Most girls get a cute clutch...

I got a custom Sea Bag for the wedding!

We designed an icon for our save the dates, which we plan on using throughout the design of various things for the wedding. We're getting married in Pemaquid Harbor (where we got engaged), which is marked with the heart.


My mom got me a Sea Bag for Christmas a few years ago, and I absolutely love it. They're made in Maine out of recycled sails and have cute rope handles. I am trying to make as much of our big day as "Maine" as possible, so this bag was perfect. And, it will be a great way to tote around things on our big day. Not to mention, it will be a great prop in our pictures with Kim Potterf.

I emailed Amy at Sea Bags our wedding icon and placed the order. I opted for the "baby" bag, which is just like their medium bag with the addition of some handy pockets and a closure. A couple weeks later this beauty came in the mail:


I love my bag, and so does Pete. I'm pretty sure he can probably fit into it!


Thanks Sea Bags!

Experimenting with fabric flowers

My fiance was out of town all week, so I had lots of time peruse through wedding magazines and read up on wedding blogs. A friend of ours made some fabric flowers for her wedding, and they were so pretty that I mentally bookmarked the idea. She sewed them onto a sash for her bridesmaids and they looked so cute! Since I am only having a maid of honor, I figured I should be able to do something like this. There's no excuse, I don't have to do 5 of them.

I came across the "how-to" in the Summer 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, which is also online here. I made the peony, but she also has a garden rose and a zinnia. The instructions are simple, these were the first two I made--so I figure I can only get better. You can too!

I used some red cotton fabric and some tiffany blue silk blend fabric to test how they'd turn out. I plan on making some more, using some different textured fabric. Here's how the initial attempt turned out:


In the meantime, the wedding planning has continued! I purchased my veil, a flower fascinator and will be purchasing a sash soon with a gift certificate I won from Bronze Budget Bride and Buds and Blooms. I also ordered a custom Sea Bag to carry my things around for the wedding, it's going to be really cute. Now, we just have to get my groom outfitted!

Save the Dates for our Maine Wedding!

I am so excited to finally be able to share these with you. Our guests have received them, so I do not have to worry about spoiling the surprise.

I shared a sneak peak of the envelopes with you last week (if you follow via twitter and facebook). We created custom postage, wrap around labels with our wedding icon (the heart reveals the location of our wedding) and I also lined every envelope with a gingham pattern I made. The gingham will be a theme throughout our wedding, it's the fabric I'm using to sew our napkins...which is for another post! These envelopes were time consuming, but I LOVE them.


Now, for the full reveal! The invite contains a small red envelope, which contains a lobster bib for our guests. The bibs are printed with directions on how to eat a lobster in order to prepare them for a weekend in Maine.



A close up of the envelope, "Attire Enclosed." That's my favorite part. :)


For a little added extra detail, we decided to make use of the back of our save the date. Over the last few years, we've saved emails from friends/family and written down quotes about us as a couple. We always wanted to do something with them, and thought the back of our invitation was the perfect canvas for all the wonderful (and funny!) things people have shared with us.



These were a lot of work, but we had such a great time designing them together. It's hard to design your own invitations, especially when you're marrying a designer! But, we did it and we love them. Now, time to start our invitations! Photos are also on Facebook.

Welcome 2011!

Happy New Year! I can't believe 2010 has come to an end, and what an exciting year it was for me. In the last 365 days, I got engaged to an amazing man, moved across the country to beautiful San Francisco and found out I am going to be an Aunt within the next month (the spoiling has already begun)! My invitation business had a great year and I am beyond thankful for all the brides I had a chance to work with. Each year things get more and more exciting. I can't wait to see what 2011 brings to me.

I hope to bring you MANY more blog posts this year with wedding inspiration and various DIY projects. I'll be posting our save the dates soon, they're going out in the mail next week. I want my guests to see them first, and then I will share them with you. I'm so pleased with how they came out. Designing our own invitations has to be one of the hardest things I've done. Especially considering the fact I am marrying another designer.

To kick off 2011, I am putting my desk calendars on mega-sale. I have a handful left, so get one while they last. When they're gone, they're gone. They are regularly $12, but are selling at half-price for $6 on my etsy site.



In the meantime, here's the January desktop calendar for you to download. January's calendar is based off of my Marquee save the date. I have an invitation set to match this one now, it'll be going up soon!



Click on the link below to download your desktop (a new window will open, either drag it to your desktop or right click and "save image as"):

1024 x 768

1280 x 960

1280 x 1024

1600 x 1200

1680 x 1050

1920 x 1200

MHW is on a holiday break!

I've informed my current brides and have made it a point to add it to the end of my estimates that have gone out in the last couple weeks that I will be taking time off from 12/24 to 12/31. During this time, I will not be generating proofs. I will, however, be checking my email to provide estimates and answer any questions. You'll probably see me on twitter, so keep in touch that way. :)

May you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 2010 has been very very kind for me (I'll elaborate more on that later) and I'm so excited to see what's in store for 2011.

Now, I have to pack to head back to snowy Ohio. It's going to be quite the change from the mild California "winter" we've been experiencing!

Etsy Finds

It's too easy to get lost on etsy with all the great finds. Seriously, there is some great stuff on there. And, of course--there's some stuff on there that leaves me saying, "people buy this?" Today, I was checking out all the different sashes. I'm still trying to decide if I want to add one to my dress for a little something extra.

Here are three that I was drawn to:

I love the pop of color that this blue flower adds. This sash is simple yet fun, and it's one of our wedding colors...score! It runs $95, not bad.



This sash is all kinds of elegant. While I do not consider myself a flashy crystal kind of girl, I love this. And, you can customize the ribbon color to fun it up some. Perhaps a nice aqua or red? This sash is a little more, but the added detail is worth it at $149



The last sash that caught my eye looks like the first two sashes I picked had a love affair. It mixes the fun of the flower with the elegance of stones and is $148 (right in the middle of the other two!). I'm going to be wearing pearls, so I like the idea of having them in my sash and fascinator (which I will be looking for next). This one is great because I can possibly throw it on something in the future. The etsy page shows it on the strap of a dress, which could be cute on a simple black dress later on.



What do you think?

Featured Testimonial: Teal!

Teal and I worked together at an ad agency in Columbus. She was one of my last brides before we made the trek across the country to San Francisco. She had such a great vision of her wedding, which was held at the oh-so-amazing Venue at Smith Brothers. It was a lot of fun working with her on her wedding stationery and I couldn't be more pleased with how they came out. The "Tea for Two" invitations have quickly become my new favorite design!



Here's what Teal had to say:

I had the pleasure of being introduced to Marit through work. A colleague mentioned that Marit designed her wedding invitations and suggested I speak with her about my upcoming event. It was a blessing. Marit listened to what I envisioned and made smart suggestions to help polish the design of our Save the Date cards, invitations, RSVP cards and more. She also helped with reception details and designed beautiful place cards, table numbers and bar/station menus that matched our invitation design. It pulled everything together beautifully. Our guests loved the details. Marit worked quickly when I made some last minute requests and was able to execute beautifully almost overnight! My new husband and I would recommend her to any couple looking for beautiful and detailed work for their special event.
- Teal and Todd


Go check out Teal's wedding photos on her photographers blog--they're beautiful!