One Love Campaign

We're thrilled to be participating in The One Love Campaign, a new initiative to promote same sex marriage which launched this week. Originating from the recent California same sex marriage ruling and San Francisco's status as a leading destination for same sex weddings, the Campaign's mission is create a national movement to raise awareness and support for all couples of decide to tie the knot.

The Campaign will showcase select high profile Bay Area businesses, of which Hello!Lucky is one, who offer a full range of luxury services for relationships, weddings, events and honeymoons for all couples tying the knot.

The One Love Campaign includes a select list of high profile local businesses representing the first group of vendors openly promoting their services to all gay & straight couples getting married. The One Love Campaign Preferred Businesses offering Wedding Services include:

Hello!Lucky: Hello!Lucky is a specialty design firm, creating vintage-inspired, artisan-printed custom letterpress, social stationary, and wedding invitations. www.hellolucky.com. In honor of The One Love Campaign, Hello!Lucky will donate 5% of each One Love client package to SF Pride, sfpride.org.

One Life, LLC: One Life, LLC established by renowned relationship expert Ali Berlin (the aforementioned co-founder of The One Love Campaign), is a San Francisco based company dedicated to visionary relationships, innovative global service and the active expression of conscious love. As One Life’s passionate leader, Berlin offers both private custom coaching and exclusive wedding officiating services for progressive couples and individuals. www.aliberlin.com In honor of the One Love Campaign, One Life will donate 10% of all One Love affiliated client services to the client’s choice of SF Pride, sfpride.org or SF LGBT Center, sfcenter.org.

Paula LeDuc Fine Catering: For twenty-eight years, Paula LeDuc Fine Catering has pushed the boundaries of what is possible, by creating unique and unforgettable events for each client and their guests. Create, celebrate, experience ~ the extraordinary. www.paulaleduc.com. In honor of the One Love Campaign, Paula LeDuc Fine Catering will donate 5% of your total event catering to the client’s choice of SF Pride, sfpride.org or SF LGBT Center, sfcenter.org.

Alison Events: With a fresh take on weddings, Alison Events doesn't just lead couples down the aisle, but helps them create unique, authentic and inspiring wedding experiences. With a down-to-earth planning process and a sophisticated take on style, we will help you create the wedding of your dreams and enjoy the process along the way. www.alisonevents.com. In honor of the One Love Campaign, Alison Events will donate 2% of each package purchased to SF Pride sfpride.org.

Lisa Lefkowitz Photography: Lisa Lefkowitz has been documenting unions since 1999 and has earned a national reputation for her luminous images and sensitive style. Her approach to weddings is photojournalistic in spirit; she unobtrusively captures each moment as it unfolds. Lisa’s work has been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings, Elegant Bride and Bride’s magazines, as well as many other publications. www.lisalefkowitz.com. In honor of the One Love Campaign, Lisa Lefkowitz Photography will donate 2% of each package purchased to SF Pride sfpride.org.

The Claremont Resort & Spa: Perched majestically on a pristine mountainside in the Berkeley Hills, standing watch over the glistening Golden Gates of The San Francisco Bay, The Claremont Resort & Spa is a San Francisco Bay Area landmark focused on preserving its tradition while conserving the future. From Signature Journeys at Spa Claremont and fitness classes at the newly renovated Club at the Claremont to exquisite Four-Diamond restaurants and the famous Bay Area views, The Claremont is a tradition, an entitlement of generations and America's quintessential grand resort. Please contact The Claremont for special packages. www.claremontresort.com

Mulberry Photography: Mulberry Photography specializes in fashion inspired weddings and portrait photography. Led by husband and wife team Albert and Tari Lewis, these two accomplished professional photographers have made Mulberry Photography an innovative and highly recognized company, with a style that is unmatched in the industry. Mulberry Photography has studio offices in Lake Tahoe & Palm Springs, but travel globally to shoot. www.mulberryphoto.com. In honor of the One Love Campaign, Mulberry Photography will donate 2% of each One Love package during 2008 to SF Pride, sfpride.org or SF LGBT Center, sfcenter.org.

TRuEStyle: TRuEStyle offers expert personal styling for fashionable weddings and everyday elegance. Founded by Teresa Kuhl, TRuEStyle translates each couple’s unique taste into a sophisticated and polished look with a flare all their own. www.truestylesf.com. In honor of The One Love Campaign, TRuEStyle will donate 5% of One Love client services to SF Pride, sfpride.org.

Sillapere: Sillapere is a San Francisco-based style lab, inventing parties and celebrations with irresistible sassiness and enduring sophistication. While providing the highest quality of service and design to clients, Sillapere also uses creativity to instill cutting-edge style with a strong commitment to sustainability for our planet. We believe in celebrating love and designing weddings that allow people to connect at a deeper level. www.sillapere.com. In honor of The One Love Campaign, Sillapere will donate 2% of all One Love packages to the client’s choice of SF Pride, sfpride.org or SF LGBT Center, sfcenter.org.

The Powderpuff Girls

We were thrilled to meet the lovely Katie Reynolds, beautician and founder of the Powderpuff Girls, last week. With their retro-chic pink outfits and impeccable beauty know-how, these girls are a must-have for any stylish party, including hen nights/bridal showers. They offer a full range of on-site services, including mani-pedis, make-up and hair styling and massage. Seriously, ladies, there is no excuse for not looking your gosh-darned best, and the Powderpuff Girls make it simple!

New Wedding Inspiration Boards

We're thrilled to announce a new wedding inspiration board area of our website, where you can browse through pretty, creative ideas for coordinating all the design elements of your wedding.

The boards cover a wide variety of themes and were created by the lovely and inspiring Kathryn of Snippet & Ink; they (of course!) feature our letterpress wedding invitations and paper. There are lots of fresh ideas for other wedding vendors, as well - just click on any of the images within the boards to link to its source (note the images shown above are just excerpts - click here to browse the full boards). Happy browsing!

Place Card Chopstick Holders

We created these simple chopstick holders, which double as place cards with calligraphy by Michele Papineau, for a Maui wedding designed by Lisa Feldman of Lisa Feldman Design. The tapered triangle shape allows the chopsticks to slide out of the holder, and tilts the guests' names up so that they can be easily read.

The holders were designed to fit Lisa's fresh, tropical persimmon and chartreuse color palette, which she carried throughout the wedding weekend events.

We also collaborated with Lisa to decorate these shantung silk favor boxes (from the Container Store), each of which contained a wind chime. More photos of this incredible wedding to come!

Photos courtesy of Lisa Feldman.

The Confectionery

The Confectionery is a charming, well-edited vintage candy shop located in Seattle's University Village. We just love their custom party favor service - just give them a call or drop by, and their friendly, creative staff will help you pick out tasty, stylish treats for your bridal shower, party, or wedding reception!

Shauna's Vintage Wedding Dress

Many thanks to Kathryn at Snippet & Ink for posting these beautiful pictures of Hello!Lucky designer Shauna Leytus in her gorgeous vintage wedding dress (along with all kinds of other fabulous wedding details) for her Real Wedding Saturday this weekend! Shauna's dress is the one her grandmother originally wore in 1953. She looked stunning!

Photos courtesy of Marla Aufmuth.

Confetti Cakes

We adore the work of Elisa Strauss over at Confetti Cakes! Her whimsical, lucious floral cakes are being featured in the current issue of InStyle Weddings and were featured on Bride's 50 most beautiful wedding cakes earlier this year. These cakes make us want to design wedding invitations and stationery just to coordinate! Congratulations, Elisa!

Top two photos courtesy of Monica Buck/InStyle Weddings.

Jennifer Behr

We caught up with the charming and stunningly talented Jennifer Behr this weekend - she was visiting San Francisco from her native New York for a trunk show at Neiman Marcus. Formerly the lead hair accessories designer at Frederic Fekkai, Ms. Behr launched her own collection in 2005 and has already garnered acclaim from fashionistas around the world (including style icon Natalie Portman). Her designs are perfect for everyday, as well as for weddings and parties - we want to own every piece! Check out her gorgeous collection here.

Fall Wedding by Jubilee Lau Events

Many thanks to Jubilee Lau of Jubilee Lau Events for sharing these gorgeous photos of a Fall-themed wedding she designed last year at Thomas Fogarty Winery, a stunning Bay Area venue in the Santa Cruz mountains with views extending in every direction. Jubilee collaborated with floral designer Nancy Liu Chin to create stunning floral arrangements featuring pumpkins and squashes with flowers spilling out of them. They used oranges, golds, and reds in the color palette, which coordinated with the green winery surroundings. The couple, Julie and Jay, looked stunning, too, and the entire event was filled with joy (as a wedding should be)! Congratulations to the couple, and the Jubilee and Nancy for creating an unforgettable event!

 Photographs courtesy of Gene Higa.

Letterpress Seating Cards

Our designer Shauna Leytus created these mix-and-match letterpress printed seating cards featuring two different vintage chairs for her own wedding. They're now available for purchase right here. $7.50 for 10 flat seating cards (2 x 3.25") with ecru matching envelopes.

Photograph by Sara Remington.

Western Wedding Invitations

We originally created these Old West-inspired wedding invitations for a couple getting married on a ranch in Sun River, Oregon. Since then, we've adapted the design to a number of stationery items, including save the date cards, thank you notes and even coasters, and added personalized details such as an icon of the state of Texas, above. The invitation design features cowboy boot stitch, and a pattern of vintage stars inspired by riding spurs, and old-fashioned type faces. Perfect for riding off into the sunset! The invitation is available here and can be customized by our designers.

For more western wedding style inspiration, check out Snippet & Ink's Ranch Romance inspiration board here.

Photography by Sara Remington.

Rebecca Thuss - Wedding Stylist

We had the privilege of working with eminent stylist, creative director, and crafter Rebecca Thuss on the decor of Martha Stewart Weddings editor Shana Faust's wedding, pictured in the bottom image above, for which we created our signature Cherry Blossom wedding invitation. Her gorgeous website features beautiful examples of her ground-breaking work, and is one of our favorite sources of inspiration!

Vintage Coaches

Last weekend, I attended a lovely wedding in Chorley, Lancashire (England). Among the many highlights were the vintage coaches provided for guest transportation to the ceremony and reception. Available for hire through Cumbria Classic Coaches, these 1940s- and 50s-era coaches (with charming names like "Florence" and "Harvey") are full of deco details and upholstered in gorgeous, Japanese-inspired velvets. The photos above are mostly of "Florence", a green and cream 1948 AEC Regal. The company also furnished the charming 1936 Rover which served as the bride and groom's getaway car.

Butterfly Seating Cards

We created these lovely butterfly seating cards by die-cutting blush paper and folding it in half to great a three-dimensional feel. Wedding guests' names are written in calligraphy on one side, the table number on the other. We displayed them by pinning them in a scattered formation to sheer netting with pearl-headed pins, arranging the guests names in (more or less!) alphabetical order. The effect was gorgeous and perfect for a garden wedding.

Our original inspiration for these was a 19th century naturalist wedding theme. The guests' place cards were placed in bits of moss under bell jars (designed in collaboration with Fork & Spoon Productions), and there were birdcages overflowing with roses, a garden hedge surrounding the dance floor, and large apothecary jars full of sweets. It was lovely!

Photograph by Sara Remington.

Orchid Wedding Invitations

We created these orchid wedding invitations for Su-Lynn and Pierre, a wonderful couple we first met in London. Their January wedding was held at Au Jardin des Amis at the Singapore Botanical Garden followed by a reception at the Ritz Carlton. The letterpress printed invitations featured a modern, minimal orchid design in a fresh spring green, plum and gravel color palette, a Warhol-inspired "hair of the dog" invitation for the post-wedding brunch, a fan-shaped program, and a custom-illustrated map. We're grateful to Su-Lynn and Pierre for their vision, and to collaborating with us to create our favorite wedding invitations of late! Congratulations, Su-Lynn and Pierre!

Photography by Sara Remington.

Fork & Spoon Productions

We are in awe of the talent, creativity, and skill of San Francisco-based event production company Fork & Spoon Productions. Proprieters Jennifer Spiegel and Jonathan Biel are a dream team, offering world-class, mouth-watering food (both honed their skills with Wolfgang Puck), gorgeous flowers, and impeccable event design that is straight out of Martha Stewart Weddings (Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is a client).

Jennifer and Jonathan are a rare mix of both visionary and down-to-earth - no theme or concept is beyond their grasp (we had a blast collaborating with them last year on an Iceland-themed birthday party, complete with ice sculptures and Viking-inspired invitations!). What's more, given that they are both full-service and consummate professionals, you can just sit back, relax and enjoy a splendid event!

Will You Marry Me?

This tiny ceramic bowl proposal/engagement set is just too precious. Just put your ring in the bowl and present to your honey - seriously, who could say no? It was created by Austin-based ceramic artist Caroline Colom Vasquez and is available on her etsy shop, Paloma's Nest. Enjoy!

Oh, How Charming!

We can't say enough about the work of Los Angeles-based event planner Lisa Vorce of Oh, How Charming!, who we had the privledge of meeting through the Bridal Bar. Lisa's versatility and exceptional eye for design and detail are first-rate. And of course we love her internationally-inspired aesthetic, which she brings to planning events at venues ranging from Los Angeles' Moroccan-inspired Hotel Figueroa to the Loire Valley in France.

Photo credits (from top): Thayer Allyson Gowdy, Aaron Delesie, Elizabeth Messina, Jon Nickson, Elizabeth Messina

The Designer Wedding Show

Most bridal fairs tend to be overwhelming, replete with bad wedding singers and puff-sleeved bridal wear, so we generally try to avoid them like a bride-to-be avoids Ben & Jerry's. We make an exception for London's Designer Wedding Show, held this past weekend in Battersea Park.

The Designer Wedding Show is a wonderful feast/fantasy for the bride-to-be, and a tolerable weekend afternoon for grooms. (Note: We have suggested that the organizers add a groom's salon, where one can tip back a pint and watch football while the ladies try on gowns. We are still awaiting a response.)

Some highlights: gorgeous wedding flowers and table centrepieces from eminent florist Jamie Aston; exquisitely detailed gowns by Sassi Holford and Barcelona-based coutourier Pronovias; fun, 50's-inspired frocks by relative newcomer Candy Anthony (who herself is a traffic-stopping style icon); effortlessly elegant gowns by celeb couturier Bruce Oldfield; and stunning hats by our favorite London milliner, Rachel Trevor-Morgan. Of course, we were there, too debuting our latest custom designs for our letterpress wedding invitations.

The next show is in October 2008 - mark your calendars!

Second Hand Rose

Vintage patterns are a huge source of inspiration for us, vintage wall paper especially. Second Hand Rose in New York is hands-down the best source, with a large, well-edited selection.

Vintage wallpaper (or any wall paper, for that matter), can be used as the inspiration for the style of your entire wedding, from the invitations, to the day itself. It makes perfect place mats (just mount a second sheet of heavy cardstock to the back to prevent curling), and strips make elegant napkin rings. The paper can be used to wrap vases (we suggest using Chinese tea tins, and gluing the paper around it to create a lovely bud vase), and to decorate favors and program covers (wrapping a patterned band around the program, for example).

Add intrigue your reception cards by double-pasting (fancy lingo for gluing the paper evenly to the back of a second card) the paper to the back of the cards, creating an expected design element. You can double-paste the paper to the backs of your table number cards as well.

Note to brides: We'd love to design custom wedding invitations based on any of these patterns, so if you like what you see, call us!