{so happi together wedding workshop | part one | unique space la | los angeles}

I am beyond thrilled that I finally get to share with all of you one of my favorite experiences that I was blessed to have the opportunity to participate in. Last summer of 2014, I was fortunate to attend a workshop that was hosted by So Happi Together. Nancy Park is the creative genius and a magnificent business role model behind So Happi Together. I remember stumbling upon Nancy’s Instagram page and becoming an avid fan of her work and her adorable little ones immediately. So when Nancy announced on her page that she was teaching a workshop for wedding professionals, my ears definitely perked up and thought this is a wonderful learning opportunity for me to grow in this industry. Being a learner has always ranked in my top strengths so it was natural that I gravitated towards this workshop opportunity. Before Nancy became a planner, she had a background in education where she taught college courses in Media Studies, Women’s Studies, Ethnic Studies, American Studies and Cultural Studies. Just by being around her, you can tell how much she enjoys working with others by educating and sharing her wealth of knowledge and experience with them. She has a fabulous team as well that is such a great inspiration for where I would like to see my team to grow into the future. 

The entire experience was divided into several parts including a 2 day workshop and participating in 2 real weddings as part of the So Happi Together team. The wedding workshop was held on July 26-27 at The Unique Space LA. Nancy designed the 2 day workshop to be as interactive as possible in order to make sure the content is relevant to all of the workshop attendees. During the workshop, she introduced us to an amazing vendor network that she has enjoyed working with. One of the most inspiring people came to join us on Day 2 for a special tutorial talk on Social Media and Marketing. Jana Williams has grown her photography business with over 60K Facebook followers, over 44K Instagram followers and has been featured in various  print and web media. Most recently her work has been published in the latest edition of The Knot magazine. Jana’s talk was so genuine and incredibly inspirational. Not only is she gorgeous on the outside but just as wonderful on the inside. She was also generous and gifted all of the workshop participants with a mini session to do all of our head shots. If you have not seen the beauty that Jana produces, definitely check out her website, Instagram feed and her Youtube page. I love her Youtube videos for sure!!

On both days, we feasted on delightful food provided by Urban PalateLA and stunning tablescapes by La Tavola Linens, Casa de Perrin and Heavenly Blooms. Sweet and Saucy and M Cakes Sweets provided delectable desserts that were too pretty to eat but you know I could not resist but to sample a few of them. The workshop was also a good opportunity to see some of our favorite vendors at work like Letters to You and Dez and Tam Photography. Dez and Tam Photography covered the event we did 2 years ago for the baby shower we planned for our love Olivia. Desi and Tammy are the creative ninjas behind Dez and Tam Photography who will make you feel at ease in front of the camera and you won’t even know that they’re around. They are just that good at what they do and done in a very non-intrusive way. One of the things that I enjoyed most from the workshop is the opportunity to meet other creative individuals with very similar interests and passion. With the intimate setting that the workshop provided, we were able to share some of our experiences, stories and even our challenges that we also took learnings from. I hope that we continue to keep in touch with other and share our business growth with one another.  

Now on to the photos... I must caveat this by stating that all of the photos below from the workshop are taken with my iPhone 5S so it definitely did not do it justice. However, please enjoy the gorgeousness that we were very fortunate to be a part of. At the end of the workshop, I left with my heart full of gratitude to Nancy and her team for everything they did to make this experience possible and a mind full of infinite possibilities of where to take this business and passion in the future. Thank you Nancy, to your So Happi Together team and all of the vendors that took part during this workshop for curating a wonderful experience and for teaching us so much about this business that we all love. 

Day One:

Day Two:

{birthdays | jonah's first birthday | walnut}

Happy 2015 to all of our readers! We hope that everyone had a wonderful 2014 and had some time to reflect on the past year and ready to tackle what life has in store for all of us in 2015. We have so many plans and ideas in store for all of our Premier Soirees followers, supporters and clients that we cannot wait to share with all of you. In 2014, we mentioned that we really want to make it a goal to blog more often. Well, here I am again in 2015 stating that we will make it a goal to blog more often. We are even making strides and working on a blog schedule to help us in getting blogging to a more regular schedule. Our hope is not only to share the events and weddings that we have been blessed to be a part of but also to use the blog as a platform to share our ideas and inspirations for all things party related.

With that said, we are excited to share a special first birthday party that we were grateful to have planned for a family that is very close to Premier Soirees. The Valdez Family has always trusted us in planning the special birthdays for all of their boys so as soon as Mom Joyce gave birth to Jonah, their 3rd addition to the family, she told us to save the date! You may remember the race car party that we blogged quite a bit ago for Adam and Noah, Jonah's older brothers. Joyce did not have a theme or inspiration in mind except for a color palette of blue and green tones which gave us the opportunity to plan away.

Some of our favorites from Jonah's first birthday party included:

- the dessert & candy table filled to the rim with various kinds of candy and sweet treats. We made sure that Jonah's guests enjoyed his party with enough sweet treats for them to take home including some mini Krispy Kreme donuts, dulce de leche & chocolate chip cookies and brownie bites.

- a popcorn bar with 3 different flavors of popcorn. We also provided different seasonings that guests can top their popcorn with. We filled bushels that we found from Michael's with regular, cheese and caramel flavored popcorn to give the guests a wide range to choose from.

- a chalkboard sign that included Jonah's favorite things. I know we've all seen these chalkboard signs all over Pinterest but we found the perfect design on Etsy. the design we chose had a whale which then reminded us of the story of Jonah the Whale.

- an ice cream truck that visited the party as a surprise treat for everyone. Since the party was in the middle of a California summer, we wanted to offer a refreshing treat for everyone.

- giant balloons of course! You know I LOVE these giant balloons and if I could I would use them everywhere. Even my own husband (who is part of our Premier Soirees team) who is deathly terrified of these balloons drove with these lovelies inside his car. The kids loved them too!!

All the photos are courtesy of Cattura Event Photography.

Thank you to the Valdez family for always trusting us with these special events. Thank you for believing in our vision for all of your parties and the passion and love we have for this business.