Arneri Inspirations

Bottles, bottles, bottles

2011-07-31T17:08:00.000-06:00

I love the use of bottles and antique milk containers as vases and/or decor for your wedding. Here are some I found that I adore!!!

Decorative Green Glass Bottle with Cork Lid

Pharmacy - trio of stained glass decorated vintage French pharmacy bottles

Three Assorted English Vintage Glass Jars / Bottles

Aqua Glass Bottle Trio

Vintage Aqua Glass Medicine Bottle with Filamentosa (Fox) Seashell

Vintage French lemonade and beer bottles

Aqua Glass Bottle - BRITISH HOUSEHOLD AMMONIA

Chalkboards

2011-07-31T16:50:00.000-06:00

I love the use of chalkboards in weddings to feature the dessert table, as signs to direct guests to the ceremony, props for the photo booth. Here are some chalkboard featured on etsy.com.

A few featured weddings that utilized chalkboards from www.stylemepretty.com! (my favorite wedding blog!!

Heart Chalkboard Wedding Sign Photo Prop AND Chalkboard Marker Pen Set

Seen in BRIDES magazine Set of 3 Tres Chic Magnetic Chalkboards Featured in the April 2011 issue of BRIDES magazine French Shabby Chic

Wedding Chalkboard Pedestal

Thought Bubble on a Stick - The Cloud

you pick the color ONE Beach Lake Cottage Chalkboard Sign Distressed Paint Chic

AQUA

2011-07-07T14:13:00.000-06:00

I'm sitting at the Calgary airport waiting to board my plane to London. From there I will make my way to Korcula. Thinking about my upcoming trip has brought up memories of Badija. It's a small island that you can reach by boat taxi from Korcula. It has a restaurant that offers the best octopus salad. The sea surrounding the little island is the most stunning shade of aqua blue. My favorite color is aqua. It makes me think of summer.

Below are some of my favorite things as of late and I think they would fit perfect at a wedding, or at least a reception on Badija.

XO
Ana

Aqua Turquoise Blue Art Glass Small Sea Coral Bowl

Distressed Mint Patina Key Charm Pendant

pinwheel bowl

Tidepool Original abstract paint and ink

Cameo - cartoon style screen print, seafoam / hot pink (8x10)

starfish garland

Limited edition 11x14 print by Juri Romanov-OrangeOptimist

Ocean Blues 5 Brass Candle Holder Collection

Anchor and Helm Seating Cards for your Wedding

U PICK the colors Set of 5 Frames

Message in a Bottle Kit

Antique Japanese Glass Fishing Float...Greenish Blue (Number 18)

Marie 'Let them eat cake' invitation suite

Vintage Lace Invitation Suite

Vintage Aqua Soda Bottle with Atlantic Sea Fan

Letterpress Invitations

2011-04-24T10:32:00.000-06:00

Natalie opened my eyes to www.ohsobeautifulpaper.com. As soon as I saw the amazing gallery of featured wedding invitations I fell in love. I fell in love with custom designed, letterpress invitations...and my wallet fell out of love with me.
Obsessively looking over the featured invitations I noticed that a lot of printing companies had ads on ohsobeautifulpaper and decided to explore some of those as well. I came across blog.dingbatpress.com/ and encountered my favorite invitations of all time. The only change i would make would be to substitute a light aqua/teal instead of the yellow. Otherwise they're oh so perfect! Peonies are my favorite flowers and I love how the bottom of the design mimics waves.
Real Wedding: Sarah + Jeff
blog.dingbatpress.com
Click on the title to see the entire post by ohsobeautifulpaper
Some of my favorite invites from ohsobeautifulpaper are...
Gradient Color Wedding Invitations
Click on the title to see the entire post by ohsobeautifulpaper
Enrique + Annessa’s Creative Mexico Destination Wedding Invitations
Click on the title to see the entire post by ohsobeautifulpaper
Sara + Ian’s Greek Isles Wedding Invitations
Click on the title to see the entire post by ohsobeautifulpaper
Marissa + Tom’s Aqua Blue Faux Bois Wedding Invitations
Click on the title to see the entire post by ohsobeautifulpaper

Natalie and Greg's Letterpress Invitations

2011-04-18T21:44:00.002-06:00

Natalie and I share a great passion for all things wedding related. She's my partner in crime when it comes to scouring the Internet (thank you Google Images) for wedding inspirations and checking wedding blogs (on a daily basis). I think that our wedding aesthetic is actually pretty similar and I love bouncing ideas off of each other.
Natalie and Greg are getting married July 27th at the Dreams Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico! Fiesta time!
Below you will find a short story of how these beautiful invitations came to be. Natalie's blood, sweat and tears went into each one of them. Ok, ok so she didn't cry, but she sure had to cut, glue and lick a lot of envelopes.
Greg and Nat are sending their love with every invitation to their friends and family. Hope everyone can join them on this beautiful adventure!
XO
Ana

From Natalie...

I am a lover of all things letterpress, so when I started sourcing out designers for my dream letterpress wedding invitations, I was disheartened to learn there were none in Calgary, Alberta, where my fiance and I live. Luckily, I found Kelly of Paper Stories (on Wedzu!) and we were able to work together to create the wedding invitations I had dreamed of!

Our wedding is taking place this summer in Los Cabos, Mexico, and I really wanted to create something that would create excitement for our friends and family that are coming all of that way. These invitations embody everything I hope our wedding day to be: colourful, organic, rustic and vintage!

Kelly designed and letterpressed our yellow and grey invitations, and designed the labels for the envelopes. She sent my the files for the wrap labels via email, and I added all of our guests addresses in In Design. I printed them on my trusty home printer (an Epson Stylus 1400). I knew I wanted envelope liners for the outer kraft envelopes (the envelopes are from Paper Source), so I started searching the internet for decorative paper. I found this paper at Hollander's, a decorative paper and bookbinding store (yay Google!). The print is called NQ Print Shells. I cut out the liners for all 80 invitations by hand, and then I came to a standstill as to how to bundle them. I love the look of bellybands, and luckily found a loose burlap garland (it can came in a roll of 10 yards) at Michaels Craft Store. I cut the pieces to size, hot glue gunned them around the invites, and then glued a small Kaka Muthu shell to the centre of each. Lastly, I ordered custom stamps with images of our wedding artwork created by Kelly, and spent many, many evenings after work assembling them! They were a labour of love, and I am ecstatic with how they have turned out!

Invitation info:

Designer: Kelly Maron Horvath of Paper Stories (www.paperstories.com)

Envelopes: Paper Source (www.paper-source.com)

Liners: Hollander's (www.hollanders.com)

Burlap Belly Band: Michaels (www.michaels.com)

Postage: Canada Post - Picture Postage (www.picturepostage.ca)

Lace Inspirations from Etsy.com

2011-03-23T21:02:00.001-06:00

My old neighbour from Sarajevo, who currently lives in Melbourne is getting married and asked me for "lace" inspired suggestions for her wedding.

I may have gone a little bit crazy after reading her request. Below are some of the inspirations I found for her. Hopefully you'll find a little inspiration too!

Invitations

Pretty Necklaces

2011-02-02T21:29:00.000-07:00

tree & kimball

I came across this awesome store on etsy's front page. I'm a sucker for pretty, different, unique necklaces. You'll soon understand why I loved the creations by tree & kimball. They have a special antique-ish essence to them. Creativity at it's finest. Make a statement in your engagement photos, or give them as gifts to each of your bridesmaids.

Enjoy!
XO

PS: tree & kimball has pretty amazing earrings too :)

evadne -- featured in lucky magazine

romea

lily

ada

lauren

madeira

Wedzu

2011-01-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

WEDZU!!!

I'm not sure how many of you have stumbled across www.wedzu.com while in a quest for cool/different/innovative/handmade/unique decorations/accessories/keepsakes for your wedding. If you haven't checked out Wedzu yet, you really should. It's like an Etsy for Weddings! Why didn't I think of that...well I kind of did, but as you can tell by my blog formatting skills I do not have the talents nor the knowledge on how to create such an amazing site.

I'm going to feature a few really fun sellers i found on Wedzu.

Hope you enjoy!

fritts rosenow bespoke boutonnieres

The Papery Nook
Shindig

HEART Garlands

2011-01-12T19:40:00.007-07:00

I love when garlands are incorporate into the engagement shoot and/or the wedding day. I think they bring a special touch to your photographs. There are so many different sizes, shapes, and colors out there that it's hard to pick just a few I love. So instead I've decided to focus on a specific shape and will try and cover all different colors/sizes/fabrics :)

HEART GARLANDS

Belle Heart Strings Mobile

Heart Strings in French Mobile

Queen of Hearts Pennant Banner

love bird banner

Paper Shakespearean garland of hearts

Amazing Favor Boxes

2011-01-12T18:51:00.000-07:00

DIY Laser Cut
Makes the cutest laser cut favor boxes. I received my weekly Etsy Weddings email and came across this favor box which I absolutely loved. I absolutely loved the lace like feel and decided to check out the etsy seller: DIY LASER CUT.

Favor Box unique laser cut lace pillow box

I quickly realized that the store offered a plethora of adorable favor boxes and wedding invitations. Here are a few of my favotires. Check out the store to see more!

My FAVE:

Inspired by the Sea

2011-01-05T16:14:00.003-07:00

The other week while Christmas shopping I came across the prettiest design accessories that I thought would be perfect for my condo...or one day for my centre pieces. They were at Anthropologie an were to die for. That is until I turned one over and saw the price. The price quickly made me step away from my beloved little trinkets and I left thinking about them and where I could find something similar.

(Before I left the store I quickly snapped a picture using my Instagram iPhone App for future reference)

Today I received my ETSY Wedding email and to my surprise saw something extremely similar to what I had fallen in love with at Anthropologie. Except the price was much much better and I'd be supporting an artist who had hand crafted these little jewels.

BeautifulDetailsWed is the store on etsy that sells these amazing, beautiful, sea inspired antique, aqua bottles. LOVE THEM!!!

Check out the store and fall in love with all the items for sale!

xoxo

Wedding Signs

2011-01-04T18:24:00.005-07:00

I love the idea of wedding signs, especially when they're done in a unique way and go with the feel of the wedding. Since my favorite weddings are beach weddings, I think wedding signs suit them perfectly. However, I think they can be incorporate into any type of outdoor wedding, or where the ceremony site is near the reception area.

Wedding Signs by Romantic Planet

BEACH WEDDING SIGNS

Save the Date

2011-01-04T18:05:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas and Happy 2011!!! Wishing you all the best in the new year :)

Here is a quick post about some really awesome Save the Date cards I found on www.etsy.com. They come from a store called Unless Someone Like You. I love the scratch off part of the cards and that the seller offers different types/ideas of designes that incorporate the scratch off section. How fun! What do you think?

Cute Find

2010-10-22T12:04:00.001-06:00

Love these personalized handkerchiefs :)

Check out more of them on etsy.com from Artful Beginnings

School's Back in Session

2010-09-26T10:56:00.001-06:00

September is upon us and fall has begun (at least in Calgary). September always reminds me of going back to school. The role of student was one I loved (yes, yes I was a keener). I loved seeing my friends and making new ones, I loved learning and most importantly I LOVED back to school shopping. Reflecting back I also have a much greater appreciation for my past teachers. For not only teaching me what was written in textbooks, but also teaching me life lessons, values and instilling in my young, mouldable mind dreams and hopes. For teaching me how to set goals.

My best friend recently became a teacher. As well, my old roommate is also a teacher. One recently got married and the other just recently became engaged. A couple of days ago my old roommate and I were corresponding about her upcoming engagement shoot and I came across this amazing example on www.greenweddingshoes.com (Sweet engagement photos … in the woods + sea!)

The use of Red Apples through the first (woods) shoot really resonated with me and my association of teachers. So if you are a teacher (thank you for your career choice) below are some examples of ideas you can incorporate throughout your engagement/wedding to signify your noble profession.

From GreenWeddingShoes.com

ETSY.com FiNdS!

Save the Date - Teacher

Green Apples in Love

Apple Swirls Wedding Invitations

APPLE SKETCH Save the Date Card

Vintage Flash Cards

Upcycled Vintage School Desk Chair

Strapped Antique School Books Reading Writing and Arithmetic

Pair of Antique Wood Ornate Wrought Iron School Desk Late 1800s

Real Life Wedding: Bosnians Know How to Party

2010-09-19T12:36:00.002-06:00

Sometimes chance meetings happen in life that are too good to be true and if you did not witness themselves yourself, you'd think it was a movie.

Our closest family friends from Sarajevo immigrated to Toronto in the 90s and we lost touch with them. They have two sons, Fedja and Vedo.

While we were living in Calgary I made friends with two sisters, Erna and Edita. Erna competed in Miss Canada and while in Toronto for the competition went to a Bosnian party where she met Fedja.

To make the long story short Fedja and Erna started dating and recently got married. I unfortunately missed the amazing celebration, but everyone who was there had a blast. How could they not!? Bosnians know how to party :) Check out pics from their wedding below!

Orchids + Weddings

2010-08-30T20:02:00.000-06:00

Sometimes all you need is a single orchid branch submerged in water to make a statement, a piece of art as your centrepiece. Orchids are beautiful. Their shape and color are visual candy. You can wear them in your hair, use them in your bouquet, incorporate them in your centrepieces or your jewelry.

Recently a friend from jr. high/high school was married in Hawaii and she chose to use white orchids throughout her wedding and it was absolutely stunning. The single orchid in her hair as she walked down the isle was the perfect compliment to the beach setting.

Making a statement with names!

Did someone say pink? Antique goes pink.

Architectural Centrepieces

Stunning!

New York Botanical Garden - Orchid Dinner Fundraiser

Wedding Blogs!!!

2010-08-21T10:10:00.000-06:00

Wedding Blogs! Do you read them?

This whole blog started with my desire to find great inspirations from real life weddings for Lex' special day. Green Wedding Shoes is by far my favorite blog to visit over and over again for ideas. Jen Campbell the author of greenweddingshoes.com has an amazing eye for all things beautiful and honestly features the coolest, most creative and unique engagement shoots and real life weddings. She also has a plethora of suggestions for invitations, flowers, and photographer features. She inspires me!!!

Just check out one of her most recent posts - Vintage Circus Engagement Photos. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

Exploring the Green Wedding Shoes site I came across www.theweddingchicks.com. My favorite aspect of the The Wedding Chicks are their DIY ideas and online store for all things bride. Customized t-shirts for the bride and bridal party along with cute ideas for wedding party gifts.

What are some of your favorite wedding blogs? What inspires you??

Ana

Going Back Home - Korcula Inspired Wedding

2010-08-17T17:10:00.002-06:00

I went back home for three weeks in July. It felt amazing. It always feels good to be home, to be surrounded by lifelong friends and family members. It is such a wonderful feeling running into someone you are related to on the street; I don't get to experience that in Canada.

The island of Korcula is a magical place. White stone houses, red rooftops, cobble streets, and aqua blue seas. I always dreamed of getting married here. Everyone has their own place under the sun and this is mine. Below are a couple pictures from the island and some ideas on how to incorporate colors/textures that Korcula inspires in my imagination in your wedding decor (white, light blue/aqua, pinks, corals).

Wedding InspirationsPorcelain PearIf you've read my blog before you know that our family coat of arms consists of three pears. So I have to incorporate a pear here and there. I would use these as part of the table decor.

Scallop Bowl
Placing large pink and white peonies floating in water with floating candles.

Laced Affairs - wedding invitation
Incorporating a little bit of an antique feel to draw on the feel of the island.

Wedding Invitation Peonies Design

Or you could incorporate peonies in your invitation designs.
Coral

Coral Necklaces for the bridemaids

Peonies

Huppah

2010-07-01T18:46:00.001-06:00

One of my closest friends, Fiana is Jewish and she just recently got engaged. Very exciting! This got me thinking about Jewish weddings and some of the traditions associated. I love the significance of the huppah: as it "represent(s) the home that bride and groom are establishing together".

I also love the imagery of the arch for beach weddings (mine...one day). I think that even couples who aren't Jewish can incorporate a huppah because of it's significance. So I searched online and found some pretty unique huppahs/arches to show you.

"What to Expect From a Jewish Wedding" is awesome as it goes over every aspect of a Jewish wedding and features a really beautiful flowery huppah.

Photo courtesy of Cameron Ingalls

Amazing lighting can really showcase your huppah!

Beach Inspired.

http://www.blossomfloral.net/Weddings.html

A contemporary, sleek, white huppah.

Wedding Gifts

2010-06-17T18:52:00.001-06:00

Some people register and then some people don't. Some guests like to buy gifts off the registry and some guests don't. I probably belong to the second set of guests. For some reason I always think I can come up with a super creative and thoughtful gift that you just didn't realize you REALLY REALLY needed or REALLY REALLY wanted. Sometimes I should just buy something from the registry.

These are some of my favorite gifts I've either given or gotten recently...or thought about giving or getting.

One of my favorite sellers on etsy.com is Boojiboo makes the most adorable vintage aprons. I've ordered them for myself, my mom, my best friend (bridal shower gift) and for a friend's wedding gift.

I love nothing more then crepes with Nutella for breakfast. My sister recently got me this William Sonoma Crepe Pan Kit and then I bought it for a friend's wedding gift because I thought it was just so amazing. Visit a William Sonoma near you. :)

Wiseimpressions on etsy.com has adorable keep sake plates that can be customized with the couples name and wedding date.

Palomasnest does something similar, but in more of a clean line contemporary style. Also perfect for a wedding ring "plate" pillow.

Cute herb markers, pots, potting soil and actual herbs are a very personal gift for that couple that loves to cook together and only uses organic and locally grown products.

A customized Nan Lawson couples portrait nicely framed :). One of my favorite finds on etsy.com EVER!!!

Corporanglass makes beautiful handmade blown glass pieces of art. I think a beautiful vase is the perfect gift because wedding gifts don't always have to be practical, they can also be beautiful.

Whitneysmith was one of my first etsy purchases and i adore my aqua lotus flower bowl. Hand made ceramic pieces of art that stand on their own and make any room more beautiful is another way to go.

XOX

Love Banners

2010-06-10T16:38:00.000-06:00

I think wedding/love banners are awesome. Declare your love, capture the date, bring some fun to your photographs.

This couple featured on Martha Stewart Weddings made an awesome banner for their special day!

Here are some cool banners I found on etsy.com.

LOS NOVIOS (3-Pack) Custom Wedding Papel Picado Banners

Featured in Brides Magazines

Vintage Vogue Just Married Getaway Car Wedding Party Banner

Just Married Banner

Personalized Just Married Sunshine Paper Garland Party Banner

Paper garland of hearts

LOVE Red and Pink Banner

PS: Absolutely love this real life wedding on www.greenweddingshoes.com. Check it out!

Cool/Soft/Dreamy/Lacy NECKLACES

2010-06-09T21:48:00.001-06:00

Some of my favorite Etsy.com necklace finds. I think they would look stunning/fashionable in any engagement fashion shoot, or a very stylish wedding.

Enjoy!

Constance

Blanchefleur

Ucia lace garden necklace

Bijou tulle statement necklace

Silver and brass key necklace

Something Special Rosette Necklace

Pretty Little Thing nekclace

Pink and Brown Statement Necklace

Cake Statement Necklace

Buttercream Blossom fabric flower statement bib necklace

Vanja and Kenji's Doshida by Ian Woo

2010-06-09T21:33:00.002-06:00

I met Vanja (bride) and Ian (photographer/designer) while we all worked for Critical Mass in Calgary Alberta. They both worked as graphic designers, while I worked as an analyst. Vanja and Kenji were dating at that time. Shortly after we all started working there, Vanja and Kenji decided to move to Montreal. The lifestyle, architecture, art and fashion appealed more to them. Soon after Ian followed.

Ian attended Vanja and Kenji's wedding and took some photographs while in attendance. I think the photos speak for themselves. What a beautiful day to celebrate the marriage of Vanja and Kenji! What a beautiful venue! What beautiful photographs Ian!

You can check out some of Ian's photography @ http://www.iwoo.ca/

Groom and his groomsmen waiting for the bridal party.

The most charming setting. Love the brick walls.

Guests waiting for the bridal party to enter.

The bridesmaids

Vanja and her father. Love.

I adora Vanja's gown. It has a certain heirloom feel, while still being young and modern.

I love this one!

And Kenji's expression in this one.

Parents of the Bride

Yummy!

Vanja and Kenji's Wedding

2010-06-07T15:39:00.000-06:00

Vanja's Description of Their Special Day

The wedding was held at Accords Bistro in the Old Port of Montreal. The ceremony was held in the early afternoon in the bistro courtyard, followed by early evening cocktails and then a dinner and dance till 3:30am. Kenji and I wanted a very intimate wedding, so we decided to make it quite small - just over 50 people. Everything about the wedding was very personalized as we had zero limitations with the venue. More than half of the guests flew in from Calgary, and we also had guests from Japan, Vancouver and France. Prior to the wedding, we organized a rehearsal cocktail party (instead of the formal dinner) for all of the guests so that they could mingle and get to know each other before the wedding. This worked out really well, because by the time the wedding came everyone knew each other so it was like a big family gathering, which is exactly what we wanted.

For the dinner and dance we decided to hire a Jazz vocalist accompanied by a piano, which set the tone for the evening. (Jazz vocalist: www.kimzombik.com) For the dance-party portion of the evening, Kenji and I spent months compiling a playlist of our favorite songs, including songs that reminded us of certain guests. Kenji organized all the music into a DJ set-list and all we had to do was hit PLAY and it took care of itself. Now we have a whole soundtrack to our wedding, which we are planning to send to some of our guests as a keepsake.

As for the decorations, most of them were done by myself with the help of friends and family. The table flower arrangements were made of peach carnations which we bought wholesale and assembled ourselves in white ceramic bowls, purchased at a sort-of dollar store. I also designed and made all the name cards, table numbers, seating chart, guest-book, and the "love-tree" which was a little tree where people could write their marriage and love advice for us and hang it on the tree (super fun to read afterwards.) My sister designed and made the entire wedding cake from scratch, which was amazingly delicious.

As for our outfits, my dress and veil were purchased in Montreal at a store called Bella Di Sera. It was the 2nd dress I ever tried and it was one of those "love-at-first-sight" things. I dreamt about it for weeks and knew that I had to have it. It's by a company called Casablanca Bridal which in my opinion has the most beautiful dresses I've ever seen. Most of the details are done by hand! The bridesmaids dresses are by Kenzie. Our hair was done by my hair dresser Dave Landry, who is suuper talented. Kenji's outfit was put together in pieces but most of it was purchased at Zara at a steal-of-a-deal. It was the only place that we could find fitted clothes, that did not make him look like an old man. I wanted all of us to look really young and fresh, with a little bit of vintage because most of the wedding guests and party were all young people. So, for the groomsmen we chose not to go with jackets, but rather just with vests, and a skinny tie to keep it kind of fresh but still vintage. The colors of the wedding looked amazing against the stones in the Old Port.

Our Photographer's name is Stephanie Lachance: http://www.lachancephoto.com/

Vanja's inspiration board (colors, look, etc.)

Her final wedding accessories (shoes purchased in Montreal, earrings purchased on PerfectDetails.com, purse is vintage 1940s hand-made)

Bridesmaid Jewelry - Custom made by Rosalind Lee (http://www.etsy.com/shop/rozzie)