6 Fresh Ideas for Spring Tablescapes

Happy 2019, friends. This winter has been total hibernation mode over here as I am busy prepping for summer and fall weddings creeping up + taking a much needed break from all the events that kept 2018 poppin! One of the biggest honors for me was being contacted by Williams Party Rentals back in December and having them ask me to be their preferred vendor for their spring showroom design. I was ECSTATIC to be asked to plan and conceptualize all of this! All of January + this month were spent in preparation for our big set-up day which was on the 13th. This design showcase will be on display at Williams through May!

For those planning events for the spring, below are 6 very different ideas I came up with to help clients visualize detailed tablescapes for the spring, taking into account that each event is so different. One of the hardest tasks here was regarding the use of florals. Because this showroom set will be on display for several months, we weren’t able to use real flowers. Enter the lovely and talented florist, Justine Shann, who made everything come together so effortlessly with a beautiful selection of dried and faux fleurs!

Shout out to Alex from TicTatPhotoes for these beautiful photos and Carole Lola for all of the delicate name cards she designed by hand on such unique surfaces. Team effort to make the whole table come to life! :)

Spring Floral

This first idea is purely inspired by afternoon tea. When I was younger I was so into playing dress up with my girl friends and playing tea party with my fake china tea sets. For a true throwback to your childhood, opt for a loud linen (like this floral) and accent it with fine china, gold-rimmed glassware, and simple peonies for added texture.

White // Wood

This is probably one of my favorites to design, partially because it’s the most “me.” I came up with the idea after seeing a Crate & Barrel ad and was reminded of how much I adore their branding because of the simplicity. I found these wood trays in Williams’ inventory and decided to use them as chargers! It worked great! I wanted to opt for a very clean, sharp look — and accent it with wood textures. The wood chairs are some of my favorite and they were perfect to bring the entire look together. My favorite finishing touch was the sign cases from Esselle SF to hold each name card.

Earthy Boho

This table just lives and breathes “Anthropologie” vibes to me. I wanted to showcase one table without a linen because I personally think farm tables are so gorgeous on their own. I am not much of a primary color person, but with the season being spring — green was the only way to go! Two words: Bunny. Tail. These dried florals were EVERYTHING.

Carole came up with the idea to utilize leather as our surface for each name card, which was the perfect earthy addition. My favorite thing is the green Elements Collection glass + pairing that with a mason jar, because who doesn’t love a mason jar?!

Marble // Lavender

The sweetheart table was so special. I was initially inspired by Williams’ marble collection of plateware and knew I wanted to go down that route. I also LOVE anything velvet so I was immediately drawn to the dusty rose linen in their Creative Coverings collection. The color is so romantic and perfect to capture the love on a wedding day. Justine added dreamy pampas and dried lavender to complete the look, with a sturdy arch to canopy the couple.

Asian-Inspired Butterfly Dinner Party

Would you believe me if I told you I was inspired by a butterfly for this one? Truly. I remember seeing an art installation of paper butterflies somewhere and wanted to capture the airy freedom there for a dinner party. I was inspired by Asian culture to implement the colors chosen here, specifically black to add an element of formality — and then incorporated Williams’ Triangle collection of plateware to go along with the butterfly theme. Carole created these stunning hand-cut name cards to finish the look and we encased the florals in these tall lanterns.

Silver // Chic

The final look is also one of my favorites. Not necessarily because it’s my personal taste but because it appeals to SO many clients out there who desire the chic, elegant, over the top fancy aesthetic. I loved the way this table came together. I love those napkin rings. We wanted a mostly clear look with silver accents. That charger added such a unique touch, paired with Carole’s acrylic signage. Justine completed the look with the white compote floral bouquet and it’s ready to be on display!

a modern princess wedding at the SF palace hotel

Nicki and Greg’s wedding took place on September 1st, 2018 at the glorious Palace Hotel in SF. This wedding was EVERYTHING. The perfect mix of utter elegance, class, and a pinch of modern sprinkled in. Huge shout out to Greg Petersen for capturing these epic photos.

My favorite part? The fact that Nicki and Greg decided to eat dinner on their own in private while guests attended cocktail hour. They got all their portraits taken care of prior to the ceremony (thanks for first look) and opted to take the time for an intimate moment between the two of them before the party started. So special!

besties & bubbly: NYE party inspiration

Going "out" for New Year's Eve is so 2015. The older I get, the more I simply desire staying in or spending the evening with a few close friends. All of that in mind as we creep into the end of 2017, I felt inspired to create a girls' holiday/NYE shoot. Because I'm obsessed with SF, I wanted the venue to be based there and somewhere niche that felt like every girls' safe haven. Somewhere that lived and breathed "city sleek." Enter, Wine Down in SOMA!

As we're all probably aware by now, metallics and velvets are taking over the fashion world for the fall and winter months, so that was where my initial inspiration came in.  I wanted to play off the natural textures inside the bar, particularly the wood. There is something so inviting and warm about it. I decided to go with a bare tablescape, paired with a sleek black and gold runner from Lavish SF to keep things clean. My amazing friend and vendor, Angie of Chairs and Cups helped me conceptualize the perfect plateware/stemware set to make everything flow cohesively with the colors we had chosen. The best part was accenting this table with mercury votives, wooden antlers, and other odds and ends I sourced from Eileen (owner of Lost + Found Vintage Rentals). 

I hope this shoot inspires anyone planning a party to not be intimidated to go BIG on the details. I think that a tablescape that is well-thought out is one of the most important pieces of planning a perfect party. I really wanted to incorporate something that would make the table pop (but not in a gaudy way) and working with Angie (owner of Bobo Design Studio) was a dream. She came up with those gorgeous diamond-cut personalized name cards for each of the guests. 

ProTip:  always incorporate some type of interactive activity for the guests. In this case, I wanted it to to be DIY-related. I've worked with the amazing Keegan (owner of Petal Atelier) for over a year now, collaborating on different projects, and she knew exactly the route I was wanting to go down. She suggested a DIY floral wreath station. I wanted the aesthetic to be neutral enough where it didn't scream Christmas at you, so we went with very earthy florals and greenery for these wreaths. The girls had an amazing time using the tools and creating some fun wreaths to take home. PS: How stunning are those bigger bouquets with strawberries, pomegranates, and anemones?! We were jaw dropped at their beauty. 

Then came the cake! Rachel (owner of Bay Cakes Design) came up with a perfect mini cake to round out the party. I knew I wanted black and I have admired her work for a while now, but she blew me out of the water with the detail she added with the sugar flowers on top of it. Sitting it on top of Lost + Found Vintage's bar cart with my felt board was one of the most inviting vignettes of this shoot.

Finally, it was MY job to do all the wardrobe styling for this shoot which was very fun for me. I wanted to go with jewel tones, metallics, and subtle dramatic additions of fur and velvet.  Huge shoutout to Sunshine Shannon for capturing all this goodness! Peep the gallery below and the whole vendor team under that! Happy New Year babes <3

Vendor List:

Creative Direction/ Planning/ Styling: Naseem Events 

Wardrobe Styling: Naseem Events (Anthropologie and Madewell // Jewelry: Kendra Scott) 

Venue: Wine Down SF

Photographer: Sunshine Shannon

Florist: Petal Atelier

MUAH: Imagi by Fiona

Diamond cut name place cards: Bobo Design Studio

Cake: Bay Cakes Design

Invitation and Signage: Caffeineated Letters

Runner and confetti poppers: Lavish SF

Plateware/stemware/glassware: Chairs and Cups

Video: Elmira Saalabi  

Bar cart, pillows, votives, and wood antlers: Lost + Found Vintage Rentals

dessert table styling // winter mini shoot

December has been so busy for me in the best way possible. I managed to pack in planning 3 shoots simultaneously, and this one I'm sharing here is super special to me. It's always a treat to collaborate with friends in the creative sphere and I was stoked to work on this mini shoot with two of my favorites, Yasmin Roohi Photo and JustBakeCause to showcase Amanda's winter offerings. In styling the dessert table for her, I thought I'd share a few of my tips and tricks that helped me envision what I wanted the final product to look like:

1) Always start with a staple piece: When I go shopping to scout out pieces for shoots I always look until I find that one piece that I fall in love with. For this shoot, it was the antler-shaped gold tray. I absolutely loved this and thought it was the perfect embodiment of the holiday season. I based the rest of my decor off that piece and what would mesh well with it. 

2) Build upon textures: I knew I wanted most of my aesthetic to be gold (obvi), but I also didn't want it to look super regal or old-fashioned. I purposely mixed in more modern, earthy textures like the marble cake stand you see -- as well as the subtle pops of red in the holly and candles to balance everything out.

3) Less is more: I knew Amanda's desserts speak for themselves (no I don't just mean the taste); she is a true artist as you can see in the photos below. Because of that, I wanted to let the desserts speak for themselves which is why I went the more minimal approach with the colors and table decor. I wanted the focus to be on her work, with the decor as unique accents to highlight (i.e. acorns with the bells). 

Ok enjoy these beautiful photos and let me know what you think! What's your go-to for designing your holiday tablescape?

(Special shout out to my girl Neda for being on glam squad patrol for this shoot <3). 

holly, jolly holiday parties

Ahh the holidays! I love Christmastime SO much. It's crazy to see how quickly it came upon us this year -- but I'm not complaining! I absolutely love the crisp air, rosemary garnishes everywhere, and the warm winter colors. I had the privilege of working with my home church, Awakening last weekend to help bring to life our vision for our annual Christmas party. My favorite part was that we held it at this amazing warehouse venue in downtown SJ, Forager Tasting Room-- that brick wall in the back?! Swoon! We had an indoor gelato cart, photo booth, dance floor, raffle, and of course - drinks & light bites. I decided to go a more minimal route with the table centerpieces and went with long wreathy garlands (save a buck or two and get these from Trader Joe's) that I cut into shorter pieces, and then added texture with candles and ornaments. Who says ornaments only belong on the tree?!

It was such a fun time for all of us:) Thanks to the talented Oh.Pictures for taking these photos,  Cafe Primavera for catering, and my amazing friend/ planning parter Kathryn for helping make all of this come together so seamlessly. 

DIY beer tasting & bbq

It's always fun to change things up and get creative in the events department. Last night I switched from wedding planning mode to birthdays after one of my closest friends asked me to throw her husband's 28th birthday party. First thought: a guys' birthday; how can I style this in the most manly way possible? Haha. What initially came to mind (and call me stereotypical if you will) was meat. Yes, meat. I'm very close with our fellow birthday boy too so I knew he'd appreciate a nice, meaty feast. So I went with a good old fashioned Southern BBQ theme for dinner, along with a beer tasting flight station to start the night off right. 

Putting together a DIY beer tasting flight is not as hard as one might think, and if anyone has ever wanted to style one, I wanted to give my top 3 tips/ suggestions for how to go about it:

1) Keep it simple: I wanted to keep the focus on the beers so I went with three types that I thought would be interesting to each palate. Lagunitas IPA, a Radler, and Chocolate Stout. Pro Tip: Trader Joe's personal beer selection is bomb and their visual design is very appealing to the eye. Win win.

2) Beer snacks; a must: I had a little bit of everything going to compliment each of the three beers. Some suggestions I have are olives, pretzels, almonds, and even plantain chips. Yes, you heard that right. Funny enough, those were the most popular of the night and were gone before anything else. 

3) Presentation: How you present something will always make or break it. When it comes down to food especially, studies have shown that people are universally drawn to pretty looking things; therefore my priority after I nail down what my "content" is (in this case, a beer flight), I focus on how to present it in a way that will be most visually appealing when the guests walk in the door. For this party, I wanted the aesthetic to be generally very earthy so I went with butcher paper for my table runners and wooden platters to serve most everything on. My favorite part though was the glassware for the beer flights. I've had these glasses in the family for about 10 years now, straight from Moscow. It was great to bring them out and give some flair to the design. 

It was fun adding other little tidbits to spice up the decor. When hosting an indoor party; especially one that's pretty intimate like this was, the little things matter most, namely making something ordinary pop. So whether it was writing out each dish name in calligraphy on the butcher table, fruit skewers instead of plain cut up fruit, or the BBQ set in the background on display,  each small thing added to the overall look and feel. And in the end, party was a success! Enjoy the photos below. Huge thanks to my fellow creative friend, Parastou Bartley, for helping me take these! <3

#sfdigs

I think it's safe to say it's finally time for an update from the Tiger's Den. (Yes, I named my apartment -- because, why not?). It's been almost six months now and the details are all slowly coming together. There's still a lot I want to add to fine-tune my vision, but lets be real, this get expensive! The great thing is that I was able to find a lot of my accent pieces from Target (Nate Berkus collection for the win!). Everything else is things I had from home or from when I was in college. I think the only thing I splurged on was my Anthropologie comforter.  Other than that, my accent wall is in still in progress but I'm so pleased with the first four pieces that came together. Not to mention the people some of them came from!

Flower print taken by one of my biggest inspirations, Delbarr Moradi //"Let's Stay Home" off Etsy -- probably my favorite piece in my room so far. Describes me to the T  // (Thank you, Elms, for the find).

Breaking Bad vintage wall art from Vietnam via my soul sister

#trust

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps" (Pro. 16:9)

--learning that trust means faith, and the opposite of faith is doubt and hopelessness. I don't want to get caught up in that mindset. No matter what the scenario or circumstance, I choose to proactively trust and place my faith in the Father who has already established my steps and where I'm headed.

edit: kudos X384 to Sabrina Ward Harrison who has been an inspiration of mine since I was 16. Because of her books, I have been so much more serious about making my dream of publishing my own journals a reality. Her art, using her words as well as her designs, has blown me away time after time. Sometimes it just seems like it's a one in a million type of person who gets the chance to do something like that, but it doesn't hurt to try, right?