Thursday

Clickety-Click

Here is something I desperately wanted for my own wedding reception but which was not, at the time, available in my city -- a photobooth!

The use of photobooths at wedding receptions is a fairly new idea, but its catching on wherever it goes. Pure retro, pure fun, this idea is new enough that chances are good your wedding will be remembered as a forerunner by guests.

In my hometown of Calgary, Canada, the best place to get a photobooth is at the The Photobooth Co. . The photobooths used are digital, touchscreen, give guests the option of black-and-white or color, and come out in strips of six. The fabulousness doesn't stop there, though ... how about the option of also purchasing a cd of all the images? Can you say "incredible memento"?!

If you're located in the States, the best way to find a photobooth rental company near you is by checking out America's Photobooth
Association website.

*all images courtesy of The Photobooth Co.*

Sunday

Etsy = Fabulous

Anyone who is a regular reader of this blog knows that I am a rabid fan of Etsy. Ridiculously rabid fan. I scour the pages of its site daily, and never leave dissatisfied. I thought I'd make a quick post about some new wedding-related items I've seen recently:

Paper Cakes and Single Paper Cake Slices by Daisy's & Dots


Omigod, HOW cute are these?!!! And imagine the possibilities for bridal showers!!! Looking good enough to eat, each of these little cuties is actually a favour box that you can put goodies inside. SO cute. A few more:




Couture Cake Toppers by SheaChicDesign's Shop

We've all seen the standard silver-plated & swarovski crystal cake initals. I still love those, of course, but they are starting to show up at more and more weddings nowadays. If you like the look but want something a bit more unique, how about one of these cutie-patooties? Definetely for the bride who's having a fun and casual wedding. Love it!


Unique Placecards by Laura Hooper Calligraphy

Love these little beauties for placecards. What a unique idea! This Etsy store does hand-calligraphed placecards on sanddollars and compasses. What a great idea!



*all images courtesy of Dasy's & Dots, SheaChicDesign's Shop, and Laura Hooper Designs respectively.

Thursday

The Patterns of Spring + An Extra Goodie

I love changes in season. Up here in Canada it's such sweet relief to tumble from the bitter cold of winter into the welcoming arms of spring (I'm so figuratively descriptive today I could puke with disgust) that we will literally start patio season the moment the mercury rises above 0 degrees (er, 32 degrees for my american friends). I adore everything about the spring -- the milder days, the sense of newness all around, the anticipation for summer. Everything just seems brighter, more cheerful, and more-spirited. This sense of fun often transfers itself over to fashion and design, and this spring is no different.

With every change in season I always get asked by brides I work with what's new and delicious in invitation designs ... and for this spring, all I can say is PATTERNS. Patterns, patterns, patterns! Gorgeous, whimsical, fun, flirty, and always fabulous patterns.

It takes serious chutzpa to put patterned paper on a wedding invitation. Many of us have just barely escaped the grasps of ye olde 1990s cream white invitation with the embossed image of 2 intertwined hearts on it ... as such, bright, funky patterned paper seems a ridiculously far step to take!

And yet ... and yet, patterned paper is anything but ridiculous. Depending on how it is used, it can add an air of inherant sophistication and modernity (is that a word?) to event invites, bringing with it both tastes of the past and hints at the future in its design. When creating patterned invitations for clients, I tend to look for papers that harken back to the old days in "new" ways ... unique colours such as lime greens and deep magentas add immediate pop to paisley, for example, or asian-inspired layouts enhance the image of flowers rather then making them look cheesy and over-done.

This week I was playing around with some patterned papers for a client of my invitation company, Epiphany Designs, and decided to create a few samples for your perusal. Here are three I came up with that will hopefully show you the beauty and uniqueness of using patterns on invitations.
Head down to your local invitation company and tell them "I would like to explore using patterns on my wedding invites, please". Or head over to your local scrapbooking store and simply let all the new designs and colors inspire your creativity (#1 fav thing to do on a Saturday!). You'll be surprised what you discover ...

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A little addition to my post that I thought would interest you ladies.

One of my minor healthy addictions (lets not even talk about my unhealthy ones!) is scanning the popculture and celebrity-watching sites each day. My absolute favorite, from-a-girl's-perspective blog is http://www.popsugar.com/ (check it out, honestly. Its addicting!). These incredible gals keep coming up with various off-shoots that are equally extraordinary: http://www.fitsugar/, http://www.lilsugar/, and http://www.yumsugar/, to name a few. And what a surprise, they've done it again! But this time its wedding-related. Yay!

IDoSugar is new, fun, savvy, and informative ... basically everything I'd like this little bloggie to be (damn). They update it constantly (damn again), and continue to stumble across the neat, the unique, and the ludicrous (check out their most recent post about engagement-usb sticks -- say whaaat?).

If you're looking to add to your wedding-blogroll, this is one to bookmark. And stay tuned for even more fabulous-ness from the ladies at PopSugar!

*all images courtesy of and copyrighted by Epiphany Designs 2008*