Sheena & Ezra's Lakeside Wedding

I'm honored to feature the wedding photos of Sheena and Ezra Birt's May Wedding. I wrote a few weeks ago about the topper I made for their wedding cake and now I'm finally delivering on the photos of the rest of their charming lakeside wedding. Sadly, I was unable to attend... however the photos below, taken by Chloe Jennings, beautifully reconstruct the magical moments of the day! I've listed the vendor information below the photos...and you'll notice that Sheena and Ezra, with the help of their creative friends, were responsible for all the charming decorations- from the flowers and centerpieces,  handmade fabric wreaths and buntings, to Ezra's hand drawn wedding invitation illustrations. What an impressive feat (disclaimer: they are all professional artists-so don't fret)! I love thoughtful handmade weddings such as the Birt's...they seem so much more personal and special. Congratulations and Thank you for sharing, Sheena & Ezra! xo

 Photography: Chloe Jennings (Thank you for sharing, Chloe!)

Wedding Venue: Wasatch Lake, Poland, Indiana

 Invitations: Ezra Birt, SheandE

Wedding Gown: Watters Too

Groomsmen Ties: The Belle and the The Beau

Hair and Hair Accessories: Brooke Lindemann, Leather Feather Stone

Cake: Amy Lore, Cakelore

Cake Topper: Yours truly, Katie Runnels, The Constant Gatherer

Reception Band: Yearbook Committee

 Decorations and Event Planning: The Bride and Groom and their talented wedding party!

Congratulations Sheena & Ezra!

Wedding Invitation Art by Ezra Birt

photo via Little Yellow Apple

Custom Wedding Topper for Sheena and Ezra 

I was so happy to be a small part of my friend, Sheena Rogers- now Sheena Birt and Ezra's wedding celebration this past weekend! Here is the wedding cake topper I made for them using their wedding colors and some little personal details to match the darling illustration Ezra created for their invitations!  Sheena is a fellow Savannah College of Art and Design Alumna and she is an amazingly creative artist currently working her magic at the Indianapolis Anthropologie.  I hope to have more photos of their artful wedding to share with you soon! Congratulations and Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Birt! xoxo

i la la love laurie

Behold the handcrafted wonders of Laurie Cinotto!

I admire her creative work so very much as well as the rescue work she does through her Itty Bitty Kitty Committee! I've been marveling my way through her glorious photos all morning! xo

Laurie's fanciful handmade bouttonieres.

Laurie Cinotto handmade Wedding Topper

Woodland Cake Topper

Laurie's toppers are special in that her arrangements are created using

millinery leaves and baubles mixed with her handmade crepe paper flowers!

Laurie's DIY Project for The Bride's Cafe- The Fall Family Tree

The Fall Family Tree is one of my absolute favorites!

Laurie's sweet home...see her Design*Sponge sneak peek here!

A glimpse of Laurie's inspiration board.

Laurie takes the most incredible photos of her foster kittens...
see more on her blog and Flickr Album!

You can support her rescue operations by purchasing these sweet kitteh mugs through Laurie's IBKC shop or tell all your friends in the Seattle area about her wonderful rescue operation: IBKC! xo

A Very Sweet and Southern Engagement!

Congratulations are in order for my sweet and lovely friend, Alicia Magee! Alicia and Clay, her Texan beau of five years, are tying the knot this summer! These shots of the couple were taken by one of Alicia's best friends and fellow SCAD alumna, Nichole Barrali of nbpimages.com. The location is Fort Pulaski on Tybee Island just outside of Savannah. The couple chose this spot as it was on one of their regular weekend outings to the island with their dogs that Clay chose to surprise Alicia with a ring! Alicia is a creative pearl of a girl and its marvelous to see these photos that so capture her enchanting spirit...

Thank you for allowing me to share these Alicia! 

I am so thrilled for you both! xoxo

Edera Jewelry

These exquisite handmade fiber and beaded jewelry pieces by Ivy Long of Edera Jewelry just caught my eye in Emma Lamb's Etsy Favorite's List! Each piece appears to be so intricate and opulent and I'm sure they are even more so in person. How special these would be for a bride! xo (thanks, Emma!)

Water Lily Earrings

Dauphine Necklace

Floreal Earrings

Anya Earrings

Anya Necklace

Garlande Earrings

Last Hurrah!

As a final note to the behind-the-scenes look at Grace's incredible wedding-The Bride's Guide has posted a note (including my scratchy little drawing) about the cake collaboration by me and Cheryl Day! I can't thank them enough for including my little part of the story! Its been a dream come true! xo

photo by Tara Donne for MSL Weddings.

Design*Sponge!

Grace has posted her final wedding feature today...and its all about the FoOD! She has even more lovely photos to share of her incredible day...see here! I can't thank her enough for including my work! This week has been most exciting!

The stunning bride-Grace Bonney!

Thank you also to Cheryl Day-the artist behind the actual Cake- and oh, my! does she ever make the absolute tastiest buttercream!! Thanks also to Barb for her support and kind mention today over at Knack. I am so blessed to have such generous friends! xoxo

PS. I'm almost finished working on a new project with my two favorite online shopkeepers in Ohio. Stay tuned for our surprise next week. Have a lovely weekend, friends! xo

Martha, Martha, Martha!

photo via Martha Stewart Weddings Fall 2009

Oh, the light that has guided us for so many years has finally cast a little beam in my direction! And I have two people to thank...Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge and Cheryl Day of Back in the Day Bakery! Grace is the epitome of her name and her inspired wedding was so incredibly thoughtful and inclusive to so many artists and crafters! And sweet Cheryl was generous to allow me to help with so much of the design! Mmmwah!! The fall issue of Martha Stewart Weddings is finally out! See even more of the handmade details on Design*Sponge and today on MSWedding.com! I am on cloud nine! Now, how would it feet to actually meet Ms. Stewart? I think I might pass right out (but I secretly hope to get the chance one day!) xoxo

Here's a close up I took! xo

handmade and vintage wedding toppers

I apologize for the lean amount of posts lately! I've been so thrilled to be accepting orders for my graphic design sevices...and I've been learning more about website design- practicing on myself. My site is almost finished! I've been sitting on my hands to post about this- but since I'm so preoccupied today I thought- eh! Go, ahead! I'm super excited that Martha Stewart Weddings- Fall edition will be coming out next week! Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge was kind enough to commission me to make their cake topper and her wedding is going to be featured in the new issue! I can't wait to see the whole layout- I've only seen bits and pieces! I'm hoping that this might bring about other orders for custom toppers. I've listed an example of one above. If you or a someone you know is getting hitched soon- please consider a custom topper assembled just for you! xo

Scout Holiday's Wedding Fête

I realize I'm a month late on this news...but I can't help myself...the August wedding celebration of the artist behind Scout Holiday, Cheri Messereli is just too sweet! She and her graphic designer groom, David Rager spent countless hours preparing all the special homespun festive touches to make their party special. In addition to her famous buntings, they hand painted tablecloths and flags, folded hundreds of origami swans, silkscreen-striped napkins, decorated the cake, and my favorite-created custom bird place cards. I love that they went wild using all kinds of found glass bottles for the colorful and untamed flowers. Truly their art came to life! See more here, here and on her blog, Scout Holiday. xo

images copyright James Ryang 2009