2.28.2011

Adventures of a Maid of Honor

We recently celebrated Laura's upcoming wedding with a beautiful bridal shower designed by fellow bridesmaid Beth Helmstetter. It was simply gorgeous and we can't wait to share pics with you! For now, here is a photo of me with the lovely bride-to-be with the other fabulous ladies in our family - our mom and grandmother!


Following the shower, Laura and I headed to her office to work on assembling and stamping (yes, she went the vintage stamp route) her wedding invitations - they turned out fabulously and I can't wait to receive mine in the mail!

We also met up last week at The White Dress in Corona Del Mar to pick up Laura's wedding dress. The shop doesn't do alterations in-house, so we were getting the dress to take it off to be altered. It nearly fits Laura perfectly already, just needs to be taken in in a few places. She looks so beautiful and I can't wait to see the "complete look" on her wedding day!

Next up is the bachelorette party. A small group of us will be heading up to Santa Barbara, but all of the details are a surprise to Laura so I can't share anything else until later.

There's not much else to report. With Laura planning the wedding with the talented Beth Helmstetter, it gives me a pretty easy maid-of-honor gig! So far it's just been helping with the dress, accessories, suits and other details. It's also really helpful that I was recently married so I've sent Laura a lot of my documents to edit and use for herself such as my song list for the DJ and must-have photo shot list. Logistics are my strong point and I'm happy to share!

2.25.2011

Make a Lasting Impression with Wood Invitations

We're crazy about these invitations that utilize wooden veneers to create a truly unique look!

The first set is a double-sided save-the-date that features a map for the destination wedding as well as other useful travel information on the reverse. The look is further embellished with our signature orchid design.



The next two invitation sets use the wood for the main invitation as a single accent piece with the rest of the invitation elegantly letterpressed on 220# paper.







Visit our Etsy site for more information on these and other creative pieces! 

2.24.2011

Tips: Using Vintage Stamps

Using vintage stamps can be a great way to personalize your invitations. They can reflect the theme of your wedding, the personality of the person receiving the invitation, or just be completely random! The process of aquiring, sorting and applying vintage stamps, though, can be quite time consuming. So before you dive into this extra wedding project, here are a few tips to consider.



1. Many vintage stamps are sold above face value, but you can also find some sold at their face value. It is important that you decide if you want to purchase only face value stamps or if you are willing to spend a little extra to get the "perfect" stamps.

2. You definitely want to start searching for your stamps in advance. Often your wedding planner can help you with this, but if you are on your own, it could take a while to accumulate enough stamps - remember a lot of vintage stamps are smaller values and wedding invitations generally run from $0.61 to over $1 each to mail! That's a lot of stamps! One way to avoid using excessive amounts of stamps on your invitations is to use one $0.44 to take up a large portion of the necessary postage...if your invitations cost over $1 to mail, this still leaves you with plenty of postage to fill with smaller denominations.

3. Ebay and Etsy are both good sources for vintage stamps. You can simply search for "vintage stamps," but be sure that you only purchase "unused" stamps. Collectors will sometimes sell and/or buy used or cancelled stamps because they may still have some value even though they are no longer in mint condition. Etsy seller Verde Studio specifically has tons of vintage stamps and can help make the process a lot easier by organizing your stamps for you.




4. Make sure you designate some time to separate the stamps into sets of your necessary postage. This can be very easy to do if you have many of the same stamps. While it's nice to give certain people a stamp that may be meaningful for them (an airplane to the pilot in the family, books to an avid reader, etc), it's much easier to figure out what stamps make your necessary combination of postage and create multiple piles of that stamp combo. Remember, you can always and and "extra" person stamp if you think someone would appreciate it. And as always, you should take one completed invitation to the post office and have it weighed to ensure that your invitations aren't returned to you.

5. The last step, which is often overlooked in terms of budgeting the proper amount of time, is adhering your stamps to your invitations. A lot of your vintage stamps will not be self adhesive - a modern luxury that we often overlook! You will need to be prepared to either lick many, many stamps...or you can use a glue stick to simplifiy this step.

All stamps featured on this post are available from Verde Studio. Good luck!

2.23.2011

Real Wedding: Richmond Virginia

This Virginia wedding featured a beautiful color palette of navy, ivory, antique gold and dusty rose. Our Bickham Swash calligraphy style was used in the printed materials.

The invitations were beautifully letterpressed and included the couple's monogram at the top.



The escort cards were delicately hung from tree branches outside the reception area.



And we even created Bride and Groom signs for the guests of honor!
 


The couple's monogram was used again as a Gobo on the dance floor!
 
 
And around the gorgeous floral centerpieces were individual place cards to tie it all together.
 
 
Photography by Patricia Lyons Photography.

2.22.2011

Adventures of a Bride-to-Be

The wedding is getting closer (just over 2 months away!), but there's not really anything new to report! All my out of state invitations are nicely in the right hands - our guests'. I am waiting on the additional stamps I ordered to get here so that I can squeeze in the time to get the remainder stamped and out in the mail. Good thing we are close to all of our guests and they all know my quirky ways and understand that I am a little nutty about this wedding!

My mom has finally found "the" dress. That was a huge relief. We just now both need shoes. My nephew got his suit, and can I tell you could be the cutest thing I have ever seen! It is also the smallest suit I have ever seen...he is totally going to stylin.

In other news, we went to dance class #3....we are much improving but by no means pros yet!



We are headed to California next week to visit the Ranch and to do our food tasting. My parents are flying in from Dallas, and I am so excited to see them as well as finalize all the flowers, cake, drinks and food!

Recap of the vendors and to do list:
Photographer: Kirsten Ellis of Beaux Arts Photographie
Flowers: SR Hogue
Wedding Night Accommodations: San Ysidro Ranch
Honeymoon: Italy
Rentals: Classic Party Rentals
Musician: Anthony Ybarra
Officiant: Richard Tobin
Wedding Venue: San Ysidro Ranch
Invitations and Signage: Laura Hooper Calligraphy
Bride's Hair & Makeup: Dedra Whitt
Welcome Dinner: Piatti's
Farewell Brunch: Undecided
Gifts for Sibling: Check on my side.... Wes????
Welcome Totes: Need to fill and get goodies
Lighting: To be decided when in California
Still so much to do, but I'm off to Vegas for work this week followed by food tasting on Friday. Looking forward to a little down time with the hubby-to-be and my parents!
Always with love,
Aly

2.21.2011

Creative Tip: Compasses

Perfect for your nautical themed or beach themed wedding, these compasses will guide each of your guests to their proper seat. Each brass compass comes with a hand-lettered note in the lid indicating the guests' name and where they are seated.




To include even more wording, this couple tied on a sweet little tag and included the name only in the lid of the compass!




What a terrific seating idea and a keepsake for your guests to take home.

For more information, visit our Etsy site or email us today!

2.18.2011

Creative Tip: Sand Dollars as Escort Cards

Planning a beachside wedding? Our hand calligraphed sand dollars are perfect as escort cards or place cards.





The sand dollars are also excellent keepsakes for your wedding or event. Perfect for tropical destination weddings! They look amazing hanging from a tree or in a box of sand with scattered shells around them.



Visit our Etsy website for more information or email us!

2.17.2011

Journey Maps

Want to create a custom map reflecting your relationship but you've been too many place to fit in one city? Well our custom "Journey Maps" may be the perfect option for you!

Our journey maps can include multiple cities, states and even countries!




These maps are perfect for save the dates, invitations and to show off at rehearsal dinners - and when you order the keepsake size you can display your map for all to see in your home!

2.16.2011

Creative Tip: Custom Cocktail Napkins

Couples are often looking for a way to add custom personalization to their wedding, rehearsal dinner or other special events...and customized cocktail napkins are a perfect option for that!






You can add artwork, monograms and caligraphy - all to make this small detail unique for you! These adorable napkins also work great at engagement parties and bridal or baby showers!

2.15.2011

Adventures of a Bride-to-Be

We got our invitations and vintage stamps this week. I was like a kid in the candy store opening up all of my packages from Laura, trying not to rip anything and forbidding Wes to touch them as I knew he would get them dirty, he is a boy! This all after a crazy week and an even busier weekend. We could have not fit more things in this week. Besides work we squeezed in dance lessons, celebrating Valentine's day, wine tasting with friends and honeymoon planning.


{wine tasting at Page Springs}

By Sunday night when we sat down to do our stamps on our envelopes I just sat there looking at a ton of vintage stamps - like many brides, I have chosen the route of vintage stamps and to make each one different. While still sitting there an hour later I had to ponder...WHY??? Why did I decide to do this? (Brides to be reading this, if you're thinking about doing this...seriously double and triple think this. It's incredibly time consuming, gorgeous but time consuming). Wes sat down next to me to help, and I still just sat there with a blank look on my face. He goes okay, we need to figure out if we need more...sure enough my little mathematician was correct I was $12.16 short on my postage. So, I logged onto Etsy and found my girl on Verde Studio who I used prior and purchased more stamps. Hopefully they come soon as we so need to get these invitations out, time is ticking. But, in the meantime we continued with HOW are we going to do this; we separated the out of towner's and started there. After eight response envelopes later, I hit my wall. I had to stop, Wes not understanding why. I am a self proclaimed perfectionist and it drives me insane if things are not straight and perfect. So althought he was trying his best to help me, I think for the sake of our upcoming nuptials that I should do this project by myself! So, Wes I apologize for not being grateful for you helping me out.


Looking forward to getting these invitations out, asap. Goal is by Friday!


Always with Love,
Aly

2.14.2011

Happy Valentine's Day ~ Love is Sweet!

Happy Valentine's Day!


We hope your day is filled with love, laughter and many delicious surprises...

2.11.2011

Elegant Invitation Suites

Outdoor weddings have become increasing popular, but there is still something so romantic about a formal ballroom wedding. And these nearly 100% calligraphy invitations are the perfect piece to invite guests to your formal affair!







The elegant calligraphy creates an exceptional look that is sure to set the mood for your formal occasion.

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