Branding & Graphic Design Tips - Dress Your Brand

We loved that Kat Williams of the renowned Rock n Roll Bride blog writes about the importance of your brand image as part of The Green Room section of her blog. It is definitely worth a read! Whether your brand is a your blog, you are a wedding photographer, event designer or own a boutique - you need your brand image to attract clients and also keep them. We will be discussing essential tips for branding and graphic design over the next few months here on Itty Bitty & Bijou.

We, like Kat, recommend hiring a Graphic Designer to complete any design work you need for your company. Graphic Designers of course know how to create a stunning brand image for yourself using images and fantastic fonts which will look beautiful, attractive and professional. As much fun as it may
be to play with it yourself, you are missing out on the value that a Graphic Designer will bring to your company.

You would dress your best when meeting your clients wouldn't you? Do the same for your brand.

For information & a price list of our own Graphic Design & Branding services email us at ittybittybijou{at}googlemail{dot}com 

You will soon be able to find a selection of our Graphic Design
& Branding items and services available within our Etsy shop too!

Party Inspirations - A Neon Pink Party

For today's party ideas we created the concept 'Neon Pink Party' which could easily be applied to Bridal Showers, Baby Showers, Birthday Parties, Garden Parties or even just a gathering with the girls! From neon pink dipped roses and pink macarons with a dusting of glittery gold, to your guests attire with
hints of pink too. Get your neon on!

> White roses with a hit of neon by spraying them at the tip

> Pink Macarons with gold stripes
> Fabric garlands with the full colour palette in and of course neon pink
> Hints of gold glitter from the macarons to decor items and what to wear
> Get guests to join in with the theme by wearing either a hint of pink of perhaps more!

Credits { from left to right }

Top row / Graeme Sharkey for Ruby Mae Designs / via Annie Girl / / Travis Hodges for Gypsy Luster
Middle row / Miss Renaissance / via The Brides Cafe / via Rock'n'Roll Bride
Bottom row / via Rock'n'Roll Bride / via Pinterest / Style Life Home /

Ideas for the Groom - Will You Be My Groomsman Gift

Today we have ideas for your "Will you be my Groomsman gifts", a popular idea for the Groom inviting his Groomsmen to be a part of his big day. Today's Groomsman gift ideas include vintage style shaving brushes and organic soaps - perfect for looking great on the day, and we found these fantastic vintage type writer key cuff-links - great for the vintage look as well as being personalised with their initials!
You'll love the moustache theme too!

> Vintage shaving brushes and matching mugs

> Moustache prints on products - tie this in with your stationery { see ours here } 

> Perfect pieces for vintage themed weddings 

> The guys like to pamper too!

> Soaps such as The Exfoliator, The Grit and Activated Charcoal - make a great gift.

Credits { from left to right }

Top row / Rocky Top Soap Shop / Rocky Top Soap Shop / The Vintage Parlor for Men /

Middle row / The Vintage Parlor for Men / The Vintage Parlor for Men / Rocky Top Soap Shop /

Bottom row / The Weekend Store / The Vintage Parlor for Men / The Vintage Parlor for Men /

For more ideas and inspirations for Grooms and Groomsmen including Bachelor Parties /
Stag Parties go { here } 

Bridal Shower Inspirations - Lovely Lace - Get the Look

We recently created some ideas for a Bridal Shower with a Lace theme { here } and as promised we have a follow up with 'What to Wear' inspirations for both the Bride-to-be and her guests! We of course selected pieces that suited the lace theme but also which complimented the pretty colour palette too.

We have some amazing dresses as well as seperates which could be worked in with none lace options as well as a beautiful statement cuff bracelet by Aurelie Bidermann. Our inspirations include clothing from Victoria - Victoria Beckham, Anna Sui, Alice by Temperley, Ted Baker and Kate Middleton / The Duchess of Cambridge's go-to-label LK Bennett...

Credits { from left to right }

Top row / LK Bennett / Victoria - Victoria Beckham / Ted Baker / Alice by Temperley /

Bottom row / LK Bennett / Victoria Beckham Denim / Aurelie Bidermann / Anna Sui /

To see more of our Bridal Shower inspirations and ideas go { here }

Here's our mood board and concept for the Lovely Lace theme Bridal Shower 

{ to see the full post and credits go here }

Bridal Shower Inspirations - Lovely Lace

We have a beautiful Bridal shower inspiration board to share today and the theme is lace - lots of lovely feminine, pretty lace! From the Bride-to-be's dress to the cake, cake toppers and centerpieces - little hints of delicate lace adorn this Bridal Shower.

Guests would attend also wearing something to match the theme too - this could be anything from a full lace dress to lace printed accessories! We shall put together a follow up post of 'What to Wear' ideas!

> Clothing and accesories of course have a touch of lace for the Bride-to-be and her guests

> Macarons matching the colour palette of the party - placed on cake stands and under cloches
> Heart shaped doily confetti by Prettie Parties - great scattered and used for photograhs
> Heart shaped paper lace cake toppers by Dessine A Toi
> Wrap lace and twine around glass jars of flowers
> Mix pastel pin and white roses with touches of fresh green foliage

Credits { from left to right }
Top row / Unknown via Pinterest / via Rosalind Miller Cakes / KT Merry
Middle row / KT Merry / Lauren Larson / Unknown via Pinterest
Bottom row / Prettie Parties / Lauren Larson / Dessine a Toi

To see more of our Bridal Shower inspirations and ideas go { here }

Wedding Inspirations - Inspired by Brumley and Wells Photography

We are huge fans of Brumley and Wells Photography which consists of husband and wife team Annie and Jacob. Their beautiful, light, and whimsical images are swoon-worthy, gasp-worthy and simply delightful! We always enjoy their blog and keep up to date with their latest work, travels and of course weddings. A recent favorite of ours is the wedding of Jase & Ryli { see the full post at Brumley and Wells here } and we adore this following image in particular! In fact it fired up our creative juices and inspired our latest wedding mood board too!

. Image by Brumley and Wells - see the full wedding here .

> Beautiful light and muted tones of pale grey, white, and the softest hints of pink green and blue
> Sophisticated sparkly silver Jimmy Choo shoes
> Vintage silver flatware and light linen napkins
> Super pretty rose cupcakes
> Mismatched bridesmaids in complimenting shades and flower girls with floral crowns

Credits { from left to right }
Top row / Brumley and Wells / Jeremy & Alicia Brown Photography / Alicia Swedenborg Photography
Middle row / Steven Depino  / Bakers Royale / Unknown found via Plum Pretty Sugar
Bottom row / Jose Villa / Jose Villa  / Bakers Royale

Keep it Fresh and Keep Your Creativity

I've been wanting to write this post since New Year and it has just turned April - so I thought 'what the heck' and sat down for an early Friday night write!

As creatives we want to bring inspiration across with our blog, the inspirations behind some of our works, inspirations and concepts we create, inspiration boards for decor, weddings, events and so on, and we want to start a little series of posts that aim to help and inspire friends of Itty Bitty & Bijou with their own blogs and graphic design too.

The question is - where does all this creativity and inspiration come from?! 
The pressure to be constantly creative, fresh, innovative and informed, cannot outweigh the love and enjoyment you have for all of these things - you wont deliver your best and you wont be happy with what you have created either. We thrive off a bit of pressure, stress and excitement but you need to keep a balance to keep you fresh, your work and your creativity.

We found this graphic by Striking Truths a while ago and it has sat on our desktop as a daily reminder ever since. It tells us to remember to live, to have a life and to have balance. We started this as a must for 2013, and set a rule for ourselves that no matter how busy our schedules are for work we must take time out. This started with taking weekends off (which lasted just 3 weeks into the new year) but if working at the weekend is unavoidable we agreed we must take that time back in the week.

In the past few months working 5 days instead of 6 and sometimes 7 has given us a lot of extra time. What have we done with it so far?

>Taken numerous road trips and visited places we hadn't seen before,
>Met free roaming Deer on one trip (it was amazing),
>Visited the beach once a month (it takes and hour and a half to get there but it's so worth it),
>We set up Itty Bitty & Fluffy blog and have made many friends in the process,
>We have watched movies which we've wanted to see for ages,
>Cooking and hosting for friends regularly,
>We've done some work on our house,
>Bought and revamped pieces of old furniture (been wanting to do this for years!)
>Taking photographs for pleasure not just for work,
>Finally printed, framed and put up said photos around the house,
>Training and more training with our rescue dog Joey - he is now off leash and this opened us up to world of better walks, places to go and things to do,
>Reading and getting through some books which have been on our Amazon wishlist for way too long,
>Started to learn Pilates and loving it!

So my advice to you today before the weekend starts, is to promise yourself not to spend it all on your favorite blogs and Pinterest (as much as we love doing just that and are very guilty of it) but instead inspire yourself in another way and be fresh for Monday. If you are anything like us you will be so excited to get back to work, you will have missed it (I really do miss it) and you'll be much more productive!

Catharine x