The first thing most people ask when they find out someone is getting married is something along the lines of "when is the date?" or "what does the dress look like?". Not I. My question usually is "what's the cake like?". My fascination with cake is built into my genetic code - my father is known for going up for thirds of wedding cake and also occasionally eats a piece on the ride home.
Cakes seem like the perfect opportunity to express your individuality as a couple and really are a work of art. Hopefully my as yet undetermined husband to be loves cupcakes because the only detail about my wedding that I will not bend on is the red velvet cupcake tower that will be my wedding cake. I found some really awesome cakes below - the superheroes and The Nightmare Before Christmas are beautifully done, in my opinion.
What was your wedding cake like? Would you do something different?
{images of flower bundles fresh from the Boston Flower Market via Sprout}
{images of wedding flowers via mint design blog photos by ellie snow}
Weddings cost a bundle, plain and simple. There are ways a creative couple can use their creativity or the creativity of their closest friends and family to not only save the beans, but to create flower arrangements and pieces of the wedding together. Many florists will be willing to purchase flowers for you to DIY...just ask.
Our friend Cathy Walsh from Sprout here in town just did her first DIY flower sale. Today, while on mint design blog , I came across these colorful beauties in mason jars and thought of how fun it would be to make these with friends. Cathy will even give you a crash course in arranging! I think this is a great solution to saving a bundle and having time with family and friends.
A few bottles of wine for the workers, a couple rolls of ribbon, a few cases of mason jars, and fresh blooms from your local. For the worker bees that pull their weight, offering a little cheese and some olives would be the polite thing to do. There you have a memorable gathering of spirited revelers preparing for the wedding together. Back to basics with beans to spare.
I hope Cathy posts some images from her DIY bride. We will be looking forward to seeing them!
I have to admit, I don't have much to contribute today because it has been BEAUTIFUL here for the past two days and today is shaping up to beautiful as well. After a June that was quite literally a wash, even a few days of sun is welcome. I spent my weekend traveling about New England, just soaking up the sun. Here's Dublin, NH in the broad summer sun with Monadnock in the background. Thank goodness for sun!
I hope that the rest of the eInvite's Insights Team had similarly wonderful Fourth of July weekends (leave your stories in the comments!).
We live in the best place ever for 4th of July celebrations. Massachusetts. Famous fireworks are on display from Boston Harbor, where Keith Lockhart conducts the Boston Pops at the Esplanade to Falmouth Heights on Cape Cod. Towns compete and take pride in their unbelievable firework antics.
Travel and Leisure actually lists Boston and Falmouth in the top 10 places in America to see a fireworks on the 4th. John Adams is a founding father and responsible for initiating some pomp and circumstance for celebratory July 4ths. Looks like the Adams cousins are revolutionaries who had their party pants on. We all know what Sam is now famous for, although he wasn't back in his day.
Have a happy 4th of July and for everyone in the northeast, I hope the sunny skies prevail and the show goes on. I think it's been raining for months. Bring a little Sam with you!
The Tall Ships are also coming up the Massachusetts coast from the Cape to Gloucester and Boston. If you have never seen them, check out the schedule and take the children. They are absolutely stunning. Check them out here.
A style of art and design prominent in Japan since the 1970's, known as "kawaii" (Japanese for cuteness) has become hugely prevalent in Japanese culture in everything from advertising to clothing, furniture, even behavior. It is a style that has widely embraced by both the young and adult.
In art, probably the most famous of artists working in this style is Takashi Murakami. His paintings, done in a technique called "super-flat", can almost take on a digitally printed look, but are brush painted in acrylics often on a massive scale. Murakami's works show a surreal kawaii cuteness, but range from the cuddly to an ironic violence.
His work has attained world wide fame and has led his design company "KaiKai KiKi" to high profile collaborations such as handbag patterns for Louis Vuitton. In 2008 he was listed in Time Magazine's "100 most influential people".
I was lucky to see one of his giant paintings at the Museum of Fine Art, Boston and I was blown away by the beauty and boldness of the piece. I love Murakami's art for the endless variety of imagination it represents.
Thanks to Marc over at Wooster Collective, I came across this great video of Two Twelve, a graffiti artist based in Houston Texas, creating his piece titled Love. I'm always curious about the process of street art. It amazes me that these pieces are created spur-of-the-moment, in some of the hardest-to-get-to locations, at night sometimes, in the biggest cities in the world! I have a hard enough time completing a drawing in the privacy of my studio, at my leisure, never mind on the top of a water tower at 3am. CRAZY! And it's not like the work emanates this frenzied practice either, the pieces are often well thought-out, multi-dimensional, and showcase layers upon layers (never mind hours) of stencil-work and spray paint!
Just as impressive as the art itself, is the passion that artists, like Two Twelve, have for their craft! Graffiti artists around the world spend hours creating these stunning works, not knowing how long it will be before they get painted over, or covered up. It's definitely something to be admired. I really enjoyed watching this video...totally inspiring!
By my count, this is the eleventy billionth day in a row that's been rainy and overcast. Not a great way to ring in July, but I'm getting my morning smiles from Sarah and Billy's answers about their "a-ha" moment with each other.
How long have you been together, and when was the moment you went "yep, this is it"?
Sarah: Billy and I have been together for 2 years. We started dating June 7, 2007 after meeting through a mutual friend. For me I knew he was "the one" a little before our one year anniversary. There was a feeling of comfort that i had never felt before.
Billy: We have been together for a little over 2 years, and it's hard to say when I knew that Sarah was going to be my wife. Right off the bat I saw things in her that were very rare. I think for a long time I thought there was no way I was this lucky and she was going to find something she didn't like about me. I finally realized that we were both lucky enough to find each other about a year ago, and that's when I started figured out how our lives were going to move forward together.
The perfect amount of love to brighten up any day! Then add in the love graffiti from Paris I found on one of my favorite sites and the rain (almost) doesn't matter.
The fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. Each year, it is spent at my parent’s beach house with family and friends, in a weekend celebration. In the morning, coolers are packed and the boat is loaded with towels, bocce ball and fishing poles. We make our way to the island and enjoy a day in the sun filled with many laughs. Upon returning to the cottage in the late afternoon, we enjoy one of the greatest summer pleasures—an outdoor shower, then settle on the front porch with snacks and a cocktail to watch the sun set. The evening is spent grilling, visiting with neighbors and watching the seemingly endless fireworks.
This year my dad turns 60, so the celebration will be extra special. We will all pitch in with the planning and lucky for us the internet is bursting with inspiring ideas!
Well, here in Massachusetts, we've apparently been transported to northwest Washington state and someone forgot to tell us. It rained every day last week and supposedly will rain the rest of the week. Not that I'm actually complaining, I rather like the muted palette that summer rains bring. It's different than the colors in fall, winter, or spring; the light is sharp and high in the sky, so when the clouds break even slightly, the world glows. Summer rains bring a palette of water-washed blues and wooden grays, like the colors of the sea.
Pantone's color trend report for FW09 has been out for a few months now, giving us some time to live with the hues they predict to be popular. Screens of Majolica Blue (19-4125), Iron (18-1306), Warm Olive (15-0646), and Créme Brûlée (13-1006) carry the same emotions for me as rainy summer days. I feel that when you can use color to capture a feeling that is familiar, like the emotions that surround rain, you can connect with your customers/viewers at a much deeper level.
A some people seem to dislike rainy days but they are no different than any other - they just have a different set of colors and emotions around them. Using those two things (colors and emotion) are the underpinnings of good artistic expression, in my opinion.
I blogged about one of my favorite jewelry designers (and close friend) a couple months ago, and now she's launched a new website that I wanted share with you all. http://www.riddhika.com/ I am blown away by your fantastic pieces Rids!
“ I draw inspiration from everything that's around me. From my travels to simple things that I love. From the intricate architecture of Churches in Prague to the Temples in South India, from the serene beaches in Oman to the hustle and bustle of the streets of Bombay, my fun friends in New york to my mother. My last collection was inspired from animals, food and colors.” - Riddhika Jesrani
Editors' Note: Please welcome Alita to our staff of contributing writers! She is a integral member of eInvite's team and brings a different voice to our discussions. She'll be providing an inside look at all the craziness that is involved when planning a wedding. We're very glad to have her on board.
I am so excited to announce that my cousin got engaged a couple of weeks ago, and we're going to be following Sarah and her fiance Billy as they navigate all of the joys and challenges that wedding planning brings. They're going to be married in March 2010, so with only 9 months to plan they have a lot on their plates!
Are you finding wedding planning to be what you expected, or is anything different from what you thought? Is there anything so far that has pleasantly surprised you? Sarah: Due to the fact that our wedding is 9 months away, wedding planning during the first 3 weeks is very involved. We have seen 15 locations over the past 5 days and picked our top 3 locations. It has been a pleasant surprise with how helpful everyone has been. I have friends spanning from Washington state to Texas offering me all the help I could ever need! Kristina (our cousin) has even offered to make my save the date and invitations with her personalized card business. (Perhaps they'll look like Kristina's Love card below?)
Billy: I always figured it would be time consuming and hectic, I guess the only thing I didn't expect was the time it took to become so crazy. Right now it is one week into the engagement and it feels like we have been planning this for months. There is so much to do right when you first start that you find yourself hoping that the pace slows down at some point.
We are the artists at eInvite.com and every day we scour the world so we can share our ideas about creativity, fashion, design, paper, and many other inspirations. We try to bring something new to our industry daily and we want to share our journey with you. Discuss etiquette, craftsmanship, the hottest trends, and our coolest finds with us, as we plan special events for our family and yours.
{via RocknRoll Bride}
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