Wedding Binder Walkthrough

Congratulations you’re engaged!!!!!

Now what?

Planning a wedding can be one of the happiest, or one of the most stressful experiences in your life. How you come out in the end really depends on how you go in, and without the proper preparation a blushing bride can turn bridezilla real quick.

While planning my own wedding, one of the things that kept me composed was having a wedding binder. Organizing the INSANE amount of information needed to pull off a wedding all in one place helped immensely during the entire process. A wedding binder binder doesn't have to be anything fancy, and with a few office supplies you can create your own, and be on your way to happily ever after!

Visit STRONG IS OUR SEXY for the full article and my own binder breakdown.

Read the full article at STRONG IS OUR SEXY, and plan that wedding you've been dreaming about since you were seven.

But this time instead of marrying  the dog, you’ll be getting hitched to that hot and sexy piece of tail you love more than anything in the world!

Isn't being a grown up awesome ;)

Color Your World

Often when starting a new design or project, one of the biggest challenges is coming up with a color scheme. Sometimes it's not that big of a deal to go through a hundred different colors, if you're working on the computer for example. But if you're painting a wall, or planning a wedding, you want it to be a color you will love day after day and for years to come!

One of my favorite places to turn when I need a fresh dose of color stimulation, is Instagram. Scrolling through my personal feed, I’m reminded why I snapped these pictures to begin with. Something about the moment caught my eye, and captivated me enough to forever immortalize it in social media history.  

Take time to look back at your photos and discover which colors you’re naturally attracted to. You already have a strange attachment to those little filtered pics, they might as well help get your creative juices flowing.

Visit STRONG IS OUR SEXY for a few of my favorite Instagram accounts bursting with fresh color.

Of course when discussing where to find ideas on the world wide web, we can’t leave out the mother-ship of them all; Pinterest. Just search the word  “color”,  and there’s enough image overload to scroll through you won’t leave your computer for a week. I find it best to organize my pins by category or idea. For example; one of the projects I’m working on in my home is the guest bedroom. I found this image a while back, and instantly fell in love with the deep navy. Now whenever I see a picture fitting that theme, I pin it to a specific board, so everything stays together.

Get the links to boards and pinners who are especially good at picking great color at STRONG IS OUR SEXY.

So you’ve searched high and low, and have curated the perfect color combo to make all your dreams come true.

Now what???

Executing a color scheme can sometimes be a tricky task. It involves a bit of balance, and some definite hierarchy. What do I mean by hierarchy? Well each color in your theme needs to have a certain level of importance. This will help keep colors from competing with each other, and create a sense of equilibrium. When decorating a room, your wall color is dominant, and everything you use to accent (bead spread, decor, curtains) is secondary.

Another real-life-example where a color scheme is important is planning a wedding!

For my own wedding (like most little girls) I had an idea what I wanted my colors to be for A LONG time. Purple has always been my favorite color, so that was a must. Our wedding was in September, so I used burnt orange to tie in the Fall season. And lastly my husband and I are HUGE Beatles fans, so to pay tribute we decorated with Granny Smith apples, and used bright green as our final color.

So in my case, the color hierarchy was; purple, orange, and then green.

This helped me make decisions such as what the bridesmaids would be wearing, what color flowers to focus on, what the jewelry would look like, and so on.

Image credit to Lindsey Kay

Our world is completely saturated in color. When deciding on a scheme focus on how certain colors make you feel, and latch on to those that fill you with JOY. Every time I see that perfect shade of purple or a green apple, I instantly remember the happiest day of my life.

That is the kind of reaction color should bring you.

For as many rules there are about coordinating color, there are just as many reasons to break them. As long as they make YOU happy, that’s all that really matters.

Your Presence is Requested

For most people "wedding season" is winding down with the end of Summer quickly approaching...that is NOT the case for us this year. Eric and I only had one wedding over the summer, but have SIX to go to before next Spring. 

The plus side is  I LOVE weddings!!! I love getting all dolled up, admiring the bride in her incredible gown, "oooh-ing" and "awww-ing" over the decorations, checking out the bridesmaid dresses, not to mention the free meal and reception!  Hooorah! 

As a graphic designer, another detail I look forward to is the invitation! Not just because I'm obsessed with beautiful paper and stationary goodies, but I always feel like the invitation is a little glimpse into the couple's personality. You can check out the  post I wrote about my friend's invitations here, and see the invitations I created for MY OWN wedding here!

An invitation that we've recently received is for a coworker of mine, and you guys, this thing is GORGEOUS. Gold lined envelopes, embossed monogram, foil stamping, be still my beating heart! 

I am currently OBSESSED with how the gold paper and foil stamping gives off such an incredible glow in these photographs. My inner paper-nerd is completely turned on right now.
All I can say is, if the invitation is any indication as to how beautiful the wedding is going to be, I absolutely cannot wait to go!

Red and Teal Wedding Invitations

It's almost WEDDING SEASON!!!! 

This summer Eric and I have four weddings in three months. Two of which are back to back weekends, and we couldn't be more excited! One of these weddings is for my friend Elyse and is extremely close to my heart because I have been asked to be a bridesmaid! I haven't been in a wedding since I was in the eighth grade, and just thinking about it gets me all pumped up. I believe my exact words when she asked me to be in her bridal party were; "OMG yes! Now I can stalk your wedding board on Pinterest and it won't be weird!"...yup that's how it went down. 

But not only is Elyse a great friend, she is a kick-ass graphic designer. 

You can check out her website here: 

www.elysevanfleet.com

Yesterday when I came home there was a little white envelope laying on the table, and inside was one of the most beautifully designed wedding invitations I have ever received. As soon as I opened it I grabbed my phone and started snapping pics because I knew I just had to share it with you! 

Yup...all those masterpieces of paper laying in front of your eyes? Elyse the graphic girl of wonder did that! And Elyse, if you're reading this, you should be just so so proud of your work. It is all just gorgeousness and I have no doubt the rest of your wedding will be even  more stunning. I am so so happy that you decided to include me in your special day! 

So if you haven't already, head over to Elyse's site and see what else this talented little lady can do!