around town | custom wedding maps

as we're moving into full swing with our 2010 wedding clients, we're remembering all the things we love about what we do. one favorite is incorporating a custom map into the wedding invitation suite, as either a stand alone card, worked into the format of an informational insert or on the backside of a reception card.

we love custom maps because they really help your out of town guests get the lay of the land. what might seem simple for you to understand, can be a bit complicated to folks that have not been to your area before.

we think custom maps are a steal for $125. we get to call out the area, streets, highways, airports, landmarks, etc. that we want, as well as incorporate the custom design of the invitation into the format of the map with fonts, colors and custom markers.

here are a few samples that our 'map guru' has whipped up for us in the past (click on the map to get a larger view):

erin & bryan | map on the backside of the reception card



allegra & andy | map on an insert card in a pocket style invite



susi & david | map showing church, hotel and reception venue



katie & matt | folded insert card in a pocket style invite


see the full invitation for katie & matt's san francisco wedding

give us a call and we'll hook you up with a custom map too!

elegant picnic | corporate retreat

initially from these shots you might think these shots are in a restaurant or private residence, but when we pull back you'll see we're catering an elegant picnic in the park. we're always excited when we get a call from our long time client, rmc water and environment - and this call was the most interesting. as part of a corporate/partner retreat they were going to be doing a wilderness (GPS) scavenger hunt and wanted to conclude the activities with an elegant dinner in the park.





as our guests came out of the forest and into the greenway, they found us ready with a glass of wine and some pre-dinner snacks.







for dinner we served grilled ball tip, orzo pasta with feta cheese, olives and red peppers, fire roasted asparagus, green salad and broccoli salad.



for dessert we served a custom cake by shannie cakes



everyone loved the food and enjoyed dinner in the park. we're looking forward to our next party challenge!

hotel welcome bags!

we're kicking into high gear at stacey & company, helping everyone get ready for 2010 summer and fall weddings. last year we found these super cute jute* bags (made by a floral supply company) but we LOVE them for hotel welcome bags.


don't know what that is? when you do a block of rooms at a hotel for your wedding guests, it is fun to leave them a little treat either in their room or upon check in. it is a nice way to thank them for traveling to your wedding. these bags can also be a vehicle for helping your guests get to know the area.

often we'll include a wedding itinerary or local pocket guide for them to reference through out the weekend. also when you're staying at a hotel or resort that does not offer mini bars in the room - the little bags are a great place to stash sweet and salty snacks for them to much on between events or late night after the merriment. we'll often work with the couple to pull together their favorites, local specialties and just plain fun treats.

these 'jutee cutie' bags come in lots of fun colors that can coordinate with your wedding theme. we love the bags too because they stand up on their own, are big enough to hold pleanty of stuff!



in this case we created a san francisco pocket guide to help the out-of-town guests navigate around town and know when and where to hook up with the group and pick up the shuttle to the wedding in stern grove.



we worked with an illustrator to design custom pencil sketches to be used on the pocket guide, the program and the CD we enclosed in the hotel welcome bag.

*jute is increasingly being looked at as an alternative source for making paper, rather than cutting down trees for pulp.

vacation day in paradise

for mother's day, i took a break from the busy life in san francisco and went to the foothills just outside of chico, to paradise to be exact - and had a scrapbook retreat day with my moms.

i had a blast just hanging, being crafty and telling tall tales!

here are the fruits of my labor

| HALLOWEEN 2009 |








| STINSON BEACH 2007 |





| 'NYMNASTICS 2009 |








a BIG thanks to karen and her team for hooking us up with an awesome day, super unique crafty good bag treats, a summer YUMMY dinner, and according to grammy norma, TO DIE FOR chocolate cupcakes.

if you're ever in the area you HAVE TO STOP in to paradise scrapbook boutique

Paradise Scrapbook Boutique
6539 Skyway
Paradise, CA 95969
(530) 876-8037

or check out their blog | paradise scrapbook boutique


thanks GG for getting us booked for a spot, thanks grammy for sharing your ribbon and thanks to brittny for showing us some new tips and tricks and keeping us entertained. we've been checking out your work on your blog this morning and it is super cool:

check out brittny's blog | paisleylane

i wish i knew the next time i was going to get to scrap! i wish i had time to do it
once a week - or month for the matter! i am GOING to make it a PRIORITY!