heart to heart

jeremy from toast recently sent along word announcing the latest favor options to be birthed inside their imaginative workshop. these playful wooden heart stumps can be customized with the "carved" initials of the love birds and filled with a sweet surprise (or order up personalized cotton hankies from the toast team). the empty stumps are 100% biodegradable so guests can toss them into the compost pile for a little cradle to cradle action.

and, come december toast will be rolling out a more budget-friendly option to their popular soda snack line. mini pops will still put a smile on the faces of your guests (especially little ones on the birthday party circuit) but the shrunken size promises to keep the sugar rush to a minimum.

click over to the faq for the fine print.

pacific weddings photo contest

for the past decade, pacific weddings (formerly pacific rim weddings) has been the bible for stylish island brides. the maui-based glossie has been busy this past year with a title refresh to better reflect the magazine's coverage of nuptial bashes from hawaii to the west coast, the launch of a digital edition so brides can virtually flip through the archives to collect even more inspired ideas, and preparation for the publication's ten year anniversary.

if, like me, you have daydreamed about your wedding being featured in the pages of pw, you are in luck since the editors recently announced a photo contest to celebrate the upcoming anniversary issue. hele over to pw's love notes blog for all the details since the sep 25th deadline is fast approaching.

emi ink invites

carmel + lani

it's all about the details for wedding stationer stacey shiroma of emi ink who mixes hand selected papers with carefully chosen embellishments and die cut details of her own design to announce your big day with the perfect balance of personality and style.

the importance of making a good first impression carried over from stacey's career in marketing which she traded in to open up her own design shop in 2005. that means no detail is left to chance with everything from enclosures to envelopes coordinated to create a presentation guests will definitely remember.

alana + malia

you can preview the collection on the official website which made its debut a few weeks ago or stop by the wedding café which keeps an emi ink look book on hand for customers. since each invite is composed of multiple layers, it's best to book your consultation early since the handcrafted nature of the designs requires an estimated turnaround time of 8 to 10 weeks to complete your order.

no wedding on the horizon? you can still order up emi ink invites since designs double as event stationery for celebrations of all occasions.

click over to the emi ink blog for a peek at stacey's virtual inspiration board.

the luxe life

bird of paradise

tina from joie studio just buzzed me with news that LUXE letterpress is finally ready to make its official debut! LUXE is tina's brand new line devoted to announcing your big day in style with a gorgeous mix of designs featuring romantic flourishes, chic asian elements, and vintage island illustrations printed in modern designer colorways that make the details of each impression pop (custom colors are also available).

seville

bonsai

the semi-custom invites are printed on tree-free cardstock and coordinating cards can also be ordered to round out your nuptial arsenal of paper goods. turnaround time is about 4 to 6 weeks once the proofs have been approved.

to celebrate the opening of LUXE letterpress, tina is offering h|h readers 20% off all letterpress invitation orders!

• secret code: goLUXEaloha
• expires: fri, aug 15th

keeping up with kinohi designs

quilted floral

the other day i dipped into my stationery stash happy to find a few remaining thank you cards left over from my wedding from way back when. while a graphic designer friend pitched in to create our invites, the thank you notes came from kinohi designs who was first on the scene with modern island wedding invites that i swooned over and coveted very much but, alas, were beyond my budget.

when i clicked over to see what's new with kinohi, i discovered that designer jennifer tanabe has quietly shuttered the custom paper goods side of her business to focus on other projects. luckily, she continues to offer her charming designs in a fresh mix of island motifs via wedding paper divas and tiny prints, an online print house that helps you craft semi-custom invites and announcements to celebrate life's big moments.

beach stones

baby fern * under the sea

all of the designs are digitally printed to keep the cards at an appealing price point for personalized stationery. and, if you find the perfect card but the sample text doesn't quite do it for you, just remember that a few clicks will allow you to tweak the wording to better reflect your event.