Inside of Love: Envelope Liners

I lined my save the date envelopes with printed paper. I had 4 different colored envelopes and each got a printed liner in a complimentary color. It was my first wedding diy so I didn't mind spending a little more on the paper used for liners. But as the invites and thank-you cards are looming, the subject of envelope liners has come up again. It would be lovely to recreate those envelopes, except with more budget friendly options.

My invitations were ordered with purple envelopes, so they will be lined with yellow paper. And instead of yellow printed/patterned/more costly paper, I am using yellow photo copy machine paper (it's thinner and on the economical side). But how to dress them up?

Here is the purple envelope with yellow liner. It looks nice, but not too fancy.

In an attempt to save money but create cutesy looking envelope liners, I tried this fun envelope liner idea. A doily lace edge punch from Martha Stewart Crafts would allow me to punch the envelope flap part of the liner with a pretty pattern that matches some details of our upcoming invitations.

The pattern provides the fancy look I'm going for, but took some length off the liner as the above photo illustrates.

So I moved the liner up about 1/2" to 1" so that it lines right up to the adhesive part of the envelope. The look is better and adds a little fun to the solid colors of both envelope and liner.

Here are a few envelopes I lined for our thank-you cards. Envelopes are from Paper Source. I am in love with the color combination.


A close up of the envelopes reveals that it's a bit harder to line the pattern up at the point. But all in all, I'm happy with the look and excited to see if any guests notice.

Will you be using envelope liners? What kind of paper will you use to line it?

Blog title is from lyrics by Nada Surf

Happy to hang around: Wedding Dress Hanger

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I love the images of a bride's dress captured the morning of the wedding. In these shots, life seems so still as the dress hangs high, showcasing its length, detail, and beauty. With the dress being the main subject, an sometimes overlooked but quite complementary detail is the hanger.

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Hangers comes in all shapes, sizes, textures, and colors. It's not the most important detail, but something that adds a nice touch of beauty to dress shots.

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A while ago we purchased wooden hangers in bulk from Costco. They are a dark wood and very strong, a good wedding dress hanger option but they need some beautifying.

Enter some rhinestones and pearls from the craft store, some toys, some stickers, and you've got plenty of personalized hangers.


First up are these Yummy Breakfast by Kid Robot key chains. I took the key chain part out and used glue dots to secure them to the middle of the hanger. I love that the sunny side up egg and pizza are smiling. They're not very bridal but could work for the groom's suit (he likes pizza).



I used Martha Stewart Crafts pink rhinestones to create this heart. They are self-adhesive so it was no problem to stick them to the wood.


My married last name begins with a "W" so I used Martha Stewart Crafts purple rhinestones to create that letter. The rhinestones are also self-adhesive and a smaller diameter than the pink ones. I really like how this looks because purple is one of our colors.


A simple heart adorns this hanger. Also from Martha Stewart Crafts, this white dimensional heart sticker is textured but I wasn't able to capture it too well.


A favorite hanger was this one, with heart made of pearls from Martha Stewart Crafts. It's got a very bridal look and would match my dress nicely.


But I think my choice for wedding dress hanger is this felt flower by Jolee's For You. It's a bit reminiscent of a gardenia, feminine, and has a soft look. Since my dress has been hanging at my parents' house, I'll make the final hanger decision once my dress fittings are complete and I can take it home.

Right now all of the hangers are hanging my shirts and cardigans in my closet. This was a fun little project because hangers are re-usable and the embellishments add whimsy, I almost want to adorn each hanger I own. And I'm so excited to see how my wedding dress looks hanging from them.

Have you accessorized/embellished any normal household items to fit your wedding? What hanger will you use?


Blog title is from lyrics by Travis

A whiskey drink, a vodka drink: More Signature Drinks

Earlier this month we decided on Jack & Coke and White Russian to be on our signature drinks, along with a third to be determined drink that represented the two of us and our wedding colors. We were leaning towards a lemon drop martini or Chambord pineapple (suggested by Angel!). In an attempt to make a decision, and with a long weekend to enjoy, we had a taste test of both drinks.

First up was Chambord and pineapple juice. With a raspberry liquor taste, Chambord (1part) mixed quite nicely with the sweet pineapple juice (2parts).

The blend smooth and fruity and a fun purple color.

The lemon drop martini was up next. We purchased regular vodka (1part) and a lemon drop mix (2parts) for an ease of making the drink.

Glasses rimmed with sugar added sweet to the slight tartness of the drink.

I love the yellow color :)

After a few glasses of each, we realized that since both drinks are girly and fun, and since one is yellow and the other is purple, why not have both as our signature drinks? While the drink total stands at 4, I think this will give our guests some variety to choose from.

I'm really excited to move to wine tasting.

Did you have tastings for any of your drinks: alcohol, beer wine?

Blog title is from lyrics by Chumbawamba

Walk this way: Afternoon Venue Walk Through

Took some time off work last Tuesday to do a walk through with Love and Splendor's Angel and Anna. They hadn't seen our reception venue so we wanted to do a walk through, get a feel for the place, take some photos, and look over lay out. It was a perfect day too, with light flooding in and a beautiful ocean view.
We talked about tables and chairs and the possibility of stringing Chinese lanterns from the exposed wood beams.

I like the look of something like this. Please excuse the above image, it's a photo of a photo from the venue's album. I just really liked it because it shows the use of Chinese lanterns at a past event. Also found this great site with economical lanterns of all shapes, colors, and sizes. http://www.paperlanternstore.com/lairripala.html

We also talked about the funky carpet, which actually would have gone with our original color scheme.

And we admired the beautiful view. It's gonna take a lot to keep me from lounging outside during the reception.

All in all a very successful day :)

Blog title is from lyrics by Aerosmith

New York, New York: A Fabulous Wedding

My friend was a groomsman at his best friend's wedding last month. Set in the beautiful city of New York and with the bride's fun personality, I was quite excited to see the details and their photos for inspiration. The following are a few awesome photos by their photographer, Inbal Sivan, and from my friend's personal collection. It was a very lovely wedding with lots of style.

Inbal Sivan

Inbal Sivan

Friend's Personal Collection

The ceremony took place on a boat with the Statue of Liberty in the background.

Friend's Personal Collection

Love the bride's casual dress, pink and blue accents, and bouquet. Everything's so whimsically perfect for a spring wedding.

Inbal Sivan

Bride and Groom during the ceremony.

Friend's Personal Collection

Bride and groom changed into something more glamorous for the reception.

Inbal Sivan

The tulle and feathers of her outfit are amazing.

Inbal Sivan

And this bridal party shot is THE SHOT.

I am in love with how this wedding was so 'them' and am inspired to infuse the same amount of personality in my own :)

Has any wedding you've seen recently inspired you??


Blog title is from song by Frank Sinatra

Season of Love

We've waited all season for those 3 words, 8 letters to be said by the incomparable, Chuck Bass. Monday night he said it. After emotional roller coasters, secrets and truths, and tripping around Europe, he said it. A touching homage and beautiful sentiment that can be understood no matter what language you speak. And it's oh so sweet.

It brought back memories of a sweet fall night in 2002. We were walking from one party to another, with a buzz and a mindset to make it to the next one before the end of the night. Then we reach Embarcadero Del Mar as it looped to Del Norte. He stopped me abruptly, held my hands, looked into my eyes. And said it. We'd been dating for a while and shared the same feelings, but it was completely unexpected. I shared those three beautiful words as time slowed down as if it was just us, and we had a sweet kiss. I will always remember the first time we told each other we loved each other.

With all this wedding related running around and planning and budgeting it's always nice to reflect on a life changing moment that brought us closer together. This spring season, GG season finale, and wedding season has also put me in a sentimental mood.

How did first say, "I love you"?

Blog title is from lyrics by Shiny Toy Guns

You're my centerpiece: White Vases Reworked

Once we decided on our florist, we received our quote and did some creative negotiating. Bridal party flowers and church arrangements looked good, but we were coming in a bit high on the centerpieces. Our original centerpiece idea focused on a medium sized vase and two smaller vases. It turns out the arrangement for the medium sized vase put us substantially out of our desired price range, and this is outside of the cost of the medium vases. So we went back to the drawing board in search of something similar in look and style, yet more cost efficient.

We considered other medium sized vases, simpler flowers, and rearranging the budget. Then we realized, since we really like the ikea FARM vases, why not use a few more of those in the centerpiece? Instead of the initial 2, we'd have 5 small vases with different arrangements in each. This would appease our centerpiece vision/inspiration, bring cost down, and allow us to utilize more of the vases we like so much. Price comes to about $50 per table.

Ikea Vases

We will have five stem vases grouped together to create a look of one whole arrangements.

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1) stem vase - mound of 7 stems of yellow carnations.

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2) stem vase - mound of 7 stems of purple carnations.

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3) stem vase - mounds of plum sweet peas.

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4) stem vase with three stems of yellow gerbers, purple vanda, and fern curls.

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Fern curls are fun and provide a whimsical feeling.

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5) stem vase - single yellow cymbidium orchid and fern curl.

We're very fortunate to have a florist who is able to use flowers we like at a price we are comfortable with. Can't wait for mock-ups!

Did your centerpiece plan change to accommodate budget concerns?

Blog title is from lyrics by Van Morrison

Your accessories are dead on: Designer Shoes

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I am all about selective splurges. When we started crafting our budget and estimating cost, I knew I would much rather put my money towards investment pieces that I could wear after the wedding than something I would only wear once. Therefore, my dress, which I love, was purchased on the wallet-friendly side so that I could splurge a bit on my accessories: clutch, jewelry, and shoes. I have always been more of an accessory type of girl. I think I did a nice job finding my wedding clutch and now I'm trying hard to find the best shoe.

It doesn't have to be very fancy but it doesn't have to be the most practical, since I want something stylish. Something with a fun color, peep toe, moderate heel (3"-4"), comfort, and outfit variability.

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Ideally, I would love to say, "Hello, lover" to Christian Louboutin. There's something about the style, height, and signature red leather soles that just gets to me. Practically, I know that money should find it's way to other budget elements like food and drinks and there are other shoe options out there. Since I can't drop a high amount on Loubs, another brand produces that similarly stylish (and very comfortable) shoes is: Cole Haan*.

Below are a few of my favorite Louboutin and Cole Haan styles. Their similarities have made it easy to go for the smaller price point.

Louboutin Metallic Pumps, Cole Haan Carma Air

Shiny gold peep toe heels are always a great choice. The Cole Haan style looks more casual, but you really can't beat the comfort of Nike Air.

Louboutin Double Platform Slingback, Cole Haan Ceci Air

The straps and slingback make these shoes a lot of fun. Made with dyeable fabric, the Cole Haan allows you to match it to your wedding colors.

Louboutin Very Galaxy Platform, Cole Haan Huarache Air Sling, Cole Haan Huarache Air Pump

This Louboutin is sooo fab and I'm so glad Cole Haan has two similar options. Shorter heel height makes them comfy, while the metallic shine is so fancy.

Louboutin No Prive Slingback, Cole Haan Carma OT Air Sling

I can't not include a pink shoe. Before deciding on wedding colors I knew I wanted a pink shoe. It's got the perfect pop. The Cole Haan version looks a bit purple online, but it's a nice pink color in store.

We're going on many wedding related shopping trips this weekend so I might be coming home with some pretty Cole Haan shoes for my feet :)

How did you decide on your wedding shoes? What color did you purchase?

*I know Cole Haan shoes are not the most economical, but my brother works there and I am fortunate enough to benefit from the friends & family discount.

Blog title is from lyrics by Gwen Stefani