Fab * Blog by InvitationConsultants.com

{Wednesday Trendsday} Holiday Fun from A to Z

One day last week I received the Pottery Barn holiday catalog, The Ballard Design holiday catalog, and a new Serena and Lilly catalog. It was home inspiration overload but I didn't mind! My favorite item after examining all three holiday collections is the ceramic Alphabet Ornaments from Ballard Designs. Coming in at a second favorite was the Spruce Alphabet Wreath. They are so adorable and they appeal directly to my bookworm sense of style.

These cuties popped up on blogs quicker than I could catch and were featured on the adorable Ohdeedoh by Apartment Therapy blog, among others. Now it seems letters and monograms are likely to appear throughout holiday decor this season. I think it's a sweet trend and has a hint of tradition, which I love! The trend extends easily to invitations and is featured on the monogrammed wreath invitation and ornament invitation above. 

In the spirit of holiday decor, let me know in a comment below- what is your favorite holiday decoration of all time, and will you be putting it up this year? I'll go first! My favorite holiday decoration is a Lenox plate my grandmother had engraved for my first Christmas with my husband. It will definitely be placed on our dining table this year!

A Halloween Birthday Bash! Vampires Welcome...

I can hardly contain my excitement anymore, Halloween is TOMORROW! Woo hoo! My friend Carly and I were born a week apart (me on October 24th, and Carly on Halloween itself, lucky girl!), so we often celebrate our birthdays together with a night on the town or a joint shin dig. This year, we are going all out for the party, celebrating a year of big accomplishments and good times. Just to gush for my friend for a moment- this year, Carly got admitted into a masters program in Molecular Medicine. If that's not something to celebrate on your b-day, I don't know what is!

So, on to the party details! I am a huge fan of True Blood. In case you're not familiar, True Blood is a vampire show on HBO. Some may say it's Twilight for grown-ups. I was determined to have a True Blood party and I have incorporated some vampire related elements into the party decor in addition to creepy skull and crown motifs.  I gathered a lot of inspiration from Hostess Blog's Twilight themed party posts, and I even plan on making these vampire martini's and vampire bottle labels.

Last night, I set out a lot of the party materials so I can be ready set to celebrate, and not have any last minute stress. Some of my favorite details are featured above from left to right:

{Wednesday Trendsday} Fabulous Feathers

Brides.com has always covered the bridal fashion runway with pizazz, offering reports on the latest styles from top designers- including among others Vera Wang, Amsale, and Melissa Sweet (my favorite).  On the Spring 2010 runway, some of the designers were showing more than gowns and many featured incredible and unique headbands and hair pieces. They sparked my interest right away because I have a slight obsession with headbands. Headbands are half of the reason I watch Gossip Girl.

One of the sweetest head pieces was the feather band featured above from the Melissa Sweet show. It looks like a crown that could be worn during an autumnal garden wedding. It may be a little over the top for traditional brides, but it's a very elegant jumping off point for hair accessory inspiration. Etsy seller TessaKim offers this headband with soft assorted feathers and a pearl button. It's pretty, whimsical, and a statement piece. 

We have our own way of being inspired by nature's feathered flocks. Featured above are Fine Feathers,  Thicket, and Peacock Feathers. Check out more garden wedding invitations.

So what do you think of this fine feathered trend? Would you wear feathers as a bridal hair accessory?

A Vibrant Dia de los Muertos Wedding

Have you ever heard of a Day of the Dead wedding? The Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and by Latin Americans throughout the US and Canada on November 1st and 2nd which is also All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day. The celebrations are festive, full of color, and often involving sweets like sugar skulls and delicious foods. You can read more about Dia de los Muertos here on Wikipedia, including information about the rich culture of celebrating those who have passed on. Wiki says that the celebrations are often comical, and that to me explains the use of vibrant skull motifs and figurines.

I stumbled across the adorable and lively Dia de los Muertos wedding above on Offbeat Bride, and the bride Julie was sweet enough to share her photos with me. I love all of the details- from the bright blue, fuchsia, lime, and orange decor to the spread of sweets at the candy buffet. I think the cake may just be the best part. Julie and her husband were married in Las Vegas, so their cake topper featured a bride, groom, and Elvis skeleton. How kitschy cute?! The festive colors didn't just lend itself to the cake and candy, but also to her retro floral printed dress, colorful paper poms, and her candle lit centerpieces. 

A Dia de los Muertos wedding is brave & unique and oh-so-fun! The idea can easily lend itself to an everyday celebration or birthday as well. Consider these adorable sugar skulls from Dean & Deluca, a skull cake design one of our consultants saw at a friend's recent 40th birthday party, and Mexican party invitation Fiesta Grande.

Have you ever been to a Day of the Dead wedding or party? If so, let me know in a comment below. I would love to hear about it!

{Wednesday Trendsday} On TV: GLEE!

My mom typically won't talk to me on the phone on Wednesdays because she thinks I'm grumpy. No one else seems to notice, but my mom has told me that all my life I've disliked Wednesdays in a strange way. Well, I know you're reading mom and you should know I LOVE Wednesdays now! Glee is on FOX on Wednesdays, and it is such a delightful show. It's pretty popular too, and the fashion on the show is becoming trendy. Several of the characters, including the ambitious Glee club lead singer Rachel, don school girl plaid and modest collars. I've heard numerous places that plaid will be all over the place this fall and winter- from runways to the mall. Other characters on the show play into high school staples like nerds, jocks, cheerleaders, goth kids, and fashionistas, but the show blends the line between 'popular' and 'not popular' with all of the archetypes participating in the glee club together. It's campy, it's colorful, and it teaches great lessons, all the while singing and popping-and-locking to show tunes and top 40 hits. I hope this Wednesday Trendsday finds you gleeful and not at all grumpy.

Featured above: Photos of Glee characters Rachel, Finn, and Emma, all from imdb.  Hit Record Necklace, Rad Plaid Dress, Art History Dress (what a great name!), and Style Coach Necklace, all from Mod Cloth.  Classic Patch Plaid and Savvy Houndstooth invitations from Whitney English. Shop more patterned invitations. Or, music themed invitations.

{Wednesday Trendsday} Faux & Fuzzy

I wasn't feeling particularly fashionable for today's Wednesday Trendsday so I asked Antoinette what's trendy and she told me about Rachel Zoe's new fashion line for QVC that focuses on faux fur. Faux REAL?!? I didn't think faux fur would revive itself in fashion, but here it is and it's pretty darn cute! It's perfect timing for fall, and looks amazing paired with deep aubergine purple. Even the models pull off the look with ruby red lips. It's an understated overstatement and I love it! My favorite piece is the puffy fur vest from American Eagle. It was recently spotted in the fall issue of Real Simple and it is simply adorable. I propped all these faux pieces next to purple wedding invitations for a better idea of the fall color pairing. Enjoy!

Clothing featured above: Faux Fur Hoodie, Faux Fur Vest, Rachel Zoe Aubergine Scarf, Rachel Zoe Faux Fur Scarf.

Are you seeing trends out there you would love to see on Fab*Blog? Clothing - home decor - wedding & party trends - nothing's off limits! Let me know what's on your style radar in a comment below or email me at reilly@invitationconsultants.com and I might use your idea on Wednesday Trendsday!

{Corporate Holiday Cards} The Office

Last night, NBC brought together one of the sweetest TV couples of all time in a prime time wedding of awkward proportions. I have (and maybe you have too) been watching Jim and Pam do the proverbial office relationship dance since 2005 holding my breath for the day the two would be happy.Yesterday was that day.

At IC, we've often wondered if any of our corporate clients are anything like The Office crew, but I'm thinking ours are a little cooler, and a little less likely to embarrass each other. One of my favorite moments of last night's episode was seeing the whole Office staff dancing down the aisles, an homage to the YouTube JK Wedding Dance sensation. It was nice to see the staff come together to celebrate Jim & Pam, despite all of the trouble and humiliating moments they've dealt them in the past. It's with that spirit that they remind me of our Funny Owls card from our corporate holiday card collection. It's a little strange, a little cute, and very funny. I've assigned each of the little guys a character from the Office, and I think the most fitting would be Dwight- the slightly angry looking owl in the tie.

Did you watch the Jim + Pam wedding last night? If so, what did you think? 

Office images: Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski in Entertainment Weekly, The Office cast and logo.

{Wednesday Trendsday} Halloween Costume Edition

I can't begin to tell you how important Halloween is at Invitation Consultants. We take it seriously as the silliest holiday of the year. We wear costumes, do performances, munch on candy, and have a parade around the surrounding offices. The costumes are supposed to be a surprise and in the past we've had Borat, Sarah Palin and John McCain, Wilma and Betty from the Flintstones, Lenny Kravitz, Marilyn Monroe, cats, bunnies, ballerinas, and so many others. I can't reveal what I'm going to be this year, because it's a secret, and because I have no clue! That's why today's trendsday focuses on stylish celebrity costumes, fun Halloween party invitations, and some of the top Halloween costumes I think you'll see in 2009.

Top 2009 Halloween Costumes:

Vampires and Ladies who Love Vampires- It's unavoidable. With the success and popularity of Twilight, and True Blood you are likely to see more than one fanger around town. I prefer Sookie & Bill to Bella & Edward, but any vampire will do this year.

Beloved Children's Characters- Classic story books turned films like Where the Wild Things Are and Alice in Wonderland have already begun attracting buzz. Max or Alice would be fabulous costumes for your little one while the Queen of Hearts (see how cute Teri Hatcher looks above!) and an actual Wild Thing would be fun for an adult.

Classic Decade Related Costumes- Although I'm not a fan of The Hills, Lauren Conrad's flapper costume is pretty sweet. Pick a decade, any decade, and you can't go wrong. Especially with a hippie costume from the 60's honoring the 40th anniversary of Woodstock.

Let me know: what are you going to be for Halloween? Check in with us on 10/30 for a look at what each of the IC staff members come dressed as.

All celebrity images found here.

The Sweetest Thing

On Wednesday, a bunch of us got together and decorated cupcakes to match our Red Leaf Papers Invitations. I may be a little partial, but I think they came out adorable as well as yummy. Clockwise from top: black frosting with pink glitter icing to match Little Black Dresses, red frosting with coconut and blue sprinkles to match Snowman Party, yellow frosting with custom mixed aqua frosting and red glitter icing to match Let's Mai Tai, and grey frosting dripped with gel food coloring to get the splattered effect of Paint Ball Champion. No one wanted to eat them, they were too cute.

And as a bonus, at the bottom a perfect little purple cupcake by Brittany of the Fab*Blog logo.

Happy Friday everyone & have the sweetest of weekends!

{Wednesday Trendsday} Black & White

No two shades are trendier and more wearable than black and white. In a previous Wednesday Trendsday I mentioned winter whites and I'm so excited we're getting closer to that season. So today, I'm drawing inspiration from the two contrasting colors, and from my favorite fashionable girls from Gossip Girl: Leighton Meester and Blake Lively. They both always look great, and make it look easy. Dressed as they are, they look like they're heading to a white party. White parties require all of the guests to wear all white and I like the idea of the guest of honor wearing black to contrast. So get out there and celebrate simply in black & white. Get started: brand new white party invitation.