June 28, 2010

{Inspiration} Celebrating America!

As July 4th quickly approaches, I thought that I would post some great pictures I've found online to inspire your own celebration!

P is for Party's Kid Friendly Table

TomKat Studio's Fabulous Printables

Inspiration Board on Birthday Girl


Treats and Goodie Bags at The PolkaDot Giraffe


Are you proud of your patriotic designs?
Send them my way and I'll feature you!

June 24, 2010

The Art of Thanking

I adore paper and the etiquette of written correspondence. Although I love the digital age we live in, I wish we were a society that still appreciated a well-crafted, hand-written note! Fortunately, the wedding scene still encourages the hand-written thank you card tradition! Yet another reason I love weddings!

Etiquette dictates that you have approximately two weeks after receiving the gift to send your thank you card. I personally agree with this tradition for your pre-wedding parties but think you have a little more time after the big day. Try to get your wedding thank-you cards out before you hit your three-month anniversary.

When writing your thank-you notes, remember to mention what you are thanking them for and how you intend to use it. This can help you get started if you have writer's block! We absolutely adore the silver fleur de lis tray and cannot wait to serve Chris' homemade bread on it at our next dinner party! I also like to close with a nice sentence or two about how much the recipient means to me and how much I appreciate them. Emily Post reminds us to be sincere and to use expressions that come naturally, writing as though you are conversing with the recipient.

Again, I love paper so I adore personalized and fun stationery! These are some fun ones that I found:








Don't these beautiful colors and designs just make you want to sit down and write everyone you know a little note!

June 22, 2010

{Bliss Board} Vintage Wedding Blues


One of my brides is dreaming of a 1940s bash for her big day filled with navy and light blue. How fab, right? I am really excited about her vision so I went on a search for inspiration and created this board:


Let me know what you think!

June 21, 2010

{Real Wedding} Shannon +Ben

What a joy it was to watch these two get married on Saturday! They are a fun Texas couple with the bride being a graduate from Texas Tech and the groom being a big Texas A&M fan...can you say household divided!?!  The bride chose a color theme of burnt orange and brown that really popped against the palette of White Oak Plantation (Baton Rouge, LA). Check out a few snapshots I captured of their fun details:

The guests were welcomed with a really unique "guest book". A wishing well with river rocks!

Guests were asked to sign the rocks with paint pens and toss them in the well!

And here is your first exposure to their school spirit!

Marino's Florist spruced up the white chairs for the ceremony with an arrangement of flowers and ribbons. Shannon also thought about her guests and the June heat and had me place fans on each of the chairs.

The fans were personalized with their names and the date.

After the ceremony, guests were greeted with gorgeous arrangements of browns and orange on each table.


The cake from Ambrosia Bakery also popped with color!

Look how fun!


Ben really got to show off his school spirit with his groom's cake!
(also by Ambrosia Bakery)


This couple was adorable and it was such an honor to help them with their big day happen!

June 18, 2010

{Inspiration} Tasty Treats!



I love tasty treats so I am digging the trend of snazzy candy buffets and dessert tables!
I find these designs just inspiring! Enjoy!









June 17, 2010

Beating the Heat!

In the South, we are blessed with gorgeous plantations filled with colorful and bright landscaping that truly scream "PLEASE GET MARRIED HERE!" So we do...in the blazing Spring and Summer months! Heaven forbid we choose a home football game for our nuptials! Southern girls know better! =)


To help you and your guests beat the heat, here are just a few ideas:


1. Ceremony programs that multi-task!

images from Peak-A-Boo Designs

2. Keep coffee filters in your emergency bag!
Trust me...these bad boys serve as excellent blotters and they keep your make up perfect!

3. Have a water station for your guests near the ceremony!


4. Choose a shaded location, like near a gorgeous tree!


5. Keep the ceremony short and sweet!
Your guests will appreciate it, your groomsmen will appreciate it and you will appreciate it!

June 14, 2010

{Real Wedding} Summer + Jeremy

What a gorgeous weekend in Navarre, FL! A friend of mine and his beautiful bride had their dream destination wedding this past Saturday and WOW, it was memorable! It was such great weather, the flowers and colors were perfect, and the intimate ceremony was personalized just right! My favorite part of the sunset, beach ceremony was when two of the groom's nieces passed out skipping stones to all of the guests. We all gathered around the couple and wedding party right at the water's edge and made wishes for the couple as we all tossed the stones into the ocean. This great idea of the bride really was a creative touch and I'm sure gave the photographer tons to capture!

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Burkes!



June 9, 2010

One of my favorite things...


I have a passion for shoes! When I see a chick with bright colors and patterns on her feet, it literally warms my heart because I see shoes as a piece of wearable art! With the perfect pair you can subtly (or unsubtly!) tell the world that you are fierce, brave, sexy, trendy or whatever! I love it!

My favorite new trend is that brides are doing just that...adding a spice of color to their big day wardrobe with gorgeous shoes! The tiny and well-planned details like this are one of my favorite parts about planning weddings!


This is my dear friend Mallory! She wanted to make an impression with these gorgeous stems and she did just that!
Photo by Studio Tran



I'm a little bias with these photos because these are MY wedding shoes! I love blue and wanted to show it!


Here are a few randoms I found online:



Don't be scared to be different and daring! It's fun!