NYC Engagement Shoot Giveaway - Reminder

I just wanted to remind everyone of the awesome giveaway that we've got going on - and today is your last day to enter! The winner will receive:

- an engagement/lifestyle shoot in NYC with A Bryan Photo
- a gorgeous hand bound album of the shoot from Cypress Albums
- an 8mm film of the shoot by A Bryan Photo
- $500 travel credit from honeymoon registry site, Traveler's Joy

So before midnight tonight, head over to the original post, read all about how to enter, and share your story! Oh, and just for fun, I thought I'd send you over to the A Bryan Photo blog to see even more examples of what they can do with an engagement/lifestyle shoot. Click here for the eye candy.



(Please note that to be eligible to win, you must be able to travel to New York City between December 18 - 21, 2009 for the shoot. Winner will redeem $500 travel credit by creating a free registry with Traveler's Joy. Winner must also be responsible for covering any travel costs above this $500 credit.)

"Storytelling in New York w/ A Bryan Photo" contest sponsored by Cypress Albums, Richard Photo Lab, and Traveler's Joy. Find even more information on the A Bryan Photo contest site.

Update! This contest is now closed for new entries.

Happy Weekend!

This should be a fun weekend - crazy music bonanza happening right down the street, friend in town for a visit, cupcakes with Karen Wise, and hopefully a chance for some down time with my honey. Oh, and some really awesome links for you!


{by elsie*cake}

Super excited about Lonny.

Have I told you how much I heart suspenders?

Red and yellow.

Some very practical, very helpful styling tips.

Reason #1 why I'm itching to get my hands on the latest MSW.

Oh my, this bouquet!

Sugar and spice.

Inspired by black and white polka dots.

More things to add to the registry: spoons and soup cans.

Utterly smitten with the flowers at this wedding.

I think it's safe to say it now: donuts are the next big wedding trend (and I'm totally okay with that).

Loving this alternative to a veil - modern and vintage at the same time.

Hand-lettering makes me happy, via Oh So Beautiful Paper.

An autumn heart.

And a BIG thank you to these bloggers for posting and/or tweeting about the NYC Engagement Shoot Giveaway: The Bride's Cafe, The City Sage, Elizabeth Anne Designs, Green Wedding Shoes, Hip Hostess, Lucky Me!, Once Wed, Ritzy Bee, Southern Weddings, Style Unveiled, Style Me Pretty, Thoughtful Day, Vintage Glam, and Wedding Chicks.

Happy weekend lovelies!

Real Wedding: Brooke & Raf

Brooke and Raf wanted a wedding that had a down-home feel and was full of thoughtful, handmade details, and that's just the day they created. Ken Kienow sent over these beautiful photos (wait until you see the sunset shots at the end), and I'm so happy to share them with you today.


Brooke, her mother and her sister have been interested in card making for several years, and even host Card Clubs with friends and co-workers in their respective home towns, and they even get together for an annual holiday card making weekend over Veteran's Day every year... so it made perfect sense that they would make Brooke and Raf's wedding stationery.




Brooke's bouquet was made by April at April Flowers in San Luis Obispo.


Brooke wore Pronovias' Oceano dress, and her shoes were from the BP collection at Nordstrom. The bridesmaids wore dresses from Anthropologie (Brooke says she's still bitter that she didn't buy one for herself).


The guys all wore ties from Geoffrey Beene.


Brooke and Raf found their wedding venue, Flying Caballos, while searching on VRBO. It's a renovated farm property that really had the feel they wanted for the day, and they were able to come in and start setting things up two days in advance!


Brooke's veil, purchased from Etsy vendor Bella Bridal Veils, was blowing everywhere during the ceremony. Brooke says one of her favorite parts of the day was "my un-tamable veil during the ceremony and the way it magically eased our tension with genuine laughter."


Aside from Brooke's bouquet, all of the flowers were purchased at Skyline Flowers, a local farm, and arranged by the bride's best friend, Nena, in bottles collected by family and friends. Brooke says the idea for the burlap table runner came straight from Snippet & Ink!


Brooke was able to get in touch with another bride whose wedding was to take place at Flying Caballos the following weekend. They were able to share the mismatched plates that Brooke's family thrifted and the vintage silverware that the other bride's mother found on eBay. What a great way to be both economical and eco-friendly!


Brooke has a habit of buying postcards whenever she travels and then never sending them, so instead of a guest book, she pre-addressed and stamped postcards from all over the world, and asked guests to take one and write notes on them, and then mail them to the couple. Brooke says, "It's been so fun to read them as they start rolling in!"


Brooke and Raf enlisted friends to help with desserts. Six friends each baked two dozen cupcakes, choosing their own recipes, and even holding taste tests with their own families!


For Brooke's birthday last year, Raf took her to a cold-process soap making class, so one of the favors they made for their guests were hand made bars of soap wrapped in burlap, jute, and scraps of the same fabric used in the invitations.


Says Brooke, "My favorite time spent with Raf is slow dancing in the kitchen while we're cooking, so we compiled a little mix with lots of our favorite kitchen dancing songs, and others that have memories from the past six years attached to them. I bought the blank CD holders from Stumptown Printers, and my mom came up with a stamp design for the cover. We had the whole family in assembly mode putting them together a few days before the wedding."







Thank you so much to Brooke and Raf for sharing this beautiful day with us - I just loved learning about all of these sweet and personal details about your wedding. Congratulations to you both! And of course, thank you to Ken Kienow for sending over these lovely photos - aren't those sunset shots just to die for?!

Discounts, Giveaways, Etc.

Discounts

Orange & Blossom is offering 15% off plus free shipping on all jewelry purchases until 10/31. Coupon code: FALLJEWELS

During the month of October, purchase any item in the Orange & Blossom wedding boutique that bears the color pink and they will donate 10% to Komen for the Cure, and give you free shipping. Coupon code: PINK

Parcel is having a sample sale, with items up to 25% off until 10/17.

Giveaways

Today is your last day to enter the NYC Photo Shoot with A Bryan Photo (including an 8mm film, a handbound album, and $500 travel credit!). It's such an awesome contest, so don't miss out!

OneWed is doing an "Off-the-Chart Wedding" giveaway, valued at $15,000. The grand prize includes all kinds of goodies like a honeymoon and wedding rings. See details here.

Project Wedding is giving away a photo package from CameraRenter, valued at $495. See details here.

Etsy Wedding Street Team is hosting two autumn giveaways this week: a $60 gift certificate from Monde Design, and a $25 gift certificate from Tickled Pink Knits. See details here.

Wishpot and Avelle have teamed up to give away a Kate Spade hand bag, valued at $429. See details and enter here.


The Broke-Ass Bride is hosting a slew of giveaways this week. Check them out here.

Custom Wedding Creations is giving away a custom aisle runner. See details and enter here.

Optimal Print is hosting a print design contest, and is giving away over £1000 worth of prizes including an iPod touch. See details here.

Brenda's Wedding Blog is giving away a hand painted aisle runner. See details and enter here.

Etc.


In support of Breast Cancer Awareness month, Alisa Benay is has created this gorgeous blush dress called Mirabelle. $1000 from the sale of each Mirabelle dress will be donated to breast cancer research. Learn more at Inspired By This.

OneWed has recently launched a party planning application that will help those people throwing wedding related parties, from bridal showers to engagement parties. Learn more here.

Real Wedding: Mel & Nick

Another beautiful wedding shot by Jonas Peterson for you today! Mel, the bride, was kind enough to share some details with us about the day...


The venue for our ceremony was an old homestead in Milford, an area with rolling hills and gorgeous scenery about 15 minutes from Boonah in Queensland, Australia. The only way out to the ceremony venue was via a dirt road, so we elected to hire a bus for our guests, which brought guests between their local hotels to the ceremony and reception venue, before returning them to their hotels at the close of the night. We wanted to maintain a sense of mystery and adventure, so we referred to the ceremony venue as the 'secret location' on invitations, only providing details of the bus pick-up times and reception venue.




The dress was an original gown from the 1950s which I purchased a week and a half before the wedding. Basically, when I had begun looking for a dress, I had my heart set on something vintage. I couldn't find what I was after, and ended up ordering a new gown elsewhere. In the weeks leading up to the wedding, I discovered the bridal store had experienced a problem with ordering the dress, and it wasn't apparent if the dress would end up making it to me on time or not. In desperation, I took the afternoon off work and went searching, driving aimlessly; I came by a vintage store I'd never seen before, went in and discovered this amazing gown that fit me perfectly - and the rest is history! I couldn't help but think that it was all meant to be. I adored the gown and my only regret is the fact that I won't have another chance to wear it!




Our friend Liz did a fantastic reading for us during the ceremony: A Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton, which she read from the book and displayed pictures as she went. Nick's lovely Aunt Bernice married us with vows we'd written. The weather ended up being perfect: 25 degrees Celcius [77 degrees Fahrenheit], blue skies and a very slight breeze.










I think the best advice for other brides that I can give is to take your time to enjoy every aspect of the day. Take time to look around and absorb it all. A lot of people had told me to expect the day to go very fast, and of course, to some extent it did - but being relaxed afforded me with a great memory of everything, as I was able to take it all in and just enjoy the great big celebration we had planned.










My lovely fiance (now husband!) designed all of our invitations and seating cards. Having a fiance who is also an artist is very handy! We wanted everything to reflect the nature of the town of Boonah; all of our details were simple, most handmade, and had a very earthy feel. We gave small herbs in port glasses collected from thrift stores as favours. Our centerpieces featured a square of pianola roll love songs placed underneath candles and mismatched vases that contained native Australian wildflowers collected from Boonah on the morning of the wedding.


There were no strangers in our wedding: our celebrant was Nick's aunt, our DJs were both friends (Tom Lowndes who played earlier in the evening, and my brother Nick Faulkner during the later part of the night), our photographer and his wife are also friends of ours, and my mother made our cake.









It's always so fun to be able to share a wedding day story in the couple's own words - thank you so much to Mel and Nick for sharing this beautiful day with us, and all of these wonderful details. Best wishes to you both for a lifetime of happiness! And thank you, too, to Jonas Peterson for kindly sharing these incredible photos - always a delight having you here on Snippet & Ink.

Sneak Peek

Lots more gorgeous photos from this wedding tomorrow...

Board #435: Autumn Yellow

Okay, before moving on to the inspiration board, I have to remind everyone that you have until midnight on Friday to enter the NYC engagement shoot giveaway! Don't miss out!

My goal with today's inspiration board was to demonstrate how yellow can be used in an autumn wedding, though I think this would work equally well for a late summer event. Slightly golden yellow, the brown of that warm, worn wood that you find on gorgeous old farm tables, and warm cream... perfectly cheery for a sunny autumn day.

Mood: sunny, warm
Palette: golden yellow, oak, cream

{click image to enlarge}

Top row from left: church in a field of yellow flowers photo by Allyson Magda, small golden butterfly paintings by Koelle Art via Poppytalk, yellow church bell invitation by Two Trick Pony, wood block table number photo by Jose Villa
Row 2: yellow pom-pom place setting via Lillyella, bouquet with roses, billy buttons and feathers by Saipua, various yellow ribbon photo by Stephanie Williams, bride with yellow ballet flats from Wedding Style Guide
Row 3: birdcage veil photo by Jennifery Dery, cake with yellow ranunculus and gold ribbon trim photo by Rachel McGinn, yellow dahlia boutonnieres by Small Stump & Studio Choo via {frolic!}, letterpress monogram card by Austin Press

Real Wedding: Shira & Geoff

Robert Sukrachand is one of those photographers whose work made me do a little dance when I first came across it - there is something simultaneously classic and fresh about his style, and I love the way he captures those little details. Pair his talent with a stylish bride and groom and an incredible New York City venue - what more could you ask for in the way of inspiration!? Thank you so much to Shira and Geoff who were kind enough to share their beautiful day with us...


For their save-the-dates, Shira purchased vintage New York City postcards on eBay and stamped the backs with a custom stamp set and red ink.


Working with Peter Kruty Editions, Shira and Geoff created an invitation suite that incorporated whimsical fonts, Victorian flourishes, and vintage images. The background pattern on the invites came from an old French postcard that Shira had kept on her bulletin board, the envelopes were lined with soft gray paper, and everything was tied together with bakers twine.


Shira wore a vintage-inspired dress by Vera Wang that she purchased at the Saks Fifth Avenue sample sale. Because she knew she would be dancing and moving around, Shira wanted to make sure she was comfortable - the chantilly lace dress with "wispy cap sleeves and a spray of sequins along the bodice that reminded [the bride] of fireflies" was perfect. After much difficulty finding the right pair of shoes, Shira ultimately settled on a pair of satin peep toes from Nine West. Shira shares a tip: After work I would slip into them and walk around my apartment until they were fairly broken in. They were super comfortable on my wedding day - no blisters!


The June wedding took place at the utterly unique 632 on Hudson. Says Shira: We wanted our celebration to feel homespun. I loved the idea of receptions from the 1920's and 30's that took place in the bride's home. My real childhood home in Oklahoma would have been a hike for our mostly NYC and French guests, so when we discovered 632 Hudson, we found our imaginary, long-lost eccentric relative's home in the West Village.


Yellow is Shira's favorite color, so it played a starring role in her bouquet of peonies, garden roses, chamomile, fresh herbs, and feathers. All of the flowers were done by Naomi DeMañana, floral designer for Martha Stewart Weddings. The rest of the wedding day color scheme drew its inspiration from the St. Germain packaging: dusty navy blue, jadeite, rose gold, with hints of 1940s red. Appropriately, the couple's signature cocktail included this elderflower liqueur.




Though the rainy June day moved the ceremony indoors, it also allowed for some darling photos under a cheery yellow umbrella which reads, appropriately, Merde Il Pleut.








Though Shira originally planned to make black-and-white cookies (a New York favorite), she just didn't have enough time. In a pinch, she ended up buying her favorite chocolate chip cookies by Tate's Bake Shop, and packaging them in cello bags tied with bakers twine.






The event was catered by Marcey Brownstein.


Says Shira: Our inspiration for the wedding was based largely on our love of movies. At the time of our engagement, Geoff and I were in a deep Fellini phase. We wanted our celebration to have the intensity and joy and fanfare of his films. Our DJ played lively Nino Rota scores during the cocktail hour!




The unique venue is a townhouse with three levels, without one space large enough to seat everyone together. Instead, tables were placed all around, and guests moved around and mingled, hitting up the buffet in the kitchen, lounging, dancing, or checking out the roof. The bride describes it as "like a house party."




Ostrich feathers were scattered on the dance floor for a whimsically dramatic effect. Oh, and some wonderful advice from the bride: Especially for people getting married in their home city - book a great hotel room for the night before and the night of the wedding. I stayed in the room by myself the night before, and it was really calming - beautiful bathtub, comfy robe, huge bed, loads of space (and no cat hair!) And then the morning after the wedding, Geoff went out and grabbed us two lattes and a croissant to enjoy before we headed over to our post-wedding brunch with family. We had such a fun time that morning talking about the wedding and the party and everything. It was great to have that intimate, private break from all of the family and cameras.

Congratulations Shira and Geoff! And a big thank you to Robert Sukrachand for sharing these incredible photos. You can see even more beautiful images from this New York City wedding on Robert's blog, and get some behind-the-scenes