06/12

sunflower seed labels

Having a sunflower themed wedding, I was obsessed with the thought of handing out sunflower seeds as place cards/gift favors.

Jessica and Jenna helped me design custom seed labels to perfectly fit our wedding style.
I gotta say, they turned out pretty darn cute!

The ladies got sunflower seeds to ‘plant, love, grow’. And the men got seeds to ‘crack, eat, enjoy’.

To complete our look, we mounted the label on rustic kraft paper ordered from Fleur de Lis (a paperie) and attached hand-calligraphed place card tags with raffia.
Love it.

We’re selling the labels in our Fleur de Lis, a paperie etsy shop. Check them out here and order today {$18 for a custom file}.

{image via Jenna Walker Photographers}

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06/07

wedding program, a work of art

When my husband and I first got engaged, we knew exactly where we wanted to get married.
It was a no-brainer!

Holy Ghost Catholic Church sits in the middle of a giant skyscraper building in downtown Denver. Built with 300 tons of Colorado marble, the church is a blend of Italian and Spanish Renaissance art and beautifully stained glass windows that create a incredible ambience inside. Absolutely breathtaking.

In the wedding program design process at Fleur de Lis (a paperie), we thought it would be beautiful to somehow incorporate Holy Ghost in the program, other than just listing it with our names.
Thankfully, my wedding planner, Tutto Bella’s very own Jessica, found Stephanie’s  shop, Huber Art, via Etsy.

I think the only way to tell you how talented Stephanie’s is … is by showing you.

Here is an image I took of the church from another gorgeous wedding at the church:

Here’s Stephanie’s work of art:

Amazing, right?!
I’m telling you, if you have a unique church or venue for your wedding and would like a drawing of it, Stephanie is your girl!
And now it’s framed in my house for me to keep forever 🙂

So, we ordered paper at Fleur de Lis (a paperie) and our very own Jenna printed the image onto the cover.
The result: a classic, rustic and absolutely one-of-a-kind wedding program.

A big thanks to Stephanie, Jessica and Jenna for helping me create the perfect wedding program for my wedding!

{images via Huber Art and Jenna Walker Photographers}

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06/06

kate + daniel in greece

Kate and Daniel came traveled all the way from Malaysia for a pre-wedding photo shoot in Santorini, Greece. Malaysian Chinese has a tradition of taking pre-wedding photos, and since Kate and Daniel were planning a trip to Greece and Turkey for holiday anyway, they decided to take their photos pre-wedding photos there.

Looking at the photos, you wouldn’t know they were frazzled or stressed, but the day progressed in a way they never expected. The couple planned for photos with a different set of gowns and jackets and additional props; however after the couple posed on the beach, their parked car got stuck in the sand on the beach. Eventually, and after unsuccessfully trying to push the car out themselves, nice locals passed by and stopped to push and pull their car out. Everyone was so consumed with finding a solution, no photos were taken, but the memory is a treasure…and the photos look flawless.

The beauty, rich colors, simple and natural, romantic elements were captured beautifully by their photographer, Anna Roussos. Kate’s beautiful, custom gown was handmade by a designer in Malaysia.  The shape, the details and the design of the gown is one-of-a-kind made just for Kate.

The couple is getting married in July, and we wish them nothing but a lifetime of happiness…and tow trucks close by just in case they get stuck again. 🙂

{images via Anna Roussos Photography}

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06/01

expressive engagement shoot

It’s challenging for engaged couples and their photographer to create unique engagement photos, but we think Brenda and Oscar, and their wonderful photographer, Civic Photos, brought a fun and very expressive style to this photo shoot, which we appreciated. They very much in love, and have fantastic, creative photos to capture this special time in their lives. We liked the props, the poses and the vintage vibe throughout all of them. Thanks to Civic Photos for sharing it with us, and congrats to the beautiful couple!

VENDOR LOVE
Photographer: Civic Photos

{images submitted by Civic Photos via Two Bright Lights}

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05/30

antonia + reggie

When Jessica Strong, owner of  A Vintage Affair Rentals, and Emily of Emily Elizabeth Photo sent these ‘backyard wedding celebration’ photos to us, we were smitten. We love the simplicity of the celebration and its uniqueness filled with DIY details by the bride and groom. They really made it ‘their day’ in every way. Oh, and the fabulous food truck…we absolutely love!
Here’s all the wonderful details from the blissful bride:
September 23, 2011 was the day of my wedding celebration.  I was married to my Love, Reggie Lafaye on May 5, 2011 at the Starhouse near Boulder, Colorado with under 10 guests in attendance. This was exactly what we wished for – a small, sacred ceremony and then a super fun, happy party with all of our friends and family with us to celebrate our love.
My vision was one of celebration basked in the aesthetic of myself and my husband which is very earth connected, but still elegant and creative. Originally I wanted a bohemian carnival feel, like gypsies running through the night celebrating being alive! Had we a farm with tons of land, I think with my amazing wedding coordinator, Paige Domiano of Peekay Soiree, we could have achieved that. But since we chose to have our celebration at our home in the city, we had to tone it down a bit.
We still kept an undertone of carnival to the party. Paige made beautiful, mini hot air balloons that sat atop of the pillars as you entered our home. Our guest book, which people left finger prints instead of signatures, was a hot air balloon illustration done by Bluedetoi, a custom artist on Etsy. Several other ‘carnival’ touches were achieved through custom pieces. We have a local godsend in Denver, a company called A Vintage Affair Rentals, I choose to rent an old gumball machine that we filled with chocolate-covered peanuts. Also our bar was an old lemonade stand, which reminded me of an early 20th century carnival or fair. I also made a numbered checkered board for people to put their drinks on while dancing. That was a HUGE project! It took twice as long as I thought to stencil in all the numbers and paint them opposite colors.
We had home-made caramel corn served in old school pop corn bags, and of
course the FOOD TRUCK! Nothing says carnival more to me than a food truck. And Steuben’s Food Truck did an outstanding job serving over 100 people amazing food.

That aesthetic was balanced by the more refined elegant Bohemian touches, which is my essence. I love the creativity of what a bohemian lifestyle is with a touch of old Hollywood glamour thrown in for good measure. My dress was made by Two birds. Since I wore a white dress to our ceremony I wanted something in color for the celebration. And I wanted that color to be a dark teal. The fabric was so soft and did not wrinkle! Also, it photographed beautifully and I was comfortable all night long. My husband wore a vintage suit of my grandfathers as an homage to him. He recently passed and was a very big influence in my life. 
My best friend Mia and I made my bouquet out of peacock feathers. I wanted something that I could have forever, and have a rich and luscious feel (old Hollywood). It turned out so beautiful, especially since we made it the day of the celebration while we were getting our hair done! Thank God we are both good under pressure. We also made my husband’s boutonniere out of feathers as well.

The flowers were made by another one of my best girlfriends who is a genius when it comes to arranging. We used wild flowers with twigs and feathers. I wanted it to look like someone took a walk in the forest and collected these, and that is exactly how they came across. I found all different shapes of vases and spray painted them. Mostly in black, brown but a few white to give it contrast. They sat upon wood slices, some of which has tiny birdhouses next to them.

The lighting was mostly twinkle and gas lights with a lot of lanterns. I love the feel of lanterns especially when they have that gypsy quality to them. We hung the vintage lanterns from our oak tree and them randomly places the others around the yard. My husband and his father hung a ton of the twinkle lights above the dance floor. It looked amazing! That is where everyone gathered after we ate dinner, underneath the “stars” of the dance floor.
We did a lot of things ourselves but two of my favorite pieces I made were the photo booth backdrop and the party favors. The backdrop was totally tongue in cheek. It was a two wolves howling at the night sky that had a full moon and some extraterrestrial activity happening. Everyone, even my grandmother, was howling’ at the moon! And for the party favors, I wanted something that would be a keepsake, and that would not be thrown away. So I made stainless steel and leather key chains. They were all slightly different but very beautiful. I made a handful of them with fur and leather fringe for some of my girlfriends who like that look. They were made from recycled leather and fur I bought from Ebay and the stainless steel rings I bought at home depot.

Right after dinner and all of the toasts, we went to the front of the house for a group photo. Paige handed out sparklers to everyone and this is where the night turned up a notch. We took photos with all of the sparklers, and then headed to the back for a full-on dance party! I was on the dance floor all night long. It was once of the most incredible nights of my life. I was literally high off of all the happiness and love that everyone felt. It is a night I will never forget. I love and thank everyone who made this such a success.
VENDOR LOVE
Photography: Emily Elizabeth Photo
Catering: Steuben’s Food Truck
Desserts: Watercourse Bakery {mini ho ho’s, Happy Cakes – mini pies, homemade S’mores sticks}
Libations: Mondo Vino
Event coordinators: Peekay Soiree, Paige Domiano
Vintage Decor Rentals: A Vintage Affair rentals
Dress: Two Birds
Makeup by Angela Alonzo:  angela.marie.alonzo@gmail.com
Hair: Love, a Hair Studio by artist  Orleana Lynch
DJ: Eric Halborg of  The Swayback
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