Custom Made: Favors from Sweet Paper Shop

Wanting to offer up a sweet morsel of gratitude at the end of a Red Star Barn event, we looked for something that would fit with the look of the evening, but not break the bank. That's when we stumbled across Sweet Paper Shop, an online boutique specializing in luxe favor boxes and personalized candy bar wrappers for wedding, parties and promotional events. The ordering process was a snap, and after a few moments selecting color and design options, we paid our money (most reasonable), and waited for our order to arrive in the mail. The custom wrapped bars are perfect as either welcome gifts, or treats to take home at the end of the night. Celebrate sweet love, indeed.

Photo Credit: Melissa McFadden.

Barn Music: Rogue Lobster

Members of the local band Rogue Lobster are lovely, talented people, who produce a gorgeous, vibrant, romantic sound. They performed at Walla Walla's 2015 Gentlemen of the Road stopover, headlined by Mumford & Sons. Bandmates Adam Kirtley, Libby Arnosti, Libby Miller, Michael Simon, Brian Griffith, JR Van Slyke and Jerry Yokel have been performing together since 2013, providing masterfully written Americana, Folk and Bluegrass and rich, three-part harmonies, to an ever-growing fan base. If you're looking to book some terrific live music for your event at the barn, reach out to them, and also treat yourself to a copy of their recently released CD, Dust On Our Toes.

"May the years be a gentle breeze Calmly igniting your passions And may it blow you to me In a most peculiar fashion // Cause I don’t know Where I would go But for the breeze that blows You to me and me to you // May your life be a roaring stream Crashing and carving new courses And may it flow you to me By all mysterious forces // Cause I don’t know Where I would go But for the stream that flows You to me and me to you // May this love be a fertile field Richer with each passing season And may it grow you to me For no particular reason // Cause I don’t know Where I would go But for the field that grows You to me and me to you"

Photo Credit: Danielle Carissa.

Rogue Lobster perform at Tranche Cellars, July 2017.

Barking Mad

We're used to indulging in our passion for chocolate bark during the holidays... goodness knows we can't keep away from the peppermint bark that's regularly being passed around at the barn office. In the recent edition of Martha Stewart Weddings, chocolate bark was highlighted as a wedding favor idea. Its easy to make, can be outfitted with your preference of custom toppings, and with a little consideration it can reflect the palette of the bride and groom, and represent a part of their love story or sense of place. If you're not up for whipping up a batch yourself, swing by Petits Noirs and visit with chocolatiers Lan and James. They make the most exquisite bark, and Lan's past experience as a marketing executive in NYC is indulged in the exquisitely designed packaging that she creates for their line of quality sweet goods. 

Petits Noirs 'Tableau au Chocolate' - A huge tablet of solid dark chocolate sprinkled with generous amounts of cherries, citron, almonds, hazelnuts, and pistachios. Great for large parties and family gatherings. It comes with it’s own hammer so that each person can break off their own chunk of chocolate.

Petits Noirs 'Wine Collection' bark - 16 different chocolate tiles in each box to pair with both red and white/rose wines.