Taking a Short Break

Bridal Shower Goodies

I have been away for a while and will be until mid-June. My wedding and honeymoon are  only a few weeks away and I have such little time to devote to the site. I hope you will all understand and follow along my daily activities through my Instagram account (4thfloorwalkup). Happy Spring and soon to be Summer! I’ll be back soon, I promise!

 

Thanks for reading. My best, Lauren

Invitations Unveiled . . .

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Invitation Suite

 

For my wedding, it was very important for me to get the invites right. I wanted them to express the mood of our wedding, our tastes and of course our love of design.  At times I was thinking about going the traditional route by doing all type and at other moments, doing a modern take but in the end I settled on something that is closest in description to my personal style; a Neo-Traditional route. Which means: using traditional techniques to express a contemporary design. It also reflects the marriage of Jack and myself as individuals being together. I have a love for classic design and history while his tastes lie more in the modern and contemporary age. Am I being too deep about invites? Maybe, but it’s our wedding and we’ll do what we want to, right?!

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Invitation Suite

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Invitation Suite

With that all said, to better breakdown my thoughts, I combined a calligraphy style font called Nelly Script (traditional) with Neutra Text Light (moderne) and Striped Caps (retro carnival feel) to achieve the mood.  The imagery is also hinting at the theme, a Vintage (circa late 30′s- 1940s) French Carnival. To enhance the look, I followed in the color scheme of the event using colors reminiscent of Paris during this time period. The technique is in classic letter press and last but not least, I wanted to add a bit of glamour by pulling in antiqued gold, which can be seen in the envelopes and the edges of the cards.

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Save The Date

Finally, the entire direction can be seen in our earlier Save the Dates that were inspired by the environment of the garden in which the wedding will take place. They’re definitely a labor of love but I’m so happy I did this and I’m always going to cherish them, just as I will our special day. . .

 

Thanks for reading. My best, Lauren

 

Invitations: Letterpress by Boxcar Press, Envelopes & Save the Date prints by Paper Presentation, Calligraphy by Mary Anne Wolf

*All designs are copyright of Lauren Gries 2013

Beautiful Blooms

Flowers are not only on my mind because it’s Spring but also because I had to settle on a look for my wedding. I recently put these mood boards together and sent them on to my florist. I’m completely in love with romantic arrangements that are bit asymmetrical and ‘undone’. What do we think? I’m swooning.

Handheld-Bouquets

 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10

 

Table-Top-Arrangements

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

 

Lastly, had to snap a shot of my bedside table with the sample arrangement my co-worker Alexandra gave me a few weeks ago. It was just so lovely and I wanted to preserve the memory. Alexandra is a flower designer and operates a studio in the city. You can see more of her work [here].

Bedroom

 

Kitchen Plans

Oh my goodness, I have a long list of things to do and tons going on but I can’t seem to get my kitchen off my mind. I wish I could just “Get it done!” I can’t though, funds are going towards other things at this time. Here’s a quick board of a few design elements that I’m planning on. Already did a bit of painting over the weekend. . . can’t handle it!

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As you can see it’s okay, just needs help and appliances that actually fit the space. That will come later. Here’s to hoping something happens before summer!

 

 

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Light Fixture / Paris Map Wall Image / Wall Color – Benjamin Moore, Skipping Stone / Striped Roman Blinds Image / Cabinet Pulls