A Nautical Themed Chicago Bachelorette Party

In 2008 my closest girlfriends accompanied me to Chicago for my bachelorette party. This weekend we're headed there again for a bachelorette bash in honor of my MOH and best friend Debbie. It's nautical themed, naturally, and I am quite certain that we will have a ball.
I'll be sharing the invitations {designed and produced by Chelsey at 4th and folded} next week over at Penned & Pretty, but here's a little sneak peek! Have a great weekend!!

Something Blue Bridal Shower Cupcake Flags

Oh hi, friends! It's been a while and I'm so sorry about that. Recently I've been recovering from seeing my alma mater play in the Final Four and for the National Championship, attending a concert of one of my favorite country music artists & meeting her backstage{!!!}, working overtime at my day job, cranking out calligraphy order after order after order and trying to complete my duties as maid of honor for my best friend and her upcoming wedding. To say that those are only the highlights of the last month would be an understatement.
Today, I'd like to share with you the darling cupcake flags that I made for my friend's shower mentioned above. Debbie is having a Florida destination wedding sprinkled with blue, white and khaki accents. Thus, I wasted no time in throwing myself fully behind the idea of throwing her a "Something Blue" shower. As you know, friends, it's all about the details...and there just had to be cupcake flags present!

A while ago, I bought a jewel colored cardstock pack at Walmart for various craft projects. I used 1 piece of white cardstock and 4 different colored blue cardstock pieces to create 20 cupcake flags. Using a font that matched the shower invitations, I created the flag template on Word and printed it, in blue ink, onto each of the five cardstock pieces. {p.s do a couple of test runs first to get the correct printer settings and spacing before using all of your good cardstock!} Using a ruler and a pencil, I drew in a cutting guide for each flag.

After the long flag strips were cut, I folded each of them in half around a toothpick and affixed each one with craft glue. Cutting an inverse triangle into each flag provided just the effect that I was going for. The flags were ready to see some action.
Bridesmaid Laura Ann baked and iced the most delicious cupcakes! We added blue sugar sprinkles and gingerly added the flags as a finishing touch.
The cupcake flags were easy make and added a personal touch/detail at the shower that many guests commented about. It's also a great way to incorporate the theme/colors of the shower or wedding into the details of the shower. The bride loved them and, in the end, isn't that all that matters!?

If you would like for me to send you the template that I used, please send me an email to pennedandpretty{at}gmail{dot}com and I will send out a mass e-mail in the next week with the Word & pdf template! Just put "cupcake flag template" in the subject line!

p.s. stay tuned...later in the week I'll be sharing my something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue shower favors!

p.p.s. head on over to Penned & Pretty to see the something blue shower invitations. To say that I'm quite proud of them would be an understatement!

Pretty Little Turquoise Reception Details

If you're ever in need of some wedding invitation inspiration, head on over to my other blog Penned & Pretty. I try to feature everything from down home DIY invitations to the most luxurious invitations that should be hand delivered on a platter. One of my favorite invitation suites that I featured was this one with envelope liners resembling map paper and the envelopes themselves adorned with vintage stamps. Today, here at tying the knot, I'm going to share with you the stunning photos from the gorgeous reception that the guests that received the invitation had the pleasure to attend. Let's start with the darling bride and groom, shall we!? And, it never hurts that this little montage include a sock and shoe shot as well as the pleasant little chapel by the sea where they tied the knot! This wedding is bursting at the seams with the most beautiful details. I am loving her bouquet, and the locket that adorns it. And how incredible is this vintage car?! These are just a few of the details from the wedding. You must see the feature by Abby of Style Me Pretty on this wedding with the scoop on all the details. See the feature here, here, here, and here.


The reception details, my friends, are so perfectly coordinated without being overly matchy matchy. I love the escort card display adorned by the sign asking "where in the world are you sitting?" Incorporating the map details repeatedly the perfect way to gather that cohesive look.

I used to love messing around with my parents type writer back in the day. I think that there is something so nostalgic and sweet about the typewriter...a reminder of simpler days, perhaps, when people could {somehow} function without a blackberry or iphone tethered to their hands. Both the vintage typewriter {love that color} and postcards were scattered throughout the reception just begging to be used to deliver a sweet note to the bride and groom.
The last picture for this post is of the gorgeous reception setting. I have a feeling brides would give their left arm for a venue like this. Talk about stunning.

That's all for now, friends. There are so many beautiful details from this wedding that it was hard to only pick a few to share. You must check out the rest of the the stunning photos and take special note of her earrings...they are a gorgeous turquoise and provide the perfect pop of color and compliment her shoes.
Have a great weekend!

p.s. all images are courtesy of court at erin hearts court and used with expressed permission.
p.p.s i'm starting to pull together the design and cohesiveness of my personal blog. and i'm very very excited about it.

Married: In the Kitchen with a Clock

Some of the most beautiful wedding photos are captured in the most atypical locations. For instance, this first photo was taken moments before the wedding ceremony. The bridesmaids and the bride were lined up in the kitchen of the restaurant where the ceremony and reception were taking place. You can almost feel their excitement.
The wedding ceremony came and went and the bride and the groom became mr. & mrs. The couple and their wedding party retreated back into the kitchen to share kisses, smiles, and laughter before re-joining their guests for the reception.

Who would have thought that a bride could have this much fun on her wedding day in the kitchen of a restaurant? I suppose having a newly minted husband, a glass of champagne and a stunning dress doesn't hurt. But this, my little bloggity blog friends, is my favorite picture from the kitchen series. How neat would it be to know that at 5:12 on your wedding day, shortly after you were pronounced husband and wife, that you kissed eachother...and the world stood still. It didn't matter that you were in a kitchen. It just mattered that in that moment you were married and very very very much in love. As you can tell, I am quite a fan of these pictures and other pictures taken in nontraditional locations that turn out fabulous and prove that pretty scenery isn't necessarily a must-have in an attempt to obtain a pretty picture. You can see more of these kitchen photos at 512 married and you must must must see this couples wedding photos right over here: the main course: ginger&adam

p.s. the stunning pictures in this post are by Heather of one love photo and used with expressed permission.

p.p.s. you can see a fantastic feature of this wedding {check out all the details and info!} by jen over at her always inspirational blog, green wedding shoes, right here!

Quite the Stunning Lace Dress

You know, this dress just wasn't "me"at the time I was shopping for a wedding dress. But I so wish that it was. I am fairly certain that this is one of the top five of my favorite wedding dresses. Just look at that neckline!! And those straps extend into this stunning detail on the back of the dress. In my opinion, its everything a back of a dress should be, and more.
The dress even looks good in black and white, naturally.

You can see the details of this wedding right here. And trust me, there are a lot of pretty little details that you won't want to miss.

Pictures by the talented husband and wife team of Paul & Mecheal Johnson and used with expressed permission.

Style Me Pretty Calligraphy Feature

There have been some pretty exciting things happening over at my little calligraphy shop, Penned & Pretty in the last few months! One of which I already blogged about over at Penned & Pretty, but just had to share with you here as well.

Back in December 2009, Molly of Paisley Quill gave me the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of an inspiration to reality photo shoot for Style Me Pretty alongside some of the most wedding industry's finest vendors. I literally jumped at the chance.Molly sent me some of the most intricate and beautiful escorts I had ever seen. I put my "pretty adorable" calligraphy on about 20 of them and sent them back to her in time for the shoot. I couldn't wait to see how they would be used and I sure couldn't wait to see the pictures and feature!

Blacks, golds, baby blues and a little navy were the colors that shined throughout this stunning shoot. If you're thinking about having a winter wedding, I'm pretty sure that there is no way that you can see the pictures from this event and not be inspired. It's all about the details, as they say, and having the escort cards displayed on bare branches made for quite the eye-catcher. The stark branches gave way for the escort cards to shine. The outcome of the shoot was stunning, to say the least. If you haven't seen it already take a little look at the Style Me Pretty from inspiration to reality shoot part one part two part three part four {the video!} and part five!Here is a close-up of one of the escort cards. In case you didn't know, this is the "Pretty Adorable" style which is by far the most requested script from my little calligraphy shop! Here is a of the wonderful vendors that made this shoot happen! Flowers , Table Design and Dessert Buffet: Aisha Holly Dooby Design Group / Stationery: Molly Myers • Paisley Quill / Photography: Aruna Mall • Aruna B. Photography / Videography: Ryan Koral • Epic Motion / Venue: The Royal Park Hotel • Kristen Hickey / Hair & Make-up: Angela Valentine & Jennifer Jaroma • Salon U2 / Cake: Papa Joe’s Market/La Sala Banquet • Sue Helzer / Dress: Amsale • Donated by V2V / Model: Andrea Walker.

A very special thanks to Molly of Paisley Quill for the opportunity to be involved in this shoot and to Abby at Style Me Pretty for the feature!
All pictures by Aruna Mall of Aruna B. Photography and used with expressed permission.

Wedding Details with a Splash of Yellow

The other day, over at Penned & Pretty, I posted one of the most unique escort card display I've ever laid eyes on. It just so happens that the rest of the wedding was just as lovely {with a splash of yellow}, so I had to share. Why don't we start out with the shoes? Ohhh these adorable little yellow bridal shoes.
Silver-taupe bridesmaids dresses? Yes, please! And those yellow bridesmaids bouquets pop with just the perfect amount of sunshine, don't you think?!

Don't get me wrong, I loved my bouquet. However, over a year later, I'm drawn more to the look and feel of a mixed bouquet. This one would be a delight to carry.

A little peak of the details on the tables at the reception and a charming cake with yellow details.

I'll leave you with one last picture, of the reception space {The Ocean Institute}. High ceilings, GORGEOUS table settings and a skeleton of an aquatic creature to top things off. See the absolutely to-die-for photos from this wedding right: here on the blog of Stephanie Williams. And don't forget to stop by the lovely blog of the talented Jesi Haack, the stylist behind all of the details of this event!
{pictures used with expressed permission of Stephanie Williams}