Vintage Inspired Floral

Leaving you with some amazing and inspiring imagery from Shana Rae for the next couple of days. Hope your weekend brings you good conversation, beautiful weather, and a rejuvenated spirit. See you on Monday! :)




Photos found via Decor8

Organic Beer for your Wedding or Event

Whether it's for the bar at your wedding or for your July 4th cookout, a beer is a great beverage to have on hand for those who want to kick back and relax. Fortunately, organic beer is fruitful and available in many varieties.

Peak Organic Beer is a small brewing company in Portland, Maine.


Wolaver's Certified Organic Ales uses organic hops grown in the U.S.


Green Man Beer is a vegan friendly brewery company based in New Zealand.

Perhaps you'd prefer to support a local company? Visit Beertown.org to get a list or breweries in your area.

Solar Powered Lanterns for your Wedding

My husband and I watched WALL-E on Netflix's "watch instantly" feature the other night. If you haven't seen the movie, then you don't know that WALL-E, the little trash compacting robot, runs solely on solar energy. And it got me thinking about how much easier our lives would be if everything ran on solar energy. Sometimes I wish I ran on it. Forget the cup of coffee, just give me a cup of sun! But anyway, I digress. If you want to take advantage of some beautiful solar powered light, give Allsop Garden a click. Their line of Soji Modern Lanterns (pictured top) are so unique and elegant, while the Soji Pod Lanterns (pictured bottom) are sleek and festive.

Healthy Tuesday: A Real Wedding Headache

While a wedding is a joyous occasion, the planning of it can cause stress levels to reach new heights. For the most part, you're probably aware of this and you think to yourself, "Stress is my middle name. I can handle it." Until one day, you're sitting at the computer going over the wedding to-do list, and you realize you are way behind on sending out invitations. Suddenly you feel a slight ache in your head, which turns into a moderate throbbing, and you start hallucinating that little invitations are doing the cha-cha on your brain.

Minus the hallucination, which would not be good (if you start to hallucinate, see a doc ASAP), this would be a tension headache and it's one of the most common types of headaches. Although you may not be able to prevent it, you may be able to karate chop it before it starts dropkicking you. How? According to Women's Health Magazine, there are a few things to try:

Deep rhythmic breathing Shallow breaths cause CO2 levels in your body to rise. This dilates the blood vessels in your head, which can cause pain.
Do this: Count to five as you inhale through your nose, then count to five as you exhale through your mouth. Repeat 10 times.

Creative visualization Yeah, it's a cliché, but thinking of a "happy place" can halt the release of stress hormones.
Do this: Combine deep rhythmic breathing with thoughts of yourself relaxing in a soothing environment such as the beach or the woods.

Progressive relaxation Tension in your shoulder, neck, and back muscles can cause pain to radiate into your head.
Do this: Working up from your feet, contract each major muscle group one at a time. Inhale, hold for eight seconds, then exhale and release.

Remember! Breathe, Visualize, and Relax! Hopefully if you suffer from tension headaches, these tips will help keep you calm and happy.

Photo Credit: Reflecting Truth
Information Sources: Mayo Clinic, Women's Health Magazine

Brides Who Embrace Their Own Style + Give-Aways

I love it when a bride embraces her own style and creativity. Casually messy up-dos, dresses with ribbons, succulent bouquets, and the oh-so-glam long black gloves. These brides have got it goin' on!

To all my readers in the states, I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! My husband and I will be hanging out at home this year, although we do have plans to visit the Georgia Renaissance Festival. Although it's super cheesy, I've never been so I'm looking forward to "jousting and feasting!" We'll be back on Tuesday with more posts and eco-friendly happiness!


For your weekend enjoyment, check out these great give-away's!

- Give-away Alert! Win TWO beautiful rings from Turtle Love Committee on So You're EnGAYged (isn't that a cute name?).

- Give-away Alert! Why enter one give-away when you can enter two? Style Unveiled is offering up ten (yes, TEN!) wedding planning books, including InStyle Weddings, Simply Stunning Weddings, and Martha Stewart Wedding Cakes. Your book shelf will be stocked full of inspirational details.

photo credits from top to bottom: Meredith Davenport for Christian Oth Studio found via Snippet and Ink, Jose Villa, Robert Sukrachand found via OnceWed, SarahQ Photography

Sustainable Dishes and Jewelry

All clever and witty intro lines escape me. Of course, I'm not that clever and witty anyway, so I don't think you're too disappointed. I'll keep this straight and to the point. Fox and Clover. Remember that name. Beautiful and sustainable dishes and jewelry. Most are made from reclaimed old windows and picture glass frames.

Found via Made By Girl

Expert Spotlight: Gorgeous and Green Events

I recently had the pleasure of connecting with Pilar Zuniga of Gorgeous and Green Events, an event planning company in Oakland, CA that specializes in green and sustainable events. Longtime artist and craftswomen, Pilar has a beautiful aesthetic and as you'll see from the pictures below, her events are not only sustainable, they're quite stylish as well. She was kind enough to share her own insight about green weddings, including simple and economical eco-tips, how to avoid green-washing, and practical advice for the environmentally conscious bride-to-be.

How did you get started in planning eco-friendly events?

I started with my own wedding first. But the background is that I lived in Berkeley for many years, so I think some of the sustainable hippie has rubbed off on me. I also work in public health and being green and sustainable has so much to do with individual health and community health, it was hard to avoid learning about and becoming a green-minded person. So here I was, marrying someone who had studied sustainable development. It kind of had to be a green and sustainable wedding or else...

We decided on doing what we could in our budget, and I decided to become the green wedding planner. I had to do a lot of research at the time because it was more difficult to find sustainable and organic produce. A few of the ways we planned sustainably: we had locally caught fish, included locally grown and organic flowers, we recycled, we rented, I sewed, I crafted, the ceremony was outside steps away from the reception and we had a vegan/organic wedding cake. We splurged on the cake, but not on my dress. From there, I realized I had just taught myself how to be a green planner, and with continued research and learning I feel like I get better at it everyday.

What are three simple and economical ways a bride can make her wedding green?

1. Green your attire: Buy a recycled dress or have one made by a local seamstress with organic materials. Let the wedding party wear their own clothes or something they'll actually wear again.

2. Simplify your decor: Ask the florist to use only locally grown flowers ( yes, they have to ask their outlets) or order organically grown and fair trade flowers, this may cost a little more and it may also reduce the amount of flower variety available: so plan to simplify your designs and your expectations. If you have a green planner or florist in your community, seek them out to help you.

3. Go local and small: Try to spend in your community and support local and small businesses and artists, especially if they are green and organic. Not only will you have to pay less in shipping, it won't have shipped hundreds or thousands of miles to get to you. Supporting local organic growers, caterers, seamstresses, chocolate makers, etc. is a great way to give back to you community economically.

Can you explain green-washing and share how a bride can avoid a vendor who green-washes?

Like any new sales concept, going green has become a way to interest customers and clients who want to act sustainably. The only problem is that a lot of businesses and stores are taking up a few green concepts to make it look like they are green, when at heart most of it is still very un-green or not sustainable. My advice in avoiding this situation is to look for vendors who are doing everything sustainably and green. Find out how their business practices are green, and if they really believe in and are invested in sustainable practice. Besides using recycled materials, how else are they acting and advocating green?

If you could give an eco-conscious bride one piece of advice, what would it be?

There isn't too little or too much you can do to act sustainably. Obviously, more is better, but if the small steps are what work for now: pick up a book, hire a green vendor, plant trees or opt for a reused gown. Once you start thinking about being green, more ideas will come your way. Even if you can't find what you're looking for, asking and requesting for green and sustainable materials and services let's people know that change needs to be made. Don't give up and share your passion with others. Advocate, request, suggest and spend green.

And now for a silly question! If you could get married (again) anywhere in the world, and budget was not a factor, where would it be and why?

I would probably have it in the same place (baja Mexico) since it was not far away and most guests could travel by car. However, I would have rented a large mansion for the event so it could be more private. Definitely I would have changed the honeymoon if money was not an object. I would have liked to have honeymooned at a private house in the Mediterranean, maybe Greece or Spain or the French Riviera. But then my green sense reminds me of the carbon footprint. So maybe I would just have moved there!

Photo Credits: Cara Mia Photography and Erin Beach

Mason Jars and Vodka

Fun stuff from Leigh Weber. Did you know glass can be recycled an infinite number of times? The mason jars at the top were filled with sweet tea vodka drinks. What a great addition to a summer wedding in the South!

Healthy Monday: Eco-Friendly Sunless Tanners

Last Monday, I wrote about the dangers of tanning in the post, "A Healthy Tan or a Healthy Body?" It was encouraging to read so many comments from those of you who decide not to tan and instead show off your own, natural skin color.

However, there are options when it comes to sunless tanning. And there's nothing wrong with switching up your look a little bit, especially when summer rolls around. To give yourself a toxin-free, natural glow, Treehugger touts Lavera as being the greenest sunless tanner on the market. Made with organic soy extracts, jojoba oil, calendula, aloe vera, and rose water, it was voted the greenest cosmetic and beauty brand in Europe. It also won the "Best Sunless Tan" award in the New York Times bestseller, "Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth Friendly Life."

Unfortunately, it seems not too many other companies are following in Lavera's footsteps. According to Skin Deep, the cosmetics safety database, there isn't one sunless tanner given their "low hazard" rating. This essentially means that most sunless tanners will have some potentially hazardous ingredients. You can weigh the pros and cons though and move onto their "moderately hazardous" products, which include Kerstin Florian Sunless Tanner, Coppertone Endless Summer Sunless Tanning Foam, and Exuviance Sunless Tanning Facial Pads.

One of the more interesting sunless "tanners" I came across was a do-it-yourself concoction from Care2, involving natural ingredients like water and sesame oil. Although it seems a bit on the archaic side, it's certainly one of the most appealing in terms of being eco-friendly, health-friendly, and budget-friendly. Of course, this all is assuming it works. Check out the Natural Sunless Tanning Lotion from Care2.

If all else fails, I refer you to the comment of Jaime (from It's a Jaime Thing), who told us how she learned to "embrace the porcelain," by making the decision not to get a spray tan for her sister's wedding. You rock Jaime!

Birdhouse Table Cards

The birdies get a home. You get an awesome table card holder! Check out the tutorial on EnGAYged. (Found via Elizabeth Anne Designs)

A few fun things before we run headfirst into the weekend:

-- Check out Beau-coup Wedding Favors' site wide sale. Save 10% on $75 or more. Ends today!

-- Vintage tea cups make great storage at Re-Nest

-- EcoFabulous delights us with Beauty and the Bike: An Ecofabulous Style Guide

-- Funky wall bud vases at LotusHaus

Choosing Your Wedding Colors

When it comes to wedding colors, there really aren't any rules. You can go with a minimalistic approach, sticking with a few muted tones, or go all out and incorporate five to six different shades of pink! But sometimes having too many options can be a little overwhelming. Kris's Color Stripes is a great blog which extracts color schemes from inspiring photographs. Great for color advice or just to get a few ideas. See a few of my favorites below.

A No-Electricity Wedding?

A wedding with no electricity! While it's certainly eco-friendly, is it feasible? This means no microphones, speakers, lights. Here are a few ways to achieve this:

• Skip the lights. Hold your wedding outside in daylight.
• Hire an acoustic band. Keep the guest list small and intimate so they can hear the music without speakers.
• Although you have no control over how guests actually get to your wedding, have your ceremony and reception in the same place so that guests can walk between the events.
• The biggest obstacle is food. It might be tricky (and it might elicit a few choice words from your serious meat eating cousin), but...it can be done! To serve food at a true zero-electricity wedding, think BIG salad bar. Vegetables, salads, pasta salads, breads, fruits, cheeses, and cold cuts are just some of the goodies you could offer.
• Another option? Use a gas grill, which emits a lot less CO2 than charcoal briquettes and lighter fluid. This will satisfy that meat eating cousin and you can even create some very interesting desserts with a grill - think bananas foster or grilled peaches. Speaking of which, for dessert you should take advantage of things that keep well and will transport easily, such as cookies, cupcakes, baklava, biscotti, and petits fours. You could also serve MRE's (meals ready to eat) or freeze dried space ice cream (which could be pretty fun!), but that might be weird.
  

Of course, I'm only referring to the actual event here, but you could potentially extend the zero-electricity rule to your entire wedding day. However, that might mean forgoing the blow dryer or straight iron. And for some of us girls, that's just not going to happen.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ben Blood -Please note the photo above was not, at least to my knowledge, a zero-electricity wedding.

Environmentally Friendly Accessories

Cufflinks, necklaces, rings, and earrings. You could find something for your groom, your bridesmaids, your flower girl, and yourself! Betsy Carr, the gal behind Foundling, handcrafts accessories from recycled metals and "vintage, found, or repurposed ephemera."

Healthy Monday: A “healthy” tan or a healthy body

What’s more important to you? A “healthy” tan or a healthy body.

It's a pretty well known fact that many women like to tan before their wedding. And in all honesty, it makes sense. Rarely do you see an advertisement for a pale bride draped over a chaise, dripping from head to toe in an exquisite wedding gown.* The types of people that we commonly associate with beauty - actors, singers, models, movie stars, etc... - wear a perfect golden glow year round. So when a bride has her red carpet moment, I can understand why a pasty white glow can make her feel about as sexy as a turtle.

But is the “sexy” tan worth the dangers? According to the National Cancer Institute, women who use tanning beds more than once a month are 55 percent more likely to develop malignant melanoma. 55 PERCENT!? Wow. Even a day at the beach can increase your risk of skin cancer. If that doesn’t jolt you, get this: the sun causes wrinkles. That’s right ladies. The sun actually damages the elasticity of your skin, which is why women who spend too much time sunbathing tend to look like leather as they age.

Next, you’ll probably expect me to go into the details about the benefits of sunless self tanners. And while they have improved drastically in the last two decades (no more looking like the inside of a sweet potato!), I thought I might try a different route. Rather than slathering more chemical laden products on our bodies, what if we all embraced our natural skin color and learned to love what we were born with. After all, is it really fair that we allow society’s definition of beauty change what we see in the mirror?

I know this is easier than done (trust me, I’m about as tan as an albino rabbit) so next Monday I’ll be highlighting some of the more environmentally-friendly tanning options on the market. In the meantime, lets contemplate how turtles can be sexy... hard shell, pretty dark green color, dark eyes...

*This article originally posted in May of 2009. Since then I have noticed more vampire-esque brides being featured in magazines, but it's probably more a marketing reaction to the hype created by the Twilight series of books.

Wildflower Wedding Bouquets

Wildflowers can be one of the most beautiful and eco-friendly ways to decorate your wedding. You can place them in a mason jar, a vintage watering can, or as illustrated below, into a beautiful pitcher or tied to a fence. They come in a variety of colors, so you can even use them for a wedding bouquet, and best of all, you can plant them in your own backyard. Resources are provided below.

WildflowerInformation.org offers all sorts of information, such as where flowers can be grown, which regions they are native to, and where to buy seeds.

The book, Bringing Nature Home, reveals how to create an aesthetically pleasing and ecologically healthy garden.

Here's another resource for planting your own wildflower garden from Care2: Beautiful Wildflower Gardens.

Have a great weekend everyone! See you on Monday!

Photos all found on Flickr. From top to bottom: Happy Simplicity, Just Guessing, Jutilda

And The Winner Is...

Our give-away has come to a close and now the time has come to announce a winner. First, let me say it was ridiculously hard to choose the recipient. To all those who entered, please know I will be responding personally to each one of you, but please be patient as this may take a couple of weeks.

We had so many wonderful entries, I actually had to call on a couple of our sponsors to help break a three way tie. So without further ado, the winner is:

Congratulations Jess!

While all of the entries were great, Jess charmed our hearts with her wonderfully thoughtful and detailed wedding plans. In addition to her written entry, she also created an inspiration board! See her entry below:

I decided to send you an inspiration board of the REAL images of the wedding I am currently planning (it’s the real deal!). Right from the get go, My Guy and I knew that our wedding would be coordinated to take special consideration to leave a smaller carbon footprint, while celebrating the beauty of our landscape at the same time. Of course these ideas are just that, ideas, things that inspire us today – but with a wedding scheduled for next May, a lot can change!


To go through the pictures of the inspiration board, I’d love to share with you some details: (starting at the top far left and moving right and continue around making a circle)

Center: Location, Flagstaff, Arizona. We will getting married in small clearing in the forest (just adjacent to our reception site) and will have our reception at the Snow Bowl ski lodge at the top of the mountain. It’s the most beautiful place we know.

Crazy quilt: using fabrics from old clothes, those from our childhood, and scraps from both of our mothers fabric stashes, I am creating my ‘soon-to-be hubby’ a crazy quilt for my wedding gift to him. Soon after our wedding we will be moving to the frigid northeast from blazin’ hot Phoenix, so this is something that we will surely use. So far I’m half way done! This is the first quilt that I have ever attempted, and I’m having so much fun creating it. I’ve inherited my grandmother’s old sewing supplies (her old needles/pin cushions and beautiful fabric scissors) so I haven’t had to purchase anything new to create this quilt. And – it’s a surprise that My Guy doesn’t even know about yet! So shhhh! It’s so nice to be able to upcycle our old clothes and linens and create something new and beautiful and actually usable!

Dress: I love this Sarah Sevens dress. My wedding dress is not this, but as I don’t have a picture of my dress, I wanted to include my favorite handsewn designer dress. I already own a very simple off-white 100% silk strapless dress. Silk is such a lovely natural fiber, and it flows so beautifully in the wind. However, I’d like to take this simple dress and make it more my own. I am of Czech decent (as in both sides of my family are alllll Czech) and my mother has an incredible collection of antique Czech glass beads. My plan is to do a little beadwork along the waistline of my dress. I love that the beads are antique, and were crafted by artisans in a country where my ancestors lived (again, giving new life to something old).

Invitations: we will clearly be using recycled paper for our invitations, and Earthly Affair has a lovely collection of designs to choose from! We have decided to establish a wedding website full of information regarding maps, response calculators, menu options preference, lodging, activities etc. This way, we can sene one invitation in the mail, and not have to work about using extra pieces of paper in the process. We have decided not to send a ‘save the date’ prior to the actual invitation either. This will cut down on some serious postage expenses and be just as effective for our needs. Recycled paper and cutting down on invitation need is great for saving trees and lowering the emissions it would need to deliver multiple sets of communication (ie: save the dates, and rsvp’s).

Bouts: I love that My Guy actually has an opinion about boutonnieres! When I brought up the subject with him, he instantly asked if we can make them using pine needles and “stuff from the forest”. My sentiments exactly. Acorns, pine needles and tiny baby pine cones will be handcrafted into bouts for the boys. Materials provided by Mother Earth herself...has to be eco-friendly!

Gifts: We have opted not to give gifts at our wedding and feel that the party itself is the present! However, for those who will be helping with much of the wedding planning and crafting, we will be giving travertine ceramic plates that are hand crafted by an Oregon artist. These plates are adorned with the impression of different leaves/twigs and pine needles. A lovely, usable memento from our event (without our name and date plastered on it somewhere).

Décor: Our reception will take place in a ski lodge high up on the mountain. This lodge is outfitted with a huge (and beautiful) fireplace in the very middle of the room and has 10 foot long mantles on both sides of it. We don’t want to use lots of electricity once the sun sets, so we plan on using loads of soy candles to bring a soft romantic glow to the party. Soy wax is a renewable resource that is limited only by how many soybeans we can grow. It is also beneficial to farmers who sell soybean crops, as well as lasting almost twice as long as paraffin wax.

Cake: Flagstaff has a fantastic farmer’s market full of organic and locally grown goodness. We would LOVE to take advantage of that. There is an independent baker who frequently makes breads, pies, and other delectable goodies. We will be putting in an order with her to make us pies using whatever is ripe, locally grown, and yummy.

Activities: Flagstaff is full of amazing scenery, breathtaking hikes, and fun vintage flavor (it’s located on Historic Route 66). So there are many things that our friends and family can do to entertain themselves. We hope that folks take advantage of being close to the Grand Canyon and Sedona and see the splendor there. And for those who want to stay more local, we have a couple of outdoor activities…including a hike down into the lava tubes, and one hike up along the mountain to see petroglyphs. The Flagstaff Arboretum is another place for people to experience the landscape, and Lowell Observatory is always a popular spot for an evening adventure (it’s where Pluto was discovered – ummm…even though that’s not a planet anymore I guess).

Tabletops Along with the low overhead lights, comes candlelight. We’ve been saving every glass jar that enters our home for the past 4 months (and we still have quite a few months left to go!). Canning jars will be used as soy candle holders at each table. These jars are amazing for SO many things. We store everything in them…basically all dry goods like pastas, beans, tea leaves, sugars, etc. We will keep them after their roll as table centerpieces and candle holders for storage containers…and what we can’t reuse, either somebody else can or we can always recycle. Awesome.

Flowers: a bride really can’t go wrong with flowers as they are all so beautiful. Again I will call upon the farmer’s market where an organic flower farmer frequents his booth with ever the assortment of delightful blooms. I’ll take everything he has in yellow, green, and white that day and my ladies and I will carry bunches of these wildflowers down the aisle. This supports local business, and certifies that these flowers were grown organically in conditions that did not use chemicals which can injure our soil and water supplies.

Cake topper: Perhaps my favorite little detail. I thought it would be a great idea for us to get a cake topper that had a function post wedding. So, we will be getting a set of cute woodland creature salt and pepper shakers! Ebay sells a slew of adorable vintage shakers that just melt my heart. And it gives old objects a second life!

Centerpieces: I’ve already mentioned that we will be collecting jars and glass vases for the year or so. We will be combining several of them in the centers of the tables to create these simple and pretty centerpieces. We’ll throw some of those farmer’s market blooms in ‘em and call it a day! These too can be reused, donated and recycled.

Other Earth friendly ideas we’ll be embracing:

• featuring locally brewed beer at our bar, which keeps money in our local economy, but also cuts down on shipping costs of imported brands

• using recycled wedding bands, several jewelers on Etsy provide this service where they melt down old jewelry into simple wedding bands (we love this idea – and it’s so cost effective)

• we’ll be making garlands to hang from the rafters in the lodge, using cloth from recycled linens so they can be used again (if we chose paper, which would have been cheaper and probably easier to make, they would get thrown away too easily)

Thank you to all these wonderful bloggers who helped spread the word about our give-away!

Pearls Events
Ritzy Bee
Peony Love
Vintage Glam Blog
Anne Chertoff for Wedded Bits
Snippet and Ink
Planning Forever
Victoria-E
Elite Bridal Concierge
Beyond The Rockz
Wedding Cabaret
A Mountain Bride

If you mentioned our give-away, but aren't listed here, please e-mail us at jns721 (at) gmail (dot) com with a link to the post so we can add you!

Light Post

Light post this morning! If you entered our Earth Day Give-Away, we'll be announcing the winner at midnight (est) tonight. We've received so many wonderful entries, it's been hard to choose, but thank you to everyone who entered! I look forward to sharing some of the best with you all in the future!

Choosing an Eco-Friendly Photographer

Special treat today! In addition to sharing some of her lovely photographs, Erica Velasco of Vision Photographs has been kind enough to give us the scoop on what to look for when choosing a greener photographer!

Couples spend about seven to 10 percent of their wedding budget on a photographer. Because it is a significant investment, it is wise for a couple to do their homework before making a decision. If being green is a priority, there are a few questions you can ask your potential wedding photographer to ensure their practices align with your goals for your wedding.

1. Does the photographer offer digital images on a disk or on a portable drive? Or do they offer printed proofs? The better choice is definitely digital images on a portable drive. Why a portable drive? It can be re-used many times over. There are even bamboo portable drives available; bamboo is a renewable resource.

2. If you do want prints, there are a few things to ask your potential wedding photographer. Do they use an inkjet printer and fiber paper or silver-based printing on RC paper? The best option is inkjet printing on natural fiber papers like cotton or fiber paper, because they are renewable resources. Fiber papers include tree and bamboo papers.

3. Albums are one of the best ways to preserve prints and memories. You can still use environmentally-friendly components that will make albums more eco-friendly. Ask what albums the photographer offers. Do they use companies located in the United States? Are all the components made domestically? Also, do they offer animal-free album covers or natural fiber covers? Natural fabrics include linen, hemp or lotka paper. Also, synthetic cover materials made from petro-chemicals are great choices. Refer to point number two regarding printing of album pages.

These are just a few things you can ask your photographer to ensure they are using more eco-friendly practices and products.

Erica Velasco is a lifestyle wedding and portrait photographer based in Phoenix, Ariz. She specializes in eco-chic custom photography services, using eco-friendly photographic practices and products. You can view more of Erica’s work at visionphotographs.com and visionphotographs.com/blog.

I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately, so I'm recycling one of my old favorite "Healthy Monday" posts: Beauty Sleep! Enjoy!

Have you ever found yourself staring at bridal hairstyles at 11 p.m. or trying to prioritize your wedding to-do list after an exhausting day at work? By the time you get to bed, everything from "I still haven't found a photographer" to "What if crazy Aunt Rita wants to sing at the wedding!?" is beating a drum around your brain. All of this wedding stress can inhibit you from obtaining a good night's sleep, which is essential to staying healthy, mentally and physically.

So what's a stressed bride-to-be to do? Some experts claim that Lavender may be the best natural remedy. According to a Wesleyan University study, lavender was proven to increase the amount of time a person spends in deep sleep - the most restorative and restful sleep phase. Healthmad suggests putting a few drops on your pillow or wrapping the dried flowers in a cheesecloth, but it you want something a little more luxurious, L'Occitane sells an organic lavender pillow mist.


Sources: APA, Healthmad (photo source), Divine Caroline

An eco-friendly wedding

Came across this beautiful wedding on Twig and Thistle. Rare is the wedding with this many wonderfully handmade components. The flowers used to make the bouquet were grown by a guest and friend of the lucky couple, another friend provided homemade beer, and the favors were mini mason jars filled with homemade strawberry jam. Personally though, I'm lovin' the suspenders!

Happy Friday everyone! Enjoy your weekend!