Friday, September 26, 2014

Custom Holiday Cards

It's the most wonderful time of the year...that's right, it's holiday card season! Even though the calendar still reads September, we're already hard at work creating custom holiday cards. From traditional green and red cards, to brightly colored pink and green designs, we do it all when it comes to Christmas cards!

You know what they say...the early bird gets the worm. Or as we like to say, the early bird gets a really great deal on their custom holiday cards!! Now through October 15th, receive 20% off the printing of your holiday cards. Still trying to decide on the perfect picture? No problem! Pay your design fee now, and get us your picture before November 1st to take advantage of this discount. Email us at custom@nicoandlala.com to get started!

Need some help getting in the Christmas spirit?! Take a peek back to some of the cards we designed last year, to get inspiration and get yourself in the spirit of the season!
We love our brides, and have so much fun designing first married Christmas cards for them!
We're excited to get started on your family's custom Christmas card, and make 2014 our best holiday season yet! E-mail custom@nicoandlala.com to get started! And be sure to order before October 15th to take advantage of our holiday card special!

Xo,

Nico and Lala

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Wine Tasting with Lauren Nelson

Most Wednesdays, we celebrate Wedding Wednesday in our studio. But this week, we're kicking it KLG and Hoda style and celebrating Winesday Wednesday! Recently, we helped our good friend Lauren (of Lauren-Nelson.com) with party swag for a wine tasting event she threw to celebrate the end of NYFW. Lauren partnered with Seven Daughters wine for a delightful afternoon in West SoHo filled with wine, cheese, sweet treats, and girl time. So when she asked us to help her swank up the event with a little N&L flair, we couldn't resist!!!
For the tasting, we created wine menus, which incorporated the gold and turquoise colors from Lauren's website. We also created matching "wine tags" for guests so no one got their glasses mixed up!
Lauren also partnered with one of our favorite vendors to create wine themed sweet treats for her party!! Gretchen of Sweet G's Cookies in Nashville is so talented, and has helped us create fun cookies for all kinds of events. From football helmet shaped cookies for a wedding welcome bag, to a Mr. T medallion shaped cookie for an A-Team birthday party...she's done it all! For Lauren's event, she created cookies shaped like grapes, wine bottle shaped cookies with the Seven Daughter's logo, AND Lauren's logo onto a cookie! So cute (and delicious)!
The beautiful hostess! How fab is her necklace and braided updo!?
 The event was held at Dune Studios in West SoHo.
A huge thank you to Lauren for including us in her event! Cheers to fashion week, and wine with girlfriends!!

Xo,

Nico and Lala

Monday, September 22, 2014

Things We Heart: Fall Edition

Can y'all believe it's officially fall?! Where did our summer go?! With the changing of the seasons, it means it's time for a new "things we heart," fall edition!
Things We Heart: Fall Edition
1. Stylish Coffee Table Decor: Oscar de la Renta: The Style, Inspiration, and Life. There's something to be said about a book that provides as much design inspiration closed as it does open. We recently purchased the book celebrating the iconic American designer, and haven't been able to put it down. Not only is it filled with rare images and tidbits of Oscar's life while building his fashion empire, it also looks really, really swanky while sitting on our coffee table. This is a must read for anyone interested in fashion, design, or those simply looking to be inspired.

2. 2015 N&L Brides: While we still have some fabulous weddings in the work for 2014, we're already hard at work on 2015 weddings! Typically save the dates are sent between 6-8 months prior to the big day, so we've already been busy designing swanky save the dates for our 2015 brides. If you're tying the knot in 2015 and interested in creating a custom save the date and/ or wedding invitation, e-mail us (custom@nicoandlala.com) for more information. For more on the N&L design process for wedding paper, be sure to visit our website! Below are a few samples of some save the dates we've already created for 2015 weddings.
For this 2015 wedding in Houston, we designed a sophisticated save the date that combined Kate Spade chic with the iconic shape of Texas! Printed in gold foil, the piece was accented by a simple black and white striped envelope liner.
This preppy save the date's custom wedding logo was inspired by a bench at the resort where the couple is tying the knot. So creative!
This classic blue and white save the date was inspired by the centerpieces being used at the couple's wedding reception...ginger jars!

3. The O-Ring: For those who live in Dallas, Ellis Hill is probably a familiar name. As one of the area's premier stationery shops, the recently opened store offers monogrammed gifts and stationery perfect for every occasion! We got to help the owners, Kerri and Margretta, with their branding last year, and have been dying to visit Ellis Hill ever since! So when we recently found ourselves in Dallas for an event, we HAD to stop by. While visiting, we found our new favorite accessory...the Big O Key Ring!! Gone are the days of searching for our keys buried at the bottom of our bags. These oversized, leather bangles come in a variety of large colors, and play the perfect accessory for any outfit. For those who easily lose their keys or hate dragging around a clutch...this is for you!
The Big O Key Ring!
The logo we designed for Ellis Hill....on an awning! We love seeing our business branding work come to life!

4. NEST Candles: If you've ever visited our studio, you'll know that we have a bit of an obsession when it comes to candles. We always have a candle burning, and lately we just can't get enough of the newest addition to our collection...Nest's Lemongrass and Ginger candle. NEST luxury fragrances are meant to inspire, and with all of the creativity happening in our studio, their lemongrass and ginger scent is just what we need. It awakens all of our senses, while filling our space with a delightful scent! We're obsessed with our new find!

5. Sam Smith: If you've heard his newest album, you know what we're talking about. If you haven't yet listened to this British singing sensation...immediately open Spotify and play his entire album, In the Lonely Houron repeat. We're very sad that we only JUST now realized that he's playing in Chicago....TONIGHT!

Xo,

Nico and Lala


Thursday, September 11, 2014

Fun First Birthday!

We woke up to a heavy dose of FALL this morning in Chicago!! Even though we're sad to see summer slipping away, part of us can't help but be excited for the changing of the seasons. With the start of fall comes a lot of things we love including Saturday football games, dark manicures (welcome back Lincoln Park After Dark), and pumpkin flavored everything. But before we completely immerse ourselves in autumn, we want to share a fun first birthday from early in the summer! 

Hugh was celebrating a very important birthday (his first!), so his mom wanted to create a party that was both special and creative. Being the first boy in his family, we focused on masculine, primary colors (navy and kelly green), added in some fun polka dots, and finished the invite off with an unexpected and whimsical banner! These design aspects were carried all throughout Hugh's party. From his invitation and party swag, to the adorable coordinating cookies his mom had made, Hugh's fun first birthday was nothing short of delightful!
Fun First Birthday!
Hugh's fun invitation and party swag including a custom placemat, cupcake tags, waterbottle labels, and favor tags!
A closeup of Hugh's invitations. We love the monogrammed banners on his envelope liner!
Since Hugh's invitations included a unique shaped banner, we HAD to create a matching birthday banner to match!!
How adorable are these cupcakes topped with sweet cupcake tags?!
Cheers to one year, Hugh! Hope you had the best time celebrating your first birthday. For more creative first birthday party inspiration, be sure to visit our children's party gallery and check out Harrison's first birthday fiesta! SO cute!

Xo,

Nico and Lala

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

An Adorable Golf Birthday Par-TEE!

If there's one thing we've done well this summer...it's par-tee! Golf themed birthday parties that is. We started our summer off with a preppy pink and green golf birthday party that was beyond adorable! Fast forward a few months, and one of our favorite clients (who always goes above and beyond for her kids' parties) came to us wanting us to create something special for her son's birthday. We've done Trey's parties for the past three years, and each year his birthday's get more and more fabulous! So we knew that starting with his invitation, we had to get creative! Check out the finished product below...it will make you want to par-tee!!
An Adorable Golf Birthday Par-TEE
Trey's invitation was die-cut in the shape of a golf ball, and included a patterned envelope liner which included putters, golf balls, and flags in primary colors.
How awesome did Trey's sweet table turn out?! We love the creative goodies, with a monogrammed golf ball sign in the background! Such a creative backdrop!
Golf ball cake pops....love this idea for this adorable golf birthday par-tee!
How cute is this favor table for guests? Each guest received a set of plastic golf clubs (personalized with a sticker nameplate) and a mini trophy filled with sweet treats!
Trey's mom created a putting green for party guests!
The mini golf cart was personalized with a monogrammed golf ball!
Happy third birthday, Trey!! We love seeing our little customers grow from year to year. For more awesome birthday party inspiration, be sure to check out Trey's past parties! We love both his fun farm animal birthday party and nautical first birthday!

Xo,

Nico and Lala