A few months ago, my sweet and talented sister in law, Jill Smith, and I decided to throw a holiday party together. We had always talked about working together on something and this seemed perfect. I adore her. She’s a person who is passionate, hard working, fun, silly, adorable and truly makes me smile. I tell her all the time I am lucky to have such an amazing sister in law. And most of the time I don’t even use the “in law” because she feels like a real sister.

We started with the look and feel of the party. We wanted it to be modern and sophisticated and of course festive. We decided to go with a black and white color scheme with hints of gold. The traditional red and green wasn’t something that spoke to us for this particular event. We then got to work on our Pinterest board pinning away with ideas. It worked great being we lived in two different states. (I love you Pinterest!) We decided to have the event outside being it was Southern California. After we nailed down the ideas we got to work. Jill started designing the beautiful invites. I started creating the yummy menu. We collaborated on everything. We worked together on all details and it made for a very seamless low stress production.

We then brought in some talented friends of ours to help. My dear friend Jenny Keller, of Jenny Cookies, made all the fun festive treats for our desert table. It was stunning. Our talented friend Kristen Caissie, of Moon Canyon Design, constructed the breathtaking floral arrangements and wreaths for the event. She is truly a crazy talented floral designer. I then contacted a company I was excited to finally work with, Casa De Perrin. I had been a fan of founders, Josh & Diana Perrin and had been following their work for awhile. We designed a gorgeous table setting that wowed me as well our guests. I still salivate over all of it and can’t wait to work with them again. I then called another company I had heard so much about, Found Rentals. They specialize in antique furniture and decor. We rented beautiful rustic wood tables and decided to use all different types of antique chairs to give it a fun eclectic feel. It was gorgeous.

We strung lights everywhere, lit dozens of candles and had a warm fire burning in the fireplace. Jill made beautiful journals she gave out to our guests and I made homemade granola that everyone took home for breakfast the next morning. And lastly, it was important for Jill and I to continue our efforts of giving during the holidays. We asked our guests to bring an unwrapped toy for one of my favorite charities, Baby Buggy. And boy did our friends not disappoint. It warmed our hearts to know that many kids were going to have big smiles on their faces.

It was definitely a night to remember and I look forward to doing many more of these with my sis. I think we make a dynamic duo.

Photography by Elizabeth Messina.