Books & Maps we recommend for your visit to Savannah, Georgia
The Mansion on Forsyth Park {this is where the wedding is being held}
Hampton Inn - Historic District
Holiday Inn - Historic District
Azalea Inn & Gardens B&B (allows children in some rooms)
The Mansion does offer vallet parking for the event if you stay outside of walking distance.
Click here for more options from Fodors.
We really had not expected people to buy us gifts since they have to travel for the wedding, but everyone keeps asking where we are registered. So, in true Hope & Mike fashion, we created an Amazon Wedding Registry which you can view here. It really is wonderful - we can add things from anywhere (so I snuck some Pottery Barn items on)!
Here are a few things we love... (the rare book sign makes my heart skip a beat I love it so much!)
click here to see everything we added.
I found a great post about shopping in Savannah that I wanted to share over at sfgirlbybay
Click HERE to see...
(photo by sfgirlbybay)
I threw the card together in photoshop last week using the following elements:
Handlettering by Crystal Kluge of Tart Studio
Illustration of us by Kathleen of Liquid Sky Arts
Then I had them professionally printed on linen paper stock, and I gold tipped the edges with a metallic Prismacolor marker (i looooove how the metallic ones smell) this afternoon.
Accented with some Strawberry pink envelopes from Paper Source ... and ... Viola! Save the dates all set to go out next week.
So... it only took me, what... 8 months to make a decision about wedding cake toppers (let's hope the rest of my descions can be made in a more timely manner!). I have been eyeing these for sometime and finally dove in and purchased them.
We are having custom ones made to look like us by Goose Grease (photo above is from their site)- and there is a surprise element I will not devulge so you can all smile when you see it for the first time in person. Luckily, Cheryl at Back in the Day is pretty open to my silly cake ideas...
Check out the Goose Grease shop by clicking here. Cute, right?
Everyone keeps asking me if I will be making/designing our invitations myself. I put a lot of thought into it and decided that I will... sort of...
I am designing them myself with a handmade element to them but, I hired Crystal Kluge to do some hand lettering for us to incorporate into what I am planning to make. I am very excited about what I have received from her and I think everything is going to look great. Now I just need to find the time to make them! You may have noticed the new blog banner that is using some of what she did for us. Wonderful isn't it?
So stay tuned for save the dates to be arriving in your mailboxes soon. In the meantime, check out Crystal's website and blog, I am sure you will love her work as much as I do.
While I as in Ashland, Oregon this summer on an art retreat, I meet some wonderful artists from all over the country. Christine and I both shared a love for Marie Antoinette and I was so impressed with her art. Well, a few days ago she had a give-away on her blog and I won! Look at this necklace I got to pick from her shop - I adore it and plan to wear it maybe the night before the wedding, or depending on my dress (no, I have not picked anything out yet - more on that soon) on the actual day!
As for the wedding, we are so excited about it, and are trying to plan things while holiday planning needs to go on around us as well. I still need flowers (but I have some ides to share in a bit), a dress (yes, yes, I know, I need to get on that) and a few other things... check back soon for updates (including places to stay for guests).
Since our wedding will be a smal spring intimate event, I want my dress to be tea length with some frill under it... but I was having such a hard time finding something that was to my liking... That is until I found Stephanie James Couure. These dresses are just what I have in mind...
Here is just a small sampling of her beautiful tea length dresses:
(photo source (all photos): stephaniejamescouture.com)
All this talk about cake lately made me think is should tell you about the cake topper dilemma I am having.
Out of all the things to stress over, My (Hope, not Mike, he is actually quite calm about the cake topper issue) biggest stresser is about a cake topper. I want something very speical that we can keep for years to come (as we all know I am extremely sentimental). I am debating over a few options.
Ann Wood Handmade (center) makes wonderful birds out of vintage fabrics, they are very popular and I love how all vintage fabrics are used.
The Small Object Clothespin People (Right). The artist, Sarah, is a Savannahian which is a nice touch, and better yet, when I started blogging, she was one of the first fellow bloggers I meet.
I was able, with Kathleens permission, to scan and isolate just me and Michael from the illustration she drew and I have a new way of making cake toppers (I just did one for a couple getting married Nov. 1st, I will post some photos when I get them), so it would be printed on some type of plastic and lasercut out in such amazing detail (left)
Something Vintage, which sounds fun, but I have yet to find anything I really love... not sure if I should keep looking or not.
See... stressful! What to do, what to do!
We have picked a wonderful hotel and restaurant for our ceremony and dinner. It is the Mansion on Forsyth Park Hotel which is in a restored (and added on to) 1888 Victorian Mansion set in the Historic District of Savannah. The Mansion over looks beautiful Forsyth Park and hosts the 700 Drayton Restaurant, where we will be dinning with our guests after the ceremony. You can check out the hotel through their virtual gallery here - be sure to check out the Kessler Galerie (where dinner will be held) and the Marble Garden Courtyard (where the ceremony will be held). Also click the image below to see more details.
Here is a link to CNN where they have reprinted an artcile that was in a recent issue of Southren Living about Savannah.
Thanks Mom for mentioning the article and thanks Dan for finding it online!
We just posted a dinning guide - click here to see or use the link we put in the left hand column for future reference! Bon appetit!
I find that I often create new card designs based on what is happening in my life... so I have been having fun thinking of wedding cards to add to the Paper Relics collection. Here is my latest card, "Here Comes the Bride":
While in Savannah this past week, we had a few things on our list that were "must-dos". Our favorite of all these tasks were the cake testing. Yum.
We meet with Carrie of Two Cakes and got to taste several types of cakes she makes. All delicous! If we go with her, we opted for a simple classic looking cake in our pink and cream colors. Based on a design shown above (left) that was in her portfolio.
We also stopped by Back in the Day Bakery... Cheryl makes the most amazing cakes, and she no longer does wedding cakes, but I was able to twist her arm and she has agreed to consider doing ours. Her cakes have what she calls an orgainic look and taste oh so good... and she was so sweet to throw together a tasting for us at last minute. Her cake is on the right in the above photo. We would not be having a chocolate cake for the wedding though, it would be a specail vanilla cake.
We went to her bakery for lunch today on the way out of Savannah heading home, and we had the best sandwichs (the bread is fresh baked by her husband). And then the cakes were delicious... (as I type this I have a mouthful of some of the leftovers in my mouth!)
Mike and I highly recomend that while in Savannah you stop by and visit her bakery... those who know my creative side will understand why I fell in love with it from the photos I took (see below). AND to top it off... she has a tattoo that has one of my fairy girls on top of one of her cakes - how cool is that?! Click here to see the tattoo! oh, and you can see Cheryl on a Paula Dean epsisode re-airing this Sunday (AIR TIMES: Oct 19, 2008 12:30 PM ET/PT, the Food Network) - how fun is that! And did I mention that they were voted the best bakery in Savannah something like 5 years in a row? So, as we said... a must on your visit to Savannah!
Be sure to click photos to see more detail!
One of my dear friends, Kathleen of Liquid Sky Arts fame, is a very talented artist. She currently is working for Papaya as Head Designer, but her portfolio is amazing in all forms of art and design. When I was visiting her this summer, her husband showed me her portfolio. We came across this wonderful illustration she did for her wedding invitation of her and her husband. I loved it and asked (begged?) if she would consider drawing me and Mike... and she said yes and did it as a wedding present to us.
It was fun to see the piece's progress as she worked on it... and even though we saw these photos, we were still amazed when I saw it for the first time in person. Thank Kath, we love it so much!
P.S. In tiny lettering flowing from my dress it says "this love is forever...". I loved that Kathleen did that!
We have chosen a photographer - it was tough as there are quite a few great choices in the Savannah Area...but after much deliberation, we are going with Christine Hall Photography. Check out her portfolio here, we think it is amazing!
So we are engaged (finally!)
My ring was hand crafted by Canadian artist Anne Sportun. It is a rose cut diamond (one of the oldest cuts) surrounded by smaller diamonds all set in white gold. We plan to pair it with a simple band by the same artist.
