Invitation Consultants Blog - Wedding and Party Inspiration

It's Friday, We're in Love: A Weekly Roundup of Everything Lovely

Happy Friday! April is just around the corner and we're tickled for the arrival of spring and everything that comes with it: painted eggs, fresh blooms and bright colors! Here are some of our favorites from this week. Reilly's fave is Easter in a box from You Are My Fave! 

Allison loved this gluten-free dessert from The Kitchn! Antoinette fancies this blue living room she stumbled upon at House to Home.

Courtney found the cutest baby animals on Elements of Style and Amy was inspired by the DIY eggs that Cyd posted on The Sweetest Occasion. 

What are some of your favorites? Have a sweet weekend! 

Las Vegas Wedding

Thousands of couples tie the knot in Las Vegas each year. In addition to being a carefree, warm and entertaining location, Las Vegas appeals to a lot of couples for its variety of options. Vegas seems to have it all and each couple's wedding is as unique as they want to make it. Couples can choose to be married in a little white chapel or by Elvis himself. Whatever you choose, this famous location is sure to be a memorable experience for you and your guests! When planning, select fun casino themed items and make sure to select the perfect Las Vegas invitation! The invitation shown below is one of my faves: Viva Las Vegas Pocket.

 

Images courtesy of Pinterest: casino napkins, vegas themed cuff links, lucky in love cake topper.

Introducing Prints Charming Paper!

Dapper & Colorful. Bright & Cheery! I'm so excited to introduce you to a new collection from the wonderful designers at Prints Charming Paper. Prints Charming was founded by Sherrie Neely in 2002, and is chuck full of designs perfect for any event.

When we started working with Prints Charming, we knew it was a match made in paper heaven because of their wonderful love of color and typography. They have so.so.many.colors. SO MANY! It was a color party when we designed this little reference chart for our design team in house. They have adorable names like daffodil, cloud, and cucumber. Best of all, most Prints Charming invitations are available with the 'choose your color' option, so this color library is ripe for the picking and perfect for tying your event colors into your invitation.

If you're not all "I LOVE PRINTS CHARMING" by this point, let me sweeten the deal: All Prints Charming invitations have matching circular envelope seals available. SWAK!

Photos and flowers, my word! Please go check out our new collection from Prints Charming for more birth announcements, floral invitations, graduation announcements, and ridiculously fun party themes.

Invitations above: Aloha Luau, New Little Fellow, Spring Blooms.

2012 GRADUATION GIFTS!

Graduation is just around the corner and we've rounded up some of our favorite items that would be awesome gifts for your shining star!

The Cap Toss Notepad is a stylish choice that can be completely personalized!

The Varsity Thank You cards have a modern, distressed look - perfect for sending thanks!

The Graduating Class Luggage Tag is ideal for those taking summer trips before college or their first job begins!

Silhouette custom stamps like Her Graduation show your graduation spirit!

And just because we love our daily dose of fashion - need something to wear under your cap & gown for the big day? We adore this BCBG Floral Applique Dress.

Just remember, we've got you covered for all of your graduation invitation and announcements needs or graduation gifts! Celebrate your milestone and spread the news in style!

Planning a colorful, modern or unique event?  Let us help you find the perfect wedding invitation! You'll also find invitations for any party or occasion!

Colorful Inspiration: Alpha Phi

The beautiful colors of Bordeaux and Silver define the sisters of Alpha Phi along with a rich history and their mission statement: Alpha Phi is a sisterhood of women supporting one another in lifelong achievement (AlphaPhi.org).  The sisters of Alpha Phi are more than 200,000 strong and wear their pride in all different ways.  Some are abstract like the pride in their academics and their charity work, but some are concrete like the colors or ivy leaves that adorn shirts, bags and decorations.  Here's a little round up we put together of some ways Alpha Phi's can show their pride!

Alpha Phi tank top  |  A Phi Necklace  |  Alpha Phi Notepads  |  Alpha Phi Stationery  |  Bordeaux Dress

Tomorrow, Folks, The Return of Mad Men | A Mad Men Birthday Party

"If this were me I would say something like 'fun loving girl, responsible sometimes, likes to laugh, lives to love, seeks size six for city living and general gallivanting. No dull moments or dull men tolerated.' or something like that!"
-Joan to Peggy when she is looking for a roommate.

We know some of our readers & customers are MAD MEN fans! We can tell by your 60's inspired Mad Men cocktail parties, and even one creative Mad, Mad Medical Grad who selected this martini themed invitation for their vintage graduation party. Mad Men (finally) returns tomorrow for its 5th season, and I for one could not be more excited. Above are just a couple of photos from my Mad Men themed birthday party. The cake features two characters from AMC's amazing Mad Men Yourself feature. The one on the right is moi, while the one on the left is my BFF Carly, who I have a joint b-day party with every year. I like to think we are quite Peggy & Joan-like. The snacks above are Jon Hamm & Cheese.... yes, we went there.

And, now a photo of Jon Hamm, just because we can:

Let me know if you'll be watching tomorrow night!

It's Friday, We're in Love: A Weekly Roundup of Everything Lovely

It's the end of the first week of spring - do you feel it? The sun is hanging out a big longer at the end of the day, and stores are starting to fill with color, so we're psyched. Here is what we loved this week! Above, I can't get over the cuteness of the maternity line from Hatch & their blog is really darling. We've got some brand new birth announcements to keep that baby inspiration going.

We've all been a buzz about a new line of ombre tights from our very own guest designer, Tiffany Ju! Tiffany has a line of illustrated invitations on our site, and is now taking on a very fun and interesting project on Etsy. Her ombre tights are ridiculously unique. 

Courtney shared these pretty pastel pencils from Somewhere Splendid.

Finally, Antoinette spotted Camille Styles' home on Design Sponge. Her pool is to-die-for.

Have a wonderful weekend... please drop by tomorrow when I'll be gushing over Mad Men!

March Madness Continues!

March Madness continues tonight as the third round of games starts up. Sixteen teams remain in college basketball's ultimate compeition: the NCAA tournament. 

Personally, I'm enjoying the performance of my Gators as they have breezed through to the Sweet Sixteen. We play tonight though, so you can bet I'll be cheering them on as they face Marquette!

We also did a bracket challenge here in the office between IC's three teams: Gamma, Kappa and Zeta. I'm hoping Zeta (my team) has got it in the bag - which we might, since we're the only ones left with both our championship teams still in!

March Madness is a great time to get together with friends - especially if you've had a bracket challenge amongst yourselves! The winner can collect their prize (and in most cases, begin gloating) at the party after the championship is over. The Hoop It Up invitation, shown above, is my favorite sporty invite and perfect for the occasion.

Who are you rooting for?

My #SXSW Roundup!

HEY GUYS! I'm back from South by Southwest in one piece! If you have not heard of SXSW, let me sum it up for you with some little generalizations I've heard about it: Nerd Circus, Disney World for Geeks, Hipster Haven. I don't know though, it's just a whole bunch of things rolled into one, and it really is whatever you make of it. SXSW is held in the charming city of Austin where you can get BBQ every ten feet, there's multiple movie theaters within walking distance of each other, and people ride their bikes every.where. literally, more peddlers than walkers on a normal day I'm guessing. During SXSW, film, tech, and tons upon tons of music enthusiasts flood the city for a festival packed with panels, premieres, concerts, and parties. This infographic via Insider perfectly illustrates what all the buzz was about.

My husband and I decided almost a year ago (whoah!) to attend SXSW to treat our inner film nerds. We love movies and especially love quality comedies, and found tons of events we just couldn't wait for in Austin. We attended podcast tapings (if you listen to podcasts, please let me know so we can gush over them together...), film showings, stand-up showcases from the ultimate Upright Citizens Brigade, and even a super secret show that took place in what kind of felt like a basement (a safe, fun basement). One of the most exciting events was the 21 Jump Street Premiere. The cast, including Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, Channing Tatum, and Jonah Hill, was in the audience with us and then answered questions as part of a panel. It was surreal to watch the movie with the stars!

We ate tons of things we wouldn't at home! BBQ, food trucks, and Tex-Mex abound.

Another exciting premiere: The HBO Show Girls, written, starring, and directed by one of my shero's Lena Dunham. Girls is produced by Judd Apatow, who was in attendance to answer questions and praise Lena's completely original voice. I like that guy - tons - and it was really neat to see him up close and personal. Apatow was also a guest on one of my favorite podcasts we saw taped live: You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes.

Top Five Tips for Brides

We are so excited to have Rachel, from MasterPiece Weddings, to share her top five tips for brides-to-be! MasterPiece Weddings is a wedding planning and coordinating firm in Gainesville, Florida. She also blogs over at Wedding Talk!

Your wedding day is one the most special days of your life and you want everything to be perfect, of course! Here are some of MasterPiece Weddings' top, fail-safe tips and advice for brides:

1. Hire professionals

This is your wedding and you want it to be completely amazing – so hire professionals to help make it perfect for you. Weddings are an elaborate production with lots of things happening simultaneously. Make sure the people responsible for making that day perfect have experience with weddings and understand the myriad of details and situations that may come up.  You only have one opportunity to get that great photo of you and your grandmother hugging with a happy tear trickling down her cheek – why risk missing it because your friend, and designated photographer for the day, was grabbing a drink at the bar?

2. Personalize the details

Your wedding is a celebration of you both and your unique love story. Don’t hesitate to personalize and use details that really let your guest know how special it is. There are so many fun and unique ways to do this – table names, instead of numbers, that are all meaningful places to you both (where he proposed, favorite vacation spot, etc); a signature drink that you love to drink together; or even writing your own vows with special promises like “I promise to always let you borrow my sweatpants when you let me turn the AC down as cold as I want.”

Source: Pinterest

3. Do-It-Yourself is great, but don’t over do it

DIY projects are such a wonderful way to add all those personalized touches to your ceremony and reception, and have the added benefit of cost savings. You don’t want to create any added and unneeded stress for yourself, though. Pick one or two projects that you can complete way ahead of time (not the week before your big day!) and trust the professionals you hired to take care of the rest. The last thing you want the night before your wedding is to be tying two hundred little bows!

4. Don’t forget to breath

I know how many big and small details go into planning a wedding, but planning your big day can, and should be, fun too! Remember to keep your fiancé involved (even if it’s just as a sounding board), delegate to family and friends who offer to help  (they mean it!); and stay focused on the big picture.  At the end of this adventure, you’ll be married to your best friend! That’s the most important part to remember and the whole reason for all the planning and details to begin with.

5. Hire a wedding consultant

The great news is we’re here to help! Our philosophy is that you should enjoy every moment of your engagement and wedding day. The appointments and attention to details that are part of planning a wedding shouldn’t detract from time you spend with each other, family, and friends. We offer as much or as little help and guidance as you feel you may need.  Visit our website for more information – www.masterpiecewedding.net . 

Happy Planning! 

Source: Brides

Thanks so much for sharing, Rachel! What's the best bridal advice you've received?