I love everything about Kansas City’s Lilah Paper. I found Kalyn through Style Me Pretty’s little black book many months ago and we have become e-friends rather quickly. Her style is very fresh with a bit of vintage. I really think it is uniquely her own! She recently designed these gorgeous invitations for a destination event in Vail, Colorado and I asked her to share them with our readers.

The wedding is in February so the icy metallic blue on chocolate brown perfectly sets the tone for this winter wedding! The bride is having a weekend full of events, from an Aprés Ski Party to Drinks and Dessert and a Brunch on Sunday. So, needless to say, the bride had a bunch of information to be included with the invitation. To keep it clean and neatly kept together, I designed a belly band which holds a 2-sided, accordion fold booklet. Within the booklet is a schedule of events, map, wedding website for more information and a reply postcard that perforates off and is ready to stick in the mail! The graphics are a wonderful reflection of their vintage wedding in the mountains and perfectly reflect the bride and groom’s playful and outdoorsy nature.

Are they not gorgeous? I love the booklet idea. It is a refreshing difference verses the pocket fold invitation which has become so popular. I have a fun interview with Kalyn to post later next week with a peak into her Holiday line and a new addition to her wedding invitation line, so check back soon!

It is an exciting weekend for this event planner — our save the dates went into the mail! I wanted to share them with you as they were designed and crafted by yours truly. I went back and forth several times with the idea of creating them myself. I certainly have the means and tools to do so, but as any artist knows, it isn’t easy to take on your own projects. I searched endlessly for an easy way out and couldn’t find anything that I simply had to have, so, it was off to Illustrator to begin designing!

I wanted to tie in our wedding’s color scheme with the save the dates so I went with varying shades of purple, gold, and white. After many designs, Mike and I really loved this one the most. It has a very subtle vintage feel and gives a peak into the romantic vintage-style fete we are planning! So, without further adieu, here are our save the dates! Be sure to click the images for a larger version!

The beautiful hand calligraphy envelope seals in shimmery gold metallic card stock. These gorgeous creations were made by the very talented Lisa Ridgely of Pen & Ink Calligraphy out of Westminster, Maryland. I found Lisa through her etsy.com shop and knew that these envelope seals were the one touch of glam our envelopes needed. She was such a doll to work with and I can’t wait to recommend her services to my brides. Thanks Lisa!

I’ve already started receiving phone calls about how much our guests love them which makes me so thrilled. I hope you enjoyed them too!

I had the great pleasure of meeting a few insanely talented people at the Wedding Salon in Manhattan last week. My favorite of the day was Holly from Teardrop weddings. I’ve admired her work for as long as I’ve been subscribed to her blog – a long time! It was a great pleasure to meet her in person and see her beautiful creations up close.

I love Teardrop’s style and especially love that everything is hand illustrated and custom designed for each couple. Take a look at some of the photographs of her work below to see for yourself how amazing her work is! Be sure to visit her blog too. She has become a bride herself and posts tons of inspirational and thoughtful posts as she plans her own wedding.

Many thanks to Miss Cupcake over at Weddingbee for scoring such a fantastic find. I purchased five sets of these beautiful Parisian Bridal Gown post cards from Crate & Barrel per her post, and I can’t wait for them to be delivered. The best part? They are marked down from $12.95 for a package of 8 cards to $2.95! How can you pass up a bargian like that? There are 8 cards to a package, with four different beautiful photographs of hats, veils and gowns by Suzanne Ermann (photographer is Don Golas). As Crate & Barrel says, these are perfect for thank-you notes to your bridal party and special friends. They would also look beautiful in a welcome basket for out-of-towners, and could be sent in thanks for any wedding or shower gifts you may receive. What am I going to do with them? Well, I plan on reserving them for my special brides. And of course, I’ll frame some to add a little more decor to my office!

7/24/2008 Update: Unfortunately, it seems as though so many brides read about this fabulous find that it is no longer in stock. If you still must have these cards (like me), check your local Crate & Barrel store. Our order is still listed as “back ordered”, so here’s hoping our 5 card sets make it to UPS!

Yesterday afternoon my UPS driver delivered customized monogrammed napkins I had made for a client of mine who is throwing a surprise “69th birthday celebration” in August. I ordered them from ForYourParty.com, and I have to say, I’m impressed with the quality of the napkin and the stamped monogram! The guest of honor has a definite style, and is very particular about things. From what I understand, every suit, shirt, tie,… even his shoes have his monogram somewhere on them. So, I suggested that we carry that theme over into his celebration with small and inexpensive touches like the napkins (which were totally affordable!).

A way to add some dimension and texture to your escort card table is to vary the coloring and design on your escort cards. Play off your color theme by choosing three different colored card stock or ink color and pick the colors at random for each place card. Unless you are going for a monochromatic look, this variation really adds a lot of color and style without being expensive! It’s a simple idea that you can really run with. If you’re using ribbon or embellishments on your place cards, vary the color, texture, and pattern on those. Some of my favorite examples are below, courtesy of TheKnot and the image to the left is from Martha Stewart Weddings.

When you get engaged there will be a lot of opportunities to send out thank you cards. Throughout your engagement, people will often send you gifts, have get-togethers in your honor, and mail you cards of well wishes and happily-ever-afters. Many people are curious about etiquette involving thank you cards, especially when it concerns marriage and all the opportunities there are during the process to send them. When do you send thank you cards? Do you send them for engagement gifts, attending an engagement party, shower gifts, or what about a thank you card for a card? I believe it is important to send a written thank you, even if it is thanking someone for sending you a card. We all have, at one time or another, sent someone a card congratulating them on something (such as an engagement or a new home) and never heard from them. We’re often left to wonder if our card ever reached its destination.

Since there are so many opportunities to “send thanks” to your loved ones, it doesn’t hurt to stock up on thank you cards. Having them handy is one more step to ensure that they are mailed promptly. If you “collect” stationary, like me, than it also doesn’t hurt to shop around for a variety of stationary. Personally, I like to sort my stationary into classes, meaning, I send my expensive “boutique” stationary to the recipients who notice and appreciate letterpress or card stock, while I send my “mass produced” stationary to the recipient who wouldn’t notice those finer details. I also believe in never sending the same thank you card twice, so it is always good to have a variety on hand for that purpose!

I’ve found some really beautiful card collections at Target which fit my personal style. The thank you card pictured to the right and the cards pictured above are part of three different collections I purchased at Target, and are the primary thank you cards I sent out for the beautiful engagement gifts we received. As I said above, I purchased a variety of cards to ensure that I never sent someone the same card twice. I’ve found that Target has a wonderful selection of formal, traditional, romantic, artsy, modern, and unique cards. The main advantage, along with the stylish selection, is the affordability. Most of their card collections are between $4-10 dollars for 8-12 cards per package.

For those wondering, etiquette mandates that you send a thank you card for engagement gifts as soon as they arrive. You should send a thank you for gifts you receive at your bridal shower no later than 2 weeks after the shower. For wedding gifts, you should send your thank you cards no later than 2 weeks after you arrive home from your honey moon. When in doubt, send a thank you in writing. It is a very personal way to connect with someone, especially when they’ve acknowledged this wonderful period in your life.

Along with Target, there are several online websites you can use to create custom thank you cards and stationary. While national online retailors do offer a great selection, I prefer supporting local businesses in your community. You may want to search google for a local stationiare who sells quality preprinted stationary or offers custom designs.

I received an email from Stu at Three Potato Four regarding the alphabet tags I wrote about in yesterday’s blog. The good news is that you can special order the tags in the letter(s) you want for .50 a tag! What a bargan!