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

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

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!

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!!

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!

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