Wedding invitations...

My friend Heather is getting married in a little less than a month and she gave me special permission to post these wedding invitations, which we dreamed up back in February when I took a whirlwind weekend east coast wedding prep trip to see her. I had told her before she got engaged that I would do wedding calligraphy for her, and we not only did the envelopes but also managed to work it into a few other places.

Her colors are orange and navy, so all the ink was navy and we found the cute striped ribbon to wrap around the envelope.  I wrote the names on two inch stickers from paper source to hold the inner envelopes closed. I sent her scanned copies of their names in calligraphy, and a few other key words and she worked them into the invitation:

And finally, my favorite part-- she wanted to include her dog (for whom she happened to find an orange striped bow tie!) Check out these stamps!

I can't wait for this wedding!

Flowers...

I have strong opinions about flowers (being the Flower Lady's daughter and everything....)  I have probably seen hundreds of wedding bouquets, and I think this is gorgeous and I'll bet it smelled amazing:

Sweet peas and peonies... my favorite flowers.  I planted both when we moved into our house two years ago but I haven't had much luck with the peonies yet.  The sweet peas do really well.  I need to try planting some sweet pea seeds now because I hear they like the mild California winters, and I definitely need to work on the peonies... I would so love to grow a bouquet like this next summer!

(Via Style Me Pretty, photo by Ellie Grover Photography)

Martha's Oreo Tower

This was in the September issue of Martha Stewart magazine:



I love it!  I really wish I had an occasion to make one, but the how-to says it takes 20 packs of Oreos.  Unfortunately I don't really have an occasion for it because our dinner parties are rarely more than 6 people.  What about a cookie bar at a wedding though?  This would be the cutest centerpiece ever!
(Image credit: Paul Costello for Martha Stewart Living, September 2010)