Grab a tissue, you're going to need it.

Snippet & Ink has always been one of my favorite wedding inspiration websites. I've felt like the author, Kathryn, and I are kindred spirits because we share so many likes and interests. I also appreciate the way she approaches her topics with sweetness and sentimentality. I still read her blog just about daily. The photos are always beautiful, but today's Real Wedding post made me cry. It's a sweet and heart-breaking love story. It touches me to see two people with such open hearts, and the love that they share is so apparent in their pictures.

For those of you who are in the midst of wedding planning, and starting to feel like you can't catch your breath, this post really puts things in perspective.

Real Wedding: Bethany & Ryan

Heads up! Great deal on chargers at Michael's! Today only!

I just wanted to share a deal I just found online. Michael's (the craft store) has a 1-day sale for TODAY ONLY (12/2/2011) that features Ashland Holiday Chargers for only $0.99 each! That's half off the regular price. Based on the pictures on the website, they appear to be available in silver, gold, green, and a darker red. Sure, if you combine those colors together, it screams "holiday celebration!", but if you choose just one color, they're very versatile for most wedding color palettes. I'm a big fan of using chargers for a more formal and elegant event. It makes the table seem more complete, especially while your guests are waiting for their meal. They're also handy to incorporate underneath some centerpieces.

The reason I'm mentioning this at all is because that's a heck of a deal for chargers. A lot of the event rental places charge that much just to rent chargers. If you could buy them for the same price, you can then pass on the savings to a future bride and recoup some of your expense!

In addition to the sale price, Michael's also has a coupon worth $5 off of every $25 you spend. The coupon is good for today and tomorrow only. Here is the coupon:



I think I might pick up a few of those chargers to use on our holiday table with our wedding china. I like the ideas on the website to decorate them festively, too. You know me, I love customized and heart-felt details!

I hope that everyone is having a good holiday season so far. Are there any winter brides out there? Send me some pictures of your favorite winter wedding details!

Jason and Joanna's North Idaho Wedding

Our friends Jason and Joanna got married on July 9th, 2011 in Bonner's Ferry Idaho. Yesterday I shared details of Joanna's cute bridal shower, so today I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures from their wedding. All of these photos were taken by Cali Jenae Photography. If you're looking for a wedding photographer, or someone to do your family portraits in eastern Washington / north Idaho, it looks like she does a great job and I know Jason and Joanna really liked her. Dylan and I have been wanting to do a fun, relaxed couple session, so we might have to give her a call!

{Click on any photo to enlarge}

JoJo with her sisters, Maggie, Carly and Bryne.
I love this one extra! Jason with all of the girls sending smooches cracks me up!

The talented Joanna made her own wedding cake! How crazy is that?! It looks so beautiful!

That location in Bonner's Ferry looks gorgeous. It covers all of the bases -- they get a picture with mountains, a picture with meadow, a picture in the forest, and even a picture with a river flowing behind them!

We just want to wish our dear friends the best! Jason and JoJo, we love you guys and we wish you a lifetime of love, health and happiness together! Congratulations!

Joanna's Rustic Carnival Theme Bridal Shower

Recently I attended my friend Joanna's bridal shower. Her sisters Carly and Bryne created an adorable carnival themed shower that was laid-back and kid-friendly. I wanted to share the details, as well as capture the day for Joanna.

{click picture to enlarge}

The bridal shower was held at the home of one of her bridesmaids in Rathdrum, Idaho. The song lyric "over the river and through the woods" summed this location up just about perfectly! It was a hidden gem in an otherwise residential neighborhood. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was; I envy Audrey for getting to wake up out there every morning! The surroundings were so rustic and earthy, I loved it!

The bales of hay really did double duty by adding to the carnival vibe and providing extra seating. Some of the kids put on a puppet show for entertainment using the elaborate puppet show stage.

{click picture to enlarge}

JoJo's mom and a family friend worked the food both. They served fun carnival themed food -- corndogs, popcorn, bags of peanuts and corn on the cob. They also did prize giveaways of gourmet treats!

The yard was filled with funny wedding related carnival games. The resident puppy especially loved the "Cake in the Face" game, because it meant he got to sneak over and help clean up the cupcakes and frosting that people were throwing!

{click picture to enlarge}

My personal favorite detail was the fun face-cut-out prop of a bride and groom. That's Joanna as the bride and me as the groom!


This is Joanna with her newly married twin sister Carly. Of course they were maids of honor for each other.


JoJo's sister Bryne and a friend made these sweet treats as a parting gift. What says carnival more than caramel apples? Yum!

Charming Vintage Farm Wedding Theme - Red, Aqua and Pink

I hadn't built an inspiration board for a very long time. When it got down to doing all of the work to plan my own wedding, I just didn't have the time. After the wedding, although I still love all of the "details", I just hadn't found the time and inspiration to get back to it. Recently I received a sweet note from one of my blog readers, Traci. I think she was facing something that most of us brides run into during wedding planning -- feeling overwhelmed by all of the possibilities! She gave me some of the details for her 2012 summer wedding. She and her husband-to-be live on a farm, and that's where they plan to have their wedding celebration. I asked her to give me some words to describe the general feeling of the wedding she's imagined. The words she came up with included:

• country


• vintage


• a bit playful


• cozy


• relaxed

Their plan includes using hay bales for seating, and a BBQ summer feast. She also mentioned possibly using some red gingham as part of the theme.

I hope that some of my ideas here will help to inspire them with their future wedding planning!

{click to enlarge}

(I would definitely recommend enlarging this one, because there is a lot of detail that is hard to see in this smaller version.)

The DIY Pie in a Jar wedding favors came from Green Wedding Shoes. Nothing says charming vintage farm life like homemade pies!

The beautifully simple dahlia bouquet is from Heather Bayles Photography.

The little girl on the top row in the red gingham dress is from PrimadonnaBride.co.za.

The Vintage Gingham Blue Red and White Flower Bunting in the top right corner is from vintagegreenlimited on Etsy.

The Butterfly Mornings Flag Bunting (with the aqua polka dots, pink gingham and red floral fabrics) is a great exmaple of the color combination I had in mind. It's also shown in the larger picture with the little cutie holding a book. It's from LeilaLou on Etsy.

The bright fuschia colored peonies in blue mason jars are from Shell's Shabby Shack.

Vintage hankies are one of the things that immediately inspired me with this board. The photo of a beautiful assortment of vintage hankies is from JacquieG on Flickr.

I especially love the bunting on the left. It's the best of both worlds -- it's an adorable bunting, and it reminds me so much of vintage handkerchiefs! It's called Photography Prop 9Ft Long Fabric Flag from StarlitNestGifts on Etsy.

The red ranunculus flowers in the blue mason jar on the bottom left corner is from The Bride's Cafe.

The down-home feast is from this wedding on Green Wedding Shoes. I know Traci is a fan of sunflowers, so that ranch wedding might also give her some fun ideas.

The galvanized metal pedestal plate, simple flowers, and those vintage handkerchiefs (this time being used as napkins) come from Flower Mag.

The aqua and red plaid bowtie is from General Knot & Co. The company specializes in ties made in the USA from vintage fabrics.

The red gingham baking cups are from one of my favorite kitschy stores to buy baking supplies from, Layer Cake Shop.

I am currently obsessed with paper straws. I want those vintage looking stripey delights in every color. The red striped paper straws were used here as an adorable little Valentine's Day project that you can download for free from Papermash. If you want paper straws in gorgeous colors and designs, make sure to check Etsy!

Okay, the last thing for me to explain is the mason jar picture in the center of the board. I saved these for last because I think this is so cool -- you can download these for free! You can customize the entire set of mason jar wedding invitation suite, including your save-the-dates, invitations, and RSVP card all for FREE! How cool is that?!

Here is a sample that I made for Traci and Ronnie. I filled in the blanks with generic information, but I loved being able to see a customized sample!


They also have this bunting design that I love! (I just thought the mason jar one went with the theme a little better.) You can also customize and download this invitation suite for free, too!

I couldn't resist, here's the customized one for Traci and Ronnie in that design, too.

To see the other adorable designs available to download and print FOR FREE, please visit The Wedding Chicks!

Okay, so some of my other thoughts on cool farm wedding details:

For wedding favors: little jars of jam or honey, seed packets that can double as place cards, or the individual pie in a jar favors I showed above. This example is from My Eco Wedding.



For flowers: Dahlias and peonies are both great for the most bang for your buck summer flowers. I put an ad on Craigslist a few years ago for a friend's wedding and found multiple local farmers that were willing to sell huge gorgeous flowers for a dollar or less per stem. Sunflowers are always bright and fun if you want to add a little more yellow to the color palette. One of my personal favorites are ranunculus -- they come in perfect shades of reds and pinks for this palette, and I just love how romantic and ruffled they look. Either way, I think there definitely need at least a few of those old pale blue mason jars!

$1 for this big bloom? Heck yeah!


$10 to $15 for a stunning bouquet or centerpiece like this? Sign me up!


I know Traci likes sunflowers, so I chose a few of my favorite sunny bouquets to share. I like sunflower bouquets to look a little wild and loose. My favorite is the one on the bottom right. I like the wheat, the color choices, and look -- vintage hanky!



For guests: Things to help protect your guests from the sun! You can make fans do double duty by having your programs printed as fans. A thoughtful touch that I really like is to have a tray or small table set up with a couple of bottles of sunblock, paper fans (if you aren't doing the program fans), and maybe a few inexpensive paper parasols for extra delicate guests. You can buy those pretty cheaply online at places like Oriental Trading Company. You may also try to find some of those pretty vintage hankies I can't shut up about to give to your bridesmaids or closest female relatives to dry their tears of joy!

I don't love the style of these, but they did kind of use the same colors as my palette, so I'm including these fan programs from Beau-Coup.



I DO love this fan template by Martha Stewart.


I would also highly recommend having at least some ice water available to guests prior to the ceremony to help keep everyone cool. Lemonade would be a hit, too.




For the wedding party: I think it would be really fun to let the bridesmaids (or at least the junior bridesmaids / flower girls) wear patterned dresses. I showed little girls in red gingham dresses, but I also really like something like this dress that I found at Nordstrom.



A couple of summers ago, I wrote about how cool it would be to have someone like Fresher Than Fresh Snowcones at your wedding reception to serve gourmet snowcones to your guests. Traci and Ronnie are in luck, because Fresher Than Fresh is actually located near them!

If you're looking for some more farm wedding inspiration, Green Wedding Shoes had several that I thought were really nicely done.

This one on a goat farm uses a lot of cute touches, including the buntings I can't get enough of, doilies, and hay bale seating.

This one is at a strawberry farm. It's one of the most colorfully fun and whimsical weddings I've ever seen. I love the details, including the rainbow selection of bottled soda pop. My favorite detail are the fruit and vegetable place cards and markers. That is one of the most adorable party details ever, and someday I might try something like that for a garden party. Doesn't that wedding just look fun though? I want to be friends with those people!

This is a page from The Natural Wedding Company about hay bale seating. I think hay bale seating can be a great element, but I definitely think you need some sort of fabric on top to protect your guests. I was thinking about it and I wondered about maybe just watching for some cheap linen sales and using a flat twin or full sized sheet to cover each bale? I've bought flat twin sized sheets for about $4 each, so that wouldn't be too bad. You could also check thrift shops to find a variety of floral patterned sheets for that purpose, too.

This farm wedding from Elizabeth Anne Designs has some good ideas. I especially like the idea of having some games and activities for your guests to do, like playing horseshoes, bocce ball, or a beanbag toss game. They also have some cool hay bale seating ideas, like this one:



Lastly, I had to throw this in for Ronnie. I know he's a John Deere fan, so I thought maybe he could do something like this tractor get-away car, also from Elizabeth Anne Designs:



I hope that my ideas help Traci and any of the other brides that come here searching for inspiration! Thank you for the notes and the kind comments!

Oh!

P.S. These adorable "My Favorite Dresses" notecards from alittlesweetness on Etsy would be sooo cute as bridal shower invitations!



P.P.S. If you liked this inspiration board, you might also like some of these other summery themes:

Light Blue and Red Palette

Aqua, Orange and Yellow Palette

Aqua, Orange and Brown Palette

Melon Inspired Summer Reception

Cherry and Berry Reds

Citrus Punch Backyard BBQ Wedding Theme

Hot Pink and Green Palette

Valentine's Day!

In honor of the holiday all about love and romance, I wanted to post some of the adorable Valentine's Day treat ideas I've seen online recently.

Do you have your holiday all planned out, are you leaving that up to your significant other, or are you just skipping it all together this year?

Maybe some of these ideas will inspire you!

I love reds and pinks, and I have to admit that I am a fan of Valentine's Day being filled with over-the-top hearts and other sometimes kitschy decor. Don't get me wrong, I am also a fan of elegant and understated romance -- I just don't think Valentine's Day has to be formal to be fun! Oh, and it must include chocolate in one form or another!

Since Valentine's Day is on Monday this year, we've decided to stretch it into a Valentine's long weekend. Dylan surprised me this morning by going to the grocery store before I woke up to stock up on some of our favorite treats. We've just been lounging around the house together, enjoying a day of leisure. Tonight I'm making us lobster tails with drawn butter and Meyer lemons, butternut squash risotto and roasted Brussels sprouts with truffle oil. I'm still working on what I want to make for dessert.

In the meantime, I wanted to share some of my favorite treat ideas that I found on Martha Stewart this week!

This has some of my must-have Valentine's Day elements: Chocolate and hearts!

To make the heart cut-out marshmallows, simply cut a marshmallow in half horizontally (so you have two circles), then grease a small aspic cutter with vegetable oil to punch out your shape! If you don't have any tiny cutters, here are some cute ones on Amazon:

You could also use those for a smaller version of the beet hearts below!

I wasn't planning a salad course, but one day I am going to do this because I love beets. They just thinly sliced cooked beets using a mandoline, then used a small cookie cutter to make the hearts! That Martha Stewart -- so clever!

Another clever and couldn't be more simple heart-shaped treat? Calimyrna figs look like hearts when you cut them in half!


Last, but not least, some delectable dessert ideas! I'll include a link to the recipes under each picture.

Chocolate Champagne Truffles

Spicy Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Truffle Brownies

Chocolate Eclair Hearts

I hope all you lovebirds have a wonderfully fun and romantic Valentine's Day! Let me know what you have planned!

Minted.com Discount Code + Our Christmas Cards!

I'm sad to say that my laptop is toast. Merry Christmas to me, I'm getting a new laptop! :-P Not ideal timing, but I don't think there is ever a good time for your computer to go kaput. I'm waiting for my new laptop to arrive so I can transfer my files, so in the meantime, I'm using Dylan's laptop.

I did want to share with you two things:

1. Minted.com has a great sale going on right now, but you'd better jump on it ASAP, because it expires on December 6th! Use the code DEC20 to get 20% off of all holiday cards plus FREE upgrade to 3-day shipping!

2. Minted.com has a cool feature called Find It Fast Holiday Photo Cards that allow you to preview their holiday cards with your picture! It makes it so much easier to find the perfect card for your picture!

I was surprised by some of the cards that ended up being my favorites after I got to see them with our pictures. Here are some of our favorites:





So what do you think?

My favorite wedding planning book.

I just went to the Amazon main page, and it recommended that I buy this book:



Apparently Amazon doesn't realize that I already own that book. If you don't already own this book, I would strongly recommend it. I have at least 50 wedding planning books, but I think that this is the book that I found the most helpful. It's called The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day by Mindy Weiss. Mindy Weiss is an amazing wedding planner. You may have heard of her before, she was responsible for Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi's beautiful wedding. This book contains a wonderful collection of information. It is full of great details, ideas, examples, and recommendations. It also includes lists of questions* to ask each of your vendors, which I found especially helpful. I honestly took either a list of written questions, or this book with me to every meeting I ever had with a potential wedding vendor. I know that a few of them teased me about my organizational skills at the time, but every single vendor at the wedding ended up complimenting us on what a pleasure it was to work at such a well organized event, and how impressed they were that things went so smoothly, especially without the help of a wedding planner or a coordinator. I don't think things would've gone nearly as smoothly without some of the tips I picked up from this book. If you only buy one wedding planning book, this is the one that I would recommend.

* Another book that had good lists of questions to ask your potential wedding vendors was this book: Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing A Fantastic Wedding On A Realistic Budget. This link is for the new 2010 edition that will be released on November 15th. I used the 2009 edition, but every edition of this book has always received great reviews.