Guest Post on Valley & Co.

photo from Martha Stewart Weddings

Today I did a guest post for the fantastic Aleah and Nick Valley of Good Life Events over on their cute blog, Valley & Co. Aleah did a great post the other day on the tradition of cake pulls, and my post today is all about the groom's cake favor tradition and the meaning behind it. So scoot on over to Valley & Co. and check it out! Have a great weekend everyone :)

Guest Post on The Sweetest Occasion

This post is shamefully overdue! Last Monday my very first inspired photo shoot ever was featured on The Sweetest Occasion. I worked with my friend Nickol Hayden-Cady of Enlightened Patiesserie and Benjamin of Benjamin Edwards Photography here in Bend, Oregon to make this happen - and I am still freaking out over the results. Here's a little sneak peek, but you must go see the whole post!!

Photos by Benjamin Edwards Photography

Real Wedding: Bethany + Noah's Midwest Homespun Charm

Bethany and Noah's wedding was a Midwest outdoor affair filled with charming homespun details, gorgeous flowers, and tons of style (love the brides dress, shoes, headband and necklace and the groom's vest and tie ensemble). And the day was captured a-mazingly by Megan Wynn of Megan W Photography, a fantastic wedding photographer from the Midwest.

How cute is this shoe pic? Bethany's bouquet was a rustic romantic dream with white peonies and garden roses, a single red chrysanthemum, yellow billy balls, tiny succulents, goldenrod, and hanging amaranthus.

The bridesmaids' bouquets featured white roses, white dahlias, yellow billy balls, green hypericum berries, pittosporum leaves and SUCCULENTS!

How amazing are her shoes and that single red chrysanthemum in her bouquet for a pop of color? Genius!

Bethany opted out of a veil and went with a fabric flowers and pearls headband and a chunky wrapped pearl necklace.

How cool are these succulent, billy ball and pittosporum leaf boutonnieres?

The ceremony location was under a giant willow tree in an open field

Love the mismatched flower and fruit plates

Congrats to Bethany and Noah, and thanks so much to Megan W for letting me share your gorgeous work!

DIY: Cupcake Liner Crafts

What's not to love about cupcake liners? They are just so pretty, dainty, adorable and versatile. I rounded up some fab DIY crafts using cupcake liners that would wow at any wedding. The best part? All relatively cheap, and most require little to no prerequisite crafting skills on your part.

cupcake liner garland via Trans-craft-inental

cupcake liner string lights from Every Day with Rachael Ray

foil and tin cupcake liner string lights from Real Simple

cupcake liner garland by Brancoprata via Dog n' Bird

cupcake liner flower tree from paper crave

cupcake liner jar covers for jam favors from Martha Stewart

cupcake liner and coffee filter wreath from Friday's Child

cupcake liner paper flowers from Intimate Weddings

cupcake liner carnation gift toppers from Martha Stewart

cupcake liner cocktail caps from Martha Stewart Living via The Violet Hours

cupcake liner wall art at Anthropologie's midtown Manhattan store

Some great website resources for cupcake liners: Fancy Flours, Bake It Pretty, and Sur La Table

Wedding Style: Mad Men Inspired

After eight long months of waiting, the Season 4 premiere of Mad Men was last night. Feeling ultra inspired by the polished look of 1960's world of Don and Betty Draper and Sterling Cooper, I put together a little Mad Men wedding style guide.

Starting off with a style board for the fellows...

Cool cars, cocktails, slick suits, grooming and styling accouterments, and a lovely little bride - a groom's Mad Men inspired wedding day essentials. And of course, he'll need his groomsmen nearby...
Sources: Clockwise from top. groom and bride photo from Minnesota Bride, grooming items via Minnesota Bride, 1966 Chevelle photo via Merci New York, couple photo by Luna Photo via La Petite Coquin, martini and martini bar photos from Sunday Suppers via erin ever after, Brooks Brothers suit via AMC. Men in suits via AMC.

And on to the ladies...
Outfit your maids in retro inspired frocks a la Joan, Betty and Peggy... Or steal the look for yourself for an e-session, shower, rehearsal dinner or going away dress.

Sources: Clockwise from top left - 'Ava' dress in jade green by Pinup Couture, women of Mad Men photo via AMC, 'Joanie' dress in dusty rose by Pinup Couture (available in August), 'DeeDee' blue floral dress by Pinup Couture.

Some 60's inspired wedding dresses for the Man Men enthusiast and retro fashionista... All under $600!
Sources: Clockwise from top left - 'Milan' wedding dress, 'Edmonton' wedding dress, 'Beverlywood' wedding dress, 'Pasadena' wedding dress all by Dolly Couture.

How about some {free} Mad Men inspired save the dates?
'Madly in Love' free custom download from The Wedding Chicks - choose your colors and personalize.

And for 60's ad men inspired invitations, these take the cake.
'Playbill' wedding invitation suite from Paper Source

Some more tidbits and inspiration...

A well stocked martini bar is an absolute Mad Men must have.
from Domino Magazine
From Sunday Suppers via erin ever after

via Style Me Pretty

free download via Nonpareil Mag

via Poppies and Posies

That's about all the Mad Men-ness I can stuff into one post! Hope you liked it - super fun posts coming up this week, including some fab DIY projects from real bride Lindsey!