our save the dates: a labor of LOVE.

our save the dates were a labor of some serious love involving my all-time favorite combination of design + media.  i’ve been obsessed with filming/editing videos since elementary school so it was only appropriate that reis and i made a video to send out to our guests.  our good friend jon helped us film one sunday on the north shore and i edited our footage down to a short little film.  then i got to designing the packaging of it all (so much fun!).  i ordered kraft dvd cases from washington and sent them to louisiana to be letterpressed with my design (i am so obsessed with anything and everything lettepressed!).  then came the fun part of individually(!) burning 130+ copies of the finalized dvd.  i designed the “details” insert and sent them out to be printed in california.  then i designed the dvd label, ordered blank glossy labels online, printed them on my printer, and stamped a label on each dvd.  the address labels i printed on vellum and spray glued them on to bubble wrap mailers (for the record, spray glue and vellum are my worst enemies…lots of stickiness, lots of trial and error, and lots of worrying that the labels would fall off in transit, leaving the packages to be forever lost in usps land).  finally i wrapped up the kraft cases with some baker’s twine and off they went!  this whole process was my ideal project and it was SO much fun seeing it come to life after being a vision inside of my head for months.

*check back tomorrow because i’ll be sharing our video!

life updates.

sorry for the lack of blogging for the past few months!  life is full of lots of exciting things over here, though!

we finally got most of our save the dates out (YAY YAY YAY) this monday so thats a big fat red check off of the list (not short of an all-nighter or a 1.5 hour stint at the post office, woohoo!).  i will be sharing them next monday here on the blog and i am ridiculously excited to show you guys!  oh and did i mention that amidst wedding planning craziness, i am moving?!  my landlord sold her house and i have to be out by this sunday!  ay yi yi, moving for me consists of being SUPER last minute with my packing/cleaning, having anxiety about throwing away things that i’ve accumulated over the months , and then after awhile getting so fed up with packing all of the stuff i have, that in the end, i am able to purge said crap quite easily.  we call this “purge-mode.”  lots of stuff ends up in that big black trash bag and it actually feels really great and cleansing.  it’s a good system, i tell you.

saturday morning.

reis and i had a coffee date on saturday morning to a relatively new coffee shop called R+D in kakaako.  we haven’t seen much of each other lately because we have both been working crazy hours, so it was nice to have a morning with him all to myself!  plus, discovering new coffee shops is one of our favorite things to do.  they have stumptown coffee so it was an automatic win in my book and it has a pretty cool atmosphere too.  we will be back soon.  i hope everyone had a great weekend!

four months to go.

you guys.  four months from TODAY reis and i will be getting married!!!  FOUR MONTHS.  ahh!  time is flying.  i am really trying to savor this whole engagement time because it only happens once.  it’s been a really sweet time in our relationship and planning a wedding is just really fun!  here are some updates on our wedding plans:

1) my dress// i’ve mentioned this before, but i am designing my own dress and it has turned into a multi-state affair.  i got measured last weekend by a seamstress in hawaii, we are having a seamstress in idaho make the pattern, and my talented mama in california is making the dress.  it’s all kinda crazy.  last week my mom sent me a picture of the fabric she bought for it and i am slightly obsessed!  so excited to see my design come to life!

2) our save-the-dates// hahaha. well….according to martha stewart, these should have gone out, ooooohhh, about 4 months ago.  yeah.  so it’s only appropriate (considering reis and i are the most un-punctual people on the planet) that they are not going out for another week or so.  it’s been quite a production (literally) to make them and i am SUPER excited to finally send them out!  i will share full on details (and show lots of photos) once we send them out to our guests!

3) vendors// i’m happy to say that we have booked the majority of our major vendors and i am so excited about all of them!!  my mom is the best wedding planner (ever!) and has made this whole long-distance-wedding-planning thing a lot easier (and a whole lot less stressful) just knowing she is taking care of all of the logistics.  now it’s time to nail down all of the little details and i am currently a busy busy lady designing everything (programs, menus, table numbers, escort cards, invitations, our logo, etc.)…probably one of my favorite parts about wedding planning!

it really is so much fun planning the biggest day of our lives.  here’s to hoping the next four months don’t go by too fast!

photo from our engagement shoot with brooklynhawaii

taylor + bradley wedding: part III.

taylor and bradley’s reception was held in taylor’s parents’ gorgeous backyard (a dream of taylor’s since she was little!).  she spent months perfecting the decor, shopping for vintage pieces, and creating a billion DIY projects…all of which were well worth it because her backyard was transformed into an absolute fairytale dreamland!  market lights + fabric strips + the most amazing flowers (the head table pictured above was unreal!!) + candles + old bottles + a create your own pasta dish bar + lots of burlap and lace + OMG the most creative and beautiful dessert table i have ever seen!  girl is seriously talented.  it was a beautiful day celebrating the marriage of a very very special couple!  i love you both so much and i am so proud of you guys.  congratulations tay and bud! xx

taylor + bradley wedding: part II.

june 16 was a really special day.  i’ve said this before, but we really LOVE taylor.  a lot.  she is the perfect fit in our family and we could not have picked anyone more perfect for our brother!  (and vice versa…our brother is one pretty amazing guy himself).  we got ready at the hotel all morning and had the sweetest hair and makeup artists come to the suite to make us up real pretty.  taylor was an absolutely stunning bride and had that beaming bridal glow all afternoon.  i love just looking back at these photos because it was such a memorable day.  eee!  i just love all things wedding!  since i was in the wedding, i didn’t get any photos of the ceremony, but was able to get a few at the reception which i will share tomorrow!  (get ready for DIY amazingness…taylor is a creative genius!)