image via my instagram, username “lovelydetails”

salt air in my hair

beach plum roses

jersey bagels with taylor ham

watching the sun go down by the shore

downy flake donuts

clamming

tag-saling

dunkin’ donuts

outdoor showers

dels

family + friends quality time

4th of july picnics

dad’s chowdah

mom’s pancakes

as i enter the 6th weekend in a row of events, i am moving moving moving with the to-do list and couldn’t be happier as each item gets checked off with my pretty emerald pen. it’s hard to believe i’m almost in the middle of wedding season, with 7 weddings under my belt thus far, and several more to go as the months fly by. and when the busy days arrive, my mind calms itself by daydreaming of our upcoming trip back east, filled with all of my favorites listed above. but don’t let me fool you – even on the busiest of days, prepping for weddings? i’m one happy gal and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. no sir. happy wednesday, everyone :)

how’s everyone doing? i haven’t blogged in a bit because well, i’m in the middle of the first busy rush of the season with wedding #7 of the year taking place this coming saturday! we also went back east for our friends’ wedding a few weeks ago, so it feels as though we’ve been non-stop for the past month and a half – oh, and PS – i cannot believe we are in june already!!

anyways – wanted to pop in today to show you the most ridiculously adorable pillow that i recently became slightly obsessed with after searching for wedding gift ideas for our friends (and later deciding this would be perfect for us when we move, you know how that always goes, right?). how adorable would this be for a destination wedding gift?? super sweet. you can find the pillow here. and while you’re at it you should check out the uncommon goods unique wedding gifts section on their site – i just wish i knew about these guys like 2 years ago when we had a summer of 7 friends’ weddings to attend! :)

have a great week everyone!

calistoga private estate wedding by lovely little details + jessica burke photography

not sure how may arrived, but it is here with a bang! we’ve had 3 weddings so far this year but may takes us to a whole new level over here and it’s safe to say that LLD is officially in full swing wedding season. i’ll be coming up for air a bit in july and august but ’til then, it’s go go go over here and i’m so excited for my couples and their celebrations that will be taking place all over wine country and beyond. with this said, the blog is going to be on a bit of a hiatus, but you can definitely keep up with all the lovely little details over on instagram, that’s for certain. have a great summer everyone – see you back here soon :)

it is no secret that i am a mason jar hoarder. no seriously – i have an entire portion of my LLD-prop closet devoted to my beloved collection of antique jars – i have a few purples, an amber one, a green one, and hundreds of blue and clear ones. whenever we go away on a trip or i stumble in to an antique shop, i keep my eyes out for these precious glass containers – the older, more unique, the better. they’re ridiculously sentimental to me because they remind me of my grandmother (hence they’re part of my logo). so… when i found out that ball was bringing back a “heritage” collection i kind of freaked out. i was excited to hear from ball and learn a bit more behind the story of bringing back the blues, so i wanted to share it with you!

For the past year brides have been saying “I Do” to mason jars whether lining the aisle, holding wildflower bouquets or serving a signature cocktail. In fact, sales of home canning jars are up 30% year over year with half of that growth attributed to décor uses, such as at weddings.

This year Ball is excited to introduce a limited-edition, vintage-inspired jar, the Ball Heritage Collection Jar. Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Ball brothers’ Perfect Mason Jar, a first-of-its-kind blending of jars, lids and bands, the Ball Heritage Collection Pint Jars feature a pretty blue tint and embossed logos on the front and back.

so here’s the deal. basically ball will be selling the blue jars through 2013 and will discontinue them at the end of the year. so once they’re gone, they’re gone.  in 2014 and 2015 they’ll be bringing back the green and purple (supposedly?) jars for the 100 year anniversary of each.  if you want to get your hands on some, you can order them online, or, you can call your local family-owned hardware store and ask for item number 166126. my family’s hardware store, page hardware, in guilford CT has them in stock and has been shipping them around the country which is just the coolest thing. of course i’m biased but especially for an item with such history and links to the old way of life, purchasing them from the family-owned small businesses just seems to make sense, right? thanks ball for listening to us and bringing these babies back! :)

congrats to liz price for winning the set of 4 clutches! and to everyone else, definitely take advantage of the 15% discount with oatmeal lace design and get your clutches ordered this weekend :)

coupon code: LOVELY15
expires april 30, 2013

happy shopping!

our labor of love

happy monday! it’s been a really long time since i hosted a giveaway over here and with the weather being so gorgeous these days, mckay and i decided it was time to share the love. if you don’t know mckay yet, let me introduce you. mckay is the designer behind the company, oatmeal lace design, and she creates custom clutches for bridal parties to match your overall look, style and aesthetic. i’ve known mckay for going on 3 years in this crazy social media world (and she and her husband even came to visit a few weeks back for some fun in san francisco) and have always admired her work ethic and the amazing designs she creates. i especially love that her company name “oatmeal lace” was inspired by her grandmother (they call her Mamama), who always made the most delicious cookies of the same name. it reminded me of my grandmother (mimi) and the jam she always made for us. so in short, i just love mckay and her clutches and we are excited to be offering a giveaway of a set of 4 (!) today! scroll down past the pretty for the details…

element photography

scobey photography

Oatmeal Lace Giveaway for 4 Custom Simply Sweet Kathryn Clutches – Details

Here’s how to enter:
1. Leave a comment below letting us know what you’d use the clutches for if you won
2. Like Oatmeal Lace Design on Facebook and let mckay know you’re stopping by from lovely little details

For extra entries (leave comments to let us know!):
3. Follow Oatmeal Lace Design on Instagram
4. Follow lovely little details on Instagram
5. Post a pic of your favorite part about spring on instagram with the hashtag #happyspringoatmeallace and tag @lovelydetails and @oatmeallace
6. Tweet “I entered the @oatmeallace giveaway on @lovelydetails http://goo.gl/qkthr”

a winner will be randomly selected on friday afternoon! please make sure to include your email address with your comment (we won’t share it, promise! just need a way to get in touch with you :))

proud to be a new englander today.

my love, thoughts, and prayers go out to the family of fallen officer Sean Collier, and all who were lost/injured in the boston marathon bombing. and a huge cheers to the boston PD for capturing suspect #2 – this has been one hell of a week.

{image source}

happy monday everyone! i realized i haven’t shared recent arrangements in a while so did a little instagram photo-download. the photo above was the bouquet from this past weekend’s wedding – the bride was so happy, which made me even happier :)

below is a little boutonniere i created using lemon blossoms and leaves from our backyard. i was just kind of playing around with it because i always thought citrus blossoms would be pretty in a boutonniere – turns out they smell amazing, too.

lilac, olive branches, ranunculus and hops for a culinary eye event. love those guys!

what, your assistant doesn’t work himself to the middle of the prep area so he ends up getting stuck? he then proceeds to sit there and whine until i move all the buckets back out of his way so he can get out (and do it again). this pup knows how to get my attention, that’s for sure haha.

ummm… the biggest peony i’ve ever seen.

florals for a french-themed bridal brunch this weekend – i incorporated louboutin boxes in the mix for the cards, and used lilacs, lavender, ranunculus, peonies, mock orange and olive branches. you should have smelled these beauts – it was like springtime took over the studio!

have a great week!

we’ve been pondering about it for the past year and a half, and i can finally announce the big news we’ve been deciding on for what seems like such a long time. (no, not that kind of news. not yet, sorry mom.)

lovely little details is officially moving to georgia at the end of 2013!

so, what does this mean? we will be staying here in california through the end of the year for my 2013 wedding season and i am currently scoping out office spaces in napa/sonoma to continue serving clients for their wine country weddings, something i absolutely love and could never “give up”. i will be taking on a limited number of CA weddings each year from my CA office, so LLD will always have a presence here in CA :) but in the meantime, i’ve been on site visits, attending vendor meetings, introducing myself all over south carolina, georgia and tennessee preparing the big move to the south. i’ve even been working on incorporating y’all in to my daily vocab but i think that might take some time  :)

in the long run, you only live once. you have to take chances once in a while and most importantly, you have to take a step back sometimes and do what’s best for you and your family. everything else always seems to work itself out. it’s going to take a lot of hard work to re-build my market in the south but i’ve done it before when i moved to CA, so i’m ready to put in the time to do it again! we’ve been living across the country from family (and friends) for almost 6-years and to be a 2-hour flight from home (or even a long drive) vs. a 7-hour flight will be such a blessing. we are completely excited about this new chapter in our lives, both personally and business-wise, and you can bet i’ll be filling you in along our journey!

’til then, if you know of any southern brides looking for a 2014 wedding planner, lovely little details would love to be involved :) stay tuned for more to come, and thanks to all who have provided such words of support and excitement so far. we love y’all ;)

// southern print by lara casey //

happy monday everyone! i hope you all had a great weekend. just checking in over here after my amazing road trip last week. i gotta tell ya – solo road trips are seriously good for the soul, know what i mean? although not gonna lie, i probably listened to the entire drake album about 40 times on repeat until i finally resorted to pandora to keep me movin along the way :) but seriously – what’s better than you, the open road, and some really good tunes (or no radio at all). it’s my favorite time to think, reflect, and make bigger and better plans. or no plans at all. it is just so good for the head and heart.

anywho..here’s what i was up to:

• a lovely little coffee date with lara, ari and my new pal grace who was howling along to videos i showed her of rhody. it was too cute – love that little girl (and her mama too!) thanks lara for the hospitality and the best cup of coffee i’ve had in a while :)
• lunch with cyn! such a treat – i love dreaming big with this girl (and laughing hysterically along the way)
• site visits in charleston, including my personal fave, boone hall plantation. excited to work with them next year!
• coffee meeting with tara – it was nice to see her outside the dance floor at engage! and chat about the industry, the south, and life in general. she is seriously such an amazing, down to earth person – thanks tara for a much-appreciated meeting :)
• jam trade-off with the sweetest little lady i ever did meet – i ran in to her somewhere between charleston and savannah at this little general store in the middle of nowhere. it seriously fueled my soul and made me so happy – i traded a jar of my strawberry jam (what, you don’t travel with your homemade jam?) for a jar of her peach preserves. amazing.
• antique store “browsing” aka i came home with another mason jar, much to pat’s chagrin. but i needed it, know what i mean? my favorite part was chatting with the store owner for about 20 minutes about mason jars and showing him pics of my collection, including my prized purple and amber masons! so funny.
• site visit heaven at serenbe just outside atlanta – absolutely in love with that place.
• meeting up with pat who had been in atlanta for a few days for work, making future plans and enjoying a weekend exploring with him, meeting up with friends who just moved to the area, and soaking up all we could.

all in all it was a pretty productive trip, i’d say. and on that, now i’m back to work prepping for a+m’s wedding this weekend – see you back here later this week :)

// pictures taken with instagram //