Love This: Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate

One of my favorite aspects of wedding planning is taking things the bride and groom love and making them into special experiences for their guests. At the after-party for Sarah and Joseph's San Francisco wedding, we created a decadent display of Cocoa Bella truffles from around the world for guests to enjoy while dancing. A sommelier even paired port and dessert wines with the delectable little bites.

This abundant and beautiful table is {almost} as sweet to look at as it is to devour.

Roscoe & Jack's Summer Birthday Party

{photo by Kathleen Harrison}

This July, my husband and I were excited to celebrate the birthdays of our adorable westies ~ ten year old Roscoe and three year old Jack. I love a great party almost as much as I love my little guys, so we invited our friends with dogs to come celebrate the occasion in summer style.

Cocktails of limeade and Ketel One Citreon were passed for the grown ups, with bottles of Crush soda with striped straws for the kids. We served a seasonal lunch of lobster rolls, corn salad and beef tenderloin sandwiches.

When I started planning the party, I knew right away I wanted to serve the incredible ice cream sandwiches of Jackson's Ice-Cycle. In fact, Jackson's bicycle inspired the entire color palette for the event. The ice cream sandwiches, made with Three Twins ice cream and cookies by Miette, were a huge hit with our guests, but I didn't want to leave the dogs out of the fun. So I talked to Jackson about making special doggie sandwiches, with homemade dog biscuits and Frosty Paws doggie ice cream. But they weren't done with their treats yet...an adorable birthday cake by George was presented to Roscoe & Jack, while each puppy enjoyed his very own birthday cake-shaped dog cookie.

The best part of the day was watching Jack, Roscoe and all their puppy friends play together. Jack's litter mate Maddie, our office mascot Bunsen and the first dog of California Sutter were just some of the party guests...they seemed to have a ball. Each dog took home a personalized placemat (by the ever crafty Jill Sassa of PS Paper) with their owners enjoying custom Jack and Roscoe cookies by Barbara at Felix the Cook.

Take a look at the fabulous photos by two talented photographers, Angie Silvy and Kathleen Harrison.

Flowers & decor: Stuart Gilchrist Interiors & Kathleen Deery Design. Catering by: Rod W. Signs & favors: PS Paper. Cake & dog cookies by: George. Invites by Mr. Boddington's Nephew for Paperless Post.

{photos by Angie Silvy}

{photos by Kathleen Harrison}

{photo by Angie Silvy}