first impression.

The first taste that your guests will get of the design of your wedding comes in the form of your Save the Dates and invitations. Once a couple nails down what the tone and style of their wedding is, they have...oh, ten ZILLION options when it comes to their stationary.

My friend Deborah introduced me to Kalydoscope Designs on Etsy. She is a lovely invitation designer, and I can't wait to see more from her! It's the attention to detail and the unique use of texture that I love about her designs.

This would be lovely for a small wedding on the beach:


And check out this sweet Save the Date for wine lovers:

Her designs are customizable for your wedding colors and each is just so pretty. Head on over to her shop and take a gander.

Thanks, Deborah! Helping out a brand-new business always makes me happy.

stay fab,
carolyn

Just for funsies...

...ridiculous wedding cakes! weee!

If I may use an oxymoron, I'm going to call this one a "standard crazy cake." It's whimsical and colorful - not your typical wedding cake, but when I think of the term "unique wedding cake," this is about what comes to mind. I...really like it.



Adorable and hilarious. I especially like her bra laying on the bottom tier:



Carolyn's really into feathers lately. Sweetie? Can this be your cake please?



His face is all, "this was totally her idea."



Uumm....how much cake do you...need? Did you invite a small country? Really? And do you need to have several brides and grooms walking all over the bridges? Oh my god, there are bridges.



This is my favorite, because that is FALCOR of the Neverending Story laying on the cake! I want it.

Ceremony in the Round

As you, our loyal readers, may have noticed by now, we're all about including non-traditional details in your wedding. Not that there's anything wrong with sticking to tradition - deciding which wedding customs to follow and which to leave out is a different journey for every couple.

I've never been to a wedding like this, and in my research I had a tough time finding photos, which leads me to believe that it's an uncommon practice. But I think doing your ceremony this way can be gorgeous and unique.

If you have the space, say for an outdoor wedding or in a large ballroom, consider doing your ceremony in the round. Obviously it allows all of your guests to get a better view, but more importantly, it creates an extremely intimate atmosphere. Your friends and family are literally surrounding you during one of the biggest moments of your life. And bonus: it looks awesome and sets your wedding apart from the standard.



A twist on this is the spiral setup:






I love how the flower petals are continuing the circle around the couple.

If you're looking to change it up a bit, this is a gorgeous way to do it!

Technology!

I think it goes without saying that you can't have a wedding without a wedding website these days.

Our gorgeous couple Anna and Eric introduced us to The Bridal Bell, which hosts your site for free! You can choose all sorts of templates and everything is clean and contemporary and lovely. I am quite enjoying it.

I find wedding websites most useful for two things: directions and your registry. Having the directions online saves paper and money. And since the only etiquette-proper way to tell folks about your registry is word of mouth, the website is the perfect place to put it. So if you are a recently engaged couple, check out The Bridal Bell!

Seriously, what did people DO without the internets??

Dress envy.

Not to shock you, dear readers, but I must confess...I'm a big fat pile of girly girl when it comes to weddings. I'm not someone who's been planning their wedding since birth, but since becoming a wedding planner and seeing all that Chicago vendors have to offer, I can't help myself!

My style is what I would call vintage trendy, and in my I'm-bored-at-work-what-can-I-Google mood, I ran across Posh Girl Vintage and promptly fell in love. Well...luuuurrrve would be more accurate. They are a mother/daughter team out of California, and their website is fantastic! Go check it out. Trust me. I'm obsessing over their wedding dress page:

How cute would this be for an informal summer wedding?


I think I like the tea length/cocktail length that's gaining popularity in wedding gowns. I wouldn't do it I don't think, but on the right gal with bodacious gams and a birdcage veil? Totally.


This, to my dismay, is sold. Not that I'll be getting married anytime soon (pff, a groom, SO secondary to the wedding...) but I had a complete "MINE!" moment.

Enjoy the eye candy, gals! And try not to purchase everything like I'm about to...

stay fab,
carolyn

Meghan + Ryan's Wedding!

It's finally time to talk about our first wedding! Sorry for the delay - we're not that tech-savvy and had some issues with formatting and such. Big thanks to Joe Kang for allowing us to use his gorgeous photos!

Meghan + Ryan were the best "First Couple" we could have asked for. They are very cool, very classy, and a whole lot of fun. We heart them.

Our day began with setting up the ceremony area. After we learned how to use the freight elevator, of course. Meghan had ordered 50 extra chairs, so we arranged those to fit the room and then moved on to the reception space. Set up included arranging 180 candles, putting the couples' moms' wedding gowns on dress forms and displaying their wedding photos, fixing and hanging the photo garlands that Meghan made, setting up the guest book (an oversized marriage certificate), arranging hundreds of flip flops for guests, and coordinating with all of the vendors to get them set up on time. We loved every second of it. On top of this, we kept an eye on the bridal party, making sure they were staying on schedule and trying to get Meghan to eat.

Setting up the reception - Mom's wedding gowns:


Ceremony:


Candles all over the reception:


Salvage One:


Posed photo of the bridal party:


Meghan and Ryan - happy to be married!


Meghan and Ryan dancing:




Proud mamas:


Sending them off at the end of the night:
It was the best time ever. EVER. We cannot reiterate enough how much we love Meghan + Ryan for taking a chance on our lil' business. We'll love and remember them forever!

Next up: Amanda and Andy!

xo
carolyn + amy

Baby steps.

A momentous moment.

As of last week, Washington DC is allowing same-sex couples to marry. The first marriages took place this morning; read about them here.

We do not, as a business, wish to alienate anyone. But marriage equality is so important to both of us, and we couldn't be more thrilled. I met a lovely couple on Saturday at a party. They were married in Iowa in a ceremony last October. They are just like any one of our couples - hilarious, loving and adorable. To tell them they are unequal hurts my heart.

Cheers, DC. And many, many happy returns to the couples who married today.

carolyn

Alternative Resources

This weekend we met a lovely bride who happens to be our first 2011 booking, and now we're part of "Team Andrea"! We were chatting about her vendors and she clued us into an awesome resource. She found that websites like theknot.com and weddingbee.com weren't for her, as she fancies herself a "different" kind of bride. She uses this:

http://offbeatbride.com/local/chicago

Check it out!

Thanks Andrea!