Rock Candy Cake?!

Rock Candy wedding cake?! YES PLEASE! This stylized wedding is just UHH-MAZING...love love love the colors.

click for entire inspiration board via stylemepretty.com

make do and mend.

Singer Print.
Originally uploaded by Clare Owen Illustration

Sooo I somehow need to send out our wedding invites by April 1st. Throughout the whole DIY wedding invite ordeal we have managed to wear down our equipment to the bone...we've needed to order a new printer and last night my sewing machine decided to crap out on me as well. I believe I just need to oil my machine...so I'm going out this evening to pick some up from the fabric store. Lets hope that fixes it...otherwise I don't know how I shall "make it work."

...be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...

Our honeymoon destination: San Francisco, California baby! We were originally thinking Hawaii but after realizing a plane ticket to San Fran would be about a third of the price of a ticket to Hawaii, we wised up and booked San Francisco right away.

I've always wanted to visit and neither of us have been to California. Crazy right? I may just fall in love with it. I've always said I wanted to move to San Francisco and sell my crafts by the sea...

I emailed the famous Victoria aka sfgirlbybay and she was kind enough to give us some insider tips on what to do and see. For anyone else that has been to SF please send us your suggestions! Thnx :)

Go with the flow...

We're shooting our engagement photos next weekend. So I have been desperately seeking outfits to wear. I've probably been driving my photographer nuts with all my scatter brain ideas for the shoot. And out of all the ideas I've come across I still don't know exactly what we're gonna do or what we're gonna wear. I guess I'll just have to leave it up to the professional.

I had this vision of wearing a light, airy, flowy dress. And I have yet to find the perfect one that isn't more than I want to pay. I stumbled across these two Etsy shops and I wish I had found them sooner, seeing how one is located in Taiwan and says shipping can take anywhere between 7-30 days :P

Spunshop makes these wonderful Mexican style embroidered dresses, which I thought was odd since they are in Taiwan...I digress...I love the hand embroidery on the light fabric. They'd be pretty with some cute boots or woven sandals. It just looks so comfortable and effortless. Which is always a good thing here when with how humid it can get.

Then on the totally opposite spectrum. I found these lovely flowy tulle dresses that are dreamy on bustle. Either way they won't be here in time for the shoot. So I am still left empty handed. Le sigh...

Sharing smiles...

This made my day. I hope it makes yours too :D

Wedding: Let them eat cake!

Found my baker! The hunt for wedding cake is finally over. We shopped around at a few places until finally booking Chef DeLong at Gourmet Bake Shoppe. While doing my research her name kept popping up with glowing reviews about her cakes. Its no surprise I guess since Chef DeLong has been in the cake business for 17 years and it truly shows in her execution. I had high expectations for my wedding cake design. I blame my bestie who is pretty skilled with a piping bag herself. In high school we worked at a local ice cream shop, so we've got some cake decorating skills under our belt.

On my search I either came across bakeries that were too high priced or the skill level just wasn't there. Chef DeLong offered both. She was more than happy to help us cut costs while still providing the sugar flowers I wanted for half the cost that I was quoted at other bakeries. I love Sugar Plum Bakery (another local favorite) but they weren't even offering sugar flowers. Another place wanted waaay too much for them, since the artist herself couldn't do them and had to outsource the task to someone else. Which I feel if you are in a cake business that should def be something in your repertoire.

Chef DeLong was such a sweet lady, her portfolio is amazing, and the cake was delicious. She has her very own design studio which I thought was quite professional. I'm happy with my choice. I can feel at ease knowing my cake will look and taste amazing on the big day.

Spring = Craft Shows!

It was quite beautiful yesterday. Very exciting seeing how the first day of Spring isn't until next week. Warm weather means many great things, a few being craft shows, antique shows, yard sales...etc :)

The Virginia Beach Spring Craft Market will be this coming March 19-21. Some 7 Cities ladies will be there selling their wares. Hopefully next year I'll be able to participate too, since I won't be planning a wedding an all. So if you're in the area I def suggest checking it out at the Convention Center @ the beach.

Coming in the summer will be the Virginia Beach Antique Show as well, August 13-15. Definitely will hit that up!

For more crafty events feel free to visit the 7 Cities Crafters Events page for updated events and info :)

Wedding: Rustic Vintage

I try and shy away from reposting things from other wedding blogs here on my blog, because I think its pointless when so many other blogs do it. But I couldn't help but want to share the latest images from Utterly Engaged's digital mag. I love everything about it. Mainly bc it is along the same lines of the "rustic-vintage" aesthetic I want for my wedding...that and it features my fave color teal :) I love the detail of both cakes and how one is very loud and busy while the other is very simple, but both very stunning. I wonder if after the wedding I'll still be interested in all these wonderful wedding blogs and sites. Or if I'll be sick and tired of seeing it all :P Either way, I'll enjoy it while I can.

Wedding: My Wedding Band

I love my wedding band. I want to wear it now. My mother escorted us to her jeweler, a local business that has been in the area for years, Rinehart Bros. Jewelry. I heard enough horror stories about mall jewelry stores to even attempt looking there, and after my issues with my engagement ring, it was an easy decision to listen to my mother's advice. My sister got her wedding ring from there too; might as well continue the tradition. Their storefront is kind of a hidden gem in its self hidden in the middle of Janaf shopping center. You wouldn't know it was there if it weren't for their amazing word-of-mouth reputation. My mom first ended up going there upon a recommendation from a coworker and she has been going there ever since.

All I knew about my ring is that I wanted a vintage/antique design. Rinehart was very accommodating to helping me find my dream ring. They didn't have the style in store but I was able to pick it out of their catalog. I received it in no time at all, it was in about a week later and it looks just as it did in the book. I was very happy to find my ring and at the price we were shooting for. Not to mention they were able to fix the bend in my engagement ring at no charge at all! You should go visit the store and pet their cuddly office/store dog for me :)