This was my first time working with Dave Richards and his cute-as-a-button wife Sandy, but I’m really hoping it won’t be my last. Just looking through the images he recently blogged of Elena and Nathan have brought back a flood of memories from their seamlessly stress-free, gorgeous day. I’m thrilled to gush to you some of their perfect images!!

Radiant bride…. check!

Handsome groom…. check!

Killer cohesive bridal party…. check!

Ridiculously pretty church… check! And then, there’s love.

Lots and lots of love.

And a great reception locale like The Ebell Club, Long Beach doesn’t hurt either!

The decadent arrangements from Flower Allie add the perfect POP to this fun color scheme of navy and orange. And here’s a designer’s inside tip: when working in a candle-lit, romantic environment, go a shade lighter with your linen. In the light of day, you may not understand- but in the deep, dark colors of your reception, that extra “lift” of color will make all the difference. Keeping with Spanish feel, we used La Tavola’s dupionique in royal [a cobalt blue tone, much like the Spanish tiles we used as escort cards] to ensure the colors didn’t get lost in the evening light. It was the perfect impact!

Isn’t it always the “little” things that get you?? Elena chose for us to do a “detail wrap up and decor budget” for her. It’s one of our most popular additions these days and can be added to any of our services. For Elena and Nathan, we took the liberty of implementing several tiny decor elements to really impact her day. We upgraded linens and napkins, added a lace knot napkin wrap, detailed the bride and groom chairs [with lace tails and signage], created menu cards for their buffet, concepted and created their escort card tiles with alternating blue/orange colors, wrapped candles in custom lace, created wedding programs, and designed/assembled 20 welcome baskets [complete with custom timeline, logo/artwork, and packaging for her guests]. WHEW. All in 2 weeks time. If THAT’s not bang-for-your-buck, I don’t know what is!

Just a suggestion, but if you skip on over to Dave’s site, there’s more where this came from. He’s a great blogger [in example: timely, generous with images that are generously sized, and credits all of his vendors]. I love this in a photographer. I love this in ANY vendor. I’m on his side.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this wedding come together! I got to work with Elena and Nathan from the get-go, so here’s a shout out to our all-star cast of characters:

Ceremony: Wayfarer’s Chapel
Reception: Ebell Club Long Beach
Photographer: Dave Richards
Event Design and Planning: In The Now
Florist: Flower Allie
DJ: John Suarez, After Dark Entertainment
Napkin Rentals: Signature Party
Linens: La Tavola Fine Linen
Catering: Jay’s Catering
Custom Graphics: Kristen [Graphical Intern], In The Now
Vinyl Escort Card Logos: Creative Media Print
Hair/Makeup: Artistry By Briana

Holla! Look at that list. It’s what I love to see. :) So sad it’s over… so happy they’re married. It’s the bittersweet small moments in life that keep me pushing forward. Hoping you find some JOY in today, tomorrow, and your ‘forever’.

xoxo,

So I know that I continually state how much of an event design firm In The Now is- and we truly love what we do whole-heartedly, but I figure the easiest way to prove it is to really SHOW you! We’re best when allowed to collaborate, create, dream, get outside the box, and tie up loose ends. And that’s exactly what this wedding season’s focus is for us! For Melissa and Fonz, we wanted to create delicate, personal details that would combine for these “love birds” their passion for music, their vintage/historic site [Union Station's Fred Harvey Room], the style of their invitation suite combined with their playful save-the-dates, and of course… pop in some modern for love of all things In The Now! We truly adore the details we got to put together for this weekend, and seeing them come to life has been better than we had imagined!

Their colors? Classic gold and ivory, paired with the richest shade of fuchsia-based purple!

The lovely Kristen, intern extraordinaire [and total graphical diva], was on-hand to create whimsy and personality combining the look of their invites, from Foglio Press on Etsy [in a purple and grey scheme]:

And their Save-The-Date cards:

And here is a couple items from their graphic suite that Kristen created – the graphic element is JUST the beginning. I cannot wait to reveal details from their actual wedding, but alas, pro pics are always worth the wait!!

A perfect combination for the love birds! Fun and fantastic all rolled into one!

What details, you might ask, are we creating? Everything from welcome baskets for their out of town guests [complete with custom monogrammed munchies], wedding programs, table numbers, signature drink accessories [flags and signs], menu cards, escort cards [the cutest you've ever seen- I'll betcha!], and more, more MORE! We are totally thrilled with the deets for their day!

Until next time my dears!

xoxo,

A.

I’m sure y’all remember these killer rustic chic invites that our adorably fabulous Shannon whipped up for Lesa and Eric. I’m sure you do. Because it shows how amazing and stylish our clients are. And here are the photos to prove it!

I just 100% adore how their photographer, Zenia Photography, captured their love story!

Plus- well- it doesn’t hurt if the couple is completely gorgeous, too… right?

And now- some of the details you’ve really been DYING for…

Thanks to Zenia for the photos and for the remarkable pleasure of working together once again! Go give her a hoot and holler over on her blog!!

And, one for the road:

The lineup:

Sweet Tunes [and lighting] provided by Mike @ Carcano DJs
Rentals by Classic Party Rentals [to the rescue, I may add- thanks Gretel!!]
Design and Coordinating by [the ever-fabulous] In The Now Weddings
Photography by Zenia Photography
Cake and Flowers provided by the bride and family!

Have a dig-your-toes-in-the-mud kinda day. And don’t be afraid to get some dirt under those fingernails, either!

xoxo,

A.

Hello ya’ll! I am SO excited to show you these invitations! Amanda approached me a while back with a wonderful idea for a country chic bride looking for a whimsical yet rustic western looking invitation suite. You better believe I was 100% in.

With all the inspiration of rustic and western vibes, my mind went straight to wood backing. How more rustic could you get? With the perfect feminine color palate [all shades of purple, navy and mint green accented with cream and fruitwood tones], the wood backing ads just enough rustic to make it work! Believe it or not, the first one I whipped up is what we went with! We then used the same design ideas for the RSVP postcard and information card on a nice ivory base.

We used a heavy-weight, deliciously textured ivory stock for the paper goods and ivory vellum for the main invite. The shape was custom cut for us [a must with this design and really what sent us over the edge in love with it]. We then tied it all together with a lace ribbon inside of a precious box! The lace was the perfect pop against the wood and paper products- and we went with a modern, more “geometric” lace to compliment the feminine colors. I would LOVE to get one of these in the mail!

What I loved most about this project were the quirky colors paired with the rustic country chic look Lesa was looking for.  It just worked, and turned out so great, if I do say so myself!

Hope you all enjoyed hearing about it as much as I did making it! And just in case you weren’t excited enough after these for Lesa and Eric’s wedding photos… the super cute background fabric is actually what we’re custom making their napkins from for the event! Yippee!

love,

Shannon

That’s right, y’all! Bringing back a little randomness from the In The Now team for you. I’ll bet that you’re pretty excited at this point, aren’t you?? Well, I am too!! So here’s a few randoms from yours truly to kick things off!

1. For Valentine’s Day my husband got my a stuffed lion [with a sunflower petal collar] that sings the song “Sunflower” by Neil Diamond in 3-part children’s choir unison. It’s disturbing at best. If you have absolutely NO idea why he’d do this, go here. The trouble is, I make the bed every morning and put it right in between our pillows as a joke… but now it’s kinda become a habit. Yikers.

2. I’m almost ready to reveal the new site. Like, in the next 48 hours, keep your eyes peeled. It’s gonna be epic sauce. And with the new site, I’ll likely be taking on a new intern for the office. I just feel they coincide. I’m super extremely overly ridiculously excited about that!

3. I’ve been doing a lot of designing lately. In fact, you’ll notice once the new site is up that design services are included in every In The Now package. For this, I am thrilled. But it also means that I have trouble sleeping at night with my head exploding and ideas pouring out onto [in the morning] illegibly-scribbled notepads. I’m kinda obsessed with it. I’m eclectic and random and scattered and all the signs of a great designer. But, I have the skill to reign myself back in. I literally separate my week into design days and organizing days. It’s become very efficient! A few of my iPhone pics that are inspiring me lately:

This specific orange-yellow tone of wood:

Mini champagne splits [dying]- BOTH being used in upcoming projects:

Lorina Lemonade with it’s feminine bottle shape:

Wallpaper at the Barnes & Noble. Hello, they’re mini ampersands!

VIBE! Dinnerware [plates, chargers, bowls] a la Town + Country Rentals:

And one last picture that always keeps me going:

Husband’s special note to me whilst cooking dinner. Love him, too!

4. Two Auer Photo. Okay I said we’d talk about it so here’s the talk. NO I’m not “becoming a photographer”. NO I don’t shoot weddings. TAP was essentially created because we have great light in our studio space, a nice camera, and I’m a control freak that wants to ensure I get the images I need from each table setting. Really, it’s much more simple for me to commit to designing one table a month when I know I don’t have to orchestrate a photographer to come lend their time shooting it for me. It’s worked out fabulous thus far. and The TAP blog is just to post images of our shoots on a place that isn’t associated as much with In The Now. I don’t want people coming here, seeing that Josh and I have taken the photos, and being confused. Simple as that! We don’t shoot people. We shoot things. Things that can’t move. Where the variables are considerably less and where [and when] we can control our settings, lighting, etc. That’s the way I like it! SO- now you know! A quick peek into “getting the shot”:

And here is the shot itself:

Kinda totally worth all the MacGuyver moves we had to make [at one point, Josh had his iPhone under the spoon- which was sideways still- holding up the camera! Ridiculous]!

5. I’ve been cooking at home a lot. It makes me feel like a lady. But it also gives me dishpan hands. Big sigh.

6. I don’t consider myself a DIY craft oriented type of person. But right now I’ve become increasingly distracted with paper products like this:

And this:

SHOOT me dead, I just love it so much! It makes me motivated to create and recreate!

7. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that we hear a lot of familiar songs while watching Cougar Town. That’s because this is one of the FIRST shows that Josh has been placed on [with his music] that we can actually stomach watching. It’s quippy, smart, and fast-paced. Stuff that I love. The only problem is that when we do know he’s getting placed, I’ve already been distracted by the plot and I’m not paying attention! If you watch it, just know that if they’re in the bar, there’s a great chance my husband’s song is playing in the background as ambiance music. He’s been placed 7 times so far [and they've only had 15 episodes]! It’s pretty fun.

8. Something that made me smile today when opening a random folder:

Sometimes I miss my clients after their weddings. But it makes me bubble with pride, hope, and joy that they’re off creating families and lives and sharing last names! Thanks to Jonilyn for this one. And Christine + Tim of course!!

9. Do you notice that I release my blogs each day at 10:30am? I typically try to write in the evening, in advance, and then release at 10:30am for consistency. It’s currently 10:31am and I’m so anxious I’m biting my nails over it!

10. Since we’re changing the site and blog, we’ll have a lot more flexibility with writers and content and etc. So, I’d love feedback on what you’d like to see more of, what keeps you coming back, what you look for in a blog you love, and what will enhance our impact in your wedding world! Please, don’t hesitate to leave comments. We’d love it! I want to introduce you to our world in an intimate way, but I don’t want our features to be sloppy or incomplete. Tell me what you’ve liked, tell me what you haven’t so much cared for! I’ll give you all a dollar. Just kidding. I probably won’t.

And now for a soapbox moment: The deliciously adorable Shannon and her husband Scott entered the Green Wedding Shoes contest for a photo shoot and styling! They’re finalists!! Give your vote for them here!! SO proud of her styleboard! :)

Hope your day is filled with random JOY and bursts of laughter- the best kind!!

xoxo,

A.

So I never really got to feature these before, but the LOVELY Kristin at Twin Raven’s Press printed up my gorgeously [deep] letterpressed note cards for our studio opening party back in September. I actually still have quite a few of them left and I treasure them so much that I can hardly bear to hand them out, but do- openly- to anyone who wants/asks/is around to receive them. Pop on over to her blog to see all of the sweet, humbling words that she said about me [these all from someone who has yet to meet me in person or even hear my voice on the phone!]. But for now… enjoy the cute-tastic images of the cards that she took and featured over on the Twin Raven’s Press Blog!!

These amazing 3″ notecards feature modern typeface [to match my new, pending website] and are a nod to my studio artwork [as you can see, featured in the studio opening video and also the picture collage from the party!!]. I love them like a lot lot lot!

And tell me that the little mini logo on the back of the card isn’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen!! Wait… you can’t. Because it IS!

Hope that this weekend makes a deep impression in your heart, the way that these quotes are deeply impressed on the softest of cotton papers…

xoxo,

A.