Perfectly Lettered: Lessons in Calligraphy Part 1

I recently made a very special trip to the post office. Seriously, I have never been so happy to enter the doors of a post office! Now that the invitations are out, I can share my journey through the "paper trail" with you.

Before we had even started to think about invitations, I began researching calligraphers. I knew I wanted our envelopes to have the extra touch of luxe, thick, swirly handwriting.

Whimsical calligraphy by Betsy Dunlap

Pretty white-on-navy by Maybelle Calligraphy

Classic and beautiful calligraphy by Laura Hooper who designed our save-the-date map.

Next up: the Bliss' invitation envelopes and why you should order your envelopes early.

Pretty Pomanders

These are a must for our two little flower girls.









We are meeting with our florist next weekend to finalize everything. I can't wait to see how it all comes together!

The Early Bird...Gets a Little Sleepy at 3pm

This is the time that I woke up today for fitness bootcamp.

And this is the "contract" that I signed during enrollment.



I enrolled for a 3 week/3 days per week commitment. Most of the women in the camp are returnees and vouch for the fact that it can be entirely addicting. I feel great this morning and it's really nice to to be outside so early on a calm summer day, but I have a feeling that when August is here and I am down to the last-minute wedding to-do list, I will appreciate less crunches and more sleep.

p.s. there's a pretty obvious honeymoon clue in the first photo!

A Sweet Shower for Christa

As I've mentioned before, one of my bestest friends is getting married next month, a few weeks before the Bliss nuptials. We share a very close circle of girlfriends who are in both wedding parties. The past few weeks have been a blast with bachelorette parties and bridal showers. We normally try to see each other every few months (we all live states away), but through June and July we are getting together almost every other weekend. Hurray for the "Summer of Love" (as we've affectionately begun to call it)!

I've blogged about Christa's shower invitations before. We decided to go with a cooking theme, since the bride loves to cook. We asked each guest to bring their favorite recipe to the shower for the bride. We had so much fun going through the recipes after the shower. The groom's grandmother had the best - a recipe for a great marriage!


(isn't that black and white pic of the bride cooking when she was younger too cute?)

Christa's maid of honor and mother made gorgeous centerpieces with asparagus wraps. It's hard to believe these ladies don't work with flowers for a living!




(the asparagus spears are wrapped around a coffee can that is holding the flowers)



We made menu cards that featured food-related trivia about the bride on the front. This one reads: Christa's cookbook she couldn't live without is The Joy of Cooking and Martha's Comfort Food.



Favors were cute wedding cake-shaped cookie cutters accompanied with a recipe card. We asked Christa's Mom for her favorite cookie recipe to feature on the card.



The shower was a display shower. I had never heard of this before, but it quite popular in Pennsylvania. Guests bring the gifts to the shower unwrapped. While we were enjoying cocktails in the garden at the beginning of the shower, two very talented woman were busy creating beautiful displays out of all of the gifts. Not only were the displays gorgeous, but hours of gift unwrapping didn't have to be endured by the guests. Instead, the bride went to each table and said something about each display, thanking each person for their gift.


(those little herb pots were also used as door prizes)



To go along with the cooking theme, we bridesmaids ordered Christa an apron with her new initials, as well as a recipe binder to store all those new recipes. Both are available at Williams-Sonoma and make great shower gifts!



Here's the glowing bride-to-be enjoying a strawberry fizz cocktail (so yummy)!



And here's Christa with her bridal party (minus one) practicing posing (and squinting in the sunlight). l to r: Ms. Bliss, Jenn, Christa, Alicia (Maid of Honor and Christa's friend since childhood) and Becca.

We hope you had a wonderful afternoon, Christa! We have more fun in store for your bachelorette party this weekend!

Martha to the Rescue!

Have you seen the new online wedding tools from Martha Stewart?



Just thinking about tackling our seating chart is enough to make me break into a cold sweat. Martha's seating chart tool has a drag-and-drop capability, allowing you to quickly organize (and reorganize) the seating arrangements for your reception. This will save me a lot of Post-Its!

S'Mores!

Wedding blogs tempt me daily with photos of beautiful candy and cookie bars at weddings. Here are just a few that you will have you craving sugary sweets in pretty canisters.

And while I'm known for my love of all things sweet, I just wasn't into creating a candy/cookie bar for my own wedding.

Until a few days ago.

Mr. Bliss and I were talking about camping (we sadly have no time to go this summer). Camping, of course, led me to think about s'mores. S'mores! A favorite childhood treat. So fun and simple. And a perfect complement to our Adirondack wedding venue. So we are planning on treating our guests to a s'mores bar at the wedding, similar to the one below featured on the Knot.

Accoutrements - Check!

After another late night phone call with Christa, we both decided it was time to start really checking things off our lists. No more browsing, thinking about it, shopping around - we have weddings to plan and a summer to enjoy! To that end, I had a very successful online shopping spree last night.



dancing shoes from http://www.myglassslipper.com/


satin clutch from http://www.jcrew.com/



pretty dangly earrings from http://www.perfectdetails.com/

The only other thing left on my accessory list is a flower for my hair. I'm planning on hanging up my veil after the ceremony and have always, always loved photos of brides with a beautiful flower tucked into their hair.



I can't decide if I should work with my florist to get a real flower or buy a beautiful flower from etsy seller Mikiye Creations.



Miss Tiramisu from WeddingBee recently posted about buying a Mikiye peony for her wedding. No worries about wilting edges, a forgotten flower or delicate petals falling to the dance floor. But is the same if the flower doesn't smell? I'll give myself until the end of the week to decide on this one!

June Showers

Now that I'm back from the Stationery Show, I'm in a sea of to-do lists (of the wedding variety). But tasks aside, the fun is really beginning to start! This month we'll be taking a trip to Cape Cod with Mr. Bliss' family, I'll be attending my very own bridal shower and then I'm off to the shower of one of my bestest friends. Christa is getting married a few weeks before me in August and let me tell you, there is nothing better than sharing this crazy/wonderful time with a great friend. Our weekly phone calls minimally last an hour now as we dish about all of our details and to-dos. I am so grateful to be sharing this experience with a wonderful friend!

While we're keeping the details of Christa's shower under wraps, all of the guests have received their invitations so I can give you a peek. Since the bride loves to cook (she'd be a terrific fill-in for Giada on the Food Network should she ever choose to retire), we decided to ask each woman to bring a special recipe to share with Christa at the shower.

I found the cutest recipe cards from Etsy seller WinifredStudios.




Then I bought pretty imprintable invitations. I was on a short time frame so imprintables were perfect because I was able to print them at home and have them ready in a few days.



The two pieces paired together perfectly.



I wrapped it all up with a coordinating double-faced satin ribbon and they were ready to go.



Before I left for the stationery show, I made a quick trip to the post office and off the invites went. Now I just hope that guests remember to bring their recipe cards to the shower!

Day 2 from the Stationery Show

Yesterday was a blur of activity.

First, I started out the day bright and early with 2 essential things for stationery show survival: caffeine and flat shoes.

From retailers to the media, the booth was crowded throughout the day. One of the highlights was the visit from the Martha Stewart Weddings team. These stylemakers know their stationery!

Here's a shot of Martha Stewart Weddings Editorial Director Darcy Miller catching up with Crane Brand Director Megan Kuntze.

Wedding magic is definitely in the air at the stationery show, but there's another brand of magic that is also making a big impression at the Crane booth...

(the man behind the magic)

Crane and Disney have partnered to create the Walt Disney Signature line of stationery - paper celebrating Walt's own vision and creative spirit.

From my first movie theatre experience (Snow White) to my first spin on Alice's wild teacups at Disney World at age 4, Disney has provided me with the fondest of childhood memories. Needless to say, it has been a thrill to be involved in the partnership between Crane & Walt Disney.

After the show the Crane Insider and I headed over to the Mandarin Oriental for the official launch party of the Walt Disney Signature stationery collection.

Luisa Huang, Senior Manager of New Business Development for Disney Consumer Products next to the Sleeping Beauty display at the Mandarin

The collection includes stationery, as well as beautiful journals by Eccolo and pens by Monteverde.

It was great fun to meet all partners involved in the project at the launch party. And after a full day inside the Javits Center, we enjoyed quite a view...

Crane's historian Peter Hopkins and me

Stationery Show - Day 1

We had a busy first day at the show with of the biggest names in wedding blogging stopping by the booth to see what was new.

First we had the stylish Vane of Brooklyn Bride, fresh from her inspiring wedding and European honeymoon. We had fun designing correspondence cards featuring her new initials. Here she is with me in front of our kate spade display window. She'll be guest blogging about weddings at design*sponge this week, so be sure to pop over there and check it out.




Next was Anne Chertoff of From From "I Will" to "I Do" , the oh-so-helpful wedding blog on iVillage. Here she is with the Crane Insider choosing colors for her correspondence cards.



Stay tuned for much more later!