March 23, 2008
Having a Logo
Are you considering having a monogram but cannot decide on one? Are you an artist, or do you and and your fiancé share a love for a specific item (like coffee, chocolate, or in our case, Hawaii)? If so, you might consider having a logo instead of a monogram, to utilize throughout your event. You can use anything that you fancy, but I would stick to the simpler the better. A graphic image is best, for recoloring and for transforming into other medias.
from clipart
It says “Two become One”
A logo can be used in the same ways as a monogram, however it is slightly more flexible. A logo can more easily be turned into a rubber stamp, which can then be used on a myriad of surfaces including paper, tablecloth, napkins, and candles.
image from Elizabeth Ann Designs
I recently read this post at Elizabeth Ann Designs blog which goes over the basics of creating or picking a visual graphic. As you can see, she found her logo from a rubber stamp. That is a great idea, because then you already have a stamp that you can use on surfaces when you want, and you only need to make it digital.
For Jon and I, a monogram was not interesting, or personal enough. And, it seemed a bit formal for the mood we are creating. Instead we leafed through some of my old doodles until we found one that struck us. We loved this one because it reminded us both of Hawaii (it was drawn on a plane leaving it), which is extremely important to the story of us. We both share a deep love for that place, and even if there is absolutely no Hawaiian element or theme to our day, this is a personal touch that invokes it just enough. Maybe no one else knows, although hopefully they think the design is pretty, but we know. And if someone asks we have quite the story to tell. 🙂
This is our logo:
Using Adobe Illustrator we changed the color to a version of Teal. Then, we have slowly begun incorporating the logo into our wedding details.
on menu cards
on invitations
Now all you need to do is pick an image, and get creative! You do not need to use this image on absolutely every surface and in every project, but in a few key places, people will notice and you can add this personal touch.
March 19, 2008
Three New Ideas Meme
Can I tell you that this meme has kind of freaked me out? I’ve seen it going around other blogs for two weeks now, therefore I am certain it’s nearly impossible to complete this meme without repeating, or unknowingly copying someone, but I’ll try. Thanks to Southern Fancy for my first wedding blog meme. Check hers out too! I am not sure what constitutes a local attraction here, because just about EVERYTHING does to me. As long as there is water and mountains in the scene, it’s a local attraction. I am going to compile goodie bags of local treats in May and I cannot wait to show them to you, since they will be filled with European goodness. I am going to to a trial run, a.k.a. Birthday Splurge next week at the upscale grocery. I am more excited about this than a new purse.
That’s a lie.
Alright, The Rules:
- List your top three new favorite wedding ideas
- Link back to the post of the person who tagged you – this will create a continuous stream of posts that readers can follow
- Tag a new person and share the rules.
Alors, on y va?
1: I already wrote about moving websites on this post and I think this is definitely a new idea. Websites and blogs are getting better and better and the newest, best websites integrate sound, sight and feeling to wow their audiences. Entering these websites is like going to a super short chick flick! HA!
2: Registering for tableware that has spunk. On the one hand I love having solid white dishes, the better to show up the food. However, today’s young-at-heart, creative couples also want to add a little more personality to the table, and to their registry, and funky plates are just the thing.
Porcelain and Paper at Etsy
ANYTHING that grabs your eye on Toast and Table, I particularly liked this set though.
Jessica Rust (who has a new wedding registry feature)
3: The last new idea is a design idea: Feathers!
How amazing! This feather cake is made by Cakes4Fun in the U.K. “The cake is then finished with a wonderful ‘feather effect’ that is created from rice paper. We then dust the cake with sparkling edible glitter to complete the stunning effect or can colour the tips of your cake to achieve a totally different finish!”
A Feather Fascinator by BD Designs
A feather lamp found at by Moss. I want one for my bedroom anyway. I doubt anyone can afford to buy this sucker, but a crafty DIY bride could pull it off with artificial feathers!
Eh Voila! Those are my three ideas. And now, I cordially tag…A Little of This, ALittle of That
March 17, 2008
The most MOVING Wedding Websites
We are inundated with wedding websites are we not? So inevitably when I click a new link, just as that new tab is opening and I see the first nanosecond of content, I wonder to myself, “Is this going to surprise me?”
I guess I should clarify: Many websites impress me, but rarely surprise, and ultimately MOVE me. Often when I open up a website I lean forward immediately and set to clicking. I click to a new link within the first two seconds, and if I don’t like what I see there, well I give it one or two more clicks to new pages or archives and then click that X. Sometimes the website impresses me and I file it into my bookmarks, but I still feel I am clicking along the same routine.
Then every so often I hit upon a website that makes me lean back in my chair and my arm goes still. Instead of clicking I just watch, listen and I actually honest to goodness feel moved. I sit there and stare, mesmerized at the photos, taking in the music, and to be perfectly honest (I blame the period that started the next morning) while watching one of these websites one evening I actually started to cry and cried for a few minutes browsing through the photos!! Geez…
So here is a small list of websites that I feel have done an exceptional job at design, message and feeling. They actually moved the viewer to FEEL something, and hey, that is what the wedding is all about: Feelings. ( One of them I happen to keep as one of my multiple “homepage(s)” this week so that I can jam to the music!) So go ahead, click on the link (the Website, not the blog) and enjoy!
317 Photography and Blog
Amorology and Blog Coming Soon
StudioStems and Blog
Olivia Leigh and Blog
Cotton Birds Cake Topper
March 14, 2008
A Candy-Apple Wedding
Today I have made a board for Megan, who will be holding her wedding on a Tuesday! I think that this decision caused her and her fiancé some concern and stress, but in the end they have decided to stick with a date that is meaningful to the couple. In her words her wedding will be Simple and Elegant. I don’t see why one would need any more words than that to have a really beautiful and meaningful day.
Megan’s main color is bright apple red along with classic white. Her fiancé is an outdoorsy type. They live in Tennessee, and I am sure that they will be able to find a way to incorporate that state’s natural beauty into the day. Perhaps the rehearsal dinner could be a casual picnic with good TN fare, somewhere with a beautiful view. On red and white picnic blankets, of course! 😉
I love this Bicycle cake topper for the outdoorsy couple, as well as a rustic looking table number card. These Thank You cards are extremely simple in feeling, with a professional-rustic quality to them.
Escort Cards could also be done with minimalism – gilding the edges in red like shown in this photo, but I would also suggest that Megan and her fiancé take the time to write out a personal message to each guest as a way to add a personal and meaningful touch as they walk through the door.
A white Ikea candle (here is one for 2.25!) can be a simple but eye-catching centerpiece, like shown in this photo on the board, surrounded by red rose petals. Alternatively, one could have a mixture of sizes of white candles and scatter petals down the center of the table as a “runner.”
I also thought that it would be a great budget-friendly idea to use this Candle Carver I noticed on Brooklyn Bride, and line up bright red apples down the center of the table with small tea lamps lit inside.
Megan really wants a three tier round cake and this one is smashing. If she doesn’t go the way of a wedding cake, I would suggest serving seasonal red berries with ricotta or marscapone in a small glass cup. Strawberries are also in high season and could be offered along with Angel Food Cake and whip cream in Buffet Style. Wouldn’t that be cool – A Strawberry Shortcake Buffet?!
What about one chocolate covered strawberry, (or more 🙂 ) on each plate as a small seasonal favor. If she had the time, she and the fiancé could spend a Saturday afternoon out picking strawberries about a month before the wedding, and then make a simple jam from this at home (it just takes sugar and berries and about a half hour), then pour a small portion into as many tiny jars as there are guests, and give this as a favor. I actually am considering doing this for my own wedding for sure!
In terms of flowers, Megan knows what she wants. No Gerber Daisies, just elegant red roses. She might consider having a mixed red and white rose bouquet, or using white baby’s breath for a traditional looking bouquet.
Like Southern Fancy recently mentioned, colored shoes are thought of as a personal and more exciting touch to the day’s wardrobe. I like this simple but sexy pair.
I hope this helps Megan! I love thinking of Tennesse, where my father’s family is, and I know you will have a beautiful day. I get married just 4 days after her…WHOA!! 🙂
March 12, 2008
Unless Someone Like You
I recently ran across these awesome wedding pieces on an etsy Handmade Wedding Forum. The company is called Unless Someone Like You. The idea stems from the artist’s own creative idea to send out a large poster as his own wedding invitation!!
Imagine sending each of your guests an actual poster, which to his credit, would look like artwork on the wall! The coupld could also opt to order one poster and have it framed. For the time being, leave the glass off, then have this set up at your wedding reception as your “Guest Book” which everyone can sign.
The artist, a self proclaimed “Chicago artist and proud mother!” can make a poster from drawings, a photograph or any other type of symbol or logo or significance. Sample posters are ten dollars. Note that the price is for the digital file, which you take to your local printers.
March 10, 2008
Jewelery
Though the colors in this jewelery post fit the color scheme for my own wedding, I have noticed a great trend towards the vintagey, thick gold dangling earrings. I have always found pleasure in the combination of white and gold anyway. Most of these jewelery pieces are very “bon marché”, as they say here. (Literally meaning Good Market). Some are etsy artists, some are from well-known shops. I love these pieces because I am not very traditional when it comes to wedding jewelery. I like vintage stuff in real life, and since thats “me,” why not on my big day too? All these pieces ares eye-catching without being obtrusive.
from the knot
from Impressionnen
from Tuesday’s Child
from Moxiebee
from Sudlow
from Lovemade
from PaperFlowerGirls
From Mariages Magazine: A great example of what these earrings would look like in person.
from relishdress
from Twist
from Kuukivi
from K-Amato
also from K-Amato
from elkemunkert
from Gingeroni
March 9, 2008
Kelly’s Board (and mine:) )
I was just reading along in my google reader when I noticed that one of my favorite wedding blogs was showing a whole post about some Jessica girl’s wedding. I read that her colors are teal, gold and white. Then suddenly I was all, “Hey…that’s me!” I am touched. Check out what they put together for me here.
I happen to have made an inspiration board for another bride-to-be recently. She and I exchanged a few comments, then emails and I decided to have a whirl at helping Kelly round out her vision for her wedding.
Kelly’s colors are green, white and black. Her mood: ” classic, fun, laid back and unique.”
She was torn between a damask print, or dots but finally (and smartly, I think) decided on dots, since those could be incorporated (in varying sizes) much more easily, and would feel more “laid back.”
One of Kelly’s small concerns is that she “also want to make sure to incorporate green in as much as possible. I am starting to feel like this will be a black and white wedding with splashes of green.”
So here’s what I suggested:
For apparel I threw in the bouquet on the bottom left and the green necklace on the top right. The necklace might look fab with the black dress she is having her bridesmaids wear. The green bouquet in the middle is a softer, more romantic look. She could use small ferns or palm fronds to get the more vivid green in the bridesmaid bouquets.
Her preference is for Kelly Green, but mixing greens of similar shades like Lime, Kelly and Grape (perhaps not mint or forest…) would be fine if you mixed them throughout. The centerpiece photo in the board pulls this off very well.
Check out the photo of the OREO truffle. This has the black and white colors and could function as an adorable favor. The photo and recipe are from a baking blog, but most likely a good caterer could do this easily. (Or DIY, like the blogger, ha!) I also love the cake on the bottom with the polka dots.
That reminds me, I love the idea of a few things having polka dots (i.e. not everything). Since Kelly wants cupcakes in place of a cake, I picture white frosting cupcakes with little fondant black and green circles. The pins in the top right-hand corner are actually name tag/escort cards, but give off the polka-dot air.
(Isn’t it interesting that people don’t do nametags at weddings, when clearly it would help people tremendously!)
What about a candy buffet in these colors? Check out www.candyfavorites.com and click on By Color. Stash them in cheap Michael’s containers, grab a polka dot plastic bag and fill ’em up as a favor or dessert buffet! The only black candy I can come up with is Licorice, or any licorice flavored jelly bean etc. To cut a bit of cost, you could also include bright green apples in the buffet.
The white candle in the middle is Ikea (we just bought like forty of them) and the ribbon on top is just an idea. You could also wrap some sort of ribbon (polka dotted or not) around clear or white vases holding flowers (see photo below). The green centerpiece image is Awesome, and shows what all you can do that is green without even using flowers. Think ferns, fronds, palms, grasses. There is a bright green feather on the board to make you think of using feathers as well for a cheaper, fun idea.
Finally, the lamp: Just a crazy idea for a centerpiece to get us thinking outside the box!
March 8, 2008
A few Parisian inspirations
March 6, 2008
What is great about an inspiration board?
Weddings Start to Finish 
