A Winter Wedding Wonderland

While warmer seasons are statistically more popular, winter can be a truly magical time for a wedding. The season is already filled with feelings of warmth, love, lights, and family. Below is a beautiful winter idea board from the popular blog spot Snippet & Ink.






Stay warm and keep cozy,

Ellenor

Furry Family Wall

Most of us are familiar with the modern “Gallery Wall” in today’s homes. It is the personal gallery that showcases one’s beloved photos, paintings, life mementos, art, and collectibles in a creative and artistic way to create a single visually striking piece of art. Gallery walls have moved out from the hallways into more prominent rooms of the home to become both a conversation piece and a personalized backdrop to our lives.

At Ellenor, we believe that today’s gallery walls should not only showcase photos of dear ol’ mom and pop, grandparents, siblings, etc. but they should also include our “furry families,” i.e. our beloved pets. Because they are as much your family as the two-legged kind!

Even more daring would be a complete Furry Family Wall! A gallery wall dedicated to those photographs of the member or members of your family with the most personality... the one wagging his or her tail at you right now. We recently met up with Kim and Sarah, founders and artists behind Bark Pet Photography. Bark Pet Photography does a brilliant job of capturing the personality and essence of our furry loved ones. These unique images are the stand out pieces that will push your gallery wall from good to fantastic! Just look at some of these incredible images!



Creating any kind of gallery wall can seem daunting, but with the right photos it can be stunning! What are the “right photos” you ask? They are the photos that make you truly happy. You should select the photos that speak to your personality. Without personality to your photos, your family wall will fall flat, so fill your wall with things you love... Your pet included! If you do this, your family wall will be something that makes you happy every time you see it.

With that being said, a few key rules do apply to gallery walls. Whether it be a Furry Family Wall or not, here are the most basic guidelines to creating a fantastic gallery wall:
• Having a good balance between staged photographs and artistic or candid photographs on your family wall is key. Mix in a few non photographed items as well (framed or not).
• All photos should be hung in close proximity to one another, 1 ½” – 2” is best.
• Mixing different frame styles is fine, but don’t select too many frames with “stand out” features (i.e. something very ornate, or colored should be kept to a minimum, otherwise the wall becomes too busy)
• Have fun with it! Lay all your photos/items on the ground in front of the wall and play around with the layout. Something will catch your eye and you'll know when it's right!

Take a look at these great gallery walls…



What makes these galleries so great? Where they all read as a single statement, each wall has those few “wow” pieces amongst the rest. You can achieve an equally stunning family wall by making one or more of your photos into a piece of art. This can be done by printing certain photos on a canvas, taking a particularly artistic photograph and printing it in a larger format, or even varying the balance of colored photographs to black and white.

Bark Pet Photography is able to make these special pieces for your wall by printing “triptych” images of your pet that are reminiscent of the old photo strips. By hanging several of these close together, a very simple Furry Family Wall can be made. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, hang one of these in combination with other smaller photos. See this sketch for the variations you could do using a triptych image...

There are many variables in creating a successful family wall. You need to have patience, a fun personality, a good attitude, and of course great images to pull from. If you only have one of the listed qualities, then you need to rely on the experts… Ellenor and Bark Pet Photography can help!

Holiday Ornaments, Doggie Style!

Christmas tree ornaments often represent very personal memories or life mementos. They play a critical role in the holiday season and make wonderful host/hostess gifts. There is an ornament for every aspect or object in life, making it very easy to personalize your gift to fit the receiving party to a T. Recently, we have been searching out ornaments to give to a few of our canine loving friends. Right now, the dachshund ornament by Jonathan Adler is my all time favorite and it comes in a gold or porcelain finish. However, the others are equally adorable as well!























You can purchase these ornaments (listed left to right) at: Jonathan Adler, Anthropologie, Barney's New York, and Crate and Barrel

Happy ornament hunting!

Best,

Ellenor

Urban Outfitter 2 Part Pillow Sets!

I happened across these pillow sets online at Urban Outfitters and I have fallen in love with them! They make the perfect pillow set for a quirky, fun loving bedroom. They have approximately 13 different patterns but below are my absolute favorites. Even my husband loves the mustache pillow set. For someone like him who almost never has a design preference, this is impressive! Click here for the link to Urban Outfitters bedding.







Best,

Ellenor

Wedding Food Trucks!

Living in Los Angeles, we have been pretty excited about the amazing food truck movement! Seeing them more and more at events, we are considering this option for a wedding in May. Check out this adorable photo courtesy of Unruly Things. See their entire post on the topic here: Unruly Things

Wicked Wreaths!

I met a woman the other day who said she loves Halloween but doesn't have much time to decorate. She asked me what she could do to the front of her house that was simple, cute and provided holiday spirit. My answer was to decorate like Christmas- a few string lights and a wreath! Sometimes we only associate wreaths with the December holiday but I am seeing more and more Halloween wreaths in stores and hanging on front doors. Below are a few examples:









In order from top to bottom: Monster Wreath from craftster.com, a Musty Wreath from Marthastewart.com, A black cedar wreath from Grandinroad.com and a classic black ribbon wreath from thelongthread.com.

You can find wicked wreaths in almost any Halloween store these days. With a few of the links to tutorials above, you can also make your own!

Happy Haunting!

Ellenor

Cuckoo for Halloween!

Yes, the title is cheesy! But so is my absolute insane love for this holiday!! Every year, my Halloween party and decoration planning begins as early as August. To inspire me, I always begin my Halloween holiday planning with a few episodes of the 1960s series of the Addams Family. This year, I am determined to find a Gothic Clock similar to the crow cuckoo clock in the Addams home. I have done my research and here are a few favorites I have found:


Top Left: A gorgeous piece by Stephan Strumbel. He has many other amazing clocks, all with that same dark undertone and contemporary flare. Top Right: A Target decal. This is an easy solution because it is inexpensive and easy to place and remove later.
Bottom Left: This clock is made by Torre & Tagus and is featured in Diggs Showroom. Bottom Right: This is a fantastic Do It Yourself project featured in Woman's Day online and I think this may also be my choice this year.

I will be crafting away on in in the next few weeks and will post an update with what I come up with! Keep checking in this month for more fun Halloween decorating and party planning tips.

Happy October everyone!!!

Erin of Ellenor

The Ones who Bear the Rings

No one will be more handsome than the groom on his wedding day. But in todays weddings, the ring bearers are becoming formidable competitors!

Creativity is becoming key when it comes to bearing the rings. A pillow is not your only option anymore. Just take a look at how some of these handsome boys carried the bling...

To the left: A beautiful wooden box filled with flowers made a pretty place to lay the rings in this nature inspired wedding.

Below: This clever ring bearer carried a pretty book that opens up to display the rings ( plus it will look great on your bookshelf at home while hiding other valuables!). Make it yourself!

Of course, if you prefer the pillow, there are many beautiful options out there. You can use a vintage pillow, one passed down through your family. Or buy a new one that you can pass down. For a bit more of a modern twist on the traditional, have a custom ring pillow and tie made to coordinate with your wedding!
Boys don't have to be the only option as your ring bearer... Man's best friend is also able to help out!

Plus, they make for some pretty adorable pictures!
Bride and her pup: Fresh In Love Photography.
Handsome pooch: Allyson Magda Photography

And since you may not want to put all your trust into little hands (or paws), here's a clever and downright cute way to keep the boys involved on the big day!
These adorable flags can easily be made, and they provide something fun for the boys to run around while spreading wedding day cheer!

Until next time!

xoxo, Ellenor

Show Your Stripes!

Stripes are everywhere these days... including weddings! Why you ask? I think its because stripes are the chameleon of patterns! They have the ability to go classic, sporty, or modern. Just look at how a simple stripe is used in varying ways to create these different looks...


Top row, far left: The name says it all in an invitation from Wedding Paper Divas: "Formal Stripe". Middle: Pink Frosting creates a preppy and elegant invitation with their use of stripes. Far right: A modern striped invitation from Confetti Stationery. In the bottom row, a display of varying stripes all from Wedding Paper Divas.

Not one to shy away from the use of stripes, Ellenor used a fun yellow and white stripe in our "Bright Spot" wedding.

Both the men and women in this wedding sported stripes down the aisle, as did the ring bearer by carrying a custom made ring pillow by Sweet B Papers found on Etsy.

Stipes were also brought in as napkins at our "Life's about to get more colorful" Baby Shower!

In addition, Ellenor will be using stripes in an upcoming wedding. Our inspiration began with this image of soft black and white striped table cloths. We loved the unexpected look that these brought to the tables while still being classic and beautiful.

We'll be using similar fabric as custom made runners along our long, "family style" tables in a Jane Austin inspired wedding. Keep checking back with us for more details on this wedding!

Want to incorporate stripes into your wedding? Try striped shoes! Striped food! Or favors with stripes! Still in need of some more inspiration? You know Martha always has some good ideas!

Or, you can always call us :)

xoxo,

Loralie

Tulle Wedding Dresses

I am absolutely in love with classic movie musicals. I was watching An American in Paris the other night and found myself drooling over the styles worn by ballet dancer, Leslie Caron, as she dances through the movie as the love interest of Gene Kelly's character. I went in search of wedding dresses that gave me that Leslie Caron feeling and I was drawn to many of the flowing, tulle dresses seen on the runway in both the Spring and Fall 2010 collections. Below are my two dream Leslie Caron-esque wedding dresses.



























The dress on the top is Vera Wang and it is possibly one of the most beautiful tulle dresses I have ever seen. The dress on below it is from the Amsale Blue Label. It is not quite as stunning in my opinion but I love its simplicity.


These dresses make me want to get married again!


Best,

Ellenor

The Dish on Dishtowels

One of the easiest ways to spruce up your kitchen and give it a new look is through simple accessories. My favorite kitchen accessory to rotate in and out are dishtowels, because they easy and almost always visible. They hang on your appliances, are draped on the counters and almost always live near the sink- a kitchen focal point. I usually keep two different types of towels in my kitchen at any given time. There are the towels I use to actually dry dishes and then the more decorative tea towels to look pretty and dry your hands. Here are a few of my current favorites!




























I love the Anthropologie tea towels on top. The dog on the left looks a whole lot like my own pup so I actually bought a set of two the other day.

Below that are Jonathan Adler tea towels. Anything Jonathan Adler always make me happy and these towels are certain to brighten up and modernize any kitchen.

I have met a few die-hard dishtowel collectors in my life, including my own mother, and I am afraid that I may be moving in the same direction!

Best,

Ellenor