Itsy Bitsy, Teensy Weensy, Super Cute Buttons!

One of my favorite things about weddings are the favors. Shallow... I know. Favors usually mean something yummy, and hopefully something unique and personal that represents the couple well. I attended the beautiful wedding of two close friends a few weeks ago, and was instructed by the bride to pick up their super-yummy favors from a local bakery... the words "local bakery" only mean one thing to me: good food. Their favors were delicious made-from-scratch speciality chocolate chip cookies, the bride's favorite snack from her college days. They were placed at each place setting in custom glassine envelopes, tied with a ribbon - great presentation! Delicious! Personal! The perfect favor. People are still talking about those cookies weeks later - talk about impact.

I have a love of vintage candy, specifically Necco wafers. I purchased wafer mini-rolls through Necco directly (did you know they have a bulk candy store online? Me neither!) and also purchased a couple pounds of Jelly Belly beans in our colors to help fill out the favor bags. However - I felt that we needed something extra. Something cute and unique. Enter Etsy yet again, where I found a super sweet custom button maker named Jeanne who was extremely helpful in getting our custom buttons done. I used Photoshop for the button design, using a template she supplied me with. I ended up modeling our button design directly after one of my favorite vintage typewriter ribbon tins - something I don't feel guilty about because well... it's cute, we ain't selling 'em, and that's about that.





I also purchased lovely little handstamped tags from another great seller, Amy Elise Designs. I've bought quite a bit of stuff from Amy over the past 2 years for my design business, so I was thrilled that I could send another order her way for our big day. She made lovely mini-tags using a vintage typeface "S" stamp (for our new last name) - the tags are inscribed with a note of "Thanks!" on the back and tied to the favor bags.

All together, a nice little gift to place at each seat... I'm pleased with how they turned out. Three cheers for Etsy!

Jewelry --or-- These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

We FINALLY got around to purchasing Ryan's wedding band. A very handsome ring for a very handsome man. Gotta love the iPhone - I was able to buy the band on our way to another couple's wedding! Multitasking is what separates us from the beasts of the field my friends.

Anywho, we bought the ring from an amazing shop on Etsy - robandlean.etsy.com. The shop is run by a husband and wife jewelry making dream team, creating beautiful handmade baubles perfect for bearded manly men like Ryan.

His ring is aerospace grade titanium (wee!) with manzanita wood inlays. I can't wait for it to get here!




In other wedding ring news, we also managed to get my engagement/wedding ring cleaned and sized this past week (after 11 months - yeah, I'm lazy). It's so beautiful - I need to get some nice photos taken to show it off. It's a beautiful vintage Art Deco piece, purchased at auction, shipped from Israel. No appraisal yet, but we got a really good deal on it so hopefully it's worth more than we paid!

I think vintage rings are a great option for brides seeking an alternative to the boring offerings at the mall jewelry stores. Etsy is also another wonderful source for bits and baubles, either vintage or handmade. Custom jewelers like the shop who resized my ring are also another great source for one of a kind pieces.