weddings:

I've been fortunate enough to be asked to help at a couple weddings & realized haven't even shared them here yet. I love weddings because they are such an expression of love (of course) and creativity. Weddings are so crazy-creative these days, aren't they? Each one is so special and unique to each couple. These 2 weddings below were pretty different but you could get the sense of style and aesthetic of each couple through them.

A recent wedding I got to help at was in March for my friend, Helen. Helen is one creative lady - she conceptualized the entire wedding herself, gathered all the vintage goods/decor,  & created all the decorations/handmade elements. Helen & Alex's wedding was blogged about at Ruffled, so check out more pictures there!

Photos by Christian Cruz.

(thanks for the correct link Ruby!)

The next wedding was for Sonja, creator of the fab. LA event, Unique. Sonja & Jon had their wedding out in Joshua Tree and it was a whole fun weekend event. Sonja also brought all her own decorations, did all the crafts, flowers, and came up with all the cute details! Was super fortunate to have Ashley come and help as well, she painted signs and set up displays. Sonja's wedding was blogged about at Design*Sponge so you can see more photos over there! 

Photos by Tyler Branch.

Aren't these both amazing? The weddings were both so special and creative. So honored that these ladies asked me to help on their special day.

I should mention my husband also came to help at these events, because he is just that amazing & supportive. So he was right there with me coordinating, figuring out problems, and cleaning up. He's the best ;) 

Is anyone out there planning a wedding right now? What are your likes/dislikes about the whole process? The #1 thing I'd say is: this day is about you. So many people have their own opinions & input but ultimately, this is your special day so do whatever you want! (easier said than done, I know) :)

Happy weekend friends!

hello wedding - wedzu:

There's a new handmade shopping site in town: wedzu! It's brand new and is already filled with many wonderful designers. My own wedding has passed but I of course still love looking at all the crafty things designers come up with for weddings. Check our wedzu's blog too! Here are some of my favorites:

+ DIY printable flag card by Ready Go

+ Natural Rainbow Moonstone Necklace by Anne Kiel Jewelry

+ The Lundione by Blushless

+ 10ct white diamond 14kt gold stacking set by Andrea Bonelli Jewelry

+ Custom Keepsake Wedding Topper by The Small Object

+ To have and to Hold bag by by Mélangerie Inc.

hello wedding: wedding invites:

If you're a fan of oh, hello friend on facebook, you may have saw my post that we finally got the wedding invites out. It was such a happy day :) I thought I'd share some shots around the work room the day they were sent out.

The invites arrived in a muslin drawstring bag,

We used iron-ons for our story on the front.

Nicholas wrote the whole thing :)

All the beautiful calligraphy was done by the lovely

Cathie from ampersandity!

Happy Thursday friends! I am taking off a day early,

Hope you all have a most fabulous weekend and

see you on Monday! xo.

hello wedding - inspiration boards:

So here are our inspiration boards for the wedding decor - what do you think? We wanted a sort of curious object/science/harry potter feel, if those things can possibly relate or go together ;) Actually, what really started it was I got this stand for the wedding and asked my little brother what he thought of it and he goes, "It's awesome! It reminds me of harry potter!" Which is where some of the inspiration came.

image sources: picnic baskets, benches, photo stands, scenery,

bundt cake, domes, lamps, magnifying stands, flowers.

all items from velocity, and butterfly diy cards are from project wedding.

These images have a bit of a different feel to them but I put them

together for the concepts. Hopefully we can pull these off in time :)

drink table, drink carafes, frame wall, flowers, gift backdrop

Love the drink table, these simple flowers, the frame wall,

and the lace/ribbon/streamer backdrop!

straw image source - got all my straw info from here!

gray/yellow cards, flowers + bottles, picnic blanket ceremony

We're actually doing a picnic blanket reception,

so excited to see how it turns out! :)

So what do you think of our decor and ideas for the wedding?

hello wedding - shower invites:

i blogged about our wedding shower last week, and thought i'd share the invites with you. they were really simple and easy to make for yourself if you have a party or an event coming up!

so all you basically need are the following:

- A6 flat card in your color choice.

- #1 baby envelopes. these from envelope mall would work too.

- resealable polypropylene / cello bags for A6 size cards.

- blank label sticker paper.

i printed on both sides of the A6 card and attached the little envelope on the right. i printed and cut out the little cards that went inside the envelope. (you could also order them to save time cutting)

the card goes into the clear cello bag, then seal it.

i created a wrap around label. i printed on the blank sticker

paper and cut it out so i could just place it on the clear bag.

all done! a view of the back.

and the view of the front!

for postage, i took it to the post office and they told me it costs extra to mail the plastic. so that was a bummer - it was .64 cents instead of the normal .44. but luckily they have pretty butterfly stamps out right now! :) but postage is definitely something i'd consider in the future before designing a card / invite.

hello wedding - our wedding shower:

last weekend we had our wedding shower that my mom threw for us. something about my mom: she is one of the most generous people i know. she loves to give. so when we had our shower and i asked her if we could get an ice cream truck, she didn't spare any expenses. we had a yummy taco guy, king kone ice cream, and a photo booth. the photo booth was technically free since my bro and i own it ;)

our dear friend ruby was there and snapped some shots of the party. i am so grateful she thought to take pics and her photos are so legit. most of all these photos are by ruby ellen!

some pics of nicholas + i:

^ little ethan and christian getting their icecream.

my beautiful mom.

sweet friends: ruby + linda.
brave, true, and soul.

bravey + truey, with all their toys my mom gave them, hah.

my ring :)

yum!

other fun shots from around the party:

all the pics were taken by ruby!

i am sure she is for hire for any event ;)

the party was at my mom's house. we are blessed with great friends - my mom's friends all were there to help her since she's not her full 100% with the chemo. friends came, made punch, made salad, baked pies, set up the tables and chairs. one of her friends got us a great deal with the table + chair rentals: only $5/table and $.50 cents per chair! haha, when my mom told me i was like, what can you even get for .50 cents these days? apparently you can rent a chair. what a great deal!

we had so much fun and i think the guests had fun too. i am glad that is done though: now we are going full force into wedding planning for the next 30 days! i am excited but am just ready to be married, you know what i mean? some days i am tempted to just run down to the court house. and we just want to go on our honeymoon so we can go to the harry potter theme park! ;) xo.

hello wedding - n+d wood tags:

I ordered these wood tags to be tied onto our wedding invites. The invites are still in the works.. but they are kind of based off the book of notes. Anyway, I really really like how these tags turned out.. what do you think?

I designed 2 styles: the balloon and a circle style, with a pixel heart: that's the one nick liked and thought was cute since we both work on computers. They are about 1.5" in size.. What do you think?

Robertosand is the place to go - this guy is just super duper
sweet, so helpful, and so fabulous to work with!

hello wedding - test tube vase trend:

i went shopping with my mom a couple weeks ago for some wedding decor and noticed all these test tube vase decorations in the stores: i really am loving them. then i stumbled across betsy white's blog where she did a round up of some test tube vases. definitely an upcoming trend, what do you think of them? anyway, i decided to go on a hunt for test tube inspiration!

+

1 from here / 2 from here

+

+

via thehomeport.com

+

+

+

via wrapables.com

spice tower rack

via urban outfitters

+

+

via ethanollie

whew, there's a lot out there :) hope you're inspired today.

xo.