What's Sweeter than Honey? Lollipop Event & Designs!

Wow, today is a day full of surprises! This morning, Diablo Magazine announced they had chosen my photo of a silhouette at the Yelp Elite Fire Arts Preview as their Flickr Pic of the Day. And just now, I received Lolliblog's announcement that I won their Save-the-date design contest through random selection. I cannot wait, as Lollipop Event & Design is by far my most favorite event design dream team ever! They've certainly got enough eye candy to whet your appetite (check out my posts on the Mad Hatter Tea Party and Baby Shower Bee theme) and chic style. Thank you Cortnie, Jen & Vanessa! You rock and I can't wait to work with you on our STD's! xoxo

Yay! Featured Blogger on Weddzilla.com

Just got the great news that I've been selected to be one of the feature bride bloggers on Weddzilla.com! My first post debuts next week and I'll be writing 2-3 posts a week for them, which I'll republish here on my own blog. On Weddzilla, I will continue sharing with you ideas, inspirations and tips for having a recession wedding without sacrificing style and quality!

On the subject of recession weddings, Dorothy Hatchel, a fabulous wedding & event photographer, has organized the Bay Area's first budget bridal bash on August 30 in Fremont, CA. Here are the details:
Come play for a day in bridal bliss! Enjoy:

• Chocolate tastings
• Cake tastings
• Get your makeup done
• Boogie down with our DJ
• Try on dresses
• Learn about wedding music
  

At the end of the day walk away with your wedding planned and money still in your hand!

Where:Wedding Gown Superstore, 40480 Al Brae Street,Fremont, CA 94538

RSVP: Include your name and wedding date to babb.bash@gmail.com

You will automatically be entered into the raffle drawing. You must be present to win.

Inspiration #32: Peacock Blue, Gray, Orange

[Velvet and Linen]

The photo above captures my kind of style, which is Romantic Glam according to Lolliblog's Wedding Style Quiz. So far, peacock blue, slate gray, white and coral/orange are colors that Fred and I agree on. Inspiration #12 from The Craft Begins is a start:

Inspiration #31: Dahlias, Dahling

Vintage-y
Originally uploaded by morganiscool

I'm all for buying fruit, veggies, and flowers in season and locally -- it reduces your carbon footprint and guarantees freshness. Dahlias are one of my favorite flowers and I just bought a bunch grown in the Bay Area for only $4.99 at Berkeley Bowl. I should've pick up some baby kale too to accent it.

I love this arrangement by morganiscool on Flickr. It'd pair nicely with my Vera table linen idea from an earlier post.

I'm a Fan: Magnolia Photo Booth by Peter Tower

Okay, photo booths are all the rage lately. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my first encounter with photo booth fun was the Ghetto Gourmet Halloween Party 2006, where Photoboof projected the images straight on the wall and provided guests with photo strips. That was very cool and resulted in many unforgettable photos.

When I saw Magnolia Photo Booth Co listed on the Renegade Craft Fair vendor list, I visited the site and asked for a quote to see if renting MPB would fall within our budget. Again, we're on a $10,000 budget and we're picking and choosing what is important to us: to have fun and make the event memorable! I was impressed with MPB's props (wooden mustaches on a stick, Viking helmet, etc), crisp photo quality finish (see above) and all the other extras, such as a full time attendant for the 4 hour rental, photo hosting for a year, DVD of all images and photo album of all images. For $1,300 that's not too bad. The owner, Peter Tower, also told me he could work with our budget, so I really appreciated that! Thank you, Magnolia! :)

Inspiration #30: Video Save-the-Date

My friend, Evan, spotted this clever stop motion video save-the-date on R-ocker.blogspot.com. It reminds me of the Save the Bay "Bag vs. Bay" campaign but with a South Park spin (i.e., paper cut outs). A video save-the-date is an eco-friendly alternative to the traditional because it reduces paper waste, postage costs and transportation related to mail delivery. At the same time, it will require you to have access to a video camera and a bit of imagination and patience -- which I bet you have! Check it out http://bit.ly/pW7pw

Inspiration #29: Vintage Fabric by Vera

[Desire to Inspire]

I was first introduced to the vintage textile designer, Vera, by my friend, Karman (and actually have a couple Vera pieces thanks to her). According to Fashion's Finest, Vera Neumann, began designing textiles in 1946 after she and her husband, George, founded Printex with partner, Werner Hamm. Since my wedding will draw from an eclectic mix of vintage and modern, it's only natural I consider using Vera tablecloths or scarves. Here's a sampling of great Vera pieces. Enjoy! If you want more, Scott Linden of Linden Tree Handicrafts on Etsy.com has a terrific collection as seen below on his Flickr page.

[Vintage Goodness]


[Meeks Andy Girl Etsy.com]

Etsy Love Face2Face: 2nd Annual Renegade Craft Fair

I'm looking forward to meeting some of my favorite Etsy designers face-to-face this weekend at the 2nd Annual Renegade Craft Fair. A couple hundred talented artists are flocking to Fort Mason this Saturday and Sunday for this FREE event, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM both days. I've already begun to peruse the list of participating crafters, including Cakespy, Cara Lyndon, HotCakes Design (still sad their shop on College Ave, Oakland, closed), and 16 Sparrows, to name a few. In addition to shopping, there will be demos, such as how to revive old toys into bangles, earrings and brooches using basic jewelry techniques with San Francisco jewelry designers emiko oye and Shana Astrachan. My favorite book publisher, Chronicle Books, is also hosting a meet n' greet with local craft authors.

[Cakespy's Original Mini Watercolor They called it Cuppie Love]

Inspiration #28: DIY Tin Can Table Numbers

I went to Urban Ore (Berkeley, CA) on Monday and spotted a box of brand new paint cans going for 30 CENTS each. I picked one up, trying to imagine what I could do creatively. A mod flower pot for succulents? Hmm. I left without buying any, although spending 30 cents on a centerpiece is irresistible (btw, I'm just about to my goal for collecting the white milk glass compotes I've planned for my wedding). Jillian of 100 Layer Cake came up with this lovely idea for using tin cans, so I had to re-post. If you're local to the Bay Area, you can do this project after you buy that box of paint cans for less than $10 (there were 30 cans of various sizes, esp. quart). Woo hoo!

See how-to on 100 Layer Cake. Download stencil here.

[Photo by 100 Layer Cake]

Found My Wedding Shoes - Satin Blue Peacock Peeptoes

Fred and I found these delightful peacock blue satin peeptoes (Seychelle's Reservations for Two) at Tootsie's in Rockridge. Originally $92, they were priced at 40% off. I could not resist the bold color or the price!

Inspiration #27: Bee Happy

My fiance and I agree that we both love orange. Our wedding is set for October 2010, but we don't want a Halloween-themed wedding. I spotted this on the Lollipop Event blog, Ilovelolliblog. The floral arrangements are originally intended for a baby shower, but they would totally work for making a fall wedding pop and the bird/bee accents are downright adorable:

Inspiration #26: Fresh Flower Cakes

[One of the few sugar gum cakes I actually like! By Nice Icing]

The other night, I found myself riveted to a rerun of the Food Network Challenge: Battle of the Brides' Wedding Cake featuring the rock n' roll lady of cakes, Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake and Orson in San Francisco, and some other rising stars. The pastry chefs had only 8 hours to make a cake and to make matters worse, their pastry assistants turned out to be the brides they would be making the cake for. Many of the brides admitted they were Type A perfectionists and you could see the chefs sweat! In the end, Buddy Valastro (now on TLC) of Carlo's City Hall Bakeshop took home the $10,000. I have seen Buddy on other challenges and he always makes the same sugar paste flowers and towering tiers - bo-ring (with the exception of the retro cake by Nice Icing above)! It was very traditional...and I personally lean towards a less formal, structured cake.

Here are some great cakes featuring real flowers I found on Flickr. The first 2 come from Short Street Cakes in Asheville, North Carolina.

[Vegan Almond Raspberry Cake]

[Day of the Dead Cake]

[Maxine's Catering]

[SocalCatering.com]

[Nadinasaur's Peony Cake]

SF Wedding Events: BellJar SF & Neiman Marcus Palo Alto

For you local brides-to-be (or guests), Sasha Wingate's BellJar shop is teaming up with Candystore Collective for a 20-30-40% off sale this weekend only. Don't miss out on getting something precious for yourself!

Also, Well-Rehearsed is accepting RSVPs for their complimentary champagne reception and fashion presentation on July 25. The soiree will take place at the Neiman Marcus in the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto. RSVP here today!

Inspiration #25: Into the Woods

[DIY Storque Rustic Cake Stand re-posted from Etsy/OnceWed]

My dear friends, Samantha and Aileen, provided me today's bit of inspiration which I'm calling "Into the Woods" (one of my favorite musicals pre-Wicked, by the way!).

The first comes from Intimate Weddings and took place in our backyard across the Bay: Stern Grove. How precious are these miniature California disaster centerpieces and name cards? See more here.



And last but not least is a how-to on making the rustic cake stand pictured at the top. You'll need the following materials and if you need step-by-step instructions, click here:

• A Cross-Cut Wood Plaque (round or oval)
• A Cross-Section of a Tree Limb (Make sure the top and bottom are parallel)
• Titebond Ultimate Wood Glue (or a similar extra strong wood glue)
• A Large Wood Clamp

Wedding planning made easier?

I just started a new job that is based 99% in the online world, so I admit I'm a little burnt out on blogging. Nonetheless, I'm getting back into the saddle and decided to share with you a handy guide to online wedding guides and resources available to us online. I've been using a combination of Yelp, Craigslist and Project Wedding for finding local vendors and items for sale. As I've conducted these searches, I have discovered hundreds of fabulous sites. I appreciate Emily Chang's initiative in organizing and providing an overview of the many top sites: wedding websites, wedding planning, wedding resources of non-mainstream, wedding registry and sites for wedding fun. Her guide surely makes wedding planning made easier.

Finally, one plug for Yelp. I've used it lately to read reviews of vendors who are based near my venue. I figure I could probably get away with paying less travel fees if I didn't have to have my makeup artist come from San Francisco or San Jose and instead come to me in Sausalito from Mill Valley. And even better, many of the vendors are offering discounts! Use Yelp with caution (i.e., the East Bay Express breaking news on allegations of extortion) -- it's wise to reserve a bit of skepticism.

Etsy Thursday Finds: Bridesmaid Gifts under $30

[$14 - Mini Initial & Bird - Gold Plated]

As many wedding experts say, one way to cut costs on your wedding is to limit the number of bridesmaids you have. So far, I have 4 bridesmaids and my fiance has yet to select more than one! Here's some Etsy treasures for less than $30 so that I'll spend no more than $130 including shipping on my gifts:

[$10 - Cosmetic Bag - Tina Givens, Treetop in Raspberry]


[$10 - Eco Friendly Key Fob & Coffee Sleeve]

[$18 Filigree And The Wassabi Chrysanthemum Ring With Sage Green Beaded Pouch - this comes in 33 colors]


[$22.40 - Splash Earrings - Aqua Quartz, Peridot and Citrine - 14K Gold Filled]


[$29 - Short & Sassy Ruffled Apron]