Five planning tips for a handmade wedding.

Looking to create a unique, handmade wedding? Be sure to check out these five planning tips from the Etsy Wedding Team. Maida Vale is thrilled to be featured as part of it. =)

Great honeymoon views.

Whenever I travel, I start dreaming about my next trip before the current one is even over. I'm most often trying to figure out how I can get back to Europe. My husband and I spent our honeymoon in Italy, returned for our first anniversary, and went back again last year. Each time, I've planned the trip from start to finish and have successfully booked us into affordable hotels with priceless views. It's easy to do if you're willing to do a bit of the leg work yourself. On that note, I wanted to share a few of my favorite budget hotels in Italy that have undeniably romantic views:

Albergo California Positano (Amalfi Coast)
from €150/night


Hotel American (Venice)
from €100/night


Il Giglio (Montalcino, Tuscany)
from €135/night


If you are thinking about planning a trip abroad and have a question, feel free to leave it in the comments and I'll get back to you asap. =)

Color inspiration.

This tidbit is related to my earlier post about color... If you are having trouble deciding on a palette for your wedding and have looked at one too many wedding photos online, try getting back to basics by checking out nothing but swatches. This Adobe website is fun and you'll surely come away with some solid ideas. Enjoy!

The EAD Library.

I'm happy to announce that Maida Vale is proud to be part of the newly expanded Elizabeth Anne Designs Library! As I mentioned last week, E. & A. have been working very hard to build upon what was already a fabulous resource for brides. Feel free to drop by our listing (and leave a review if you're one of our amazing clients!). Happy planning!

Great planning resources: EAD.

If you haven't discovered Elizabeth Anne Designs already, be sure to drop by the relaunched site. In addition to a newly added forum, Ami & Rebekah have expanded their ever popular library to provide more information about listed vendors. It's a great resource worth checking out!

Real couple: E&G.

All photos by Chris Robb + Maida Vale.

Thanks to a wonderfully sunny weekend in Seattle (a rarity in January!), I'm inspired to share details from a lovely warm weather wedding. Using some basic money saving tips, the bride was able to create an event that stayed within her modest budget.

To do so, she carefully chose a venue that would host both the ceremony and reception. This saved thousands of dollars and created a seamless event. As soon as the ceremony was over, the party kicked off. The bridesmaids wore dresses found on sale at a major department store and carried inexpensive parasols instead of flowers. Flowers were also left out of the reception centerpieces, replaced by modern candles instead. Finally, simple lanterns and holiday lights dressed up the ceremony site, which turned into a sparkling dance floor late into the evening.

The resulting wedding was a labor of love—something that was truly palpable that day. Congrats again, E&G!

Click the following thumbnails to enlarge.

Online vendor listings.

When I was wedding planning in 2003, there was only one major online resource. I'm excited to see that so many great sites have popped up since then—giving brides a lot of places to turn to for inspiration and help with organization. Plus, it's now possible to read vendor reviews written by other brides. Thanks to some of our wonderful past clients, I'm happy to say that Maida Vale is now ranked and can be found in the following online directories:

• Wedding Wire
• Project Wedding
• MyWedding.com
• Martha Stewart Weddings