Tag: wedding
5 Wedding Invites & Save the Dates You Have Never Seen Before
Wedding invites can set the tone for your special day and get people excited about attending! They can be formal and classic or whimsical and unique. We’ve created a list of five unique invites that we love! At ABCey our favorite is the scratcher because it builds suspense, but tell us what you think!
1. Scratcher Invite
We all know the excitement of a lotto card, but this way your guest get to win their way into your wedding! Include a penny of the year you two met for a more personal touch!
2. Balloon Invite
Make your guests “inflate to save the date” with this balloon printed with wedding details! You can print in all different colors and if your guests have kids they will love the interaction this invite gives!
3. Puzzle Invite
Make your invite a bit of a game with this puzzle invite! Guests will have to piece their invite together before knowing all of the fun details of your special day!
4. Log Invite
This invite is especially good if your wedding has a bit more of a natural feel or is set outdoors. This invite is super easy and low budget but looks amazing!
5. Invite in a Can
This idea is definitely unique but can be so fun! Put your simple invite in a can and then seal. Guests will have to open up the can to get to the invite, and you can also add fun decor or objects inside to get guests even more excited!
Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter!
5 DIY Wood Pallets Ideas for Your Wedding
Looking to have a rustic wedding, but don’t want to break the bank? ABCey has compiled 5 great DIY wood pallet ideas fit for a wedding! We love wood pallets because they can be crafted and used in so many different ways, from seating to signage.
1. Event Design
Pallets can be used as a main element of your event design! Set the stage using them as part of your opening ceremony, a backdrop or even a chandelier.
2. Lounge seating
Extra seating at weddings is always a good idea! Build your own benches or couches using wood pallets. Get out those power tools and click here for instructions!
3. Décor
Use pallets as a photo display or even place flowers among them for decoration! Easily hang, drape or pin pictures in the different sections for everyone to admire.
4. Signage
Pallets make for beautiful signs. Paint, stain or cut them however your like. You can write your favorite quotes or give your guests instructions. They are fun to make and look great!
5. Menu
Instead of printing out hundreds of menus for each guest, paint it onto a pallet nice and big. Everyone will be able to see it and it saves the environment!
Will you be doing one of the DIY pallet projects for your wedding? Let us know with a comment or message us on Facebook or Twitter!
Behind the Scenes: Adam & Amanda’s Tulum Destination Wedding!
Amanda Cey, CEO of ABCey Events, led the charge in planning her beautiful destination wedding this past May in Tulum, Mexico. Her special day took place at Casa Malca, with her closest family and friends. ABCey has the inside scoop on all the details that made Adam & Amanda’s wedding possible! To see our full portfolio, click here!
For as long as I can remember, I dreamed of getting married (along with almost every other little girl that has ever existed)! And, I always knew I wanted a destination wedding so that I could extend this dream into a long vacation for all! With 15 properties rented including 6 hotels and 9 private homes, we set to take over this yoga-esque bohemian beach town. Our arrival dinner began at Hartwood and Gitano, continued to El Tabano for our all white welcome party, and finished at the Papaya Playa Project for Sunday evening’s farewell dinner.
Event Planner/ Bride: Amanda Cey, ABCey Events
Adam and I met while living a few blocks from each other in Russian Hill, San Francisco. I was immediately drawn to his sense of humor, which I now know to be heavy sarcasm from his Bostonian upbringing! He made me laugh and as time went on I never wanted to leave his side. We had a rather long engagement (due to the birth of our daughter this past October), and were finally able to tie the knot on May 9th at an intimate beach-side estate called Casa Malca in Tulum, Mexico.
Venue: Casa Malca, Tulum, Mexico
It was silly to think that I could plan this event on my own (even being an event planner), with a newborn in tow, and in another country! I brought an assistant, the lovely Caitlyn McSorley and also hired Gwen Grosset, Destination Weddings Tulum to make sure everything ran smoothly on the ground!
Day of Coordinator: Caitlyn McSorley and Gwen Grosset
I fell in love with my “Octavia” Vera Wang dress from the Spring 2015 collection, but was unable to even try it on until just a few months before the wedding (I was 6 months pregnant by the time I saw it for the first time). I instantly fell in love with the disorder and edginess of the dress, but it was also so unique and organic which worked beautifully with the natural setting.
Dress: Vera Wang
Suit: Hugo Boss
Florals: Neil Hunt, Hunt Littlefield
Rentals: Planner 1 Events
The bridesmaids shined in a variety of blue hues that created an ombre effect when standing up at the altar, and looked gorgeous with the stunning ocean backdrop. There wasn’t really any overarching main theme, although blue tones dominated, along with ombre tones throughout (dresses, cake, tags, menu’s, etc), and lots of natural beachy elements to compliment the vibe.
Bridesmaids and Groomsmen:
Ombre Cake: Carolina Galarza, Chef Patissier
Rings: Pade Vavra
Jewelry: Ippolita
Barefoot Sandals: LoveMely
We brought close to 10 duffle bags of event decor that included everything from teal colored sand (so much for not bringing sand to the beach), driftwood, and sea shells (who has time to collect these the week of a wedding)? There were also ceramic starfish for the ultra long dinner table, custom made “LOVE” multi-colored sunglasses, a variety of blue parasols and lanterns, beautifully calligraphed chalkboard signage, ikat patterned pillows from Bali, Mexican pompoms, hangover kits, custom vow books, laser cut wood keys, ombre tags, and program fans! We found use for almost everything, except the vintage marquee “Hitched” sign didn’t quite make it in one piece!
Decor: ABCey Events
Program Fans, Menu’s, Pocket Schedules: Suite Paper
Calligraphy: Rona Siegel Fine Arts
Flower Girls: Ella Corthell, Aydin Levy & Riley Jacobson
Officiants: Nicole Doherty & Linzi Oliver
Music: DJ JoIll, Shawn Barry, and Arpason
A.V. // LED Dance Floor: Plug In Audio Visual
Pillows: Ikat and Batik
Hangover Kit: Jennifer’s Cookies
Pom Pom Decor: Artisan Revival
See how we pulled off this elegant outdoor affair as captured by the amazingly talented, Larissa Cleveland here! We’d also like to extend a huge thank you to all of the vendors and people who made this day a huge success!
Photographer: Larissa Cleveland Photography
What did you think of Adam & Amanda’s Tulum Wedding? Need help planning your destination wedding?! Let us know with a comment or message us on Facebook or Twitter!
3 Summer Bridal Bouquets for the Unique Bride
There are tons of ways to make your wedding bouquet reflect your personality for your special day. ABCey has a few ideas for a summer bridal bouquets that aren’t so traditional. Our personal favorite is the bright succulents!
1. Succulent Bouquets
Succulents are becoming more and more popular as home decor, with California’s drought! But succulents can also make for gorgeous wedding bouquets!
2. Shell Bouquets
The beach is a popular venue for summer weddings and for good reason! Shell bouquets are the perfect pairing — they incorporate the ocean and go right along with the theme. Shell bouquets are also easy to preserve, so you can have them forever!
3. Non-Floral Bouquets
For an easy and beautiful bouquet, you can use nontraditional items like wheat and driftwood. They can be just as stunning and are simple to make if you want a fun DIY project! Check out these nontraditional bouquets below for some inspiration.
What do you think of these bouquet alternatives? If you loved these as much as we did, let us know on Twitter or Facebook!
DIY Gold Dipped Mason Jars
Summer is in the air, and the farmer’s markets here in San Francisco are overflowing with beautiful flowers! With that in mind, ABCey thought it might be fun to get crafty and make some decorative vases. Since mason jars are quite popular right now, we decided to take it up a notch and add a unique gold-dipped edge, all gold, and an ombre to the mix with our jars. They were so fun to make that we wanted to share the results with you!
MATERIALS:
- Metallic Spray Paint (We used two different types of Gold – Krylon Metallic and Ace Hardware Metallic, the Krylon was our favorite, it’s rose gold-ey and has great coverage)
- Mason Jars
- Water Based Paint
- Paint Brush
- Masking Tape
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. First and foremost, put down lots of newspaper, preferably in a well ventilated space or outside — the spray paint gets messy.
2. We started with all gold jars, which require an easy couple layers of spray paint, and you’re left with a simple, elegant, golden mason jar. Stand at least 12″ away from the jar as you spray or it goes on too thick. A couple light coats is better than one thick coat.
3. To make only part of the jar colored, tear off a piece of masking tape and wrap it around the jar to mark the line where you want the color to end.
4. Turn your jar upside down on the newspaper and spray your jar with spray paint above the tape line.
5. Let it dry and apply another coat once it dries, but watch out for tricky drips if you apply a thick coat. After the paint is dry, simply remove the tape. It is likely that some paint will have leaked under the tape. Just used a sharp object to scrap it off. It should come off easily.
6. The next step is a little trickier. We loved these gold dipped jars so much that we decided to try some other styles so we painted some of our half gold jars pink on top! We wanted blush colored spray paint to do the other half but they didn’t sell blush colored spray paint, so we used paint and a paint brush. Make sure you use water based paint, it will come out more smoothy and make less of a mess.
7. We were able to do ombre with the paint and paint brush, an upside to not having that second color of spray paint! We took the pink color, applied it to an inch thick strip of the jar above the previously sprayed gold (make sure you do spray paint first, it dries faster and gives you a great guide for where to put the rest of your paint).
8. As you move up towards the mouth of the jar, make different batches of paint and add more white to each batch. We applied three batches and each was about an inch thick. The blending worked out really nicely because the paint dripped down after we were done. You can see that the blush pink gets lighter as you move upwards.
All in all, we’re loving this look and this quick DIY. Hopefully we’ll be doing a couple more in the near future! How did yours turn out? What did you use your painted jars for? Share you thoughts with us on Facebook and Twitter or leave us a comment below!
Startup Monday: Sevenlogics
Startup Monday is ABCey’s weekly post that features some of the best and brightest companies in the Bay Area. They are often companies that we have our eye on or have worked with in the past that we would like to share with the friends and followers of ABCey Events.
When you’re planning for the big day, you need all the help you can get! That’s why we love Sevenlogics‘ wedding planning apps.
This LA-based company has been filling the Android and Apple app markets with its products since 2009! Sevenlogics focuses on problem-solving apps in categories including baby, lifestyle, finance, and (of course!) wedding prep. Since every app is free, there’s no excuse not to take them out for a spin!
Our favorite apps are the wedding-themed ones, like Wedding To-Do and Wedding Budget. Although these are obviously marketed towards brides and grooms, these apps are great for any upcoming project you have on your hands. Wedding Budget is our hands-down favorite because keeping track of the budget is always a huge concern, no matter the size! Set up strict allocations for each phase of the event planning process, including venue and catering costs. The clear calculations and graphics make it easy to see what’s consuming too much money and which areas came in under budget.
Would you use a Sevenlogics app for your next big project? Let us know in a comment or on Facebook & Twitter!