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I’m Torn!

  • January 15, 2010 at 11:16 pm

Hokay. So. When I last left you, Mr. Dachshund and I had already decided to go with a three-layer cake, and we had a super-awesome design drawn up by Liz at Creme de la Cake. As soon as we left the bakery, however, I started to have second thoughts. This had nothing to do with anything other than the fact that I second guess everything. I am guilty of doubting every decision I’ve made thus far concerning this wedding. With the exception of Mr. Dachshund; I know I’m doing the right thing there.

This is the design that Liz and I came up with during our consultation:

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Liz did a fantastic job of pulling details from all of my inspiration cakes and putting them together to make one, cohesive cake design.

Layer One: Red velvet cake (because it was delicious and will look great when we cut into it), is covered in white fondant, a red fondant band rolled to mimic grosgrain ribbon, and a line of stitching-like dots.

Layer Two: Vanilla bean cake with chocolate malted buttercream (swoooon), covered in dark aqua fondant with a quilted design pressed into it. Red dots at each intersection.

Layer Three: Vanilla bean cake with key lime filling, light aqua fondant topped with red and white sugar flowers.

And because the hand drawing might be hard to interpret, I drew this in Illustrator:

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I do really like it, but I’m still drawn to the look of a two-layer cake. Plus, this cake has a lot going on… I think I imagined something a little simpler. Mr. Dachshund definitely wanted something simpler, but he gave all designing rights to me on the condition that he had a say on the flavors.

Using my favorite detail of the above cake, I toyed with some other design ideas and came up with this:

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I added in a cake topper from Lollipop Workshop, because I’d really like to have one for our cake. I’m not sure I would like it on top of the three-layer cake, though, as the top layer is pretty small.

What do you think, Hhive? I can’t decide between the two! Knowing that I no longer need to freeze a layer for our anniversary cake, should I go with the original three-layer design, or my version of a two-layer cake?


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Wedding Day Part XV: The First Dance

  • January 14, 2010 at 11:24 pm

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I seriously can’t image how we could have planned our wedding without the ’bee. So, it was less than a month before the wedding and we didn’t have a first dance song picked out, let alone have a game plan for the dance. It was Weddingbee to the rescue! Mrs. Canary posted about an emergency dance lesson she had just had, and I contacted Erin of Start Dancing right away! She was such a sweetheart on the phone and quickly scheduled to meet us at my parents’ house the same week.

Let me tell you, with our busy schedules, it was a godsend that she could come to us. All we had to do was let her know what we wanted for our first song so she could personalize a routine for us. We originally wanted “No One” by Alicia Keys but we weren’t a fan of the style of dance that went with the song. (I forget what Erin said it was, cha-cha maybe?) Anyhow, at the last minute we chose Alicia’s “If I Ain’t Got You” since we thought a Viennese Waltz was a better idea. Erin was so patient with us and all our hard work paid off! Mr. Lovebird and I both agree, it was most worthwhile investment we made towards the wedding. And here it is, it all its glory (video to follow later since I’m too lazy to splice and encode).

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Mr. Lovebird was supposed to kiss my hand before he raised it but he was so nervous he forgot. Afterward, I was like, “You forgot to kiss my hand.” And he’s like, “Oh my god, I totally forgot, I was wondering why you were trying to stuff your hand in my face.”

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Here I am, smiling at him…

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Meanwhile, in my head, I was thinking, ‘Holy crap the dance floor is slippery. Stupid Lovebird for not realizing there might be sand on the dance floor. Man, I wish I took off my heels. Please don’t fall, please don’t fall, please don’t fall…’ Now we were the ones in the Danger Zone!

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Here he is, smiling at me. I’m pretty sure that’s his nervous smile.

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Here’s one of the turns in our routine.

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You can tell that’s he’s saying something to me. Erin tried to teach him how to “lead” and me how to “follow” but eventually caved by allowing him to just “tell” me what he was going to do next. During the lesson, he kept saying, “Stop trying to lead!” Hehe~ I couldn’t help it, okay!

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(guest photo-check out that sand)

The beginning of the big finale started off with me spinning out.

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And then me spinning back into his arms while he catches me in the air. We added this move after our lesson by watching “Dancing with the Stars” footage, cuz we wanted to spice it up a little more.

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And of course, it ended with a dip.

And the crowd went wild! Actually, I didn’t pay too much attention to the crowd, I was too busy focusing on the steps and was relieved when it was finally over. We would have been fine with just doing the sixth grade “rock and sway” for our first dance, but we hoped our efforts made our dance a bit more enjoyable for our guests to watch. Plus it was a great bonding experience for us to learn/practice the routine.

What are you doing for your first dance? Are you planning on going with the flow or is there a routine lined up?

Wedding Day Part I: The Girls Getting Ready
Wedding Day Part II: The Boys Getting Ready
Wedding Day Part III: The Guests Getting Ready
Wedding Day Part IV: Bridal Portraits
Wedding Day Part V: Moments Away
Wedding Day Part VI: The Processional 1.0
Wedding Day Part VII: The Processional 2.0
Wedding Day Part VIII: Here Comes The Bride
Wedding Day Part IX: The Ceremony
Wedding Day Part X: “You Have Them, Right?”
Wedding Day Part XI: Wrapping Up the Ceremony
Wedding Day Part XII: Friends and Family Portrait Time!
Wedding Day Part XIII: Bride and Groom Portraits
Wedding Day Part XIV: Highway to the Danger Zone

*unless otherwise noted, please credit all photos to Del Sol Photography


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Home Party Planning: The Invitations Get Revamped

  • January 14, 2010 at 11:01 pm

So I played around with the invites a little more this weekend and decided that the design by VistaPrint wasn’t exactly what I was looking for and didn’t really go with the theme of the party. Plus, as a few people pointed out, they were more of a copy of the one I originally liked and less of an inspiration.

I started thinking that a folded card would be better than a flat one like originally planned. My next thought was to look at envelope dimensions first so I could easily buy some that our invitations would fit in. Once I had the dimensions, back to Photoshop I went. I grabbed my favorite e-pic and converted it to black and white. Then I sized the canvas in Photoshop to just under the width of the envelopes, and just under double the height so when folded in half, it would fit perfectly. I added a text layer and put the date of our wedding in red because I thought it popped nicely against the black and white. I later went back and added our names, because when I was finished with the inside, I realized I hadn’t put them in anywhere! So here’s the outside…

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And for the inside, I made the same size canvas and added a text layer with the same color font as on the front (although it looks darker below).

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I have to say, the trickiest part was figuring out which way to flip the paper in the printer once one side was printed since I don’t have a double sided printer. Anywho, here’s the finished product of the rough draft…

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And I love them! My only problem at this point is that I still haven’t quite gotten the picture as clear as I would like. Resizing it from a HUGE pic to something so much smaller makes it more pixelated than I would like. I’m no whiz at Photoshop, so I’m not sure if there’s a way to make it clearer. But after reading Miss Cheeseburger’s post about cutting notches and inserting the actual picture, I think the problem may be solved!

So I ask you all if you are crazy like me… did you revamp your invites a bunch of times before you came up with a design you loved? Or did you leave them in the hands of someone that actually knows what they were doing?


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Blueberries and Hydrangeas

  • January 14, 2010 at 7:00 pm

Today we have another beautiful shoot from Ariella Chezar and Meg Smith – beautiful inspiration for a lovely wedding at home or maybe at at small bed and breakfast…


Ariella made the wreath with indigo hydrangea and blueberries.


I think it’s safe to say that Ariella Chezar is a multi-talented woman – she made this dress!


The ring pillow is made of the same fabric that adorns the “bride’s” dress.


Ariella made a cake covered in pale blue rolled fondant, and decorated with hydrangea blossoms, blueberries, and rosa rubrifolia foliage.


Arrangement of delphiniums.

Sigh. Ariella Chezar’s flowers always make me wish for my own beautiful garden – and some level of skill in floral arranging. See more of Ariella’s work here, and more of Meg Smith’s beautiful photography here.

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

Board #455: Lemons and Paperwhites

  • January 13, 2010 at 5:45 pm

Sugared lemons* and potted paperwhites are the perfect decor elements for a winter wedding: simple, sophisticated, and lovely, as well as DIY- and budget-friendly (without necessarily looking DIY or budget-friendly). Clear beads strung on a bendable wire turn into a pretty table number, and lemon curd adds color to a simple buttercream cake (okay, this 5-tiered cake isn’t exactly, but you could spread lemon curd on the top of smaller layer cakes for a similar effect that is, in fact, simple). And what’s in that little favor box that doubles as a place card? How about lemon drops, or pate de fruit. (Edible favors always seem like a good idea to me: if your guests leave them behind, you’re stuck with lots of yummy treats instead of, say, 100 miniature picture frames.) Notice that this isn’t really a yellow wedding; it’s a winter white wedding with just a pop of color. For those brides who are unsure about color, and who can’t afford to hire a professional designer to direct your aesthetic choices, my suggestion is this: stick with a neutral background (preferably white), and use one color sparingly. It’s hard to go wrong with a {white + one color} palette.

*Directions for making sugared fruit.

Mood: sweet and simple winter wedding
Palette: sugared lemon yellow, crisp paperwhite

{click image to enlarge}

Top row from left: sugared lemon centerpiece with beaded table number from Martha Stewart Weddings, ruffled dress via This is Glamorous, paperwhites from Brides
Row 2: calligraphy favor box and lemon curd wedding cake both from Martha Stewart Weddings
Row 3: white flower girl dresses from Martha Stewart Weddings, narcissus and freesia bouquet by Artfool, snowy house photo by Cameron Purdy
Row 4: paperwhite centerpiece by Artfool, Alee & Press blind letterpress invitation suite and eaux-de-vie both from Martha Stewart Weddings

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

Board #454: I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

  • January 12, 2010 at 11:30 am

My honey’s very favorite thing in the world is ice cream, and it definitely makes my top three of favorite things, and though we haven’t had much talk of our wedding in the past couple months, we’re fairly certain that ice cream will make an appearance in some way or another. So the thought occurred to me – what if ice cream was the reception? So I imagined this inspiration board: a chapel wedding with just a few guests, followed by a visit to your favorite local ice cream shop. Of course, if you wanted to include ice cream at a larger wedding, many ice cream shops have catering options (my personal favorite ice cream is Ici in Berkeley – mmmm…. caramel cashew). And I couldn’t leave out pretty details like a gorgeous bouquet, a playful necktie for the groom, and sparkly ballet flats. So I have to ask – what’s your favorite local ice cream spot? Favorite flavor there?

Mood: ruffles and ice cream
Palette: pale pink and peach, powder blue, sweet cream

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Top row from left: bouquet with anemones, peonies, ranunculus, and lily-of-the-valley by Ariella Chezar; Twigs & Honey birdcage veil photo by Elizabeth Messina, wedding invitation letter from Martha Stewart Weddings
Row 2: pink and blue plaid necktie from J.Press, Miu-Miu shoes photo by Jose Villa
Row 3: pink vintage dress from Allen Company via Oh Hello Friend, ice cream cups photo by Gemma Comas, little chapel photo by Missy McLamb, butterfly sleeve dress via Happy Cavalier

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.

Laura Hooper Calligraphy ~ New Eye Candy

  • January 12, 2010 at 5:26 am

One of the first names I learned when I first started writing for the LBB Blog was Laura Hooper. I’ve known, pretty much forever, what a true artist she is …

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I have to share one of SMP’s Backstage secrets … my father was an artist. For those of you unfamiliar with Backstage, it’s Abby’s new venue for sharing all of her insider trade secrets. Plus a little personal info. One of HER secrets is that her grandfather was a terrific artist. So when either of us use the term artist, we don’t use it lightly. We mean it, from the bottom of our hearts.

So, back to Laura.  Visit any wedding website … any wedding blog … any of the top designers’, planners’, stationers’, photographers’ websites and you’ll see Laura’s gorgeous work. Her calligraphy, designs and wedding maps have become synonymous with the best of the best. Nationally and internationally …

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Laura’s style is seriously loved by all!

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And as you would expect, Laura’s website and blog are full of the prettiest of pretty. If you are at the Save The Date … or the Invitation point, you will want to take a look at all that Laura has available. Make the day uniquely YOURS  ~ make it a Laura Hooper design. And then send us your photos to share with all the wedding world!

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all images courtesy of MiBelle Photography

ps … Laura’s  wood veneer invitation is one of my own personal favorites!

Laura Hooper Calligraphy is a member of our Little Black Book. For more information on how members are chosen, click here.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. |
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Post tags: Laura Hooper, MiBelle Photography, Wedding Logos, Wedding Maps, Wedding Monograms
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Invitations & Stationery


This article was originally posted onStyle Me Pretty.

Beauty Tried and True: Part 3

  • January 11, 2010 at 11:14 pm

Now we’ve tackled the environment, aging, tightening of pores, and acne. What’s next? Puffy eyes.

There is no part of your face that gives away more about you than your eyes. They express emotion, you can smile with them like Tyra, they can display the puffy remains of too much boozing, or the all-nighter you pulled for work or school. There are two tricks you probably already know about to disguise tired eyes––cucumber slices and MASSIVE sunglasses, but massive sunglasses might not be the way to go for your wedding. The final two tricks I have are part of a little group I like to call Baked Potato Beauty.

What you need:

  • 1/2 raw potato
  • 1 tsp moisturizer

Instructions:

Peel potato and grate finely. Measure 2 teaspoonfuls of the grated potato into the teaspoon of moisturizer. Mix well. Apply liberally around eyes, and cover with damp cotton pads or gauze. Let rest 10 minutes. Rinse with cool water.

I got a lot of slack from everyone for not posting my tomato-faced picture, so I’ll oblige this time with my potato eyes even though I look ridiculous:

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(Don’t ever say I don’t love the readers of Weddingbee, look at me!)

I was a little scared to do this one because of my recent eyelash additions, so I just used this underneath my eyes, though you could probably do it on your lids, too. While I was using this though, I could feel the puffiness evaporating. I really couldn’t believe it. My eyes were majorly de-puffed after doing this. It was a little messy because potatoes retain some water, which isn’t a good thing when it’s mixed with the lotion. But it works! My modification for next time might be potato slices (not grated) minus the moisturizer. It would be a lot simpler and cleaner and maybe provide the same results. Do any of you want to try this trick or the modified trick?

Up next? Dark circles. I saved the best for last!


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.

Top diet tips to get glowing skin for a wedding’

  • January 11, 2010 at 11:47 am

Before they enjoy a big slice of wedding cake at their reception, brides-to-be may want to follow some diet tips to ensure their skin is glowing when they walk down the aisle.

According to Saks beauty guru Kristy Jewson, a few well-chosen foods can help women to get their skin in such good condition that they feel confident enough to wear less makeup.

She said: "You are what you eat so as well as a good skincare routine you should look at what foods you are eating."

Ms Jewson advised consuming antioxidants such as spinach, berries and green vegetables because they are all anti-ageing and anti-inflammatory.

Similarly, oily fish and flax seeds can be a good addition to a bride's diet, as they contain essential fatty acids and could ensure that a woman feels and looks great when she puts on her wedding dress.

A study conducted by St Ives found that one in five men thinks their partner wears too much makeup, while one in ten like girls who wear no makeup at all.

Click through for a top of the range list of beautiful wedding dresses


This article was originally posted onHitched.

Board #453: Tuxedo & Mint

  • January 11, 2010 at 11:30 am

This inspiration board didn’t start out with an accent color, but there is the slightest hint of mint green on the walls of Lisa Lefkowitz’s photograph, and that inspired the rest of these image choices. I imagine a chic cocktail party, or (yet again) a champagne and dessert reception. Though it may take place in a gorgeous mansion, and though the men may be in black tie attire, formality is no reason to exclude whimsical touches, such as calligraphy cootie catchers or a sweet snack of hot beignets. Though they are certainly not major elements in any wedding, they’re a fun touch if you feel up to executing them.

Mood: polished, sweet
Palette: tuxedo black, crisp white, a touch of mint green

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Top row from left: calla lily centerpiece from Brides, black bridesmaid dress by Q is for Quail, calligraphy cootie catcher from Martha Stewart Weddings, Flood Mansion wedding photo by Lisa Lefkowitz
Row 2: seven-tiered coconut buttercream wedding cake from Martha Stewart Weddings, classic wedding rings photo by Whitebox Weddings, ornate RSVP card by Austin Press, Elie Saab butterfly sleeve dress from Brides
Row 3: tuxedo, lily-of-the-valley and hydrangea nosegay, and beignets all from Martha Stewart Weddings, Flood Mansion

This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.