A friend of mine just sent out some clever save the date cards for her wedding in November. She and her fiancé used San Francisco postcards and had a stamp made that included their wedding date and website.  I thought it was a great idea and probably a good money saver! She submitted this pic to Daily Candy’s DIY project and won tickets to this weekend’s Maker Faire in San Mateo.

Check out some more Save the Date Cards

A great way to really personalize your wedding invitations is to create a font with your own handwriting. Even if you have your perfect invites already picked out in that fancy script font you’ve always dreamed of, this would be a great idea for just your envelopes to add a little personal touch to them.

There are multiple websites where you can do this, but I just found a really cute one that just launched in April of 2009 called Fonts in Bloom. The process is really easy. You simply download their template that includes all of the necessary characters (upper and lower case as well as symbols) and then scan it and send it to them. They create a custom font for you to use in any program you choose.

Here are some sample fonts:

Check out some of my letterpress wedding invitation picks!

Having just created my own registry, and making an ongoing list of possible registry items over the past few weeks, I thought that I’d go through and pick out some registry necessities. Even if you feel like you have everything, you have to remember, now is the time to go for things that you may not normally splurge on for yourselves.

Bed and Bath
Frette linens have the splurge department covered- they are by far the most amazing bed linens I’ve ever slept on. Their famous Frette Hotel Collection is 100% Egyptian cotton, 200 thread count and comes in classic styles. Frette also makes amazing towels in 100% thick and absorbent Turkish cotton.  With your new towels, spice up your bathroom experience with the Yuzu Jasmine Hand Soap and Lotion duo. If you decide to go with Frette linens, you may want to add a little pattern to your bedroom with a graphic patterned Marimekko Lehtimaja duvet cover available at Crate and Barrel. They also have complete matching sets if you want to get pillow shams and sheets.

Kitchen
I am a firm believer in spending a little more for quality kitchen ware. Most quality stainless steel kitchen goods will last nearly a lifetime and you’ll find that they actually make cooking easier. You’ll never regret having a good All-Clad stainless steel, heavy-bottom sauce pan or saute pan- it’s amazing heat conductivity will insure consistent heat disbursement, saving you from charred sauces and the like. A good set of Shun Knives, if sharpened regularly, will last forever. And for the baker in the household, a KitchenAid Mixer will always come in handy. There are so many different attachments for the mixer- you can do anything from making fresh pasta to crushing ice. Don’t forget the NordicWare Bundt Pan. Everyone needs to be able to make bundt cake!

Dining and Entertainment
All entertainers should have some crystal wine glasses on hand. Even if you keep them boxed up for special occasions, they are good to have. My favorite glasses are made by Riedel and come in a set of two. You’ll also need to have a crystal decanter like the one from Schott Zweisel. Crate and Barrel’s Cove Dinnerware and accessories (like the Cove Pitcher), although simple in white or blue, will ensure a sophisticated dining experience while letting the food speak for itself.  To dress up your table top a little more while keeping it simple, grab some interesting tea-light holders like the Pixie Candleholder and the Chilewich Bamboo Placemats that come in a variety of colors and shapes and clean up really easily.

I found most of my these registry must haves at Macy’s, Crate and Barrel, Sur La Table and Williams-Sonoma, but there are a ton of great places out there create a gift registry. Drop me a line if you have any must-haves that I’ve missed!

We just created our wedding registry on Kazowie and we both found it to be incredibly easy. We were able to compile items from 3 different stores (Williams-Sonoma, Crate and Barrel and Sur La Table) into one registry, which means that our options are endless- we could choose as many stores as we want! When adding items to a Kazowie wedding registry, I found that all of the regular registry functions are available, like adding quantities for items, but you can also upload your own picture and edit the product’s description and name. I’m happy to be able to have just one web address to inform guests of where gifts can be found and it’s super easy for us to manage. Check it out: Sally and George’s Wedding Registry

With my wedding quickly approaching (where does time actually go?) I’ve begun the long and stressful process of coming up with the overall style of the wedding. Actually, I’ve known for a long time what the style was, the problem is focusing in on the details and bringing the vision to reality. In my search for the ideal reception table centerpieces, I’ve recently come to this important conclusion:

#1- Simpler is better

#2- Nobody is going to remember your centerpiece a year after your wedding.

Of the many (many) weddings that I’ve attended, I can’t remember what one centerpiece looked like. Except for a vague rememberance of a wedding where the centerpiece was so gigantic that no one could see anyone else sitting at the table except the people to there immediate left and right.  Definitely not a good idea if you want your guests to socialize.

I’ve decided that I’m a huge fan of the simple, minimal centerpieces with a single flower-type like these:

The one with the Lilies of the Valley on the left is from Pottery Barn. This is by far my favorite of the three. Simple and elegant, with the stalks of the flower adding some fresh greenery to the table. The tall vase (although a little spendy) can be found at Amazon and is another great example of simple yet interesting. The low bud vases from The Bridal People are something that anyone could whip up themselves and save money (at around $6 each)- just pick up a few dozen of your favorite flower and place the buds in the vase. So pretty!

Check out some more  Wedding Centerpieces- Square and Rectangular Vases and be sure to stay tuned for for more from my Wedding Series!

I discovered this young up-and-coming designer on Etsy a few weeks ago when I was in the beginning stages of searching for my wedding dress and I fell in love with her drapey designs and amazing photos. Last week she was featured in Daily Candy and I’m sure that we’re going to see more and more of her in the future.  Her prices are totally reasonable, and the turn around time for ordering is only 4-6 weeks after providing her with your measurements. If I didn’t already have my dress in progress I would have definitely ordered from her! Oh yeah, some of the proceeds go to charities. Amazing…

A few of her dresses for bridesmaids or brides who want to go with something a little less traditional (left to right): The Raspberry Perfection Dress, The Flock Dress, The Robin’s Egg Dress, and the How She Sparkles Dress.

Amazing dresses for brides (left to right):The White as Snow Dress, The Athena Gown, The Pink Petals Dress,  and the A Peaceful Afternoon Gown. Check out some more amazing pieces- Sarah Seven Wedding and Bridesmaid Dresses.

So far, the most fun that I’ve had with wedding planning has been picking out our save the date cards. At the beginning stages of planning, you’re allowed to go with something a little more fun that doesn’t necessarily have to match with the rest of the wedding theme. We picked cards that highlight San Francisco to prepare our out-of-towners excited for a fun visit to a great city.

In my week-long search for save the date cards, I came across some real gems. I especially like the cards with the initials of the be-trothed carved into the tree: The Weeping Willow cards come in 4 colors.

Hello Lucky makes some amazing cards that you can get in either digital or letterpress depending on your budget. You can get as simple or as fancy as you like with cards like: (left to right) the Monogram Letterpress cards, the Fancy Feather Cards, or the simple  Meadow Digital Grass and Gravel Card .

I’ve also seen a ton of DIY brides and grooms making their own cards. My favorites are the ones made by Miranda that are posted on Flickr. She even made the envelopes.

Check out some more Save the Date Cards

For the ultimate modern vintage bride look, I think what a bride chooses to wear on her head is almost as important as the dress. Headbands and hair accessories are huge right now in fashion, so I put together a list of some amazing head pieces and headbands for brides who want to go with something other than a veil. Most of these are handmade the lovely shops of etsy, so expect some time for construction.

See more Veil Alternatives…

Everyone always likes to pretend that a bridesmaid dress can be worn again. I, and most of the women that I know, can attest to the fact that, This Is Not True. I got to wear one dress more than once and this was only due to the fact that a friend of mine allowed all of her bridesmaids to pick their own dress, as long as they were within a certain color palette. She just happened to pick the color of a dress that I had already had in my wardrobe. It worked out perfectly because they were different sets of friends, so nobody had seen it before. Perf!

My wedding is in November of this year and I’m beginning the search for dresses for my ladies. Luckily, they are all incredibly easy-going people and I’m sure that there’s going to be no problemo whatsoever finding the perfect dresses to for them when they accompany me on my wedding day. But, to o be honest, I’m really bored with most of what I see in bridal magazines. Check it out- The “It” bridesmaid dress of the moment:

Picture that dress offered in about 7,000 colors with names like: Cornflower, Wasabi, Pumpkin, and Blush. I’m not saying that the dress wouldn’t make a wonderful accessory to the bride, I just find it a little predictable. Especially if the bride is going for a strapless look also.

Because my vision for my wedding has a bit of a 1920’s style to it, I’m on the hunt for something a little more Clara Bow or Louise Brooks, but updated. That means the hemline will have to be a little bit on the tea-length side (not until the late 20’s was the super short Charleston style dress in style) and I’ll have to work with soft fluid fabrics and a simple silhouette. I’m still trying to pick out wedding colors, so we’ll have to deal with that later.

You’ll have to use your imagination and picture these dresses with amazing accessories* and hair to give them the final touches (left to right): Donna Ricco Split Neck Sheath Dress, Silk Tricotine Robin Short Dress by J. Crew,  Jones New York Sweetheart Shutter Pleat Dress. Check out the rest of my dress finds at Amazing Bridesmaid Dresses.

*Wedding Accessories list in progress!