Halloween Inspiration

We recently threw a wonderful Halloween party for one of our clients. I thought it would be fun to show you my inspirations first, followed by pictures of the outcome!

Linens - To begin, I picked out these black dotted linens with orange napkins from La Tavola Linens.

Seating - I have been in love with seating like this - so we laid out the party in a similar design for 200 people.

Decor - We liked the looks of using a lot of glass and real carved pumpkins.

Candy bar - I wanted to do something different - not your average candy bar with glass jars. I saw this candy bar on Martha Stewart Weddings and contacted I Love Lucite to create my own design!

Once I had all my ideas together, I created a board on Pinterest to show my client exactly what I was thinking.

Stay tuned for the results...

 

An SSP Baby Shower!

What else would an office of event planners do other than throw a BEAUTIFUL luncheon to celebrate one of their own?!  There will be a new member of the SSP family joining us in less than 2 month's time!


A table set with single blooms and beautiful china.....

Fresh-pressed blueberry mint lemonade, Prosciutto and tomatoes straight from the garden, Padron peppers, and figs to start.
 

Salads to refresh and grilled cheese made to order with whatever fixings you chose.  Yum! And to top off the afternoon, Kara's Cupcakes for dessert with a selection of loose-leaf teas brewed by the cup.  An absolutely LOVELY afternoon, with a group of absolutely LOVELY ladies. 

THANK YOU SSP for a perfect day (and yes..the 80 degrees and sunshine added to the perfection of the afternoon).  I couldn't be more excited to introduce you all to our baby boy once he arrives!

~ Merideth

Guaycura

This summer we went to Todos Santos and I had time to visit a new hotel, Guaycura. It was so pretty I had to take a few pictures to show everyone.

Outside

Inside

love the details

 

This is the second hotel in the Todos Santos area that has inspired me. Check out the other hotel I love in the Baja by clicking here.

 

 

To learn more about Guaycura, click here 

Samantha

 

 

 

Missoni Madness

Missoni just launched their new collection in collaboration with Target!

I wish I could have made it there before it all sold out. Hopefully they will reissue the collection soon! Here are a few of my favorite picks from the collaboration.

 

Cute picture frame

                                                                Adorable romper!

                                                               Soft knit nightgown

                                                               Snazzy sweater coat


Take a peek for yourself over at the Target site.

Happy shopping!

-Elizabeth

Gradient Colors

In June, Elizabeth talked about Pinterest and our love of pinning our ideas to Pinterest to create a shared vision for our events. As you can see from the pictures below, Elizabeth turned our pins into a beautiful event. 

The gradient color theme was carried out through the décor and food choices. We used corn for yellow, crab cakes for pink, strawberries for red, as well as other delicious colorful choices. It was great to be part of such a lovely event, even if I was working.

To see Elizabeth's original post click here.

Have a great week. Samantha

  

Beach House Party on Newport Beach

Last week we had our annual party for one of our clients. This year's location was a Tuscan-style beach house on Newport Beach...so our theme was a Tuscan Beach Dinner.

Below are some photos of the evening...enjoy!

Flip flops to "take a walk on the beach."

The beautiful backyard setting on the beach for cocktail hour.

Temecula Olive Oil Company treated our guests to an olive oil tasting.
The crowd favorite was the Basil Olive Oil.
Guests also had olive oil tastings at dinner to enhance their dining experience.

We used wooden utensils in place of seating cards for a fun touch.

Each place setting had its very own bread to dip in the olive oil.
Seating was designated by the name tied to the bread with baker's twine.
To add to the rustic feel, we glued the menus to wood planks as a keepsake for the night.

-Danielle

Office Revamp Sneak Preview

Our office is getting a complete organizational makeover this week!

We have been sorting through boxes, tossing out old items, and really re-working our space. It has been SO much fun... no, really we like to organize.

While it is still a work in progress, I thought I would share a sneak-peek photo of our office supply stash.

In honor of office organization, I though I would share a few of my favorite items that would work well in any office or home.

1. File folders from the Container Store.

Who says that organization has to be ugly?

2. Sunburst Clock from Target.

This snazzy clock will keep you on time.
3. A custom Lucite tray from Iomoi.

This is a fantastic splurge purchase that can be used for years to come!

Happy organizing!

-Elizabeth

Welcome to the 4th Floor!

Our good friends at Hands on Gourmet have moved in next door to us on the 4th floor! Just a hop up one flight from their old space on the 3rd floor, HoG has definitely moved up in the world. A much bigger space and a spectacular view of the bay, not to mention a beautiful new kitchen and custom-made dining tables have brought some sparkle to their beautiful new digs! An amazing company that produces Private cooking parties and exciting Team Building events, we are always happy to sing their praises...and to welcome them as our new neighbors!

Colors, Colors, Colors

I love the colors of Mexico. In fact I am here now, in Mexico, taking a ton of pictures of colors and color combinations so when I need a little inspiration back at the office I can look at my photos.

Lighting and color are important components of our events. I am always so moved by how light and color can transform any space.

Below is a collage of some photos I took while in Mexico this week.

For more color inspiration, I also keep a section called “color combos” on Pinterest so I can keep track of all the colors/color combinations that I find inspiring. These will be the future colors for events we are creating.

Check my Pinterest link below.

http://pinterest.com/samanthasmiths/color-combos/

Hope your day is filled with beautiful color!

Samantha

Peaches & Tango at the Farm

This past weekend our event was Peaches & Tango. The event was hosted by Frog Hollow Farm in Brentwood, California with celebrity chef Richard Blais designing and cooking the entire meal.

The proceeds for the night went to the Chez Panisse Foundation.

You can read more about it here and here.

Below are some wonderful pictures of the event by photographer Richard Cash.

A bird's eye view of dinner in the orchard.

Table Setting
Linens and napkins by La Tavola.
Menus printed on paper and affixed to wood for a
real rustic farm feel.
(Guests had Chef Blais autograph the menu as a great
memory of the night!)
Decor - Fruit and branches from the farm.
Candles for ambiance in mini mason jars.

Chef Richard Blais

Chef Blais in action with his liquid nitrogen.

Guests were able to taste peaches right off the trees!

Farmer Al giving a tour of the farm to the VIPs.

Farm owners Al and Becky enjoying Chef Blais's
ice cream during dessert.

Carolyn Jung was our emee for the night.

Trio Garufu entertained the guests during dinner and
Tango dancers showed us how to dance during dessert.

-Danielle

Menus with a twist

We are always looking for ways to make every element of an event special. When working on an event that is taking place this weekend we wanted the menus to feel like a keepsake from the event.

Our fabulous intern Sarah created these menus which are mounted on wood panels. They definitely bring the event's nature theme to life! More photos from this event to come soon.

-Elizabeth

Getting ready for the Farm!

One week from today our team will be out at Frog Hollow Farm setting up for Peaches & Tango - a fundraising event that is benefiting the Chez Panisse Foundation and Alice Water's Edible Schoolyard.

As we like to be creative in our approach to decor, our office tends to become a craft center, staging area, and delivery location in the weeks before an event as we purchase, create, and receive the various elements that will make our event come to life!


Nothing like 90 lanterns, packages of mason jars, cut plywood, and mini clipboards to get us in the spirit of this farm-themed event! As we roll into the event week, all these elements will come together and we look forward to posting pics of the finished product from the event next weekend!



Think of us like a year-round Santa's Workshop, making our ideas come to life!!

Summer Party

We love summer parties here at SSP. Our client wanted a simple Greek celebration at his home with friends and family. It was a lovely sunny day and all the guests had fun. Thanks for inviting us into your home. 

The incredible food was prepared by Living Room Events (LRE) – thank you Douglas and team.

The dessert was prepared by Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous. Yummy! Check them out here.

Have a great week.

-Samantha

Band of Wives Event

Last week was our event for A Band of Wives. A Band of Wives is a sisterhood of women we do events for, run by Christine Bronstein. We love working with Christine and her husband Phil Bronstein since they are supporters of many important issues that effect women.

This particular event was supporting Sharmin Bock who is running for District Attorney in San Francisco and it was also a birthday party for Christine and her friend Teresa. To see pictures of the event go here.


It has been great to work with the wonderful vendors that Christine has pulled together. Sweet Relish catering, Salvador Santana and Jared Meeker, The Jimmy Dillon Band, Funny Frank, Bay Side Entertainment, and Drew Altizer Photography to name a few...


The best part of the night (for me) was getting to meet Stephan Jenkins from Third Eye Blind! I have been a huge fan of the band for years. Stephan played a few songs at the event.
Not only did I get to meet him, as the event planner I got to chat with him about the planning of the event...tough job but someone had to do it!



-Danielle

Do you Pin?

Here at SSP we are a tiny bit obsessed with a little site called Pinterest.
You may have heard of it, it is amazing!


Currently in beta testing this site is an amazing way to collect all of your visual inspiration and keep it in one place. You virtually "pin" a photo you find from a website onto a "board" you create online. Pinterest allows you to curate boards and create your own topics. It even allows you to save the link to the photo you choose so you never need to worry about remembering where you saw that great item online.

I have one called "Color" for an event I am working on with a gradient color theme.

Here is a sneak peak at what my board on Pinterest looks like in the big picture and what the individual "pins" look like...






You can follow also friends and other "taste makers" by industry or theme to see what they are "pinning."

They are still working out some kinks but overall this is a great site.
Request an invite from Pinterest to join here!

-Elizabeth

Great Packaging, Even Better Wine

We all know that here at Samantha Smith Productions, the packaging of a gift can be more important than the gift itself. We are always inspired by people who think differently about how to package something we see every day.

Enter the wine case from entre nous! Wow what a wine case it is. Check it out.

I love that it is not the typical material, I also love that the box takes into consideration how wine should be stored.

Then there is the non-foil topper for the wine, lovely again.

The bottle is so crisp and clean; you know the wine is going to match it.

Now to the wine. Paul and I shared a glass of this other day when it was warm out (ok that might have been a month ago!). It was truly amazing. Check out the website for more information.

http://www.kristineashevineyards.com/#home

Full disclosure - I have met Kristine on several occasions over the last few years once at a mutual friend's birthday party and then at one of our fundraisers. In fact I bought this wine for the box and then later found out that it was Kristine's wine.

Great job on your wine Kristine, I hope to run into you soon. Samantha

Unconventional Event Space

Tree houses, they are not just for kids!

What adult would not want to lounge in this amazing tree house?

Curl up in a cozy loft space to read a book, enjoy drinks with friends on the patio, or to have a chat while looking out into the tree tops. No matter what you do it would be wonderful.

My first thought when I saw this was how awesome it would be to have a small dinner party inside the tree house!

What is your favorite spot in the tree house?

To hear more about the story behind this tree house check out the article over at Chicago Home and Garden.

Hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend, maybe you will build your own tree house.

Come on, lets go make the kids jealous...

-Elizabeth

Something to Write About

Currently I am on the hunt for a great gift item for an upcoming event. With my love of writing letters, cards and pretty much anything stationary related, I could not help but share my latest find!

I absolutely love these great graphic pencils and erasable pens from Iomoi.
So cute! These would make a great gift, or just add a little color to your home office.

To check out these great items in more patterns and see all the other amazing items visit Iomoi. A set of 14 pencils is $15 and a set of 14 pens ranges from $20-$25 making these little gems very affordable

I feel like these funky pens and pencils will make me more excited to write my grocery list!
 
-Elizabeth

Leaf Pattern Kelly Green, pencils

Parrot Kay French Blue Pattern, pencils
Zig-Zag Pattern Pink and Gold, pencils
Set of 14 pens- French Blue Parrot Cay, White Swirl and Navy Parrot Cay Goody Pack

Set of 14 pens- Orange Pink and White Bamboo Goody Pack

A Little Birdie Told Me...

This week we are putting the finishing touches on an event that will be held at Canary Hotel in Santa Barbara. We packaged up a fun welcome gift inside these cute little envelopes for our attendees. We can't tell you what it is just yet, but a little birdie told me it will get them around town and make their taste buds happy. Come back soon to see picks of our entire event.

-Danielle

Abbot Kinney

Several weeks ago Danielle and I took a trip to Orange County to look at a hotel. On our way back to LAX we usually stop by Fred Segal to see what is happening in fashion, but this time Danielle suggested we check out the shopping on Abbot Kinney in Venice.

We had a great time exploring the stores and we also had time for a wonderful lunch with our good friend Dan at Gielina’s.

One of my favorite stores on this trip was Bountiful. Check out the cake stands in the pictures. I wanted one in every color. Not a store you want to be in during an earthquake, but I think you will see an event inspired by the abundance of cake plates.

We also saw lots of succulents, a trend that continues this spring.

If you have time next time you are in Southern California, stop by Abbott Kinney for the afternoon.

Samantha

Resources:

http://www.gjelina.com/

http://www.bountifulhome.com/

http://www.fredsegal.com/v2/FredSegal.html