Merry Christmas From The Loveliest Day!!!

Merry Christmas, my darlings!!! Hasn't every girl dreamt of a owning a pretty pony at least once or twice? I know I have, so here is a gift from me to you. A pony under (or next to) the Christmas tree:)

{Photo from This is Glamorous via Home Life}

I hope you're all having a phenomenal holiday and I'll see you back here soon!!!

Whimsical French Save-the-Date Download by Pitbulls and Posies...

Merry Christmas Eve, friends! I am SO ridiculously excited about the gift I have for you today!!!! A gorgeous save-the-date download designed exclusively for The Loveliest Day by the sweet and talented Amber of Pitbulls and Posies!!!

It was inspired by one of my favorite ad campaigns of all time, for Miss Dior Chérie perfume. It's feminine, whimsical, free spirited, and insanely pretty. The epic commercial was directed by another favorite, Sofia Coppola.

{From L-R: 1, 2, 3}

The color palette was pulled directly from the ads and has the same sweet, whimsical feel. I just LOVE it!!!

In addition to the save-the-date, Amber also designed a darling address wrap to match. Choose from blush pink, sky blue, mint green or a sunshiney yellow. The templates are editable, so just type in your info and print!

{Download Blush Templates}

{Download Sky Templates}

{Download Mint Templates}

{Download Sunshine Templates}

Enjoy + I wish you all a merry and bright Christmas Eve!!!

Cardboard Chic...

I love using unconventional materials to make something beautiful. Cardboard usually just gets thrown in the recycling bin, but not today! Lisa Marie of Sweet Tea Photography designed a stunning bridal fashion shoot with an incredible cardboard and paper bag backdrop. I think it really sets off the dresses used in the shoot perfectly!

Photo Shoot Team:

Art Direction & Photography: Lisa Marie of Sweet Tea Photography (Washington, DC)
Hair & Make-up: Carla Ligon-Miller of CLM Make-up (NYC)
Wedding Gown Designer: Melissa Erickson of Garden Rows (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Short Dress: French Connection
Veil & Wedding Gown Embellishment: Kara Starz of Starz Collection (Denver, Colorado)
Model: Amanda Curry (Washington, DC)

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Speaking of cardboard, I also came across another darling way to recycle it. Why not make little bows, or a table runner? The corrugated cardboard has such a great texture and really pops!

{By Florali via Ideas in Blume}

Playful Woodland Engagement Session...

I love confetti, cute couples and pretty trees, so Kristy + Zach's engagement session by Blue Kite Photo is just about perfect! It's amazing how throwing a bit of ripped paper in the air can equal magic, but it really does! Just see for yourself...

Valley & Co. {Simple} Tips for a Smashing Holiday Party...

I'm so excited to share a festive guest post today from some of my favorite fellow bloggers, Aleah + Nick Valley of Valley & Co.!!! I can always count on them to dispense great advice and stylish ideas, and this post is no exception! Take it away, Aleah + Nick...

We are Aleah + Nick Valley of Valley & Co. and we're so excited to be guest posting for our dear friend Melissa today! 'Tis the season for holiday soirées! We all love a good party and as we enter into the season of celebration, we wanted to lend our top {simple}  intimate entertaining tips to Melissa's lovely readers!

1. Invite your nearest and dearest to an intimate dinner party where they truly feel like the guests of honor. Keeping it simple with 8-12 of your best pals will make for a  memorable celebration and makes it much easier to go all out with your food and decor.

2. Show them you care. From the moment your guests enter your home, show them an amazing time by taking the making them feel comfortable and cozy. Greet them with a glass of bubbly and a hug. It's no fun showing up at a party and not being greeted by the host!

3. Dream up whimsical wintry cocktails and hire a bartender to serve up these drinks to your guests tableside during dinner. This is incredibly reasonable to do and adds and unexpected element. Your guests will feel well taken care of when they can order up a smashing holiday concoction from a pro!

Image via She Knows

4. Even better: hire a professional chef to whip up a delectable treats for your guests and have the chef come to the table and talk about each dish. Check with your favorite restaurant to see if they can lend you one of their chefs. We've seen this done for just a few hundred dollars for a couple of hours and boy, what a delightful impact it has {and it really makes things so easy for the hosts!}.

5. Don't forget the finishing touches. By creating an intimate atmosphere it really allows for you to adorn each place setting with finishing touches that add to your ambiance. Adorn napkins with fresh sprigs of rosemary, small tangerines, or special hand-picked ornaments picked out with each guest in mind.

6. Go over-the-top with your use of ornaments. We feel that one can never show off enough sparkly, magical ornaments and they lend so much to holiday ambiance. Whether you're scattering them down the center of your table or dotting apothecary jars brimming with mini ornaments around your home, they're the perfect element for a festive bash.

Keeping it simple makes for a truly memorable, festive, and fun celebration while allowing you to go all out and give your guests the royal treatment!

Enchanting Masquerade Wedding...

Christmas is just around the corner, but let's take a quick look back to October with this enchanting Halloween wedding! Katherine and Ryan wove an elegant masquerade theme throughout their big day. The feathered masks added such a whimsical element that I just love! They made perfect props for portraits and great favors for guests.

The phenomenal photographer behind all these beautiful photos is Amy of C Studios. I'm seriously blown away by how gorgeous each and every last image is!

More from the bride, Katherine:

We knew we wanted a fall festive feeling to the day, since Fall is our favorite season. And as for the masks, well wanted a fun way to recognize Halloween since we were married on the 30th of October.

My dress is by Jim Hjelm. I wore my grandmother's bracelets, my mothers earings, and a blue sapphire diamond, which my father had given to my mother on their first year wedding anniversary.

I also wore Ry's great grandmothers fur coat.

Ry and I decided to have our family friend and decorator David Berg design the reception. There is absolutely no one more talented than David. He made all of our abstract ideas into reality. David also did all of the flowers so we saved money by not hiring a florist.

My advice for any bride is to keep your husband in the loop. Ry and I had so much fun doing things together! Also, the more personal touches you can add to the wedding weekend the better. For example, we had our family and friends involved in as many aspects as possible. We had Ry's father as the MC for the night, and we had our mother and ry's father as the matron of honor and best man. Ry even played the violin before he took off my garter which was an added surprise. Our goal was to keep "many surprises" going on the entire night for our guests. And most importantly, we wanted to put on the best party of the year! To future brides: stay relaxed during the planning process. The hardest and most important decision has already been made: the groom.

Wedding Vendors:

Photographer: Amy of C Studios
Designer + Florist: David Berg
Ceremony Venue: First Community Church
Reception Venue: Scioto Country Club
Band: Redline
Bride's Dress, Veil + Hair Piece: La Jeune Mariee
Makeup Artist: Mukka
Cake: Short North Piece of Cake
Transportation: Buckeye Limo

Holiday Treat Week: My Lemon Wreath Cookies...

Holiday treat week is winding down, and what better way to end than with a recipe from yours truly? I really love to bake, but it's not something I do very often. The holidays are a great excuse to try out new recipes and bake up a storm, which is exactly what I did. This year, I wanted to make a lemon cookie, so I searched for the perfect recipe and came up with a gem from Martha Stewart. Sweet, yet tangy lemon wreath cookies! They are absolutely delicious and quite pretty!

Cookie Recipe
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

The cookies have a great texture, a lot like shortbread. They're sweet, but not too overpowering and have a wonderful lemon taste! While your cookies are in the oven (I made 2 sheets of cookies), whip up this simple glaze.

Glaze Recipe
3 cups confectioners' sugar
7 to 8 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions
Martha gave some specific instructions which included using a mixer, which I don't have, and a food processor, which quite honestly I was too lazy to get out, so I did it the simple way. With spatulas, a wisk and my hands! I'll explain things the way I did them.

- Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl.
- Zest your lemons (I used small lemons and zested two of them.)
- Mix the zest and sugar together (I used a wisk for this and mixed for about 2 minutes.)
- Cube the butter and add to the sugar and zest, then mix until it fluffs up a bit. I used my hands for this, it helped get everything mixed well and was a lot easier than mixing with a wisk or spatula. If you have a mixer, definitely use it for this part!
- Add the eggs in one at a time, and beat well after each.
- Add the vanilla and lemon juice (I used the two lemons I zested and 4 more small lemons to get enough juice. There will be some juice left, which you will use in the glaze.)
- Add the flour mixture in a bit at a time and mix until you have a doughy texture.
- Lightly flour a surface for rolling out the dough, then scoop approx. 1 tablespoon of dough out for each cookie. I used a small ice cream scoop to measure. Roll the dough into a rope around 4 inches long. Stick the ends together, then place the dough wreath on your cookie sheet. Keep doing this until all your dough is used up, then throw them in the oven heated to 350 degrees for around 18 minutes.
- For the glaze you simply mix the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice together and mix for about 2 minutes. Then voila, a perfect glaze!
- Once the cookies are out of the oven transfer them to a cooling rack (make sure to put something under them to catch the glaze drips. I used the cookie sheets.)
- Take each cookie and gently dip the top into the glaze, then place on the rack.
- Use white nonpareils, or any other sprinkles you want. I found sprinkling the cookies in sets of 3 worked best. Glaze 3, sprinkle. Glaze 3, sprinkle. If I did any more, the glaze would dry and the sprinkles wouldn't stick. If I did any less the glaze was still too runny.
- Let dry for a few hours before putting into a container.

They turned out great and I sent the extras off to work with my husband. I hope all his employees love them! Big thanks to Martha for the great recipe:)

I hope you enjoyed these cookies and all the other awesome treat recipes I shared this week. In case you missed them, here is a recap:

- Danielle's thumbprint cookies
- Jacin's pretzelies
- Rhiannon's eggnog cheesecake
- Alison's chocolate peppermint cookies

Have a great weekend and happy holidays!!!