Archive for July, 2010

A few weeks ago when I was in the midst of planning Ella’s 4th birthday party, the gorgeous girls at Details Details sent me an email one night.

It was an email that told me a story I didn’t know, but it’s a story I will never forget, and it brought me to tears, as it does now whilst I’m writing this.

A story of a little girl named Ava, a little girl similar in age to my own daughter, a little girl who tragically is no longer with us, and her inspirational mother Sheye Rosemeyer. If you don’t know the story, you can read more about it here.

Ava loved tea parties, as all little girls do, they’d even had one planned, but sadly they never got a chance. Each year the Rosemeyer’s in memory if Ava plan a tea party around August 22, for them it’s a chance “ to turn our missing and wishing into something to have and to hold”.

This year, Ava’s Tea Party is growing to a new level. It’s something we can all participate in.
In Sheye’s words

(image and words taken from the Ava’s tea party website)

So it is here the Details Details girls’ vision comes into play. Inspired by Ava’s story, they contacted 9 of Australia’s leading stationery designers (Alannah Rose included). It was an email asking us to participate, to join them, to share, and donate our time in creating the perfect invitation for Ava’s Tea Party. An invitation that anyone, wishing to hold a tea party could use, to share, to remember, to love.

Together, in our own way and style, myself and the other designers have created 9 unique Tea Party invitations, which come together to create the Beauty-Full collection. A limited collection of printable invitations, that you can purchase in the name of Ava and in the name of charity to host your own Tea Party.

Above: Limited edition printable tea party invitation by Alannah Rose for Ava’s tea party available here. Image courtesy Sheye Rosemeyer

They are priced at just $10.00 for the file, you can print as few or as many as you wish, available only at Details Details, and available only until the end of August 2010. 100% of the sale of these invitations will go to Paradise Kids. 100%.

So. Hold a Tea Party. Purchase an invitation. Whether you use it this August, or sometime in the near future, just do it. Life is too short to miss out on such a simple pleasure.

For more information

The Beauty Full Collection at Details Details
Ava’s Tea Party
Sheye Rosemeyer
Paradise Kids

My lovely little ladybird turned 4 last week and we celebrated on the weekend with a Ladybird party. I didn’t want to do a heavy red and black theme, so we decided to turn it into a Ladybird Garden party, going for a natural look and incorporating lots of pretty garden colours. Ella received a beautiful lavender fairy dress from her Nan which she wanted to wear for the party, so we used this as an accent colour alongside reds and pinks, but keeping the ladybug elements in their red and black.

Considering it is winter in Melbourne, and freezing, it was necessary to have an indoor party, so we decided to bring the garden inside! The dessert table was covered in artificial turf and our garden party grew from there!

Above: The dessert table, covered in artificial turf set the scene for the ladybirds garden; Wooden lady bugs dotted amongst the foliage; homemade cupcakes; Alannah Rose Lovely Ladybird Invitations; Ella’s Ladybird Birthday Banner

Above: Homemade gingerbread flowers potted in watering cans; sweet pink lemonade bottles with paper straws (from details details); the birthday girl

Above: Party Food – Potted Gingerbread flowers; Jelly beans; potted marshmallows and tiny toadstools; fairybread flowers, cupcakes; marshmallows dipped in chocolate, Yum!

Above: The beautiful two layer ladybird birthday cake was made by my very talented Mum! (thanks mum, so much it is exactly as I imagined x)

Above: little party guests enjoying the fare; pretty pom pom flowers adorned the roof of the kids party room for a garden feel; the children’s party table was set with ladybird antennae (homemade) for the kids to take home (plus ant antennae for the boys) and ladybird garden colouring sheets (free printable colouring sheet file available with purchase of our lovely ladybird invitations on request) and potted gingerbread flowers

Above: Also in the party room were the loot buckets – filled with plastic magnifying glass, ladybird clickers (remember those old fashioned metal ones?), lollies, blowouts and balloons – ‘fly me home’ were the instructions from miss ladybird; party games – a jar full of chocolate ladybirds went ‘missing’ each child was handed a net to catch the ladybirds and bring them home. They were then divided up and tied into the nets for the children to take home with their lolly buckets. This game was a big hit with the kids!

Other games included pass the lucky dip – my variation of pass the parcel – rather than wrapping prize upon prize into paper, I put individual prizes into paper bags which were passed around in a larger gift bag for the children to ‘lucky dip’ when the music stopped.

Supplier list:

Invitations and stationery – Alannah Rose – Lovely Ladybird Party Invitations

Stripey Straws – Details Details

White buckets – Holly Lolly

Flowers – gorgeous Kale, Rosehip, Roses and Magnolia leaves all from Camberwell Florist

Cake – made by my Mum! Ladybird sugar decorations from Cakes around Town

Nets – These are fish tank nets – I sourced them from a local $2 shop, and Cheap as Chips

White Ceramic Pots – Ikea

White Watering Cans – The Reject Shop

Lollies – Toadstools from Coles, Large marshmallows used on sticks in pots Campbells Cash & Carry

Mini Glass Bottles – These are empty Vittoria Juice Bottles – thanks to Sharnel and my twitter friends for the heads up on these

Special thanks to all my lovely friends and family – mum for all her help and the amazing cake, my husband for putting up with my bossiness, prue (gigi & lulu) for her inspiration, ideas and help on the day, Adrienne & Tim for the turf, and Kerrin for extra vases I needed at the last minute! Plus hugs and kisses to all Ella’s little friends that helped her celebrate and make the day so special.

Happy Birthday Beautiful Bella, I’m glad you loved your party, your smile and excitement bring me such joy! x

…the ladybird garden, that is!
My daughter turned 4 this week and we celebrated yesterday with a party in the ladybird garden.
So apologies for the lack of posts this week, it’s taken a bit to put together (as all parties do, baking, decorating, more baking) and today I am exhausted, so no Sunday find either.
But.. I will have lots of gorgeous images of the party this week and also something very special and beauty-full to share also. So stay tuned.

Above: Alannah Rose Lovely Ladybird Party Invitations

Suzi
x

Many of you I’m sure are familiar with Polkadotbride, she is of course one of Australia’s most loved wedding bloggers, or dare I say it, THE wedding blogger of Australia, so if you’ve been planning your wedding for a while then it’s without a doubt you’ve already been on her site and know how fabulous she is. For those that haven’t, well – visit her now!

I’ve been a fan of Ms Polka’s blog since way back in 2007 when she first arrived on the blogosphere. I love her musings, her inspiration boards and her down to earth honesty and ethics. She has given Alannah Rose so much support over the years and I count her as a special friend and mentor in the wedding industry.

So it’s with much excitement that today’s find is the NEW LOOK Polkadot Bride. Just launched on Friday, Ms Polka has a fresh new look, she’s prettier than ever and there’s loads more inspiration, ideas and sections to pour over (polkadot groom, polkadot honeymoons) and a fabulous personalised section where you can save your favourite posts, which I LOVE.

Please head on over and take a look, and don’t forget to tell her I said hi!
Suzi
xx

I thought I’d keep today’s find in keeping with our black and white week and also given that most of the things I blog about are for the girls or children, I’d share something this time for the boys!

So today I found these great bicycle cufflinks from the The Cufflink Maker. I think they are super sweet, and what a perfect and quirky way to theme the men in your wedding party with our Bicycle for Two wedding invitations.

Also check out the Best Man Cufflinks below. The Cufflink Maker also custom make, so if you can’t find the image you’re after send them through a picture and they’ll make them up!

Happy Sunday All
x

The last real wedding we’ve got to share with you for Black and White week!

Rachel and Matthew were married on 11th October 2009 in the gorgeous Quay Restaurant at The Rocks, Sydney. Their event was styled and arranged by Sweet Art who sent through these gorgeous images for me to share with you.

Working with Sweet Art we created their Hollywood Nights wedding stationery suite, complete with matching signs for the candy bar. The look was finished off with the stunning Hollywood Nights wedding cake created by Sweet Art.

Congratulations Rachel & Matthew!
x

Following our theme of the week – black and white, I’ve got another lovely real wedding to share today – the beautiful wedding of Vibica and Craig.

Vibica and Craig were married on Saturday 24th October, 2009 with their reception celebration held at The Beach House, Nielsen Park, Vaucluse, Sydney.

We worked with Sweet Art on Vibica and Craig’s wedding to create a beautiful black and white wedding stationery suite using our Butterfly Garden design. Sweet Art created a stunning black and white butterfly garden cake to tie in with the theme.

Above: Vibica and Craig cut the stunning Butterfly Garden Cake created by Sweet Art.

Above: The black and white butterfly wedding stationery suite included invitations, rsvp cards, place cards, service booklets, table name cards and a seating chart. The couple chose to name each of their guests tables after concerts they had attended together to add a personalised touch.

Above: The room at The Beach House tied in with the black and white theme with classic black chairs and whimsical lanterns adorning the ceiling.

Congratulations Vibica and Craig, thank you for sharing your day with us!
x

Some more black and white wedding inspiration for black and white week.
I love the anthropologie cups, they’d make sweet favours for your guests or pick them in your own monograms to hold flowers, candles or sweets on the tables, the possibilities are endless!

Clockwise from top left: Polkadot cravat from The Girl Can’t Help It; Dress by Vera Wang; Marni Necklace from Net-A-Porter; Monogram Tea Cups from Anthropologie; Alannah Rose Sweet Serenade Wedding Invitations in custom black and white; Black and white lollipop from GoodyGoodyGumdrops

Perfect timing for our black and white week, another one of our beautiful clients weddings is featured on the oh so lovely Amour Amour blog this week. Head on over here to take a look at the stunning wedding of Genna & Fernando featuring our Deco Lace Black and White Wedding Stationery

images by Lindy Goodwin

Congratulations Genna & Fernando, what a truly gorgeous wedding x

Another beautiful black and white themed wedding for you today, also using our gorgeous Hollywood Nights vintage wedding invitations.

Kelly and Nico were married in Noosa on Friday 24th April 2009. Having lived in Switzerland for the last few years, Kelly wanted to travel home to be married. The elegant setting of The Plantation in Cooroy, Queensland was chosen to celebrate their nuptials. Kelly’s father had been restoring a vintage car and the 1924 Delage became the inspiration behind the sophisticated vintage theme of their wedding day.

Kelly’s stunning gown by internationally revered hollywood designer Jenny Packham, was embellished with intricate beading and was accessorised with a soft floral bouquet by Liz at A Sculpted Leaf.

Above: Arriving in style – Kelly’s fathers 1924 Delage set the theme for the day

“My father and his friend had spent five years restoring this beautiful automobile so being driven to the ceremony in it was a special part of my day,” says Kelly.

The Catholic ceremony took place in a very private area close to Noosa Beach. The ceremony was witnessed by 50 of their closest family and friends from both Europe and Australia.
“We decided on Noosa for our wedding destination, not only because we love the area, but we also thought it was the most amazing location to really ‘show off’ Australia to our overseas family and friends.” says Kelly

The beautiful gardens of The Plantation, set the scene for the exquisite reception. Long reception tables were decorated with vintage style roses in soft pinks and a soft romantic setting was achieved with the help of a beautiful marquee. The beautiful wedding cake was created by Cake Conversations.

The beaches of Noosa provided the backdrop for their wedding photography by Jodi Mc Donald.

Twelve months on, Kelly & Nico now have a beautiful baby girl. Congratulations Kelly & Nico and thanks so much for sharing your day with us! x
For more details on Kelly and Nico’s beautiful day see Weddings of Noosa and Sunshine Coast Brides.

I’ve been going through all the beautiful real wedding submissions from our clients this week and I’ve got so many stunning black and white ones I thought we’d make this weeks colour Black & White, I’ll showcase some of the gorgeous weddings our clients have done in this theme and as a special bonus will make any custom colour alteration in black & white for the month of July free!* That means you can select any of the wedding invitations and stationery designs in our collection and we’ll alter the colour to Black and White at no charge, that’s a saving of $88.00.

To kick start the theme here’s a couple of images to inspire.

Above: Black and white bridal bouquet via Martha Stewart

Above: Bridal gown with black sash by Vera Wang

*Custom colour offer ends 31st July 2010. Offer is only valid for alteration of existing designs to Black and White. Maximum total saving is $88.00. Please email us prior to order.

As promised, part 2 of Sophie and Phil’s gorgeous black and white themed wedding.

“The bridal party photo shoot was so much fun – we popped the champagne and nibbled on club sandwiches that a family friend had prepared for us and spent nearly two hours laughing and posing. Our photographer was Joanna Wickham who did an amazing job of capturing our wedding. Joanna specialises in a romantic reportage style of photography which captures all the special moments of the day in a natural stylish way. Joanna said how much the photos reflected the fun and love she could feel on the day.”

“One of the most special things about the wedding was having all of the people we love and find inspirational in one room celebrating with us.”

“Everyone commented on the wedding stationery – we used Alannah Rose invites, order of service booklets, place cards – right through to the thank you cards. I loved the elegant black and white colour scheme and the gorgeous contrast of the stripes and damask pattern. It really tied everything together. The invites also announced the classic black and white theme to all of our guests.”

“We showed Sue Humphrey’s from Cassels our wedding stationery – she loved the black and white theme and so she suggested mismatched black and white votives on the reception tables along with the floral centre pieces we had designed: vases of phalenopsis orchids with beer grass which she delicately sprayed black. We had Alannah Rose place cards on the table along with our favours. We gave all our guests white noodle boxes tied up with black ribbon – inside the noodle boxes were black and white striped personalised strawberry flavoured rock candy with Sophie loves Phil in the centre.”

“Cake Couture did an amazing job with our a classic 3 layer square cake with black ribbon – it was decorated with a trailing stem of orchids. The bottom layer was decadent white chocolate, the middle layer was banana and the top layer fruit – which we have kept for our first anniversary. We included black framed photos of both sets of parents cutting the cake on their wedding days on the cake table which highlighted what great examples of marriage our parents have given to us.”

“Enjoy the planning process by celebrating along the way, arranging things together as a couple and having plenty of fun thinking up creative ideas. After we had booked each vendor my husband and I would have a glass of wine and celebrate ticking something off the list of things to do. We had plenty of pre-wedding dinners with family with my mum baking mini wedding cakes for us to practice cutting, after each bridesmaid dress fitting we all met for coffee and cake, after my wedding dress fittings my mum and I would have drinks and nibbles and talk excitedly about the dress.”

“After 10 months of planning the day exceeded our expectations and was just amazing -we would love to do it all again!”

Thanks so much for sharing your wedding day with us Sophie & Phil, we loved working with you!
Suzi