Tea Party Picnic

Love this inspiration board from snippet and ink! I'm going to steel some of the ideas for my bridal shower picnic:

Happy Valentines Day!

I was feeling crafty and I wanted to make some old fashioned, handmade valentines cards. I had seen a lot of blogs posting adorable "will you be my bridesmaids" cards (and I even received a beautiful one myself from my friend Rachel). Since I never got around to doing this myself I decided to let my bridesmaids know how much I love and appreciate them all by creating valentines for them. I went and bought some great envelopes, vellum and papers from the Art Store and got crafty! I found a beautiful sheet of wrapping paper there and used pinking shears to create a liner for the outer white envelope. I used a pink paper inside a clear vellum folded card and envelope and cut a heart from the wrapping paper for the front of the card. It was fun, but it did take some time so I wasn't sure how to feel when I mentioned how I made them to my sister and she said she had thought I bought them!

 

lining the envelopes and cutting out the hearts

the finished product!

Engagement Party Invites

On October 17th, we gathered together our wedding party and immediate families for a small engagement BBQ. The party was held in the beautiful, "mod" community room and pool on the roof of a friend's loft building in downtown Los Angeles. The theme for our party was "tying the knot" - with a loosely nautical twist. Here is a peak out our invites, the "monogrammed" candle apples courtesy of bridesmaid Rachel M., and the cupcakes I made. The cupcakes were from a box mix and pre-made frosting. I made the little "knots" with Wilton gum paste purchased from Sur La Table. I'm trying to track down more pics still from bridesmaid Katie B. and as soon as I have them I pill post!

 

  

 

Tequila Favors

I love the idea of using small tequila bottles as favors. You could even add a little tag and use them as escort or place cards. Since we are trying to keep our wedding as "green" as possible I'm excited about this because it's something that I think most people would actually use right away and then recycle and won't end up in a landfill or junk box like most of the plastic, made in china favors that are sold. Plus, you can't get a much better fit for our fiesta "theme."

Response Cards

I'm loving the idea of using a vintage postcard as a response card for our wedding invitations. It saves paper and creates a fun opportunity to introduce your guests to the theme or to the location if it's a destination wedding. I have some ideas brewing in my head and I can't wait to meet with friend and graphic designer Brandon Kurtz to create something!

My Shower

I had so many different ideas when I started planning this wedding. I have always been a huge Jane Austen fan and I find the Regency period to be incredibly romantic. My favorite literary character, Elizabeth Bennett, inspired me with this theme idea. I started thinking it would work perfectly with the tea party luncheon that is typical for a bridal shower. I'll do english tea roses with my old Austen books tied in bundles and spread out blankets on the lawn my grandmother's beautiful rambling garden.

Just found this great Jose Villa pic on Dog N'Bird:

Our Cake

A few weekends ago Matt and I took a  trip up to SB for the day for a cake tasting and meeting with a prospective DJ. I had sketched out my dream wedding cake on the airplane to Macedonia last summer: three tiers, white with beading, decorated with succulents, manzanita branches and flowers. The wonderful baker, Christine Dahl,  helped us improve on the idea and I am so pleased with the finished result I just can't wait to see it on the big day! The flowers will be white freesia, craspedia and echeveria succulents along with manzanita branches and a monogram "B." The top two tiers will be Vanilla Chiffon, White Chocolate Mousse, Lemon Curd and Raspberries. The  bottom will be Chocolate Devil's Food, White Choc. Mousse, Raspberry Jam, Chocolate Ganache and Raspberries. This was the best experience I have had planning so far!

A hint of what the cake will look like.....

Bridesmaids Dresses

After looking around at traditional bridal retailers and not finding what I wanted I decided to go with a new trend (or maybe old because I'm sure they did it this way back in the day) which is to give the girls a color and a few other specifications and let them all pick their own dresses. This bride did it for her wedding and I think the effect is really great because each person looks beautiful, they match the style and colors of the day, and they go togther almost like different flowers work together in a bouquet.

The specifications for my dress were:
1. It has to be a honey/golden hue of yellow with the only other colors being white, ivory or brown.
2. It has to be tea-length
3. It has to have "retro" or mod vibe to it like something from Anthro or Mod Cloth.

I spent some time looking through these sites and found a few examples for them. I can't wait to what they each decide to wear!

The Road to Our Retro Chic Fiesta

I'm creating this blog to document the next 8 months or the road to our "retro chic fiesta" wedding in our hometown of beautiful Santa Barbara, CA. My hope is that loved ones will be able to share a bit in the experience and get an insiders view of the big day :)