DIY Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

Kaveri and Michael’s wedding ceremonies—as in, they held not one but two gorgeous ones at The Horticulture Center at Fairmount Park Conservancy—are brimming with traditions of their Indian and Jewish heritages. Elaborate Indian dresses—Kaveri’s is by Frontier Raas—henna tattoos, and costumed horses dazzle for the Hindu ceremony. During the Jewish nuptials, Kaveri changed to an elegant Oscar de la Renta gown and carried an unusual but gorgeous mix of white calla lillies, peonies, and red roses by Beautiful Blooms; bridesmaids switched to dresses by Jenny Yoo Collection. Styled Creative helped the couple pull off the full day, including a pretty reception in tones of taupe and red, complete with a black and white cake from Whipped Bakeshop. These images from Marie Labbancz Photography are just amazing!

What you’re about to see is nothing short of pure confection perfection. An absolutely perfect color palette of aqua, mint, watermelon pink, and gold; cuter than cute desserts by Brown Betty Dessert Boutique; and exceptional styling by Styled Creative (LOVE that backdrop!) come together in these incredible photos by Alison Conklin. I adore this shoot down to each and every cake, pop, and sprinkle!

Today is a special day because I get to show you one of my all-time favorite weddings. Two years ago, the lovely Beka of Styled (formerly Innove Events) married her sweetheart Jesse.  Theirs was a joyous celebration in a gorgeous location, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence.  Of course, since Beka is half of one of the most talented event planning and styling firms around, each and every detail was perfectly thought out!  Another one of my all-time favorites, the wonderful Marie Labbancz, captured all of the beautiful images.

I’ve been dying to show you this amazing Easter shoot, styled by Beka and Kimberly of Philadelphia-based Styled, formerly Innove Events, and photographed by the fabulous Marie Labbancz, since the second I laid my eyes on it!  Seriously, it’s cuteness overload.

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.

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.

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!

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!

The fantastic Ellie from the Mint Design blog brings us these adorable DIY birdseed toss packets (with downloadable tag too!).

It’s our FINAL DIY entry everyone!  Nicole created some amazing embroidery projects for her wedding. 

We are so pleased to welcome the girls from Louella Court to EAD today for our next Advice From the Pros segment!  Louella Press and Two Paperdolls are sister companies specializing in retail stationery and custom designs, respectively.  They are based just outside Philadelphia.

My family is spread out across the country, so wherever the wedding was held, they would be flying in from all over.  My husband’s family, however, is almost entirely located within a 40-mile radius around Philadelphia, which made it a natural choice for the location of our wedding.  Additionally, since my husband was set on returning to live near his family and friends, it would be a perfect time to “introduce” my family to the location where I would someday be settling down and making my own home.  However, this meant that I was planning a wedding in a location where I, and no member of my family, had ever lived – in essence, it had become a “destination wedding” of sorts for every person invited off of our side of the guest list.

I wanted to share my wedding invitations as an example of the stationary I handcrafted for our wedding. Unfortunately, I don’t have any invitations left, or even a picture. I spend dozens (and dozens!) of hours silkscreening my invitations, and I don’t even have one picture of all that work. This is why it is crucial to drastically overestimate the number of invitations you may need, if your family is as wishy-washy and uncommitted as that of my husband. Our limiting factor for our wedding was the space – our ceremony room held 180 individuals, maximum. Due to that constraint, we had an A list, and unfortunately, also had to have a B list. I had counted the number of invites I would need if we went through every single person on the A list and on the B list… and added 40, “just in case.”

One of the most tedious projects I undertook for my wedding also wound up being one of the most valuable because of what I learned.  You see, my mother became somewhat notorious for her slightly… ridiculous demands during the wedding.  One fateful night, she happened to call while I was over at my then-fiance’s apartment cooking him dinner.  Like usual, I put the phone on speakerphone (insurance for my sake, so he knew she was the one making the absurd demands and not me) and waited to see what was in store.

I knew when it came time to ask (bribe?) my bridesmaids to be in my wedding party, I needed to do something creative. Ideally, I think the best way to ask is to do so in person (perhaps host a nice lunch for everyone), but unfortunately, with my bridesmaids spread out across the country, I realized that there was a good chance that I may not even see some of them until the weekend of the actual wedding.

I tried to find matching dresses for my three friends, really I did. But the more I looked the more confused I was, and the less I felt qualified to decide for them. They are, as girls tend to be, quite different. In height, body type, and style. My maid of honor and I frequently shop together, and it’s a pretty solid rule that anything that works on her won’t on me, even if the size is right.

Amanda whipped up some yummy homemade sugar scrub, which makes a great gift!

Oh how I heart Etsy and these gorgeous vintage paper finds that you can put to use for your event!

So many of these adorable napkins have been floating around that I’m itching to try this!

What an adorable idea for favors, or just to personalize your event – make your own rock candy!