Kim is a diva after my very  own heart because she always finds stylish ways to turn the ordinary into extraordinary tossing in the bling for good measure.

And if you want some celebrity style flavor in your wedding invitations, here are 5 Hollywood tips to get that star-studded style..,

Tip #1) Use Luxurious Papers & Fabrics

Materials such as flocked or hand-dyed papers and Dupioni silk give your invitations a level of dimension that flat papers just can’t touch. If you find some way to incorporate them, perhaps with a belly band or as an invitation booklet, your invites are sure to have that red-carpet opulence.

Tip #2) Add Layers & Textures

Metallic shimmer papers or letterpress add an extra layer of depth to your invitations that help it stand out and get noticed.

Tip #3) Add Some Sparkle

Incorporating stylish embellishments like Swarovski crystals, glitter embossing, decorative ribbons or even peacock feathers will add to your invitation’s unique personality.

Tip#4) Pay Attention To The Details

With any high end event, the devil is definitely in the details. Things like straight edges and even bordering speak volumes in giving your invitations signature style, so don’t get tired halfway through and neglect this small but important detail.

And lastly Tip #5) Present It In A Pretty Package

My absolute favorite package is the silk invitation box. It just screams luxury and sets the tone for a platinum event. Also, it’s a great way to turn your wedding invitation into a wedding keepsake – no one is going to through this away.

But even if you don’t use a silk invitation box, there a lots of creative ways to present your invite like a silk pouch, a unique container themed to your event, or even encased in acrylic. The possibilities are endless.

When it comes to celebrity-style special events, presentation is everything so don’t skimp on the details. Especially with your invitations since that will be the first introduction your guest receives to your event and thus sets the tone for everything that follows.

As we say here at Cinnamon Kiss Paper, “it all begins with the invitation” so wow your guests by enhancing your invitations with some glitteratti.

Besides, if ever there’s an excuse to go all out…your wedding definitely counts as one of them. Just remember to have fun and enjoy the moment! The last thing you want is a an attack of the Bridezilla.

It seems that everything else had gone mobile, so why shouldn’t food follow suit. Food trucks have long been a mainstay in Hollywood and New York City during day-long production shoots and pedestrian-style
downtown dining . And in fact, these mini-restaurants on wheels have gotten a bad rap over the years, most often being dubbed the “roach coach” for their seemingly unsanitary conditions. But it appears that the mobile food truck industry is cleaning up their act and revamping their persona, so much so, they’re blazing new trails into custom event catering.

Everything fron In-n-Out burgers to cupcake sweets, the wedding food truck is popping up at weddings all over the nation. I must admit, it’s a fun way to incorporate some of the unexpected into a “been-there, done-that” ho-hum wedding. What better way to throw your guests for a loop and put a smile on their otherwise yawning faces as they wait for you to finish up your photos during the unbearably long cocktail hour? You can pick any theme you want to coordinate with the flavor of your special event. But I have yet to see how this concept can be incorporated into the upscale wedding. I’m not saying that it can’t be pulled off well, but I haven’t seen evidence as yet. I’m open to ideas though…what do you think?

If you had to choose:

• wedding catering truck
• photo booth
• dessert bar
• cigar bar
• signature cocktail bar
• smoothie bar /coffees bar (I guess that falls under food, huh?)

Which would be the most fun for your guests? Leave your comments and suggestions here…

Anywho, while I did purchase some of the standard fare (a cute tea mug and keychain), I decided to make her something as well. I figured ‘why not’ since she has everything anyway. What unique gift could I give that all of her new sorors wouldn’t have as well? Here’s what I came up with…

A gift for the lady who has everything.

First, I decided to make custom stationary in the colors of her sorority. I put an ivy leaf on the top and bottom and added crystal embellishments for a bit of bling (my signature touch). I used pink cardstock paper and the print is in green. This will be great when she wants to send a personal note or thank you to one of her sorors.

I also made a sparkly pen figuring that women always love sparkly things (I know I do!). I couldn’t find an ivy leaf specifically but thought the green was a nice touch. Since we’re smack dab in the middle of Christmas season, everything’s green at the craft store, just not ivy:(

And in keeping with the holiday season, I made her a set of AKA Christmas ornaments. You can see from the pics that I had the letters cut in vinyl (at the local greek store: Unique Greek located in Chicago Heights, IL). I actually have the store owner to thank for this idea. I saw a set of Delta ornaments and thought, ‘how clever’ and decided to step it up a notch with my design. So I added the year in rhinestones on the clear glass balls I purchased from Jo-Ann crafts. As you can see from the pictures, once I added the metallic shred to the inside of the ball, the numbers didn’t show up as well so if I ever do this again perhaps I’ll use a white iridescent shred instead. What do you think?

Before Shimmer Shred

After Shimmer Shred

Quick Update: I was later asked to make Delta Sigma Theta holiday ornaments for another custom gift, so I made a few tweaks and here’s a pic on how they turned out…

Using the white shimmer shred turned out much better:)

However, this was a small run so I was able to source materials locally. This particular invitation had a turnaround time of 5 days.

When designing the invitation, the client really liked the belly band used on a wedding invite I’d designed and wanted to incorporate that into her design. I was able to find a lovely fiore blue ice deocrative paper from the Paper Source. This blue unryu paper is very sheer and printed with a light blue flocked dot and then punched out. The flocking almost feels like rubber on the sheer paper. It has a very light and airy feel to it which ties in well with the soft, whispy feelings associated with all things baby.

Judging from the client’s reaction when I delivered the invites, I’d say it was a success. Even though I love creating and working with papers, I also love the look on a client’s face when I’m able to capture the essence of their imagination through an invitation made just for them.

Select The Right Font To Make Any Invitation Pop

Planning a spectacular soirée begins, well…at the beginning, of course!

So it’s time to choose our communiqué. An invitations’ first goal is to deliver information. It’s primary purpose is to relay the pertinent details of the event, but it can also say something about the sender as well. Allow your personality or brand to come across in your correspondence.

The invitation is the very first impression your guest receives of your upcoming event and setting the tone for the festivities is a tall order. If you’re working with a limited budget, one way to inflect some personality into your announcement is with font selection. But being that there are almost as many fonts to choose from as stars in the sky, how do you go about narrowing down the decision?

1. What’s the theme of your event? Will it be kicked-back and relaxed? Formal and elegant? Intimate and garden fairy-esque? Fonts have personalities and choosing one that echos the mood you want to create at the party helps to set the tone.
2. What kind of paper will you use? If you’re going to use a textured paper, then a thin whimsy font is likely to get lost in translation. A heavier font with thicker strokes will work better. Likewise, a heavy font like Gill Sans Ultra Bold will dominate on a vellum paper. This could work, but make sure the strong bold message it’s communicating is your intention.
3. Remember the K.I.S.S. Method (Keep It Simple Silly:) It’s tempting to go overboard with font selection simply because there are so many fun ones to choose from. But a little self-restraint goes a looong way here. Using more than three fonts on a page will make your invite start to look chaotic…now if that’s the look you’re going for….well, hey, why not use 10 then!

For more tips on font selection, check out this helpful article from Dynamic Graphics + Create Magazine. Just an FYI, you’ll also hear the term “typeface” tossed about when referring to fonts. Although there is a difference, for us regular folks using both terms will suffice. Experiment with different fonts before making your final selection. Print up a few test versions on your home computer (there are free fonts available from DaFont.com) to get your started. A simple change in font can give your invitation a completely different look & feel, armed with these tips, you’re bound to send just the right message.

Oftentimes, thank you favors get lost in the hustle and bustle of event planning but they are just as important as all of the other details. The thank you favor is a genuine show of appreciation to your guests and lets them know that their attendance is an important part of your grand celebration. Simply put, it lets them know that you care about them.

Favors can run the full spectrum in terms of extravagance and pricing, but for the budget conscious bride or event planner, there’s no need to sacrifice quality for cost. All it takes is an extra bit of creative thinking to fashion a super stylish favor that won’t break the bank. Here are a few ideas to get you started…

1. For a cute candy favor, buy candy in bulk and use colored organza bags as the container. Create a custom favor tag that looks like your invitation using your home computer. However, I would recommend that you print the labels at your local copy shop on their color copier/laser printer. Ink jet printers  scream “homemade” because of the obvious difference in ink quality. Plus, if the tags (printed on an ink jet) get wet, there goes your presentation.
2. Use clear favor boxes with a decorative ribbon or crystal accent and add a sticker tag with sticker sheets found at Staples or OfficeMax. Or, you can create a fold over tag and pair it with clear cello bags from the craft store. This is a great way to use local favorites like Garrett’s cheese & caramel popcorn for a Chicago-themed wedding or Rocky Mountain candy apples as your parting gift. Guests love the personality of local food favorites. Martha Stewart has some useful templates for tags & favors, free to download here.
3. Go for something three-dimensional and customize it with a personalized pendant. I used this idea for a wedding favor that was three days before Christmas. The secret here is to purchase the base of your gift, whatever that may be, in bulk, that’s the way to make your favor dollars stretch the farthest. Once you customize it with your own pendant, no one will ever guess that it wasn’t made just for them because it looks so much more expensive than it really is…shhh! You can check out the Custom Favor Ornament here.
4. Even though the CD favor has gotten some mileage, it can still be a great favor if executed well. When it comes to the CD favor, packaging is everything. Skip over the clear plastic CD cases and opt for something much more personal. Use a cardstock in your event theme’s colors to create the case, then personalize it with a special story about the couple or event and how these songs made the cut. Do they hold any significance? If so, tell that story to your guests. Oh, and don’t forget to list the songs and track numbers for easy reference later.

The secret to making any party favor spectacular is the presentation. As long and you go the extra mile to make it special and unique to your event, it will be a great gift. Really, the only time you’ll lose favor points is if your gift looks mass-produced, so don’t get lazy during the last leg of the race, finish it out in style:)

Have you got a great idea for a unique favor? Add your idea here…

Letterpress is a classic art of printing in which a pattern is (usually) inked and pressed into the surface of the paper. Letterpress is experiencing a revival in our highly digitized world and I, for one, am excited about the comeback.

If you’re shopping around for invites and want a classic, handcrafted feel then letterpress is definitely a wonderful choice. When visiting the invitationer, you’re likely to hear a few terms tossed about. Don’t be intimidated, we’ll break them down here…

Debossing is when the design is pressed into the paper. Typically ink is not added to the impression so it’s great for a graphic element to accent your information.

The easiest way to think of it is if you were riding along in the car and drove over a pothole. The wheel of the car is forced downward in order to fill the empty space created by the pothole. If the street were an invitation, the pothole would be the debossed accent. In the invitation on the left, you’ll notice that the letters and date dip down into the paper, that’s a sure-fire giveaway that the paper is debossed.

Now, let’s move along and onto another road. We turn down a residential street and notice that they’ve included speed bumps so that we don’t speed down the block. (Children must live on this street.) If this street were an invitation, then it would be embossed because the wheel is pushed up in order to accommodate the disturbance in the road.

The traditional letterpress invitations usually will not have ink added to the impression but the more modern styles will be accented with an ink color. Either way is fine, there’s no rule of thumb here. It all depends on what flavor you want to add to your special event. Brighter colors create a fun, relaxed tone while darker colors or creams suggest a more formal event. Hope this helps!

Have you got a burning craft question? Feel free to leave a comment and we’ll include it in the next “What Is That?” series of posts.

When sending out your holiday greetings this season, here are a few quick down & dirty, invitation etiquette tips to keep us all on track:

• Completely spell out all dates, times and places. For example: “Friday, December twenty – fifth, two thousand and nine at six o’ clock in the evening.
• Don’t abbreviate anything – like street names or addresses. Spell them out completely also.

And I know that planning a wedding can be tight on the budget, BUT it’s very important to include the following courtesies in your invitation etiquette. It will go a long way in fostering good feelings about your upcoming nuptials. After all, you want your guests to look forward to your event with eager anticipation, not dreaded obligation:

• Allow your guests to bring a date to the wedding. No one wants to feel forced to sit through your nuptials alone, leave the decision to them. To ensure everyone is on the same page, you can address the invitation as “Ms. Renee Foster and Guest.”
• Even if it seems efficient or a good use of space, please don’t mention guest registries on the invitation, it’s considered poor form. Information about your gift preferences should be gained through word of mouth (i.e. your bridesmaids or family) or you can also note it on your wedding blog.

As my momma always said, ‘if you’re going to do it, do it right.’ Perhaps she carried more wisdom in her words that I gave her credit for

Adorable Snowflake Invitation by Michelle Mospens of MyPersonalArtist.com

(Shh…don’t tell her:)