I know, I know – New Year’s Day is “just another Wednesday”, but there’s always been something so powerful to me about new beginnings. With a new year (and a new decade!) just a couple of days away, I’ve been daydreaming up a storm as I set goals in a way that’s truly intentional.

Last year my three sisters and I gave an “Our Favorite Things” gift to our younger cousin (each sister chose our own favorite thing and packaged it all together as a curated group gift), and I loved the idea so much I wanted to share my favorite things with you all this year!

Originally, Sarah and Kirk had planned on a traditional wedding: around 120 guests, a large venue, a few hours on the dance floor, the whole shebang. About halfway through planning, I received an email from Sarah saying that they’d changed their minds, and an intimate, 20-person restaurant wedding felt “more them”. As a big believer in wedding days being a true reflection of each couple, this was music to my ears!

Mackenzie and Jason are one of those couples that perfectly complement one another. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they’ve been together since middle school (check out those love notes from their early months together!), but I was immediately struck by how they both balanced a sense of calm with the most fun, silly personalities. Their wedding reflected just that!

When I met Carolyn and James for the first time, they shared their vision for a modern, minimal wedding at Warehouse XI in Somerville, MA. They showed me inspiration photos of a beautiful white, black, and green wedding, but after getting to know them a bit better I quickly learned that Carolyn is drawn to the color yellow (check out her shoes!), so I instantly knew that we had to find a way to blend their minimalist vision with a bit of color!

If you know me, you know that I love any reason to celebrate. And I mean any reason. My heart is all the more full when a sweet client asks me to plan a celebration with such a special meaning: in this case, a celebration of gratitude.

The only thing better than getting to be a bridesmaid in your friend’s wedding is when she welcomes you into the wedding design process and the two of you get to bring all of her dreams and visions to life. My dear friends Gabi and Tim got married in November, and it was one of the most colorful, vibrant days I’ve ever been a part of!

Any Harry Potter lovers out there? This one’s for you! When my sweet client Julie approached me to ask for help with planning and designing a baby shower for her friend Jackie, I couldn’t resist. When she told me Jackie was a huge Harry Potter fan, as a lifelong fan, I was elated.

Kim and Joe are the kind of people that make you feel like an old friend as soon as you meet them. Throughout their entire planning process, they kept me on their toes with their witty humor and we wanted to reflect their fun personalities into their wedding day! When we first met, they were envisioning a summer camp wedding, dubbed Camp Capquist (a combination of their two last names). Guests stayed for the entire weekend, playing camp games, enjoying activities like obstacles courses and beach yoga, and cozying up by the fire.

When I was asked to plan a Harry Potter inspired baby shower, one of the very first ideas that popped into my mind was to incorporate aged terra cotta centerpieces, a la Herbology class. I scoured the internet for the perfectly aged pots, but they each came up out of budget for one, let alone the 10-15 I needed for the baby shower! Naturally I couldn’t let the idea go, so I came up with this DIY to make my own.