The Destination Wedding

Happy Humpday Everyone!

Lets all get through the rest of this week by imagining sun on your face on the beach with a Corona in hand!!! Sound good??

We have been blow away by the amount of brides we have recently who have chosen destination weddings! We kind of love the whole idea..you get a smaller amount of guests and a more intimate feel! What is not to love?!

We thought we would share a few recent save the dates and one over the top fabulous basket we did for a good friend of ours. She is an event planner herself, owning The Social Office based in Nashville, so we knew we of course, had to blow her out of the water! She has chosen Hawaii for her destination wedding in April and with the colors of sea green and sand, we ran with it! This is the Save The Date we came up with and we think it turned out SO beautiful!!! Elegant yet still has that beachy rustic feel at the same time.











We are so excited to be GOING to this Hawaiian Celebration in April! We know after our first Chicago winter this will be a trip that is much needed and ENJOYED! WHOOP! Cannot wait!

Next, we have Emily and Joel's destination wedding in MEXICO! They have a joke about calling each other lobster, so it was only appropriate to have art imitate life. :) This wedding is actually this weekend! We are so happy for them and stay tuned for more from this fun, fun couple!!!



How incredible does that striped liner look?! WE LOVE IT!!!

Below, we have Nicki and Mark--they are so ADORABLE!!! These two live in Nashville but love New Orleans! If you have ever been there, then you would understand why. They wanted to send out something for New Years -- New Year, New Beginnings! Such appropriate wording to describe this New Years card!We are working on their wedding invitations as we speak...(LETTERPRESSED!!!!) and will of course share all the details of this fabulous celebration once we have it all completed!!! So exciting!



Corinne and Tom are getting married in the British Virgin Islands this spring. They contacted us last year to help with their save the dates, and after much contemplation, decided to scratch the hometown wedding and embark on a destination wedding in Tortola! Can you blame them??!? This picture makes us want to sign up! And we love the chevron we added in. SO fun and beachy in the pale turquoise!



This save the date is one of our faves!! We love the solid colored, bright poppy colored back! And what a great way to include accommodations information! Reverse printing! Solid on one side and diagonal stripes on the other! And we think this color combination is going to be big this spring and summer. Congrats to Katie and Alan!



The Nautical Look of course is one of our signature preppy looks for weddings, especially when they are destination! This bride and groom contacted us after falling hard for the previous look of Ashley and Harrison's wedding which we have blogged about. She instead wanted pink and navy rather than the apple green Ashley went with. This save the date is what we came up with her Rhode Island wedding this summer!



We love creating exactly what our brides are looking for! Don't spend hours scouring the internet...email us! We would love to start with your save the date and brand your wedding from beginning to end. Embrace the swank!!!!

We hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week...more posts coming soon!

XO,

Nico and Lala

The Bearded Birthday

Well, we don't know what else to say besides that this may be the funniest party we have ever worked on!!!

And not much explanation is needed except to say that John, the Birthday boy, was Alan from The Hangover last year for Halloween. His pregnant wife said he can't wait till next Halloween so he can carry a real baby!!! Hilarious!! As you can tell, this is one FUN couple!!!

We hope you enjoy these pics on this holiday! We are working couch side, and loving all the analysis of the Golden Globes' red carpet!































John should feel like the luckiest guy in the world having a surprise party this creative and out of the box thrown for his 30th birthday....by a pregnant wife!! Don't you think???!

We hope everyone is having a fabulous day! It is beautiful out here, but definitely cold!!! We got about 6 inches of snow last week and as a result, I managed to fall down an ENTIRE flight of icy stairs yesterday. Luckily, no one was around. It was so funny/embarrassing, but there is some definite bruising going on! HA!

XO,

N&L

Here's to 2011 and Bring On 2012!

HELLO EVERYONE and Happy New Year!!!!

Long, long overdue and PLEASE accept our apologies!!! Shame on us for just now posting about our fabulous Holiday Soiree we had last month! As many of you know, we teamed up with the Girls of Lincoln Park to throw a par-tay together and get everyone in the Christmas Sprit!!! The whole thing came from a very funny course of events.....

The Girls of Lincoln Park are fashion bloggers whom we have followed prior to moving to the Windy City. With the power of social media (and guts and glory), they started following us on Twitter after we moved here. Our jaws dropped like Kate Spade had called us or something. We emailed them and literally said, "hey, we just moved here, you're following us on Twitter, lets brainstorm and make friends over cocktails?!?!"

It WORKED! And, we got some friends over the deal! We met for brunch and by the 3rd mimosa we had set a date for a joint Holiday Soiree. They asked if we could use our fabulous new office space and we OF COURSE agreed. We said, we will provide the space, if you provide the people! IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME!

And come they did.....

We cannot thank the GOLP enough for their support and introducing us to new people! We had about 100 people here and champagne was LIBERALLY consumed!!!!!! It was so incredible and a way to give us some personal momentum for the late nights and hours ahead for the Holiday Season!



























What a blessing it has been to meet them (they are ADORABLE) and to have instant friends!!! Young women who own businesses are even MORE powerful and inspiring when they have FRIENDS who do the same. Welcome to Chicago to US! Make sure to follow their blog....we are OB-SESSED with the images they put on there!!! They will be doing BIG things....mark our word!!!

The other ABSOLUTELY incredible news is that we were fortunate enough to be featured in a December gift guide issue of US Weekly!!!!!!!!!!! Kim Kardashian on the cover and Nico and Lala's Salt and Pepper Shakers on the inside! Right next to Heidi Freakin' Klum! No, that is NOT a typo. We were PINCHING ourselves....is this really happening??!? We now have a whole new audience of customers and it has been so wonderful to get orders from ALL OVER the country! So, so thankful and blessed.




If that is not an exciting way to end 2011, I don't know what is! Enjoy the pics from the Holiday Soiree and our new office space! We thank each and every one of you (reading this right now) for all you do to support us!

This is our cute office from the street! We are THIRD FLOOR...No elevator!!! (Every climb we think...good legs, good legs, good legs...)


This is another view since none of the party pics showed this vantage point! Our desks are against the window overlooking the fabulous streets of CHICAGO!


And this is the street we live on..so picture-esque and we could NOT be more thrilled with our decision to move and what we have experienced in this wonderful city so far. Every single day (even when it's 13 out) we literally say to each other, "I cannot believe this is where we live." We have come a long way from working out of dresser drawers and living room floors!!!



Now, we know LOTTTTTSSS of new brides got sparkly and shiny gifts over the holidays called DIAMONDS!!!!!!!!! Spread the word and send them our way!!! We are already working on a few fabulous destination weddings (St. John, Hawaii, St. Lucia just to name a few..) and may sneak in our OWN invitation...We know after this cold cold weather will be needin' some FUN IN THE SUN!!!

Here's to 2012 being prosperous for US, YOU, and especially OUR COUNTRY!

XO,

Nico and Lala

Branding...It's Not Just for Companies.

Well hello there!!!

We are getting so excited about the holiday season upon us!!! This Holiday Card sale that we just had, and all these adorable pictures we keep getting are really gettin' us in the mood! We cannot wait to see the city lit up with lights and peruse the fabulous windows of Michigan Avenue! YAY for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas!

In the meantime, we know we have lots of readers who are either graduating soon, are recent grads, or are just looking for a job.

Well, as a result, we have been scheming this blog post up in our heads for some time and are SO unbelievably thrilled to share it with you all. We had a good friend who is on the job hunt as well,(in a less than flourishing economy) recently approach us about doing some branding items for her to use on interviews...

The alarms went OFF in our heads. WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA..absolutely brills!!! You are making a mark for yourself every single step of the way until you get that oh so amazing job offer. Why not do everything in your power to set yourself above the rest?!

We can assure you all that job interviewers are looking for someone with that extra edge. I know we are all sick of hearing how TERRIBLE the economic situation is in this country right now, but it is true! With the competition for jobs right now so intense, this would be an absolutely amazing way for you to make an impression. And our mothers always told us, "a first impression leaves a lasting impression" :)

Behold...the Nico and Lala Personal Branding Ensemble.















The Personal Branding Ensemble is $500 and includes a custom chic personal logo with coordinating swanky pattern (so you can really blow their socks off), as well as 25 printed pieces of the following items:

*Custom Resume, formatted and printed (front and back as pictured above), as well as an e-version in PDF format

*Custom Cover Letter, (printed front and back as pictured above), for you to print or hand write your cover letter, tailored to the specific position you are seeking

*Custom flat notecards with hand lined envelope with return address. Remember, you should ALWAYS hand write a thank you letter after EVERY interview.

*Custom correspondence card; These are perfect to jot a quick note to someone you are sending a package to. Insert this is in, instead of your fancy lined envelope flat card.

*Contact Cards; When attending networking functions, resumes need not apply. Carry these to hand out--they're compact, swanky, and they'll know where to find you.

*Mailing Labels; When snail mailing a potential employer a package, let them see THIS label first. We can assure you they won't forget you.

Also please note that even if you are NOT someone on the job hunt, but would like personal branding to just be super swanky in life, we would love to help!

We are so excited about this and hope you all love it!

XO,

Nico and Lala

Custom Wedding Gifts, Swag, and Chicago update!!

Well, greetings from CHIIIIICAAAGGGOOO!!!!!!

We are here and finally getting settled!! It has been a bit of a struggle getting all of our tasks and to do lists divided out between our offices and we are still working out some kinks, but no major issues thus far! YAY! We are loving all these Holiday Card orders and please, please email us if you are wanting something custom! We are of course still doing custom as well!!!

Three weeks ago, we left Nashville in a 26 foot Uhaul and drove all day ending up outside the city on a Friday night, so we could roll that baby into the city on a SATURDAY rather than a weekday. It was a sight to behold, people. My mom rode with me, while Nico followed and I actually cannot believe it went as smoothly as it did. I drove with white knuckles the ENTIRE way gripping that steering wheel, and I think the fear of wrecking that ENORMOUS truck encompassed my mind, and I didn't have time to really get sad about leaving Nashville!

This is just to show you HOW big 26 feet is...unbelievable.



Maybe that was a blessing in disguise??!! We strolled into town and it was as if the good Lord parted the streets---deep breaths and we pulled gently against a curb. My blood pressure finally sank after a good 48 hours of it being at a skyrocket level, and we met the movers! Thankfully they agreed to maneuever the rig from this point forward. HA!

So we are easing our way into the rhythm of the city and loving riding the El to work, the sounds of the city, the view from our desks overlooking the busy streets below, and having new restaurants, new bars, and overall, new surroundings. We have had such a feeling of "this world is what you make of it"..we never in a million years thought we could do this, and in a way, kind of can't believe we have!

We are not rich by ANY means, but doing what you love is priceless, so thank you for allowing us to do this and to move hundreds of miles away, just because we can! :)

And that being said, we cannot show you the complete photos of the new office because we are not finished decorating....I know, I know...patience is a virtue people!! For now, this one will have to do--Day one. This is where our desks are now--over looking this FABULOUS window that will soon be the death of us in the winter...I just know it! HA!


We CAN show you a tiny portion of our new living room--we painted the walls and THANK GOD the Landlord loves them!! HA! It's always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, right?



And this is my little Lily, really struggling to get adjusted. How precious is she?!? I know one day a child will be much more important than her, but for now, she is it...and she is awesome.




Now, back to the REAL purpose of this blog post--custom wedding swag and gifts!
We did the most awesome wedding swag bags for a wedding we worked on with The Social Office in Nashville before we left! Bride and groom, Lauren and Mike, wanted something southern--and as our tag line denotes, swanky and southern is what we do!! Is it not so darn precious?!









We hope you enjoy the pics and keep in mind that we can create custom wedding swag for anywhere in the country and can of course customize your goodies! We know not ALL brides like to give out Jack Daniels! Hee hee! (Just those crazy Tennessee ones..)

We also just made the most incredible tray for bride Carolyn (praying she isn't reading this blogpost) for a wedding gift from Nico and Lala to her. This is such a fab idea people!



We matched her wedding invitations, since we did them, but you can do anything! Even though we have the lucite trays online for order, you can always email us for fancy pants custom work. Custom is our absolute specialty and is what we LOVE to do...making something one of a kind that cannot be found ANYWHERE else.

And also, what a great idea to do custom catch alls for bridesmaids gifts!!!





Or graduation gifts, or Christmas gifts! The list goes on and on...the catch alls are such a great price point and can be used for so many different things...we heart them.

And another Tennessee wedding we did with The Social Office, that was put your boots on fun, was Niki and Ryan's!!! They held their reception downtown at the Hard Rock cafe in Nashville, and we re all about everyone having fun and letting loose! These boxes were overflowing for guests and really made people's jaws drop when they got to their hotel rooms and saw them!







SO fabulous and custom!!!

Well, we are off to feed some trick or treaters!! Red wine and chocolate is on the menu for the evening! :)

Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!

XO,

N&L