Up Close & Personal

I love photography. It was one thing we really left room for in the budget (but were pleasantly surprised to find an amazing photographer under budget!). One thing to talk to your photographer about, is requesting they make sure and capture all the little details. If you are spending all this time selecting just the right shoes or finding the perfect vases for your centerpieces, make sure they are captured in photos so you can someday show your daughter or future daughter in law what you did for your centerpieces.

Plus, photos like these look great in an album or printed book. It gives it that magazine spread look. Here are some by our photographer Christina Gilchrist out of Portland, Oregon.

Custom Cufflinks.

I have always loved the idea of these cufflinks by Anne Holman on etsy. They are completely customized from vintage maps to any location you desire. It could be the bride's hometown on one and the groom's hometown on the other. Or the location of your wedding and the place that you met. Or perhaps your honeymoon location. They would be a lovely surprise wedding gift the morning of or would be a beautiful touch to the grooms ensemble and a wonderful keepsake for years to come.

Check out her shop for more wonderful custom map adorned jewelry. A necklace with the city of the wedding could be a lovely shower gift for a friend as well.

Holga Weddings

One of the many things I LOVE about our photographer is that she shares my love for lomography. Not only does she take beautiful digital photos, but she also brings a long her beloved holgas to capture some truly one of a kind photos. I love the light leaks, double exposures and beautiful framing that happens with these little plastic toy cameras. Here are a few of my favorite holga photos from her website.

If you are in the Portland area and are still on the hunt for a photographer, I can't say nicer things about Christina Gilchrist. She is truly the sweetest person and is so very talented. Check out her website here for more information and her portfolio.

Gift Registries.

Hello all.

Hope everyone had a wonderful week. I know I did. I'm back again. And just wanted to start the week off my sharing a few pieces from our registry we are very excited about. Naturally, gifts are not what are important to us (I would trade every single gift if I could instead have all our friends and family there with us) but since we do have particular taste we started a couple registries to help people out a little.

We registered at Crate & Barrel, Target and CB2. So far they have all been fantastic and we have been very pleased especially with Crate & Barrel's wonderful staff and selection. They even gave us the sweetest little glass heart bowl as a gift for starting a registry there.

Here are a few things we are really excited about (and will purchase in the end if they are not given to us. Woo hoo for registry completion discount!).

Our Save-the-Date Cards

Since we are finally ordering our save-the-date cards tonight, I figured I would share them with you. A good friend of mine from school who is a fantastic graphic designer designed these for us very early in the planning process and I just love them. Korey is so masterful with typography and he really captured the flavor of the pacific northwest. I love how understated the front is and how well organized the information on the back is (these will be mailed in an envelope). Korey's website is listing in my links if anyone is looking for a graphic designer. He does fabulous work and is wonderful to work with.


On a side note, another friend of mine (the fashion major who made me that deer) needs to design and construct a dress for class so I am on the hunt for inspiration for a dress for my rehearsal dinner. I'm not sure quite what I'm looking for, but I'm very open to suggestions. I would like it to be something I can dress up or dress down once we decide what we're doing for our rehearsal dinner. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Just a little crafty goodness.

Hi all,

So I know a lot of my reader are crafty gods and goddesses. I thought I'd share a few bits of inspiration. If you remember the last gorgeous wedding we featured with Annie and Dave (first post here) then you'll remember the lovely letter pressed invites the DIYed. Well Annie has joined the bloggosphere with her blog Annie Get Your Glue Gun (how cute is the name?!) to cure the after-wedding bug. She is so creative and blogs about her crafting and cooking adventures as well as whatever else tickles her fancy. I LOVE her first tutorial about DIY envelope liners and may end up using it to line out invitation envelopes. I can't wait to see what she has up her sleeve.

On another note, my secret santa this year turned out to be my crafting buddy Ryan. He is a fashion major and does really beautiful work. He has such great taste and he's a sewing fiend. So naturally he made me something and he couldn't have done a more BEAUTIFUL job. Everyone knows I have a little thing for woodland creatures. Hopefully he'll be offering some things on etsy in the near future. His plushies are always adorable. So without further ado, meet Lydia...


I think the colors are so dear (hah.). Maybe I'll make a pallet out of it in the future. Anyways, check out Annie's blog if you get a chance and stay tuned for more wedding-y goodness from me. Lot's of love.

Etsy Art Sinpired Pallet Four - Rich Vintage Memories

This next pallet is inspired by this cross processed polaroid photo by Lindsey Shoemaker. I love the rich colors that are produced by the developing process and thought it would make a LOVELY in take on a retro/vintage pallet for a wedding. It's so rich but still soft and aged. I think this would be lovely paired with vintage ruffles and antiques from the 30's and 40's.

This lovely ruffled number from J Crew would be darling. The organza tiers are given a raw treatment at the edges to give it a perfectly tattered charm.
J Crew Fontaine Dress for $1,500.

Silk and ruffles are perfect for this feminine vintage pallet. And this number it perfectly re-wearable.
Cabbage Hill Dress in green from Anthropologie for $248.




Rich purple leaves, antique green and blue colored hydrangea and creamy whites with a velvet ribbon secured with an antique brooch.
Bouquet by Saipua. Contact for pricing and availability.

An heirloom cake topper from a family member would really be a special and beautiful addition to the reception with this pallet. Or buy one and make it a new tradition.

Another little hiatus (I'm back!)

Hi guys,

Sorry I have been missing in action. The holidays meant I was away from my computer so I was unable to update. But I'm back! The holidays were busy, but good to me. It was really nice to share some time with Jared and see my family.

I'm waiting on one BEAUTIFUL wedding from a friend (Remember Jo's engagement shots? Well wait until you see her wedding photos!). I also have some really beautiful things to share from my own wedding planning as we are now 7 months out and in full swing! All the vendors were booked over the holiday and I had another play date with my dress (although I can't share those photos here are Jared reads this blog). I also have had some really lovely inspiration for some color pallets! So starting tomorrow I'll be back and hopefully posting a bit more regularly.

(Playing video games over break. That window behind us is SO drafty.)