{Behind-the-Scenes} Nautical Inspiration Photo Shoot at AVIA Hotel, Long Beach

I often ask my brides and couples to bring inspiration photos, colors, fabric, paper swatches and any other inspirational items with them to our initial design meetings to come up with design elements that will reflect them as a couple.  

We sit over a cup of coffee or glass of champagne and yummy desserts and look over all of these pretty pictures to come up with ideas that they may want to recreate or incorporate into their wedding day in their own unique way.   

And while this is everything that I strive for in real-life weddings and events, what my couples may not realize that there is an entire army of people working behind-the-scenes to make sure every single detail is perfectly executed.

I am a big believer in teamwork.  Teams are everything.  Today, I am formally introducing you to the amazing team that pulled an all-nighter to be on-site with me to style this Nautical Bridal Shower inspiration photo shoot featured on Best Wedding Sites. 

We are taking you to the AVIA Hotel in Long Beach, California and giving you a peek of what really happened on the set.

That's Robert (we call him Rob). He's Jessica's husband.  Husband and wife team at Jessica Elizabeth Photography.  They are so unbelievably cute together.  She dragged him out of bed at 4am to do this. 

And this.  See what I mean?

Here are the lovely ladies looking all pretty and sassy, not sleep deprived at all, right?  You can't really tell because of the marine layer, but it was supposed to be a sunrise shoot.  We were all on-site by 6am, but we didn't get any sunshine until about 11am.  We had to be long gone by that time so that the guests of the hotel could use the pool.  From Left to Right - Mandy of the AVIA, yours truly, Samantha of Papermints, Cristina of Unforgettable Events and Jessica of Jessica Elizabeth Photography.

That's Cristina putting the finishing touches on those lemony floral masterpieces.

Here I am, hard at work.  And in case you are wondering, yes, I did purposely color coordinate my nautical wardrobe :)

Here are some fun group shots of us hanging out and having a celebratory toast at our nautical tablescape. It was just too pretty not to enjoy it and the desserts, so we did.  And there you have it, teamwork.

{Sail Away With Me} Nautical Dessert Bar

I recently had the opportunity to create this nautical dessert bar for an inspiration bridal shower that I designed and styled for the Best Wedding Sites magazine at the AVIA Hotel in Long Beach, CA.  This was the perfect venue for a nautical themed bridal shower with picturesque rooftop views overlooking the Queen Mary and Long Beach Harbor.  The sweets bar was set up poolside.  The color palette for the design challenge was navy and yellow so I used blueberries, lemons and subtle hints of peach throughout the dessert bar and tablescape. 

Once again I had the opportunity to collaborate with Cucamonga Cakery on some really fun ideas for the nautical desserts like the sailboat and life preserver cookies and lemon flavored mini donuts, lemon fruit tarts topped with blueberries and garnished with a sprig of mint, white chocolate covered seashell cupcakes and a navy cake with white chocolate coral and starfish.  I also added white chocolate covered pretzels, "ships ahoy" chocolate chip cookies and ready-to-go homemade blueberry parfaits with mini spoons tied with twine.  The paper details including the candy bar invitation and "sweets" banner were designed by Papermints in block striped and lattice prints that coordinated with our tablescape. The vintage map pinwheels were handmade and tied to burlap to create a second banner across the table. Unforgettable Events provided the simple cafe o le hybrid dahlias, yellow billy balls and tulips floral arrangements in addition to the Italian charmeuse satin linens.

Our signature drink, "Blue Berry Mojitos", were made with blue rock candy, mint leaves and blueberries, which I will share a recipe for later on! 

A special thanks to Jessica Elizabeth Photography for these awesome photographs you are seeing here and here. 

{Nautical Inspiration Photo Shoot}

Happy Monday sweet people!  This week is going to be a great week because most of us are looking forward to a 3-day, end of summer, holiday weekend! But did you really think I was going to let the summer getaway without some pretty nautical inspiration on my blog?  Absolutely not!  I love the beach, love!  And today I have something very special to share with you!

  

For the past several weeks, maybe months and what feels like countless hours, I have been planning this pretty, chic nautical inspiration photo shoot for a faux bridal shower that was held at the AVIA hotel for the Best Wedding Sites magazine with a really fun and amazing team that helped me style the shoot!

I have posted a few photos from Jessica Elizabeth Photography here. The rest of our photos and lots of inspiration details are featured on Best Wedding Sites today!  So go take a look and be sure to leave us some love as we are in for some friendly competition over there!  

I will be posting more details and photos from our nautical inspiration photo shoot throughout the week, including a full feature on the dessert bar. As a common courtesy, we ask that you please credit our work if you choose to use our pictures for personal use.  Sweetly, Miriam

{Credits}

Miriam Corona of Glam Candies / Miriam Corona Events:  Event Planning + Design, Rentals, Dessert Bar

Cristina Barragan of Unforgettable Events:  Specialty Linens & Floral Design, Rentals

Samantha H. Chu of Papermints:  Paper Design 

Cucamonga Cakery: Desserts

Jessica Elizabeth Photography

AVIA Hotels Long Beach, CA

{a sweet giveaway: WINNER!}

Congratulations Soledad for winning the 'Fry Girl Donuts At Home Kit!'  You have answered The Fry Girl’s question, "What is the secret ingredient in The Fry Girl Inc.’s mini donuts?" with the correct answer, LOVE!

We will be in touch with you Soledad!  Thanks for supporting The Fry Girl Inc. and Glam Candies by 'Liking' us on Facebook.

A big thanks to The Fry Girl Inc. for sponsoring our sweet giveaway.  If you wish to purchase a 'Fry Girl Donut Kit' you can do so here.

A sweet thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway!

{Raising the Bar: The Fry Girl Inc + a sweet GIVEAWAY!}

Our Raising the Bar series continues with a very sweet guest and entrepreneur, Shelley Beals, founder of The Fry Girl Inc.!  The Fry Girl Inc. is an LA based catering company that specializes in fun, mini fried foods for parties and special events!  

In this series, I really enjoy writing about unique food, entertaining ideas and people who inspire me and Shelley does just that!  Today we are sharing a little more about Shelley and her fried food catering business! 

Shelley is a very caring person that is passionate about rescuing dogs.  Aside from work, she dedicates a lot of her spare time to fostering and finding dogs homes that she continuously pulls from shelters.  Currently, Shelley has 5 dogs, 4 of them are rescues! 

Shelley, Me and Nina at the DWP Premiere Party

With so many mini fried food options we couldn't narrow it down to a particular dessert bar and lucky for us The Fry Girl Inc. caters a wide variety of treats. There is something to please everyone!  From gourmet french fries and sweet potato fries topped with your choice of flavored ketchups to the newly added caramel drizzled apple fries and ever so popular mini churros, mini corn dogs, mini funnel cakes and fried Oreos (that taste like warm chocolate cake), The Fry Girl Inc. has everything you need to entertain and impress your guests!  Everything is fried in 'cholesterol free' canola oil that contains no 'trans fats'.  A mini donut contains only 1 gram of fat, 26 calories and 3.5 grams of carbs.  It's all heavenly fried goodness!

Mini Funnel Cake Station

Funnel Cake & Mini Donut Station

French Fry Bar

Fried Oreos & Mini Donuts

I love the idea of pairing a few of these scrumptious treats to create an entire snack bar or even a few food stations!  Pass the treats in paper cones that are personalized with custom stickers for your event or send your guests home with yummy favors.  We personally get tons of requests for foodie party and wedding favors like the mini churros!  

What can be better than daytime or late night catering on wheels?  The Fry Girl Inc.'s pink mobile has been spotted catering to celebrity and private events all over Hollywood!   

For more information on catering, foodie favors or to book The Fry Girl Inc.'s catering services for an event contact The Fry Girl Inc. or Glam Candies / Miriam Corona Events!  We would love to help you design a custom tailored menu for your event!

And now for our sweet giveaway sponsored by The Fry Girl Inc.!  Make your very own delicious donuts at home with a 'Fry Girl Donuts At Home Kit!'  Perfect as a hostess gift, housewarming gift or as a fun family project! 

To enter the giveaway, tell us:

What is the secret ingredient in the Fry Girl Inc.'s mini donuts?

·         "Like" The Fry Girl Inc. Facebook page and leave a comment telling her what you think the secret ingredient is

·         "Like" the Glam Candies Facebook page and leave a comment telling us that you entered the giveaway

Anyone in the US can enter the giveaway.  A winner will be announced on Monday. Good luck!