Bridal Shower

Last weekend was my bridal shower and I want to share the beautiful and thoughtful floral arrangements Patrick's aunt created. Not only did she incorporate our color scheme and theme but also added cranberries which gave a perfect and fitting punch of red for the holiday season.

{images by Thoughtful Day}

Bridal Shower: Newlywed Game

I have to admit, I am not one for games and definitely do not like being the center of attention, but being a bride you have to get over the latter pretty quickly. At my bridal shower Patrick's family put together a list of questions, just like the Newlywed Game and it was so much fun! Here are the questions I was asked, I ended up scoring 12/20 - I think the score was pretty tough on me, (we have been together 7 years, I know him pretty well by now) considering a couple of Patrick's answers ended with question marks! Regardless, it was so much fun to answer the questions and hear what his answers were.

1) What is my favorite color?

2) What is his favorite color?

3) My best non-physical feature?

4) His best non-physical feature?

5) She finds my ____ very attractive.

6) She looks really sexy in ____.

7) She finds me irresistible when I wear ____.

8) Our favorite restaurant is ____.

9) It really annoys me when she ____.

10) She really gets annoyed when I ____.

11) Our first date was ____.

12) Where was your first kiss?

13) Who initiated it?

14) The first gift I ever gave her was?

15) The first gift she ever gave me was?

16) Where is the most unusual place you shared a romantic moment? - (this made me squirm in my seat!)

17) Most special/romantic memory so far is ____.

18) I knew I loved her when ____.

19) We want to have ____ kid (number and gender) and soon or not quite so soon?

20) The reason I can't wait to marry her is?

Flea Market Style : Emily Chalmers

I was recently gifted Flea Market Style by Emily Chalmers and this book is a treasure trove of beautiful homes decorated with mostly flea market, garage sale, and dumpster finds. No matter your preference of vintage style, whether it be retro, bohemian or mid-century; page after page this book will inspire you, I promise.

Emily Chalmers also happens to be the proprietor of the London shop Caravan, located in Old Spitalfields Market, one of my favorite markets in the world!

I just love how the tabletop items in those last few photos are displayed!

Elum Designs

I am in constant search of gift ideas for our wedding, and if the gift happens to fall within our color story, even better. This particular Desk Set and Journal would be perfect gifts for my bridesmaids.

Martha Stewart Crafts

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to a Michaels craft store. Living in NYC, opportunities like this are few and far between. Of course as soon as I got there, I rushed over to the Martha Stewart Crafts area and found some great little embellishments for our wedding ideas.


I bought enough of these Daisy stickers to (maybe) put one on each place card at the reception. If the lettering on each card is grey, the yellow and white daisies will work perfect!

I also came across these little Yellow Daisy Cake stickers, I think I will put them in the children's welcome bags...

I couldn't resist these small Silver Wood Grain cards, they are the perfect size for short and sweet thank you notes.

The Dinner Party

For those of you that live in Brooklyn, or will be visiting, I am excited to see that Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party" is on (long term) view at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Throughout countless art history classes, I was always fascinated by this piece and I look forward to finally seeing it in person.

'Tis the Season

Last week I was uptown and got the chance to view some amazing holiday window displays. I love this time of year!







Barneys eco-themed holiday window displays were my favorite, and as always, they were the most fun. All of the displays were made of recycled materials and each window had a different green theme, my favorite was Rudolf the Recycling Reindeer, entirely made from bottle caps! It's great to see they not only are committed to style but also to the environment, Barneys is dedicated to planting 25,000 trees . Every little bit helps!







Bergdorf Goodman's holiday window concept, The Four Elements, is extremely sophisticated and beautiful. The glitzy jewel adorned window displays were remarkably over the top and luxurious. I especially love all of the animals, the giraffe in the Earth display and the elephant in the Air display were some of my favorites.

{Images by Thoughtful Day}

Kaj Franck

I am in love with Kaj Franck's hand blown glass, his shapes and color combinations are brilliant. My favorite pieces are his hand blown Bells of Kremlin Caraffes (top images); I love how the actual body is clear glass and the stoppers are where the pops of color come in.

(top l-r)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

For the husband to be

I am dedicating a post to Patrick's suit choices, all from John Varvatos. I saved on my dress, I bought the first and only one I tried on (and probably cheapest). From the beginning, I was more into the invitations than the dress. I actually dreaded the dress part, but it turned out to be easy. So money was saved on "the dress" and I am encouraging Patrick to go all out on a suit, not only one he loves, but (I hope) will continue to wear...and it has to be grey.

Vane from Brooklyn Bride had a great post about suits/tuxedos last week, check it out, there are some great and reasonable options that Vane as well as reader's posted. Our link is just about John Varvatos suits, they are expensive, but if this is what he wants, he can have it.

If I were a guy, I would want one of these suits, I love the European cut, not too Thome Browne (although I do love the cut of his suits) and not too bulky, traditional American (long arm and pant leg) suits. All of the above images are from John Varvato's Spring/Summer 2008 collection.

Jonathan Adler : Brooklyn Design / Modernism Young Designer of the Year

Last week I attended the Modernism Show at the Park Avenue Armory (unfortunately the show ended on the 19th) and was excited to see Jonathan Adler recognized with the Brooklyn Museum / Modernism Young Designer of the Year award. Exhibited were some of Jonathan's beautiful ceramic pieces from his early years to present day. The display was beautifully and delightfully presented at the entrance of the show.

{Images by Thoughtful Day}

The Decanter Lifestyle

Up until recently, I never thought about owning a decanter and actually using it. Patrick and I got into a discussion about them and both decided it is a total lifestyle. I love decorative decanters, and have a few of them, but it's hard to imagine a functional decanter becoming part of our lifestyle. I have contemplated registering for one, there are so many gorgeous wine decanters on the market, but who really uses them? Hugh Hefner? Robin Leach? Below are some of my favorite picks from the modern (and some re-issued) world of crystal decanters.


The Ambassador decanters designed by Oswald Haerdtl in 1925 are such modern and elegant shapes.


(l-r) Thomas O'Brien's Cynthia decanter has a beautiful feminine shape with vertical chiseled cuts. I love the masculinity of Ted Muehling's Tortoise decanter.


The first thing I thought of when I saw these decanters by William Yeoward was a lollipop.


Although the Eveline decanter is a modern design by William Yeoward, it is extremely rare to find hand cut star shapes as such on vintage glass decanters.


(l-r) I love this trio of Rosenthal decanters, the stoppers are some of my favorites. This last decanter is a classic shape (yet again) by William Yeoward. I can't help but mention him when posting about crystal as he has some of my favorite designs out there right now.

Save the Dates!

Last week we sent out the save the dates. It felt so good to get those out, they were a lot of work! But to be honest I am having so much fun designing all of the little details for our wedding, that it doesn't really feel like work.

Because we are having a destination wedding, there was a ton of information that had to go into each booklet. Everything from the itinerary, travel and passport information, a brief on the resort and all of the festivities. Even a what to wear section, the resort we are having our event is pretty formal in the evening, so I needed to make people aware that they can't really rock flip-flops at any of the on-site restaurants.

I wanted to save money on the save the dates and splurge on the invites, so I just printed them out on our ink jet printer and my friend Emily helped sew them. Actually she did all of the sewing, I just sat and collated. I really wanted them to be informal, cheerful and whimsical. After all, it's going to be a fun, celebratory weekend with all of our closest friends and family. The invites will be much more formal, but still have a touch of playfulness.

top to bottom
• front booklet page to set the tone for the rest of the print collateral
• background patterns, used for the booklet backing and the envelope liners
• assembly line
• stitched booklets

{Images designed by Thoughtful Day}

Yellow Inspiration

Snippet and Ink has put together an impressive amount of wedding color and theme boards, every day I am in constant awe of her stunning compilations.

Above are boards similar to our wedding color story.
Not So Mellow Yellow
Marigold and Gray

the Wedding Invitation Handbook

This book by Julie Holcomb has been an absolute godsend for me in designing all of the wedding stationery. It is not only a must have for any bride to be, but a great reference for anyone interested in the formality of stationery. We were at Kate's Paperie one Saturday afternoon, it seems like all of our Saturdays are spent at paper stores lately...Anyway, Patrick picked it up and made me get it. I am so thankful I did!