This gorgeous inspiration shoot is from this time last year, and I forgot to post on the blog. It was featured on 100 Layer Cake. These photos seem fitting this year with the warm temps. Even done in the winter this golden sunset shoot feels so warm and cozy! It's so festive too. I just love every detail!
She used the Carley Invitation suite and I love how the gold foil worked so well with the other details.
At the beginning of the month, we threw our 2nd annual Derby Day party! We aren't from Kentucky, nor do we breed thoroughbred horses… Carter just likes it… and so, Chism Derby Day was born!
The party is centered around the races, but we like to do a few special things to make it fun and a little different from the year before. From the invitations, I designed a 'Derby Day' logo and had koozies made. This was top on Carter's list, so he loved them. We ordered a lot and so we put 'est. 2014' at the bottom, so we could use them for many years to come!
We didn't change too much with the decor, so we were able to reuse a bit of last year's items. I painted last year's horseshoes white and gold (they must have missed my camera on the day of) and I made bow-ties last year that I stuck in all sorts of places and I used those again too.
The other fun thing we added this year, was a bartender! Last year we had a Mint Julep Bar, and well the mint juleps went much faster when people didn't have to make them on their own. The money was flowing too, because our pot was over 2x last years with the same number of guests. Those two things may or may not have been related!
For the food, we had southern snacks like deviled eggs, fried chicken, and pimento cheese… and of course, I made food signs.
A couple days before the Derby, my nephew asked if there was going to be cake and well, you just can't say no to that little guy, so I made some last minute cupcakes.
Last year's betting cards were great, so I designed some new ones to match with the rest of the paper goods. Guests, young and old, could fill out their bets to hand in to our 'bookie' (played by my brother-in-law) and we printed out all the official horse packets, so people can 'try' to make educated bets. We use a betting app on the iPad, that we display on a second TV. It calculates the odds and displays the winners as soon as the race is over. There's always a few guests that are REALLY glad they came to our party!
We don't have children, but we are a proud aunt/uncle and had a handful of kiddos coming. We borrowed a friend's bounce house, had bubbles, sidewalk chalk and Carter's mom brought his childhood saddle that we threw over a hay bale for them to play on. (This was my idea and was so glad that the kids actually played on it, because I love it!)
Most importantly, amidst the endless rainy days we are having in Texas, we had the most perfect 80 degree day. The sun was shining and thanks to that rain, our backyard was a green as my fascinator (purchased on Etsy!).
'Til next year!
I was part of this gorgeous shoot last year and by the time I could take a breather and post it was summer… this shoot is the epitome of cozy elegance, so I saved it for the fall… and then that turned to winter and now it was almost a year ago. I must get better at blogging! You can see more photos on the LeMagnifique blog.
Regardless of the time that has passed, this shoot is still stunning in every way. It's wintery, cozy, romantic and GORGEOUS!
The Positano invitation, from the Resort Collection, was inspired by travel and world maps. It uses modern typography and vintage maps that are fitting for destination weddings all over the world.
Muted colors of blues, greens and neutrals really make this inspiration board ethereal. I used a little bit of a map motif making this perfect for a travel themed destination wedding.
I am working on this design for a bride right now and realized I have never formally introduced it on the blog, so let's remedy that, shall we?
Bodega is my 'fiesta themed' invitation in my Resort Collection and one of my more colorful designs. It features intricate papel picado flags, that are festive, yet chic and allows for endless color combinations. This design has been fairly popular, and I really don't think I've used the same colors twice.
This might have been one of my favorite inspiration boards, maybe because I am a fan of the destination wedding, but mostly because to some, 'fiesta' means casual, but it definitely doesn't have to be. I took a more elegant stance, without sacrificing color and this is what I came up with. So pretty!
