Creative Tip: Kraft Bags

Want to give our some traditional wedding candy but looking for a unique way to get it to your guests? Or do you have a special treat you've thought of but not sure how to package it up? Use these simple yet chic Kraft bags!

The bags come in natural {pictured} or white and we can calligraphy any words in a wide variety of colors! Pop your treats in and you're all set! Things to write include: "Gateaux", "Treat", "Thank You", "Merci", your initials and/or wedding date...the possibilities are endless!

Ribbon not included.
Photo by Jose Villa.

Creative Tip: Personalized Guestbooks

Nature can be quite inspirational and that is exactly where product designer Gillian Stevens pulls from for her daily inspiration in creating leather and recycled paper products that comprise her company Dewdrop designs! These beautiful leather bound books make amazing guestbooks ~ both my sister and I made good use of them at our own weddings!

You can write directly on the pages themselves, or leave cards for your guests to write their message on and glue those in at a later date. This works well for you to add a photo from your professional pics with each card to keep a visual of each guest with their well wishes. The books are also perfect if you have a polaroid camera or photo booth to add day-of pictures right in!

Gillian is so easy to work with and will even add in your custom Laura Hooper Calligraphy monogram or standard calligraphy to correlate with your entire inviation suite and other print materials!

Visit the Dewdrop website to see these and other fantastic products from Gillian Stevens.

Real Wedding: Montego Bay, Jamaica

One of our most popular blog posts ever was one featuring a boarding pass invitation suite. We also created an adorable Jamaica map for the couple, so we thought it would be fun to share the photos from the wedding itself!

First, the pieces we contributed...

And now the beautiful wedding photographed by Andrea Jae Photography, starting with the bride in her drool-worthy dress!

Congratulations to the bride and groom!

To see more of this tropical paradise wedding, visit Andrea Jae's blog!

Creative Tip: Drink Stations

There are many ways to quench your guests' thirst other than (or in addition to!) a standard bar. Perhaps the most common way is a simple table set up at the wedding ceremony. Especially if your ceremony is running late, your guests will thank you!

Offering a slightly unique beverage will spice things up a bit and is the perfect way to incorporate local fare ~ such as the Hawaiian drink below! If you want to keep things traditional, consider a lavender lemonade or cucumber water. These are basics drinks that will leave everyone refreshed, not bored!

Bins provide another opportunity for self-serve drinks and can range from simple to chic!

You can also create a self-serve bar for soirees that won't include a bartender.

Use these ideas plus your own to create the perfect beverage station that fits your party, shower or wedding!

Invitations: Subtle Touches of Tangerine

Do you love the color tangerine, but don't know how to incorporate it into your big day or other event? Invitations such as these let you incorporate your favorites colors in a more subtle way.

The delicate floral design boasts a soft tangerine coloring ~ perfect to accentuate your favorite shade!

One of our favorite blogs, The Perfect Palette, happened to feature a palette modeled around tangerine just yesterday!

For more on our invitation suite, please visit our Etsy page.

Maps: United States

This United States map is part of a printed wedding ceremony program and depicts the journey of each guest's travels to the destination wedding taking place in Oahu, HI!

This is such a fun, creative way to thank your guests for travelling near and far and to incorporate them into your ceremony. While showing the entire United States and the trip to Hawaii, the map specifically highlights the nine states that guests will be arriving from.

And while we all wish the Hawaiian Islands were this close to the mainland, please note that this map {along with our other custom maps} is of course not drawn to scale!

Creative Tip: Cake Signs

Will your wedding cake be on display and you want to make sure your guests know the declicious flavors they will experience? Cake signs are a great way to showcase this and decorate your cake table!

As you can see, this works well with cupcake displays too!

Creative Tip: Stir Sticks & Food Flags

Looking to spice up your cocktail hour beverages? Want to let your guests know what food they will be enjoying in a creative way? Customizing your stir sticks and labeling your items with flagged picks can add some excitement to any spread!

Flags like these are perfect for cocktail parties, baby showers and bridal showers in addition to weddings!

Wedding Shoot by Bella Weddings & Events

We were so honored to be included in this gorgeous green + white inspiration wedding shoot by Bella Weddings & Events that was recently featured on Green Wedding Shoes!

From Susan & Kathy at Bella..."When Leila came to us asking to collaborate on a shoot, we were thrilled. We immediately thought of Vibiana as the perfect venue for the shoot and a fresh green spring theme started to evolve. Vibiana is a gorgeous venue with so many amazing architectural details - we loved shooting the details in the church's old altars and confessionals. The white marble is a gorgeous background!


Carissa's inspired floral designs brought to life the modern look for the dining and cake tables and through the light and airy bouquets. We had so much fun playing around in the Classic Party Rentals showroom to find the perfect place settings and chairs. The cake designed by Melody from the Sweet & Saucy shop picked up details from one of the gorgeous wedding gowns from the Alisa Benay collection. And Laura Hooper's classic custom calligraphy invitations, menus and place cards completed the look."

To tie the stationery in with the green + white theme, we provided invitations, menus and place cards using our Manhattan script in green ink. To play up the elegance of the venue and decor, we used a formal, all-calligraphy invitation.

We just love the dessert pieces!

Thank you to Leila at Be Inspired PR for bringing us into the shoot and to all of the vendors involved!

Venue: Vibiana
Coordination & Design: Bella Weddings & Events
Florals: JL Designs
Photography: Barnaby Draper Studios
Wedding Gowns: Alisa Benay
Rentals: Classic Party Rentals, Culver City
Linens: La Tavola
Cake & Desserts: Sweet and Saucy Shop
Producer: Be Inspired PR