Our Crystal Seating-chart-tree

So a couple of weeks ago, we met with an exasperated bride: getting married in 2 weeks, and still needs her seating chart figured out as well as ceremony programs and money box. She had initially called us with her idea for her seating chart, which was a manzanita tree she wanted to hang table cards from. We added orchids, esperanza roses, candle holders, and sparkly crystal strands and came up with a gorgeous arrangement and new twist on your typical seating chart! We took pictures on Jenn's camera, but i'm impatient and i'm posting pics from my iPhone:

The tree featured 16 seating cards, 5 teardrop candle holders with votives, phalaenopsis orchids & esperanza roses, crystal strands with teardrop ends... love! :)

Here's a closeup shot (sort of) of the seating cards...

We also did her ceremony programs (which i don't have a picture of, yet) as well as her money box... a new product which we'll be adding to our site very very soon!! They'll be available in 2-tier, 3-tier, and even 4-tier arrangements, made to match your theme & colours. Check out Christy's!

Ribbons matched her colour scheme, plummy-purple and champagne, with some cute crystal accents to dress up the box a little.

Alleen & Jack's invitations! EEK! :)

So i've been racking my brain for blogging topics, and it hit me: duh, blog about what you're doing!! My latest project: Alleen & Jack's wedding invites.

My new favourites!! The turquoise and brown look really striking together, and the best part, it's got the kaleidoscope patterned paper from Envelopments!!! Jeepers, look at all those exclamation points; can you tell i'm excited about these ones? :D

k so check it out:

French roast pocketfold wrapped with platinum vellum belly band, accented with 2 swarovski crystals...


Open it up to a turquoise Kaleidoscope-patterned backing, and white linen cardstock on top; 3 inserts in the pocket, all incorporating bold colours and oversized elements of the pattern... LOVE!


Detail shot of the inserts. See, even without a metallic paper, it still looks great! Heavy ink on paper gives it a nice sheen, so you don't have to opt for the expensive thermograph printing, necessarily.

There we go. My next project is Ashley & Blake's purple invitation... those ones are using kaleidoscope patterned paper, but this time in PURPLE (which seems to be the colour of the season).

Something old, new, borrowed... leopard printed?

Shoes! I love shoes. Granted my shoe closet is just one of those organizers you get from ikea, and isn't nearly as full as i'd like it to be, but one day i will have an entire room dedicated to my wonderful footwear. Brides, you can fall into one of three categories when it comes to your bridal shoes: traditional, middle-ground, or completely out there.

(L to R): Coloriffics/Maya @ $87.95, Stuart Weitzman/Applause @ $200.00, Kate Spade/Hera @ $321.95
(All images from zappos.com)

These are my three favourite traditional shoes, in a range of prices from lowest to hights. Of course, i LOVE the kate spade ones, the not-quite-bow is a great alternative if you're not one for bows and such, and would look gorgeous with a raw silk white wedding gown. The Stuart Weitzmans are cute with the double bow and the cutout by the ankle, and the Coloriffics are at the perfect pricepoint for shoes you'll only wear once. Plus the rhinestone buckle adds a nice sparkle while maintaining its elegant feel. If you can't see the images with enough detail, check them out on zappos.com. So for the brides who don't really want to stray from the line, who like the idea of the classical white wedding, these are for you! (L to R): Nine West/Samiam @ $78.95, Betsey Johnson/Generosa @ $200.00, Elie Tahari/Blance @ $321.95
(All images from zappos.com)

So for those who know they don't necessarily want white, but don't really want to rock the boat too much, or maybe you're concerned about what your FMIL will say, these are three choices you can definitely wear again. I love Nine West, so when i as picking my bridal shoes, it was a natural first place to look. The soft slate blue is a nice touch of colour, and crossover pattern on the bridge of the foot adds a nice touch. The Betsey Johnsons in the middle would look great with an ivory or champagne coloured gown, and the touch of pink edging is a great compliment (plus it'll look fab with your tan!). My favourites, once again, are the most expensive ones. The metallic flower on the Elie Taharis are so pretty, the pictures here don't do it justice.

(L to R): Naughty Monkey/The Hype @ $85.45, Via Spiga/Fay @ $174.95, Giuseppe Zanotti/90023 @ $653.95
(All images from zappos.com)

The bridal gloves are off with these ones! No holds barred, these choices are purely for shock value (and the occasional nod from the fashionista guests), and would look awesome with your favourite jeans or perhaps a honeymoon outfit. The Naughty Monkeys are a runner up favourite for me, for one HUGE reason — all the Naughty Monkeys i've tried on are really comfortable. Like, you-could-dance-all-night-comfortable. The red Via Spiga slingbacks would look great with a pedicure, but the Zanottis... oh, the Zanottis... These are for the brides who love their shoes, and will treat themselves to a designer pair to truly feel like a princess. Just don't look at the price tag after you've bought them.

As for me... What did i wear on my wedding date?

What about you? What are YOU wearing on your big day?

Creative Weddings

So I did a google search on wedding, just to see what would come up. One of the results was a News article on Salma Hayek's wedding this weekend in Venice, Italy. Wedding? Yes, she's still married to hubby François-Henri Pinault, but they decided to make it official, again, witha second wedding ceremony! The shin-dig took place in the Venetial Opera House, and the female guests all wore Venetian masks.

Salma & her family all wearing masks... love it!

Guest Charlize Theron & bf Stuart Townsend on their way...

What are you doing to make your wedding unique? Are you incorporating any fun themes into the decor? Your day comes once, for most people anyway, what are you doing to make it memorable? Leave us a comment! We love hearing from creative brides :)

A new addition to the DBYT family ... CRYSTAL TREES!!

We're so excited to be able to announce the addition of a new product to our lineup of services! Designed By Yours Truly now offers Crystal Tree rentals! These versatile centerpieces come with 24-30" manzanita branches, loaded with glass crystals, and the option to upgrade with crystal drop ends and flowers. We'll even find the right colour filler to match your theme. So many options with these gorgeous arrangements, here are a couple of shots we took of our sample tree:



Attention all you brides anywhere in the Toronto area (as far east as Oshawa, and as far west as Waterloo), these trees are available for rent for your special day. Contact Designed By Yours Truly to reserve for your event — dates are booking up fast! Want to make your own trees? We've also become an official distributor of these wonderful manzanita branches, call us today for pricing!

So you've done all of your planning for your big day, and all you have left to choose are your wedding invitations

. You're excited, but the only problem is... you've spent most of your budget, you don't have much left, and all the invitation designer you've visited are quoting you $8-10 per set! If you're finding yourself stuck in this position, read on for a few tips you can use to bring your cost down:

1. Paper Choices - There are lots of beautiful papers out there, and if you've got a paper fetish like we do, it's difficult to choose just one or two! But if you inform your invitation

designer of your budget, she'll steer you in the right direction of papers that are in your price range. Stick to the non-metallics. If you want something that has a little something extra, a matte (non-metallic) paper with a bit of texture to it often does the trick.

2. Size - if you just can't find a matte paper that suits your style, the other option is to put together a set that's a little smaller than the standard 5" x 7" size! Some brides like how concise and neat a 4 x 5 invitation looks, and you can get more pieces out of a sheet which requires less paper cost!

3. Printing Method - Letterpress invitations are absolutely stunning, and everyone would love to be able to use this printing method for their invitations, but ... you guessed it... it's out of your budget. Letterpress invitations are individually hand-printed, and each piece is unique, so your invitation is basically a work of art. But a good invitation designer can come up with something equally unique and beautiful by incorporating unique and beautiful design elements into the physical pieces. Maybe a pattern printed on your cards? Maybe adding a few rhinestones would give it a little sparkle? For budget-conscious brides, digital printing is the way to go.

4. Amount of Paper - Eco-friendly doesn't necessarily always have to be expensive. Ditch your response card in favour of an online RSVP, and you've also ditched the expense of the extra 2 pieces (card & envelope to match). Or, if you must have a response card of some sort, what about a postcard? No extra cost of an extra envelope, and you've just saved yourself around $0.50 per set!

Ladies, shop around! You don't need to sign with the first invitation designer you meet, especially if they don't fall within your budget. You do realize that you get what you pay for in some regard, but that doesn't mean you're stuck with the DIY kits from your local craft store (which often amount to more stress that it's worth)! A good invitation designer will be able to understand your budget and be able to offer an attractive and unique solution to fit in your ideal price range.

Want to add a little bit of sparkle to your wedding?

Well, maybe not a little... Actually, a LOT. What are we talking about? Crystal Trees, of course! One of the biggest craze of the year amongst brides who want their wedding day to be a magical fairytale, these trees are absolutely gorgeous.

They're made from a tree called manzanita, and you can get them in the natural red or sandblasted white, or you can spray paint them gold or silver to match your decor. You can even get them in 5' or 6' arrangements for decorations around your head table. Other customizations could involve adding flowers (like orchids) on your stems, or attaching special shapes to the ends of your crystal strands... We love all the options you can choose from to make these beautiful trees fit your decor perfectly!



This is one of the next projects Yours Truly is working on, soon we'll have crystal trees for rent! Or, if you want to make your own crystal trees, you can buy the manzanita from Yours Truly too! How much do you love these trees? Leave us some feedback and let us know :)