Save the Date Bookmarks!

I have been looking forward to writing this post for a while, but first I had to finish a painful research report for school and then wait until the majority of guests had received these so I wouldn't ruin the surprise! Our Save the Date bookmarks went out last week, and it sounds like everyone loves them as much as we do!

Like I've said before, I can't imagine planning a wedding without Etsy, which is kind of like Ebay but everything on there is hand made by some pretty talented people! There are so many creative graphic designers that sell stationary and invitations on there, so I knew this is where I would get most of our wedding correspondence. It took us weeks looking at all the options and we about to settle on a postcard until we saw these dreamy bookmarks from Cardcandydotcom. I really fell in love with the font at first and we had really wanted to use one of the fun jumping shots we took during our amazing engagement photo session with Ryon:Lockhart Photography, so these were perfect! Cardcandydotcom was a pleasure to work with! Less than 12 hours after I ordered a sample, I had our proof emailed to me and the final shipment of the bookmarks was fast and efficient! He even threw in an extra 30 bookmarks, which is great because we will certainly treasure them and use them throughout our lives!

Once the bookmarks were ordered, it was time to obsess over the envelopes! This was my opportunity to finally start playing with all the colors that have been inspiring me as I begin to design the wedding. I am kind of against picking one color and spraying it all over every element of the wedding, so I am working more with a palette of yellow, grey, a blue-green that is more blue than green (I know, I know) sometimes referred to as Peacock, and splashes of fushia. Needless to say, Paper Source has become one of my new favorite sites these days! There I found these fun open ended envelopes in a gorgeous peacock color and these super easy to print yourself oval chartreuse labels.

I even ended up finding an affordable yet cute stamp! I had heard about Zazzle.com, a website where you can order or create special postage stamps. I will admit I found so many wonderful options there, but I could not justify spending more on the postage stamp than the actual save the dates I was sending!! Over a dollar a stamp, that's just crazy!! Luckily, I found these gorgeous William H. Johnson limited edition floral stamps available at our local post office for the same price as ugly, boring stamps. They were perfect!

The only thing left to do at that point was to create an insert. I can be pretty anal sometimes and was worried that some people may think we picked the weirdest shaped, smallest save the dates ever and wouldn't figure out they were bookmarks. So I whipped these babies up, made out of some left over card stock I had laying around the house. Matthew was such a sweetie and actually offered to help me assemble everything. Yes, he offered! He's a keeper, I think I'll marry him : )

Aiden's Angry Birds Birthday!

So even though The Smallcombe Shuffle is technically our current wedding blog, our life isn't just about the wedding. I will not be one of those  people! Although this blog is about Aiden, who is the son of my best friend and bridesmaid Sarah and he will be one of the ringbearers . . . 

So apparently, this Angry Birds thing has finally reached the children. Pretty much most of the kiddos I work with are obsessed with them, but my nephew Aiden is their number one fan! So when I offered to do his cake this year, I knew it had to be Angry Birds and immediately thought about making cupcakes! 

Sarah and I worked pretty late on these babies last night and they came out frickin amazing! Our friend Meredith made the yummiest chocolate frosting I have ever tasted that made the perfect base frosting before we added the birds and pigs. So dark and decadent! 

Here's Meredith and I posing with the birthday boy. Such a great party! I can't believe he is seven years old already! Even though Matthew and I will have a new anniversary to celebrate soon, we will always remember how many years we have been together because Sarah was preggers when we met. Whenever someone asks how long we've been dating, we always look at each other and ask, "How old is Aiden again?" 

So there you have it. You have been introduced to the first member of our wedding party. Matthew and I will be babysitting my other two nephews tomorrow, so perhaps I will introduce them as well. Yes, we are having three ring bearers because I have three adorable nephews under the age of 7 and I can't imagine picking just one! Crap, I guess this is kind of a wedding post after all. Oh well!

Nighty nite!

Kelly McBride (Soon to be Smallcombe!) 

Six months!

So the other nifty gadget I've benn trying to add on here is a wedding countdown thingy, but that's not going so well either. This picture of our calendar will have to suffice! Six months from today I will be dancing with my new husband surrounded by my friends and family. We can't wait!! I'm sure it will be here before we know it! 

Nighty nite! Kelly McBride (soon to be Smallcombe!)

Engagement Photos

This post has been days in the making. I was trying to set up a photo slideshow of the whole set of our engagement photos, but until I finally figure that out this will have to do. 

So Matthew and I are the luckiest people in the world! Two of our close friends just happen to be the most amazing photographers ever, and wouldn't you know that they just happened to get married and move back to the west coast just in time for our own engagement. Ok, well I'm sure there were some other reasons. . . 

I have worked with quite a few wedding photographers throughout the years, but Tim and Sarah of Ryon:Lockhart Photography is the amazing team of photographers who just happen to also be a lovely newlywed couple. They were already great photographers from California living in New York City when they met, fell in love and moved to LA to start their lives together. From my years of being a wedding planner, I've already learned that it helps to really get along with your wedding photographers, which is why our engagement session went so well! Anyone who gets to work with this team won't be sorry and we are so honored to be able to use them before their calendar fills up!

 The pretty flowers I got for the shoot. Definitely what I'm going for on the big day too!

These first few photos were taken at the Sunnyvale Heritage Museum, which was actually our first choice for the wedding location. It's part of the park where Matthew proposed and I used to do plays at the Community Theater there when I was younger! Would have been perfect, except that they broke ground on a new courtyard and weren't available on our date. No worries, Walden West it is!

This is the picture we almost went with for the save the dates, 

but then we thought of something even better!

Whenever I wear this necklace, everyone always asks me "Is that a tiny comb?" I always scoff and say, "No, it's a Smallcombe, gosh!"

We've already been wearing matching promise rings for years. My engagement ring matches the infinity rings we got at the Art and Wine Festival years ago. 

Once again, thank you so much Ryon:Lockhart Photography! We can't wait to see what beautiful photos you take on the big day! Here is a link to the blog post they did on our engagement shoot that features a lot more photos if you just can't wait for the slideshow!

Have a good night!

Kelly McBride (soon to be Smallcombe!)

Return Address Labels

So the Save the Dates have (finally) been ordered and now I'm trying to wait patiently for them to arrive. I can't wait to send them out, they are amazing! Two weeks, sigh. Oh well, look what came in the mail today! The cute return address labels I ordered from JackPot Designs on Etsy. I can't imagine getting married without Etsy! So many amazing and unique things and they are mostly handmade from crafty people like me!
I also want to order a return address stamp, but I ordered enough of these babies to tide me over until I can order a Kelly and Matthew Smallcombe one!

Sorry I covered up the address, but I'm not sure if I want the whole internet to have our address. Most of you will see the uncensored version coming soon to a mailbox near you!

I also can't imagine what I would do without Pinterest either, follow me here! If you aren't pinning yet, message me and I will email you an invite.