Sugar & Spice

So we’ve finally gotten to our favorite part…the snaaaacks!!! Perhaps there’s a better, more grown-up/appropriate word to refer to wedding food, but…ugh, there’s just something about the word “snacks” that really makes the heart sing, you know? Aaaanyway, we’re gonna cut to the quick and get right down to business. Just wanna share some thoughts, ideas, and tantalizingly sweet and spicy images with you. (NOTE: writing about “snacks” is a rather large undertaking. Stay tuned each week for a little piece of this potentially endless puzzle.)

Attn: Naughty Girls

For those of you planning to skip the traditional cake-cutting shenanigans, thus begins are some of our sweetest (and most rebellious) ideas.

Have your (vegan cup)cake and eat it too.

BabyCakes, an insanely amazing health-conscious bakery with outfits in both NY and LA, offers all-natural, organic, scrumptious alternatives free of common allergens: wheat, gluten, dairy, casein, and eggs. Instead of white sugar or toxic chemical sweeteners, most treats are sweetened with agave nectar, a natural syrup with a low glycemic index that’s also safe for most diabetics. The stuff is heavenly. And so are their famous vegan cupcakes. Order tons of these decadent suckers (you’ve got options; they have red velvet, chocolate, vanilla, carrot, and more), rig one of those tiered cupcake stands, and voila. You’ve got yourself a “cake.” Trust us, it’s darling. And if you feel like smashing one of those cupcakes in your groom’s face, by all means…

babycakesnyc.com

Eat your heart out.

~QUAILove.

1000 Words

If you debriefed with just about any bride post-wedding, she might regret a few things. She will perhaps wish she could take back the outlandish amount she spent on her flowers. I mean, thousands of dollars later and those suckers just died in her arms. She may wish she hadn’t liquidated her life’s savings on a cake that she didn’t even get a legitimate piece of. She may wish she’d skipped the vampy makeup job and just put her mascara on herself. She will NOT, however, tell you that she wished she hadn’t taken so many pictures or hired such a good photographer. She just won’t.

See, friends, today, the documentation is all our bride has left. (Oh, alright, she probably still has that gorgeous dress and the top of the cake if she’s lucky…but you catch our drift.) After all is said and done, the biggest day of her life most likely closely resembles the Tazmanian Devil in her mind—a tumultuous whirlwind of people that came and went so fast she has already forgotten what they looked like. But, AHA!!! We are in luck. She has some pictures to help her piece it all together. Whew. Close call.

*Bright Idea!

In addition to your regular wedding photographer, rent an old black & white photobooth! Guests can take unlimited photos (those old school strips of 4 shots) and even paste them into a scrapbook and write a message for the newlyweds! It’s a great spin on a traditional guestbook—so much fun for your guests and quite hilarious to look back at everybody hamming it up. Things can get pretty crazy when your friends and family are left to their own devices. Trust us. This is a good investment.

Check out classicphotobooth.net for rental prices. This is a great company, but they only service certain states. Also check out mypartyplanner.com, a phenomenal search engine and directory of party vendors all across the US. The MyParty people have thought of every last detail for your special occasion, including local photobooth rental vendors in your area. Genius.

*Photographers are our friends! Literally!

Some might say it’s just about pushing a button, but we WILDLY disagree. We would prefer for our greatest moments to be captured appropriately—respectfully. AKA, our photographers have gotta have style! Pizazz! Good people skills! You get the gist. That being said, here is a list of our local photo friends. If you don’t happen live in LA or NYC, these people will come to you if you are willing to cover their costs…and believe us when we say, they are worth your every penny.

Some might say it’s just about pushing a button, but we WILDLY disagree. We would prefer for our greatest moments to be captured appropriately—respectfully. AKA, our photographers have gotta have style! Pizazz! Good people skills! You get the gist. That being said, here is a list of our local photo friends. If you don’t happen live in LA or NYC, these people will come to you if you are willing to cover their costs…and believe us when we say, they are worth your every penny.

Adam Sjoberg (LA/NYC) 

Gabriel Ryan (LA) 

Ira Lippke (LA/NYC) 

Laurel Dailey (LA) 

Louie Huesmann (LA) 

Samuel Lippke (LA/NYC) 

So, friends…take a picture. It lasts longer. Seriously.

-QUAILove.

Do Your Guests a Favor

The age-old debate of function vs. form marches on. So what, then, to consider when brainstorming about wedding favors? Do they need to have a legitimate purpose at the wedding? Should they be usable after the wedding? Or should we all just get over ourselves and make sure that they just look good…whatever they are? Ahhhh!!! So much to think about! Or maybe we’re just overcomplicating the matter. Yes. We are overcomplicating the matter.

Let’s think about it. We’re conscious gals, right? We recycle…we minimize waste. We don’t need a lot of stuff…and we’ve definitely got style. Well there it is, ladies. We’ve answered our own question: in the great debate of function vs. form, it’s a freakin’ tie. At least in this scenario, it appears that said contenders are equally as important as one another. Hence, in the quest for a formidable favor for our tremendously valued wedding guests, we are looking for a marriage (hah) of the two.

That being said, here are a few examples of some good-looking party favors with purpose.

• EDIBLES: if your wedding favors are edible, they have a purpose. Plus, everybody likes stuff they can eat. Duh. Some examples: little personalized popcorn tins, honey jars, or tea satchels. (Some of these options and many more available at beau-coup.com)

• NAME CARDS: if your functional favors also double as name/place cards, you get extra points for efficiency! Plus, your pocketbook will thank you and everyone will think you are super creative and clever, so it’s a win-win across the board. Some examples: little picture frames, birdcage tea light holders, vases, or our personal favorite…little herb pots. Sure they’re cute, but it’s all about longevity, people. We are really into it.

Finally, for a prime example, we would love to again call attention to rockstar bride Quyen Sklar. Her wedding favors were genius. Get a load of this:

Quyen and Jon ordered shot glasses imprinted with their wedding logo (the monogram they designed for their invites, etc.) and filled them with Jelly Bellies. On them were tied little tags that listed each guest’s name and the table at which they were to be seated. On the back of the tags, Quyen and Jon printed recipes for their favorite shot. Talk about extra points!!! Their favors tied in with their overall wedding aesthetic, plus they were edible and functional both at and after the wedding. And they were affordable to boot. You can do it too, girls. Team Quail believes in you. When all else fails, always remember: Google is your friend.

~QUAILove.

On the Table

So the colors are set. You’ve nailed down the DJ and hired the florist. What on earth are you going to put on the tables? Good question, girls. The good news is…you’ve come to the right place. Let Team Quail show you just how it’s done.

Tell Your Story

Who are you? What makes you who you are? What do you like? Most importantly, what aesthetic do you dig? These questions are necessary to ask when determining what table-scape look to go for. You’ve gotta express yourself!

For example, take Quyen Sklar. Quyen is studious. She likes organization, hand-made objects, and mixing the old with the new. Quyen has a reverence for those who have paved the way for her, and along with this comes a love for antiquated things. She loves the “vintage classic with a modern twist” look; she loves to mix and match. Quyen is Vietnamese and adores tea, particularly the tins they come in. She also really loves text.

The following images tell the story of Quyen…simply, humbly, beautifully.

Each table was marked with a letter (and a corresponding animal) exhibiting her love for organization and text. Her gorgeous flowers were arranged in a variety of mismatched vases and vintage tea tins acquired from various thrift stores and flea markets.

Upon entering the reception area, Quyen’s guests were welcomed with a message spilling out of an old typewriter. On this table was the guest book, surrounded by vintage lanterns and crates and old pictures of Quyen and her husband Jon’s family members…the table told their story. It told a story of where they came from and where they are going…together.

Keep It Simple

Less is always, always, always more. Besides, people like to eat their dinner without having to push 10 lit candles and 7 bottles of bubbles out of the way. Truth.

Keep It Pretty

By all means, mix masculine elements with feminine, but at the end of the day, pretty always wins.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more nitty-gritty.

-QUAILove.

Images from the wedding of Jonathan & Quyen Sklar courtesy of Gabriel Ryan Photography.

Going Green

So the eco-friendly craze is at the top of its game right now, and that’s something we should all be happy about. However, everyone has different motives for wanting to be environmentally conscious. Some are driven by guilt while others are simply slaves to the trend, but many are actually morally compelled to be responsible for this great gift that we have been given; Mother Earth needs them. For this latter group, their passion for the planet permeates every realm of their lives from grocery shopping to fashion to transportation and beyond. Why should we expect them to buckle when they get hitched?

The good news is that the ever-growing green industry has already asked itself this question. In fact, consider the dilemma non-existent. The only minor setback is that going green can potentially cost you a lot of green. And when working with a specific budget to throw the biggest party of your life, every penny matters.

So here are a few simple ideas on how to go green + save green (Yeah, yeah…forgive us the pun. It’s just too easy):

Eco-friendly Invites:

a. Go completely paperless: use websites like eVite, or our new favorite, Paperless Post, which lets you pick from tons of different designs and color schemes. The invites are tasteful, classy, and they literally look like traditional paper invites. They send reminders and everything. It’s genius.

b. Print your invites on 100% Recycled Paper. Minimize the number of card inserts for RSVP, Registry, etc. Done.

Eliminate Gift Waste:

Don’t get us wrong, we love Crate & Barrel. But their packaging? Absurd. Tons and tons and tons of paper and huuuuuge boxes. Ai, yai, can we say landfill? Try registering online with honeymoonwishes. You can essentially custom-create a honeymoon itinerary and guests can contribute toward it by buying specific components of the trip like “margaritas and appetizers”, a “rainforest hike” or a “couple’s massage.” It’s much more practical than his & hers robes and better yet, it doesn’t involve any packing peanuts. Sign us up.

*Sidenote: don’t register for things you don’t need. ‘Nuff said.

Minimize guest travel:

You may have always dreamt of having your wedding in Fiji, but if you truly plan on keeping your wedding’s carbon footprint at bay, your wedding’s gonna need to stay local. Consider hosting your event in a location that is a relatively short driving distance for your guests. This also makes them pretty happy.

Eliminate excess waste by donating leftover wedding food! If it can be salvaged, reused, or help someone else, DON’T THROW IT AWAY! Recycle, reduce, reuse. Hopefully you know that “close the loop” comes next, but if you didn’t, you’re probably too young to be reading this.

GO GREEN!

-QUAILove.

WHY-te?

So while working on the QUAIL | Bridal line, I’ve been thinking a lot about wedding culture and I’ve been pretty baffled by this basic question: why do we wear white wedding dresses anyway? We’ve been doing this for hundreds of years and it’s quite possible that most people have no real clue as to why. I sure don’t.

Enter Google. A couple quick clicks and I find Queen Victoria staring at me through my computer monitor in all her sepia-toned glory. Apparently, as I imagined, wedding gowns were not always white. It all started when Queen V married her cousin Albert in 1840; their wedding was the talk of the town. Ultimately, it has had more influence on weddings than any other in history. Because she wore white to her wedding, it became the color of choice for every bride that followed. Clearly, this trend became so wide-spread that it morphed into a tradition—one that has remained intact for centuries.

Take a cue from The Godey’s Lady’s Book of 1849: “Custom has decided from the earliest ages, that white is the most fitting hue, whatever may be the material. It is an emblem of the purity and innocence of girlhood, and the unsullied heart she now yields to the chosen one.”

Ahhh. So basically, we initially copied someone, but we continue to wear white because looks good on everyone. And it’s reminiscent of the virginal days of yore. I could have guessed as much. Maybe this old poem will explain it better:

(Cough, ahem.)

Married in white, you’ll have chosen all right.
Married in grey, you’ll go far away.
Married in black, you’ll wish yourself back.
Married in red, you’ll wish yourself dead.
Married in blue, you’ll always be true.
Married in pearl, you’ll live in a whirl.
Married in green, ashamed to be seen.
Married in yellow, ashamed of the fellow.
Married in brown, you’ll live out of town
Married in pink, your spirits will sink.

I don’t know about you, but Team Quail doesn’t live according to old wives’ tales…nor are we afraid of the rainbow! That being said, we are also huge fans of tradition, and frankly, where wedding dresses are concerned, white just seems…well, right. For us, that includes ivory and most hues of the creamy variety. A white dress, on the right girl, in the right moment, simply has the capacity to take one’s breath away. For that reason alone, and the fact that white isn’t a color we wear on a daily basis (namely because some of us, to remain unnamed, are pretty clumsy, particularly when snacking), white wedding dresses take the cake.

However, we are firm believers in LOOKING GOOD! And being comfortable in your own skin. So if white isn’t your thing and you just so happen to look like a million bucks in a deep crimson number, we don’t think you’ll wish yourself dead…we think you’ll look hot! If you want to be a knockout on your big day, don’t ask our permission…go right on ahead! It’s your day, anyways! Just make sure you are willing to stand by your “risky” decision to buck against the cultural norm (and by “risky” we mean you’ll most likely bum out your grandparents and confuse about a quarter of your guests…but hopefully they are all close enough to you to understand that you just have to be yourself, despite longstanding tradition). If you carry yourself (and that gorgeous colored dress) with grace and poise on your wedding day, the color of your dress will not be the focal point…YOU will shine through. And that’s what really matters.

~QUAILove.

Bridesmaids Revolt! (an International Development)

Shhh…can you hear it??? Voices ring out from across the earth—it’s a desperate cry—a fervent declaration from bridesmaids everywhere: “WE AREN’T COOKIE CUTTERS!” Whew. Finally, they’ve gotten it off their chests. We all know it’s been a long time coming.

Now that we’ve heard them, let’s dissect this corporate desire a little, shall we? It seems these girls are looking for a change of pace, and oddly enough, they’d like to start by reclaiming their identities! Bridesmaids all over the world have clearly had it up to here with the lack of personal attention that is paid them when they are so graciously offering to support their dear friends the whole way leading up to the biggest day of their lives. To better understand these frustrations, let’s briefly discuss the whole bridesmaid dress phenomenon in general. There seems to be an almost universal understanding that bridesmaid dresses are not to be looked forward to. Ladies worldwide are fed up with paying for dresses with ridiculous bells and whistles—dresses they didn’t pick out—that are unflattering—that are the most hiiiideous shade of purple they’ve ever seen. It’s even worse that the dresses seldom reflect the personality or style of the girl that they’re wearing. You heard right, the dress wears the girl. And it ain’t pretty.

The good news is, brides everywhere are responding to the call, thus sending the “you choose your own bridesmaid dress” craze into full effect. Friends, it is sweeping the nations. As we are seeing this scenario increasingly often, particularly in situations where the bridal party is not dealing with the restrictive nature of a “Bridezilla,” it seems that one factor remains relatively constant: within the parameters of a few guidelines, bridesmaids are being given the freedom to express themselves through their wedding attire. In other words, it’s essentially one basic color scheme—you pick the style and theme. Liberating, right?! Well, Team Quail is prrreeetty familiar with the whole “being in a wedding” situation, and it’s pretty unanimous: we LOVE it.

- Melinda Moen + friends of Long Beach, California

The task: girls were told to purchase whatever dress they wanted as long as it was chocolate brown and wedding-appropriate. The result: every girl was 100% comfortable in her own skin. Plus, they each came away with a piece that they didn’t have to pitch the day after the big event. Several of them have worn their dresses again.

- Breanna Crocker + friends of Sydney, Australia

The task: girls were encouraged to put together their own sassy ensembles that suited their individual tastes and personalities (and hence, body types)…as long as they stayed within the realm of the wedding color palette (black & lilac) The result: babe city and some sky-high heels.

~QUAILove.

Happy Valentine’s Day (the Cyber Way?)!

Well, folks, time flies when you’re having fun, and whether you like it or not, Valentine’s Day is almost here. While some of us are single (ahem, yes, we’re talking that “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” situation) and some of us aren’t (that’s you, brides-to-be!), we think that Valentine’s Day is a great time to celebrate the ones you love! Yeah, yeah, we know it catches a lot of flak for being a greeting card holiday, but it’s a lot more fun to just embrace the quirky nature of it all and party in the name of love.

So…we at Quail started thinking about fun, DIY ways to tell people we love them. And let us tell you, our list got really exciting. But then we started realizing how “old school” all this stuff sounded and began to wonder—how would our high-tech world say “I love you?” Probably not like Quail would. Probably not with homemade terrariums or flowers potted in vintage tin cans or jam & bread from scratch. Probably not even with alphabet-shaped sugar cookies spelling out “I love you.” They’d probably do it with a weird Twitter message. Or they’d take a picture of their loved one’s Facebook profile pic with their phone and paste it into a text message titled “I LUV.” They probably would.

Our crazy imaginations were running away with us, so we Googled it. That’s right, we Googled: “High Tech Ways to Say I Love You.” Hahaha, get ready for the results. It’s insanity.

We found an article that said: “Let your heart do the texting and the Web do the wooing, and show your sweetie just how much you love them.” Uhhh. Okay.

(Here goes the summarized list:)

•Quickie Text: Don’t underestimate the power of the text message, lovebirds, and use this technique wisely. Texting can be romantic; you just need to find the right words.

•Make a Playlist: The mixed tape is long gone—we’ve stepped into a new era of music compilations.

•Romantic Readers: If you’re looking to purchase an e-reader for your loved one, don’t just buy it—take it a step further and personalize it for them—preload a couple of their favorite books and ‘hopeful reads’ onto the device before giving it to them.

•Send a Love e-Letter: Write your beloved an email telling them everything you love and feel about them—it’s our generation’s modern love letter.

•Admiring Apps: You can send virtual Sweethearts candy boxes with custom messages to the ones you love and you can even make them appear on that person’s Twitter page.

•Set the Date: Set up a calendar on your Google account, or just make one via Microsoft Office, that details the plans you’ve made for you and your partner.

•TiVo Together: TiVo, or record, your loved one’s favorite shows or a special event that you know they’d like to watch and make a date of it.

•Clean up: One of the nicest things you could for your guy or gal this Valentine’s Day is to clean their tech (whether it’s their HDTV, laptop or even their car.)

•E-cards: Don’t go to Hallmark and the flower shop for your darling, look to the Internet instead. E-cards are endearing, customizable and just a click away.

Ahhhahahahaha. We’re dyyyying. Honestly. It sounds like love for robots. If someone sent us virtual heart candy and cleaned our laptop to tell us they loved us, we would be bummed & confused. So confused, in fact, we’d HAVE to make a bunch of (non-virtual) jam & bread just to remind us that we’re human.

~QUAILove.

Vendor Spotlight

Vendor Spotlight: Tiffany Leigh Patton, Makeup Artist

We at Quail have had the privilege of knowing Tiffany Patton for quite some time now. She is an insanely gifted makeup artist with impeccable style and a sweet, sweet spirit. And she’s funny. We love her a lot.

Over the years, Tiffany’s portfolio has expanded tremendously, and so has her skill, which was pretty sharp to begin with. That being said, we use her as much as we can, and she NEVER disappoints. This girl shows up and nails it…every…single…time. Seriously. The girl is armed and dangerous.

Tiffany Leigh is in high demand these days, but she has transformed tons of our already beautiful girlfriends into flawless, fairy-tale brides. For any bride whose ultimate desire is to achieve this look, check out her impressive body of work here:

4theloveofpretty

TiffanyLeighPatton

~QUAIL love.

DOPPELGANGERS?

Ok. So there’s this recent Facebook phenomenon. We were already fans of the word itself, but the whole “find a picture of your double” thing takes the allure of the “doppelganger” to a whole new level. It’s too much, really.

So, in the spirit of things, Team Quail set out to find their very own doppelgangers. Navigating the choppy waters of the World Wide Web was quite an adventure, to say the least. Here are our findings:

Michelle: “If I looked a little more like my husband…”

Nicole: “If I only had a rack…”

Lauren: “Wait, when did I meet Ashley Olsen?”

Tiffany: “When I’m working for MAC…”

Kelly: “If I got pregnant and then married a kid with a flatiron…”

Hopefully, you’ve had a good laugh. Next time, for a real treat, we will be choosing the animal that most bears our likeness. Stay tuned.

~QUAIL love.