Amy Osaba

Amy Osaba is a goddess to me. Her work totally pulls at my wild heart strings. I mean just check out the about section on her blog - "We do flowers that are just left of center: organic, free, a bit edgy, a twist on the traditional; a little bit of fun and a whole lot of love." Perfection. This latest table design shot by Heidi at our labor of love just about gave me a heart attack. Sideways snapdragons???

The Condor's Nest Ranch

I have been venue hunting and I came across this INSANE spot outside of San Diego. I WILL do anything to coordinate a wedding here. ANYthing! There are incredible vintage paintings, a vintage trailer, antlers, a green house, succulents, llamas, dogs, horses...this is my own personal heaven!!! If I were a venue...I would be the Condor's Nest Ranch.

The talented Apertura Photography frequents this venue often.

This wedding featured on Green Wedding Shoes is just gorgeous.

And loooving this one shot by Daisy Varley.

The Most Beautiful Things I Have Ever Seen

I don't know who Ming is but I want to marry her (him??).

{photo by flutter glass Photography}

Jenna let me tag along and carry her camera bags to this wedding at L'Auberge Del Mar. I can't wait to work with her there again at another wedding I am coordinating and doing decor for in June 2011!

Invitation Saga and Some Advice

{a little sneak peek...how cool are those trees!}

Once upon a time I thought that invitations were really, really important to me. I love graphic design and I go kind of gaga over pretty fonts and pretty paper. This was going to be the one project into which I invested the most of my time and effort. Boy, was I right (about the time and effort part). Luckily, I met the uber-talented, rad designer Jamie from A Desert Fete and she took over the design and printing. She really saved us there because my Photoshop knowledge is basic and she is the real deal. I told Jamie that I wanted our invites to be a little package and surprise for our guests. She came up with the beautiful concept of using fabrics and leather cording. She basically branded our entire wedding and we used the fabrics she chose as inspiration for our table runners and napkins. We turned some of her designs into stamps and were able to use them on everything from gift bags to thank you notes. Jamie designed and printed the paper invitations and then handed them over to me to take care of the rest. I totally underestimated how much blood, sweat and tears would go into this project. Who knew sewing 70 linen rectangles and 70 pockets and gluing fabric onto 140 pieces of paper, then tying it up with leather cording and hand-stamping each envelope could be so much work! I'm sure reading that you're like "uh, duh" but I obviously did not realize until it was too late.

In the end, of course, I love our invites and they are beautiful and unique. But was it worth it? I honestly can't say. Hopefully, most of our guests will keep their invites for a little while or at least find another use for the pocket (credit card holder, anyone?) but I know that some of my hard work will just end up in the trash.

SO with that said...the other day I went into Michaels and was surprised by the variety of invitations they carry now. I remember it was not so long ago that they only had a few cheesy options but I think even the pickiest of couples would be able to find something that suited their style. I had to even stop in Target and ooh and aah over their choices. Someone in their design/purchasing department must be browsing Etsy.

And speaking of Etsy...shopping at big chain stores isn't really the kind of thing I like to promote. There are also a lot of designers that offer a PDF option where you can just print out the invitation they design (typically they have a bunch from which you can choose), stick it in an envelope and send it on its way. This is a cost-effective option plus you can support independent designers. Here are some of my favorites:

DIY Paperie

Frenchie & Flea

Haute Off the Press

Invited Design

Sweet Penelope

Do what I say and not what I do. If the invitations are super important to you then by all means pour your heart and soul into them. But if you know (like I do now) that they are just a source of information that will most likely get recycled (hopefully!) or thrown out then don't cause yourself more stress. There are plenty of DIY/template options and a lot of independent designers out there (and on Etsy) that would be willing to work with your money and your time budgets.

Davina, one half of the uber-awesome photography duo Davina + Daniel, wrote a rad piece about choosing the perfect photographer for your wedding. It just so happens that Davina + Daniel are our photographers. No, they are our photography soulmates. The universe put us together and I am so ecstatic for that. This quote from Davina about choosing HER wedding photographer is EXACTLY why I love them and can't wait for them to document our day.

"...we didn’t want to be spending our day posing and listening to our photographer tell us what to do. we wanted all the special moments and emotions of our day captured without needing to pay attention or worry about photography."

Though I'm sure we'll do some group shots to frame for the parents I mostly want to look back and see my fiance's big goofy grin, me laughing wide-mouthed and my friends fist pumping to Bon Jovi.

More advice from Davina -

"so once you’ve found what you’re looking for, i’d suggest NOT following all the advice you’ve read in bridal magazines (now this is davina the photographer speaking, not davina the bride). nothing makes me cringe more than seeing a bridal magazine recommend that brides bring shot lists to their photographers. eek! would you bring a list to your dentist that says, “check bottom and top teeth for cavities. clean between each tooth carefully. remove tartar buildup as necessary.” then why would you give your photographer a list that says: ”photograph bride walking down aisle… first kiss… first dance.” (by the way, i’m not even exaggerating) you should hire vendors that you trust. especially the ones who are doing creative work.

this brings me to my final point. on your wedding day, let. it. go. i mean really: relax. you’ll have a better experience and you’ll have nicer pictures! trust. your. vendors. then all you have left to do is enjoy your wedding day and get married! isn’t that what it’s all about?"

Nom Nom

I'm really digging these Noming Vases. I was looking for biodegradable vases and, though these are not, with materials made with 51% chalk they are more eco-friendly than traditional plastic.