Category: Stuff We Love

As a lover of all things professionally printed, imagine my delight when my husband and I had a chance to visit the Hyegraph showroom in San Francisco. They have over 250 catalogs with literally thousands of styles. Proprietor Jacques Oskanian showed us samples of some of the designs, with prices ranging from less than one dollar to as much as $250 per invitation!

The 2009 edition of this luscious glossy (actually, the pages of Real Simple Weddings have a soft matte finish) is the kind of mag you want to read while soaking in a bubble bath…breakfasting in your sun-dappled garden…or curled up in bed next to that special someone. It has the effect of unraveling the pre-wedding stress by breaking down the planning elements into manageable components: Location, Flowers, Food, etc.

Your sweetest has popped the question, and now it’s time to pop another all-important question to your BFFs: Will you be in my wedding party? I found this card that I think would be the perfect complement to your “proposal” to your gal pals:

From elegant Edwardian prose to a rousing pirate-style celebration, Ms. Crockett has compiled detailed ceremony scripts with authentic vows, suggested readings and music, even descriptions of the appropriate physical layout and participants. Whether you use her themed ceremonies as a blueprint or as a starting-point for your own poetic flourishes, Wedding Ceremonies can help you make some history of your own!

The masterminds behind Hello!Lucky, one of my favorite Certified By The Guide invitation companies have come out with a new book called Handmade Hellos, http://www.hellolucky.com/handmadehellos.html. In it, Eunice and Sabrina Moyle feature over 25 DIY projects put together by some of the hottest paper artists. The book shows you how to create your own invitations, thank yous, birthday cards, etc.—whatever the style.

Those DIY-ers who (carefully!) gather the shards from their own wedding might want to consider making something out of them to remember the day, like keeping the shards in a sealed jar or putting together a mosaic for your home.

Are you still lugging around that tired old suitcase your Aunt Stella gave you for a high school graduation present? You’re not taking that relic with you on your honeymoon, are you? Think of it: Your traveling outfits rock, your face is still glowing from your pre-wedding facial, you’re already sporting a deep bronze tan (thanks, tanning salon!) and you haven’t even made it to Maui yet. You look hot…so shouldn’t your luggage be haute, too?

It’s a shame, really. All that time, effort and money spent on finding the wedding dress, and you really only ever wear it the one time. Fashion designer Hanna Hartnell of HARTNELL Santa Monica feels you, and has come up with an ingenious solution—the Double Dare Gown.