A few pics of my little aviator's first birthday party! Happy Birthday Michael! I had a blast designing his invitations and hope to give you a tutorial on all the details involved sometime soon.

A Surprise 30th Birthday Party!

Today, September 20, 2010 is officially my husband's 30th Birthday!!! Happy Happy Happy Birthday Anthony! And lucky for me, it was the perfect occasion to throw a festive surprise party for my bestie. More to come...

Happily Ever After...

Photo Credit: Bird & Bear

Love, love, love this hand embroidered table cloth from Bird & Bear on Etsy!

What a delightful gift this would be to receive!

A Vintage Tea Party

In case you fancy a little bit of whimsical romance this delightful afternoon, I have the most perfect bit of lovely inspiration for you to feast your eyes upon. Cyd from The Sweetest Occasion never seems to disappoint with her deliverance of the most adorable posts, filled to the brim with the most delightful and exquisite tid bits of sweet inspiration. And today she has "upped the ante" on lady-like romance, featuring the most fantastic vintage tea party shoot to-date. Today's vintage fête has captured my heart and I am so excited to share the beauty of it's tailored simplicity with you all. Brace yourselves ladies and gents, this delightful feature is vintage perfection at its finest.

Photo Credits: Jennifer Dery

Forty Years of Love: Larry & Camille

My heart and soul must have been born in an era of the past, for this, I am certain. Call me dramatic, or easily faint at heart, but nothing is more blissfully romantic than a decadent wedding anniversary; a moment to reflect upon a love of the past and a sentimental celebration of all that encompasses a timeless love story. I like to imagine, in this so-called life we live, that we all have a story to tell. Our lives are like chapters of a novel waiting to unfold page by page. And for all of my hopeless romantics out there, today you are in luck. We are featuring an excerpt out of one of the most loveliest stories of all time... Celebrating 40 Years of Love, in honor of Larry & Camille's 40th wedding anniversary.

The Royal Scoop:

In honor of Larry & Camille's 40th wedding anniversary, I thought it would be most fitting to focus on their own personal love story. The intimate soiree was held at Cafe la Cave, a French restaurant and banquet hall in the Northern suburbs of Chicago. Amongst a romantic candlelit setting were soft and elegant accents of linens in deep chocolate, gilded gold walls, French chandeliers, fresh garden blooms, and lush ivory draperies. The perfect backdrop for a celebration of a timeless romance.

I wanted to put a bit of an unexpected twist on the typical placecard table display that is so often played out time and time again. Keeping in tune with our "love story" theme, I used the idea of a vintage library card catalogue display for the placecards. Balancing rustic charm with pure elegance, the placecard display was every bit romantic as it was charming. Love birds amongst nests of Spanish moss, a collection of vintage novels, and fresh English rose blooms were just a few of the details that brought the staging display together so perfectly. The actual placecards were larger than your standard size to replicate bookmarks. Using 80lb ivory metallic cardstock and standard cream cardstock, we layered the pieces together with spray adhesive and rounded the corners for a softer touch. For the calligraphy, we used "The King & Queen" script, which can be downloaded for free on many sites! For the perfect finishing touch, I recommend adding a small tassel to the placecard, so that your guests can reuse the placecard as a personal bookmark. We cut back on this detail to keep to budget, but I think your guests will be delighted with their own personal keepsake.

Photo Credits: The Royal Gala