Sunday

The Magic of Samantha Sultana

Here's another Etsy designer that I am lurvin' right now --- Samantha Sultana.

Samantha makes absolutely delicious accessories, from hair pieces to garters to gloves to jewelry and beyond. Her items are gorgeous, delicate, utterly feminine and incredibly unique -- all key elements to a brilliant wedding day. Samantha operates two design labels ("Illicit" and "Dollface" -- dontcha just LOVE the names?), and is a favorite of numerous celebrities, most-notably little Miss Fergie-Ferg (and if you need to ask who she is, then my dear, please feel free to crawl out from under the rock you've been living under).

As someone who herself wore a flowered-feathered-crystaled headpiece on her wedding day (not Samantha's, alas! But if I had known about her at the time ....) I can assure you that wearing something a little less-typical then the traditional veil really makes your day different from other weddings (in a GOOD way!). I continue to receive compliments on my choice of head"gear" for my day, and recently had a close friend borrow my baby for her own wedding. Memorable? You bet!

Make sure you check out her Etsy sight. Samantha Sultana ships worldwide from Australia, her prices are amazing, and she just seems like a fabulous, hip woman (everything I try my damndest to be!), so hell --- why not? :)




*all images courtesy of SamanthaSultana Etsy store*

Tuesday

Invitingly Different ....

How's this for a unique idea ....

Leslie Hamer at Unless Someone Like You (a fabulous Etsy store) has taken invitation design to a whole new level by offering 11 x 17 posters that you mail out to your guests in tubes. How crazy is that?! Crazy like a fox, I'd say.

(wait. I don't think that last line works. Are foxes crazy? I doubt National Geographic would back me on this one.)

I can't get over how cool an idea this is. Definetely something to make your wedding invites stand out. The best part is that Leslie customizes all her work - she can do drawings from a photograph of you and your sweetie or any other type of image that's important to you.

Unless Someone Like You will provide digital copies for you to take to your printer. Make sure you check out the on-line store!

*all images courtesy of Unless Someone Like You*


Friday

Great Idea? Bad Idea? You Decide.

File this one under "Hmmmm".

I am a big fan of coordination in an event. And no, I don't mean the grace with which you pick up your fourth glass of pinot, nor your crumpin' moves with a partner on the dance floor. I'm talking about the full coordination of your theme, starting with your invitations and working your way down to table numbers, favor tags and more. Continuing your theme throughout a wedding is a primary goal most brides have; I have seen this carried over into everything from the decoration of the entrance hall to the decoration of the cocktail glasses. I LOVE coordination -- it really pulls together an event.

Thats why I'm not so sure where I stand on this, and as such, will leave the decision up to you.

Kleenex has recently come up with a new on-line promotion called My Kleenex Tissue, where you get to design and produce you very own, personalized tissue box(es). At only $4.99 each they're not much more then the ones you can find at your local grocery store, so price is not the issue. You also don't have to be a wunderkind at design and layouts, either, as their program is super-easy to use. And obviously, if one wanted to truly continue their theme throughout their wedding, right down to the smallest details, this would be an incredible way of doing so.

The big question: Is this tacky or not?

I've tried to think about this from both sides, and have yet to make a decision. The coordination-part of me screams "Yes!! Do it!!!", especially if one were using a clean and simple design with perhaps their monogram and some nice background colour only.

The practical side of me says "Are you crazy? People will think you've taken bridezilla to a whole new level if you've coordinated every teeny, tiny little thing, right down to the tissues. Whats next, personalized toilet paper?". The practical side of me also feels that the only people, unfortunately, who this idea will appeal to are the brides & grooms who feel it necessary to have their image on EVERYTHING (don't even get me started). Monograms = fine. Photos of you all over the place = pure tackiness. They're at YOUR wedding .... I'm pretty sure your guests know what you look like.

Truth-be-told, I did personalized water bottle labels for my own wedding, and for the guests that noticed, they were a hit. Again: for the guests that noticed. I slaved over those suckers, and only about 1/3 of my guests even realized that what they were holding in their hand was not a mere water bottle but an Andra Coulter ORIGINAL. I mean, come on people! :)

However, perhaps thats the key to a fully-cooordinated event. If your items are too obvious, then you've done something wrong. Your guest's eye should travel over the span of the reception room and take in the spelendor of it all, not fixate upon that one-garish item sitting on the counter.

Ladies, if you want to go ahead with this one, please keep in mind two words: "clean" and "simple". Though it might be tempting to throw in a bunch of the cool graphics they've got on the Kleenex site (I can't even believe I just wrote that), keep in mind that less is more. Keep repeating that to yourself: "Less is more. Less is more. Less is more.".

And if any of you DO wind up creating one of these, even just for kicks, please let me know! I'm interested to see how they turn out.

*photo courtesy of MyKleenexTissue.com. Unfortunately, this promotion is currently not available to ship to a Canadian address. Yet*

Saturday

My Very Own Mini-Me

Some of you might remember a post I did waaayy back about fabulous custom cake toppers by Nicole W Clark. Well, I told you then, and I'll still say now ... these things are adorable. So adorable in fact, that I finally have my own! (and yes, I realize I'm already married and done with the cake-topper-crowd. However, these little guys sure do look cute sitting in my bedroom beside my wedding photo!).

I am ridiculously impressed with the amount of detail that Nicole puts into her creations. Along with the dress and hair style I wore, she included the earrings and bracelet my mother gave me, as well as the fab flower I wore in my hair. Husband's flower for his lapel has also been painstakingly recreated.

Anyways, just gotta say ... love it, love it, love it! Here's a few pics from our wedding day:

... and here's our mini-me's!
The mini-me's are approximately 6 inches tall, and are made of durable 100% non-toxic polymer clay so they're safe to be on your cake.

Again, I LOVE our mini-me's. I cannot say enough about them (obviously). Nicole was incredible to work with, and has joyfully created a keepsake that my children & grandchildren will be able to see.

For more information on your own amazing custom cake topper, check out Nicole's website at http://www.nicolewong.com/ .