A {Gorgeous} California Christmas – Part 1

I’m so excited to share this gorgeous holiday party with you! There’s such great inspiration for Christmas dinners – even winter weddings – to be found here. I attended this get-together last weekend – and it was so much fun to actually see the talents of several amazing vendors up close and personal, and also to meet the lovely guests, which included bloggers, designers, and other wonderfully creative Southern California-based vendors from the wedding & event industry.

Hosted by Leila of Be Inspired PR, the rustic-meets-modern “California Christmas” theme was concepted & designed by Carissa of JL Designs and Cortnie of Canvas and Canopy, and incorporated beautiful stationery elements by Rachelle of Wiley Valentine. (So not really surprising that it turned out so beautiful, right?!)

There are so many amazing images (courtesy of photographer Leo Patrone) and inspiring ideas to share that I’m breaking this feature into 2 parts. The holiday cocktail and fabulous dinner table will be covered here in Part 1, and Part 2 will feature the party decor, dessert table, and activities/favors.

So here we go with part 1, starting with the fun signature drinks that greeted guests right as they arrived: Icicle Mint Mojitos with candy “icicle stirrers” and the beautifully garnished Jingle Berry “on the rocks”.

Here are some of the lovely stationery elements by Wiley Valentine: I fell in love with the swirly font that Rachelle used and had to look it up! In case you’re curious too it’s called “Affair” and is available at several typeface websites.

Next up, the amazing tablescape and place settings, which was set up in Carissa’s courtyard on a cool, extra-long vintage table from Found Vintage Rentals.

The florals were designed by Carissa, who just set up a brand-new holiday shop where several of the beautiful elements used throughout this entire party are available for purchase!

I have to say that there really is something about seeing your name on a place card that make guests feel extra-special!

And that cool accent on top of the striped napkins? It’s a “ribbon braid“! Ya… Cortnie really isn’t short on creative ideas! Summer from Grey Likes even turned the braid into a nice fashion statement… (pictured here with event designer Jesi Haack):

The dinner table sat below a ridiculously cool manzanita chandelier that was adorned with capiz garlands and balsa wood flowers!

The dinner was delicious and was catered by Contemporary Catering. I don’t have pictures of the actual entrees, but here’s a shot of some of the appetizers to give you a feel for their fantastic presentation… almost too pretty to eat!

Needless to say, we all had a great time! =)

Stay tuned for Part 2 – coming first thing tomorrow!* And thanks again to Leila and all of the wonderful vendors & guests for making it such a fun night.
*Update 12/14: Part 2 will actually be posted Wednesday, 12/15 now instead of today. It will be in conjunction with recaps from a few of the other ladies!

Here’s the full list of vendors – many will be highlighted in Part 2!