The Gift That Keeps On Giving

By: Sophia Balliet

Holidays, birthdays, special occasions, and weddings are all meant to be marked by happiness and celebration. Unfortunately, the pressure of gift-giving that is often associated with these cherished events can make them more stressful than exciting. Blue Atlas Marketplace in Newport Beach is your one-stop cure to alleviate any and all gifting stressors. Owners Liz Canady and Susan Bush have created a truly magical gifting service that uniquely understands the importance of personalization, presentation, and personality. 

Liz and Susan have curated such a rare and beautiful collection of gifting goods, from towels all the way to fine china, derived from their travels around the globe. They are experts at taking treasures from every corner of the world and bringing them here to you in Newport Beach. To put the ultimate cherry on top, the two remain unwaveringly committed to the presentation and delivery of each of their gifts, putting as much emphasis on the gift itself as they do the box in which it comes. They offer custom embroidery, monogramming, hand-written notes, and so much more in addition to their luxurious concierge services. 

The two recently expanded their business even further (if that’s possible) to include registries, and today, we had the honor of sitting down with them and learning more about their incomparable business and, more specifically, their newfound wedding registry service. Be prepared never to have to worry about gifting for any occasion again. 

What inspired you both to get into this industry?

Liz: We launched in the spring of 2020, exactly where we are now but four years ago. My personal background started in the wedding world, and we saw the opportunity to be unique in the marketplace. There are always going to be those companies where you get your classic kitchenware and towels from, your go-to basics, and we’ve been able to create an opportunity for people to get those really personal and unique items, too. Whether it’s a personalized backgammon set, a beautiful hand-blown cake stand, or a monogrammed throw to put at the end of your bed, we take those really unique items and make them really special. It started off with real estate clients, and we thought, why just have a gift card to a restaurant or a bottle of champagne? Why not make it something really unique and special, which is where we come in. 

Susan: We started in 2019, and then the world shut down in March, and we decided to light up the website anyway because we’d already done all the work. As Liz mentioned, we initially focused on real estate client gifts, but no one was buying or selling any houses, so we pivoted. All of our girlfriends started calling us for graduation gifts, Mother’s day gifts, and thinking of you gifts because no one could be in person anymore. Then, companies started reaching out to us, saying they wanted to connect with their employees. For example, one company was supposed to have their sales meeting in Santa Cruz and wanted to do a virtual campfire, so we put together smores-kits and sent them to each individual person; then they got on Zoom and had their makeshift smores party. It just exploded from there. 

How do you curate your collection?

Liz: Don’t sleep. Blue Atlas Marketplace comes from the idea that we’ve really traveled the world to find unique items, and we’ve created a marketplace where you can get gifts that are special from all over the world. We’ve had great opportunities to do such extensive travel. Such as, we’ve gone to Paris to go to the flea markets to find really unique and beautiful silver pieces. We’ve gone to Morocco, Bali, all over. Our favorite salt and pepper grinders are from London. Our hand-blown glasses come from Poland. Whenever we’re out and about we’re finding things. 

How do you think this has translated into your wedding registry?

Liz: Again, my background is in the wedding world; I worked for Conde Nast in the brides magazine (is this right? Should it be capitalized, is Brides supposed to be Brides’ or Bride’s or neither); I was in corporate PR for them, and I was able to really experience the wedding world at a young age. I learned to understand the traditional wedding world as far as the gift registry, understanding what are good gifts to give and receive, and from there is how I met Martha Stewart and launched the Wedding Magazine with her. So it’s really been full circle. But then fast forward, Susan and I both have aged kids that their friends are starting to get married, and so it’s been really fun to see and get to know what this generation is looking for when they’re building their new home. We felt very confident that we could launch a gift registry business and a marketplace since we know this area very well and have a good sense of what people are looking for.  

Susan: Because we were already gifting, we would do the wedding bags, the bachelorette parties, and the wedding showers. We were thinking, okay, we’re servicing every other part of the wedding, so it just felt natural. We set up the website and invited the brides that we knew into the shop, had a cocktail party, gave them a beautiful little crystal bud vase, and started the wedding registry, and it’s just been amazing. 

How do you make the items feel personal?

Liz: We love to customize the wrapping of every gift. Wrapping and presentation are so important to us. Even if you’re coming in to buy something for yourself, we’re like, can we gift wrap it, please? It’s something that came so naturally to us. It was never even a conversation; it’s just who we are. In the Newport Beach area, we will even hand-write a note and hand-deliver gifts to clients. 

How does the wedding registry service work?

Susan: What a bride can do is come into the store, we’ll have champagne and they can pick out their items that correspond to her registry on the website. That registry can be bolted on any bridal website. Then people can go on and purchase the items and we wrap and deliver each item. It works like any other wedding registry site, so you can go in and add to it or subtract. 

Liz: We love to know how many people are coming in so we can have charcuterie trays and champagne and make the experience really special. It’s all about the event of it all, not the actual registry. We just want every step of the way to feel extra special for them.

Are there any items that you personally love?

Liz: There are some of our go-tos. We like to get a little bit of information so we can gear it towards each individual. One of our go-to’s would be the Estelle Glassware, handblown glassware from Poland. It’s a woman’s launched company, and we love them. They’ve been so fun for gifts because there’s such a modern excitement around colored glassware right now to really change up your dining experience.

Susan: Another would be Match 1995. It's a dinnerware and flatware set, and it’s so classic. It’s cream ceramic with a beautiful pewter trim or all pewter, and it’s just stunning. It can go from day into evening. 

How does the personalization/embroidery operate?

Susan: We manage and take care of all of the personalization. We’ve personalized robes, blankets, trays, you name it. We take care of it, then wrap it; it’s all managed within us. We look at the recipient holistically, and we tailor the gifts to who they are and what they’re looking for. 

Can you give us some insight into some registries you’ve done recently?

Liz: We’re working on weddings in La Quinta, Hawaii, Sun Valley, and Pasadena. The idea and where we really pride ourselves within the wedding world is, yes, within the gifts and gift registry, but in the idea that since both of our backgrounds are in design, we visualize the idea of really helping a bride or a couple with every detail of their wedding that has to do with gifting. For example, with the one in La Quinta, we were just putting together the bags that are going to have everything from the personalized visors and cups, to the cookies to hand out, to bracelets so that everybody knows who’s part of it when they’re getting their cocktails, to pickle balls for the pickleball tournament. All of that we can take care of from start to finish. We love to take care of every detail, and we love a challenge. 

How do you keep up with demand and keep up with dedication to detail?

Liz: We’ve put together a wonderful team in Newport Beach, and it’s really special because we get to work with incredible women. Whether they’re early in their careers or they’ve had full careers and families and are really interested in doing something unique and different, we’ve got such a great crew. 

In a world where gift-giving can be a tedious and often daunting task, Liz Canady and Susan Bush have you covered over at Blue Atlas Marketplace. Their beautifully unique and custom collection truly offers something for everyone and their wedding registry puts an exclamation mark on their creativity, passion, and extreme dedication to detail. Liz and Susan have developed a concierge service that fulfills your every gifting need, aiding with tasks you might not even know you need. Their wedding registry service takes your already special day, and crafts an experience that is truly exceptional in every regard. 

949-220-7683 | blueatlasmarketplace.com | IG @blueatlasmarketplace