shandrus creations: custom recycled-wood wedding signs + more

{ customized recycled barn wood wedding sign }

newlyweds (in sept!) chris and shannon got so much great feedback on their handmade wedding that they started an etsy store. they make everything: charming custom signs made from recycled barn wood. sweet hair clips and bands. mason jar tea lights. earthy, vintage, lovely!

also: they made their own *beer*. for their wedding. check out the adorable photo of them after the shop highlights below.





more at shandruscreations.etsy.com

giveaway results: seababe jewelry

{ skinny 14k white, rose, or yellow gold ring }

thank you so much again to everyone who entered the seababe giveaway last week -- for all your stories and honeymoon wishes and hopes and dreams! i hope all of you get to escape somewhere soon and wish you safe travels.

as chosen by random.org: alyssa o'leary, send me an email at etsywedding (at) gmail and i'll connect you with seababe. wishing you all happiness!

for all the folks who entered with wedding dates, please keep david & kristin's eco-friendly rings in mind. super affordable -- including a silver wedding set (*set!*) for $87 -- and simply beautiful.

to seababe, for your generosity in offering the giveaway -- mahalo!

last day to enter! seababe wedding band giveaway ends 10.22.10

{ seababe 1mm skinny ring pictured in rose gold (available in white or yellow gold as well!) }

don't forget to enter! seababe jewelry wants you to know you'll have a choice of white, rose, or yellow gold for the giveaway prize.
enter here.

as they would say: aloha and mahalo!
jen

lilimandrill: custom wedding portrait stamps and crane mobiles

{ custom / double face / handcarved rubber stamp }

amazing. french. stamp. oui s.v.p.!

perfect for your invite/thank you/stationery needs, a custom stamp handcarved for you on the coast of normandy. i tried to resist writing it and cannot: ooh la la!

i stumbled into this shop for the gorgeous mobiles, with peace cranes no less, which would be fabulous reception decorations you could reuse in your home... you can also choose butterflies or planes... but custom portrait stamps! and a free heart to boot. support this lovely woman and her lovely work, fait a la main.





more at lilimandrill.etsy.com or her vintage shop bichoboi.etsy.com

beautiful handmade bengali wedding on etsy

photo by lauren cowart via etsy

here's a gorgeous handmade bengali-american wedding featured on the storque today.

3 months to plan! 200 people! in DC! amazing.

hammermann: antique spoon wedding table numbers (and garden gifts!)

{ 9 antique spoon garden markers set }

ok. here's a *great* idea for centerpieces -- herbs with table markers that can be reused in your garden after the wedding, or given with the plants as a take-home for your local friends.

omar wrote back in june, and i'm just now exploring his shop, which also has vintage mason jars for those interested -- i just love the reuse of antique spoons. you can also have them custom-stamped with your own words. grand.




more at hammermann.etsy.com

our day, a bit at a time

a quick note to say: thank you all for your congratulations and the warm welcome back!

it has been a spotty year of blogging. i honestly don't know how people manage to write a wedding blog WHILE they're planning a wedding, and do anything else. my hat is off to all of you who do. i can multitask with the best of them, but good lord.

so for those interested, now that i have slightly more time on my hands, i thought i'd tell a few personal wedding tales over the next couple of months. nothing too crazy, so those of you here for, i don't know, actual shopping advice, you can skip these -- i will file under the tag 'our day'.

i'll also highlight a few of the wonderful artists who helped us pull it off, in hopes that you will shower them with the love and american dollars they deserve -- they helped make it happen, and i'm endlessly grateful.

i'm also grateful to *you*. thanks to all of you who read -- especially for understanding i'm not a fancyblogger yet. just one person with a new husband, demanding day job, neglected etsy business of my own, and big hopes and dreams. i write this blog (when i manage to!) between the hours of 10pm and 2am, because i love art and artists and handmade things, and because you all make it worthwhile by actually going and connecting and supporting them.

thank you again for choosing to spend your time here, and your dollars on something made with love.
more soon!
xoj

welcome back etsy wedding giveaway! gorgeous white gold band from hawaii's seababe jewelry

{ skinny 14k palladium white gold ring }

amazing, amazing rings from the north shore of oahu: david and kristin of seababe jewelry wrote *much* earlier this year offering this generous giveaway (um, free wedding band!!) and have been endlessly patient as i've deferred their post from, erm, june to july to now.

it all works out bacause i can't think of a better way to kick off a new, married-with-hopefully-more-perspective etsy wedding blog than with this wonderful gift. it's all my favorite things:

1. simple, beautiful, and modern
2. eco-friendly (100% recycled metal)
3. handmade with love by
4. wonderful people living the life they love by
5. making things

plus did i mention it comes from hawaii? i want to be in hawaii. RIGHT NOW. {{folds arms, wiggles nose}}

so!! to enter a random drawing for this lovely, please tell me in the comments: where are you going for your honeymoon? (or would you go?) what blogs, tools, or sites have you found helpful in choosing a destination, especially any *last-minute* ideas?

(lord, will i ever get away from that phrase? there was literally not one element of our wedding that you could not prefix with the term "last-minute." but hey.)

please enter by next friday, oct. 22, and include your wedding date if you have one.
(also, if you have suggestions/resources but already have a ring, feel free to just weigh in on honeymoons for the rest of us.)

david and kristin have a wonderful story of how they came to make jewelry in paradise -- see both their shops, seababejewelry.etsy.com for david's work, and seababe.etsy.com for kristin's new line. (both are below!) the wedding sets and multiples for bridal parties are perfect for people looking for something simple, durable, and incredibly affordable. i heart seababe.






more at seababe.etsy.com and seababejewelry.etsy.com

sneak preview: unusually fine photos

a little friday treat: our photographers posted a preview with some of our gorgeous people.

i have much MUCH more to say on the subject. for now: max + margaret of unusually fine photography are amazing.
more to come.

xoj

new (australian!) press: bride to be magazine interview on "CIY" weddings

{ crafty article in Bride To Be, australian wedding magazine }

so excited! Amy Collins-Walker contacted me over the summer for a DIY (or CIY, craft-it-yourself) article in australia's Bride to Be magazine, bridetobe.com.au/ -- and i just got the pdf at the end of last month. hooray!

the article itself isn't posted online, but i have permission to post the pdfs!

to read, let's test out google docs. here's the link for the article itself, as well as a beautiful CIY wedding with details.
let me know if these don't work!

and thanks so much to Amy and to Bride to Be, i do so enjoy giving my opinions. ;)

10.6 is the new 9.25

...right?

relaunch commences... now!
xoj