Secret silly guilty pleasure: planning parties.  And to be more specific, planning tabletop decor (that almost always includes matching signature drinks).  This love affair makes perfect sense when you consider that I planned & designed weddings for 12 years.   At the same time my business drifted from a focus on wedding coordination to straight up wedding designing, a new phenomenon entered our personal life; Orphan Holidays.

Living in San Diego solo with family situated far away is fairly common among residents.  San Diego is often dubbed a “transplant town”.  Most of our friends originate from somewhere on the east coast and we could not afford to go home for every holiday.  Orphan Holidays were born as a need to soothe our sad hearts together with a fun party as a make-shift pseudo family.  The parties begin intimate with the invitation to your dearest friends, and very quickly the invite extends to any sad solo distant friend or co-worker who found themselves alone on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and 4th of July.  You get the idea.  And whom better to host then someone who does so for a living?  Enter: my obsession with entertaining at home.

All this rambling is to introduce a new feature of my blog including tips & tricks on styling your parties from small little dinner parties of 4 to larger get-togethers for 40.   Please feel free to reach out to me with questions or feedback on topics you’d like addressed. I’d love to hear what interests you!

Stay tuned next week as I’ll be sharing a Springtime in Paris themed birthday party you won’t want to miss.  Including an-over-the-top swan centerpiece, sushi, and hand-painted macaroons.  Yup.  Come back to see!

In the meantime, a glimpse in to a party past, I will be featuring in an upcoming story.

photography: She Wanders Photography

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