Right around the corner

I'll be honest, I've been freaked out about the impending holidays ever since I spotted Halloween candies and costumes in the store...in early September. My first instinct was to curl up in a ball and hide under my bed until the first of the year. If not for the lure of fun-size Raisinets and Kit-Kat bars, that's where I would be right now. Instead, I decided to face my fears head on. The first beast I had to slay? My 2013 calendar.

I designed my first calendar last November and have delighted in people thanking me all year for the little bit of sunshine that sits on their desks. (Is it strange that I don't keep one of my own calendars out on display?)

So, onto the 2013 calendar. I spent two months tweaking designs, changing colors, rearranging the order. If the holiday shopping season weren't right around the corner, I could easily spend another two months working on it. That's how it goes when I'm designing something for myself...I'm my own worst client!

I'll have a limited supply of these beauties on sale at The Wedding Cafe in Ward Warehouse, and will also be selling them direct on my new website (that's the second beast I had to slay...more on that later). The calendars are wee little ones that sit on your desk (roughly 3.5" wide by 3.75" tall) and will go for $12.00 each. So, $1.00 per month...pretty good deal, right?

Out of the office

In the last 48 hours, I've met with 6 brides, 2 grooms and 2 wedding vendors. It feels like I've been out of the office more than I've been in. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but when your office is in your home it can be a little strange.

I remember when I had a regular office job and wanted to be anywhere but stuck behind a desk.

Sometimes dreams come true.

Great planning resource!

About a month ago, I received an email from Tara Mahealani Deponte of Pacific Wedding Guide with an invitation I couldn't refuse. The Pacific Wedding Guide is a fabulous resource for those planning destination weddings in Hawaii (and New Zealand!). It's chock full of helpful information, vendor listings, and anything and everything to de-mystify the challenge of destination wedding planning. I love a web site that's not only valuable in content but meticulously organized and I'm thrilled to have Emi Ink listed among their elite group of vendors.

Be sure to check out Pacific Wedding Guide's blog as well for the latest from Tara.

Invites, Favors, Registry Showcase

Don't forget to reserve a seat at tomorrow night's Invitations, Favors and Registry Showcase hosted by The Wedding Cafe! I'm bringing my sample books, lots of paper goodies to peruse through, and me (so if you have any questions about my services or invitation designs, please ask away!).

When: Wednesday, February 18 @ 6:30pm

Where: Ward Conference Rooms (check-in downstairs at The Wedding Cafe)

RSVP: Call the cafe at 591.1005 or register online

See u there!

How early is too early?

I haven't offered a helpful tip in awhile and thought that some of you might appreciate this one. When I first meet with couples, one of the first questions they always ask is, "How early should we mail our invitations?" This is my simple standard answer:

Start with your wedding date and work backwards. Invitations are generally mailed 6-8 weeks prior and RSVP deadlines can be set 4 weeks after your mail date.

These are my not-so-simple disclaimers:

If you're having a destination wedding, you'll probably want to bump up this timeline a bit. The most common scenario for my destination wedding clients is 2-3 months prior...although I've had some clients who mailed their invitations as early as 4-5 months prior. Factor in things like save the date cards, and your timeline may need to be adjusted. (Send invitations on the earlier side if you've opted not to send save the dates.)

And speaking of save the date cards, when should those be mailed? Generally, 8-12 months prior to your wedding is a good time because it allows enough time for your guests to make necessary travel arrangements.

Finally, how early should you order your invitations? Earlier than you think. Unless you're going to buy pre-printed invitation shells and feed them through your laser printer at home, you should seriously start thinking about your invitations about 6-8 months before the wedding. Custom design studios go through a lengthy design/approval process to ensure that you get exactly what you want. It's always good to give their creative minds as much time as possible so they can pencil you into their production schedules before they get swamped with other orders.

Happy planning!

Expo fun

What a weekend! A big mahalo to all of you that stopped by my booth at the Wedding Expo. I had a lot of fun chatting about your upcoming weddings...some of them are RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!

I added a handful of new designs to my display which I hope to get up on my web site very soon. I'm already scheduling consultations with brides/grooms that I met during the show, so if you'd like to set something up before the busy holiday season kicks in, I'd love to hear from you.

8.8.8

Ahhh, it's finally here. The much anticipated 8/8/08 date was welcomed with a brief round of morning showers on the Windward side of O'ahu - a Hawaiian blessing. I'm thinking of all the weddings taking place today and want to give a special shout out to all the couples I had the pleasure of working with in preparation for this most auspicious day.

As all my wedding industry friends are scurrying about town, tackling hundreds of weddings with style and grace, I'm holed up in my studio frantically trying to finish the mountain of projects before me.

Hope everyone enjoys a fantastic 8/8/08!

Très magnifique!

Issue number four of WHITE is hot off the presses! This latest issue is dedicated to love and is guaranteed to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. We've been thrilled to be a part of WHITE since its inception and I enjoy reading about all the talented people in our local wedding community just as much as my brides and grooms do!



Pick up your copy at The Wedding Cafe, Barnes & Noble, or Borders!

Best Wedding Blog...who, me?

Things have been so busy the past few months that I'm just getting around to announcing that my blog (the one you're reading right this very moment) was recognized by Best Wedding Blogs! Truthfully, I'm just thankful and a wee-bit amazed that I actually have "readers" who enjoy my ramblings each week. Who woulda guessed...

I spy...

It's Monday morning, the start of a new (aka extremely busy) week, and I don't know what to blog about. For inspiration, I quickly browse through some of my favorite bookmarked web sites.

Nothing.

I think about what I did over the weekend and wonder if anyone would be interested in hearing about my exciting errands or the restaurants I visited.

Nope.

I read the morning paper and wonder if there's any current event that I'd like to share my opinions on.

Nada.

And then...I start checking out some web sites of my industry colleagues to see what's new.

Bingo!

I spy an invitation I designed on the Video 21 Productions blog for a client who JUST got married this past Saturday. I'm simply amazed that the awesome videography team from Video 21 can get through an entire day of shooting and editing and still have enough energy to post ceremony highlights on YouTube...and blog about it! Their beautiful footage never disappoints and now you can view double the coverage on their main web site and their fantastic blog.


Another "I spy" moment....and quite a coincidence, really. The wedding coordinator extraordinaire for the couple who wed on Saturday also has an image with one of my invitations on the splash page of her web site.


I can't say enough about Shawnee Hammer of L'Elegance Bridal Consultants. She's one of those people that exude warmth and friendliness from the moment you meet her, and she pairs that beautifully with polished professionalism. As a fellow vendor, I've developed such a great working relationship with her, but I know that her clients feel exactly the same way!

Paper reborn

Sometimes, I get unusual requests. Sometimes, I get nearly impossible requests. And sometimes, I get wonderful requests that I can't wait to fill. This is the story about a request from Kris Labang of On3 Photography.

A few weeks ago, Kris emailed me and asked if I had any scraps of paper that I might be willing to part with. Scraps...me? I had stockpiled so many paper scraps in the past three years that I could probably cover all the walls of my house (and my neighbor's house) in chocolate brown, Tiffany blue and champagne metallic cardstock. Suffice it to say, I jumped at the chance to give new life to my paper scraps.

Kris just emailed the above photo to me from a recent wedding. I love how professional photographers can make wedding bands and e-rings look like priceless pieces of art...beautifully enhanced by a chili pepper red linen cardstock.

Wedding Expo this weekend!

Emi Ink is busy gearing up for this weekend's Wedding Expo! Hope to see you there!

What: Hawaii World Class Wedding Expo
When: Friday, April 18 (6pm - 10pm) and Saturday, April 19 (11am - 5pm)
Where: Hawaii Convention Center
Admission: $6.00

Blend of cultures + music to my ears

I had a fun meeting at The Wedding Cafe yesterday with a client who's looking to weave Jewish, Chinese and Hawaiian-inspired traditions into her summer wedding. It's such a treat to meet couples who seamlessly blend together their rich cultural traditions in order to transform their wedding into a deeply personal, and wonderfully unique celebration. I'm so honored to be creating this couple's wedding stationery and am excited to see the culmination of our months of discussions and planning!

After I wrapped up my meeting, I stopped to chat for a few minutes with Pumehana Davis Wadsworth. Pumehana is an incredibly talented harpist (I was thrilled to have her play at my wedding!) who performs at The Wedding Cafe on selected Wednesdays...and has recently added regular performances at Stage Restaurant at the Honolulu Design Center on Friday nights. After hearing Pumehana play on many occasions, I've realized that there just isn't a genre of music that she can't rock. If you're looking for a classic addition to your wedding, look no further: www.harphawaii.com.

Photog blog

One of my neighbors at the Bridal Expo was Kris Labang from On 3 Photography. Besides being super friendly, Kris is a talented photographer who effortlessly captures those fleeting, precious moments on the happiest days of people's lives. I just visited his site and was delighted to see that he also maintains a blog chronicling his latest shoots around the island. And don't miss the blog entry from 10.23.07. All I'm going to say is cute engaged couple + festive carnival + death-defying rides (for Kris)! Enjoy!

Bridal Expo!

Put your comfy shoes on and get ready for this weekend's Bridal Expo! It's going to be a big one with LOTS of vendors so come ready to sample wedding cake, browse through photographers' albums, and see amazing floral arrangements.

Emi Ink will have a booth there so please stop by and check us out! We've got tons of beautiful new paper swatches to share with you including some gorgeous patterns and pretty metallics. And if you want to add a little *bling* to your invitations, be sure to ask me about my über-cool Swarovski crystal chart -- over 150 colors to drool over!

Hawaii Bridal Expo

January 18-20, 2008

Neal Blaisdell Center

Friday: 6 pm to 10 pm

Saturday: 11 am to 5 pm

Sunday: 11 am to 4 pm

I do...want a free wedding!

I'm sure this is old news to all of you by now. The Honolulu Advertiser is presenting the Parasol Events Wedding Giveaway in which one lucky couple will be king (and queen) for a day and have the wedding of their dreams. FOR FREE!

Parasol Events has enlisted the crème de la crème of Hawaii wedding vendors to create a fabulously elegant wedding to help make your special day even more memorable. Check out the details here. Good luck!

Busy bee

Oh my, has it really been two weeks since my last post? I've been a busy bee...an incredibly, busy bee with an overflowing plate of projects and tasks. And is it my imagination or is Christmas right around the corner? Please forgive my temporary blogging hiatus while I try and meet a few critical deadlines in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, you'll want to check out what the busy bees over at The Wedding Cafe have been up to. They've opened a SECOND LOCATION over at Ward Warehouse! Now you'll have a cool new spot where you can pick up lunch during your holiday shopping marathons. I'm hoping to pop in over the weekend to check it out myself...pumpkin crunch, here I come!

Expo time

Weddings, weddings, weddings. You talk the talk, now it's time to walk the walk...over to the Hawaii Convention Center. This Friday and Saturday, you can meet vendors, check out the latest wedding fashion trends, and enter to win some COOL prizes. To preview the list of participating vendors, look for the special tabloid that arrived with Sunday's Honolulu Advertiser.

Oh, and please stop by the Emi Ink booth to say "hi." I've added a few new designs to my invitation line and I'm so excited to share them with all of you!

Here's the 411:

Hawaii World Class Wedding Expo XIX

Friday, October 26 (6:00pm - 10:00pm)

Saturday, October 27 (11:00am - 5:00pm)

Admission - $6.00

See you there!

Picker upper

I had the most amazing revelation this week. Everytime I think about it, I get a little giddy. Admittedly, you may think I'm a dork when I reveal my latest, greatest "find" (pictured on the left for those of you who can't stand the suspense).

It's a rhinestone pick up.

It picks up rhinestones.

That's all it does.

On the surface, it just looks like a 3-inch long acrylic stick with a rubber tip. However, upon closer examination, it is a 3-inch long acrylic stick with a rubber tip that has CHANGED MY LIFE.

Gone are the days that I use my fingertip, pencil eraser, or pointed tweezers to apply Swarovski crystals to my invitations. My new tool is in a league of its own and deserves a place of honor next to my husband's Dremel. It's THAT good (and dirt cheap, too!).

Ahh, I love the little things in life...and using my new tool to pick them all up will be a breeze.

Not for the faint hearted

This is how I spent my Labor Day Weekend...and the days leading up to it...and the days following it.

I created a 28" x 28" logo board for Weddings by Grace and Mona that was covered entirely in paper flowers. Every letter...made out of flowers. Every inch of white space...made out of flowers. 10,000 flowers, two bottles of glue, one pair of tweezers, and no paper cuts (surprising!). This was a project of gargantuan proportions that left me with an aching back, temporary numbness in my fingers, and an enormous sense of accomplishment that proved to be the real reward when all was said and done.

Will I ever do a project like this again? Perhaps, but not without first installing an A/C unit in my environmentally friendly studio!