Winter Wonderland Cake

Image by Lauren Clark Photography

Looking outside today reminded me why I love winter weddings. Today's snowstorm would have made for some amazing photos with those big snowflakes swirling around! I just love watching the snow fall and some of the great holiday elements you can pull into the design of your wedding to compliment the view outside! The 3-D snowflake designs on this cake are exquisite and would be a perfect idea for brides planning a winter wedding!

Hope everyone has a fun New Year's Eve tomorrow night! Be safe!

For those music lovers out there

Awesome idea for those bride and grooms out there that love music and are looking for a unique save the date idea. Steve Clayton does custom guitar picks. A package of 100 ranges from $24 for text only to $39 and up for ones with graphics. All you have to do is go to the site and start designing your guitar pick from the color of the text, one of their font, and the image you choose. Take a look at Vera's from My $10K Wedding save the dates. Notice the custom guitar pick in orange below? These could also be awesome favors for those music lovers out there.

Invite design by: Vanessa Wieren at Lollipop Events and Design

Envelopes created by: Vera D. of Va de Vie Events and My $10K wedding

I took a stab at playing with their Custom Pick tool, and it is super easy to use. You can upload your own images, or grab one from their image library like I did below if you want to test it out. You can move around each box you create to get the exact positioning you are looking for.

Steve Clayton Custom Picks

Exciting new things coming to Simply & Forever

Mike and I are officially married! I can't wait to share with you all the details that went into the planning of the wedding and how everything came to life three weeks ago! The day went so fast, but it was such a blessing to spend the whole weekend with our family and friends that traveled from all over the country to be with us.

We will be sharing some photos from our lovely brides soon as well, just as soon as we launch our new look!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!

Fascination with Owls

So about a month ago I took a lunch break from my downtown job and met my mom for lunch at Shaw's Garden. It's custom to always visit the gift shop after visiting the garden, so one must allocate enough time to look through all the goodies that they have gotten in. (Let's keep it between us that this usually takes about 45 minutes in itself). This time I found three amazing platters that I gave as thank you's for one of my showers, and tons and tons of really really cute owl items. I'm talking statues for outside, owl soaps (which I've already bought for our annual Kappa holiday party) and so much more. I never used to think that I would like owls, but after Kappa, and after the last few years, I seem to find everything I find with owls on it to be the cutest thing ever. And this guest book that I just saw from Cut the Cake Designs is just that, the cutest thing ever. I love this idea of gathering everyone's information while they are all in one place, you have no reason for NOT sending out holiday cards after doing such a thing like this at your wedding!
So check out this and all the other lovelies from Cut the Cake Designs on etsy! And if you're a fellow Kappa, you just may be getting this as a wedding shower gift someday! :)

Engagement Pictures

Mike and I have 51 days until our big day, and everything is starting to really come together! I promise that I have much more to share on here, but you will have to bear with me these 51 days as I try to get everything together for our wedding as well as things for other clients.

We had a fabulous day this past weekend for Mark & Jamie's wedding and I can't wait to share that recap with you soon as well. I loved every moment of their day, and hope they are having a blast on their honeymoon right now!

In the meantime, you must go visit the Todd Studios blog to see some of Mike and I's engagement photos! I am usually the one taking photos and doing everything behind the scenes at my weddings, so it was such a relief to have this much fun actually being the subjects of the photos. I just wish I had a shot of Angie hiding in the corn to take some of these pictures to share with you. Angie spent ALL afternoon with us at the farm, and she took some pretty amazing shots. She has amazing style and such an amazing personality, and on top of that, she's an amazing designer. She has designed my entire collection of wedding elements (from save the dates, to invites, to programs, etc) and they have gotten rave reviews from our family and friends!

Look for a recap soon and some of my latest inspirations! But first, I must head off to my first dress fitting at Karen's Wedding Boutique!

Is anyone else thrilled that it's almost the weekend? I'm excited that it's GAME DAY though!


~Katie

Feels like yesterday

When you say that it was 8 years ago, it seems like so long ago. But when you truly reflect on that day, it feels like only yesterday. I remember being in my communications class and walking out with my friend Stefanie (from New York). We were both on the way to Philosophy class and heard bits and pieces of conversation from other people walking to their classes. We were puzzled because we had no idea what was going on at that point. We ended up walking out of our philosophy class because something just didn't feel right. Everyone was silent, the scenes we saw were just too heartbreaking to even talk about just then. In the months after, I watched a lot of New York friends suffer because they had lost friends and family members. Even some of my church family here in St. Louis lost people that day.

For eight years, on this day, I remember those friends, and their families, and EVERYONE who was affected that day. I think we all should remember that day, and the men and women who protect us on a day to day basis. They give us the freedom that we all enjoy and sometimes take for granted.

God Bless,
~Katie

Love this idea

So there are a few companies out there that print text or images so you can apply to the walls in your house, like uppercase living. I actually purchased a test one from them last year with Simply & Forever and it came out amazing. You can stick it on a wall, or if you don't want something so permanent, you can frame a piece of glass, and apply the text to the glass.

I just recently came across another fabulous site that does similar things. It's called Wonderful Graffiti, and on top of what they offer for decorating your house, they also have a line for Weddings. source: Wonderful Graffiti
Ok one those bundt cakes look delicious, but two, the text on the wall is very romantic looking and brings the colors in that they've tied into the desserts as well.

Ideas: Use for your monogram, on your getaway car, the blank wall at your ceremony or reception, or even on your dance floor!

And in case you're worried about if you're going to get charged by the venue for hurting their property, it can be removed quickly and shouldn't harm the surfaces underneath. But don't worry, I'll give a full report after I get one myself to use. Though I'm going to ask my reception place to be sure before applying (always a good idea!).

Hmmm...maybe they can create one for our Two Become One monogram logo....

Check out Cut the Cake Designs

Sorry for the delay in posting some entries! I was in Kansas City for work last week and am a little behind now being back! More exciting things coming soon!

But for now, I wanted to share this awesome giveaway that is being hosted by Cut the Cake Designs all of this week. But make sure to check the blog out before this Friday! And if you just can't help it (like me), check out her etsy site and the other ones that are sponsors of this week's giveaways as well. I have to resist buying everything I see on etsy!

Too pretty to eat

image from: Martha Stewart

I need to learn how to make flowers like this, how amazing would these be on a dessert table?

Asking your Bridesmaids

I know that I looked for creative ways to ask my bridesmaids to be a part of my party, did you? How did you ask yours?

If you haven't asked your bridal party yet, consider this amazing idea from The Flour Pot Cookies :Image from : Amy Atlas Events

For $10 + shipping, you can pick out one of four designs of cookies and one cookie will be sent in a polka dot gift box to each of your bridesmaids! What an unexpected surprise when they open up the package!

The Invites

Where did you get your invites?

There are a million places you can go to for invites these days. There are stores like Vellum that will help you find the right style and help you customize invites from paper companies that they carry. There are also a ton of websites that you can buy invites from, like Wedding Paper Divas and then designers that sell some of their designs straight from their websites. And last but not least, you can have someone design your invites, using your inspirations and style, to hopefully make something truly unique.

For our wedding, I wanted something really unique that was very design oriented. My first entry into advertising wasn't excel, it was photoshop and illustrator and all those classic design programs that allow you to be as creative as you want to be. So it was natural for me to want to find someone to help me bring a design to life that matched Mike and my personality. Lucky for me, it just so happens that my photographer also likes to design invites. Angie created the most unique, awesome, invites for us this week, and I can't wait to share them! But first we have some printing to do, and then some hand rounding of corners! I love being hands on, so the assembly of them is going to be the best part for me. Each invite will be hand put together! :)

I'm off to my first float trip in ages... let's hope my sunscreen works it's wonders and we get a little summer glow, not any lobster red!

Pop of color

image from: zappos

No explanation needed. These shoes are insanely beautiful.

Who doesn't love a little pop of color to wear on your big day?

Oslo Press

First off, if you have never visited Style Me Pretty, head over right now and check it out. Features some great weddings that are sure to inspire. Thanks to Abby and her post the other day, I learned about Oslo Press, a fabulous design house that creates invites, programs, or any other piece for your wedding on pieces of wood as well as on paper. The wood element totally caught my attention, I think this needs to be incorporated into the wedding stat.

Image from Style Me Pretty

Unique place card ideas

Are you looking for something that is a little different for guiding your guests to their seats?

Images from Left to Right: Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart, Wedding Channel

Place cards are a great way to tie in other elements that you have used prior to the day of the wedding. Take graphics from your invites or save the dates and repeat those for your place cards and table numbers. Another environmentally friendly way to show people to their seats is to print out a large foam board that has been printed with your design as well as the table numbers and the guests at each table that can be placed at a central location at the entrance of your reception site.

In love with Photobooths

I absolutely love this evolution of photobooths.











Created by Sasha Souza Events and her bride Kristen, this photobooth idea is amazing. I happen to be very partial to traditional photobooths, but this also holds so many possibilities for your own style at your wedding. Modern, Vintage, you name it and you could turn this into one element of your wedding that your guests will not forget.

Hello Blogging World!

As Mike and I are almost 100 days from our upcoming nuptials, and the wedding planning is coasting along, I felt it was time to create a space where I could share daily inspiration photos and ideas with everyone. Each of the brides (and grooms!) I've worked with have had unbelieveable style and amazing ideas that I love bringing to life for them. My mission is to make things less stressful for each of my clients when it comes to planning for their wedding, all while creating an event that they will have FABULOUS memories of for the rest of their life. I am truly blessed to work with some great vendors here in St. Louis, and can't wait to work with even more of them as Simply & Forever grows.

Happy Sunday everyone!