Ok, so I am fully aware that most people don’t actually use the exclamation, “yippee!” in real life. I used it last night when I saw this. For real. I’m a nerd…a happy one though!
The Wedding Chicks is a stunningly fabulous site. I have suggested it here before for their DIY and Shop categories. Imagine my joy at having a wedding featured there yesterday! This is an image teaser from it, but scoot on over to WeddingChicks.com for all the images!
The flowers from this past weekend’s event were really happy blooms. The colors were super saturated and vibrant while still remaining true to autumn. Love it when that happens. The event is an annual fundraiser and I have designed for them for the past 4 years or so. They love my square arrangements so I do them every time – with different colors and flowers, of course. I almost always use kale and artichokes though because, well, kale and artichokes are fabulous – don’t you know?!
…Daisy says, “hi.”
This past Friday I was incredibly, incredibly honored and ecstatic (!) to have an inspiration shoot featured on one of the go-to wedding blogs for all things lovely: 100 Layer Cake. One of my brides last year actually sent me to 100 Layer because she said I would love it – she was right, I do!
Anyway, the shoot was a collaboration with the up and coming/highly talented dress designer Elisha Sewell and the marvelous lady-behind-the-lens Catherine Ritchie Park of MyLife Photography at Summerour Studio. Can’t wait to work with them again!
Here are a few more photos from the shoot that I just kind of adore…
XO.
You say you’re on a shoestring budget? Alrighty, here’s something you don’t have to factor into your budget ‘cause it’s free. Yep. I said it. F-R-E-E.
I stumbled upon this lovely blog (called EverythingEtsy) via Pinterest last night. (If you’re not on Pinterest yet, get moving – it’ll change your whole ‘lil inspiration world!) It’s a list of “101 Pretty Printables.” The list is quite extensive in style and uses but there are definitely some wedding-worthy pretties that have the potential to spice up your day!
Here’s a peak at some of my favs:
{from JustSomethingIMade}
{from eighteen25}
{from TheHandmadeHome}
{from TheHandmadeHome}
{from The Pretty Blog}
…and there are so many more (96 to be exact)! Happy printing, Pretties!
Today is one of those I adore. My morning stroll with Daisy was slightly chilly. The sun isn’t even trying to break through the clouds – as if he’s content to take a break and slouch on the couch today. The shroud of fog and cloud-cover just settling on the treetops make one remember why Autumn is so dreamy. Dreamy like a Jane Austen book. Dreamy like kissing in the rain. Dreamy like I want to be living in London today…
I’ve been enjoying these images on my desktop for a few weeks and decided it was time to share some of them. Michelle & Steven captured them (just because they’re both darling and unexplainably kind to me) back in June. These are from a very woodland fairytale meets English garden wedding at Summerour Studio. I have to admit I was a bit spoiled by it because I got to use Upright Pitcher Plants in a wedding (yay!) and Michelle brought along this adorable little yellow chair that I want to steal from her (hush – it’s stinkin’ cute!). Needless to say several of these shots will be used again in the future and it’s only partially due to the cute chair.
They’re pretty dreamy, don’t you think?!
It is always so exciting to be published – and not just online but in good old fashioned glossy print. So, I am ecstatic to have a wedding featured in the latest issue of Occasions Magazine! This issue is particularly gorgeous with lots of color, inspiration, and fabulosity. Check out the online version by clicking the link above or go support your local Barnes & Noble and pick up a copy. (pages 144-147)
While you’re at it, go browse around on their blog too!
I am thrilled to unveil these photos that put the finishing touches on one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever had the privilege of having a hand in. If you follow my blog at all, you have heard me talk about my best friend, Ashley, and her wedding to Juan on the dreamy, wine-soaked coast of Italy. We have been eagerly awaiting the pictures from Jack and Tina Fussell and they did not disappoint. They are amazing. So amazing, in fact, that I had a hard time picking the ones I wanted to feature!
A word about Jack and Tina: I have worked with quite a few photographers, but there are only a handful that are artful enough for me to go back to the pictures again and again to see what spectacular detail in their shots I have missed. From the way Jack and Tina capture light to emotion to composition I am impressed – to say the least. Their mutual love of photography, artistry, detail, and each other oozes from their camera shutters and leaves the subject in a state of awe. They are brilliant. And simultaneously precious.
A word about Ashley (and Juan): Ashley – or as I commonly refer to her as “Hashbrowns” – is one of my dearest and truest friends. I adore her on so many levels and the joy that beamed from her that day took my breath away. The fact that she pretty much let me run with whatever design I felt embodied hers and Juan’s style was inspiring and humbling. When you know someone as well as we know each other, it is a heavy weight to design their wedding because you so want to portray them and not impose on their day anything that does not make them giggle with delight. Juan did not giggle – just for the record – but Ashley may have let a tiny one slip out.
I was honored to be a part of your “Best Day Ever”, my darling friends and I will remember it for the rest of my life.
In Ashley’s own words:
“ [King’s Residence Hotel in Palinuro] is the place you think of while you’re sitting in your office, wishing yourself away to a magical Italian paradise where gelato and cappuccino are present at every meal served by a dashing Italian waiter named Giovanni, the ocean is always within sight, and the breeze blows through your hair as you breathe in its saltiness mixed with just a hint of tomato sauce and garlic wafting from the kitchen nearby. This place was the stuff dreams are made of, perfectly fitting for a day in which I was to marry the man I had dreamed about all my life. Juan and I chose King’s Residence, having never been to Italy in our lives, based on a recommendation from Juan’s father. He was sure right about the place – it was absolutely perfect….”
P.S. The “random” guy in the girls’ picture is Giovanni: also known as Renaissance Man/Cappuccino-Barista/Bartender extraordinaire.
Venue & Catering: King’s Residence Hotel (ask for Luisa – she is THE best!)
Shoes: Kate Spade
I’m diggin’ destination weddings right now…
Brad and Noelle’s wedding was over a year ago, but I’ve been dying to show it off for a number of reasons: 1) It was in Destin, Florida so it’s the perfect homage to summertime. 2) Noelle chose very bold colors and, just in case you haven’t picked up on this yet, I adore bold colors. 3) Noelle, Brad, and their families were just precious and you can feel their connected-ness and support when you’re with them and in their photos (by MichelleMariePhotography) and that is worth showing off a bit!
You know you love that song! (Ok, maybe not, but I think it’s cute and it’s my blog…)
I am continually fascinated by the creativity of tradition-made-new problem solving in weddings. Take something old and give it a new spin and I’m a twitterpated girl! One genius problem-solving spin I’ve stumbled upon lately is the outdoor “opening of the doors.”
There is a sacred moment right before you walk down the aisle. That moment that is yours to breathe, to still be Daddy’s-little-girl for a moment, to just be you for one second more. The moment after that is the one I’m talking about – the joy comes flooding in as the doors are flung open and you actually see your man and take those first steps down the aisle. Those doors are symbolic in many ways and what a shame to not have them just because you decided to have an outdoor affair!
Enter inspiration and ah-hah moment that prove that, well, it is your day and you can have it all…
And while you’re at it, why not use doors for other things as well…
As a side note: I know I have been a bit lax in updating these last couple of weeks but there are some very exciting happenings going on with JVD that have been keeping me away. I will give a full-fledged update soon.
{images from GreenWeddingShoes, Ruffled, & WeddingChicks}
I am definitely having one of those “coming off of a trip-high” days. Bleh. I miss pasta as an option at every meal. I miss ebony-eyed waiters rambling off compliments in Italian and looking at you as though you were crazy for not understanding and swooning immediately. I miss cappuccino and Nutella at breakfast and diving into bottles of wine at dinner and lunch…
I digress. One of the joys of travelling for me is finding stores that are off the tourist-beaten path. I sort of hate all the tourist-y things when they pull you away from “breathing in” a country and all of its flavors, people watching, and culture intoxication. Before I left I bought 4 books. Two were maps of Rome and Florence, and 2 were “Shopper’s Guides” – tiny 3×3 inch books that take you on walks around cities and lead you to tucked-away gems for an unusual travelling experience. Loved them. Because of these little books I discovered a flea market and an incredible dinner theater in Florence and several fascinating antique and knick-knack stores in Rome. It was stupendously enlightening. And just the sort of thing I adore about travelling.
On one such jaunt, I happened upon a store in Florence that was just too adorable to not snap a bunch of pictures of (much to the disapproving eye of the sales clerk). The store is close to the Ponte Vecchio (which is obviously uber tourist-y because, let’s admit it, you’ve heard of it) called Boutique Nadine.
I want to design a wedding that looks like this store…
Cue the vintage angel choir:
the attention to detail:
and lastly, the bicycle:
