When the moon hits your eye....

Hello my sweet blog-friends :) I was in the writing mood this past weekend, and figured that since it had been an entire month (ummmm please tell me where June and July went), I should probably continue blogging our little (ok-huge) journey over the big blue ocean to Italy. Maybe by the time Brent and I actually get married, I will be done blogging about our engagement trip! I mean...just maybe...

Day 2 was our day in the oh-so-gorgeous Venice. Everything you see in the movies? Yep. It's real-life over there. Gondolas, more gelato (of course), pizza (food theme?), and romance galore. 

We stopped in this super cute alley to grab an authentic lunch. That was probably some of the best advice we received in Venice: "Get lost. Find good food." The good food is always off the main walking paths, and they aren't going to charge you crazy touristy prices for it either...win.  Brent and I wandered and walked (no cars allowed in venice!), and came across this super cute pizza place...I mean, a man played his accordion outside of it...come.on.cuteness.overload.

St. Mark's Square is definitely the heart of Venice.  So much history...so much art...I was soaking in every minute of it.

And then...of course...was the gondola ride.  It was perfectly cliché, perfectly romantic, perfectly Venice. I was surprised by how small the canals were, and how perfectly balanced those gondolas have to be to make it around some pretty tight corners. 

 

Of course, the East Coast Main Squeeze and I stopped in a few lots of bakeries. Sparkly macaroons? Don't mind if I do...(shout out to Brent for posing ever so patiently as I took pictures of every single food we ate on this trip....LOVE YOU).

We ended our day with more history/art/beauty/happiness.

And yes...Brent is too tall for selfies...

If you missed our first day of Italy, you can read that post here!

Less Doubts, More Dreams

Less is More Series | Week 7

Hi blogettes! Today's post is all about dreaming.  Recently, I met a cute little lady at a coffee shop (for real, our story is serendipitous), we became instant best friends (we share a love of pretty things and Disney...it was fate), and immediately, we started dreaming of big things that we could do together with business.

...you see, I'm a dreamer.  Naturally, I tend to be already thinking of the next thing I could be working on, designing, starting, etc.  At times, this can be overwhelming, because my entrepreneurial heart is one that loves dreams...BIG dreams.  Dreams like starting a business when you're 22 and fresh out of college.  Dreams like working from home in my pjs, and only having to shower if it's absolutely necessary (thank GOD for dry shampoo!).  Dreams like having the freedom to travel and work from half-way across the country (or world for that matter).

But you see, with these dreams, come doubts.  LOTS of doubts.

Am I good enough? Do I have enough of a 'following?' Will people like my product? Do people actually read my blog?  UGH. <insert a million other doubts here>

We all do it to ourselves. We are so capable of dreaming big dreams one second, and the next crushing them.  It's almost ironic how much we are our own worst enemies. Amen?

Let's commit to one another: Less Doubts, More Dreams.

Let's commit to one another that more of our dreams will come to fruition, because I know that there are some kick-booty (I'm so politically correct ;) ) dreams out there that are just waiting to take flight.

Is there a dream you can't wait to make happen? Tell me here! Let's chat and encourage one another...because I'm super dreaming that this new business venture I was telling you about (don't worry-this would be alongside designing wedding stationery!) becomes real :)

Be loved,
Andra

Read more from the Less is More Series here and here!

Italy | Day One

I have been putting pictures together for one massive Italy post, and realized that scrolling through hundreds of pictures might be only fun for me...hence, this 'day one' post! :)

We started our trip with a quick stop in Verona, Italy, the home place of Romeo and Juliet (right?!).  It was classic Italy, with cute little shops, colorful buildings, open squares, and oh yea, gelato (you'll probably see a recurring theme with that one). 

The picture of Brent and I below was after taking an overnight flight from NYC...we look oh-so-glam. I look very un-showered (what else is new?), and Brent looks sleepy ;) BUT IT'S ITALY. 

We stopped by Juliet's tower (which, fun fact, was built after Shakespeare wrote their epic story), and got to write #newjerseyboymeetswisconsingirl on the wall of love (thank God I have a tall main squeeze, because there was little to no room to write for us short folks). 

Some cutesy little boutique that sold chocolates and embroidered goods (random, I know...), would embroider the ladies names for free :) 

Of course, we wasted no time, and found gelato right away.  We walked around the Verona square, held hands, people watched, and ate gelato.  It was heavenly. 

More to come later!

Wisconsin Bride Magazine: Blog Feature

Happy Wednesday friends. It's mid-week (ummm when did that happen?). This week has been filled with wrapping up two suites so far, and so many more day of details.  This is my favorite part! When everything is printed, looking gorg, and in the hands of my oh-so-loved clients.

Anyways! The real reason I started this post, is to let you know that I have been featured in Wisconsin Bride Magazine's online blog-a sweet space filled with inspiration, real weddings, tips, and so much more (not like the 'as-seen-on-tv' products though...).  This is even more exciting, because this summer, my work with be featured in their actual magazine that is sold in stores. Yep! Shiny pages and all. This girl is pumped.

I feel so blessed to be doing what I love daily, so to get this little blog feature is such an honor. Huge shout-out to my family, friends, and followers/supporters of my little Northern WI biz.  I probably don't thank you enough, so I'm giving you a huge virtual hug (and kiss if you are my East Coast Main Squeeze reading this...).

PHEW! Ok-enough of my rambling! Read the feature here :)

And huge thanks to my girl Jenna Leigh, for her beautiful photographs of my work! High-fives and hugs to you.

Be My Maid? How I Asked My Ladies

If y'all know me (I'm currently writing this from Georgia, so I felt like the 'y'all' was appropriate), I love finding clever and cute ways to take something mundane, and make it magical.  That's why I knew that asking my ladies to stand by my side on the big day could not fall anywhere short of oh-so-cute. 

Plus, each of my girls lives on completely opposite sides of the country...oh, and world. My ladies live in places ranging from Denver, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Australia, so finding a cohesive way to ask them (instead of a Facebook message filled with a lot of emojis) was important to me. I decided to make these cute lil' thangs:

I went to JoAnn Fabrics and found these cute jewelry boxes.  They even included a little foam cushion (you know, to protect the jewelry?).  In my case, I used it to add some height and volume to the box. I wrapped the cushion in pretty fabric and lace.

The outside of the box got this cute and glittery heart, that I simply cut out of gold glitter paper.  Voila! Super simple, and made the presentation of the box way cuter.  Plus, Brent and I are getting married on Valentine's Day, so the 'heart thing' was inevitable. Which is why I also had to include these heart shaped sunnies! I mean really... be still my heart.

Next, I hand-lettered a little 'Be My Maid' action to the inside cover, and attached it with (of course) some cute blush pink and gold washi tape. 

Since each of my ladies gets to pick out their own long chiffon dress, depending on their style and what makes them feel prettiest, I included this image and color samples (free from Menards! Win!) to serve as inspiration.  I had some ribbon and these cute little clothes pins to match too, and since I love details, I couldn't resist adding those in there to tie it all together.

Since all of my ladies are spread all over the world, I knew that including some information about our day would be a great way to explain everything at one time...win-win for all. Click on the image if you would like to see the details a bit closer!

Overall, I love how I was able to get crafty and ask my girls in a way that also made them feel loved.  After all, Brent and I are so excited to get married, and we want to reflect our love for one another to others...and to think this is only the beginning!

Click here to see our pre-engagement pictures ;)

Engagement pics pre-engagement...yes, this happened

My sweet blogettes :)

A couple weeks before the East Coast Main Squeeze and I jetted off to Italy (and got engaged!), we had a super fun shoot with my dear friends over at Booth Photographics.  Stephanie and Stephen are the cutest married couple like...ever...and their love for one another is reflected in their art.  With this shoot, they captured Brent and I perfectly.  They know how to bring out the giggles, the sweet smiles, and the overall lovey-dovey-ness in all of us.  Brent and I felt so natural around them, and they guided our shoot with natural poses, not those artificial "put your hands here...look this way..." type of direction.

You can probably see for yourself, Brent and I are head-over-heels for this wedding photography duo! To Stephanie and Stephen, thank you.  Thank you for sharing your gifts with the world.  You are an amazing blessing...not only with friendship, but also as fellow wedding industry peeps (yes, peeps).

And yes, this shoot was absolutely my excuse to wear a pretty floral headpiece, tulle, and red lipstick. What more can a girl ask for? (plus that sweet hunk of eye candy next to me? Not too shabby of a day...)

Also, for the record: These were not intended to be pre-engagement pictures, but as you can imagine, they led to a lot of questions and suspicions... ;)

Less Technology, More Time

Less is More Series | Week 6

Need I say more? Can I get an amen? 

I was out to lunch the other day with a friend, and I saw a family of 5 all out to eat together.  It was super nice until I noticed this:

-Dad: on his cell phone

-Mom: on her cell phone

-Kid #1: playing with the Ipad

-Kid #2: playing his leap-frog game

-Kid #3: crying because he wanted to play with the Ipad

You guys, my heart hurt. It made me stop and think.  Have we lost the ability to realize what matters most? Are we going to look back and wonder what we could have learned about our family over that precious lunch time together? Time is such a treasure that we take for granted, and sometimes, technology is the bag of chocolate chips that we need ‘just one more handful’ of (confession: I just wanted to mention chocolate, because I’m craving it).  Anyways, you get the idea.  We think, “just 5 more minutes of facebook...” and then all of the sudden, your entire night is gone, and you haven’t said a word to your family, friends, roommate, or dog (for those of you that this applies to).

Don’t get me wrong, technology isn’t all bad (I mean, hello! Long distance relationship here! Preach! Thank GOD for Skype!), but there is a time and place where technology does more harm than good. Yea?

Let’s make a commitment to spend time with one another...like, real, time. Face-to-face time.  Laugh until you cry time.  Genuine, loving, and tech-free time.  

Like what you see? Read my last post here.