A sneak peek of our photo shoot + interview!

Yesterday, we met with the incredibly talented, Lisa Rigby, for a fun photo session around the Boston Public Garden and Commonwealth Avenue. We'll go into the details of our amazing experience with Lisa in a future post soon, but for now, here's a sneak peek at a couple of the photos. Catch our mini interview and other photos from this shoot here, where Lisa asks us key questions on the services we provide to couples as wedding day of coordinators.

photos by Lisa Rigby Photography

Hand-Glittered Peacock Wedding Invitations

Many wedding invitations have a symbol as its main design element. For this particular invitation, I designed a beautiful pair of peacocks with the first intial of the groom's last name joining them together. The peacock is a symbol found in many cultures around the world, and represents everything from the goddess of mercy, to eternal life, to an emblem of protection, to royalty, to integrity and beauty. The colors of this invitation are similar to the colors of a peacock, with dark blues, aquas, and greens.

The cards are made of a pearlescent metallic white cardstock, with an aqua lagoon metallic envelope, a dark blue metallic cardstock backing, and dark blue metallic response envelope. The dark blue metallic paper gives a very royal feeling to the invitation, and it has so much shimmer. Also, all of the blue feathers in the peacocks and along the bottom border of each card are hand-glittered to give an incredible sparkle and texture to the invitation.

I just love the way the peacock feathers sparkle in the light. If you are interested in these invitations or a custom design for your wedding or event, please contact me at info@pinkorchiddesigns.com!

~Emilie

The packaging process for invitations

Packaging is always an important element of sending out an order of invitations or cards. It is just like receiving a present for the holidays or your birthday! If you receive a present unwrapped, it may be great, but if you receive that same present wrapped in some beautiful paper or a fancy bow, that will probably make it even better.

I like to hold all of the invitation pieces together with double-faced satin ribbon tied in a bow. Usually the ribbon used is a shade of pink (hot pink or light pink), and it is hand-tied around small stacks of 100 cards or less. Then, each stack is wrapped in a thick layer of bubble wrap, and then placed into a shipping box padded with recycled packing peanuts, with a personalized card to the recipient on top.

I just love pretty pink bows and I think it's a great first impression to give before viewing the finished product. I hope you enjoyed this little peek into the packaging process!

~Emilie

An elegant monogram invitation

The monogram invitation is always very popular, and with good reason! It's a classic design that will probably never go out of style. This particular invitation has a monogram with a single last name initial surrounded by a beautiful floral motif. The script font used throughout the cards is one of my absolute favorites because of all of the detailed flourishes in the letters.

The cards are made of a pearlescent metallic white cardstock, with a matching envelope, an onyx black metallic cardstock backing, and blue vista metallic response envelope. The blue vista metallic paper matches the blue in the invitation perfectly, and the onyx black metallic cardstock backing has so much shimmer, that it looks more like a sparkling charcoal gray.

If you would like this monogram invitation for your wedding, please contact me at info@pinkorchiddesigns.com!

~Emilie

Local Area Maps for Out of Town Guests

When wedding guests come in from out of town, it's common for brides give each guest a bag of goodies, like water bottles, snacks, and a list of city attractions. One thing that I think is really great to include in these bags is a local area map. I'm not referring to just a free city map that you can pick up at a local tourist counter, but a list of restaurants and stores right around the hotel where the guests are staying.

If guests are traveling to an unfamiliar city, they may think that there's nothing around the area if they can't see anything directly next to the hotel. They may end up just eating in the hotel instead of venturing out because they don't even know if they would find anything. With a local area map, they know exactly how far and where they need to travel to go to the pharmacy, pick up a bagel, or grab some lunch.

Since it's hard to find maps with all of the stores and restaurants laid out, most of these maps have to be custom designed. This process definitely starts with walking around the area where your guests will be staying, and marking down all of the stores and restaurants that you think would be of interest to your guests.

The following map is one I designed for guests staying at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Brookline, Massachusetts. The hotel is located in an area of Brookline called Coolidge Corner, and there are definitely a lot of stores and restaurants all within a few blocks.

This was one of the cards included in a set for the Out-of-Town bags. The other cards included a welcome letter, a schedule of events, and directions to and from the rehearsal dinner and wedding. This local area map was printed on pearlescent white metallic cardstock, with stores in blue, and restaurants in red.

If you are interested in a custom local area map for your wedding guests, please email me at info@pinkorchiddesigns.com.

~Emilie

An Interactive Polaroid Photo Guest Book

When it came to guest books, I wanted something more than just a bunch of names on a book or an engagement portrait. My main reason was that sometimes it was hard to make out the names when people use their signatures and I really wanted to remember all the guests who attended my reception!

I came across instant Adesso Wedding Photo Guest Books and thought it was a great idea to incorporate Polaroids into the guest book. That way, my husband and I would definitely remember everyone! It would also be something different for my guests to do at the reception.

I looked at the Adesso album and although it was nice that each page had slots for the Polaroids, I thought it was a bit plain to have just huge blank pages for the guests to fill. So, I decided to personalize the idea and went with creating my own guest book. I bought a nice big 3-ring photo album and took out the existing pages. My husband created a simple page with our names, wedding date, reception location on it, along with a space for the picture. It also had topics such as “special wishes for the newlyweds” and “favorite memory of the bride and/or groom” for guests to fill out. Emilie helped me print the pages on heavier weight paper so that it would hold a Polaroid picture with no issues. She also made a small “Wedding Guest Book” sign for me to put at the front of the book.

I asked some good friends including Emilie to help me with the guest book at the reception and they helped everyone take their pictures, and also used double-sided tape to mount each picture onto the pages. I allotted about one Polaroid per couple (with 2 packs extra), thinking that most guests would want to take pictures with their significant others and friends. Sure enough, we had extras at the end of the night. We used one camera for our 150 guests and it worked out fine. I was so grateful for my helpers – I believe they got almost everyone to sign the guest book! They even added a picture of my husband and me at the end of the night to the back of the book.

It was so much fun for my husband and me to look over the guest book after the wedding. Some people did hilarious poses and wrote such witty things on their pages! It was also entertaining for our friends to see the book and look back at what they and everyone else wrote. This polaroid photo guest book is definitely a great way to remember the people you love!

~Fiona

Our orchid wedding cake: one year later

Some wedding traditions you do, some you don't, and some, you just hope won't kill you. My one year wedding anniversary was at the end of June, and that afternoon, the cake that had been carefully wrapped with layers upon layers of plastic wrap in an airtight container, which was also sealed with more layers of plastic wrap, popped into my mind and I yelled "we get to eat our wedding cake today!!" to my husband. He didn't seem too excited to eat cake that was literally one year old, and after I thought about it some more, I too was skeptical about what it would taste like.

I'm the type who always checks expiration dates on food, and won't eat things that are expired for a day. So, the fact that I was willing to eat our wedding cake one year later, it's surprising. Oh, the things I'll do for wedding traditions!

After a romantic dinner at Pomodoro in Boston's North End, we walked home and it was officially cake time. I started thinking back to what our gorgeous cake looked like one year ago, and thought about our reception, and how delicious our Strawberry Grand Marnier Cake was on the night of our wedding.

cake photos by BKB Photography, reception photo by Ash Hsie

Then, we finally unwrapped it, and this is what it looked like. I didn't see mold or anything out of the ordinary, so I cut off the edges (just in case!), we both took a fork, did a little fork toast, and we ate one year old cake.


Well, more like one small bite of one year old cake. We tasted cake. We tasted strawberries. We tasted a hint of Grand Marnier. But, one bite of really old cake was enough for us... and the rest of the cake went into the trash. Was it worth it to keep the cake and lose one fifth of our freezer space for an entire year? Of course! After all, what are traditions for?

~Emilie

A Contemporary Wedding Invitation

Clean lines and a simple design can really make a beautiful invitation. This contemporary invitation set has a gray and green color scheme, that really pops on the shimmery metallic paper. The icons on the RSVP card represent the meal choices of beef, fish, and vegetarian. The cards are made of a pearlescent metallic white cardstock, with a matching outer envelope, and a steel gray metallic invitation backing and response envelope. You would think that dark metallic papers would have less shimmer than lighter colored papers, but it's actually the opposite! The steel gray metallic paper is one of my favorites to work with.

If you like this invitation style, or would like a custom design, please contact me at info@pinkorchiddesigns.com.

~Emilie

Some of our favorite bridesmaid dresses!

Earlier this year, we did a post on our favorite wedding dresses. Now, it's time for some more color and styles, with our favorite bridesmaid dresses! Bridesmaids nowadays can wear the same exact style dress, wear the same color and fabric with different styles, wear similar shades of one color in the same dress, wear similar shades of one color in different dresses and materials, or just wear whatever they want. There are no set rules to how bridesmaids should dress, but no matter what, we are sure that all brides want their bridesmaids to look beautiful!

Bridesmaid dress shopping can be really fun and exciting for everyone involved. Hopefully some of these photos will give you some inspiration! Here are some of our favorites!

Fiona's favorites:

Melissa Sweet - Style MS215
Short and sweet. The empire waist makes it easy to wear (no sucking in your stomach needed!) and the pockets and the bow at the back of the dress couldn't be cuter!
Photo from Priscilla of Boston

Jenny Yoo - Sasha Long
The sweetheart neckline and the charmeuse waistband is unique. The chiffon fabric makes this dress a great option for a soft, romantic wedding.
Photo from Jenny Yoo

Anna Elyse - Clarissa with Tucked Tank
Are you a bride who prefers to have your bridesmaid choose their own dresses according to their bodies and style? The cool thing about this designer is that each bridesmaid can choose the style she likes within a collection (for example, this one is part of the "Clarissa" collection) and have them all still seem like they match!
Photo from Anna Elyse

Watters - Style 4538
This dress is perfect for a formal and dramatic wedding. The draped bodice and the dropped-waist full skirt make this an elegant choice.
Photo from Watters

Ann Taylor - Lydia Empire Waist Dress
Cute and summery, this dress is a comfortable and beautiful choice for a beach wedding. Look to retailers like Ann Taylor and J. Crew for more affordable bridesmaids dresses. An added bonus is that dresses from these stores often go on sale!
Photo from Ann Taylor

Emilie's favorites:

Amsale - Style G461C
This one shoulder ruffled silk chiffon gown is delicate, romantic, and bold all at the same time. The shoulder piece is an accessory on its own, and this dress would work extremely well for a formal wedding.
Photo from Bloomingdales

Alvina Valenta - Style AV9935
This short dress made of tissue taffeta is simple, yet elegant due to the structured detail of the scoop neckline. This type of style and material would be flattering on most body types and would be perfect for a summer wedding.
Photo from TheKnot

Escada - Spring 2009 Collection
This beauty has an unbelievable neckline, and a flowing skirt that would be gorgeous for an outdoor wedding in the spring time. Even though there are pockets, the ruffled trim at the bottom of the dress makes an elegant statement.
Photo from FashionBride

Anne Klein - Satin Georgette
This dress is really beautiful, with a crossover shirred bodice, soft skirt, and gold beading on the halter strap. Bridesmaids could dance the night away in this dress, and it could definitely be used after the wedding for another occasion.
Photo from Bloomingdales

Redux Charles Chang-Lima - Floral Halter Top and Cummerbund Skirt
Imagine this: A bride in a gorgeous white gown, bridesmaids in long black formal dresses, and the maid of honor in this black and white stunning number from Redux Charles Chang-Lima. It's a great way to give the maid of honor a bit of separation from the rest of the bridesmaids, and make her feel fabulous!
Photo by Neiman Marcus

We hope you've enjoyed some of our favorite picks for bridesmaid dresses!