Wedding – Page 3 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Stationery January 6, 2015

Watercolor Calligraphy

One of my favorite new trends in the world of typography (a world I care all too much for), is watercolor calligraphy. I follow Lauren of @AFabulousFete on Instagram, and her prints are my absolute favorite. I love how the colors change over the course of the stroke from light to dark, which is beautifully matched with the varying thickness of the letters. There is a lot of gorgeous inspiration on the internet, and I’ve been motivated to give it a try as well!

Lauren posted the tools needed here on her blog, and I’ve ordered the brushes and plan on giving it a try. I am nerdily excited. Have you been noticing this trend too? Have you tried it?

Here are some of my favorite pieces of inspiration by various calligraphers. All photos are linked to their source site.

Happy Tuesday and Serbian Christmas Eve! We are heading to church tonight to celebrate for the second time. Having a multicultural family has its perks!

Personal November 17, 2014

Week in Review

Happy Monday everyone! Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week? Time is flying by (I’ve probably said that 10,000 times in the last 5 1/2 months). Quite a lot has happened in the previous two weeks (missed last week’s review due to Isla’s First Week with Carter’s series – see here for the winner!), Isla had her first trip to the Houston Zoo (we’re now members, so excited), which made me so happy. She loved staring at the fish – everything else was too far for her to see (oh, and then she fell asleep, which didn’t help).

Other highlights from the last week (and a bit) include:

Crawling! Well, sort of – Isla is mainly motivated by her favorite book (Goodnight, I Love You) and my iPhone (Digital Natives!) – watch the army crawling here.
Finger painting again with mushed berries that turned into a face painting session… and then I gave her a spoon, because solids is coming very soon! I can tell she is interested now.
Shooting Christmas card photos for my good friends, Matt and Erin (their wedding photos here) – I’ll share all of the pictures soon!
Swimming at the Life Time pool twice – the second time involving our new Otteroo, which we both love.
Taking Isla to get frozen yogurt at Yogurtland for the first time (okay, she only ate it indirectly through my milk!)
Shipping off a few of my first Etsy orders!
Attending a beautiful wedding in Austin at Thurman Mansion (last time I was there, I was 36.5 weeks pregnant!)
Going to the church sermon at Bayou City Fellowship and hearing Curtis preach, and having Isla in the daycare for the first time – they said she loved it!

Some of my favorite photos:

Call me, maybe!

Events October 15, 2014

Breathtaking Parisian Engagement Session

One of my closest friends from childhood, Amanda, got engaged last month while visiting Paris with her (then) boyfriend. Sasha and Scott are friends, so we are both extremely excited for them and their spring wedding in New Orleans. While in Paris, they had photographs taken by the very talented Stacy Reeves.

I absolutely die over these photos. Paris is my favorite city in the world (see travel guide here), and I just swoon at their strolls through the Palace Gardens, romantic tossing of a key on the lock bridge, romantic poses outside the Louvre, and breathtaking shots in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Isn’t this couple just stunning? I cannot wait to celebrate their big day with them in less than six months.

City Guide October 14, 2014

California Wine Country Travel Guide

Last summer, Sasha and I got married at The Carneros Inn in Napa Valley (see photos here and here). I am head-over-heels in love with the California Wine Country. I went for the first time in 2010 and have been five times since. Although I could spend an eternity there, I’ve created a travel guide which outlines two absolutely perfect days in Sonoma, Napa, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga. While most of my trips have been day trips, I’ve stayed at The Meritage Resort and Spa and The Carneros Inn (for the wedding). I highly recommend both, although The Meritage is more reasonably priced for a weekend trip.

Domaine Carneros // Frog’s Leap // Robert Mondavi

To make navigation a little easier, I’ve created a Google map with all of the recommendations below. Don’t want to drive around? Smart decision. There are lots of private drivers in the area, including Private Limousine Service, Wine Country Driver and Pure Luxury.

Please share with me some of your Wine Country favorites! I’d love to try them on our next trip. Click here to see a list of my other city guides.

Two Perfect Days in the California Wine Country

Day 1: Sonoma and Napa

Eat breakfast at FARM at The Carneros Inn (get there early and be prepared to wait – it’s worth it) – then play some bocce ball in the main courtyard when you’re done!
Drive to Domaine Carneros and walk up the majestic stairs to what reminds me of a French chateau – get your day started early with some amazing sparkling wine.
Leave Domaine Carneros and drive to the nearby Artesa Vineyards, where you’ll find another incredible view – look into doing a private tour of the facilities (totally worth it).
Head towards Sonoma Square to wander through the park, look at the cute stores, grab a coffee at Sunflower Caffé, and get your name on the reservation list for either HopMonk Tavern or The Girl and the Fig (both are delicious – and busy!).
After eating lunch, pile back in the car and head towards Gundlach Bundschu (where we had our rehearsal dinner) – they wine is absolutely phenomenal.
Take a short drive to nearby Nicholson Ranch, and gaze out at the rolling wine country in front of you.
Determine your ability to drink more wine (c’mon, you can do it!), and if you’re up for it, end your day’s wine tasting at Viansa (amazing cheeses!).
Return to your hotel to shower, rest and get ready for dinner at Azzurro Pizzeria E Enoteca in downtown Napa and walk around the pretty little city afterwards.

Events September 24, 2014

Julia Ideson Library-Inspired Save-the-Dates

The wonderful ladies at Papellerie are at it again, creating one of my favorite unique save-the-dates ever. They designed a bookmark themed announcement for a wedding at the Julia Ideson Library in Houston, and I love how they turned out!

While I love my Kindle, I still love a good hardback book, and I am totally against folding pages over to mark my spot. I want to receive one of these bookmarks in the mail! For more unique save-the-dates, click here, and to see all of the pretty goodies that Papellerie designed for our wedding, click here.

Sasha and I attended a wedding at the Julia Ideson Library for two of our good friends last November, and I fell in love with this venue. Erin and Matt (well, perhaps just Erin) did a phenomenal job planning their big day – all of the subtle nods to the library surroundings were creative and very elegant. Both the bride and groom looked perfect. See some photos below, which I found on The Knot.

What is the most unique venue you’ve been to for a wedding? Do you have any examples of out-of-the-box save the dates?

PS Have you entered the Freshly Picked moccasin giveaway yet? You have until Friday at midnight!