Vendor Spotlight: TruLu Couture

Let no one tell you that blogging is a waste of time. I've met so many wonderful ladies just by writing about our engagement and wedding planning journey. One that I always enjoy running into the the uber-stylish and talented 30 Something Bride. Thank goodness for Louise! She took a very big project off my hands - my wedding veil!

I'm happy to announce that I will be sporting a TruLu Couture original veil and a hair toy on my wedding day! I had the best time brainstorming with Louise and trying on veils to create my look. She's even incorporating a brooch I purchased on Etsy into my hair toy for the reception. I'm super stoked to see the finished product.

So what is TruLu Couture? Custom bridal veils & accessories and ...

"TruLu Couture has been an evolution of thought and design over the last decade or so. Refusing to be a part of  the nameless, thankless and penniless masses of fashion designers, Louise followed a completely different path of creativity that has finally led her to this particular doorstep. As with all things Louise does, this too will evolve. Come along for the ride, won't you?"

You may not see my veil for a while, though, because T30SB is in the process of moving. Away. Sniffle. But, you will see tons of pictures later!  If you are still in need of a veil for your big day, do yourself a favor and check out TruLu Couture! You'll have the satisfaction of knowing that your product is hand-made, one-of-a-kind and in support of an artist and her small business venture. Not to mention, who wants to wear some Made in China mass produced crap on your head on the biggest day of your life?

Paper Advice

I had a lovely reader email me last weekend and ask about DIY invitation resources. She's a savvy bride and has chosen to work with a free template she found online for download. However, she had questions about paper selection and sources.

As a DIY Bride, there are many different ways to create your own invitations.

• Utilize one of the many free downloads found throughout the bridal blog world
• Purchase pre-designed, print-at-home sets at a hobby store
• Design your own!
• Hire a stationery designer! Most freelance stationery designers can customize your invitation vision for a fraction of the cost of major stationers as well as just "jump start" you with a designed template that you will then print, trim and assemble yourself.

Almost all of the above options would require you to purchase or choose paper, which can be overwhelming! There are, of course, many online paper stores that can provide you with numerous color options for mats and envelopes, but I save more money & time by heading down to one of the local paper stores for white & ivory paper for printing. They have direct access to the paper mills in the Nashville area, take in overstock and can in turn pass the discount on to you.

Nashville-area paper stores:
Dennis Paper
Paper Plus

Additionally, I enjoy shopping these  online retailers (most offer samples):
Cards & Pockets
Paper & More
Paper Source
Paper Presentation
Envelopements

Do any of you readers have suggestions? Leave them in the comments!

Save the Dates are Finished!

After a few months of designing sporadically, I finished the save the date postcards yesterday and sent them to the printer this morning! I really did intend to have them printed and back to us by now, but I realized that as long as I send them by December 10 (the 10 month mark), that still allows for ample time for our guests to actually save the date and it makes sense to even send them.

Not only are postcards cheaper than sending a card in an envelope (hello! 28-cents!), I personally love postcards. I collect them from places I visit or friends send them to me. So, yay for postcards!

Designing for yourself is quite challenging at times and I could have gone on forever designing versions of our s/d cards. Luckily, it is important to Big Spoon to participate in this process and I took his opinion into consideration from beginning to end. After all, they are "our" s/d's. I have to say, starting out in the "gathering" phase, I really thought I would do vintage-inspired, swoopy-loopy calligraphic invitations and paper products. However, that isn't Big Spoon's style. He actively hates calligraphic typefaces and thus, compromise ensued.

I'm happy with how they turned out and I'm hoping to carry the 10.10.10 design through to our invitations. I may not get to do that classic typographical "Hatch" look, but typography will certainly carry the invites. Woo hoo!

* the real ones don't actually say "little spoon & big spoon" :P

Design & Style Update

I *just* finished designing our save the dates and I am planning to upload them to our printer tonight. I've only designed a few options for our invitations thus far, but how cool would it be to have no multiple inserts and junk! However, I can think of only a handful of guests who would really appreciate the artistic effort of hand-sewing 75 booklets together.

Also, our style is kind-of established at this point. Like relationships go, Big Spoon and I had to meet in the middle with our tastes for the big event. As the pieces start coming together, we seem to be weaving a modern-traditional budget wedding.  My design style is mod, clean and simple and that works for Big Spoon as well. Our venue is historic and Southern and I'm wearing ivory and pearls. So there ya go.

I like to call our wedding "Budget Elegant." Do you have a wedding motto?

Bloggy Facelift

Instead of doing important chores on Friday, I decided to finally give our blog a facelift. I kept it clean and simplified the colors used as well as changed the code from a solid line to these dashed lines I'm so fond of. I designed a new header and profile badges (above) for Big Spoon and myself.

I also need to credit the banner picture: it is one of our many gorgeous engagement pictures by the talented Derek Lee. If you are still looking for a photographer, please check out his website! He is a lot of fun to work with. 

The sign of success

Allow me to gush for a moment.

Recently, I've been able to get money to hire someone on and help me take care of the little things that consume lots of my time but don't need a doctorate to deal with. I had an idea to post signs around and see what came up. However, given Little Spoon's skill set to see if she could do something a little more visually compelling than what I'd devised.

Oh my, did she ever!

What was previously a boring wall of text came alive with the help of simple shading and dotted lines to guide the eye where it needed to go. She said it was a fun break for her, and for me - well, it ended up securing me the person I needed for my work! I can feel a weight lifting off my shoulders now, and after having seen what she did with a humble sign, I'm confident that she'll put together smashing save-the-dates and invitations.

Thank you, Little Spoon, for being a great designer.

I Will Not Obsess Over the Invitations ... Much

I'm trying to keep in mind as I begin designing all of our wedding-related paper products that, ultimately, people are not going to spend much time looking at them. Designing for yourself is quite possibly the most difficult design to do.

Simple is better. Easy is better. I'm a problem solver and I'm going to make this happen. These are the things I am designing over the next 14 months:

• Save the Date postcards
• "the" Invitation
• RSVP postcard
• Map & Directions card / Venue & Reception information
• Bridal Shower invitations
• Programs
• Wedding Signs (ie. "sign our guestbook")