Snippet and Ink: Recap

I know you’ve seen some of the images from our Snippet and Ink shoot, but I thought I’d end the week off with a few more of my favorite pictures. There were so many beautiful shots taken by Bonnie Tsang that I felt remiss not to share a few more. I hope you can handle that. Again, I have to thank all of our insanely talented vendors and particularly Alicia, the owner of Key’s Creek Lavender Farm. I had the opportunity to spend several afternoons with her in preparation for our shoot and she felt just like a kindred spirit. Her farm is peaceful, awe-inspiring, and a real joy to visit. Alicia is fashioning Key’s Creek to be the PERFECT location for you outdoorsy, vintage, organic farm inspired brides.

Also, Kathryn of Snippet and Ink was so gracious to allow us the opportunity to make an attempt at bringing to life the perfection she brings us on a daily basis through her blog. I’m honored that we’re the first to have had a go.

Lastly, several of the wardrobe accessories are available for purchase here. A few pieces have already been snapped up, but if you dig those vintage gloves as much as I do, head on over here and make them yours!

Oh…and check back later today. I have a simple little DIY to start your weekend! Happy Friday!

This salmon was insanely good, and I convinced Chef Kate McAloon to share the recipe with us. To view it, click on the link below to see the details after the jump!

Peggy Wong of Blue Pool Road developed our fabulous stationery suite, Kate Holt of Flowerwild designed the stunning florals, Jeni Maus of Found Vintage Rentals put together all our killer furniture, and Chef Kate McAloon created a custom menu and styled (and cooked) all the glorious food!

FOR OUR SALMON WITH LAVENDER CHERRY LIME SAUCE, CLICK HERE!

Garden Fete

This romantic garden party was shot by Jessica Hill and an amazing group of vendors! I was so inspired by the bright pops of color, gorgeous flowers, calligraphy, and simplistic beauty. You can just never go wrong with the pretty, can you?

Special thanks to Jessica for letting me feature her stunning work. Be sure to check out the amazing vendors that I’ll mention throughout the images! What a great team!!!

First up…adore the all greens centerpiece! So fresh!

Treats were by Amber at Le Cookie Monkey!

The invitation suite (including the lovely wine bottle label) is by Megan and Jen of Hi Friend Design!

The styling, design and production is by Dani of Weddings Fresh!

Giveaway winner will be announced at NOON, pst!

DIY Friday!

First, let me say how incredibly excited I am that so many of you participated in the survey. It really means so much to me that you took a moment to answer  questions about your experience here. You are helping me better gear Grey Likes content toward what you want most. I’m planning on sharing much of the findings with you, however, we are busy tabulating and compiling data. I’ve also got a really great little addition that I’m throwing into our survey giveaway to sweeten the pot, but I’m waiting until Monday to share it with you. I promise, it’ll be good. So if you haven’t yet taken the survey, get into it, would you?

Speaking of survey, what I can say with certainty is that an overwhelming majority of you want are more DIY projects! So, ask and you shall receive. I’ve gathered a few ideas here that at first glance, may not seem like DIY projects, but I’m going to go ahead break it down for you, DIY style.

First up: Vintage stamps above from Blue Bell Bazaar. If you are making handmade save the dates, I think these little suckers could be a really cute way to print out the date. Check out this postcard and a full DIY how-to by Lauren Elise Craft as an example:

Next, bunting above via Mary Ruffle. Yes, bunting is everywhere. All the cool kids are doing it. And you wanna be cool, but you don’t want to be the same as everyone else. Well, I think this nautical style bunting is a nice little twist. The shape in particular is a little different from the triangles that I’ve been seeing.  It’s all about mixing it up and adding your own spin. Here’s a bunting DIY how-to, along with another example of some unique shaped bunting from Purl Bee:

Third: Chalkboard menu above by Karen Mordechai of  Sunday Suppers. For a fabulous chalkboard DIY how-to check out Joy de Vivre, who also put together this gorgeous board, with credits here.

Even more goods coming. For reals. I’m killing you with DIY today. Your fingers will be all sore and bloody by the time you report back in on Monday morning.

The doily garland above via Mary Ruffle (I’m obsessed with her tumblr blog, if you can’t tell!)  is a little twist too. I’ve never seen it done like this and I absolutely ADORE it mixed in with lights. Don’t you? Looks like it involves white twinkle lights, heart shaped doilies, and tape. Need I say more?

Next up are the tin can centerpiece containers. What I like about the ones above is the twist in color. DIY projects are all over the internets about these guys…but take note of the really great copper color that isn’t painted on perfectly. I really love it. But, if you’re not into the copper paint, there’s always tea tins, like these ones shot by Jose Villa:

And last up is the cinder block centerpiece by Kelly Harris of Yes, Please Design. She’s gone and taken an ugly cinder block and turned it into a really modern, affordable little DIY centerpiece AND table number. And of course, it’s insanely cute. I love it! Check out her DIY how-to here!

So are you stoked or what? I just dropped 6 (ish) DIY projects in one post. Boom.

Mother’s Day Picnic

For Mother’s Day this year, we celebrated my mom as well as my sister, who is a mom for the first time this year. I thought I’d share our picnic with you, because I think if you are hosting a small wedding, an outdoor picnic might be a fun alternative to brunch the morning after the wedding. You can even use leftover flowers and decor from your wedding! A picnic might also be a great idea for the afternoon of your rehearsal dinner. Lunch in the park and lawn games with out-of-town guests and family could be the perfect antidote to wedding stress and jitters.

The photos are by T&H Photography and myself. Flowers and styling by Grey Likes Weddings.

For the recipe and photos of these lemon tartlettes we made for the picnic, check out Grey Likes Nesting!

Winter’s Glory

I got an email from Emily Merrill of EmmyJeanne Photography last week and it honestly felt like opening up a Christmas present. Her photos of Natalie Bowen Designs‘ winter bouquet ideas are pure magic. For you gals planning a winter wedding, seasonal options are often a quandary, which is why I so appreciate Emily and Natalie for collaborating on a project that focuses specifically on winter ideas. And whoever said winter has to be white? All of these bright pops of color are beyond decadent.

Here’s what Emily and Natalie said:

We decided to collaborate together and produce a series of photographs that would inspire the winter bride’s bouquet. The color palette and seasonal flowers were carefully considered.  Juicy berry “red charm” peonies are complimented by pale sea green “hen and chicks” succulents, while the paper white narcissus, spider mums, and blue thistle add a snowy winter addition. The blue satin ribbon seemed to be the perfect contrast to the richness of the peonies and the starkness of the white. The vintage blue broach was a sweet, personal touch. Working together on this project was so much fun and inspiring. We hope you enjoy!

Collaborators included stylist Akasha Enkil, model S.I. Fran and of course Natalie Bowen of Natalie Bowen Designs and Emily Merrill of EmmyJeanne Photography. Make up by Danica Green.

Decisions, Decisions

Nancy Liu Chin asked me to guest blog for her a while back and I finally stumbled across a topic that I was very excited to discuss. So excited in fact, that I thought I’d share the article with you, though you can see the original post here. Because it’s about the difficulty of making decisions, I thought this bouquet board was a perfect accompaniment.

{Credits listed after the jump}

I stumbled across the following post on a forum, and it inspired me to write a few decision making techniques that will hopefully help those of us that are crippled with indecision.

Hello all,

I’m hoping I’m not alone… but I’m starting to feel really fed up! I can’t seem to make a decision, I think because I want it all to be so perfect… and scared I could get it soooo wrong! I can’t make a decision.

The dress…. sooooo confused! Invitations… perhaps there is far too much choice. Flowers…?? Colours …??

It’s all overwhelming! H2b thinks we have loads of time to decide… JULY 2010.

My family is not helpful… Friends are great but I think I’m driving them mad, and to be honest they have their own lives.

I’m living wedding, dreaming wedding!! What the hell will be I be like on the day? It’s overwhelming!!! I can’t seem to shut off from it, however don’t seem to be getting anywhere…if that makes sense.

Ok Rant OVER! xx

This rant really resonated with me, not only because, as a stylist and designer I often feel the same way, but also because I know lots of brides who struggle with a similar sense of overwhelming indecision!

With so many wonderful wedding resources, magazines, and blogs out there, finding wedding inspiration has never been easier. Making decisions, on the other hand, has never been more difficult. Every day, we’re lured into a state of absolute indecision by another real wedding, inspiration board or fabulous vendor feature. How is one to decide when there’s just too much good stuff out there??? Well, I can’t profess to have all the answers, but I thought I’d share a few decision-making tools (which are sometimes about the process of elimination) that might help the committal process!

Read the rest after the jump!

Milk Pod Studio

As promised, I wanted to share a bit more of Milkpod Studio’s work. I can’t tell you how much I love fabric…all the texture and patterns really get my heart racing. So of course these bouquets and boutonnieres have me in a tizzy. These are definitely in the running for my bouquet, particularly because Milkpod Studio offers custom colors and custom orders!

In case you didn’t see it…

I thought I’d send you off with some weekend goodies from the wedding blogosphere this week. If you are as addicted to blogs as I am, then you are gonna think something like, “Old news, Grey. I’ve already seen this.” But in the case that your boss has been laying heavy on the whip or you’ve been out on vacation, then perhaps you’ll enjoy a recap.

First up:

This wedding almost killed me. But I managed to resuscitate myself.  Via Once Wed (four installments: one, two, three, four) by Jose Villa:

Next:

Check it this DIY Ruffly Belt from the absolutely ADORABLE 100 Layer Cake Girls (who I had the pleasure of meeting at this).

And…

These invites by Erin Jang via the delightful Jen of Green Wedding Shoes (who I also met and now adore even more!)

Happy day!

Utterly Engaged

I am thrilled to announce that the fabulous gals over at D*LSH Design and Red Velvet Occasions have just released the first issue of their new E-zine, Utterly Engaged. Henny, Lucia and Eva asked me if I would design the flowers for one of their first spreads and I was more than thrilled to oblige.

Because the magazine aims to cater to a variety of brides on a variety of budgets, we had fun exploring floral options with several different price ranges. Click here to check out the entire article and to see more photos shot by the always fabulous Stephanie Williams. Here are a few of my personal favorites:

Duet Weddings

I found this gorgeous photoshoot via What Junebug Loves (which is another daily blog read for me!) and I just can’t resist sharing more of the photos with you. I canNOT stop staring, it is just so lovely.

Rebecca Stone of Duet Weddings styled the whole shoot and Corbin Gurkin shot the stunning images. Camille Panzarello of Modern Day Design provided the unbelievably perfect florals. The paper suite was provided by Ceci New York. The shoot took place at Crossroads Estate in Santa Barbara. Laura Hooper’s calligraphy appears on the old fence made to welcome guests.