The wedding invitation….a creative, collaborative journey

Thinking back on all of the wedding planning last year, I have to say one of the wedding details we spent a lot of time and effort on was the invitations. They were definitely the biggest DIY project of the wedding and were a true product of collaborative creativity! We were inspired by our friend and artist Manami‘s painting titled “Origin” with the translation, “We are standing on where we are coming from and where we are going.” This painting became the overall inspiration for our wedding theme and was seen in the invitation and our decor.

The invitation journey started at Manami’s dining room table where we got the image file for the painting as well as some yummy homemade Miso soup and a couple of rounds of Just Dance on the PS3. So much fun!

The next step in the process was to use the image to create the invitation design. My best friend Christy (Bridesmaid of Honor and woman of many talents) took the creative reigns and designed the invitation and all of its components working in the image of the painting throughout the design.

She did an amazing job! We definitely could not have pulled it together without her. The back of the invitation was the image of Manami’s painting. She also designed the map and reply card to match the design which you can see below. I wish I was a better photographer and the images were more clear. I’ll add photography to my future educational endeavors!

After all of the components of the  invitation were designed, I formed the idea of how I wanted to “package” it. I found these great chocolate-brown folders online from paperandmore.com. Keeping with the colors of our wedding that were inspired by Manami’s painting—brown, turquoise/teal and mustard yellow— I chose a teal color for our outer and reply card envelopes also from paperandmore.com. To seal the brown folder, I made a trip to Sam Flax and thanks to one of their helpful staff, came up with a wax seal with a swirly design that was similar to the branches on the tree of Manami’s painting. So this is how it all came together…

Joe and I printed and assembled everything on our own. It was a tedious process filled with paper cuts, several trips to Office Depot to replace toner cartridges, moments where I had to stop being controlling and relax my need to be a perfectionist and many, many, many hours pulling it all together. It was a long, tedious process for the two of us but in the end we were so proud of the way it turned out. It was the perfect way to set the tone for our wedding. Big thank you to Christy for all of her hard work on the design and to Manami for providing the artistic inspiration!

It happened…I’m a Mrs.!

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged! Planning a wedding was SUPER time consuming. For the past several months I felt like I had two full time jobs. But for those of you in the process of or thinking about planning your wedding on your own, it is really worth it. At the end of the day, it made the experience so much more personal and rewarding. Joe and I felt like we had the perfect day that was a fabulous reflection of our personalities. So, I plan to start blogging more and will give some insight into some of the creative aspects of our wedding in upcoming posts. But in the meantime, here’s a snapshot from our special day. Our photographer Hollie Butler Lytle was amazing! I can’t wait to see more of the pictures.

My Latest Craves – Friday Edition

Happy to be wrapping this week up and looking forward to the weekend! In addition to volunteering at the Art Papers Auction, Joe and I will be working on getting our Save the Date cards out which I can’t wait to share with our friends and family. Our photographer, Hollie from lytle {foto} did an amazing job! I also plan on finishing the Hunger Games trilogy this weekend. I have been obsessed with this series the last couple of weeks. If you haven’t already read it, BEWARE! It is really difficult to start reading it and put it down. I read it at any free moment I have thanks to the Kindle app on my iPhone. It is such an easy read and now I can’t wait for the movie to come out this March. I just need to finish the series so I can move on with my life! Seriously, I am that glued to it right now.

Here’s a rundown of this week’s latest craves:

TOMS Ballet Flats
I love TOMS! Now they have ballet flats!! Woohoo!! What could be more awesome! Gushing aside, I have been an advocate for TOMS shoes for a while now and their One for One Movement, where they match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. I think they are a great company and an example to others to be socially responsible. I own three pairs of TOMS currently. Now that they have ballet flats, I know my TOMS collection is going to grow.

Revlon Lip Butter
Last week I stumbled across Revlon Lip Butter in my local ULTA store. Of course, as usual, I went in there to get shampoo and came out with a few more items that were not on my “need” list but hey it happens. I am not a big lipstick person. Rarely do I remember to wear it but I do love tinted lip balms. Some of my faves are from Burt’s Bees but when I saw the display for Lip Butter, I was intrigued. I mean doesn’t butter make everything better? I know Paula Deen feels that way at least. Anyway, I had to try it so I left ULTA with a Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle. And, I love it. Just the right amount of color, no nasty taste/flavor, not sticky and it glides on really smoothly….like butta…ha ha ha, I’m such a dork. Loved it so much, I have since purchased another in Sugar Plum. So there you have my product endorsement for Lip Butter!

Music
The latest albums I have on constant rotation this week are Gotye’s “Making Mirrors” and Ingrid Michaelson’s “Human Again.” Check them out.

I’ll leave you with the cool video for Gotye’s Somebody that I Used to Know. Happy Weekend!

Bartending Mishaps and Art

This gallery contains 4 photos.

You probably read that title and thought where is this going…well, I’ll tell you! This weekend is the 13th annual Art Papers Auction on February 11 in Atlanta and yours truly will be volunteering as a bartender. I have done this a … Continue reading →

My awesome superhero/comic book-themed, absolutely crazy fun engagement photo session

This gallery contains 3 photos.

Can’t believe I haven’t blogged since before Christmas. I think my brain is so full of wedding planning anxiety that I feel like any free moment should be doing something related to planning the big day. It doesn’t help when … Continue reading →

Today’s Creative Inspiration: A Super Cool “Save the Date” Video

As many of you know, I am in the midst of planning my May 2012 wedding. This means since my engagement last New Year’s Eve, I have been OD’ing on wedding porn aka wedding blogs, bride magazines, wedding reality shows, Pinterest...you get the picture. Well, I have pretty much saturated myself with so much wedding inspiration that at this point it is all blending together and I feel like I have seen everything. But today thanks to the Green Wedding Shoes blog (one of my favorites I might add), I got to see an amazingly creative “Save the Date” wedding video. Inspired by Wes Anderson, it is so cool. I am in awe of the creativity. Check it out and Happy Friday!

Mimi’s Style Icon of the Month: Florence Welch

I am a huge fan of Florence and the Machine. Florence Welch has the most haunting, spiritually glorious voice and the new album, Ceremonials, is on frequent rotation for me right now when I’m not getting my holiday cheer from Pandora’s Indie Holiday station. Some of my favorite tracks to blast in the car on my way to and from work are “Only If For a Night”, Shake it Out”, “What the Water Gave Me”, “Heartlines” and “Seven Devils”…oh who am I kidding, basically the entire album is awesome and I enjoy listening to every song. The album would make an excellent gift this season.

During the summer I had the opportunity to see Florence and the Machine live at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta. Not only was the music amazing but the stage design and Florence herself was visually stunning. It was at that moment that I added her to my list of individuals with inspiring style. Since then I have been following her on Facebook and I love that she posts what she is wearing quite frequently. This month she is on the cover of British Vogue and it is a gorgeous cover. I am trying to get my hands on a copy but until then there is a sneak peek on British Vogue’s website. Check it out and be style inspired.

Achieving a new level of scarf style

I don’t know about you but I love scarves. It is my go to accessory in cold weather and I have them in virtually every color you can imagine. And even though I already have a plethora of scarf options, I can’t stop buying them. There are scarves hanging on my coat rack, draped over chairs, stacked on a shelf….they are everywhere. Seriously, I think I might have a slight addiction. In the words of Rachel Zoe, “it’s bananas.” Since I have an obvious obsession with scarves, a friend of mine shared an amazing video with me, “25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in 4.5 Minutes.” It is an extremely helpful resource and I think it may change my scarf wearing life. No joke. Styling a scarf can sometimes present challenges and before this video I had mastered about four ways to style a scarf. Thanks to this video, a whole new world of possibilities has opened up.  I’m sure just like me you have seen a celebrity or have come across someone on the street or in a magazine and thought wow, that’s a cool way to wear a scarf but you didn’t know how they did it.  Well, this video is for you. Hope it inspires you to achieve a whole new level of scarf expression!

Seasonal Shopping Sickness

When the seasons change, I always have to control my urge to shop. It is like I develop a shopping virus that can only be cured if I update my entire wardrobe. I am sure I am not the only one with this seasonal affliction….right?? I know I can think of a few friends who suffer along with me and no, I won’t reveal names to protect the innocent. Fall season is always the worst for me. September fashion magazine issues are always thicker and full of the latest fall styles. And, being completely over the hot, humid Atlanta weather, the fall catalogues from Anthropologie, J. Crew, Nordstrom, etc. make me daydream about crisp autumn weather and the sound of leaves crunching under my feet as I walk around in awesome boots. That being said, I am all kinds of excited about the new Missoni for Target line that hits stores in a couple of weeks. While I have banned myself from any further Fall fashion procurement….I think I may have to make a few exceptions. I mean really, it’s for a limited time!!! Watch the preview, you’ll fall in love.

My post-holiday recuperation c/o a Nate Berkus Show marathon

This gallery contains 8 photos.

To recuperate from the long 4th of July weekend which was packed with family and fun, I took the 5th off from work and ended up turning into a complete couch potato, spending the day with Nate Berkus. (Well, technically, I … Continue reading →