Here are some ideas and pictures from a birthday lunch party we recently produced that can easily be done for Mothers Day lunch.  Instead of round tables, we sat everyone at one long table and assigned seating with place cards to ensure everyone was comfortable with the person they were seated next to.

The room decor highlighted the color French blue, and we used French blue checked linen to compliment the room. Since this birthday lunch was at a beach venue, we incorporated a beach theme into the centerpieces.  We had our florist place shells at the bottom of the flower arrangements for decor, and we also filled empty square containers with sand and shells to compliment these flower arrangements.

Other ideas from this birthday lunch that can be used for a Mothers Day lunch are the party favors.  We provided all of the adults with a box of truffles and for the kids, we gave them chocolate lollipops.  

A cost savings tip that you can use for your Mothers Day lunch is to bring your own wine and champagne to your event. Most venues will allow it, there is usually a corkage fee but often you find that you save some money and drink the wines and champagnes of your choice.  

Whether you celebrate a Mothers Day lunch, dinner or brunch, enjoy and remember the Budget Bash mantra: make it simple, delicious, stylish, fun & economical to all!

It is always great to theme any event you plan. Theming an event gives a road map to all other elements of a party. Here are a couple ideas for Bar Mitzvah themes.

Bar Mitzvah themes can be anything you or the guest of honor selects. This Bar Mitzvah party had an Asian theme. Notice the fortune cookies inside the glass floral arrangement and the hanging to-go containers.  The Bar Mitzvah decor included using red and black as the party's primary colors, hanging Chinese lanterns from the house eaves and decorating the tables with Chinese fans, moss, rocks and orchids.

Other ideas for Bar Mitzvah themes can include creating a science lab for the party.  Instead of using regular table numbers, use the chart of elements or names of famous scientists for table assignments. For Bar Mitzvah decor, drop LED colored light cubes into the water of the centerpieces for a cool effect or hang the small lights from the centerpiece branches.

Creating an art gallery is another idea for Bar Mitzvah themes.  For the Bar Mitzvah decor at this event, we used the actual artwork, framed it and then hung it up on decorative hedging as background wall decor.

Until next time, remember the Budget Bash mantra: make it simple, delicious, stylish, fun & economical to all!

I was just at an event and thought I would share with you some wedding centerpiece ideas. The artist, Michael Mantalos of Louloudi, is located in Santa Barbara, CA.

Wedding centerpiece ideas may include a single centerpiece on the table or you can do various flower arrangements on your buffet to highlight your theme.

Here are a couple of other pictures of wedding centerpiece ideas.  These flowers show a bit of contrast with the greens, creams and pinks and are two flower arrangements standing together.

Until next time, remember the Budget Bash mantra: make it simple, delicious, stylish, fun & economical to all!

Non-Profit silent auctions can generate a lot of money for fundraising events. Here are a few silent auction tips to help your charity with their fundraiser.

1. One of the most important silent auction tips is to know your audience.  Don't price items at a premium if you don't have guests willing to pay.
2. Most charities use the cocktail time for bidding at silent auctions. Make sure this time period runs at least 1.5 hours.
3. If you have well over 200 silent auction items, then consider closing down the auction at various time intervals.  

Other silent auction tips include:

• Create easy to read bid sheets on clipboards and provide pens.
• Display items for silent auctions in a clean, orderly fashion so people can see and touch them.
• Make sure your bid sheets include the retail value, starting price and bid increment as well as donor recognition.

Most important of all silent auction tips is decide upon the exact time the auction will close and stick to that time! Nothing can be more frustrating for the auction management team then changing the closing time, not to mention how maddening it is for the guests.

If you plan to hold a charity event with a silent auction in the Los Angeles area, we would be more than happy to provide you with a free quote on managing silent auctions and share a few more silent auction tips. 

Until next time, remember the Budget Bash mantra: make it simple, delicious, stylish, fun & economical to all!

Here are some pictures from the 2013 SAG Awards. This past SAG Awards has been our 15th year working on the show and our tenth year working with Greco Decor.

Vitalie Taittinger of Taittinger Champagne helped open the 2013 SAG Awards.

Our florist, CJ Matsumoto, did a spectacular job with the table flowers and James Beard Award winning chef, Suzanne Goin, provided us with a delicious anti-pasta plate for this year's SAG Awards.

In addition to Taittinger Champagne at all of the tables, our guests at the 2013 SAG Awards enjoyed Gallo Signature Wines and Fiji Water. 

We start production each year for the SAG Awards in August and work through the fall and full-time in January to provide our guests with a beautiful room to enjoy the show. 

Finally, returning again for the third year to the 2013 SAG Awards, was Graff Diamonds (greenroom sponsor). Fendi Casa provided the incredible greenroom furniture.

A huge thanks to everyone for their support and excellent work on this year's SAG Awards and to James Sequenzia for providing the photos.

This Springtime themed Bat Mitzvah party was just recently done in December. We tented the backyard, hung flower balls, brought in vintage styled furniture and enjoyed the beautiful break from the rain.

The Bat Mitzvah party girl is an artist so we rented hedging and framed and hung her artwork for decor as you can see in the picture below.

Brunch for the Bat Mitzvah party was a buffet and the kids enjoyed a smoothie bar and snow cones.

We are now gearing up for the SAG Awards, until next time, remember the Budget Bash mantra: make it simple, delicious, stylish, fun & economical to all!

DIY Christmas decorations can be simple yet elegant.  Here are some ideas for easy Christmas centerpieces from a party we recently produced.

My client found these cute pots in cherry red and apple green and then we planted holiday greens and built a table centerpiece. For these easy Christmas centerpieces, evergreens, Poinsettias, roses and berries were planted in the pots. Also, on every table for these DIY Christmas decorations, we filled two small pots each with peppermints and chocolates.

What was so fun about these DIY Christmas decorations was that at the end of the evening, each guest got to take home these centerpieces as their party favor. Some guests took home just the candy pots while others took the larger pots that were filled with Poinsettias or evergreens and roses.

To add to the atmosphere of these easy Christmas centerpieces, we placed votive candles on the tables and for our DJ's stage, placed Poinsettias as added decor.

For more easy and budget friendly decor and party ideas, look to Budget Bash.  Happy Holidays and until next time, remember the Budget Bash mantra: make it simple, delicious, stylish, fun & economical to all!

This easy roasted chicken recipe for citrus chicken is delicious and takes no time to make. All you need is:

1 orange cut in quarters

1 lemon cut in quarters and seeded

1 small onion cut in quarters

2 bay leaves

Salt, pepper and olive oil

For this easy roasted chicken recipe, stuff the orange, lemon and onion quarters along with the bay leaves into the empty cavity, drizzle olive oil on top and bottom of chicken and add salt and pepper to taste. Then  place the citrus chicken in a roasting pan, add some water and bake at 425 degrees Farenheit for about an hour and 15 minutes or a bit less. Make sure the chicken is cooked but not dry.

A helpful hint for this easy roasted chicken recipe, is to add to the water in the roasting pan some orange quarters and onions to flavor the water and add taste to the natural gravy created while making the chicken.

Place the citrus chicken on a cutting board, slice and serve.

Until next time, remember the Budget Bash mantra: make it simple, delicious, stylish, fun & economical to all!

Non profit event planning can be very rewarding. We recently planned an event at a local museum and what a pleasure it was to work on such a nice event.

It is very important with non profit event planning to keep costs down, and one way we were able to do this was to bring in our own wine.  We also returned the centerpiece containers, asked our vendors to work with us on costs and utilized the resources the venue offered.

What is most important with non profit event planning is for the guest to enjoy the event and feel their donation is valued. We served buffet and tray-passed hors d'oeuvres instead of a seated dinner and received rave reviews. The food we provided, the mash potato bar, various types of sliders and salads to name a few gave our guests plenty of options as well as the freedom to network with other guests and enjoy the venue.  And of course, who can resist dessert with s'mores, mini cupcakes and cheesecake lollipops!

Check out some other cost savings ideas in Budget Bash now on Amazon.  Until next time, remember the Budget Bash mantra: make it simple, delicious, stylish, fun & economical to all!

I am pleased to announce that my party planning guide, Budget Bash – Simply Fabulous Events on a Budget has been accepted at the Kindle bookstore by Amazon Books and is now available to download to your Kindle or IPad.

In Budget Bash, I share with you my insider party planning secrets. This party planning guide will help you create an elegant party from start to finish whether it is a cocktail party, personal event or wedding.  By following my methodical steps and drawing from my quick tips and imaginative ideas, you can entertain like a pro!

This book at the Kindle bookstore includes recipes for everyone and is filled with color photos and step-by-step instructions, so even the most inexperienced host can throw an elegant affair.

A few of the topics included in this party planning guide are:

• ideas for event themes, invitations, and party favors;
• sample event timelines, budgets and checklists;
• venue selection tips;
• design ideas and decorative napkin folds;
• stylish floral arrangements;
• recipes and menus, including vegan and gluten-free;
• hints for recycling/reusing to save money and the environment;
• and other helpful cost-saving tips.

Make your holiday entertaining simple, stress-free yet elegant with this budget-conscious easy-to-read party planning guide. Available NOW for just $4.99 at the Kindle bookstore. Just click here.

Until next time, remember the Budget Bash mantra: make it simple, delicious, stylish, fun & economical to all!