Mint to Be!

Ok, the headline is a bit cheesy, but Minted has become a new favorite site. Not because of the stylish wedding invites but for their great contest. Thanks to Suffix Abuse and a few other blogs, I've been checking out their latest designer contest, The Save The Date Challenge. Check it out for yourself, vote for your favorites and in the end visit Minted again you'll love what you see.

{image above is one of my favorites}

Beautifully Wrapped

After seeing these adorable pillow boxes, I was ready to send a lovely gift to a friend. Visit this etsy store for more wonderful finds.

Can you imagine these filled with lovely goodies for guest to take home after a shower or wedding.

{via Jenn Ski blog}

Invitation Eye Candy

I'm in love with this letterpressed wedding invite from Wedding Paper Divas. If you love this invite like I do, check out the rest of the collection and be ready to swoon.

Invitation Eye Candy

I am in love with Elum. While this company is well known for its wedding invitations and more recently their wonderful letterpressed note cards, journals and the prettiest stationary sets I've ever seen, I have fallen in love with these wedding invites for their varied style, design and the unique blends of patterns and colors. Take a look for yourself. Oh and visit the custom designs under the products link and click on the full view of their invitation suites to just be amazed.

Empress


Headline


Fields


Poster


Lucidity

Invitation Eye Candy

I'm in love with this Circolo2 design by Bella Figura

Great Gift Idea

I think these stylish recipe boxes by Jack and Lulu are perfect, what I love even more are the creative ways you can make this stylish gift become a wonderful keepsake with these ideas:

If you're hosting a bridal shower send one of the cards from the recipe box to all the guest and ask everyone to share their favorite recipe. You can collect those cards during the shower then package and give them to the bride to be. She will have a multitude of recipes to try and all of them filled with love.

Another idea is to change the categories to things you love like "desserts" "cocktails" "dinner parties" "great impressions" "brunch/breakfast" and ask friends to share their best recipes for each of these sections like if your aunt's favorite dish to serve to her mother in law. Even if you're not hosting a party send them to friends and family and delight in what comes back to you in the mail. *This idea would be perfect for a housewarming too just insert the cards into the invites and collect them at the party and you have a complete box of recipes for future dinner parties and more.

Eye Candy

I haven't talked a lot recently about wedding invitations but while there are a lot of great designers who create wonderful wedding invites I saw one design suite recently from one of my many favorite designers and just wanted to share.





the bold color and lovely design is so inviting and unique. Enjoy
{images from ceci new york}

Trend Spotting...

Are posters becoming the new way to invite guest to your wedding? These two ultimately creative designs are posters and wedding invitations and when you think about it most events have posters so why not your wedding? Sure many of us will still covet the traditional styled invitation but for those brides who want to do things a little differently.... Poster anyone?


found this via Black Eiffel and it came from here


discovered via The Scoop or you can learn more about it here

DIY Wedding Invites

Not everyone has the wedding budget to allow for totally designer invitations, but don't worry there are plenty of ways to have stylish invites without the cost.

Uniquity Invitations creates stylish templates that you can insert your information into and print from home. You receive the entire invite suite and while you're printer will do a lot of work, you don't have to. One of my style favorites is The Ella style its designed with flourishes and is totally stylish and definitely elegant. Here are some samples of how some brides have used these design templates.





Ok, so Paper Source is one of my favorite places so I have to share their DIY invite kits too. What makes them different from uniquity is that their accents and style come from the papers they use as belly bands, backings or as envelope liners. With a variety of card styles its easy to design an invite that is totally about your wedding. Here are a few of their fabulous styles.





For you crafty brides who love all these diy paper projects, if you have a gocco, think about using it to create your wedding invites. Many brides on Wedding Bee have used the gocco to print their wedding invites and they have turned out so beautiful. Here are a few...







{some images also from flickr}

DIY Invites can be time consuming and if you're a bride who wants something done without you doing a lot of work then, DIY is not for you. If you love doing these types of crafts well visit these sites and start decicing which one fits your theme.
Go ahead and DIY!

Emboss It!

Want a quick and stylish way to upgrade your stationary or create authentic stationary... Emboss it.

If you're looking for a monogram one of my favorite companies is PSA Essentials. They have a variety of pre-crafted designs to choose from and before you know it, you're ready to emboss anything made of paper.




If you're moods change like the weather and somedays want to use your monogram and other days a symbol like a flower then this desk embosser from Paper Source.is perfect for you. The emossing plates are sold individually so you can have as many as your heart desires.



What I love about the paper source embosser is you can use plates to share a simple message of "Thank You" or "Save the Date" or just leave your return address....

{hint to brides if your watching your budget think about embossing your return address on your envelopes or even using an thank you embossing plate}

Ready to change your stationary? Emboss it!

Psst..Card Crafter

For those of you who love doing paper crafts I found these great card patterns from Amy Butler Designs that are just lovely look....



When I saw these I thought how perfect these would be for a bridal or baby shower or for a princess tea party invitation and of course to just simply say "Thank You". Want to make your own click here. Be sure to select the free paper craft download links.

Oh and there are some other wonderful project besides cards that are also equally fun.

DIY + Snow and Graham = Utterly Stylish!

Sometimes you need a invitation that all you have to do is format your information and then press print. Of course finding these type of invitations {ones that are stylish, chic and have some character} can be difficult. Not anymore! Snow and Graham has a selection of imprintable cards at Luxe Paperie These cards posess the lovely designs of Snow and Graham so all you have to do is find the right font and format these cards for your printer. That's easy! Here's a sample of their collection.

Fashion Inspired

While gazing at all the beautiful things featured for fashion week I thought I'd share some inspiration. If you're planning an event or wedding in the Spring, then use the Pantone 2008 fashion color report as your guide. In my own little twist, I found invitations that feature some of the coming fashion season's colors.


If your planning a spring wedding and thinking about color, design etc... be inspired.

Packaging the Details

When it comes to party favors for your wedding or party, it's all in the presentation. There are so many simple and easy ways to incorporate your style and theme into the packaging of your party favors. Here are a few examples...


Heather & Andrae gave guest dark chocolate favors in beautifully wrapped paisley print paper.



Emily & Christopher blend pale pink, ivory and green in their own unique way. The cohesive blending of their escort and menu cards and favors.



Katie & Robert in Jacksonville, FL
Green polka dot accents and a modern vibe created the perfect day. The favor boxes and other decorative details carry out their modern theme.

Paper Mojo

A few post ago, I talked about incorporating paper into your event. Well if you're looking for wonderful paper prints to compliment invitations, enhance table numbers or escort cards Paper Mojo is the place to go. Now with the name Paper Mojo...I think they know what they're doing. Here's some of their prints.

I think any great idea is worth writing down so why not find a lovely journal to store all your thoughts, party or wedding plans. Besides the fact that they're stylish, you also have everything you need in one place.

Want something artistically inspiring and decadent? This Pulse Journal is perfect and the cover is made out of silk.


If your ideas are all about designs and sketches, well these Sierra Sketchbooks will allow for impromtu inspiration.


These letterpressed journals by Snow and Graham are also perfect for keeping track of any idea, list or thought. There are 64 lined pages. I think they're upscale composition books. This one is called Ebony's Patterned Notebook.


Don't you love the nameplate that you can customize for yourself!

The Carrot and Stick Press Lily notebook is perfect to fit in your purse and keep track of all your daily to do's favorite blogs and so many other things.


There are so many others like those wonderful prints and patterns from mirage paper co. and of course my favorite the paper patisserie by peculiar pair press. We all get inspired, so why not have something totally stylish to keep them in.

Have You Been to Isabel's Party?

Next time you visit target, look beyond the latest fashion designer in the clothing section and travel down to where all the greeting cards and party supplies are and there you will meet Isabelle de Borchgrave fabulous line of great party things...





All of it paper {hand painted}, all of it lovely and perfect for that bridal shower, baby shower or brunch with the girls. If Isabel's Party has left your target visit online and enjoy while it last!

Paper+Weddings=Beautifully Inexpensive.

Call me a paper groupie if you must but I love how such beautiful things can be made and created with paper. A new favorite blog Lucky Me features a wedding designed by Brides Magazine and my fave event planner, Tara Guerard of Soiree in Charleston and this event takes a paper element {wallpaper design} and incorporates it into all aspects of the wedding.



From the pictures in that post I was inspired to show how paper can be a wonderful and inexpensive way to decorate.

These photos capture behind the scene details of an inexpensive table design option from Today throws a Martha Stewart Wedding. The tissue paper pom-pom flowers hanging from the ceiling of your venue and tissue paper wrapped candle filled vases can enhance your decor, keep you within budget, and based on the color used can give you a lovely illumination throughout the room. {*another tip: use a decorative vellum paper and wrap around cylinder vases}




This photo from Brooklyn Bride's blog shows how you can take a basic metal can {rougly the size of a large coffee can} and create a stylish centerpiece by using wrapping paper from stylish designers like whimsy press; eieio; snow and graham and many more. That same wrapping paper pattern can be incorporated through your event like as wrapping for party favors; the backing to table numbers the ideas are limitless.



Another option is paper flowers. If you want to save on your floral budget and your wedding theme permits think about using kits from Paper Source and you can create lovely bouquets like this wedding from the knot


These floral poms by MacKenzie of Kenzie Kate invitations and Something Old Something New blog who created these lovely paper inspired floral poms that were the primary focus of the wedding.



If you're trying to determine how to cut cost for your wedding, think about paper. This simple yet stylish element can give your event character.