Well Wed wedding color palettes

Big thanks to Well Wed New York for including us in their beautiful color palette story in the current Fall/Winter issue! They've illustrated four different color palettes in beautiful spreads that show how the table, bouquet, and other details can come together to create a cohesive aesthetic. Above, a rustic take on greens & browns featuring Julia Rothman's Home Sweet Home wedding invitation.

Silver, white and pewter featuring the Chandelier wedding invitation by EIEIO Studio.

Red, purple and lavender, featuring one of our custom invitation designs.

Orange, blue and gold featuring the Architecture wedding invitation by Joel Dewberry.

Check out the whole story here (starting on page 59).

Real wedding: Abby & Ross

Congrats to Abby and Ross, who got married last month at Limn Gallery, a beautiful modern space in San Francisco!

It all began with this custom save the date design that we created for the couple, combining a nod to the fact that the space is a functioning art gallery, and a little bit of wit and whimsy!

Limn provided a chic, minimal backdrop for the reception. The event was catered by Jane Hammond Events.

Emily Dreblow of Soulflower Floral Design created these lovely sculptural boutonnieres, as well as the succulent centerpieces.

We revived the save the date design in a welcome sign carved by Because We Can...and a hand drawn seating chart.

The ceremony was held in gallery's outdoor courtyard.

The bride wore this gorgeous beaded shrug, custom made by seamstress Glenda Pongiglione.

The programs coordinated with their invitations (they chose the Lunaria invitation design in espresso and apple).

Promptly after the ceremony, they left for an amazing honeymoon in Greece (we're so jealous!!). Congratulations, Abby & Ross!!

Photography by Marla Aufmuth.

Behind the scenes at our photo shoot

Last month, we were in New York for a couple of weeks shoot our new DIY wedding book with co-author and stylist Shana Faust and photographer Joseph De Leo. It was an amazing and overwhelming experience, and has largely been responsible for the slow-down in blog posts!!

We spent a full 2 weeks crafting at Aloft Studio in mid-town - if you're wondering how much crafting goes into filling a book, look above! (Thanks to Kim and John for letting us turn the place upside down!)

We were fortunate to have helpers - H!L's intrepid Chun Yee O'Neill and Tricia Roush of House of Nines Design - who crafted along side us every day!

Shana brought tons of beautiful props for styling...

And we all brought piles and piles of crafting materials, like these pretty ribbons from Mokuba Ribbon, which we'd collected over the past year. Believe us, great crafting starts with great materials!

It was an incredible experience! Can't wait to share the finished book with everyone!

Shana Faust

We're super excited that Shana Faust's fabulous new website! Shana's an amazing freelance stylist in New York and former senior style editor at Martha Stewart Weddings. She's also co-author and stylist of our new wedding craft book, coming Fall 2009 from Chronicle Books (behind-the-scenes pics from our recent photo shoot will be posted here soon!).

One of the best parts of the site is her inspiration area, which contains links to all kinds of fabulous design resources. Check it out, and click here for some lovely pics of Shana's home and her sweet little daughter Sophie Bea we took back in March!

to have and to hold

This tote couldn't be more perfect to use as a welcome bag for wedding guests. Want to add to the sentiment? Write a sweet handwritten note on our Seahorse Love greeting card!

Illustrated programs

How adorable are these illustrated programs from Joanna Goddard's wedding? The artwork was done by the talented Anna Bond, and features a quote from one of our favorite books, The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.

Style Me Pretty Destination Wedding Giveaway!

We are thrilled to be a part of Style Me Pretty’s exclusive destination wedding giveaway...and, trust us, it's a doozy! One very lucky reader will receive a fabulous gift of goodies worth up to $2100 - FOR REAL!  Prizes include a 1 hour consultation with wedding planner Alison Hotchkiss, beautifully handcrafted cup set from Heath Ceramics, 2 nights stay at the Bardessono Hotel, gift certificate to Bottega Restaurant and so much more.  

Also included in the giveaway?  100 digital destination invitation sets from yours truly – Hello!Lucky. To enter and get  more details about this amazing giveaway, check out  http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/09/23/giveaway/ NOW (no dawdling).  The highly enviable winner  will be announced next Wednesday, September 30th.   Enter...and keep those fingers crossed!  

Shipwreck DIY table numbers

Thanks to Christina Loff at Chronicle Books for sharing the adorable photos from her friends Julie & Joe's wedding.  Our favorite details were these embroidered table number flags -- in Christina's words, they gave the wedding a "shipwreck feel" - appropriate, since it was on the beach!

Here's how they looked placed in assorted found glass bottles, along with flowers and lanterns.

Here are some in-process shots. The numbers were embroidered on small hoops, and then sewn into flags, which were mounted on twig crossbars. Simple, and so cute!

Thanks, Christina, and congrats Julie & Joe!

DIY Wedding Snap Station

Another shout-out today to our talented intern Hillary Burgess for her DIY snap station, featured this week on Bride's Cafe! (Hillary won their DIY contest a few weeks back - what a star!)

The basic idea: collect some vintage cameras, and give them to guests to play with!

Accompanied by  some cute signage, of course!

Congratulations, Hillary, and kudos to Jess Epstein for the fab photos!

Found object seating cards

We've love the idea of eclectic collections of objects/favors that double as seating cards, like these vintage aluminum parakeet pins...

Or these vintage millinery flower seating cards (which could be transformed into stick pins for your guests by adding pin backings).

These goodies are from Tinsel Trading, but Etsy and ebay are also great online resources!

To make the strips, we just printed guest's names on text weight paper using an inkjet printer, and rubber stamped the table assignment on the reverse. Simple!

Real wedding: Hollin + Eric

We are loving Hollin and Eric's beautiful wedding, full of sweet details and DIY elements. Hollin, along with some helpful friends and family, created most of the decorations, and it all turned out so vintage chic!

Thanks to the very talented Ben Blood for sharing his gorgeous photos of their wedding at Treehouse Point in Issaquah, Washington. Tree-filled and moss-covered, Treehouse Point offers two incredible treehouses for lodging by master treehouse builder Pete Nelson who, along with his wife Judy, host private events and overnight retreats. So natural and ethereal!

The groomsmen donned tweed and wore handmade mismatching boutineers and ties.

Hollin's vintage inspired dress was made by Portland designer Holly Stalder, who even gave Hollin extra fabric for her to make the flower on her veil! So lovely.

Hollin and her bridesmaids made their own headpieces...just gorgeous!

The bride's sister and maid of honor Keiko, hand drew and screen printed coffee and tea bags as favors for the guests.

Hollin's mom made each of the bridesmaid's dresses. We love the fabric and individual sash detailing.

Hello!Lucky designer Anna created whimsical invitations complete with illustrations of the bride and groom dancing under the trees.

What a talented group of people! Congratulations, Hollin and Eric!

New menus, place cards, thank yous & more!

We're thrilled to announce that menu cards, place cards, thank you cards, and details (or directions) cards are now available on our website! To celebrate, we're offering 10% off your entire shopping cart through August 31st (enter code HLBLOG0809 at checkout)!

Our menu cards and place cards are pretty cool in that we can print your guests' names directly on them (you e-mail us an Excel spreadsheet after placing your order; additional fee applies). That way, your menu can do double duty as a place card, and you don't need to worry about writing guests' names by hand. We can even personalize place cards with guest's entree choices (a small icon in the corner). Oh, and matching table number cards are available to go with any of our designs!

Our thank you cards are digitally printed (or letterpress printed, if you feel like a splurge!) on nice thick cotton cardstock - perfect for written correspondence! If you just need a few and would like to indulge in letterpress, check out our non-personalized letterpress thank you cards, many of which match our invitation designs.

Our details cards are a great way to communicate directions and transportation info (e.g. where and when shuttle buses will be leaving), details on attire, children, additional weekend events (such as a post-wedding brunch or welcome reception), and wedding website.  Each one is designed to match the wedding invitation suite - especially love the little double decker bus on the Visit London details card!

Hope you enjoy these stationery bits! They're the perfect way to tie your theme or style through your entire wedding!

Chinese cherry blossom wedding

We're loving these details that Chun Yee, founder of our London office, sent us of her brother's wedding! Having grown up in China & Taiwan (and being half Chinese), we love the idea of giving the traditional gold-and-red Chinese wedding palette a modern twist. Stephanie and Thomas did it to perfection!  They used a folded, dual-language Cherry Blossom wedding invitation in lucky red and chocolate, and incorporated a traditional double happiness seal.

Seating cards were printed with a coordinating motif.

Beautiful cherry blossom cake adorned with paper flowers!

The getaway car!

Cute! Congratulations, Stephanie and Thomas!

Lisa Feldman Design

One of our very favorite Bay Area event planners, Lisa Feldman, just launched her new website! Check it out - it is gorgeous!

Lisa has a way of turning every event she works on into a joyful, personalized occasion. Some of the most memorable weddings we've designed paper for are showcased on the site, including Dana & Julie's - they were married last year in Hualaiai, Hawai.

We collaborated with Lisa to create the invitations and wedding stationery details, including umbrella wraps...

Chopstick holder place cards for the rehearsal dinner (calligraphy by Papineau Calligraphy)...

...and wedding favors. As you know, all the thoughtful details are what makes a wedding special - Lisa is all about these!

Orlee & David's wedding was another wonderful event Lisa designed...

The wedding invitation suite was inspired by organic, Art Nouveau floral patterns.

One of our favorite details from the wedding - a table where guests could read love letters written between the bride and the groom, and write their own!

Lisa is also the Bay Area's go-to event designers for Bar and Bat Mitzvah's.  This gorgeous reception at the St. Regis featured flowers by Kathleen Deery Design. We created the invitations, as well as personalized menu cards...

...and seating cards (calligraphy by Papineau Calligraphy).

And this is just the beginning! Find more inspiration on Lisa's website.

The site design is by the talented Deb Wagner of dstripe. Hello!Lucky designed the logo, Kenneth Sloan edited gorgeous photos, and Curt Sanburn edited the copy.

Congratulations, Lisa!

DIY Bridal Shower

This is a shout-out to interpid Hello!Lucky intern Hillary Burgess -- she recently helped create all the DIY details for her friend Lisa's bridal, including the adorable postcard invitation above (from the couple's engagement photo shoot by photographer and friend Jess Epstein). This invite is one of the top 4 finalists in The Bride's Cafe's DIY contest -- the winner will be announced on Friday! Read the how-to instructions here.

Some more DIY details from the shower!

Cute, cute favor bags!  Congrats, Hillary!

Photos by Jess Epstein

Wedding cakes + stationery

Tracy from The Buttercream Studio just sent us this photo of a cute wedding cake she created based on our Chandelier wedding invitation by EIEIO. It reminded us that wedding invitations and stationery can be great source of inspiration for cakes - sometimes the design motifs on the invitation translate really well into 3-D and can help carry a consistent style through the details of wedding day.

A cake by I Dream of Cake, inspired by our French Deco Wedding Invitation.

Another cute cake design by The Buttercream Studio - not based on our Wildwood wedding invitation directly,  but the anemones sure do go well together - this would be so cute for a formal garden wedding!

Have you guys seen any good examples of cakes inspired by invitations recently?

Photos: Hello!Lucky, I Dream of Cake, The Buttercream Studio

Paulette Macarons

Yesterday at Jessica's 30th birthday party we got a taste of these amazing macarons from Paulette Macarons' new San Francisco bakery (their other one is in Beverly Hills).

The flavors are amazing -- including rose, columbian coffee, madagascar vanilla, caramel, and sweet wedding almond -- and so is the packaging!

We got our selection in one of these pretty boxes.

Each one is artful, delicate and delicious. These would definitely be an amazing treat for wedding favors!! You can order them online here.

Paulette Macarons San Francisco 437 Hayes St, (Cross Street: Gough St) 415.864.2400 Mon  |  12 - 6pm Tue – Sat  |  11am – 7pm Sunday  |  12 - 6pm

Photos from here.

Spruce Wedding Showcase

We recently had the opportunity to collaborate with Annena & Co and Lisa Lefkowitz Photography on an event design showcase at Spruce. If you haven't checked this restaurant out, definitely stop by - the food is great and the ambiance, designed by Stephen Brady of Williams Sonoma Home, is very 1930's executive lounge -- lots of rich tones and leather!

Annena Sorenson of Annena & Company worked with Kathleen Deery (one of our favorite floral designers!) and Classic Party Rentals to create rooms with different themes. The Wedding themed room is above.

We collaborated with Maybelle to create these menus and place cards.

Birthday party theme.

Business anniversary theme.

Gift bags!  Thanks to Lisa Leifkowitz  (and her photographer Stephanie Poole) for sharing these lovely photos!

Stripey straws and cupcake cups

This inspirational pic by Paul Lowe has made it around the blogs, but it was just recently that we put 2 + 2 together on sourcing some of these cute details!

We found these stripey straws thanks to Alison Hotchkiss at Alison Events (photo courtesy of Jordan Ferney). They're available from Kikkerland as well as locally in San Francisco at Arch.

These beauties are also coming soon from Jack & Lulu (via Haystack Needle).

Fluted cupcake cups via Cupcake Social, also available at Bake it Pretty.

Photos: Paul Lowe, Jordan Ferney, Kikkerland, Haystack Needle, Cupcake Social

Audrey Hepburn wedding dress

Happy Monday, everyone! We thought we'd start the week with this breathtaking wedding dress from Thrush Vintage.

So lovely. And for just $250, it's a steal! Shop here.