As per our commitment, here’s some shots from the entirely-too-fun St. Patrick’s Day table we put together!

The inspiration, you ask? Think classic greens with an upscale twist. I wanted the vibe to be traditional and elegant with a punch of modern [of course] and a taste of funk!

I used these killer ladderback chairs [my new favorite chiavari alternative] in gold to really give that “old world” vibe to the table! The hanging potato wreath was a labor of love, in all gold!

I know it sounds strange to say, but I absolutely adore how the mini taper candles exude the vibe of Roman Catholicism. It wasn’t the original plan for it to do so, but once the centerpiece was in place… it just felt so perfectly Irish Catholic! What a way to celebrate heritage and history!!

And so you can see the fun, from above:

Now, some of you who are newer to my blog may not know this as well, but let it be heard: I am ALL ABOUT centerpieces composed of a filler-flower-only! These centerpieces packed with different types of leafy greens really get my heart racing! We also created these darling boutonnieres for the “guests” to pin on- because as everyone knows, if you forget to wear green, you’re gonna get pinched!

This plating style may be my favorite composure in quite some time! I love that the two base plates [gold charger and green dinner] are larger and centered while the salad plate is small and set at the bottom, near the guest, with the boutonniere on it! It just screams LOVELY to me!

And what’s a St. Patrick’s Day feast without a large glass of beer?? NOTHING, I say! We loved using these [almost uncomfortably] tall beer glasses to set the tone for the glassware at the party!

And who could forget drink flags?? NOT me! The water just screamed for an extra pop! This ribbon was pretty wide, and looked quite adorable when knotted onto the top of our stick to create the flag.

Stellar calligraphy was provided by Victoria at Inkwell Calligraphy. I just knew when I was plotting this table that calligraphed items were a must! These name cards have been made into mini banners that sit behind each person’s plate!

And some gorgeous, hand-written menus [with classic Irish dishes, of course!]:

Our cuter-kins little pots of gold as favors:

I stuck a leaf in for good measure!

And lastly, a few shots of our darling boutonnieres that you didn’t yet see:

And of course, my favorite:

If you’re asking if they were just as cute in person… the answer is YES! And cuter!

The lineup includes:

Table Linens from BBJ and La Tavola
Ladderback Chairs from Party Rental King
Plateware + Basics from Signature Party Rentals
Photography by Two Auer Photo
Calligraphy by Victoria’s Inkwell
Event Styling + Floral work by In The Now!

We here at In The Now have a TON going on this week- lots of posts and pictures and pretties, but nothing more exciting than our styleboard being picked of one of the top 3 over at Wedding Chicks for their design competition!! You may remember our ridiculously perfect color palette that started it all from here. Well, now we’ve concepted the whole thing out, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

The contest winner will be styling a huge workshop with Chenin Boutwell + The Wedding Chicks and frankly, the idea that we came up with is so FAB, it pains me to think of NOT styling it. The details- in my head- are just amazingly ooey gooey goodness! Here’s the board that the WC gals put together for us. I supplied them with 60+ pictures for it, because that’s how I roll. THAT- y’all- is how I roll!

PLEASE GO HERE AND VOTE FOR US!!. We’re styleboard #2!! You can vote as many times as you’d like. The voting ends Saturday, March 20th! Would truly adore the support- especially if what we’re showing you so far looks unique and piques your interest as much as it did ours, putting it together!

**All new posts will go under this one until Saturday, March 20**

Oodles and oodles of things like poodles!! Vote, vote, vote!!

xoxo,

A.

Hellloooo there! It’s me. Rachel. Newest member of the In The Now design team. Nice to meet you! I hope you have a dish nearby, because you’re gonna need it to catch your drool after you look at these fantastical images.

Hmmm…maybe that isn’t the best mental picture. Well, I’m new at this blogging thing so you can excuse it, right?…..(Please come back, because if you don’t Amanda might revoke my blogging privileges and then the world wouldn’t be the better place it is now because I talked about drool bowls). Anyhoo, I L.O.V.E. this table. I really do. Every time I look at it, it makes me smile. Maybe it’s because it’s the first design I really worked on (all the way down to the knitting of the silverware cozies)….

Maybe it’s this tasty pop of teal….

Maybe it’s the slammin’ brick placemats….

or maybe the square marshmallows (which we ALMOST ordered from Oregon. Because we are THAT committed to our design….or maybe just because we’re crazy…)

Any which way you slice it, this design was a zany caper from start to finish. Once we were given the rules for the Utterly Engaged Design Challenge (the centerpiece had to be mainly constructed of industrial materials) Amanda told me her idea of having a plexiglass fireplace. I thought, “It’s okay. Once her crazy pills wear off we’ll talk real design.” I just couldn’t envision the flames she was talking about. But once I saw the graphic from Cathy Olson at Love At First Invite, I knew we were on the right track. I don’t know how we got paired up with such perfect vendors, but we did! They just “got” the design without needing to be told exactly what to do. Plexiglass menu’s and placecards?? Yes please!!

And Lauryl Lane’s florals from Lauryl Lane Floral Artistry were spot on. The variety of berries and leafy goodness added just the right amount of warmth while still keeping it modern. And last but not least, all the additional details that completed our whole look.

Mmmmm. A whole bowl-full of delicious num nums, with our hot-teal-tastic accent color pumpin’ it up. ::sidenote:: Isn’t that chunk of brick missing on the right under the menu just fantastic? Love the semi-grunge feeling it gives.

I’m not much of a milk fan, but I want to guzzle it down JUST because it’s in those killer-cute mini carafes. I have a major weakness for anything mini or oversized.
And for the guests to take the modern warmth home, Amanda made up little boxes wrapped in faux bois wrapping paper that held tea bags (Yup. Sewed by the Mands herself with teal thread) and rock candy swizzle sticks to plunge them deeper into the depths of the sugar induced coma they’re already in due to the all dessert menu. Sounds like my kind-o party!

And finally, my crafty contribution, the silverware cozies.

Just a reminder for those of you who have already forgotten what the whole thing looked like together because of glorious image overload…

And there you have it! Until we meet again sweet readers.

List of Fantasticity
Photos: Two Auer Photo
Florals: Lauryl Lane Floral Artistry
“Paper” Products: Love at First Invite
Linen: La Tavola
**and a special thanks to my amazing husband who didn’t murder me while I took over his shop to put the plexiglass stuff together**

Can you believe I’m posting something at 5pm? I can’t. It [a little bit] grosses me out. I’d wait to release it until the ‘morrow but I just can’t do that. I’m too excited. And plus, we’ve got lots of deliciousness ahead- whose to say this particular moment of delicious needs to wait?? I say thee nay!

I just stopped by in the midst of my afternoon to share with you a lovely image that I find particularly drool-worthy. You may have seen our color board for the March Tabletop a few posts back, and here, my lovelies.. is a snippit of the fruition of said color board:

More to come on that later! Hope you’re having a splendid week. I’ll try my best to keep our blog fresh, inspirational, and regularly scheduled as wedding season sets into motion.

Here’s to keeping your head on in the midst of chaos!

xoxo,

A.

What’s that now?? A storm is a-brewin’ once again in So Cal! Ya don’t say!!

It completely, 100% FIGURES that I’d plan yet another trip to my favorite area [the downtown LA garment and flower district] on a day when torrential downpour is very likely to ensue. Yet, my motivation is strong, and my excitement is rumbling inside my brain louder than the thunder could roll!! Here’s a little sneak of the colors I’m putting together for our lovely March tabletop. Of course it’s got an Irish feel to it- it’s March! I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s going to be outrageously, utterly, ridiculously fabulous. And that’s not just because it’s me putting it together. Okay maybe it is. Jury’s still out… I’ll let you all decide!

What do you think of when you see this? When you think of March?? When you dream of Ireland??? Curious to hear the answers that you come up with! It may or may not make it’s way onto the March table!

xoxo,

A.

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.

Does my title say it all or WHAT!!

I’ve kinda gotten into the bad habit of forgetting to blog things that have been published online elsewhere. I will stop this- I promise. It’s important to me that you guys can come HERE to see my work and not have to track us down all over the old dubbeya dubbeya dubbeya for fantastic images of wedding inspiration.

Since my commitment to designing a new fresh tabletop each month is in total full effect, you’ll be bombarded almost constantly with images and features and inspiration boards and the like here on the blog. Which, I kinda have a crush on the thought of. Love it. The tabletop sessions for this year will actually focus more on party-style get togethers than actual weddings, but I like to think of my wedding style as more of an elegant, laid back design aesthetic whether or not it’s a party, wedding, or family get-together. So, it works. Here’s where the “+ Events” comes into play from the In The Now Weddings + Events. Ya see??

That being said, if you didn’t click over to the feature on Style Me Pretty, and if you didn’t see the ridiculously delicious teaser image that I posted last week, here are some of my faves! These images are all compliments of Two Auer Photo:

You had me at “cat-shaped-wine-bottle”!

My favorite, of course!

Love. Is. Forever.

Lace table cuff?? SO easy to do and such a big impact!

Ariel shots are totally my fave…

Texture of bengaline linens make me smile! Above, that’s my favorite detail shot. SO fun!

To see more description, pictures, goodness… click here and revel in the glory of Valentine’s Day all over again!!

xoxo,

A.

Can I just preface this by saying I can now officially die HAPPY?? What wedding vendor isn’t going out of their mind at the thought of being featured on Style Me Pretty!!

I’m indebted to Abby for posting our images on her blog! I adore this Valentine’s table 100% and cannot think of a better place than Style Me Pretty to have it posted! There are tons more photos coming from this shoot but honestly- Abby posted them all over there!

So head on over to check it out and be SURE to leave a comment telling the world how much you love me! :D

Happy hearts and stuff!

xoxo,

A.