Dec

31

How Will You Party Like It’s 2010?

Filed Under Food and Drinks, Holidays | 11 Comments

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ….. FUN!!!!! How will you ring in the new year and party like it’s 2010? Will your fete be elegant and angelic, warm and cozy in the mountains, or edgy and glamorous?

EDGY & GLAM: Swirl homemade liquer lollipops into your champagne until they dissolve and infuse it with color, sprinkle metallic confetti all over the floor, don an over-the-top ensemble (Marcus Piggot),  and create a custom chandelier by putting feathers into clear glass ornaments and hanging them in a large cluster over the table. To expand your space set another table outside and hang a crystal chandelier to keep the setting just as glamorous as it is inside!

ELEGANT & ANGELIC: Wear an ethereal white tank with a raw edge ruffle and hang a tattered angle wings sculpture made from flyleaf book pages and vintage crepe paper amongst white frosted apple ornaments. Set a glitzy table of creams, whites and ivories offset by pearlized pale pink (via ada and darcy). Make giant paper flowers and snowflake cookies, and serve mini ice cream cones, eggnog martinis, pearlized macaroons elegantly accented with small gold leafs.

COZY CASUAL: Or will you celebrate in a cozy chic cabin in the snow filled mountains. Have a comfy cozy New Years surrounded by giant faux fur rugs and a snow tabletop set with mismatched chairs from the cabin (via frolic). Warm up your ears with a faux fur trapper hat, warm your shoulders with a glamorous silk ruffle cape and rozy up those cheeks by sipping hot chocolate with marshmallow hearts.  Set up a sweet liquer bar in the entrance so your friends can quickly thaw off after hitting the ski slopes!

Whatever style or city you ring in the New Year, just remember that 2009 was ‘Oh So Divine’ but it’s time to party like it’s 2010!!

Dec

30

Inspiration to Creation: Music Invitations

Filed Under Inspiration to Creation, Lollipop Invitations | 8 Comments

We held a ‘Custom Invitation Contest’ months ago, and our lucky winner was Vera, a bride with a ton of fun style. When we first had the pleasure of speaking to Vera she told us about all of the interesting elements she wanted to incorporate into the design of her wedding (see the inspiration board Vera sent to us here!). Vera told us that her ‘hubby-to-be’ is a classical guitarist and that they share a strong love of music. She mentioned that she wanted to incorporate the feeling of bluegrass, Western typography, Zooey Deschanel’s quirky style, and elements of dogwood flowers with the color palette of teals, oranges and greys.

Our ultimate goal was to create an ultra fun piece that would ‘wow’ the guests, so by the end of our first conversation we had the idea of using a textured wood grained paper to create a faux guitar front belly band. From there the excitement and creativity grew. After a few rounds of illustrating flowers and trying out new directions, we arrived at the final design. We were able to incorporate fun fonts, vintage and custom illustrations and sheet music that show the little love birds humming the tune to their ‘musically romantic wedding.’ Let us take you through the Lolliladies design process, from Inspiration to Creation….

DESIGN PROCESS: First we designed the front panel that the invitation would slip into. We used textured wood grain paper, guitar strings that we would wrap around the invite with actual wire, the f holes of the guitar that would  be cut out and backed with vellum, and finally the circle of the guitar which would also be a a cutout from which the invite would peek through…

Vera loved the concept for the outside of the invitation. Next up was the design of the insert. This piece would slide into the woodgrain paper and would be peeking through the hole in the “guitar”. We always give each of our clients an initial round of 3-4 design drafts so sticking with the art nouveau style we started with this abstract floral design that created a soft geometric pattern.

Our second  version had much more of the 60’s psychedelic feel to it…

The third version was a very graphically strong piece with layers of concentric circles.

And the fourth version was a much softer layout with a singing love bird!

Finally we came to this! Here is the finished invitation with the woodgrain paper, f -holes, and the soft love bird design Vera decided on for the insert. Vera decided on sheet music with singing love birds for the front of the insert and fun typography for the back of it.  Vera even took it a step further and designed a custom guitar pick!

See Vera opening her Musically Romantic Invitations and… read her blog post about the invitations here!!

These invitations will definitely be unique treat for the guest when they open them!!

Dec

28

The Winners of the Jessica Claire Photoshoot Contest are….

Filed Under Contests!, Photography | 12 Comments

So it took us a lot longer than we thought, but we made the impossible possible over the holiday and chose a winner for the Jessica Claire Photoshoot Contest. There were so many amazing love stories and lovely photos sent to us we hard the hardest time choosing. We all sat, swooned, oohed and awed, and look forward to sharing them with you… We chose this duo because of their silly and sweet photos, their obvious comfort in front of the camera, their warm & fuzzy entry and their creativity (just read their ridiculously amazing love story!)

THE STORY:

“We’re getting married in Seal Beach August 21st!  We’re currently living and working in New York (both of us are Camera Operators for A&E, TLC and Travel Channel).

My little love story:
First I’ve got to explain that I’ve known Billy was the one for me since our very first date.  We were both traveling when we met, and had sent letters to each other for a month before our official first date. Crazy I know, but I wrote this in my journal after our first date: “I feel so much for him.  if I relax my mind, let go of all of my fears.  If I rip down the wall that separates me from my insecurities all I feel is attachment. I look at him and it feels like I know who he is, that he’s going to be the one that never lets go of my hand.  I feel like a freak writing this, but shared between me, myself and I – that’s okay.”
So here we are, four years later and I’ve got a ring on my finger and a date set and I’m sitting here pinching myself, because true love is totally true. Ok, I’m getting a little too into the sticky yucky love stuff.  Back to the story.  This is how it all went down:  A few months ago, I convinced Billy to start “Alphabet”dating with me.  As you can imagine, this took quite a bit of convincing.  The rules were:  1. switch off letters beginning at “A”, 2. come up with an activity that neither one of us have done.

We were on “D” and it was Billy’s turn. I met up with him in Greenwich Village (New York) and we had Dinner at a new spot, and Dessert. Just when I thought the date was over (and that he hadn’t been too creative with his alphabet assignment), he told me he had another “D” surprise for me.  We took the train to the bottom of Central Park and he says, “I know it’s a stretch, but D is for “Driver” and we’re going to take a nighttime horse & Carriage ride through the park. At this point I was REALLY impressed. It was quite a fancy end to quite a fancy New York night. After ten minutes of trotting I got over talking about how he had chosen something so romantic and grown up, I quieted down, and enjoyed the scenery. It was fall, and an especially warm night. The leaves were falling around us and with the exception of the driver, we seemed completely alone (which is a very rare experience in this city).

Billy sat up, smiled, and said “The date’s not quite over, I have one more “D” treat.” I squealed “reallllly?  (Imagining a chocolate bar hidden behind his back).  He scooted forward and got on one knee in the center of the carriage and I SWEAR time stood completely still for the next five minutes. He reached in his pocket, pulling out a black box and lifting the lid, “D is for Diamond” he said, “…Will you marry me?”.
The answer to that question coming from that man will always be YES.”

We sincerely thank all of the amazing couples who entered the contest. EACH AND EVERY single couple was so beatiful and had such heart warming stories! We wish we had this opportunity to share with each of you! Thank you, thank you, thank you again!!

Dec

28

Music under the Moonlight at Midnight

Filed Under Dinner Parties, Holidays | 10 Comments

Let the countdown begin… Champagne bubbles and corks popping, kissing under the moonlight at midnight, parades, pinatas, fireworks, sequined cocktail dresses, the ball drop, Dick Clark, Times Square, and celebrating everywhere. Glamour is in the air as we round the corner into 2010…

new years eve party decorSET THE SCENE: Throw a soiree filled with metallics, mirrors shades of lavender and aqua (via The Society), hang glitzy pinatas and throw glittering confetti.

DIY: Make ornaments out of newspaper (there is no better way to celebrate entering 2010 than to leave a green footprint by recycling the news from 2009 into chic ornaments! Be green and celebrate the happy headlines of 2009!)

TO WEAR: Leave 2009 behind in a soft beige leather lavish blossom clutch and sparkling Mui Mui heels that look like they have been covered in confetti. Don an elegantly chic tie dye blouse or a whimsical, eco-friendly ivory hemp dress accented by a bib necklace constructed from vintage jewelry (as seen on Haarpers Baazar).

Dec

23

Last Minute Holiday ‘To Bake’ and ‘To Make’ Tips

Filed Under Food and Drinks, Holidays | 6 Comments

December 25th is fast approaching and we are reminded that simple things like finding a parking space requires the skills of a detective, then maneuvering into the actual spot between those giant SUV’s requires the talent of a trained Air Force Pilot. We are battling seas of red brake lights on the highways like warriors, and trying to decipher which Christmas bulbs will still light up in the never-ending, tangled strands of  lights as we precariously dangle off of ladders while hanging them from our rooftops. We finally stop (to breathe) and realize that we haven’t had time to get those last minute gifts, bake or craft the holiday decor for our upcoming Christmas and New Years parties! Here are some last minute Holiday ‘To Make’ and ‘To Bake’ ideas!

last minute christmas ideas

TO MAKE:

1. Scribble Merry Christmas onto cardboard, cut it out, sprinkle with glitter, and hang it on your wall amongst ornaments.

2. Take your paper towel rolls and cut them to make a paper roll forest!

3. For last minute gifts re -wrap simple items from the grocery store to add a special and personalized touch. You never know what to get Aunt Lucy for Christmas, but know she adores Tollhouse cookies, so remove that funny elf packaging and re-wrap them into a stylish personal gifts!  (via Creature Comforts)

TO BAKE:

1. Don’t limit wrapping just to presents, serve ice cream sandwiches all wrapped up like a gift!

2. Make your own teacup with biscuits, marshmellow, half a mint lifesaver, freckle chocolate and icing via Ada & Darcy

Eat, drink and be Merry!!

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Next Page →