Two Peas

‘Tis the season! Have you scratched any items off of your holiday gift list yet? I must admit that I’m only starting my shopping, and with so many amazing choices out there, I am having a tough time narrowing things down! Here are 9 of my favorite gift ideas perfect for the ladies in your life! My personal wish list includes a pair of Tieks and a KitchenAid—how about yours? See these and more in the EAD shop!

I’m so excited to welcome Gemvara as one of EAD’s newest featured vendors!  Gemvara is a fabulous online jeweler that lets you customize your choice of gemstones and metals to create the piece that is perfectly your style.

I hope you’re ready for another post of cuteness overload! We’re loving doggies this week, and helping Chicago rescue One Tail at a Time win $25,000 (don’t forget to vote by clicking here and then comment here for your chance to win a $50 gift card to Pottery Barn!), so we thought we would throw in some puppy wedding inspiration with bow ties, ribbons, floral collars, and even capes to make your pooches camera-ready for some fantastic wedding photos!

Hi everyone!  It’s Christen here, back with some puppy inspiration for your wedding.  According to my pet insurance newsletter, today is National Puppy Day! What better way to celebrate it than with some photos of man’s best friend celebrating his people’s big day right along with them?

Mother’s Day is just around the corner!  For those of you still looking for some gift-giving inspiration, Beka, Kimberly, and Stephanie from Styled, formerly Innove Events, created some gorgeous gifts for their own mothers and I’m so excited that they shared their ideas with us! Each of the unique and personal gifts was created for less than $40.

belt from j.crew, $55; nikon d90 for newbie photo enthusiasts with wealthy santas, amazon, $794.95; snuggie, $14.95, image source; faux fur muffler (I have always wanted a muffler! I think one of our american girl dolls must’ve had one), from urban outfitters, $28; mustache necklace from etsy seller little angels jewelry, $11.99 (I want one); dj hero from gamestop, $119 (for PS3); julian scarf with hidden pockets, from wintercheck factory, $30; ambigram flask from red letter gifts, $20.99; scarf necklace from etsy seller Mlabel, $40.

I absolutely LOVE when bridal showers or bachelorette parties have a project, craft or activity.  This love does not extend to games, because, lets face it-bridal shower games are pretty horrific for the most part.

I have one of those countdowns on my Facebook profile that tells me how many days are left until the wedding. I used to think it was a fun, quirky thing to have, but as the number gets smaller and smaller, I find myself getting more and more freaked out about how little time we have left. There’s just so much to do!

One of the most inspirational blog posts for me so far has been How to Design Vintage Monograms by Vintage Glam Weddings. So, my official first day that I was absolutely 100% completely and totally done with grad school, what do I do? Oh, you know…went back to Lehigh and checked out a book on monograms. Guess I just can’t stay away from the place.

Before I start my post today, I just wanted to tell you sweet readers thank you for your excitement about our house, and we are happy to announce that they have accepted our offer!  We are doing inspections this week, and we close on August 10th!!  It is so surreal and exciting.  I told Vince the thing I’m the most excited about is putting our new KitchenAid Mixer right here on the counter:

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence in your shoe. According to The Knot, “something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism for the future; something borrowed symbolizes borrowed happiness; something blue stands for purity, love, and fidelity; and a sixpence in your shoe is a wish for good fortune and prosperity, although this remains largely a British custom.”

While planning our wedding-etsy is one of the first sites I would visit when looking for a particular item.  I searched etsy for someone to make my dress before I found the ONE.  I spent hours on etsy looking for just the right birdcage veil and fascinator-before I found Kasia Fink.  

I cannot tell you how pleased I am that Garrett and I finally have silhouettes after the months I’d seen them all over every wedding blog. While I don’t think we’ll be fully on board with a silhouette themed wedding, I think I would like to display them at our reception.

Darci from With This Ring is one of my favorite bloggers (and people)!  I’ve been so excited for her DIY series, and these fabric covered buttons are already a favorite.

If there is one thing we love here at EAD, it’s pretty things. What we love even more? Pretty things that do something good for the world! So, naturally I was completely excited when I learned about the Amazon Conservation Association’s new partnership with Smock, designed to encourage brides to make a donation to the ACA in lieu of traditional wedding favors. For a $5 donation per guest, couples are gifted with gorgeous letterpress favor cards to share with their guests in celebration of their donation. And those favor cards? Incredibly pretty letterpress creations printed on Smock’s exclusive eco-friendly bamboo paper, printed pro bono in support of the ACA.

Anything Anthropologie! They have some beautiful, unique pieces for your bridal accessory search. I just picked up a couple of their floral hair clips, which are just too adorable for words. Not to mention, Anthropologies are so beautifully laid out that it can be a great stress reliever just to cruise through their stores, if you need some wedding planning distraction. Check out these other headbands and clips they have right now:

Jessica from How About Orange always has the craftiest and most genius ideas. This time, she’s shown us how to made these adorable gift bags from envelopes — and she’s even given us a download for the pretty labels!

Quite by accident I stumbled upon the Etsy shop of Titanium Knights recently and found myself rather intrigued. Somewhat ironically, M and I were just out pricing wedding bands that same day, a special consideration because the shape of my engagement ring setting is going to require a custom band. During the course of our travels he set his sights on the lightweight and simple modern appeal of titanium. His favorite pick of the day rings in at a very affordable $195, which thrilled me to no end considering my band will be a bit more expensive as it will be custom. M is very much a no frills kind of guy. He is most comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt, he’s a former athlete turned teacher and coach, and his idea of a perfect weekend is a great dinner and a day of watching football. At any rate, an expensive gold or platinum band kind of guy he is not so the titanium route seems really perfect for his tastes.

I heart unique guest book ideas, and a handmade quilt made from squares of fabric your guests sign at the wedding totally fits the bill!

Finding a unique cardbox to fit our theme was a difficult undertaking. As much as I love the classic mailbox, vintage luggage and the sweet birdcage ideas, they weren’t quite right for our theme. I searched high and low to find something unique, exciting and memorable that spoke to us – but when I stumbled across For The Modern Bride I knew I had found the answer!