Now that the OPSC staff are finally settled in, they held a cocktail style reception open house on the evening of April 18th to show members and invited guests all of the hard work.  To keep with the vintage look of the interior, I chose these wonderful moss green tablecloths from Mimi & Company for the cocktail tables.    The beautiful orange and green centerpieces made Annette Wood from Floral Arrangements by Annette, were the perfect compliment to our linen choice.  Thanks to “Mother Nature” literally raining on our parade (okay, it was more like sprinkling) we weren’t able to have as many cocktail tables outside on the majestic front porch.  Fortunately, we were able to find space for those displace tables inside.

The delicious food was provided by Hannibal’s Catering and Wendy from Primo Bar did a fabulous job with the bar tending.  Neumann Enterprises also did a great job with valet parking.  Tables and bar glassware were rented from Classic Party Rentals.  Special thanks to Steven Stafford for all these great pictures!

Of course, my lilac tree caused me to stop and take the first picture.  It is in full bloom and quite beautiful!  These fragrant blossoms come in many colors including white (like mine), pinks, and purples/lilac and are great flowers for centerpieces.

Next I came across my white and purple bearded irises which are blooming like crazy.  Bearded irises come in tons of different colors.

Most people are more familiar with the “standard” iris which I also have several types of.  And while they too are grown in many colors, mine just happen to be yellow and purple.

Next I found that my hydrangea were blooming.  Hydrangea comes in various shades of pink, purple, and even white.  They are a hugely popular flower for weddings.  However, all the floral designers I have worked with do caution my clients that hydrangea are not heat tolerant flowers.  Therefore, consider using them only for indoor weddings.  I did have a client use them once for an outdoor August wedding but the florist put the arrangements out at the very last possible moment so they would last through the reception.  My bushes are planted in a very shady area of my yard.  I have both pink and light purple.

In the same flower bed as my bearded irises is calendula which is actually an annual that is quite good at re-seeding itself every year.  This super cheery orange flower has been coming back in my garden for 11 years now.  Calendula grow in various shades of yellow and orange and would make great flowers for both bouquets and centerpieces.

And finally, my rose bushes are all starting to bloom.  Roses come in just about every color of the rainbow and grow pretty much Spring through late-Fall in my garden.  In fact, roses are my favorite flower, hence the 20-plus bushes I have planted around my yard .  This particular rose just seemed so perfect so I had to take a picture of it.

Of course, since I took these pictures just two days ago, I see I have other plants that are starting to bloom (like my purple salvia and gerbera daisies).  Guess I better get the camera out again!

The quarter’s event was planned by our local group’s fearless leaders, Lora Ward of A Day To Remember, and Kendra Wershing of  Pfeiffer Event Planning.  We met at the really cool Beatnik Studio, a cooperative studio/gallery on 17th Street in Sacramento.  This would be a perfect location for someone who is looking for a hip/modern vibe for their wedding or special event.  As an added touch, local artwork hangs on the walls for your guests’ viewing pleasure.

My favorite part of the evening was definitely the food.  Lora and Kendra arranged for the Mini Burger Truck to cater the event.  They are a brand new business here in Sacramento and the two owners/chefs are trying to bring a more upscale food truck culture to Sacramento.  The burgers (both beef and chicken) were DELICIOUS and cooked fresh, to order, right in the truck.  They were definitely given a more adult twist.  I also had he sweet potato tater tots…..YUM!!  In addition to a daily schedule of places they serve, the Mini Burger Truck is also available for events.  How much fun would this be at a wedding after party, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, or birthday party?!

Our evening concluded with two educational presentations.  The first was from long-time ABC member, Norville Weiss of Wedding Gown Specialists, on gown preservation.  He specializes in wedding gown cleaning and restorations of heirloom gowns.  This was followed by a presentation from Paulette and Don Woods of Forget Me Nevers flower preservation.  They specialize in preserving wedding flowers and bouquets and had some wonderful examples of their work to share with us.  Their biggest words of wisdom were the sooner they can get the bouquet the better.  Don will even pick it up from you at your reception!  I wish I had known about this service for my own bouquet 18 years ago.  Same with the specialized gown preservation.  My mother took my gown to a dry cleaner thinking this would be fine (no one had taken the time to educate either of us on this).  Unfortunately, most of the beads, that she personally hand sewed onto my gown, were ruined.  Thank goodness for good pictures!

As always, it was a great meeting and I look forward to our next one in May.

So, I had a bit of fun with my table decorations.  I wanted to coordinate every thing with my china which is white with blue, pink and silver accents.  First, I decided to make candle holders out of gourds which required the help of my hubby and his drill press (yes, see the photo below….LOL).  Then, since I’m a scrapbooking addict, I printed each guest’s name on a leaf pattern, cut them out, and edged each with some brown ink.  I think they made very festive place cards.

My menu consisted of roasted turkey (of course), homemade gravy, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, coleslaw, green beans with almonds, cranberries (okay those came from a can ) and 2 types of stuffing…..our traditional giblet stuffing that was passed down from my grandmother, and a really delicious sourdough/artichoke/mushroom/parmesan stuffing…..a recipe I found a couple of years ago in Sunset Magazine (it’s really GOOD).  My turkey was perfectly cooked and brown, and also very juicy.  We also had pecan, pumpkin, sweet potato and apple pies for dessert (everyone in the family pitches in with the pies….I made the pecan).