Plantable Wedding Favors

Party favors are always a nice touch, but unless they are meaningful and can actually be put to good use, favors are often the first to go at the sake of the budget. But when we can find good-for-the-earth, eco-friendly options to give your guests, it makes the gift that much sweeter.

We especially loved these plantable favors from Botanical Paper Works, and they happen to be perfect for Spring too:





And if you like color these seed packets from The Balcony Gardener are fabulous:




What are some other eco-friendly or inexpensive favor ideas you've seen?

~Happy Planning!

{Photos}
#1 & 2: Botanical Paper Works
#3 &4: The Balcony Gardener, via Design Sponge

Online Resources For Weddings And Newly Weds

Today will be a short post, but wanted to share two online magazines that you can use as part of your stalking planning.

The first is perfect for inspiration for your wedding day: it's full of articles, pictures, and the most recent edition even featured a design challenge. The participants did amazing jobs with their ideas! Welcome to Utterly Engaged Magazine....



The second is for beyond wedding planning...because we all know how hard it is to suddenly quit planning something once your big day is over. Now it's time to start planning for your new, stylish life! Enter Nesting Newbies...



~Happy Planning!

Spring Drink Ideas

Easter is right around the corner, and Spring is in full swing. We love these fabulous beverage details perfect for both occasions.

Flowery Ice Cubes

These ice cubes would be beautiful for dressing up drinks, especially water. Adding flowers or herbs like lavender and mint makes a fabulous presentation in your glass.



How To:

Fill ice cube trays one-third full with distilled water; freeze for an hour.
Add small flowers or mint leaves, top with water and freeze until hard.


Spring Bellini Recipe

We love how simple this Lavender and Peach Bellini recipe is. Looks so refreshing, and would be a beautiful signature drink for a wedding too.



How To:

1 Part Peach Puree
2 Parts Prosecco or Other Sparkling Wine
1 Pinch of Dried or Fresh Lavender (non-toxic)

1. Place the puree in the bottom of a champagne glass.

2. Carefully pour in the sparkling wine.

3. Don't stir, but use a spoon to pull the puree up along thesides of the glass, so that you won't lose the bubbles.

4. Decorate with the lavender.

What other ideas and recipes do you love for Spring?

{Photos & Recipes}

#1: Brides.com
#2: Epicurious.com via Perfect Parties

Stylish Outdoor Entertaining

I don't know about you, but there's something so exciting about watching the weather change into spring- makes you want to get outside! While it's still a little chilly here in Boise, there have been some afternoons that staying in the house just wasn't an option. So lately my thoughts have been wandering to all things outside...including picnics and spring parties.







Aren't these picnic items fun and updated? Not your momma's picnic basket. These would be great for camping (who says camping and the mountains can't be stylish?), a lunch in the park, or even just spring entertaining in your own back yard.

The set is from Nkuku, and can be found on Not On The High Street.



For more traditional picnic accessories with a modern update, check out this set by Navy and Lavender.

Now go put on a sundress and an oversized hat and throw a picnic party!

~Happy Planning!

{Photos}

#1- Via Nkuku, notonahighstreet.com

#2,3- Nkuku, via Kim Vallee

#4- Via Navy and Lavender

Hand-Sewn Wedding Maps

I was so surprised to find a lovely little blue envelope in my mail box a few weeks ago. Then I opened it and completely swooned- out came a perfectly whimsical letterpress map. The post card was even hand-sewn and lined with fabric on the back, in my case the map was from Hawaii so the fabric featured a hula girl and pretty flowers.




Couture Maps by Stephannie Barba features wedding maps, save the dates, and other stationery products from all over the United States and even other spots in the world.





And for the Idaho Brides- she's even done a design for a Jackson Hole wedding.

Stephannie also has a studio that features couture stationery and products of all kinds- from party coasters and napkins, to wedding invitations and more. Be sure to head over to Couture Maps and Stephannie's Illustration House to look at her portfolio!

Mira Aster

Our post wouldn't be complete without the other half of the beauty on these maps...not only are they hand-illustrated, but also hand-sewn. Once the map is drawn and printed, it heads over to Mira Aster to sew fabric to the backs. I can only imagine it to be a painstaking process but we are thanking them for it- it really adds that extra special pop to the card.



And how beautiful is this hand-sewn envelope too?



If you love fabric, you can have that look pretty much anywhere in your wedding: besides wedding invites, Mira Aster has sewn table number cards, save the dates, favors (like the book marks below from Oprah's big bash!) and more.



Thank you to Stephannie for sending me the beautiful postcard- we were thrilled and happy to have been introduced to both Couture Maps and Mira Aster. Now we'll just wait for one of our brides to add Boise to the map!

{Photos}
All photos were given with permission
#1-3 Couturemaps.com
#4-6 miraaster.com

A Wedding Business Marketing Study

Two Bright Lights and Engaging Concepts are two brilliant companies in the wedding industry and they are joining together to create the first ever wedding business marketing study.

If you're a wedding vendor and not familiar with either of the companies, Two Bright Lights is a new-age marketing idea for industry professionals, and Engaging Concepts is a wedding industry trend and marketing expert. Engaging Concepts also puts on the Engage! summits each year- the Cayman Islands summit this June is when the marketing study results will be revealed.

The results of the study will only be available to those attending Engage!10 and also to the participants of the study, so you'll definitely want to contribute. The study only takes about 20 minutes and it is directed toward anyone in the wedding or bridal industry: planners, designers, photographers, associates and assistants, small and big business owners, etc.

By putting in a few minutes of your time the results you'll receive may help you to leverage your marketing and networking efforts, see what social media is doing for you, and know statistics relative to the bridal market as a whole. I think it's a great piece of information to have!

You can go to the survey here.

Happy Wednesday!

Using Inspiration Boards

Whether you're planning a party (birthday, bridal, or other), wedding, or even just hosting dinner for a small group of friends, you always have to find ways to focus your ideas and decide on a theme.

If you haven't been using inspiration boards yet, I definitely encourage you to try it! You don't need spiffy photo software to do it- all you need is a confined space to hold all the thoughts that will eventually turn into a theme.

In our office, we have a simple framed cork board that we pin things like fabrics, pictures, and even inspirational quotes on. It really helps us focus on the project, as well as helps us narrow our ideas down to a specific direction (creative minds are sometimes on overload, what can we say).



Inspiration boards are great for:

* Discovering a resonating theme or color palette.

* Creating a mood or feeling you want: Do you lean more toward soft and romantic, or mod and sophisticated?

* If you have several ideas you like, putting everything together often helps you decide which ideas to use and those to pass on.

Several sites also have tools for you to create your own inspiration boards online as well:

Style Me Pretty has a Bridal Community with a program that makes it a snap to collaborate, save, and share your ideas in fabulous inspiration board form.

Polyvore is a site that even allows you to clip pictures directly from web pages to create your board then allows you to embed or email your creation easily.

~Happy Planning!

Photo:

Inspiration board via Snippet And Ink

Wedding And Party Lighting Ideas

After several months of planning for and then working Weddings Week 2010, I came across so many inspiring pictures of lighting ideas for weddings and parties. I'm always a fan of traditional uplighting, but I also love creativity to change things up a bit.

Lanterns are nothing new, but they are still one of the easiest ways to add a little pop to your party. I love it even more when they are added en masse, such as this photo:



Look for all different sizes of lanterns, some of them even come in sizes as large as 36". They're more expensive, but you won't need many of them- they'll take up a lot of room! Fill in with other varying sizes from 12" to 24" lanterns.

Basically anything or any type of lighting can make a big impact...why not add a little whimsy with actual hanging light bulbs?



Finally, these reminded me of Luminarias... only hanging rather than lining a pathway as they normally do.



What other ideas have you thought about?

~Happy Planning!

Weddings Week Sponsor Love- Part 1

We've just given kudos and love to some of our many sponsors making Weddings Week happen. There are so many, that we've had to split the post in two parts!

So if you've got the time, head over to the Weddings Week Blog to read all about what's in store for brides-to-be next week.



- Happy planning, and hope to see you next week!

The Ultimate Wedding Week

If you're wondering where we've been...well, we've been here. In 6 days we are so excited to invite you to Boise's most unique show...one that will last 5 days! Besides the fact that the bridal show has become our "baby" over the past few months, here are some of our favorite points of interest about Weddings Week:

* Randy Fenoli from TLC's Say Yes To The Dress is coming. I've been talking to him for several months now, and he's just the funniest guy I've ever spoken to- can't wait to meet him in person.

* Eye Candy. Each night will feature tablescape contests among the vendors, floral design challenges, and cake-offs too. This is by far the best way to get lots of inspirational ideas and really get to know your vendors before you book!

* Theme nights. We love that each night is a different theme: Mother-Daughter Night, Honeymoon Night, and more....keeps things interesting and not like every other bridal show you've already attended.

* Pampering. Our nightly sponsors will be hosting spa treatments, Medspa options, and even classes on choosing the perfect All-Inclusive Honeymoon spot.

* Soiree will be there. Okay we had to throw that one in..but we would just love it if you would stop by and say hi to us at our booth. Oh and bonus points for throwing in a vote for our Artfully Designed tablescape that is sure to be delish :)

For more information and ticket options click here.

We're blogging about the event too: Weddings Week Blog

- Happy Planning!!!