November 13th, 2008
I stumbled upon these beautiful clutch purses that make wonderful bridesmaids gifts!
The owner and designer, Lotta Helleberg, designed and crafted these pretty framed purses as bridal party gifts for a friend’s daughter’s wedding. According to Lotta, “They are leaf printed on organic hemp, and lined with vintage cotton.” She employs a “… technique called leaf printing in which impressions of actual leaves create the pattern.”
Her quaint collection uses non toxic, water based inks and dyes and she only uses natural, organic, or reclaimed fabrics. I invite you to visit Lotta at her Etsy shop at which she has bags and pillows with similar aesthetics! These framed clutches are made to order so contact Lotta if you’re interested in having her create these beauties for your best gal pals!
November 4th, 2008
I am in the midst of planning my son’s Star Wars theme birthday party. While researching how-to cake ideas, I surprisingly ran across several Star Wars theme WEDDING CAKES! The groom and/or bride must be die-hard fans to have R2-D2, C3PO, Darth Vader or Hans Solo (my favorite) to make a personal appearance.
This couple below had both a Star Wars theme groom’s cake and wedding cake! You don’t want to miss this - Flip through their Flickr photo album to see their entire wedding!
photo credit: FlipSide3 (via Flickr)
My son’s love runs deep for the ever-adorable droid, R2-D2. As cool of a feat as this cake is, I think my son would have a complex if he ever saw a 1/4 of R2’s head cut out.
The folks at Gizmodo brought this R2-D2 wedding cake to my attention. In their article, they indicate that the chef made this cake for a couple of true fans who wedding guests all dressed up as a Star Wars character (even the minister dressed up in character!). The articles goes on to say that “…she ‘bastardised an old camera for the lenses, with blue Halloween lights flashing behind throughout the whole wedding’ for added realism.” Too cool!
photo credit: Gizmodo
Now THIS is a Star Wars wedding if ever I’ve (and I haven’t) seen one! The wedding cake was made to resemble an AT-AT Walker and those are adorable Ewok cupcakes flanking it!
photo credit: jwinokur (via Flickr)
Death Star wedding cake via Gizmodo
And la pièce de résistance, Great White Snark presents the Millenium Falcon wedding cake, designed by the uber-talented husband and wife team at CakeLava:
photo credit: CakeLava
Food Network’s Duff Goldman of Ace of Cakes talks about designing and baking his versions of Star Wars cakes (not wedding-related) in this article at StarWars.com. Pictured below are the Death Star cake and Star Destroyer cake.
photo credit: StarWars.com
October 30th, 2008
Halloween is tomorrow and I wanted to share with you some pictures of a Halloween dessert bar expertly designed by Amy Atlas. She designed this for a company party but you can easily convert this to your halloween wedding dessert bar.
As always, the presentation is exquisite, the candy looks deLISH, and the ideas are just too darn creative!
For those of you getting married tomorrow, best wishes for wedded bliss!
October 27th, 2008
With Halloween soon approaching, thought I’d share this cool DIY project perfect for a halloween wedding.
Our Personalized Wedding Monogram (shown above in a Simple #13 - SI13) was cleverly carved into the pumpkin! I think the wedding date carved in roman numerals (for October 27, 2007) is a great added touch!
October 24th, 2008
I just received an email from the folks at Wonderful Graffiti — they do fabulous stuff there and this one takes the cake! Corseted holiday wine label wraps!
photo credit: Wonderful Graffiti
Aren’t they gorgeous and unique! What a wonderful way to present a bottle of wine as a holiday gift to your best friends and family members.
If you’re not familiar with Wonderful Graffiti, they sell wall decals that are easily removable. You customize the designs with your own words, colors, motifs and sizes. Create a wall decal with your names and wedding date, wedding monogram or single initial or a verse from your favorite love song or poem. Stick it on the wall or a door to add instant personality to your surroundings. They have a great Wall of Fame which is a picture gallery of inspirational photos of past customers’ designs. Check ‘em out!
October 22nd, 2008
I am so thrilled to share with you my latest discovery - Bumatay Studio! Wedding photographer, Greg Bumatay, captures the essence of the wedding day like no other. The shots of the bridal couple down to the details of the floral bouquets are all beautifully captured by this talented photographer.
He is so kind to share with us pictures of Kristi and Ben’s wedding that he shot back in September 2008. The lovely couple was married at the beautiful Sherwood Country Club, Westlake Village in California.
We asked him to share a bit of his processes and the method to his madness.
Explain your style of photography.
My style is a blend of wedding photojournalism, artistic imagery, and
romantic portraiture. Photojournalism = 80% of the day is spent capturing
(action, emotional) moments that tell the story and finding images (details)
that reflect the couple’s style. Artistic imagery = incorporating
architectural elements with romantic poses, finding beautiful natural or
artificial light, and putting that all together into artistic compositions.
Romantic portraits = I like to encourage the couple to be into each other
and forget that we are there taking pictures - I’ll tell them to do the
“almost kiss” (they can’t kiss on the lips but they can tease) and they take
it from there. That has been very successful in making the couple forget
about the camera.
What is your method in achieving the style you described above?
I make a big effort in getting to know my couples so that we are all
comfortable with each other as if we were all good friends. This instills
trust and enthusiasm in my creative ideas. And in scouting the location of
the wedding/reception, I am constantly visualizing possible “hot spots” in
which I will encourage the couple to do their photo shoot at these
locations. They trust that I will find the best spots to shoot and do
something creative with it.
What inspired you at this particular wedding?
They are so young and in love, and they were truly excited to be together.
I wanted them to be themselves and be romantic so they can remember their
day as being together rather than being in a structured wedding schedule.
So we had fun down in the wine cellar, racing in the golf carts, and hanging
out at the waterfall. It was like they were on a date and they felt
comfortable with me shooting them.
Thanks so much, Greg, for sharing with us your exquisite work! I am sure that this will not be the last we hear/see from you!
October 11th, 2008
I love it when my Pottery Barn magazine arrives in the mail. The photography is always gorgeous and inspiring. I always say that if you’re having trouble deciding on your wedding colors, flip through a Pottery Barn catalog to get some fresh ideas. Case in point - this orange, chocolate and bone white color palette.
photo credit: Pottery Barn
I also love their simple idea of transforming a traditional merchandise tag into a unique place card. Calligraph your guest’s name on the tag and slip over the stem of the fruit for a clever idea! We sell a merchandise tag that would make just as good of a place card if not better.
October 2nd, 2008
Chocolate + Pretty Flowers = Yum! OK - I have never eaten a flower before. The opportunity has never presented itself. But looking at this picture, it makes me want to go to SweetFields.com and purchase some!
photo credit: Forbes Small Business
They specialize in candied, freezer-safe flowers that can be used to decorate frozen cakes and salads. Their latest treat features the above violets hand-dipped in Swiss chocolate.
photo credit: SweetFields.com
October 2nd, 2008
Just flipping through the lastest issue of InStyle Weddings Fall 2008 and stopped on page 184 to admire this beautiful idea!
Mini carnations fashioned into mini spheres or pomanders. They are then encased within mini lucite clear boxes. The guest’s name and table number is indicated on a simple label on the bottom right of the box. You can pin them in your hair or wear as a boutonniere.
Say what you will about carnations. They are a trend I am witnessing and with the current state of the economy, they’re looking darn good as an alternate choice of flower for the bridesmaid’s bouquet or even the bride’s bouquet. When bundled together, they really look amazing!
