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Meet Courtney Dial, a young entrepreneur like myself!

Courtney is a lifestyle and entertaining writer, tablescape designer, product stylist, and editor of the Entertaining Inspiration site Pizzazzerie!

She has been featured on Martha Stewart’s Dreamers into Doers {which celebrates the passion of women who do!} and most recently in:

Nashville Lifestyles Magazine for her Vampire Dinner Party!

{picture courtesy of pizzazzerie.com}

Courtney is a living example of my favorite quote by Confucius: “Choose a job that you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Her creativity and much-deserved success with Pizzazzerie is truly inspiring. I hope you enjoy this Q & A Session as much as I did!

Erin: Whether it be for planning a wedding or a kid’s birthday party, “Inspiration Boards” are said to be a useful tool. Can you explain what an “inspiration board” is, what elements make a well-crafted inspiration board, and any tips or helpful resources you can suggest for those of us looking to build our own from start to finish?

Courtney: Absolutely! “Inspiration Boards” are incredibly helpful for pulling together any sort of celebration from a wedding to a dinner party and everything in between. It helps you gather together all your thoughts into an organized “view” of your party. An Inspiration Board is a collection of photos (usually in the 4 to 8 area) that are grouped together, collage-like, to form a “look”. These photos are found just by pulling them from blogs, online magazines, etc. Style Me Pretty is a great resource for inspiration boards for weddings. Online sites like Martha Stewart are also great places to look for inspirational photos. If you have photoshop or even the free downloadable gimp – you can easily create a collage. But if you don’t have either of those, Mosaic Maker can make simple ones for you online!

{Below is an example of one Courtney made for her blog post on oustide lighting}

Erin: What’s one thing that is MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU as a professional event planner that NO ONE HAS EVER ASKED YOU about? Please share details, we are dying of curiosity!

Courtney: Centerpieces and height! When seeing tables, I cringe when I see sad lonely little vases with a flower or two amidst a large table. A large or dinner sized table needs height! Look for tall stemmed flowers or manzanita branches to add height. It is amazing how big of a difference this makes but people rarely give enough focus to it. Next would be linens – you don’t have to go buy expensive tablecloths. Head to your fabric store – I leave a lot of mine unfinished on the edges but if you like to sew, quickly hem them under. There are rows of designs and textures, get creative with your linens! This can really make a big difference and make a table pop!

{picture of manzanita branches courtesy of sedonabride.com}

Erin: This year, I am keeping it simple and I plan on celebrating Valentine’s Day with a romantic dinner with my husband at home. For ladies like me living on a budget and looking to make an otherwise boring Monday night dinner a romantic one, do you have any unique suggestions?

Courtney: I am always designing on a budget…not many of us have oodles of dollars to spend on gorgeous tablesettings! The great thing is you can still have a gorgeous table and not break the bank. If you have an at-home printer, hit up some online freebie printables for Valentine’s Day like this post I did that contains 7 freebies and DIYs. Even if it means just simply printing off place cards to jazz up your table, your printer can become your best friend when designing on a dime. Use simple white dinnerware (or clear) and add embellishing rather than spending money on red or pink plates. Add pizzazz by adorning them with tissue paper pom pom napkin rings with some inexpensive red tissue paper from the dollar store! Learn how to make them here.

{picture of valentine’s tablescape courtesy of kellyoshirodesign.com}

Another tip: Tall red tapered candles in clear or silver candle holders is always a classy and romantic look for a Valentine’s table. Lighting truly sets the mood and keeps expenses low!

Happy Shopping!
Erin, TukaBear’s Bargainista