cool photo shoot

from {frolic}, just some amazing photography inspiration. 

project brigade: {cake stands part deux}

we had an impromptu project brigade this weekend.  i went to the thrift store & craig & georgia bought epoxy, so we decided to put a few cake stands together!  they look amazing.  they were very easy to make & fun to put the different plates together.  i also went on ebay & bought some more platters, hopefully enough to finish off the project.

project brigade: {stuff invites}

 georgia stamping the address stamp

almost all stuffed!
rsvp cards waiting for stamps!

the "suite":  wedding invite & rsvp postcard.  we decided to do an rsvp postcard to save paper by not having an envelope.  the invites & the envelopes are made from recycled paper. and they are printed in soy ink.




so georgia, wedding planner extraordinaire, came over on friday night & we stuffed the invitations!  we are still waiting for the custom postage stamps--which better come today!!  patty will help me stamp & seal, and hopefully they will go out tomorrow!  yay! 

check it off the list

we checked these off the list this week:

- met with caterer

- booked photographer

- chose linens, tables, chairs, plates, etc

- received invitations

i'm so excited about the caterer--she's a friend who i've worked with before--she had lots of great ideas and was totally into our "upscale italian picnic"!  she also knows a lot of organic, local farmers in pasadena, where she will get her veggies from.  her company is called geschenk and it means "gift" in german.  perfect. (her website may not be up & running quite yet, but check back, it's worth it!)

i'm also thrilled with our photographer, chris strother ...a friend of georgia's and coincidentally, an old neighbor of patty's!  her work is amazing.  she uses several different mediums, and yes, she uses film.  i know it's not the most green option, but it's so classic & beautiful.  another non-green splurge that i'm not going to beat myself up about!

photo copyright chris strother from flickr

garden transformation: coming along...

the garden is coming along.  kate helped me pick out a bunch of plants & we had them planted last week.  it's getting there. but, wow, so overwhelming!  there's a lot of yard.  we still want to finish it with some wood chips around the new plantings, take out the rose bushes & plant succulents & get a BUNCH more potted plants to break up all the concrete/brick area.

monogram

i love our monogram.  tristan from bella bella co created it.  it's on the invite & i'm trying to incorporate it into other areas.

invites, rings, outfits

i can hardly believe it's mid-july & the wedding is next month!  this week, a lot has happened:  my ring arrived (more later...i need to take pix!), we got a beautiful vintage ring for patty, picked out her outfit (our "non-green" splurge!), and FINALLY sent the invites to the printer.  i'm really hoping to have the envelopes this weekend so i can begin to address them!

i also got most of the backyard planted (with some help, of course), but more on that later!

food & an italian miracle

i went back and forth about food for the wedding.  it is such an important element...especially to me & patty!  growing up with my italian grandma was ripe with polenta, rizi & bizi (rice & beans, grandma-style), zucchini soup, homemade pasta & sauces and my favorite, green gnocci (gnocci with ricotta, spinach & ham...believe it or not, i've made a vegan version!).  anyway, not having a huge budget, my original idea for the wedding was a potluck.  i love the idea of our friends and family participating in the wedding.  one of the most special and amazing weddings i've ever attended was a pot luck.  i truly felt a "part of" and i wanted to create that feeling at our wedding.  that said, i didn't want to "force" or require anyone to do anything...so i decided on a hybrid: part catering, part pot-luck!

we'll see how it goes, but if there is even one pot-luck dish, i will be excited...some of our friends are amazing cooks!  as far as the catering goes, i resigned myself to adding it to the budget. well, here's where the italian miracle part comes in:  my dad offered to not only pay for the catering, but the alcohol as well!  my dad being the conservative, catholic italian man has had a hard time accepting this "gay daughter" thing...but what an amazing turn around!  we were not expecting our parents to help with the weddings at all, but what a wonderful gift!

i enlisted a friend, who is just starting her catering business (more on that later) to help out.  i want to keep it as organic and local as possible & i'm really excited to see what she comes up with.  

as far as alcohol goes, patty & i aren't really drinkers ourselves, but we thought we should provide for the guests.  i ordered some organic wines & beers from northern california & sent them to my brother & my dad to do a "taste test."  we also ordered an organic prosecco (an italian bubbly made in the region where my family is from)...we'll see what my dad thinks.  so we will have a red, a white, a beer and prosecco.  buon appetito!

figs with prosciutto

we have a fig tree that is full of fruit.  they are not ripe yet, but if they are ripe in time for the wedding, i would love to serve figs with prosciutto & goat cheese.  

photo from bbc food

buffet

what a great set up for the food line buffet.  this is from wedding bee  she likens it to a tuscan market...northern italian, right up my alley!

jordan almonds

i have been going crazy trying to decide if i should have favors at the wedding.  my first thought was no--why more useless stuff?  and who really remembers favors at a wedding anyway?  then, i was going to do a small potted fern for everyone that would double as part of the centerpieces.  but, while green, it was really expensive & the idea of someone taking a plant home & it just dying on their mantel was a bit depressing...so being of italian origin & loving all things italian, i thought of those crazy jordan almonds.  in italian weddings, traditionally you give away five almonds, which signify wishes for the partners: health, wealth, happiness, fertility and longevity.  we talked about gold jordan almonds in a nice hemp or natural bag.  is it a cheesy gift or a nice nod to my italian roots?  what do you think?

brigade calendar

georgia posted a calendar of events here. that way, you can check on brigade activities & see if you can join us! let me know how this works for you.

more brigade girl dresses

more cool bridesmaid/brigade dress ideas.  this is an etsy designer who has great stuff.  i may this lace dress from an earlier post as a reception dress (maybe easier to dance in).  but here are two dresses that she can make in different colors (brown?  pink?) and they are really reasonable!  you can buy them here.

cupcake wrappers

i love these wrappers, they are so italian...they look like the wrapping paper around a panetonne.  i wonder where i can get these?

from snippet & ink

the ring

ok, maybe i'm crazy, but i found the most amazing ring on ebay, bid on it, and won!  it seems so weird to buy a ring online, but it was so lovely...i can't wait to see it "for reals!"  i wanted diamonds with sapphires because patty's birthstone is a diamond (april) and my birthstone is sapphire (september).  i tried looking for a pink sapphire...but those are REALLY hard to find!  we also went to lots of vintage ring places, but the ones with diamonds & sapphires were priced a bit out of our league.  this one is 18k white gold...i should probably take it to a jeweler when i get it...it's from the 20's or 30's most likely, which is the time period i love...

what do you guys think?