My Anniversary

Photo by Shannon Wright

Today is my 8 year wedding anniversary! The years have flown by and I can honestly say that I fall deeper in love with my husband everyday - well mostly everyday : ) He supports me to pursue my dreams, is an amazing father to our two girls, and truly is my best friend. I can't imagine my life without him and I am so excited to see what the future holds for the years ahead.

Photo by Alea Moore

Blogiversary & Giveaway

Photo via here

Yesterday was my 1st year blogiversary! When I started out with this blog I wasn't sure how I could possibly have enough material to blog consistently or if anyone would read it. But over the past year my blog has grown and has become a place for me to talk about wedding design ideas and provide inspiration, a place to feature vendors, and a place to connect with you - my readers! Thank you for your support over the past year and I hope that I will be able to continue to inspire you.

As a thank you to my readers, I'm doing a giveaway for a set of letterpress thank you cards. You guys know how much I loove letterpress! To enter to win, just leave a comment to this post stating what you like about my blog and/or what you would like to see more of in 2009! Contest ends January 5th.

With the holidays I know my posting has been pretty sporadic. But I have lots to share and will resume regular posting on January 5th.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, from my family to yours!

Photo card by Alea Moore

Rachelle & Damon

One of my 2009 couples, Rachelle and Damon, recently had their engagement session with Altmix Photography and I wanted to share a few photos from their session.

Ahh love, look at the way she looks at him!

Atlantan Brides Anniversary Issue

Congratulations to The Atlantan Brides on their gorgeous 1st anniversary issue!I am very excited to be included in the issue. First in the What's the Buzz Section a mention on StudioWed opening in Atlanta
And in the About Town sectionpost coverage on my SoireeThe issue hits newsstands on January 1st, so be sure to check it out!

The Cranky Princess

For my daughter Kristen's 4th birthday, we had a princess tea party at a great place called The Cranky Princess, located in Stone Mountain.The owner Lauren, really has thought of everything to make parties a magical experience for little girls.I'll be sharing pictures from Kristen's party. But if you're looking for a place to have a princess party definitely check out The Cranky Princess.

Happy Wednesday!

This week is going by so fast between my daughter's princess tea birthday party (can't wait to share this with you!), working on my StudioWed opening, my brides, and attempting to get ready for Christmas, the days are just flying by!

Right now I'm loving Alkemie's Christmas posts. The decor is so unique and definitely making me feel inspired!

All photos from Living Etc.

Safari Chic Wedding Inspiration

I hope you have enjoyed Safari Chic wedding week. And I especially hope that I was able to provide some inspiration to Sandra for her wedding next year in Portugal.

Sandra, be sure to share some photos of the wedding so we can see how it all turns out! Here is an inspiration board to sum up the week.

Photo Credits:

First row - Shoes, Bouquet, Earrings
Middle row - Place card, Africa, Invite
Last row - Candles, Centerpiece, Napkin

I had a blast coming up with ideas for Sandra's wedding. If anyone else needs help with wedding or event design ideas, feel free to send me an email!

Safari Chic - Decor

For our Safari Chic Wedding, the key elements to the overall decor will be candlelight, texture, and incorporating items from nature to create an environment that is elegant but still reminiscent of the African Safari.

Candlelight sets the mood in an inexpensive way. This photo from Totally Tabletops shows how simple candles with branches and rocks creates a striking display. And check out those zebra print chair covers!These textured wood candles from Cost Plus World Market would be perfect for our Safari Chic wedding.

And I'm loving these rattan votive holders also from Cost Plus World Market.

Continuing the idea of adding texture to the table, these rattan chargers from Cost Plus World Market will dress up the table and be the perfect base for more formal china.Something as simple as doing a place card on top of a piece of burlap is so inexpensive yet makes a great detail on the table. (photo from Toast and Tables)And if you don't have burlap handy, how about a simple green leaf tucked inside the napkin. Talk about inexpensive, but gives the table that extra special touch. (photo from Vintage Design Co.)
Because our bride, Sandra, wants to use leopard print in the wedding, this leopard grosgrain ribbon from Bags and Bows, would be a great accent to add as trim to vases or centerpieces.
The welcome drink for Sandra's wedding will take place in an outside garden. Creating a lounge area like this one from the Sparkliatti blog, wouldn't be very hard to do. Simply use red fabric to drape on tables and seating areas, add strategically placed leopard print pillows, and of course candles, and you've got one fantastic lounge area!

Safari Chic - Flowers

Using natural elements is key to a Safari Chic wedding. And these natural elements are a great base for the dramatic red to really stand out.

(Photo from Brides.com)

One of the most economical ways to have big dramatic centerpieces is to use branches with candles and flower accents. Ontario based Vintage Design Co. has some of the most gorgeous branch centerpieces that I've seen.




You can see how beautiful the red will look against the brown branches.

(Photo from Knot)

Safari Chic - Stationery

Stationery gives your guests the first indication of what's to come and will be a great way to incorporate the safari theme.

Although not traditional wedding stationery, I think these cards would be so much fun as save the date cards.

This notecard has great texture with just a hint of leopard print

Photo from Stork Announcements

This distressed greeting card is great inspiration for doing a custom save the date with more traditional African Safari elements

Photo from Melanie Kay

This save the date and invitation suite from Zenadia Design is beyond perfect. Just the right amount of leopard print with the bold red makes for a fun wedding invitation.


Looking ahead to the wedding reception, a wheatgrass escort card display would be great for bringing elements of the outdoors in (1st photo from Joyful Weddings and 2nd photo from Elizabeth Anne Designs blog)