I don't know about you guys but last week was an insane week for me. Oy vey!
One of the highlights of my week was being featured on Every Last Detail. I had the pleasure of meeting (and tweeting) with Lauren, ELD's editor on Twitter and after viewing her website I immediately added it to my Google Reader. ELD is a great source for new brides to get ideas for their weddings. Lauren's site is complete with gorgeous photography submissions, DIY imprintibles and a slew of other useful information.
So nonetheless I was super flattered when Lauren featured Invite Couture on her website!
While surfing my usual twitter feed, I came across this great post from Guy Kawasaki on the Coolest Logos of 2009. Being a corporate graphic designer by trade prior to getting into the wedding and event business, I really enjoyed looking through this nicely curated collection of fantastic logos for various companies.
One of the things I love about logo design is designers really have an opportunity to say more about a company just through the visualization of their logo than any company bio can show. It's really a creative challenge to get the entire purpose and mission of a company across in a single glance at a logo. All the logos featured in the article are great examples of this.
Here's a few examples of the ones I liked from the article. What's your favorite?
Granted we're a bit past the holiday season at this point in time, I'm still excited to say I was interviewed by Ralph Lauren Magazine on a feature for custom holiday party invitations. RL Magazine is an online magazine featuring articles ranging from entertainment, business, travel and all things fabulous!
When planning my own wedding with my husband, we were probably most excited about picking the music. Everything from the procession music to our grand entrance song, and most importantly our first dance song.
The first dance is such an important part of your wedding. For us, it was important to us to not pick a quote unquote "traditional" song. We have a very eclectic taste in music and we wanted to showcase this at our wedding. The only thing not working in our favor is we listen more to the music and not necessarily the lyrics of any song.
After much discussion, the two of us were so excited to choose "Head Over Heels" by the ever so fabulous 80's band Tears for Fears. We loved the into of the song and thought it would make a perfect entrance, with us then launching straight into the first dance. My friends and family on the other hand had different options of this.
Apparently being we never really listened to the lyrics and there is some sketchy stuff said towards the end of the song that could be interpreted a number of different ways. Here's the lyrics:
I wanted to be with you alone and talk about the weather But traditions I can trace against the child in your face Won't escape my attention You keep your distance with a system of touch and gentle persuasion I'm lost in admiration, could I need you this much Oh, you're wasting my time, you're just, just, just wasting time
Something happens and I'm head over heels I never find out till I'm head over heels Something happens and I'm head over heels Ah, don't take my heart, don't break my heart Don't, don't, don't throw it away (Throw it away...Throw it away...)
I made a fire and watching it burn (yeah) Thought of your future With one foot in the past now just how long will it last No, no, no, have you no ambitions, oh (What's the matter with...) My mother and my brothers used to breathing clean air (Nothing ever changes when you're acting your age) And dreaming I'm a doctor (Nothing gets done when you feel like a baby) It's hard to be man when there's a gun in your hand. (Nothing ever changes when you're acting your age) Oh, I feel so…
Something happens and I'm head over heels I never find out till I'm head over heels Something happens and I'm head over heels Ah, don't take my heart, don't break my heart Don't, don't, don't throw it away
And this is my four leaf clover I'm on the line, one open mind, this is my four leaf clover
(La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la la) (La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la la) (La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la la) (La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la la) (La la la la la, la la la la la) In my mind's eye (la la la la la la) One little boy, one little man (La la la la la, la la la la la) Funny how...TIME FLIES!!!
My mother in particular didn't take to well to the line "it's hard to be a man with a gun in your hand". I kinda saw her point. Also, he's pleading the girl not to break his heart. Not exactly the most romantic song, huh?
So we quickly went back to the drawing board and decided on the Ronettes "Be My Baby", of Dirty Dancing fame. We took dancing lessons and learned to Samba, which definitely made for a memorable first dance for both me and my husband and our guests. We received so many compliments on our song choice throughout the evening from our guests.
Don't make the same (almost) mistake my husband and I almost made and do yourself a favor by not picking one of the below songs. These songs are known for people thinking they are "in the moment" love songs, but google the lyrics and you'll be surprised.
Last week it was the talk of the wedding planning industry that Pantone announced that turquoise would be the color of 2010. I LOVE turquoise, especially turquoise and silver southwestern inspired jewelry.
What better color palette for an outdoor, southwestern wedding than using a range of neutral tones accented by turquoise and silver?
Turquoise is a very strong color, so for your turquoise inspired wedding make it an accent color on a neutral palette as opposed to the main focus for a very luxurious and elegant take on the trend.
Eva Mendez at the 2009 Golden Globes proved that southwestern, turquoise jewelry looks gorgeous paired with white formal wear. Get your bridesmaids involved and allow them to pick up their favorite southwestern turquoise and silver jewelry to personalize their own look and stay with your theme. Also, as an added flare to your bouquets, have your florist wrap the bouquets with beaded turquoise bracelets.
To incorporate the silver elements of your color palette, have your bridesmaids wear a soft, gray/silver color (they'll love you since they can wear it again!), and use antique silver vases for your centerpieces.
One of the easiest ways to go green for your wedding or event is to make your invitations eco-friendly. There are tons of vendors out there who offer eco-friendly invitation products (myself included), but what exactly makes an invitation eco-friendly?
The Paper, Stock and Materials. There are several different paper options for today's brides and party hosts. Recycled seems to be the obvious choice for eco-friendly invitations, but there are other options as well. Many vendors offer FSC Certified stocks, which are created from trees from sustainable forests and processed in mills using sustainable energy. Another option would be to go with 100% cotton paper. Most cotton papers are tree-free, and created using leftover cotton linters leftover from the textile industry. Paper vendors are also getting more and more creative. There are several that now offer papers embedded with seeds, so your guests can plant them after your event as passed. That's a unique way to recycle your guests won't soon forget!
The Printing Process. Vegetable and soy based inks are preferable over petroleum based inks. These inks are low in VOC's and better for the environment. Choose single color printing over multiple colors can lessen the environmental impact as well. Another less thought of printing choice is digital offset, which doesn't use the same film and chemical process to create the plates to print your invitations. Also when choosing a printer, several use green energy to run their presses, making them a greener option.
The Number of Pieces. Take into consideration to order the number of invitations you think you'll need and not to way overestimate them to eliminate waste. Also, if you can try to condense as much information onto a minimum number of insertion cards to not only save you money, but also to prevent waste as well. Having a wedding website makes it easy to do this, being you can post additional information about your wedding (like hotel information) as well as give guests a place to RSVP on the Internet.
Does anyone have any green printing tips I might have missed? Please share!
As part of my New Year's Resolutions (yes, I know it seems I have a lot this year!), I've decided I want to be a better blogger. Part of that process is figuring out what you want to say so you can become more focused in spreading the message you want to send.
So with that in mind, I decided it was time for a Blog Mission Statement...
Invite Couture Blog's Mission Statement:
Invite Couture Blog is home to my online notebook. It's home to my ideas, thoughts, inspiration and tips on artistry and creativity. My goal is to provide my readers with a resource of ideas to better express themselves and personalities while planning and creating special life events they are sharing with their friends and family.
New Year, new goals, new promises to deliver on. I'm excited to start this new year off with a bang.
I'm the owner of Invite Couture, a custom design event stationery studio based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I love running, cooking, entertaining, music (I'm an ex-punk rock electric cellist, seriously) and hanging out with my husband and my fat cat Mercedes.
