Real Wedding: Liz & Rich Part II

Liz & Rich's wedding ooozzzed with fabulousness. The amount of time they spent on the details definitely shows. We love couples who care about the details as much as us! We cannot take much creative credit for this darling wedding...it was all these two! I just love this photo. Did you get a look at Rich's homemade, Up, Up, Up and Away themed pinata?!

Liz took a tiny little hit, barely breaking a sweat - and then there was Rich. He didn't hold back! Inside the pinata was tons of toothpaste, floss and toothbrushes, all of which, timely followed the dessert and sweets buffet table. It was also a heartfelt personal touch in honor of Liz's grandfather and former dentist they all call, "Doc."

The 'Pop' bar was such a hit. All the guests enjoyed the brightly colored soda pop and vintage spiraled drinking straws.

A Polaroid camera station was set up for guests to have a photo snapped of themselves, and then leave a memo in the guest book.

The wildflowers that filled the Darlington House were beyond adorable. Old glass vases, bottles, and containers were used on the various tables. Modern Bouquet did such a beautiful job capturing Liz's vision.

The bride and groom sure love their sweets! They had a candy buffet filled to the brim with a variety of candies including homemade toffee [courtesy of the mother of the groom]. The sweets buffet was totally decked out in Red Velvet cupcakes, colorful hot air balloon cookies, and the father of the brides famous chocolate chip cookies. The small cake was adorned with darling bride & groom birds, which yes, Rich made himself!!

The fabric colored pendants were also made by the couple and covered the Darlington House grounds. They were such a colorful addition to the naturally beautiful property and added some fun 'spunk'!

The ceremony was beautiful with the ribbon backdrop they designed. Each guest's seat had a cute paper cone filled with dozens of yarn balls to toss at the newlyweds as they made their way back down the aisle!

One of my favorite photos of the day! They're so happy!

Thank you Wedding Chicks for featuring Liz and Rich's wedding! To see more visit HERE! Also Elizabeth Anne Designs showcased the stunning and chic flowers...HERE! All photos are by some of our favorite photographers, He & She Photography.

Mr. and Mrs. Millard { !!! }: Thank you for allowing Heather and I to share in your day, the beautiful details, and a piece of your lives. We are blessed by your love and joy for life. We are so stoked for you two!!! Come visit soon xo

Love,

Ashlyn+Heather

C&C

Real Wedding: Liz & Rich Part I

I can't say enough about these two. Darling, incredibly kind hearted, overly creative, and just plain wonderful. Liz and Rich's wedding day reflected all these things and more.

The wedding was held at The Darlington House in La Jolla, Calif. It was a brilliantly perfect afternoon wedding, and I must say...so much FUN! Enjoy the fabulous photos by He & She Photography.


Hannah at Modern Bouquet did a stunning job on all the flowers!





The bridesmaids all carried heart shaped balloons. I loved this idea, and thought it was a creative way to save some money on bouquets! It also tied in Liz and Rich's engagement session...and the UP, UP, UP and Away theme!!!

Oh HEY! Dance party pre ceremony...that's what I'm talking about!



We prayed for sun, and it was a wonderful, sunny warm afternoon. Just as the guests lined the streets with the waving ribbon wands, the newlyweds darted from the huge wet rain drops. Talk about perfect timing! It was amazing! The getaway outfits were adorable...

We had the chance to work with incredible vendors. Each of them is fantastic, and a joy to work alongside.

I'll be posting part II and all their amazing wedding details next!

Location: Darlington House
Catering: California Cusine
Photographers: He and She Photography
Florist: Modern Bouquet
DJ: Disc Go Round
Cake: Anas Cake

DIY Projects: Button Brunch!

As we wrap up the fun shoot we did with Wedding Chicks, I thought it would be fun to highlight the few DIY projects that happened to create some of the fun details for the tablescape.

The button garland was certainly a labor of love, but worth every minute of it. It's hard to envision this garland simply by the photos alone. In person, the button garland really made the space fun and unique!

We ordered lots of various buttons off etsy, and found several others at Michael's. We bought a larger yellow spool of thread used for quilting, and got to threading one button at a time. The tricky to part to this is making sure the garland doesn't get tangled up in a mess!

We made several strands of garland with the various colors and shapes of buttons. Make sure you have a beam, or some sort of overhang to tie your garland to. We decided to swoop it in various heights and layers over our table.

The 'favors' for this brunch were individual recipe boxes. We found plain wooden boxes at Michael's, and wrapped the yellow string around it several times, attached a few of the buttons on all sides of the box, and of course a darling Ink and Button fascinator to finish the touch. We also used them as a place card at each guests seat.


The table linens were hand made. We always have the hardest time finding just the right fabric for our tables. We found the delicate and girly floral printed fabric at Joann's, as well as the very fine stripped tangerine and cream linen, which was turned into the table runner.

The floral overlay fit just perfectly, and to add a fun touch, we sewed a cream fringe around the entire border of the linen. The table runner was hand sewn, and on the ends of the runner we glued {because it's just way faster} dozens and dozens of the buttons to tie in our theme.

Thank you again Amy and the Wedding Chicks! To see and read more about the shoot, please visit the 3 part feature on Wedding Chicks, here, here and here! Special thanks to Jessica Claire for all the photos!

A Brunch Inspired Engagement Shoot.

This is the first time we've ever used models for a shoot, and I must say, it added a whole new dimension. It was fun and really brought life to our ideas! Amy from the Wedding Chicks wanted us to design an engagement shoot inspired by our button brunch.

Katie and her hubby Ryan have been married for a few years, and their love for one another certainly showed in their photos. They were comfortable with each other and just plain cute!

We wanted our 'bride' Katie to wear a dress we found at Anthropologie. It had tangerine polka dots and a fun bright belt that tie in the colors we used earlier at the brunch shoot. We ordered a fun bow tie off etsy, but it didn't arrive in time! So the night before Heather whipped up a handmade bow tie with the extra material from our table runner. It was really perfect, and I am so proud of her....and thankful she's on my team for mad skills like that. ;)

Katie wore an Ink and Button hair piece, that was attached to her recipe box favor earlier that morning!

The shoot was set with a few different sheets for blankets and color, two of the bistro chairs we had used earlier, an old wood box, a cookbook and lots of fun baking supplies! The Floral Lab designed a fabulous bouquet made up of bright yellow acacia for Katie to hold. It was seriously fabulous! We wrapped the button garland around the bouquet to show those fun buttons!

This shoot is perfect for the little homemaker to be. Erica O'Brien baked us up some adorable colorful sugar cookies shaped like buttons.

Note to brides: When styling your engagement shoot, first, come up with a theme. Your outfits should reflect your theme and the colors. Bright colors always photograph nicely, and bring life into the photos.

Fun objects such as a clock, cookies, a handmade bouquet, furniture or even a fun and unique setting will make those photos pop! But best of all, you will have pictures of you and your love that you will cherish forever.

We really enjoy styling. Shoots, weddings, engagement sessions - you name it! Consider Carter & Cook to help style your engagement shoot as well!

Love,

Ashlyn + Heather

C&C

Bridesmaid Brunch [inspired by yellow and buttons!]

Amy from the Wedding Chicks was looking for someone to design a bridesmaid brunch photo shoot for a Wedding Chicks blog feature on bridal shower ideas. We quickly jumped at the opportunity! Why? Because we love The Wedding Chicks, and we had been dreaming up brunch ideas for some time now.


The team we were able to work with was truly incredible. First off, we had the chance to meet, and have the table shot by the amazing Jessica Claire. She is a hilarious, sweet girl who had us laughing the entire day...and her work is amazing!! Thank you Jessica for the beautiful images. You are the best! Jessica is actually the brain that came up with the two words, yellow and buttons, that inspired this entire shoot!

The Floral Lab....sigh. We love Leigh Anne. If you need a florist, she is your gal. Her ideas, creativity and talent are inspiring, and every time we work with her, she pulls our vision together seamlessly. She used kumquats!? I die...


Paper and Thread did all the paper: the invitation, the place cards, menus, recipes, and the Cute as a Button sign. Lori is the sweetest. She is not only creative and has a talent to match, but she is just so fun and kind! She was willing to go above and beyond her duty with the darling paper suite, and help Heather and me with any of the other crafty projects. Lori, thank you!!



Erica O'Brien pulled through with 5 knock-you-off-your-feet cakes. They were beautiful! She also made the adorable button sugar cookies for the engagement shoot that afternoon. Erica is insanely talented and if you need a cake that screams perfection, hire Erica.

Those buttons are fake. Yep, it's all fondant. Can we say, awesome?!



Did you notice those incredibly perfect felt flower pieces on our recipe boxes? Or the one our adorable 'bride' Katie wore in the esession shoot? Those lovelies were by one of our former brides Lisa Raser, creator of Ink and Button. We love our brides, and we love when they turn their passion and talent into something beautiful! Lisa, thank you again!!! Those were quite the hit!



The photo shoot was held at Cafe Mimosa in San Clemente. They were so kind to let us set up before the restaurant opened and hang hundreds of buttons from their ceiling. By the way, the mimosas are bomb!

Thank you Classic Party Rentals for the cute bistro chairs! The stemware and mugs were from Anthropologie and our cute shabby chic plates were from TJ Maxx at $4 a piece!


Would you look at these beauties?! Three of the four models are photographers. Katie from Katie Neal Photography, Rachel from Studio Casillero ,and Lauren Bullock in from Bullock Productions. Thank you ladies for looking pretty. All the bridesmaids wore dresses from Ruche. If you haven't checked out their online shop, you must now! They have darling and affordable clothing!

Thank you to Design Visage for the hair and make up. You're awesome!

We'll be back soon with more DIY ideas, crafts, and the brunch inspired engagement shoot!

Love,
Ashlyn + Heather
C&C

Sneak Peek.

We just wrapped up a super fun photo shoot yesterday for the ever so popular blog, Wedding Chicks. I can't wait to share more of the details...but until then, here is just a peek of what's to come. Oh what a fantastic day it was, and we had the privilege of working with the incredible Jessica Claire. Enjoy!

Source: Jessica Claire

...Wedding Chicks...

We are so [happy] to announce that you can now find us as a preferred vendor on the adorable Wedding Chicks Blog. Check us out here! Very honored to be a part of the WC team. We hope to be posting and sharing weddings and events with from time to time you via the WC blog. Special thanks to Karrie Pyke Designs (who else!?) for the stylin' banner...