Happy Color Monday!

Spring has finally sprung and with it–our color cues for today’s inspiration. No wonder spring and summer weddings are so popular–the color possibilities are endless. Are you stuck on a color palette for your spring or summer wedding? Or simply looking for a few fresh ideas?

Our inspiration today is for a: casual beach wedding, a spring wedding in pastels and a spring destination wedding.

If you’re new to Color Monday, the idea behind it is to inspire you with a myriad of color possibilities for your wedding stationery and to encourage you to look everywhere for inspiration–from nature, to a fashion magazines or like today, from pretty photographs/images. Once you find your color palette, it’s easy to translate them to your fave invitation design at MagnetStreet and watch your wedding style fall perfectly into place. Here’s what we mean:

As originally designed, our featured wedding invitation is entitled Botanical Bloom–a simple and clever design that showcases a fun and artsy zinnia flower on a chic, square wedding invitation. With each color change, comes a new feel and a new look. From soft to bold …

Romantic Beach Wedding

This soft, romantic color palette comes from a pair of jeweled flip-flops in the sand. Imagine a light, airy and casual wedding setting–with only your closest family and friends in attendance. The happiest moment of your life–envisioned just the way you want it.

Mix & Match Patterns

Our color palette for our spring wedding, springs from a mix of pastel-colored patterns–fun, quirky, eclectic. The setting could be indoors or outdoors. There might be mason jars on the tables or crystal goblets. Let your uniqueness shine through …

Italian Destination Wedding

Travel anyone? Or love the idea of a dream destination in beautiful Italy? This bold color palette is derived from a historic row-house in Italy. That’s amore! no? Gorgeous, dramatic and so much fun!

Notice how the zinnia absolutely pops off the invitation with each color change. And this is just with color! Once you add your font changes and special wording–your mood is set–whatever your wedding style!

Lots of inspiration can be found anywhere you look. Color can change any unsuspecting design into a work of art.

 Which is your favorite look?

I’m getting married! Now what? Truly Engaged is a new blog series written by Rachel, our *newly engaged* staff writer. As she wades her way through the wedding planning process, she’ll be sharing some of the emotions, inspiration, and insight she uncovers along the way.

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Meeting with vendors. Finalizing the guest list. Ping-ponging emails back and forth with my wedding party…. With so much to plan, pick out, decide, and do, I’ve realized that it’s far too easy to make “wedding planning” the starring role in my life–and more importantly, my relationship. Laughing and lounging get replaced with planning, prioritizing…and let’s not forget pinning!

Once I even caught myself zoned out at the computer, “pinning” my way into zombie-like state while my fiance–the love of my life–is merely yards away, fast asleep in our bed because he grew tired of waiting up for me. (Not a high point for me.)

I’ve realized that I have to stop being a “bride” and start being a better partner. That means regularly “disconnecting” from the wedding planning in order to reconnect with the whole reason my wedding even exists: my my partner, my lover, my best friend for life.

Below are a few ways we’ve been able to take regular “time-outs” from the wedding in order to stay connected and close with each other.

Photo courtesy of www.meandhimblog.com

You’ve Got Mail

Sure, there are texts, tweets, and emails–but to me, nothing beats a little love note sent by hand from the heart. There’s something very romantic and intimate about a hand-crafted note.

My fiance and I bought these adorable little mailboxes from Target around Valentine’s Day–we  have them displayed on our end table in the living room. Whether it’s a poem, a piece of candy, or a motivational pick-me-up after a bad day, Tim’s little love gifts never fail to make me smile. My heart goes aflutter whenever I see flag flipped up! We’ve even gotten a little creative with what we can fit inside the miniature mailboxes. (My proudest achievement:  a tiny puppy stuffed animal that barks “I WOOF you!” when squeezed. Success!) Life gets busy, but these little gifts are a way to say  I love you, I’m thinking of you, and you are important to me.

It’s a Date!

I value fitness, so I try not to miss my weekly Pilates class. Awhile back I realized: Why not dedicate that same regularity and commitment to my relationship? I figure, if we’re about to embark on a lifetime of commitment, the least we can do is commit ourselves to a couple “mini dates” per week. That’s why we have developed Pizza Wednesdays and Sunday Strolls.

Pizza Wednesdays includes a take-and-bake pizza from Whole Foods (spinach feta, preferably) and either a movie, a board game, or just some casual conversation (no wedding talk!). No matter how busy the week gets, I know I can count on Pizza Wednesdays to keep me connected with my love.

Our second weekly tradition, Sunday Strolls, entails a sunset stroll around the nearby lake. If the weather is bad, then we walk around the track at the gym. Getting outside the house (and couch/computer/TV) really helps us focus on each other and touch base with the non-wedding aspects of our lives. Whether we’re talking about career goals, a current event, or something totally silly, it’s great to just engage in a conversation that doesn’t include “the W word”.

Seize the Moment

In addition to weekly “mini dates”, my fiance and I have learned to seize the moment whenever we find ourselves with a free couple of hours. I’m a bit of a “planner”, but with our lives getting busier and busier, I’ve learned to embrace–and even enjoy–these spontaneous dates that spawn from our rare moments of free time.

For example, if we find ourselves free on a Saturday afternoon, we might simply walk out the door and go browse the consignment shops near our place. Or, we might drive to the global market nearby to check out a new ethnic eatery. Often times, these “unplanned dates” turn out to be the most relaxing, fun, and enjoyable dates of all. To quote John Lennon: “Life happens while you’re busy making other plans.” For us, love happens while we’re busy planning a wedding!

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Are you engaged or recently married? How do (or did) you “disconnect” from your wedding planning in order to stay connected and close? I’d love to hear your ideas!

Rachel for MagnetStreet Weddings

Mini mailboxes photo courtesy of Me and Him

We’re featuring one of our new Pocket Wedding Invitation styles today–the streamlined and elegant Square Wedding Invitation. This particular design is entitled Field of Love. We’ve included the classic Save the Date from the design family for those that love the idea of “carrying your look.”

This is one of our favorite pocket styles for a number of reasons:

~Contemporary shape opens like a book to unveil your invitation.
~Colors print beautifully on the textured linen paper.
~Easily personalized, from front to back.
~Step RSVP Postcard, Enclosure and Info Cards are tiered for a stylish presentation.
~Organizational style of the pocket keeps Step Cards neat & orderly.
~Mix & Match pieces i.e sheer, personalized Vellum for added elegance & pizzazz.
~Interactive: makes it fun for guests to open & retain as a keepsake.

What do you think about the contemporary look of a Square Pocket style?

Field of Love is one of our favorite designs for a number of reasons:

~Casual yet elegant at the same time.
~Bold, color-blocking design trend.
~Easy to personalize if you want to change the colors, fonts, wording & formality.
~Translates to any wedding style.
~Fun & whimsical nature of the design.
~Great for sharing photos.

Love this design and want to see more? Check out the myriad of options for using Field of Love across any of our stationery items. From a variety of Save the Dates and Invitations to Programs, Menu Cards, Envelope Liners … and more!

We have such a gorgeous Florida beach wedding for you today–chocked full of inspiration! Are you planning a beach-themed wedding? Look no further. Yasmin and Blake make a stunning couple and their wedding has so many lovely ideas to get your inspiration on. From a vibrant color scheme and a starfish motif, to dressed-up pets, gorgeous tablescapes, fire-breathing entertainers and more … enjoy this beautiful beach wedding!

Wedding Style: Beach
Colors: Purple, Kiwi Green and Ivory
Ceremony & Reception: Hilton on Singer Island, Florida
Wedding Decor: Celebrations by Kathy
Photographer: Palm Beach Photography
Thank You Cards: MagnetStreet Weddings

Highlights of the day: Seeing the rainbow before the ceremony.

Advice you’re glad you took: Renting Photo Booth

Advice you’d like to give: Create timelines for your photographer, DJ and Hotel Coordinator – this will save you headaches.

Best part of the whole wedding day: Marrying my wonderful husband

Vendor Shout Outs:

Palm Beach Photography
Tonya Laker gives her 110% attention to her clients. She’s prompt, creative and a hard worker.  I had so much fun with her–especially with the props we used. I absolutely love and adore her!

Hilton Hotel {coordinator/caterer}
Nickole D’Angelo made my life easier. She is one of the best coordinators I have dealt with. She was attentive to all my needs and I highly recommend her. The food at Hilton was scrumptious and I have no complaints.

Celebrations by Kathy Wedding Decor
Kathy did an amazing job with my decor. She was on time and attentive to all my requests.

MagnetStreet Weddings
I love MagnetStreet Design! The personalization tool is user friendly and the colors were vivid and beautiful.

*Thanks Yasmin and Blake–for sharing your special day with us! We wish you the best of everything!*

xo