The Godfather Themed Birthday Party

Zohe's Plans and Celebrates the Godfather of Birthdays

As an event planner and designer, the WORST event to ever plan is YOUR OWN!  

Zohe looked to her Felici Events team and event professionals to help produced her BIG celebration for her birthday.  Inspiration came easy for Zohe:

1. It had to be Italian, simple and relevant
2. It was to take place at the Santa Barbara Club

Naturally, we created a The Godfather theme celebration to accommodate both requirements above, and also because the movie turned 40 years old as well!  

The Santa Barbara Club was were AMAZING to work with, and Zohe's favorite place on earth!  From the planning to the execution, it was a first class experience. They created menu, keeping with the Italian theme and Zohe's desire to have a cocktail style reception for her and her guests.

Going back and forth on what to do, what not to do, who to invite, how much to spend, etc. Zohe finally decided to listen to her own event planning advice.  "Be True To YOURSELF!" Don't try to please other people.  It is something we naturally do as humans, and not what you should be doing for OUR day.

La Bella Musica, titilated the theme with sound of his accordion playing, setting the tone for this Italian Godfather Themed Felici Event.

NLC Productions and Bellavista Designs created a dramatic design to the already impressive Santa Barbara Club, each entity incorporating red. NLC using mercury glass and red roses of floral; and Bellavista Designs providing dramatic red uplights both inside the club and on the patio.  Even the venue's moose head got a glam up, coining the name "Moose-olina"

Instead of a guest book Zohe created a madlibs for guests to fill out throughout the night, and turn in. The memories do continue, every once in a while Zohe takes out the madlibs to LOL at her guests' responses.

Gavin Roy threw down some tunes for guest to boogie down, integerating Italian songs from Zohe's childhood, Adriano Celentano.

The Godfather Birthday Theme stayed thru to the sweet ending, with a horse head cake - let's say, it was one of the talks of the night....

A HUGE thank you to the talented team to help Zohe along her way and on her special day!

Bellavista Designs - lighting and design expert enhancing the club into the theme with cohesion and detail

Bella Musica! Dick Prato - live accordion player, ambience creator and music maker

Gavin Roy Presents, Gavin Roy - DJ and music guru extraordinaire!  He even played Blurred Lines more than once per guest request

Kiel Rucker Photography - capturing moments in time, unobtrusive, fun and knows what he's doing behind the camera

La Tavola Linen  - gorgeousness and glamour delivered with a smile

NLC Production - floral and design, mindreader, and therapist to Zohe

The Santa Barbara Club - venue and celebration location as well as deliciousness food and drink and five star service

Your Cake Baker, Wayne Kjar horse head cake maker and everyone still raves about how delicious it was!

Felici Events, the team that helped Zohe produce her vision into a reality, relax on her big day and ensure a flawless experience for all

And a GINORMOUS Mille Grazie to all who came and made Zohe feel special!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL ALBUM by Kiel Rucker Photography

Glamping Bar Mitzvah Five Star Style

Dov's Bar Mitzvah at the Four Seasons Biltmore

Felici Events had so much fun producing this Glamping Themed Bar Mitzvah for our amazing clients.  We turned the El Mar Room at the Four Seasons Biltmore into an outdoor space complete with trees, tent, seating, lanterns, nighttime lighting and a campfire.

The ceremony space at the Mariposa Garden allowed the service to remain intimate and maintain the ocean view and well manicured gardens the Four Seasons offers.  By adding wooden benches and pillows, blanket and saplings, we brought the campy feel into the beach-like setting of the hotel.

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Outdoor Ceremony Camping Themed Bench Pillow Blanket Wood Green Tree

The string lights were perfect for the sunset ceremony.

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Outdoor Ceremony Lighting View

Mariachi played the hora and other Jewish songs for the guests immediately following the ceremony.

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Mariachi Band Outdoor Ceremony

Down to the details, event the kids activities incorporated wood and camping crafts.

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Craft Table Creative

The family tree was a grand welcome for the guest post ceremony, as they made their way to cocktails on the patio.

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Family Tree Hanging Pictures Lights

The El Mar Room transformed beautifully by adding trees, uplighting and creating a u-shaped family table for the 60 guests.  Flowers were placed on wooden pieces and the candles tied in the glamping theme into the very elegantly set table

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Seating Camping Themed Indoor Nature Flowers Green Orange Yellow Trees Lighting Candles

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Camping Themed Grey Plates Golden Silverware Colorful Linen Flowers Green Candles

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Camping Themed Grey Plate Golden Silverware Glassware Personalized Menu Print Napkin Flowers Candels

Transforming El Mar into the campground area complete with Teepee was a huge hit for the kids!

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Camping Themed Indoor Tent Marquee Lighting Campfire

The dessert station in the campground was a huge hit for kids and adults alike.

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Camping Themed Dessert Station Marshmallow Chocolate Fruits Cookies

Camping would not be complete without S'Mores prepared on these cute cast-iron skillet by the hotel's culinary team.

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Dessert Camping Themed Marshmallow

Berries and cookies were also a dessert option for guests, the cookie pan a rental item to continue the theme of the event.  It is all in the details.

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Dessert Table Cookies Fruits Camping Themed

The Singalong was the client's number one priority.  A musical family, this was the vision that created the theme, and joyously brought all the guests together.

Bar Mitzvah Felici Events Camping Themed Sing Along at Campfire Indoor Guitar Instruments Tent

Catering and Venue - Four Seasons Resort

Floral and Decor - NLC Productions by Nico Cervantes

Guitarist Campfire Singalong - John Lyle

Lighting - Spark Creative Events

Linens - La Tavola Fine Linen Rental

Mariachi - Gavin Roy Presents

Photo Booth - SB Photobooths

Photography - Natalie Thomson Photography

Planner + Designer - Felici Events

Rentals Table Settings- Classic Party Rentals

Rentals Ceremony - Elan Event Rentals

Rentals Glamping Details - Archive Rentals

Tree Rental - Gazebo Plants and Flowers

Family Tree Rental on Patio - Jackson Shrub Supply Inc

Planning A Tuscan-Themed Oceanfront Dinner

Felici Worldwide Brings Tuscany to Santa Barbara

After traveling to Italy in July, Zohe was so inspired by her mother land.  The colors, food and vibrant settings motivated Felici Events owner to produce a Tuscan-style rehearsal dinner for her wedding clients.  Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the views were stunning and something to compete with, but Felici Events found no challenge in producing an event just as breathtaking.

A Huge Thank you to our Vendors:

NLC Productions - Flowers + Decor

Town and Country Event Rentals - Tableware + Rentals

Catering Connection - Catering

Kiel Rucker Photography - Photography

Felici Events - Planning + Coordination

Colors + Candy + Creativity = #FeliciTimes Bat Mitzvah Celebration!

Dylan's Candy Inspired Bat Mitzvah

We were thrilled to have produced a 2nd celebration for our clients' youngest daughter's Bat Mitzvah this year (Ava celebrated her Graffiti Grunge Celebration in 2012) at Fess Parker Doubletree Resort, the Reagan Room.  The thing about producing kids events, is….well, I get to be a child again!  The vision, creativity and audience allows for more creativity, color and out of the box ideas.

My theory is that the theme starts the minute (BEFORE) you step into the room.  For this reason we had adult height decor greeting guests prior to entering the party room, in order to create anticipation and fluidity.

balloon decor ideas candy bar theme kid party

Once inside  the room, we set up an open air photo booth, a perfect occasion for the host(s) to stand and greet guests and step in for a photo op...

open air booth entertainment candy theme balloon decor

Cocktail hour on the patio was an adult-only zone with bar and lounge for those guests who wanted to step away from the activities. Magnificent Pacific Ocean view included.

Candy Bar Theme Bat Mitzvah pink decor

kids table candy decor theme Felici Events

To decorate the kids tables in a playful and tasteful way, we purchased floral sheeting which we found at our January conference in Anaheim.  The elegant La Tavola napkins were made into silverware rolls and held together by candy bracelets.

kid part entertainment idea slomo booth Felici Events

A slo-mo photo booth entertained both guests and adults alike. In fact, it was so much fun we have another blog post dedicated to it!

candy bar theme Felici Events Bat Mitzvah pink

A view of the room in its completion below.  The lounge areas gave a little separation between the adult and kids tables.  The topiaries you see on the kids tables were a crafting project made by mom + daughters and friends.  I always think personalizing your event somehow is a great idea!

The adult tables were elegantly presented using Dupionique La Tavola Linen and napkins wrapped in dots for a playful twist.

dots decor idea candy theme Felici Events

Family of the Bat Mitzvah Client

The floral sheeting was a great backdrop for the room, which created a WOW factor and added joviality to the hotel's banquet room.  Here is the whole client family together striking a pose.

The vibrant kids buffet turned into a dessert buffet to be enjoyed by all.

decor ideas dylan's candy bar Felici Events

Felici Events candy bar kid party

Candy Bar for Kids Party Candy Theme Felici Events

Bat Mitzvah guest of honor dancing for her event

How else to burn off the calories taken in at this delectable affair?  Why dancing of course!  Here is the guest of honor  starting a dance set with her BFF.

A HUGE Grazie Mille to our team of vendors who helped turned our clients' dream into a reality!

Photography - All Images by Kelsey Crews Photography

Flowers - Juniper Designs

Decor - Cathy Olson - Balloon Artist

Lighting - SPARK Creative Events

DJ - H2H The Perfect Element

Rentals - Town and Country Event Rentals

Linen - La Tavola Linens

Photobooth - Open Air Photo Booth

Slow Motion Booth - The Slow Motion Booth

Venue - Fess Parker Doubletree Resort 

Planning and Design - Zohe Felici, Felici Events

Felici Events Table Design at the Luxe Linen Showcase

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Felici Events displayed our wedding and event design skills recently, at Sherwood Country Club. Luxe Linens invited us to produce a table-top design of our choice, to showcase the 2015 line of new linens and napkins. Here is a video clip showing you the finished product as well as the wonderful team who helped us fulfill a little creative magic!

https://youtu.be/4_mxxRxN1Rg

We were tickled pink to be invited, which carried into our theme of a pink table top inspired by the 2011 movie 

Marie Antoinette

 (directed by Sofia Coppola, a fellow Italian-ite and Felici-favorite).

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We chose to showcase our table of eight using Luxe Linens' Sherbert Vogue.

Once we decided on the linens, Felici Events called on the the talents of a newer vintage rental company Otis and Pearl, to supply the silverware, china and glassware.

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Nina of Coco Rose Designs and the Felici Events Team could have spent hours in her storage unit looking at all the fun table top pieces.  In face, we may have.  Low and behold, it was easy for us to fall in love with the pink glassware you see at each table. Perfectly fitting for such a girly table top setting.

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Next, we asked for help from our friend and fellow

ISES-VSB 

member, Joost Bongaerts, owner of Florabundance, if he would like to contribute, and graciously he supplied all the floral.

The final touches, envisioned by Nina of Coco Rose Designs included the sweet fresh berries and delectable

macarons

 embellishing the table top.

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Finally, we chose the

Florence dining chairs

(both with arms and without) to complete the look of the dining table.  They were definitely the talk of our table amongst attendees and fellow showcasing peers.

It was absolute perfection.  The location, setting, details, event and evening.  Thank you Luxe Linens for including us in this project!

Grazie Mille to our contributors:

DESIGNER and VISIONARY: Felici Events

FLORIST: Coco Rose Design 

VINTAGE RENTALS: Otis and Pearl

CHAIR RENTAL: Revelry Event Designers

FLORAL PURVEYOR: Florabundance

Felici Events Wishes You A Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Felici Events Presents: St. Patty's Day Party Lookbook

The Felici Events team loves a great themed-party - who doesn't? With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, we thought that it would be the perfect time to share with you all a #Felicified guide to planning your very own St. Patrick's Day Party. 

food - Stuffed-Reuben-Pull-Apart-Bread

Let's start off with the food! Because how amazing can a party be without delicious food? Our team searched high and low for the following themed-out, mouth-watering dishes. We also included the links to the recipes for you, enjoy! 

Finger Food/Starters

- Shamrock Nachos - Taking any opportunity to bring out the green clovers.

food - shamrock nachos

- Spinach Pesto Mashed Potatoes - A new way to wear green!

food - Spinach-Pesto-Mashed-Potatoes

The Main Course

- Lucky Spinach Quiche - Lucky you!

food - quiche

- Corned Beef Brisket Pita - We can already taste all the flavors!

food - pita sandwich

- Irish Bread Braid - Feeling lucky yet?

food - irish bread braid

Sweets

- Muddy Buddies - They are essentially blinged out puppy chow.

food - muddy buddies

- Shamrock Shake - Who needs McDonalds when you can do it yourself?

food - shake

Cocktails

- Honeydew Martini - the simply perfect green drink

food - cocktail

- The Irish Flag - how patriotic!

food - irish flag

Now that we have gotten all the drooling out of the way, check out the festive decor ideas the Felici Team has for you!

- Wreaths - we have a more casual option as well as a more classy version for you!

decor - casual wreath

decor - classy wreath

- Floral Displays - chic and classy

floral - classy

floral - chic

OR opt for a more fun and do it yourself versions!

floral - hat

floral - clovers

- Banners

banner - clover

banner - lucky

- Party Favors - simple yet thoughtful. 

favor - jar candy

favor - polish

- Decor Embellishments - for that extra wow factor. 

embellishment - balls

embellishments - jars

- Special Touches - it's the small things that matter.

special touch - setting

special touches - straw

Your options are endless when planning a party. We hope you enjoyed the ones we gave you. Put them to good use and let us know how everything turned out. Don't forget to keep checking back for more felicified party ideas! In the meantime, we wish you a very lucky St. Patrick's Day!

Felicified Unique Furniture Rentals For Any Event

Felici Events Presents: Felicified Unique Furniture Rentals

Looking for new ways to spice up your parties? Here is a Felicified way to do it!

Our team here at Felici Events is always thinking of new and creative ideas that will make our special events stand out from the rest. Luckily, we discovered PBG Imports. They specialize in exclusive and unique Lounge Furniture, Props, Décor, and LED Designed Products for any and all types of events. Their signature items include genuine cork furniture and LED water bubble high top tables and coffee tables. PBG Imports also supply sports stools and sports furniture ideal for sports-themed events. Their company prides itself on having the most distinctive designs that will captivate all guests. Visit them on the web at PBGImports.com and contact them at info@PBGImports.com or 888.354.4523.

Here are some items that caught our eye!

corkcollection

corktable

These wine cork inspired items are perfect for wine tastings, cocktail parties, winery weddings, and basically any event looking for a rustic vibe. #WineWednesday

bubbletower

table

These water bubble products would look great at bar and bat-mitzvahs, cocktail parties, dances, and many other exciting and futuristic events. Guests will be amazed by the glowing water effects these pieces give off. We love how PBG's items are not only furniture but artwork and conversation starters.

soccerball

footballstool

PBG's sports inspired products are perfect for all the sports fans out there looking to throw amazing parties. These items will fit perfectly into birthday parties, sporting events, bachelor parties, and so much more. #SuperBowl2015

Trying to get creative with your decor ideas? Don't forget to visit PBG Imports and to keep an eye out for future Felici Events blog posts.

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Felici Events Presents Three Holiday Parties

Holiday Party Ideas

As we quickly approach the holiday season, Felici Events brings you ideas for your private or corporate party!

Inspired by Biz Bash: The Holiday Issue we share three seasonal holiday themes sure to please your guests!

Classic Holiday

Christmas Table

Take out your ornaments and red candles! Make your holiday parties with classic themes like the nutcracker or holiday movies and use traditional decorations to bring the joy of the season! Hang up lights, wreaths, and trees, feel free to add a pine cone or two in there. For food, you can make appetizers based off dinners such as a turkey cranberry crostini, chicken kebabs or pizza bites in traditional holiday shapes. Be sure to decorate your table with a classic gingerbread house!

Food Cutouts

Christmas Kebabs

Gingerbread House

Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland

Winter Wonderland is a modern theme that looks elegant and transforms your venue into an entirely different place! With Disney's "Frozen" and ice being all the rage, having a winter wonderland themed party can be the perfect theme for your holiday party! Decorate with snowflakes, crystals, blue lights, crystals and silver decor.  Be sure to have a hot cocoa bar to warm your guests up!

Hot Cocoa Bar

Winter Wonderland Center Piece

Winter Lights

Try something innovative with live ice sculpting!

Live ice scultping

The Ice Beat Factory is an exciting performance ice show combining ice sculpting with live music.

Offbeat Bash

Many modern holiday parties are saying no to the traditional holiday themed parties and going for a more offbeat theme like a masquerade ball or as Biz Bash demonstrates, a circus theme.  Another theme idea could be a Brother's Grimm theme with Once Upon a Time, Grimm, and Disney's upcoming film, Into the Woods serving as inspiration. There's so many possibilities with this theme, guests can come dressed as their favorite fairy tale characters and the ideas for decorations are endless!

Fairy Tale Invitation

Fairy Tale Chandelier

Get creative with invitations to inspire guests and decorate with grand chandeliers to create a more spectacular fantasy!

Fairy Tale Center Pieces

Flower Centerpiece

Take inspiration from Brother's Grimm fairy tales for centerpieces such as a single rose or a candelabra!

Feel free to use a specific fairy tale or just combine them all to make an enchanted venue! Have some caramelized apples or Alice in Wonderland cake for dessert! Be sure to checkout Cody's Cocktails inspired by fairy tale creatures that are sure to be remembered at your holiday party! This one below is called "Maleficent" and contains black vodka, grape schnapps, and apple pucker!

Poison Apples

Maleficent cocktail

Whatever you decide for your theme, holiday parties should create a festive and joyous occasion!

Event Planner’s "Good Fortune" makes local news


We have the best clients ever! Thank you cards never go out of style.

Thank you to society writer Lorraine D. Wilson for the article, “Good Fortune” rich in history. Lorraine’s article was published in her Sunday On the Town section in the Santa Barbara News Press, which covers the non-profit sector and who’s who of Santa Barbara.

Thank you to Kerry Methner for the article, Good Fortune Fundraiser Celebrates Santa Barbara's Asian American Heritage. Kerry's article was published on page 34 in the June 27th issue of CASA Magazine.

The “Good Fortune” fundraiser, by the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, recognized the important role Chinese and Japanese communities played in Santa Barbara’s history.

During the late-nineteenth and twentieth-centuries the area in and around the Santa Barbara Presidio was a unique and culturally rich neighborhood. Chinese and Japanese communities coexisted side by side, offering thriving businesses within buildings that are now historic landmarks. The Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation honors and preserves this history in El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park. In 2009 “Sharing Our Common Ground” explored Santa Barbara’s Asian Americans history. - Santa Barbara Independent

To see photos by Clint Weisman and Dr. Paul Mori, click the link and view the album, “Good Fortune” from the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation’s Flickr account.

Felici Events is a first-class event design and production company based in Santa Barbara, California that produces events like the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation’s “Good Fortune” gala. Contact us if you are planning an upcoming fundraising event and looking for a company that listens to and expertly translates its client’s visions into reality.

Breast Cancer Awareness Mitzvah Pink Celebration Theme

Pink Bat Mitzvah in Honor of Arin

Montecito Country Club - photos by Jay Farbman

If you know Zohe Felici, you know she is a kid at heart!  One of her favourite events this past year, was Arin's Bat Mitzvah.  The theme of the event was pink, honoring breast cancer survivors including Arin's grandmother.  The Mitzvah was dedicated to another one of Felici Events' clients, The Breast Cancer Resource Center of Santa Barbara.

The party starts from the entrance.  We laid out a pink carpet and hung paper puff balls to greet guests as they arrived, they knew they were at the right place even before stepping foot into the party.

The client wanted to incorporate the Western Wall as a 'leave wishes for Arin' welcome / guest book.  We found this replica from a local rabbi and doctored it up a little bit with foliage and hung baskets to leave notes for Arin.

The pink frames we found were a nice added touch throughout the event.

Maintaining a whimsical feel, we used pliable wire strands to hang the escort cards and paper puff balls from the main chandelier.

The first things guests did once inside was walk into cocktail and hors d'oeurve hour, we made the first part of the celebration KID friendly by having their own bar.  After all, it is a kids party - Mock-tinis all around, cheers!

These girls must-ache you a question......

The kids dining area was whimsical and fun.  Playing with the height of the ceiling of the club's main dining area, we used large round balloons as part of the centerpieces, tied to basic daisy floral with rock candy incorporated into the piece.

Inspired by slinky's over a dance floor, we re-created the concept using less heavy, more conducive material.

La Tavola Linen combined with flowers by Modern Day Design were the instrumental design elements to incorporate the pink theme.  This was the adult side of the banquet room, which still suited the theme, however, became more classic with the addition of shantung linens and combined mono-chramatic floral pieces.  The glass vases wrapped in fun paper maintained the joviality of the celebration while exuding class.

We also sought out lighting experts LBPS Events to warm up the gorgeous, yet cavernous room, Fucshia toned up-lighting did the trick. They also helped us infuse some design inspirations the client presented us with, such as the elegant white tufted couches and adhering the slinkies hanging above the dance floor, which definitely created a festive ambiance.  Guests loved dancing underneath it, event the guest of honor and her family did the hora underneath it.

One of our client's must have was a candy bar.  Here Felici Events created a similar design concepts as the Mock-tail Station we had at cocktail hour, but incorporated more silver with the linens, and candy itself.

We included a dessert and cupcakes by Wayne Kjar Cakes as the sweet endings to the night.

Held at the Montecito Country Club, a quintessential Santa Barbara venue conducive for weddings and social events, this celebration not only wowed the guests, but also the guest of honor, her friends and most importantly her mom, our client.

Incorporating the pink theme into the event was not only girly, fun and right up Felici Events' alley, it also created a challenge to produce a celebration which did not feel like a baby shower, but instead, reflected the coming of age of a very smart and shy young lady who just happened to love pink. Mazel Arin!

GREAT night to all!  Here is a sneak peek from outside the Montecito Country Club looking into the celebration.

TA-DA! Felici Events Team who helped orchestrate Arin's Bat Mitzvah into a very special Kid + Adult Pink Party.

Ciao Everyone!