Inspired Creations Contest: A Puzzling Pop Art Affair!

Oh boy am I excited to share this out-of-this-world post with you today! In case you haven't heard, the lovely ladies of Elizabeth Anne Designs and The Sweetest Occasion are hosting a contest, called the Inspired Creations Contest, where vendors were asked to compete and create a totally original, and totally realistic, wedding concept to inspire brides around the world! Well, I teamed up with Janice Carnevale of Bellwether Events, photographer Kurstin Roe and stationer Carolynn of Two Brunettes to create an eye-popping, innovative concept that I am so head-over-heels in love with. You can see it HERE on EAD and I've brought you some of the details below today! But be sure to scroll all the way to the end of the post to find out how and where to see more, and how you can play a part in this brilliant contest!

We wanted to incorporate puzzles into a wedding because it was something we hadn't seen before and something so perfect for a wedding motif! Then, we knew we wanted to stay away from the typical pastels and vintage fair that we see a lot in weddings nowadays. So, we decided to pair puzzle pieces with pop art for a bright and super fun wedding!

Carolynn designed a perfect invitation suite to get our mock guests excited about what was to come! In fact, you can download the template here for your very own wedding invitations!

Our place card turned guest book contest is probably my favorite part. In short, each guest gets a magnetic puzzle piece along with their place card that matches up to the puzzle pieces of everyone at their table. Together, each table must put together their puzzle and bring it over to a white board that has been painted with magnetic primer. Each table puts up their puzzle to create a totally pop art piece that all the guests can then sign around for a fantastic keepsake for the couple! Take note! I'll be bringing all the DIY details of this concept tomorrow so you can recreate this exactly as you see (or put your own spin on it!).

The cake was covered in white fondant and sprinkled with cute puzzle cutouts! Our cake topper was an Etsy find (yay!) and complemented the pop-art theme quite nicely if you ask me!

Now for the final, and my tied-for-favorite part, the photo booth! Wanna know the best part? All you need is a Mac laptop! Yes you heard me right, we set up a Mac laptop and used the pop art style in the Photobooth application. We created an irresistible set-up of props and masks-on-a-stick and all it took was one click and guests have an instant favor (provide a small printer and have your photographer's second-shooter man it). Doesn't get much better, or budget friendly than that, huh?

So, what do you think? I have to say I'm pretty happy with how the puzzles and pop art worked together, and now I really wish I could attend a wedding like this! Don't you?

Here's where you come in. First, if you want to find out all the details on who helped us out with this fabulous shoot head on over to Elizabeth Anne Designs where it is currently posted! Then, if you like our concept as much as I hope you do, be sure to leave a comment on our post on EAD (and feel free to leave one here as well!)!

I'll be back tomorrow with the low-down on the DIY elements of this concept so make sure you stop by! I hope you enjoyed our "puzzling" idea, and don't forget to comment by clicking HERE!

Aspiring to Inspire,

Kelly

Notables: Food Trucks!

I'm back and now coming to you from beautiful, sunny Los Angeles for the next few months! If you followed my journey across the country via Twitter, you'll know that there was one thing I was more excited for than returning to my favorite city on the planet.... my favorite food on the planet: In-N-Out Burger! So for today, as I settle back in to my LA dwellings for awhile, I decided to incorporate my favorite burger (and a few other favorites) in a post about food trucks! Is there a better way to say farewell to your guests than with a scrumptious food truck parked outside? Everything from burgers and tacos to cupcakes and crepes, you can really customize this delicious treat to your liking and you'll be sure to find your guests thanking you too!

{The Best Burgers on Earth at Your Affair via Wedding Chicks}

{Treat Your Guests to Mobile Mexican Fare via Oh Joy Eats!}

{Strawberry & Nutella Crepes Anyone? from Crepes Bonaparte}

{Fro-Yo on the Go from Sweet Green}

{The Original Cupcake Bakery Comes to You}

{A Cupcake Trailer? Life Doesn't Get Much Better from Enjoy Cupcakes}

{A Perfectly Classic Ice Cream Truck via Green Wedding Shoes}

For those of you who aren't getting married, a lot of these trucks roam their hometowns when they aren't catering events! Be sure to check them out and see if they're in your city!

Aspiring to Inspire,

Kelly

Notables: Red Gingham & Aqua for a Good Cause

In case you missed my tweets yesterday, I was helping out Janice Carnevale of Bellwether Events with a very special tablescape. She is a part of Relay For Life and one of the fundraising events leading up to the walk is a tea. Any team participating in Relay For Life is able to buy a table at the tea and decorate it as they please. Now, of course we didn't just do any ordinary tea setup... we did iced tea, inspired by this color inspiration I posted a few weeks back...

{See the original post here for image credits}

Yep, we chose red gingham and vibrant aqua and the table turned out fantastic! But the best part is, it was for a great, great cause.

We simply hemmed gingham fabric for the tablecloth, trimmed the votive holders with ribbon and served iced tea, sweet tea and lemonade!

Berry cartons trimmed with mini gingham ribbon!

I DIY'd the cupcake stands... look for a full tutorial later this week!

Of course, we had to incorporate my favorite Ball jars, filled with simple white florals...

And last but not least, who could resist a little Georgetown Cupcake?

Now that's an adorable twist on a picnic if I've ever seen one! Don't forget... look for a tutorial on the DIY'd cupcake stands later this week, come back Wednesday for Notable's first ever giveaway (you're gonna want to see this one!) and check out Relay For Life to find out how you can get involved too!

Aspiring to Inspire,

Kelly

Notables: The B-List Meet and Greet Event!

I left you on Friday with some of my favorite inspiration and told you I was headed to the B-List Meet and Greet Event to finally put a name to all the blogging and twittering faces I admire and interact with everyday! Well, to say it was a success is an understatement! It was so great to meet all the creative ladies behind my favorite wedding blogs and to meet some new ladies I hadn't known before too! The best thing about the wedding industry? They really know how to throw a party! I mean, that kind of goes along with the job description, right? And the B-List didn't miss a beat on this one. There was great food, great drinks, a live b-list twitter feed, and best of all, great people! Here's a few pics courtesy of Elan Artists who were nice enough to pass them along to me to share with you!

Of course, the cake was my favorite part...

Every B-lister had a dish named after them!

The champagne bar!

The awesome decor with flowers by the amazing Holly Chapple

Myself with Courtney of A Sweet Soiree, Janice of Bellwether Events, and Jessica from The Budget Savvy Bride!

{All Photos by Shane Carpenter and Carlos Andres Varela for Elan Artists}

A special shout out to some of the great, inspiring women I was able to meet: Amanda from Ruffled, Jen from Green Wedding Shoes, Jillian and Amanda from 100 Layer Cake, Harmony from The Bridal Bar, Ami from Elizabeth Anne Designs, Dana from The Broke-Ass Bride and many many more! 

Aspiring to Inspire,

Kelly

Notables: "Washingtonian Bride & Groom: Unveiled"

Hello all! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, I know I did! Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending Washingtonian Bride & Groom: Unveiled, a wonderful wedding showcase here in Washington, DC. The event was fantastic, great food, great drinks, and best of all, great people! So I decided, what could be better for this week's Notables than to introduce you to some of the amazing vendors I met and provide a little wrap-up of all the event's festivities!

Below is a collage of my photo's from the event, please excuse the poor Blackberry-quality photos (it's certainly no iPhone!). I spent a lot of time in the Hitched suite at the event. Hitched is a fabulous bridal salon in the Georgetown that carries some of the best bridal gowns you can find and they hosted some of my favorite DC vendors for the event! Hitched provided the gowns and Maria from Ritzy Bee designed too-stunning-for-words tablescapes around them! Below is my favorite- I couldn't handle my excitement over the bird's nest chargers and the stationery by Simplesong Design. I was also lucky enough to meet photographer Kate Headley (see her stunning photo's below!) and stop by the Design Cuisine champagne bar. The picture of the drink below doesn't even do this delicious champagne cocktail justice: POM, orange juice, peach puree and fresh mint leaves, topped with prosecco!

Amsale herself was at the event to present the Kenneth Pool spring 2010 collection and Ted Gibson (the hairstylist on What Not to Wear and the man responsible for Kate Gosselin's new locks) was there to introduce her, along with Washingtonian Bride & Groom's editor-in-chief, Jill Hudson Neal.

Now take a look at the work by my favorite vendor's of the event!

Maria at Ritzy Bee, a DC event planning company, has a style that I envy... and it's all about the details. She also has one of the top wedding blogs (in my opinion!) with segments such as Vintage Wednesdays (are you excited yet??)

Kate Headley is a fine art wedding photographer who's work was recently chosen as the cover image of the Washingtonian Bride & Groom's newest issue! I picked a few of my favorite shots she's snapped, but be sure check out her blog for the rest!

The Dandelion Patch is a custom stationery company who's style really appealed to me. Every invitation starts from a blank piece of paper, so it certainly is one of a kind and they offer numerous different methods and options!

I've been a fan of Love Life Images for awhile now and was thrilled to meet the photogs behind the unbelievable emotion-capturing pictures (and those great photo booths!). Here's a few of my favorite black and white images from them!

And last but not least is green wedding guru Katie Martin, who's recently launched an online eco-friendly wedding magazine, Eco-Beautiful Weddings. It's a beautiful publication, and she also runs an event planning and floral design company, Elegance & Simplicity, which is environmentally sound as well! Look for more from this e-zine when I host an "Eco-Friendly" week here on Notable Inspiration (details to follow!)

Well, that's a wrap! The Washingtonian sure knows how to throw a great party! It was great putting some faces to the names of companies that I admire and I hope you check out their websites (and blogs!) to learn more!

Coming up later, a preview of tomorrow's eggplant and charcoal color inspiration! Stay tuned!

Aspiring to Inspire,

Kelly