Well, here’s a little fun wedding update – We sent our Save The Dates last week! I felt like a proud mom dropping their kids off to school on their first day. Haha. So much prep went into this & now I can finally breathe a little sigh before I start planning the mac daddy of the paper goods – The actual invites. Eek. For now, I will take a little design break and work on the other not so fun details of the wedding.

About 90% of our Save The Dates were a true DIY project. A long, grueling, time consuming project that is… :) Early on I knew I wanted to set the tone for our wedding with our Save The Dates. After all, this was going to be the first glimpse of what our guests should expect (feel & look wise) on our big day. Two things we wanted: A photo from our engagement shoot & a nice funky (yet functional) design. We figured out the size of the card we wanted, bought some felt fabric & went to town on making the Save The Date “sleeves”. This was the most time consuming part of it all. We purchased some gray felt fabric, yellow thread (our base wedding colors) then started chopping and sewing them up to size. A nice little detail that I added was a “tag” on each of the sleeves. I designed our wedding logo – A arrow cross bow with our initials. Simple & super fitting for our desert wedding.

Next up was the actual design of the card – I am quite the amateur when it comes to any graphic design but have taught myself a couple tricks of the trade throughout the years. I kind of took advantage of the little skills I have & went ahead and designed the card itself. Let me tell you – The first revision was extremely pitiful. As time went on, I constantly revised it – added a few more elements, changed the fonts, etc. — And in the end, I am pretty pleased with the results considering the fact that I have ZERO professional graphic design experience. I’m sure it could have been better with a few more tweaks, but I think it looks OK, right? :) :) :) For the back of the card we simply used one of our fave photos from our engagement shoot – That Herman Miller logo be lookin’ really good.

After all that – It was time to design the envelopes. I didn’t put too much effort into this part unfortunately. I kept going back & forth to see if I wanted to use sticky address labels (aka wrap-around), but I simply did not like anything. After much debate, I decided just to print the addresses directly on the envelope. I liked this much better and was pleased with the results. With inspiration from our card, I designed our return address label as well and got it made into a rubber stamp that we can use throughout the remainder of our wedding :)

Phew – That’s a whole lotta details! Ok – I’m done :)

But if you care, here’s a detailed breakdown:
Fabric & Thread – $10 (for 2 yards) – Joann’s Fabrics (Tip: Download their app & get 40% off!)
Envelopes – $16 (for 100) – Envelope Mall
Printing – $60 (for 80+) – Sunset Press
Rubber Stamp – $10 – Rubberstamps.net
Postage Stamps – $44
Graphic Design – FREE!! :) :) :)
Total – $140.00 or $1.75/each for 80 pieces

If you have any questions regarding the process of our Save The Dates, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

On to the next!

xoxo

Today, I’m going to share with you one of my favorite things right now – Southwest influence in design. I’ve been seeing this a lot lately in little ares of the web, from interior design to invitations and even in fashion! I love how you can spruce up a clean modern space and give it a little bit of depth by adding a throw or pillow that has these distinct colors and geometric pattern. It is so bold & unique… Plus, I’m diggin’ that bohemian flair right now. So perfect.

Luckily for me, The Ace is dripped all over with this design and we will be embracing it full force during our big day. Although it’s not for everyone, I love it SOOOO much!

Have you been seeing this design lately over the web? What do you think? Yay or nay?

{This is the actual patio at The Ace – Swooooon!}

Photo Credits: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six

**UPDATE AT 3:40PM**
Check it out – FREE SHIPPING on orders of $25 or MORE :) Suhweet!

PS. No fashion find Monday today, sorry! Back to my regular blog scheduling biz soon :)

xoxo

Pops of red with blue and white stripes. Such a killer combo. Not to mention those oversized glasses, skinny jeans & perfect ‘do. This girl got it right from head to toe.

Do you like? Or a little nautical-y for you?

Photo Cred: Soft As Rain

One thing that I came across if you are a DIY bride and want to save a little bit of time & money, without sacrificing quality & awesomeness is to make your own Save The Dates! This fun & easy tutorial is a great way to personalize your wedding day!

Check out Molly Jacques for more information on this fun DIY post!

PS. Molly Jacques is an illustrator + designer – and a bad (meaning good) one at that! Her unique & feminine style is just so B-E-A-U-T-F-U-L. Simply amazing, that gal! Seriously. Eek, if only I could write as stunningly as her…

This week, I’m featuring some pretty pastels – I love this outfit for any casual day out, or even for a pretty little work attire. I love the cropped pastel pink pants, the button up blue shirt and printed flats. Plus, you can’t forget the layering of accessories (jewelry, glasses + large tote bag). Seriously, this would be my go-to outfit for any day!

How about you… Would you rock an all out pastel outfit?

Photo Credit: Atlantic Pacific

When planning our engagement shoot, there is one thing that really came to mind: LOCATION. We wanted our shoot to be a true reflection of us. Brendon being an interior designer, his love for mid-century modern + architecture exceeds them all. I, too, share a mutual love + respect for good, clean and simple design. After researching a few places, I thought the Herman Miller showroom in LA would be the perfect backdrop for our shoot. Luckily, Brendon has a great Herman Miller hook up & we were able to have the entire showroom to ourselves! Woop.

My advice to anyone planning their engagement shoot is to leave the props at home. You really don’t need balloons and all that “cutesy” stuff to make your photos beautiful. Take advantage of your surroundings, trust your photographer + have fun! Those silly “awkward” moments REALLY do make the best photos. Not to mention, I have a fiance that is on fire. Flippin’ handsome, that guy :)

{pit stop at umami burger post shoot! ha!}

Nick + Jeff, I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. You two are sooooo awesome. Brendon + I have a little crush on you both. Haha! Can not wait for our wedding. It’s about to go down at The Ace!

To see more, click here! :)

xoxo

With that said, starting a little something new here… My little Monday Fashion Find column!

Love, love, love the long skirt, wedges, loose top, messy bun + bits of accessories. This look seems so effortless! Gotta give it a try! What’s your go-to spring wardrobe?

Photo Cred: The Sartorialist | Design: Urban Scarlet

A few flicks from the event:

I can’t believe it’s been almost (3) months since we got engaged! Time flies! Well, no crazy or dramatic news over here… the wedding planning train has been running quite smooth so far!

Since I like lists so much, here’s what we’ve accomplished:
- Picked a date + venue! Sneak peek of the venue on the photo above! :)
- Found our awesomely rad photographer + videographer
- Booked our honeymoon – woop!
- Scheduled our E-Shoot for this weekend eventhough there is a storm brewing here in SoCal – bummer!
- Designed our Save The Dates
- Met with our pastor
- Got hooked up on our florist(s) – Thanks to B’s co-worker + boss!
- Put my deposit on a custom dress – yes, custom! Crazy, I know.

Things to do:
- Book our DJ and live musician
- Do our cake tastings. Any vegan bakers in Palm Springs? Holla!
- Set up our pre-marital counseling
- All the fun and time consuming DIY projects. Dear bridesmaids – get your hot glue guns ready, I’ll be calling you soon :)

Now for the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good.
Wedding planning is fun. Ever heard of those little girls that planned their wedding day since they were five years old? Yup, that’s ME! :) True story. Although the vision of my wedding day has drastically changed over the years, all I know is that our day will be a true reflection of us. Being in the event industry for years has not left me jaded. Thank God. Planning our very own wedding is a crazy & exciting feeling. This is another blank canvas that I get to work on, but the best part is that it’ll be 100% OUR vision. I love that!

The Bad.
Has anyone ever told you that weddings are expensive? You have no idea how many times people have told us to elope or do a simple destination wedding. I’m sure it’s just as special & meaningful – After all, it’s the “marriage not the wedding” that matters anyway. I am not too worried about the financial obligations we will encounter throughout our planning. God is good & He will provide!

The Ugly.
The vast and infinite amount of inspiration out there is definitely a blessing and a curse! Trust me, if I ended up using all of the amazing things I find on Pinterest or anywhere on the web, our wedding day would look like a HOT MESS. I’m basically struggling with finding a simple, yet unique style without it looking like a one year old’s birthday party… And with so many great DIY projects, this is definitely a daunting task! Ugh.

Well – that’s it for now. Brendon is almost done with our Austin video that I’m so excited to share with you! Check back soon :)

Photo Credits: Sarah Yates