro Press included the lavender and pale green puffs.
On their reception night at The Canary Hotel, Nico Designs adorned each table with a centerpiece featuring giant green and purple chrysanthemums orbs resting on beds of rock.
Lighting is a dramatic way to convey a color scheme that immediately changes the mood of a room. Bella Vista Designs lit up the evening celebration with lavender lights around the room.
A wedding cake is the culmination and epitome of any wedding’s theme. Instead of creating a polka dotted cake, Montecito Confections used green chrysanthemums trailing up the side of the cake and onto the top adorned with cymbidium orchids.
A huge Thank You to the wonderful Melissa Musgrove for capturing these wonderful images and work of art.
I couldn't resist to post this kids place setting featured on the Blowout Party Blog
Happy TOORKEY day!
A few weeks ago I blogged about the number one important ingredient for a successful event. Here I am to share with you the second most important ingredient to incorporate in order to have a successful event or holiday party.
Offer an assortment of beverage options in order to to encompass a myriad of palates, however, not so many that it breaks your budget. A creative signature drink can incorporate your theme, color or details, and will be something guests enjoy and continue to talk about.
One of Felici's Favourites is Pomegranate + Sparkling Wine = Pomegranate Mimosa, a refreshing, soft cocktail.
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If you're offering alcoholic beverages, make sure there are a few interesting non-alcoholic options for the non-drinkers and designated drivers at your party.
Felici combines Pink Lemons + Sugar = Pink Lemonade
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Congratulating Natalie and Rene on their wedding. Click on the picture below to see the slideshow and details of their BIG Day!
Links:
Gainey Vineyard Gavin Roy Presents: Wedding DJ Fairytale Hair and Makeup Rincon Floral
PHOTOGRAPHY
Blue Silver Photo Website alex@bluesilverphoto.com 877-588-3374
Cultural traditions and locations both play roles in branding and making a wedding memorable and unique. This Felici Events wine country wedding incorporates elements of the bride's Norwegian background while maintaining a country western theme.
Finding the appropriate entertainment for children can be fun.
Here is a recent event idea in which we had a balloon artist. He was able to create anything from a Super Mario character to a monkey hanging from a palm tree.
Needless to say, the balloon maker was a big hit with the kids.
Another treat for guests is a fully stocked candy bar. This purple candy bar was laid out in glass vases with varying shades of purple candy to match the colors of the reception. Small purple Chinese to-go boxes were also provided so guests (young and old) could take home some treats for the road. One mother was even encouraging her daughters to take home more sweets so she could sneak some for herself on the trip back. This goes to show that parties are not just for grown ups. There are plenty of inventive ways to ensure that kids can have fun too!
Customizing your bride and groom chair signs for your reception is an easy way to showcase your creativity and your wedding theme in a fun and unique manner.
Mr. and Mrs. chair signage can come in every shape and form- starting from chalkboards to wooden signs to something as easy and DIY as printing “Bride” and “Groom” on your invitation stationary. Mr. and Mrs. chair signs can get as intricate as having words shaped from rosemary or as simple as ribbon and signage.
The wide range of options is part of the beauty of this wedding custom, get inspired from the these pictures to add this cute detail to your wedding!
I love this picture captured by Katie Moos Photography of a recent wedding at the Four Seasons Biltmore
Bottom line - HAVE FUN
I am 100% Italian, therefore it was inevitable to be born a party planner. I was barely out of the womb when I started entertaining and indubitably my career led me hospitality and then throwing great parties as a living.
You see, Italians, or "I Paesani", are the epitome of entertainers and hosts who ensure that all occasions are celebrated and done so with GUSTO!
My NUMBER ONE of four things you must have to host a memorable party will make or break a party, can you guess what it is?
Remember, I am Italian. Close your eyes and imagine yourself in Italy. What is the one thing you think of when imagining Italy?
FOOD:
Felici rule number one is: Don't let people leave hungry. Both my grandmothers as well as my mom taught me that Italiafact. I've been well fed with fresh ingredients, home cooked meals and generations of recipes my entire life. As a family, we sat to a delicious home cooked dinner every night while I was growing up. To me, this upbringing makes a difference, food = event.
I practiced this rule last November when I threw my launch party. Both my heritage along with appreciation of good food and fresh ingredients dictated the theme of my event. It was also important to me to host a larger number of guests, and therefore my budget had to have some bang for the buck without compromising fresh delicious food.
I contacted California Woodfired Catering and had them cater the soiree. That was a great decision!
The best part, I got three bangs for my buck.
1-Effortless: The set up, rental and service needs were minimal
2-A Show: Just like in my family's house, guests gathered around the wood-fired oven area watching the chef make pizzas with the fresh ingredients and pulling it out of the piping hot oven. It also sparked up quite a bit of conversation amongst all.
3-Finger Lickin' Good: The food was delicious. It is just shy of one year later, and people are still talking about the yumy pizza!
Thanks Mike!
We wanted to share with you a lovely slide show of one of our clients
created by the oober talented
Santa Barbara Courthouse Ceremony, the Mural Room
Stella Mare's Reception
Peonies are my favourite!
Click on the link below to see the link to the slide show of images
Santa Barbara Courthouse Ceremony & Stella Mare Restaurant Reception Wedding
I love this picture we captured of one of our recent bride and groom.
Effortless and so powerful.
There are many important aspects to a wedding, such as the guest list, the venue, the bride’s dress, the food, and of course, the wedding cake. The wedding cake is the elaborate centerpiece that adorns a major table while the guests are dining so that everyone can view it, waiting for the moment that they finally get to sink their teeth in to a gooey slice. When that moment comes, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the bride and groom cutting the cake together, as one of their first joint acts after saying “I do”. So much emphasis is placed on the wedding cake, not only in its taste but in its presentation, so why stick with the same boring cake cliché? Here are some fantastic examples of unique and creative cakes that break out of the norms of wedding cake design.
A life-size cake replica of the bride? Perhaps a bit vain, but this cake is definitely impressive.
One of the world’s most recognizable paintings transcribed onto a cake. A true work of baked art.
It must have been hard to eat this wonderful representation of the beloved video game.
Nothing says family like a good game of Scrabble, especially when it’s portrayed in such a fun way on this cake.
How can you not love a cake that represents the bride and groom as fellow Ghostbusters taking down the Marshmallow Man?
Based on Japanese tradition, cranes are noted as mystical creatures.Cranes represent longevity and good health, and are believed to live for 1001 years. The tradition to fold 1001 paper cranes has become a staple wedding gift for many years in Japanese culture.
Folding 1001 paper cranes is believed to make a person’s wish come true; when a folder bestows the cranes on a couple it symbolizes their wish for the couple to have a long and happy marriage.
Last week's wedding, the bride’s mother folded these gorgeous paper cranes. This custom, however, is not limited to just family' anyone can give such a unique and truly beautiful wedding gift.
One of the most fun and rewarding things that you want to make sure to do after your engagement is to schedule an engagement photo session for you and your fiancé. Why get engagement photos? Aside from the fact that these photos will show off what an attractive couple you two are, this photo session provides you with the valuable opportunity to establish a relationship with your photographer before your Wedding. An engagement session allows you to share with your photographer what you like and don't like about yourself (in pics) and it also allows them to get to know you as a couple. This is so valuable, and enables them to take photos that best represent the two of you and will result in wedding photos that you are sure to love!
Engagement photos can also be used for wedding announcements in local news papers, save the dates that are sent out to family and friends, and they can even be used as décor at your ceremony or reception.
Do's and Don'ts of Engagement Pictures
Do HAVE FUN with this opportunity
Do involve your photographer who will at some level be the director of your tale
Do bring a few items of clothing
Do bring props
Do relax, a glass of wine and some music on the ipod can get the 'groove' going
DON'T eliminate engagement pictures from your photographer's package to save money.
The beautiful engagement photos below are courtesy of Attasalina Photography. The FELICI couple will be married this fall!
