A Vintage Mexico-Inspired Shower

So today I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited.  Because I can finally share with you the details of a shower I helped to plan for a good friend of mine!  I worked on this for a while but because friend R. is a reader of this blog, I didn't want to spill the beans by saying anything too early.  But now that the shower is over, I'm so excited to be blogging about it!

R. loves Mexico the way I love horses.  And the theme of her wedding is vintage travel-inspired.  We bridesmaids decided to take this love of the vintage, the travel, and the Mexican culture, and throw her a vintage fiesta for her bridal shower!  We started with invitations which used a vintage Veracruz travel poster and a pair of Mexican lovebirds.  From there, I used the same imagery to create luggage tag favors and little snapfish photo room cards (a place for guests to upload their shower photos)!  I also took bottles of two buck chuck from Trader Joe's, and slapped some custom labels on them- these were used as prizes for the game.  They were a huge hit, and looked adorable as decor until we gave them out!

To decorate, one of my favorite elements was the custom papel picado banners we had specially made in the shower colors by aymujer on Etsy!  We used the lovebird theme again and I think they provided a perfect pop of color.  Hopefully R. has a few of these that survived the wind that day, for scrapbooking or recycling at other wedding events, because I absolutely loved them!   

Of course, no shower would be complete without beverages.  We served homemade sangria, margaritas, lemonade and tea.  Look how cute it all looked on the bar!

We also decorated using lemons, limes, and flowers.   To hold the flowers, we found these great recycled juice glasses which are made from vintage Mexican topo chico glasses.  I loved them because they provided a great vintage touch for the shower, and after, the bride can use them for brunch!  (Marfa also makes glasses using Sol beer bottles which are equally adorable).  To finish off the look of the space, we hung white paper lanterns from the shade umbrellas- a Martha Stewart crafts collection score which were made even better with some coordinating ribbon!

Another special touch at the shower was the music... since one of the bridesmaids lives in Brazil, she supplied a mix of festive latin music, which the bride's parents played on their outdoor speakers.  Subtle and effective!

And let's not forget the presents!  We found a pinata and put a bridal veil on it, and this became the card holder.  We also decorated a basket to be a "wishing well" filled with surprise goodies for the kitchen, and of course, the presents table was overflowing with goodies! 

I think even Katie (the dog) and Chi (the cat) had a great time!

Now, no discussion of a fiesta would be complete without mentioning the drool-worthy food.  The bride's mom worked with the same caterer who is doing her wedding, and arranged for an amazing spread.  We started with cheeses, fruits and crudites, homemade tortilla chips with guacamole and salsa, and even artichoke dip.  Then for the meal, we feasted on tortilla soup, fajitas, beans, rice, sauteed mushrooms, and all the accoutrements. 

Last but not least, sweets!  Delicious tres leches cake served with iced coffee and fruit.  The caterers really outdid themselves and I can't wait to eat more at the wedding!

All in all, I think everyone had an amazing time, especially the bride!  I'm so glad we were able to have such a fun celebration- with great weather, great food and great company!

Bickham Love

I've noticed that I have been fielding a lot of questions lately about how I found the free version of Bickham font that ended up all over our wedding goodies- when one simply runs a google search for the font, all we find are versions that cost $$$.  But fortunately, you don't have to shell out cash for the expensive look of these letters.

I love this font so much that it not only ended up gracing our wedding paper, but also is finding it's way into baby shower invitations, personal stationary, and much more.  I love the swirls and the vintagey loveliness of it all.  And so as a public service, below are some places you can download it for, yes, free!

Bickham Script Two Regular from 911fonts
Bickham Script Fancy from Shanbrite (scroll down to the fonts section)
Beautiful ES and Beautiful Caps ES from Fonts101

image source

For the Bachelorette Who Has Everything

What do you get for a bachelorette who has everything?  Or at least for bachelorette who prefers to avoid strippers, phallic symbols, etc. at her bachelorette party?  Well, I'd start with a bottle of wine, maybe make some T shirts.  And I'd buy some fun books for the ladies to peruse while drinking that wine and wearing those shirts!  Here's my top recommendations for bachelorette books to give, to share, and to receive (and some of these are not just for bach parties, hint hint):

Porn for Women: this book features hunky dudes doing things like asking for directions or saying things like "As long as I have two legs to walk on, you'll never take out the trash."  They also make a Porn for New Moms book.

Adult Mad Libs: Specifically made for Bachelorette parties.  Yes, really, truly fabulous!

What in the World Did I Do Last Night?:  I have no personal experience with this concept, I have no idea what you are talking about.

Words of Wisdom for the Bachelorette: This looks downright boring, but making fun of it might actually provide you with a new world of entertainment!

All images link to their source.

Once Upon A Time: Invitations!

I am so excited today to FINALLY be able to share with you a project I'm particularly proud of... baby shower invitations for my sister in law!  I made (designed, printed, assembled) these myself, 100% from scratch.  And I'm so excited about how they turned out!  Sure, they were work, but I love projects and crafts-- and these were a labor of LOVE!

The first thing I love about them is their theme.  Sister in law T is a teacher, and so a book reference was a no-brainer.  When searching for invites online, I was instantly drawn to the "Once upon a time" themed invites, but the company I liked best did not make enclosures or RSVP cards-- and since we needed both for this set, I did some thinking. I realized, I could totally do this myself!  And so I ordered the paper and got to work!

The invitation consists of three parts printed on light pink cardstock- the main invite, the RSVP postcard, and then an enclosure with registry information, asking folks to bring a baby book in lieu of a card (cute, right?!)  The components are wrapped in a belly band of bright pink, and the envelopes are lined with the same shade.  And then, around the belly band, I wrapped and tied some yarn.  It's a little nod to my mother in law who knits, as well as baby appropriate- and on top of all that, it's a great little textural addition that peeks out of the envelope when you open it.  LOVE!

Since we saved some money making these, I splurged on custom Zazzle stamps for the postcard and envelopes... I think they add just the right finishing touch, and of course I had some coupons and Ebates to help with the cost!

One of the other things I love about this concept is that it would also work well for a girly-girl bridal shower.  And the components themselves are simply 5 x7 paper/envelopes, traditionally sized postcard RSVP's, and then smaller enclosures- all of which are easy to find at Paper Source or the craft store.  Seriously, anyone could make something like this!

Have I convinced you?  Would you try making your own invitations for an event??

Love, Snow and Portraits!

After the ceremony it was time for portraits!  Though the sun set early, we were able to get some great dusk shots and, of course, some snow in the photos!  I won't go on describing because I'm 100% sure these speak for themselves.  (Once again, these are all courtesy of the fabulous Jessica Morrisy!)

And how did we get here?  Checking In;  Practice Makes Perfect: The Rehearsal!; The Rehearsal Dinner!; The Rehearsal Dinner Slide Show; Girls Gone Wild!; Got Mah Hairs Did; The Guys Get Groomed; The Girls Get Glammed!; Get Me To The Church on Time!; The Moments of a Lifetime: Our Ceremony!

Speaking of Spring Cleaning

Admittedly, this has absolutely nothing to do with weddings, I was just so impressed by mother nature today that I had to share!  Today it's more than 70 degrees out, so I decided to uncover the patio furniture, clean the patios and put out the cushions again... someplace to sit with a glass of wine later!  Last year I purchased heavy duty covers for our wicker furniture and they survived the winter in great shape.  Well this year, the winter was significantly harsher, and apparently someone figured out that hiding in our chair, under a waterproof cover, was the perfect place to hibernate!

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not at all psyched at the new hole in the seat of our chair.  But look at the construction of this nest-- and you can't even see the part that fell out but it used to look even more impressive.  Think of how many hours it must have taken our friend the squirrel to get all those twigs in there... this is a second floor balcony that is only accessible by climbing a gutter. It's really quite a brilliant feat when you think about it.  My friend C. thinks they must have known it was my house and used the Martha Stewart book of nest building to aid in their work.

And of course I'm 100% sure J. will strongly disagree with me on this, but, since the damage is done, I have to say that as an animal lover I'm kind of glad we were able to offer a little creature a warm place to hide for the winter.  I just wish she or he would have lived there without eating all the wicker.  At least it's in a place we normally cover with pillows, but these were a gift to J. from his parents, so I'm still bummed that it happened.  And you'd better believe next winter we'll be investing in some moth balls for under the patio furniture covers!!

Oh and do you know what the best part is?  When I cleaned off the upstairs patio, I found ANOTHER nest in our GRILL!  That one's getting tossed :)

Spring Cleaning!

It's April Fool's Day!  But, although I toyed with writing a post about throwing a pirate wedding (or ninjas, or pirates versus ninjas) I realized there's probably something better to say, and a bit more serious at that.  This is the time of year when I always make sure to do some spring cleaning.  I donate old clothing to goodwill, clean out my fridge, add some miracle grow to the plants, and throw out old receipts.  To name a few things!

And another thing I have needed to do is simplify my life a bit.  During wedding planning, I got so used to moving in hyperdrive-fast-forward that I have not had the chance to be "normal" in a really long time.  I literally never say no or stop.  This has been compounded by a great many demands on my time- we have been trying to sell two homes, and I also have been an active bridesmaid (or close friend) for a slew of weddings (with their associated showers and bachelorette parties), and three baby showers (babies!  yay!)  The good news is that I have high-quality problems: two homes, lots of parties, plenty to keep me busy, good friends to celebrate with.  Lots of DIY projects to do and almost no PWD (post-wedding depression).  Definitely don't feel sorry for me.  The bad news is, I *might* be going crazy.  I am quite possibly addicted to my computer and I can't remember how to sit still.  It makes me a little embarassed to even admit it but facts are facts.

So as I spring clean my home and my life, one of the things I am going to have to do is pare down the blog posting (a little).  I mean it, just a little.  But I simply can't continue to work fulltime in a law firm while living my crazy life and posting meaningful daily content.  So maybe you'll see a few less posts (maybe 3 a week?) but hopefully my content will be that much better, and you'll enjoy reading it even more!  I don't want to bore you with nonsense, I want to blog about the worthwhile and meaningful!  And I want to keep my own self sane and fresh so I can continue to enjoy blogging, weddings, and all the fun that go with them!

And so, wonderful readers, that's my spring cleaning commitment to me... simplify and get sane!  Learn to sit still again!  But don't worry, I'm not going anywhere!  :)

Do you have any spring cleaning to do?

image source: the vintage moth