Nico and LaLa

The Destination Wedding

2012-01-25T12:56:00.009-06:00

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

2012-01-16T10:25:00.005-06:00

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!

2012-01-04T11:19:00.009-06:00

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.

2011-11-03T13:01:00.004-05:00

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!!

2011-10-31T16:16:00.010-05:00

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

Look Who's Blowing into the WINDY CITY!!!!!

2011-10-05T08:28:00.005-05:00

That is right, people! These two southern girls are headed NORTH for the winter...and then some! We are so excited and counting down the TWO days we have left here in Nashville!

Now, that being said, we would like to introduce you to our assistant and basically RIGHT ARM, Allyson Camp! How precious is she? Allyson has worked for us behind the scenes for over a year now and we literally could NOT do what we do and keep up with the madness without her. And we are not just saying that..Her job description is definitely unconventional, but who ever said conventional was good, right??!?!

We have decided, yes, we want to move and try some city life for a while, but we still 1. need Allyson and 2. need a Nashville office! So, Allyson will be running the show from an office here in Nashville, and Nico and Lala, will be in a design studio in the Gold Coast of CHICAGO!!!

We are so excited about what this new adventure will mean for our inspiration and creative spirits, the growth of our company, and our wardrobes!!!!!!!! HA! Chicago just has SUCH fabulous shopping! Now we need to start putting those nickels and dimes away for a fur so we don't freeze our butts off! :)

So, the long and short of it is, we have a FABULOUS new design studio two blocks from Michigan Avenue that we cannot wait to make our own, are blessed with an employee who has stood behind us (and with us) on our crazy decisions, a new apartment (that we literally have NEVER EVEN SEEN), and FABULOUS customers who allow us to embrace the freedom we have at this point in our lives to GO LIVE OUR DREAMS.

We feel a little nostalgic as we write this about where we are headed and where we have come! We truly, truly could not do this without the support of you all and we hope you understand that girls just need to do things like this sometimes. Our families are a little weary, our friends have encouraged it, and we honestly could not be more thrilled about blowing into the Windy City, and what the future holds for these swanky and southern girls!

XO,

Nico and Lala

30th and 40th Birthday Bashes!

2011-09-19T15:33:00.005-05:00

We have been busy bees over here at Nico and Lala! Lots of beautiful weddings and then of course getting the website all together!

We are SO excited about it!!! Invitations for most categories are complete and up for SALE!!! YIIPPPPEE! And of course, we can add matching swag to any of the preset designs, for a small design fee! So let the swanky parties begin!!!

The custom page is going to be UH-MAZING, so we will be sure to blast it near and far once it is up and running! The amazing photographers who have taken the pics are so talented and we cannot wait to share it with you all!

Speaking of custom, we just did two birthday bashes we wanted to share!!! The big 3-0 and 4-0 are definitely worth celebrating, and these YOUNG ladies, are doing it right!!

First, we have Natalie's 30th birthday in Austin, Texas. The birthday girl is having a girls weekend of celebration! We had a lot of info to include on the invitation, so we decided a bi-fold card would be best! Did it not turn out so cute?! She used our lovely, lovely (if we do say so ourselves) Nico and Lala logo, for inspiration! BEHOLD!!

Next, we have a 40th Birthday Exatravaganza that we honestly wish we could go to. Sarah is having 3 of their closest couple friends join she and her husband in VEGAS for her 40th Birthday!!!!! So fun!

She wanted to welcome everyone with a swanky, and ultra cool basket of goodies to get them through the weekend--now that we think about it, maybe we should have included some Advil??? :)

Would you not LOVE to fly out to Vegas for a birthday weekend have THIS waiting for you in your hotel room??? We love doing these custom, personal baskets for people!!
Sarah loved the Vegas look and of course wanted to incorporate that, but did not want the typical black and white and red look of casinos.

She instead wanted something more unexpected, but that still fit the Vegas bill!

We think it turned out absolutely adorable!!!

Have fun next weekend Sarah, and can't wait to see pictures--send along the PG ones please!

Hope you all are getting into football season! We gave away a super fantastic game day serving tray last week on Facebook--And it was especially awesome because a VOL one. I promise the choosing was not rigged. HA! Stay tuned to Facebook and the blog, and we will keep you up to date on the website and all of the activities of the Nico and Lala world!

XO,

Nico and Lala

Twin Birthday Bash: Minnie and Tully turn ONE!!

2011-09-05T11:05:00.012-05:00

Well, we are getting back on the saddle with the blog posting, and nothing like a rainy Labor Day to get started on the right foot!!

We have the CUTEST party to share! Minnie and Tully (could they have more precious names?!) are boy and girl twins, so for their first birthday, mom couldn't help to make this a special, special soiree!

We were given the baby's outfits to base the invitation off of, and created a custom pattern to match the pink, yellow, and green fabrics!

WE were even shocked at how adorable it turned out to be! What a neat idea to match their outfits! And we cannot get over how cute Minnie and Tully are. GAH!!! Just want to squeeze them!!!

Cute party hats!!! We did not do these, but how great do they match?!

Matching placemats! We love these! Use them for smash cakes and for meals to come!

What an adorable family!!!

Let us know if we can help make your party special! And Happy Labor Day!

XO,

N&L

Think Pink...Lemonade!

2011-06-30T21:38:00.008-05:00

About a month ago, we had the sweetest mom contact us to do her daughter's birthday! We had never done a Pink Lemonade party so we were so excited to dive right in!!! What a creative party theme..and pink and yellow are such a perfect color combination for summer!!!

Little Camilla was turning one, so of course we had to go all out for her! Mom had the FAB idea for a photoshoot before the party so we could make an UBER swanky invitation with sweet Camilla and a bucket of lemons! How precious is this?!??!? This is SUCH a great way to really make your invitation stand out among the crowd, and to show some personality! And it doesn't hurt that Camilla is so adorable, either.

Cute cake!!!

Real close up pic of the swanky smash cake placemat! Of course we did the monogram on the reverse..great for the party, and great for every day after!

Had to show...there's not much cuter than ruffles on a baby butt!

HAPPY Birthday Girl!!!Look at those CHEEKS! And tiny, tiny teeth! Precious!

Do you have a party idea that you want Nico and Lala to embellish upon and help to make your party super swanky? Email us and we would be glad to help!

We hope everyone has big plans for the 4th and is getting to spend some time with their families! We are excited, oddly enough, about working all weekend! We will be busy designing our new website! Now, that is not to say we may not be cracking open a few cold ones on the back deck, or grilling out...so don't feel TOO sorry for us. We like to work hard and ENJOY working, while doing it, if you haven't noticed. HA!

We are so excited about what this will do for our business! Maybe, just maybe, we will let you all have a sneak peek as a 4th of July little treat?? It should all be up and running around the first of August!

Let the countdown BEGIN! Happy Friday and Happy 4th of July! We are so blessed to live in this great nation!

XO,

Nico and Lala

Calling all Princesses!!!

2011-06-20T12:40:00.009-05:00

We have another fabulous birthday party to share with you all--it's a Princess Party Extravaganza, and it is double the fun because it was a party we did for the most adorable twin girls, Madeleine and Emma Kate!!! With names like that, it is bound to be cute, right??

Well just read on for the biggest eye candy of princess-ness you have ever seen!!! We started with the invitation and mom Melanie took the look we created and RAN with it!

ENJOY!

Some of the Nico and Lala swag..look how absolutely adorable the custom stamp is....TWINS!!!

Princess Bounce House?? YES, please!

Remember, Safety Signs should be swanky too. :)

Her mom made the cakes..We cannot BELIEVE how much they look like the invitation. CAKE BOSS.

All the princesses!!!

A place setting set for a princess!

The girls sneaking some candy..such a cute shot!

How precious and proud is this grandma??! We'd be proud too had me made those cakes!!! HA!

If you have a little princess looking to celebrate, let us help you create a party fit for a...well, princess!

XO,

Nico and Lala

Gettin' Down on the Farm...A Crawfish Boil!

2011-06-16T11:43:00.008-05:00

Can you even believe that we are having TWO blog posts in ONE WEEK??? It's unbelievable isn't it? We know we have not had the greatest track record, so we are trying to get back in your good graces!! :)

We did the most fabulously southern Crawfish Boil on a farm outside of Knoxville, Tennessee a few months ago, with Dori Thornton of the Social Office. She is a FABULOUS event planner we work with day in and day out here in Nashville! This was an enormous gathering on the most beautiful farm, that we could not help but share with you all! The day was filled with family friendly activities, amazing crawfish and fried chicken, and of course beer!

We did what we do best and created a cohesive event; from the distressed looking invitation with gingham liner, to coordinating koozies, posted signs and food cards, we think everyone definitely got down on the Farm for this southern soiree!

Thanks to the oh so talented Caroline Fontenot for these amazing shots!

This picture made me laugh so hard, I had to include it.

This makes me want to have a crawfish boil, or as we did it where i grew up, a lowcountry boil! YUM!

ENJOY!

XO,

Nico and Lala

The Nautical Look!

2011-06-14T13:30:00.011-05:00

Hi there!

Well, as many of you know we attended the National Stationery Show in NYC about a month ago and have been busy little bees ever since! We are so thrilled about the stores our wholesale line is going to be featured in all over the country! We feel so unbelievably blessed!

Also, we have some breaking news....we are in the midst of updating the website with a....DRUM ROLL.....A SHOPPING CART!!!!! Are your jaws on the floor??? We know! Such exciting news! It will be a month or so before it is revealed, but we are going to continue doing swanky custom work and just extend our preset designs for online ordering! Easy, Breezy....and swankiness for everyone!

As summer approaches and we feel the heat here in the south, we are constantly seeing nautical images, whether it's a boatneck navy and white striped sweater, a yellow bikini with rope detailing, or a canvas tote with anchor prints. So, we thought we would share with you all the nautical looks we have done, to get you in the spirit as well!

A few months ago, bride Caroline came to us wanting a special invitation for a sailing cocktail party she and groom Withers were having for their destination wedding in Rhode Island. We designed the below custom invitation with lined envelopes, and hands down this literally may be one of our favorite invites we have EVER DONE. (and we have done a lot of invitations.)

Of course we had to also do matching koozies, cups, and napkins to keep the C&W and rope theme through out. Absolutely stunning, don't you think???!

Next we have a few weddings that we did last year that we are still not over. The next two were in Nantucket, and were through event planner extraordinaire Nicole Whelden! Her company, Unique Nantucket we have worked with on many events and her work is amazing!

First we have a sign from the Thursday night party we did, where each guest upon arrival would pick up a sticker to wear symbolizing whether they were an FOG or FOB; a friend of the bride, or a friend of the groom! How clever is that?!

And then we have an exquisite wedding we did, where we created an anchor logo with the bride and groom's initials and used it throughout the weekend's special touches! It was on everything from the menu cards (shown below) to the welcome boxes for each guest and t shirts given from the groom's family. It truly made such an impact visually and was the most spectacular event we have ever had the privilege of being a part of!

And is this not the most adorable idea? Kids don't want or NEED fancy welcome boxes..they want beach pails! And of course what beach trip is complete without goldfish..SNACK OR SWIM!

Then lastly we have OBA Canvas company out of Orange Beach, Alabama who we did some logo and business card ideas for! We loved ALL OF THEM! How can a girl decide which one is best??? We sure can't.

Well, we hope that everyone is getting some time this summer to spend with their families...and really hope everyone is getting to enjoy the BEACH!!! What is more Nautical than that???!!

XO,

Nico and Lala

Inspiration! Where do YOU get it from???!

2011-04-15T11:22:00.011-05:00

HAPPY FRIDAY!

We are privileged to announce we are today's Featured Spotlight on Jessica, AKA Kitchen Bellelicious' awesome blog! Click here to read her post about Nico and Lala! Jessica has been so amazing and her question to us of where we get our inspiration from, really got us thinking! As we told her, we get it from everything single thing around us..literally!

We also have found that many of our customers don't know exactly what they want when they come to us, but we love when they send us pieces of INSPIRATION to base a design upon! Everyone gets inspired by something, so let us create something for you based on something YOU love! Whether that is a shirt from J Crew, bedding (we are obssessed with bedding for some reason..), an old postcard...whatever!

Below are a few pieces we have been sent, and our interpretations of them into Nico and Lala SWANK!

First, we have a mom who fell in love with a precious, precious outfit for her son's 2nd birthday. Can you blame her???!? We can't at all..a gingham romper with smocked animals = Adorable.

And this is the birthday invite we came up with! How precious is that? I bet he got all the girls at this party.

Next, we have a Seda France candle that one of our fave customers was giving as a hostess gift. She wanted a little something to add to it! So we came up with a matching catch all of course! And even added a swanky little gift tag too! This was such a hit at her shower!!

How sweet is this bedding from Pottery Barn Kids?! A new grandma emailed it to us who couldn't help but order a sleeping baby sign for her new grandson, Max! We based it on his new nursery bedding and she absolutely LOVED it!

Last week one of our favorite and sweetest customers, (for you blog readers--the one and only mom of Lily) wanted a special basket of goodies to send to one of her best friends who had just gotten engaged!

So, in true Nico and Lala fashion, we decided to base it upon the newest wedding magazines! We used Weddings Unveiled with a peachy coral on the cover, and then Martha Stewart with a lemony yellow and pale turquoise!

And voila! The ultimate congrats on your engagement basket!!! Oh, and the bookmark thing is a wedding timeline..swanky AND useful!

This is my best friend Molly's sweet little girl Mary Drew! Molly has ALWAYS been extremely fashionable so of course Mary Drew is dressed to the nines at all times! Fashionista in the making!! When her 3rd birthday was approaching, Molly knew what outfit she was going to put her in, but had no invitation!

So of course we took the outfit, and the adorable row of paper dolls and created a theme for the whole party!

Birthday girl is SO excited!!

Lastly, we have a super swanky, mod save the date we did for a couple here in Nashville! They met at the condo building they both bought in, which is located in an area of town called the Gulch--trendy, new, and just overall super swanky.

Their event planner who we love and work with often, Dori Thornton of the Social Office, thought of doing the Gulch "scene" on the liner!! BRILLIANT! So we took that and ran with it! We added in "it all started in the Gulch" so that it conveyed to their guests, that they fell in love in the Gulch! This is one of our fave Save the Dates we have ever done because of how unique and personal it is to them! SO neat!!!

We hope this post inspires you to find something that inspires YOU!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

It's Spring..and Almost Graduation!

2011-04-08T12:46:00.007-05:00

We have done some of the most adorable graduation announcements and also invitations, recently! We would love to help make your announcement swanky for all to see (since the school ones can be SOOOO boring!!)! And if you are having a graduation party, we would love to make it extra special!!!

The first invitation here is one of our favorites..graduation or no graduation! SO swanky!! And can we talk about how much we LOVE this liner?!?!

And then of course we had to do a cute favor for each girl's place setting...Smarties!!! SO precious!!!

And also we have become all the rage amongst the Virginia Tech crowd! Check these out! Send us YOUR school colors and we can make yours super special and unforgettable!

How cute is the champagne topper with grad hat???

Oh, and we have a princess and knights birthday bash for a good friend's daughter's 3rd birthday this weekend! We will be sure to take pics and post early next week!

Happy Birthday to Montgomery Cate!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

Lily's First Birthday...A Lily Pulitzer Extravaganza

2011-03-14T15:23:00.011-05:00

Okay, so once again I am having to apologize for delays in posting, but hopefully this unbelievable eye candy will make up for it!

Lily's mommy wanted a Lily Pulitzer themed party with loads and loads of pink and green for her daughter's First Birthday! So, we custom designed the invitation, creating a Lily looking pattern from scratch and made pink elephants the focus! Then we hand lined the envelopes with a kelly green and white cabana striped liner, and then also tied a pink and white grosgrain ribbon around...it was like a little present in the mail to each guest!

We then did all coordinating party items too..from the bubbles and cupcake tags to custom cookies and candy bar signage, this was just about the swankiest, most precious party we have ever seen!

So, enjoy these pics...you won't believe how adorably pink and green it is! Preppy, sweet and oh so SWANKY!!!!

The candy bar! So creative and colorful! We laminated that monogram for her to hang! So unique!

The food table with custom signage to match...Lily style!

The favor table..complete with pails for each guest with bubbles, animal crackers, and elephant shaped cookies!

Favors close up..

Sweet Elephant Cookies!

The cupcake tags!

How cute are these tags we did mounted on lime paper??! ADORABLE!

Custom Napkins..in pink and green of course!

Mommy and Daddy dressed to match...so cute! Party time!

Swanky champagne labels

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!

Custom Placemat for the smash cake!

Did we forget to mention she hired bartending monkeys to come in for the extravaganza?! One is Marcel from the show Friends and the other starred in Outbreak. HAHHAHA! SO FUNNY!

Monkeys with their trainer..we had to post.

The Kids Table!

We hope you love it as much as we did! Happy Birthday Lily!!!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

I was like, Baby, Baby, Baby, Ohhh... (Bieber's voice)

2011-02-18T10:19:00.008-06:00

Who is ready for SPRING and the BEACH besides these girls!?!? This is Lala, and I must confess I even broke a cardinal rule of fashion last week...I just couldn't take it any longer! I wore white jeans...in FEBRUARY! Couldn't help it. I am dreaming of heat, the smell of coconuts (in the form of Hawaiian Tropic), stinging skin, and fruity drinks. This glimpse of nice weather here in the south has me all excited and Nico and I keep joking that we may have nervous breakdowns if it gets cold again!!! haha!

As we wait for the approaching season of spring, we thought we would share some of the most adorable birth announcements we have done recently! Babies make us happy! :)

Not sure if you all remember, but we hosted a sip and see here at our house for my best friend Caroline and her second child, baby Will, last Fall that we posted on the blog. It was precious! Of course we had the opportunity to work with her on her birth announcements too!

She wanted it to announce the arrival of Will, but also showcase some photos of he and his big sister Montgomery Cate! To encompass all of this, we decided to do a tri-fold card! Of course we used some family shots too...they are seriously the most adorable things ever!!!

For Minnie and Tully's announcement and Christmas card, we went vintage...and it came our better than even WE expected! I mean, how adorable are the names alone?!?! Minnie and Tully? Does it get any cuter? I think not.

For Baby Parks, it was a very special Valentine's Day birth announcement...some good friends adopted this little bundle of joy and are so thrilled about his arrival and the love he has brought into their world! He could be one of the most adorable babies ever. I cannot wait to meet him and watch him grow! Adoption is such an amazing thing and we are thrilled for the new parents!!!!! And this may be one of our fave birth announcements EVER. LOVE IT.

Baby Ward's mom contacted us wanting something swanky and we think we hit the nail on the head for this one! Traditional colors, but with a little bid of a mod look! How adorable is his little mouth yawning!!?!?! And LOVE the name Ward..

Lastly, we have another sweet, sweet bundle of joy. This was a birth announcement as well as a Christmas card and we just love it. Vintage inspired as well, with more traditional elements. Vivi is precious and we love the monogram and pic on the inside too! SO CUTE!! We loved this one so much it inspired one of our preset boxed birth announcements we are now selling to stores all over the country!

Well, this baby, baby blogpost has brightened our day and hope it has yours too! :) If you need a special and swanky birth announcement let us know and we would be glad to help! We can also do matching stationery to your announcement so you can be extra swanky when writing all those thank you notes!!!

Spring will be here before we know it and Nico and Lala are counting down the days!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

The Nico and Lala Collection debut!

2011-01-24T16:31:00.006-06:00

Hello all of our blog reading friends!

Apologies on the longggg delay of blogging!!! We have been some busy little bees with holiday orders and then getting together our fabulous new line of imprintable boxed invitations, notecards, party packs and lucite items that will be sold in retail stores everywhere! Of course, we will continue to work one on one with clients and do custom invitations and swag as well...we just felt the need to spread the swank if ya know what we mean...

As many of you know, we debuted all of these at market a few weeks back and had such a wonderful experience! It has been so much fun over the last few years getting to know what you all like and don't like, and executing a whole new line to be purchased through stores, to meet those needs! It was obviously our first trip to market and we learned SO much. The buyers really seemed to love our stuff and we felt like 2 proud moms!!! :)

Check out our little area of the Nest Showroom!

We are so excited to see what the future brings and cannot wait to show ALL the designs to you! For now, here is a little sneak peek! We have 20 invitation designs ranging from kid's birthdays to more elegant get togethers, 9 notecards with adorable sayings, 9 party packs, and some lucite items! Some featured below..

A few of our faves...

and umm..how CUTE are the backs of the notecards!?!??!??! A little surprise swank when you flip them over!

This one gave everyone a good laugh and was one of the most popular...HA! You know you love it!

The Nautical Invitation..makes me want to say AHOY!

Adorable Baby Train Invite...or could also be used as a birth announcement!

Chic kitchen and recipe shower invitation...

One swanky item that stole the show is the Holiday Insert Pack! Umm it is ADORABLE!!! We have 4 inserts, double sided, totaling 8 holiday looks. We are selling it WITH a tray and without--$40 for the holiday insert pack and $80 for the tray and the pack! SUCH a great wedding gift too, might we add! :)

The Nico and Lala collection is available for purchase from us directly and through your local swanky stores! Please email us if you are interested in some swank for yourself or if you are a store owner and would like to carry our products!

Thanks to everyone for your support as we grow and for your patience on our terrible, terrible lack of posts! We will be better from this point forward..PROMISE!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

Making Spirits Bright Open House!

2010-12-05T17:45:00.011-06:00

The time has come!! We apologize for the delay in getting these pics up from the Open House last week! We had such a great time and thank you ALL for coming out to support us! The halls were decked and the spirits were bright...that is for sure! We have yet to tally the amount we raised for Toys for Tots, but we know one thing for certain...we have some presents to buy!

We also debuted a very swanky square tray--the insert is Peace Love and Joy on one side and Happy Everything for use year round, on the other side! Brills! Is it not precious?! What a wonderful, super cute gift for someone else...or yourself! It is 11.5 inches square and just the perfect size for a coffee table!

The Peace, Love, and Joy tray, $40

The reverse, Happy Everything

Enjoy the pics and thank you to all who came!!! What a treat for us to get to mix and mingle with our customers!!! We feel SO blessed to have such wonderful customers!!!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

And we Present to you...

2010-11-16T10:53:00.008-06:00

The Nico and Lala 2011 Calendar!

Just a few candid shots of our newest addition to share. It is beautiful! The calendar is $32 and will make the most fabulous gift under the tree...and to be honest, who wouldn't love this sitting out on their desk?!

It is SO SWANKY...behold...

One of our favorite months...such a neat pattern!

And another happy...

Turkey cookie place cards! Do you need something swanky to help liven up your Thanksgiving table? Or just the kid's table perhaps? Man, I used to hate sitting at the kid's table! ha!

Now I kind of wish I could sit there instead?! :)

Please email us if you are interested! They are PRECIOUS! And of course delicious!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

The Trunk Show!

2010-11-13T12:37:00.007-06:00

Last night's trunk show was a huge success! We had a wonderful time meeting new customers and chatting with old ones! Just thought we would share a few pics--the store is SO fabulous and has such a vintage and rustic feel...it is AMAZING and we were so thrilled to be a part of it!

Our designated Nico and Lala area! We thought we did a pretty good job setting up...if we do say so ourselves.

From the corner in Hillsboro Village...

They have the most beautiful windows!

Close up of our area! Top right, wine chillers...$40 each and read "Making Spirits Bright"--you can't really tell from the pic because of the cello, but they are so pretty! Bottle of wine + wine chiller = great gift and sure to make anyone's spirits bright!

The Merry Christmas tray!!!!

And what makes it even cooler? The reverse is for Thanksgiving! We are all about versatility! This tray is so elegant!

And we spotted our lucite line we created exclusively for them! More muted than our normal color schemes...but oh so chic!!!

And our super swanky recipe boxes and salt and pepper shakers too! So neat to see everything displayed!

Thanks to everyone at Social Graces and Happy Saturday!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

Tis The Season...

2010-11-12T10:01:00.013-06:00

For Christmas gifts and cards! Just a reminder that the Christmas card sale ends in 3 DAYS so make the most of the weekend and get us those pics!!!! Check out these fab custom cards!

Being from South Carolina, I am kind of partial. :)

And the reverse....

And then our friend Whitney who lives in New York City, asked for something custom to send to her friends back in the south! Single and fashionable, we thought...WHITNEY IN THE CITY! Precious!!!

And a custom Newlywed card..

We have been working like little elves these past few weeks, so please accept our apologies for the lack of blog posts! The good news is we have done some FABULOUS gifts and other holiday treats to share with you all!!!

First off we have "Reindeer Food"! Thank you to our customer Kelly who gave us this grand idea! It is just SO adorable and I cannot wait to give these to my nieces! Many of you may be familiar with this, but we had never heard of it! The rhyme reads, "Sprinkle on the lawn at night, the moon will make it sparkle bright. Santa's reindeer fly and roam, this will guide them to your home!"

Ummm...ADORABLE. They are $10 each and such a cute happy for the little ones! And if you have a family holiday party coming up, what a great idea for each family!

Next we have the reversible lucite tray, with a splash of Christmas! One side is for everyday with a super swanky monogram and pattern, perhaps, and the revers is holiday themed! It doesn't get more versatile than that! And these make such great gifts! $50 each but totally worth it when it can be used year round!

And Christmas catch alls too! Christmas makes us SO happy!!!

Had to also share how changing colors on Christmas cards and tweaking wording can TRULY make your pre-set card, seem completely 100% CUSTOM. Is this not adorable?! The colors changed to match the balls, and then adding "We hope you have a ball this Christmas!" is just too cute for words. So if you are wanting swank but don't want to spend the money for custom, your goal can still be achieved! YIPEE!

And we have also had the cutest Nico and Lala cookies made EVER. We pick them up every few days to put in shipments, and it is painfully hard not to every single one we get. You would think you would get sick of them, but nope...we don't. :)

Trunk show at Social Graces today at 5:30!!! Please come out and see us if you are in Nashville! There will be some great vendors and we can mix and mingle! We love meeting our customers, so please come on out!

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

Christmas Cards 15% off Sale, Extended!

2010-11-02T15:55:00.004-05:00

For those of you who are not on our email list (click here to sign up!), we wanted to let you know we have decided to extend our annual "early bird gets the worm" Christmas card sale through November 15th!

Please email us if you are interested! We have done some of the cutest cards recently!!! And see below..colors and wording can be changed on the custom designs for no additional charge, so you can still make them your own! So neat!

And of course if you are wanting something super swanky and custom, we would be more than happy to help :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween! Next up, Thanksgiving!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Cute, Cute Custom Christmas Cards!

2010-10-26T15:54:00.005-05:00

We just did two very different, but such custom Christmas cards! We HAD to share!

First, we have sweet Harris whose mom loved the Southern wording, but wanted a custom card so she could incorporate multiple pictures! How precious is he? Those eyes!!!!

Next, we have Julie who has lots of changes this year! They got married, bought a new house, and are having a baby! They also live on the coast so wanted to somehow give a Christmas-y feel but also a nautical twist!

This is what we came up with...nautical chic flags! And we are kind of OBSESSED with the whole "We've Dropped Anchor" wording on the back!!!

If you have a special something you want to somehow incorporate into your cards but can't figure out how, let us help! We like to think that is our specialty!

Oh, and spread the word! Christmas card sale has been extended....15% off now thru November 15th! This is for the preset designs AND custom, and keep in mind that you can ALWAYS change colors, wording, or layout on the presets for no extra charge!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Spooktackular Parties!!!

2010-10-15T12:37:00.003-05:00

Halloween is just around the corner, and we just did the most spooktacular party!

Thought we would share!!! Please let us know if you need any swag to make your shin-dig chic!

The Halloween Soiree Invitation

Boo Bubbles!!! Family friendly and always a hit with the kids!!

How cute are THESE?!? We heart them...such a visual statement.

And we just had to share sweet little Mary Windham's birthday invitation! We know it is difficult to find cute Halloween birthday invitations, so let us help make your pumpkin's party swanky!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Going to The Chapel...but first, Save the Dates!

2010-10-14T16:08:00.005-05:00

The first step after saying "yes", but before saying "I do" is to send out your Save the Dates!

This has become more and more common over the years and is just a way of telling people to do exactly that, to hold that date on their calendar! This is MOST important for destination weddings where guests would need to book flights, hotel rooms, etc.

We recently had a bride come to us who is getting married in Harbor Island, Bahamas (we are totally jealous...). She knew she obviously wanted beachy, and a rustic look but wanted a few options.

Below are the four designs we came up with! Which one do you all think was the winner???

...And the Winner!!!

Here are a few other recent swanky Save The Dates!

The Postcard Save the Date

These each really tell the look and feel of the upcoming wedding. We love nothing more than starting with these and continuing on with the wedding invitations, favors, signage, the list goes on and on!!!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Boys Just Wanna Have Fun!

2010-10-12T15:51:00.005-05:00

When we began Nico and Lala last year, we never knew how many kid's birthday parties we would be asked to help with! We LOVE coming up with all the coordinating ideas; activities, favors, signage, everything!!!!

These two parties were so fun because they were so different!

So many moms come to us asking us to help make cartoon characters or superheros...well, dare we say it.....swanky!

So first up we have a Yo Gabba Gabba invite and party pics...SO adorable!

They had lunches for the kids so we did white boxes with custom stickers reading "Yummy in my Tummy!" PRECIOUS!

And next up we have the most adorable idea for a dirty, muddy little boys party! SO fun! And then how cute are the "Wiggly Worms" favors we did?! Precious!!!

How cute is the little worm on the envelope??!

We would love to help make your little man's party special!!!!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

Let's Play Ball!

2010-10-07T12:25:00.006-05:00

We recently did the cutest engagement party! They had a Softball Showdown as the Thursday night party for all of the friends of the bride and groom to get to know each other! We cannot take credit for the idea, but we CAN take credit for the super cute swag and invitation!

The swanky invitation definitely set the tone for a softball showdown!!!

We wonder what they were drinking out of these cups??!?! HA!

Different color tshirts for the opposing teams! And what a great party favor too!

Group Shot!

What a fun and different party! Congrats to Jessica & Ryan!!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Holiday Cards are here...and 15% OFF!

2010-10-01T00:24:00.004-05:00

Our little happy to you this holiday season is to enjoy 15% off of our custom and preset holiday designs now through November 1st!

Get excited!!! They are SUPER swanky!!! Preset designs are $2.50 per ensemble which includes printing of front and back of card, as well as our cute, cute envelopes!

If none of these tickle your fancy, please email us at info@nicoandlala.com for completely custom designs & quotes!

Merry, Bright, and Oh So Swanky...ENJOY!

We hope you love them!!!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

OOOHHH BOY!

2010-09-27T17:13:00.006-05:00

As promised, below are pics from the FAB blue and white Baby Sprinkle we did for our dear friend Caroline and her newest lil' addition, Baby Will!

It was so much fun (there was of course LOTS of champagne)and baby Will now has some blue in his life! Caroline and her husband Billy are pretty much the cutest couple in America and she has been my best friend since we were 15.

With big sis Montgomery always in pink, we decided to spice it up for baby Will with blue and white decor from top to bottom!

Our sweet house!! Pink door and all! (It's actually a coral..)

The favors were a huge hit!!

Personalized champagne labels...$3.50 each and what an added touch!

Double sided Frames with monogram, $30 each--these are SO great. A new lucite item we are now offering! Monogram on one side and picture with border on opposite side!

Straw tags, ADORABLE! These always make such a statement! $0.75 each!

Petit Fours from A Perfect Bite! Can't even begin to tell you how good these are. UNBELIEVABLE. She is AMAZING. I mean, look at the detail on that onesie!!!?!?

The girls in the kitchen preparing!

Is it not OH so swanky?!?!?!?

We hope you all love it as much as we did!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Oh, Baby......

2010-09-23T16:05:00.003-05:00

It must be something in the water, right?! We have had so many baby gift orders recently! We just thought we would share some of the SUPER adorable ones..new and old!!!

ENJOY!

Twin Baby Notecards...Minnie and Tully..precious names!!!

Luggage Tags, $5! How adorable is the airplane?! These make such great happys for a new mom or for yourself!

How precious is this for the newest little man, Bass? This is one of my best friend's from college's little boy. Adorable parents who LOVE to hunt. We thought these were THE most appropriate notecards!! We like to call it southern..not redneck...haha!

Sweet, sweet face..This is for a christening we did! So innocent...

An elegant birth announcement

Fun and Whimsical Birth Announcement! We love the "Oh Happy day"! So fun!!

And,we are also hosting a baby sprinkle/sip and see for one of our best friends this weekend, so pics of those will be next week! Get excited!! OH BABY is right!!!!!

Where has the week gone??!!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

Eblast Sign Up and Our New Fall Faves!!!

2010-09-16T17:26:00.004-05:00

Happy almost Fall everyone! Are we not all SOOO ready for summer to be gone and to enjoy the leaves changing, chili on the stove, and pumpkin spice lattes?! Never thought we would say that!!!

Just wanted to share our eblast from this morning! See below! If you didn't get this sent to your email bright and early, then you are missing out!!

Be sure to sign up on our website contact page so you can be the first to know of our new swanky swag and specials!!!

Also..stay tuned...Christmas Card pre-order coming VERRRRYYY soon! Order early for 15% off!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Custom Gifts and Matching Notes!

2010-09-10T11:10:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday!

We just did a few gifts for a customer that we sent directly to the recipient, and thought...geez, these are SUPER cute. And we weren't sure everyone out their in our blog land knew that we do this!

Did someone recently get engaged? Do you need a quick super swanky wedding present? Did you just want to say thank you to someone special?

Email us and we can coordinate gift and insert note to match! Does it get any swankier than that??? I think not...

And we know these pics are by no means spectacular! They are from Blackberry, so we apologize!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Lovely Letterpress

2010-09-07T17:54:00.004-05:00

Letterpress is just so unbelievably gorgeous! We had to share this!! We worked with bride Sairey last year to do her amazing vintage postcard inspired Save the Dates. She wanted a romantic feel with the colors of Bermuda, the location of her destination wedding.

Below is the design she went with...we just LOVE it!!

Then it came time for the invitations and since paper is one of Sairey's loves as well, she decided she could not do anything less than letterpress! We are so grateful she wanted to go this route..It just has this timeless feel and really is our favorite form of printing.

We then worked with Sesame Letterpress out of New York City to actually do the printing. We think it turned out AMAZING!

What do you all think? We enjoy nothing more than working with a bride like this; from start to finish. Inevitably everything flows seamlessly and looks 100% cohesive.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day! We sure did! Fall is in the air and we are loving that football season is finally here!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

The Nico & Lala 2011 Calendar

2010-09-01T15:30:00.007-05:00

SO the beach time we had last week was not only relaxing and rejuvenating, but also very productive!!!! We have been brainstorming on the calendar idea for MONTHS now, and a little down time gets those creative juices flowing!!! Nothing like the bright fun colors of Miami Beach to inspire!

Introducing the fabulously swanky, so chic, so preppy, Nico & Lala 2011 calendar!!!

We could NOT be more excited!!! Who wouldn't love THIS sitting out on their desk?! And what a fun Christmas gift to give!!! We are now taking pre-orders and they will be available October 1st. Each calendar is $32 and remember, quantities are limited, so get it while it's hot!

Each month will be printed in these vibrant rich colors on a super nice, thick card stock that sits perfectly in its' lucite stand! HOW CUTE?!

And up close and personal with a few months in particular! How cute is the stand?!

Email us today at info@nicoandlala.com to be added to our pre-order list, and give the gift of swank that lasts all year!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Oxfords and Oysters

2010-08-24T13:38:00.004-05:00

We are SO proud to announce that we have been asked to be a sponsor at an upcoming super swanky event called Oxfords and Oysters! Oxfords and Oysters is a first annual event benefiting the Oyster Recovery Partnership.

The event will be held in Baltimore, Maryland September 18th and looks like LOADS of fun!!! Click here to get your tickets!

We feel so honored that they picked us and are looking forward to attending and meeting the entire Sky Blue Events team! Check out the other sponsors! WOO HOO!

Of course they are giving away an INCREDIBLE swag bag (as any good event does), and we are thrilled to be donating an item ourselves!

And without further adieu, we introduce to you an oh so swanky and preppy, exclusive item!

The Harbour Tray

Now if we could just find that perfect dress!!! Of course...more pictures to come!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Cate's Candyland Extravaganza!

2010-08-22T17:15:00.007-05:00

So we mentioned a few weeks ago that we were busy finishing up a Candy Land Birthday party. Well, the time has come!!!

WHAT A PARTY!! Enjoy these incredible photos...definite eye candy!

SO Swanky and is she not PRECIOUS?!?

I don't know about y'all but this party makes me want cotton candy and funnel cakes! HA! What a fun and creative shin dig!

Happy First Birthday Cate!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Preppy 101's Luggage Tag Giveaway!!!

2010-08-19T16:31:00.004-05:00

We have a luggage tag up for giveaway!!! WOO HOO! Preppy 101 has been so wonderful to us and is featuring us on her blog for a FAB set of luggage tags!

Click here to view her oh so preppy blog and get your very own! We can completely customize yours in whatever colors you like!

Just a few of the luggage tags we have printed today...bridesmaid gift tags (GREAT idea) and a luggage tag with catch all = the absolute perfect hostess gift!!

Thanks Preppy 101!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Sealed With A......Custom Stamp!

2010-08-18T16:38:00.005-05:00

We just love creating every detail of an invitation...so why not seal that beautiful envelope with a custom stamp!

So neat and what an impression this makes when they see THAT in their mailbox!?!?

Lordy, Lordy we love these!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Drum Roll Please....A New Lucite Item!!!!

2010-08-17T15:56:00.003-05:00

We seem to have gone a but lucite crazy over here at Nico and Lala, but can you honestly blame us?!?!

Introducing, the customized desktop pen holder!!! Pens, pencils, makeup brushes, you name it! I use mine for my makeup brushes with my matching catch all on my vanity! And it's only $12!

You cannot beat a $30 completely custom gift! $18 catch all and $12 pen holder, and voila! Enjoy!

Annnnddd we don't know about you, but who else is ready for football season and long sleeves???

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

Add Some Prep To Your Pride!

2010-08-14T12:16:00.003-05:00

These make such great gifts! And of course all items can be customized for us older folks who are past our "college prime"! ha!

We are definitely making notepads for ourselves with a preppy pattern to match our office! YAY!!!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Cute Little Happys!

2010-08-12T14:50:00.004-05:00

Do you need a fun little happy for someone?! Custom luggage tags are such a great gift! Practical and super swanky!!

We create everything custom so you tell us the look and feel you want and we will send you some swanky designs to choose from! And they are only $5 each!!!

Also, these paired with a lucite catch all or a set of notecards or calling cards (see below), make a wonderful hostess gift!

You can even coordinate all 3! Calling cards are $20 for 25, and $40 for 50! Calling cards and stationery is also the perfect wedding gift! Any girl loves to see her new name in print!

Email us to get your custom orders into motion, today! Info@nicoandlala.com

Hooray! It's almost Friday!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

Hand Lined Envelopes

2010-08-10T13:29:00.003-05:00

Nothing in this world finishes an envelope quite like a liner. Look how chic and sophisticated this is. The contrast of the yellow against the navy is just stunning!

We can do any envelope lined, from personal stationery to wedding! We create the custom design, print, and hand line!

How swanky is that?!

And we just HAD to show the custom coordinating chocolate bar! DIVINE!!!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

A Little of This, A Little of That...

2010-08-09T12:08:00.008-05:00

SO in the world of Nico and Lala, we do a little of this, and a little of that...

We have found ourselves doing a lot of small business branding and marketing materials, which of course we LOVE doing!!! Just thought we would share a few things we have done recently!

Callie McMillin is a friend of ours and does small events catering and also home meal deliveries. The best part?! It is all DELICIOUS and HEALTHY!!!! We 100% recommend her--she is precious and her food is FAB.

Below is one of her recent menus that she sends out weekly. (Click to make it larger)

If you want to be added to her email list or if you would like to place an order, please email her at calliemcmillin@gmail.com

She is the perfect person to use if you are in Nashville and throwing a shower or luncheon and do not want to deal with making food! She takes care of it all! Does this menu not make your mouth water?!

These are magnets we had made, that we thought she could toss into bags when she makes a delivery! Such a great marketing tool and shows off the cute, cute logo we did for her!

Also, we were recently introduced to the ladies at Firefly Events! They do all sorts of events and are so talented! They wanted a creative marketing item they could give to vendors to make them memorable!

We did cake mix in a mason jar with a tag and recipe that said, "Let Firefly Events make your next event a piece of cake"

HOW CUTE IS THAT?! And what a way to leave an impression!

Please let us know if we can help you with business branding, logos, or marketing materials! We would love to!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

SUNNY BirthDAY!!!!

2010-08-04T19:13:00.005-05:00

Sweepin the clouds away! Sesame Street is just a classic..and the kids LOVE it!

But those furry characters don't always make the cutest invitations..we don't know about you all, but we do NOT like the cheesy character invitations sold in stores. Why not do something custom and make your child's party super swanky?!!!

How precious are these?

And then as favors we are doing sugar cookies by Sweet Cheeks cookies here in Nashville! Maggie has done some of the greatest shaped cookies for us! And they are DIVINE and not mention the cutest things ever!! Click here to see her Facebook page where you can contact her!

Cookie Monster looks like he may have had one too many cocktails!HA! We think he is hilarious! And love Oscar the Grouch, too!

So cute and fun...we made Sesame Street, chic!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

Pool Party Thank You!

2010-08-03T17:46:00.004-05:00

We recently had a customer ask for the cutest thank you gift! She and her family have been using a friend's pool all summer and wanted a clever way to say thanks and help make their outdoor area just a little more swanky!

Enter in custom lucite tray, matching styrofoam cups, and cute tag to tie it all together, and voila! Perfect Pool Party Thank you!

If you need help coming up with a creative way to say thanks to someone, email us at info@nicoandlala.com! We can help create something oh so chic!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

Chic Nest Baby Shower!

2010-08-02T14:58:00.006-05:00

This is a super cute nest invitation we did recently that we just love! The color scheme is SOOO chic and would also be perfect for fall! This one also is so wonderful because it is gender neutral! (And lets be honest, gender neutral usually means not so cute...)

A friend that lives in D.C. ordered these from us, and just sent us pictures of the CUTEST cake inspired by the invite we did! SO of course, we had to share with you all! We love to see our designs being used throughout an event! LOVE IT!

This is a onesie the grandmother made to match!!! ADORABLE!

And umm...are these not the cutest favors ever we did?! Tootsie Roll Pops with kraft shred and custom tag! PRECIOUS. Guests always love these! Especially because they are edible. HA!

We just love how all of the elements are cohesive and it all began with OUR invitation! YAY!!! Thanks for sharing Laura!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

The Baby Gift Basket

2010-07-31T11:26:00.005-05:00

So we think this is worth the wait. We do custom gift baskets for ALL occasions, but we think the baby baskets take the cake!!!!!

What better way to say congrats than with a custom adorable baby gift basket?! We can also ship these anywhere! (excluding alcohol of course)

They are the perfect cross between something ridiculously cute and yet still PRACTICAL that mom will actually use!!!!

We thought this was HILARIOUS. Supposedly the mom has been very upset she has not been able to be "iced", so this was her BF's hysterical request.

Adorable!!! Oh, and you can pick and choose items too so you can make them to whatever your budget is! Doesn't get better than that!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

The Big 3-0

2010-07-30T17:59:00.004-05:00

Okay, in honor of our good friend Brooke's Big 3-0 tonight, we thought it only appropriate to show the swank that shall be bestowed upon her!!!! The catch all and matching hand painted wine glass (that will be put to good use tonight, I'm sure) is such an adorable gift!!

The baby basket is for tomorrow..we are getting good at this posting thing, huh?!

ENJOY and TGIF!

SO stinkin cute!!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

The College Prepster

2010-07-30T14:37:00.004-05:00

Okay, so we are SO new to the blog world, but we got the sweetest email from College Prepster last week wanting to do a giveaway for OUR products!!!!!! We could not believe it! We of course (DUH) said well, lets think...what is the newest, hottest thing we could share with fellow bloggers?!

LUCITE!

So head on over to College Prepster to win a swanky catch all or custom lucite tray!

Thanks SO much for being such a kind fellow (and MUCH more experienced) blogger!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

P.S.--ummm about to post the cutest Baby Gift Basket, EVER. Stay tuned..

We're Bringing Thank You's Back...

2010-07-28T22:35:00.008-05:00

We are a BIG believer in the handwritten note. It tells someone you stepped away from your computer in this technology driven day in age, and took the time and effort to put pen to paper.

It is such a rare thing these days and we think we should ALL make an effort to bring it back! (We bet JT writes thank yous..okay, maybe not..but STILL)

There is just NO better way to say thank you....

Enjoy the eyecandy of our completely custom notecards below..

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

It's Fiesta Time!

2010-07-23T17:30:00.010-05:00

So it is 90 degrees out and Friday afternoon....what does that mean for Nico and Lala?! FIESTA TIME! We have just made margaritas which reminded us of such a cute party we did that was our pre-blog era! Let's be honest though, we really have only been blogging for like 2 weeks, so we have SO MUCH MORE TO COME!

Kick back, pour your own margarita, and ENJOY!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

A Southern Soiree

2010-07-22T11:20:00.006-05:00

We recently did a party in Charleston and Sarah, one of the hostesses, sent us the cutest pics from this southern soiree!

Congrats to Ali who found love on the West Coast! Not to toot our own horn, but we just love these invites we did! So preppy, cute, and it doesn't get more custom than that!

Custom labels for the bride to be on celebratory bottles for future events! These make such a great gift and we also can do coordinating items for a super swanky custom basket!

Super cute straw tags we did!

Congrats Ali!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

The Completely Custom & FAB Welcome Basket

2010-07-21T11:02:00.011-05:00

We have been busy little bees over here with an upcoming wedding this weekend! Check out these custom welcome baskets we created for bride and groom Cassie And Ryan! Obviously the bride's colors are taupe and green, so we incorporated that into each item to give that special touch! We just know their guests are going to LOVE these!!

The Welcome Basket

Custom Candy Bar

LOVE Mix

Custom Water Bottles

PS-We sell waterproof AND non-waterproof

The Welcome Note

We can design welcome notes to match it all! Let your guests know when and where each event is and how to get there! These are SO helpful for wedding guests! For a little extra added swank, give local restaurant and shopping recommendations to make their stay even more enjoyable!

And then, of course in true Nico and Lala fashion, we also did coordinating hostess gifts for the bridesmaids luncheon and Friday Night Garden Party! What a way to brand an event!

The Catch All, front design

The Catch All, back design

The bridesmaid luncheon was hosted by mothers and daughters, so what better way to thank them than custom lucite jewelry boxes! A practical gift for ANY woman, no matter her age!

Okay, back to work! We have a CandyLand birthday party to finish up...don't you worry, pics to come. It will be UNBELIEVABLE! TRUST US!

Happy Hump Day!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

O-N-E is FUN!

2010-07-15T19:17:00.000-05:00

Birthdays are so much fun and especially when they are O-N-E!!!!! How cute is this beach bash going to be? We started with the invitations and then did coordinating and matching favors and thank yous! ENJOY!

Lakyn's family is headed south to celebrate so we decided to do personalized beach pails for her friends! So chic for one, eh? Each bucket had fun treats inside! Goldfish (which of course is a kid beach staple) with custom tag that reads "Snack or SWIM", a pink and white beach ball with custom tag reading "I had a BALL at Lakyn's 1st Birthday", and matching bubbles!!!

The Beach ball!

Here is the invitation we based everything upon! This party is going to be precious! We cannot wait to see the pics! What a way to ring in Lakyn's First Year in this world!

Happy Birthday Lakyn!!!

A Summer Save The Date!

2010-07-13T11:02:00.000-05:00

We wanted to share this fun, bright, and Summery Save The Date we recently did! How cute is this?! Love the cabana stripes...makes me want to be poolside with a drink that has one of those tiny little umbrellas in it!

Limes are also a great decorating tool and a great way to make an inexpensive statement at a reception! And it all began with the Save The Date!

We think this screams Florida fun-in-the-sun wedding!!

Congrats Kate and Dan!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala

Oh So Swanky Lucite Items!

2010-07-11T23:52:00.000-05:00

We are SO excited about these new lucite items we are now carrying! Are they not the cutest EVER?! They make such wonderful, unique gifts, and of course, can be completely customized!

The Lucite Tray, $50

As you can see, the trays are double sided, too! So you can get 2 looks for the price of 1! SOOO SWANKY!

Do you have a friend getting married? Tell us their living room colors and look, and we can create a custom lucite tray and ice bucket with their new monogram!

The Ice Bucket, $60

Are you getting married and need hostess gifts for parties? All of these items are perfect! And the catch all pictured below is only $18! You can't beat that! And once again these are double sided! (We just forgot to take a pic of the other side..) Trust us, on this one we did kelly green and white cabana stripes...Stunning!

The Catch All, $18

The Jewelry Box, $30

The Wine Chiller, $40

Need a unique gift for a friend who just got a promotion or bought a new home? Why not do a custom wine chiller with wine bottle and matching custom label!

Email us for more info and to place your order today! info@nicoandlala.com

HAPPY MONDAY!

XOXO,

Nico and Lala

A Little Slice of Swank!

2010-07-11T23:16:00.000-05:00

We have finally done it! Welcome, welcome to our brand new baby blog!! It has been a crazy few weeks for Nico and I, but we are so excited about our new addition, A Little Slice of Swank!

Not only do we have a new blog, but also a BRAND NEW OFFICE!!! We just moved...AGAIN...and could not be happier in our new space! Are the windows not just amazing?!

With a little bit of elbow grease and Bob Vila flowing in our veins, we built our desks out of doors! It is such a nice amount of space and we could not find anything large enough. And we are in LOVE with the color and its' name! Tame Teal! HA!

Check out our logo Nico painted on a canvas to match our new decor! SO CUTE!!!

Okay, enough of the office (although we could go on and on), and back to business!

We have had so many people ask if we have a blog, and quite honestly just haven't done it because there just aren't enough hours in the day! But enough is enough and we have decided to bite the bullet and blog away!

We are so excited about having the ability to share the cute, cute stuff we are doing with our incredible customers! This is going to be SO fun!! We may need a few photography lessons (ha!) but we will do our best!

Thanks for all your support and check back often!! And even better become a follower of our blog! The more the merrier!

XOXO,
Nico and Lala