the one i laugh with, live for, dream with.

right now i'm working with a super fun bride. she's so laid back and has such a great attitude. most brides are a lot of fun to work with -- everyone is giddy with excitement and ready to start their lives with that "great" love. of course, we do run into bridezillas from time to time, but lindsay is definitely not one of those brides.

she and her special man are getting married in an old farmhouse in delware. for their save-the-dates, they wanted something that fit the color scheme of their wedding. they didn't want the same the date to perfectly coordinate with the wedding invitation and also didn't want anything too fussy.

we created a postcard that fits right in with the farmhouse wedding and also incorporates the rich slate the happy couple will use throughout their wedding.

i really like the front (it's a quote picked out by the bride), but i think my absolute favorite it is the back. i just love everything about it. typically you would also see the return address running along vertical line, but i've masked it for the blog.

i love working with creative individuals -- keeps my life interesting and inspired! =)

cheers!

Eat. Drink. Be Married.

A few weeks ago, Sonya reached out to me and asked if I could design something for her daughter Lindsay's upcoming wedding.

We are doing a small ceremony in a small church and a small reception in our
very small community! We aren't going glamorous(except for her gown she had to
have. The small country church reception is in an old schoolhouse(very old and
vintagey-like. We live on a farm so we are big ol' tractors and country! ... we
are thinking late summery or early fall, country-like Martha-Stewarty ...
somewhat elegant yet rustic ...

I loved the description and I was excited to get started. I've done "rustic, vintagey, country-like, Marta Stewarty" before, but this bride needed something completely unique.

In addition to the description, Sonya also sent the image of Lindsay's cake inspiration. {I don't have the photo credits -- does anyone know where this beauty is from??}

Just like on the cake above, the wedding colors are a sky blue, rich red, and creamy ivory. Instead of the red ric rac, the bride decided she wanted more of the sky blue. She also decided that she wanted something with a touch of whimsy that also matched the above description.

Here's what we created:

The actual invitation will be printed on a luxe, cream paper, mounted to the red matte, mounted to burlap. Such a fun invitation!! It makes me want to kick up my heels and dance!

Have you been to any fun weddings lately? Let me hear about them! =)

Justin hearts Maria.

Kate recently hosted a bridal shower for one of her college girlfriends. Her vision for the bridal brunch changed a few times, so our designs changed, too. I loved every single invitation we created together; the last one is definitely one of my favorites of all time though. It looked so gorgeous printed out.

We knew the color combo all along would be a bright fuscia and tangerine (now that I sit down and really think about it, these would have been a perfect compliment to Andrea's wedding invitations!), with a few other shades of pink mixed in.

I thought it would be fun to walk you through the invitation as if you were a recipient. =)

Once we get to the invitation, you'll notice that the script and block fonts are the same as those used on the invitation. I love the way the black really stands out on the fuscia envelope.

We didn't print a return address on the back because Kate has an embosser from Williams-Sonoma that she wanted to use.

Is it just me or does anyone else share my love for envelope liners. I love it when you open the seal and find youself face-to-face with a fun liner and a cascade of flowers. In this case, the tangerine really pops against the fuscia (even if it is hard to tell from my grainy pictures).

This picture almost makes it look like the invitation is mounted to a fuscia card, but I just had it lying on the envelope. The white invitation looked so crisp and fresh with the splashes of color dancing across it. It reminded me of raspberry lemonade on a summer afternoon.

I haven't received the pictures of the event from Kate yet, and I can't wait to share them with you, so in the meantime, here's a sneak-peek. Just a couple of pictures of the "aftermath" but it gives you a glimpse of the fun event Kate hosted.

Congratulations Justin & Maria! Thanks for hosting such a fun shower, Kate!

preppy spring fun.

I've been working on some colorful, super fun summery invitations -- and I love them. Kate approached me about doing an invitation for a Bridal Brunch she's throwing for a friend. As the maid of honor, she wanted to do something really special for the bride. Appreciating all things classic, we started out with a black and white palette for an afternoon tea, but Kate just couldn't fall in love with the colors. She wanted something bright and cheerful, flirty and fun. Something a little preppy, but definitely not stuffy.



The design above is what we created. I think it's wonderful! I personally almost always choose more demure colors {my younger sister calls my color choices boring!} so having the chance to work on an invite like this one was such a blast. I've fallen in love with the color combo and can't wait to see the rest of the brunch come together. What events do you have lined up for this spring and summer? I'd love to hear all the fun details! Thanks, Kate, for keeping me inspired!

a tulsa wedding {invitation suite}.

oops! i believe this posted for no reason. i had half the title typed and then it disappeared. weird.

what is up with this crazy, dreary tulsa weather we're experiencing this week? yours truly is not a fan. i have been working on so many fun orginal invitation designs, though, and that cheers me up immensely.

i am so excited to share a gorgeous tulsa wedding invitation suite with you, but will wait for the time being until all of the pieces are completely done. {i can hardly stand the suspense myself}.

for now, here's a sneak peek at a piece we've decided not to do {because we have something even better}! this would have been a fun thank you card. i hope someone uses it in the future because while i love the note card the bride has selected, i would still love to receive a card like this in the mail.

i hope it brings a little color to your week. =)

rustic romance in june.

this invitation was so much fun to create. in the past few months i've written a couple of posts about romantic, rustic weddings, and i never seem to get tired of them. when a bride and groom approach me with their plans at a local lodge or outdoor locale, i get so excited.


i originally designed this invitation when i was working on tara and vince's invitation. for their wedding, we decided to go a different direction {which i loved!}, but i still had this in the files, and when kasi saw it, she knew it would be perfect for their wedding this summer. and michael liked that it wasn't too over the top. i can't wait to see pictures from this fun couple's special day.

save the date.

this save the date was created for a spring wedding earlier this year, but i think this cool blue color would be perfect for a winter wedding as well. these turned out so pretty on a creamy ivory paper.

wedding planning is a little slow this time of year and i just needed a little fix. =)

ring nesting bowl.

as i was looking through pictures of andrea's wedding, i found more details to share with you. she found this precious nesting bowl to hold the wedding rings. i can't find the specific information, but she ordered these from a etsy shop. love etsy!

andrea had hers personalizeed with the phrase, "nau ko 'u aloha" meaning "my love is yours" and included their wedding like the one in the photo. this bowl is a nice alternative to the traditional ring pillow. it's something she can use for years to come as a jewelry dish, while at the same time it will remind her of such a special day in her life.

Getting Maui'd.

I've mentioned before that I designed a wedding suite for one of my friends {and faithful clients}who was married in Maui this past summer. I've been waiting for the images from the photographer before sharing . I love the bright, bold colors Andrea chose. The fuschia and tangerine were used in all aspects of her wedding. It was such a fun weddding and I was honored to have the privelege of creating all the paper elements.

we started with these invitations. guests received them in a luxe cream colored envelope with script addressing.

when opened up the invitation gave the guests all the information they would need to know about the wedding ceremony, a schedule of events for the week, directions to the ceremony and reception, and a response card asking them for their meal preference for the evening.

for the reception andrea chose three signature drinks {and might i add they were delicious!}

we created a monogram that was used throughout the entire event as well. here you can see them on the palm fans and on the favor boxes.

double-sided wedding programs were printed on a luxe cream paper to match the invitations

for escort cards, andrea attached names to star fish and had them lined up in black sand

in lieu of table numbers, andrea named each of her tables with names of the hawaiian islands

we also created menus that sat at each place, but i don't have an image of them to share. i loved all of andrea's creativity and the wonderful pieces she incorporated into her wedding.

let them eat ... {cheese}

do you remember my friend kate? the one with whom i'm throwing a wine and cheese party? kate's not big on sweets. in fact, she's told nick that he can have free reign of the cake when they begin to plan their wedding.

kate hates cake, but loves cheese. i think she may want to renegotiate her terms on the wedding "cake" with nick after seeing the beautiful creation on ran across today on a cup of jo.

it's a cake made of cheeses!!!! and a rather pretty one, if you ask me.

what about you? are you all about the cake? what kind & where will you be getting yours from?

WOW {Wedding OpenHouse Weekend}.

Calling all brides! Don't forget tomorrow, Sunday, August 22, is the Wedding OpenHouse Weekend -- this is "Tulsa's new type of wedding show -- Visit 6 wedding venues in 1 day, all for one $5 ticket price."

You can visit the Tulsa Wedding Show page for more details about the Wedding OpenHouse Weekend as well as other upcoming wedding shows.

puppy love.

i took this picture directly from the brides of oklahoma, we love pets! post. i just had to pass these sweet faces on to you!


i wish i could take credit for this precious arrangement of puppy pals, but the credit goes to the brides of oklahoma and the talented photographers who took the pictures: from left to right, top: artworks tulsa photography, angela cornell photography; from left to right, bottom: chris humphrey photography, beautiful day images (middle and far right photo).

if you are anything like me, your puppy (or other pet) is more like family than a pet. my maltese, conor, is even more like my child than just a member of the family!

what about you? do you have pets? will you incorporate them in your wedding day? how do you plan to train them for the special day?

getting maui'd: a sneak peek.

in june of this year, i headed off to the beautiful island of maui, hawaii. a dear friend from high school had asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding and i couldn't have been more excited.

i've been dying to share some of the details from her wedding. it will probably be another month before the professional pictures are ready, however, and i couldn't contain myself any longer. these 100+ degree temperatures in oklahoma are reminding me of how divine it was laying out by the ocean, so here's to a little wishful thinking ...

andrea and ryan {pictured below} were wed at the olowalu plantation in maui. it couldn't have been more picturesque.

for their wedding colors, andrea and ryan decided to use fuschia and tangerine, with touches of sand and ivory throughout.

aren't those table arrangements beautiful?? we created table cards named after the different hawaiian islands. the bride and groom and their wedding party were seated at the island of maui.

what a beautiful couple!

the tables had ivory linens, fuschia napkins with menus tucked inside, favor boxes filled with hawaiian cookies from a local bakery, and bamboo table runners.

parasols were provided for guests to shade themselves from the sun beating down.

most of the pieces included the bride and groom's signature logo or monogram

{close up shot of the favor boxes}

{palm fans provided to each of the guests}

{star fish doubled as escort cards}

{oh so beautiful flowers}

{guest table: here you see the star fish escort cards nestled in black sand, the custom-made guest book, an engagement picture of the bride and groom, a letter from the hawaii-native president obama, & a basket of wedding programs}

{the happy (gorgeous!) hursts!}

pink limeade on a hot summer day.

I love entertaining, which works out well for me since it goes hand in hand with my passion for paper. A popular color palette {and a favorite of mine in the spring and summer} includes a delicious lime green and shades of pink. I used this color combo for a bridal shower for my sister-in-law, Lindsay.

The event kicked off with the invitation {because what event doesn't ... especially in my world}. I started on the invitation and arrived at the color palette shown above. I'm not an over-the-top, lace-y kind of girl, but I like the eyelet lace pattern along the bottom of this invite.

Isn't it fun for spring and summer? We spruced up the envelopes as well, adding a bit of intrigue before ever getting to the actual invitation.

After the invitation was all taken care of, I contacted the bakery. What's a party without a fabulous cake? My go-to place in Tulsa at the time was Mallory's Mud Pies. As of December 2009, however, MMP no longer exists. {I still don't know the details behind the closing, but was in shock when I heard they had shut their doors}. They were delicious. It just so happened that Justin and Lindsay were also getting their wedding cake and cake balls from there as well so Tracey was more than happy to work on another fun cake for the bride. I always loved working with MMP because they did such a great job of matching cakes to invitations, if you so requested. Here's the cake they created for the bridal shower:

Isn't it perfect? Just posting the pictures makes me hungry ...

We wanted to keep the shower small and intimate. I didn't want to overwhelm our space with added decorations and "stuff" so I relied on our cake and other food to double as focal points. I loved the pedestal decanter with spigot {filled with a pink limeade, of course!} It was beautiful and so easy for everyone to serve themselves without a mess. The floral vases filled with limes were another favorite of mine. So simple, but very pretty.

Aside from the cake, all the food we served was finger-friendly. =)

Tarts . Bagel sandwiches . Croissants and chicken salad . Fresh veggies & fruit .

I don't know how I managed this, but I didn't get any pictures of the setup in the living room where the gifts were opened. We used a lot of tea lights and the now-Leaches' engagement photos displayed in black frames. Again, simple, but oh so pretty. I loved watching the subtle candlelight flicker off their beautiful photos.

The final paper touch was this card with adhesive on the back. Anytime I'm at a shower, the hostess is always frantically writing as each gift is opened, making a list of gifts and the giver. The person writing doesn't get to enjoy the gift-opening and often doesn't even realize all the wonderful things they've written down. This card can be placed right on the gift box, bag, or other packaging so the receiver can quickly identify the giver and write their note cards with ease, while at the same time freeing the hostess to enjoy the party as well. Unlike a greeting card, the adhesive keeps the tag in place on each particular gift.

{Sigh}. Now I'm ready for another celebration!!

What are your favorite color palettes? Any color combos you're just loving right now?