i do monograms

Thinking of having a Halloween wedding? Check out this amazing inspiration for a tastefully done spooky soiree! Have a wonderful Halloween and be safe!

Be sure to check back tomorrow... our November Featured Couple will be posted!!!

Sometimes we just have to pat ourselves on the back... and this is one of those times. Bride Holly came to us with her own monogram (above) and requested that we paint it onto an aisle runner for her. We have to admit that we were a little apprehensive about it as the design was so intricate, but we love a challenge so we agreed to help and we are so proud with how it turned out! And how beautiful is that color combo?! I adore everything about this runner... I don't even want to ship it out because I want to hang it up in the studio it's so gorgeous! I absolutely cannot WAIT for Holly & James to receive their runner. Holly & James please have your photographer take lots of pictures of the runner so we can have you as one of our "Featured Couples!" Best wishes!

Bride Meaghan came to us wanting monogram 23C on for her custom aisle runner. When we told her that unfortunately we do not offer the graphic of monogram 23C on our runners and that we would only be able to do the text, she decided to still go with it and we are SOOOO happy that she did! Just look how classy and chic it turned out! We just know that we're going to have other brides asking for this option now that they can see how incredible it is without the graphic... go ahead, tell us how much you love it! Best wishes Meaghan & David for your November wedding- please e-mail us pictures after the wedding so we can have you as one of our "Featured Couples." We definitely want to show off this runner!

Florida couple Emily & Andrew chose to use monogram 20C for their custom aisle runner. Every time a couple selects this monogram we get excited because the detailing of the flourish on the top and bottom are so much fun to create. Best wishes to Emily & Andrew for their July wedding!

We thought it would be interesting to see where are all our brides are located so we did a stat analysis on all our shipped orders for 2007-2008 (address information for monogram orders is not kept on file so unfortunately we could not include the statistics for those orders). Want to know our top 10 best selling states?

1) New York
2) Florida
3) New Jersey
4) California
5) Texas
6) Pennsylvania
7) Tennessee
8) Illinois
9) Maryland
10) Missouri

Pretty cool huh? Want to hear something even cooler? If you're in one of these top 10 states and you place an order during the month of November, we'll give you 10% off your order! Just enter code Top10 at checkout (shipping info must be to one of our top 10 states, excludes monogram orders, offer valid 11/1-30/08)

We also wanted to give a big thank you to those who took our survey last week. Congratulations to our winner Rae! Rae if you could please e-mail us at blog {at} idooriginals {dot} com we will give you the details on how to claim your prize!

Do you remember practicing writing out your new married name for the first time? I think of our monograms that feature the full last name (like monogram 7C shown above) kind of like that- that exhilarating feeling of knowing that by taking your fiance's name you're symbolizing the start of your new life together... and when you display it on your aisle runner for all your guests to see, it certainly makes a statement of that commitment. Congratulations to Julie & Matt who will be married on November 1st!

Tola, Owner of Inspired Style, based in London, England, came to us with a request for logos for the company. Inspired Style specializes in professional make-up services for women of all skin-tones. Tola exlpained that she wanted the logos to be eye-catching but elegant, beautiful, creative, and modern. She also provided us with a link to her website and we were directly inspired by the beautiful work that was displayed in her galleries (particularly the bridal gallery of course!) We adore the way the logos turned out and we're so glad that Tola loves them as well! If you're a bride in the London area, you must check out Inspired Style! Visit the website at www.inspiredstyle.net.

Bride Gelennys came to us with her own monograms... she had one monogram that was just the three initials (no border) and then she showed us this one (pictured on the runner above) and she asked for price quotes for both. Even though there was a significant price difference between the two, she decided to go with the intricate border and we are so glad she did... in all of the hundreds of runners we've completed during these past two years, I think I can say pretty confidently that this is my favorite client provided monogram that we have yet to create! Best wishes to Gelennys and Eduardo on their upcoming wedding November 1st! Be sure to send us pictures after the big day so that we can see this beautiful runner in use!

We have three gorgeous items in our spotlight for today:
The top left is a standard size verse banner in our standard font (which of course is our favorite font for our verse banners!) Best wishes to bride Belinda on her big day in a few weeks!

The top right is monogram 15B which has been quite popular this fall. The colors Melissa & James are using for their wedding exude that autumn feel and work beautifully with this monogram. We know their wedding is going to be just gorgeous and we hope they send us pics after the wedding (hint hint!) Best wishes to Melissa & James on November 1st!

The bottom left is monogram 13D for Debra & Peter's December wedding. Debra requested one of the champagne colors (from the wheat family) from our color chart, which look great on paper products but champagne colors don't show well when painted onto fabric which is why all the colors in the champagne tones translate to metallic gold when painted onto fabric. The classy gold relates so closely to the pretty champagne that many brides use but it gives that pop against the fabric to make it stand out... after all when your putting this much thought into your runner you want it to be seen right?! We love the way this one turned out and again we hope to see lots of pictures after the wedding! Best of luck Debra & Peter!

This past weekend my mom, sister, and myself traveled up to PA for the bridal shower of a family friend, Jen. Jen's mom asked me to create a parasol for the shower which I was of course happy to do... and while I was at i figured I'd whip up a banner as well! It was so cute the way the bridesmaids set up the banner and parasol as focal points by the fireplace next to the bride's seat of honor- the whole set up looked great!

I've been working with Jen on different monogram designs and she ended up going with monogram 13D. I altered this a little for the banner since I did it all in one color and was thrilled with the way it turned out. For Jen's gift I gave her the unity candle set she's been wanting and I'll also be giving her a monogram aisle runner that she asked for once we finalize all the details... it's nice to have friends in the industry! :)

Jen's shower was absolutely wonderful, everyone had an amazing time and it was tons of fun too. One of my favorite things was the "panty poem" the bridesmaids read. I just googled "panty poem for bridal shower" and found the original:
Bridal Shower Panty Poem
The bridesmaids have a secret to share
About our little bride
She is obsessed with underwear
And that we cannot hide

So for our little panty queen
We gathered up some twine
And working as a friendly team
We made a panty line.

Alternate verse if no clothesline available:
So for our special panty queen
We'll make her feel just fine
By working as a friendly team
To form a panty line.

(Bride's name) these undies are to last you
All throughout your life
And (groom's name) will be pleased to say
He has a sexy wife!

So listen up to hear about
Your lifelong panty plan
These underwear, we have no doubt
Will last your whole life span

The first are for your wedding day
Of course they are pure white
We know (groom's name) will shout, "Hooray!"
When he sees you on that night

The next are for your honeymoon
They're sexy and all lace
We hope you'll leave your hotel room
'Cause (honeymoon destination)'s a gorgeous place!

On Valentine's you'll wear this pair
Before you hit the bed
Cuz Cupid's arrow in the air
Shoots tushies that are red

After a year has passed you'll face
Anniversary number one
With these you'll surely have a blast
'Cuz leopard's so much fun!

Purple or an alternate color or print could be chosen in place of leopard in the verse above

Then when the time is right for you
And don't be saying, "Maybe"
You'll wear your little pink or blue
In honor of your baby

And when your years of wedding bliss
Become the big 2-5
Don't worry - you'll just slip this on
To keep the sparks alive

When finally you're old and gray
With these you can't go wrong
'Cuz sorry (Bride's name) but at that age
You just can't wear a thong
(found on Diva Girl Parties & Stuff)

How adorably hilarious is that?! Congratulations Jen! Can't wait 'til the wedding!

We took a survey last week over at Brooklyn Bride and thought it would be fun (and helpful) to do our own as well. We'd love to get your feedback so please take a second to complete our survey- we'd really appreciate it! We'll leave the link up all week long so that we can get as many responses as possible. Of course there's some incentive to help us out as well... once you complete the survey, leave a comment on this post (if you want to be eligible) and you'll be entered to win one of our preppy embroidered luggage tag sets! We'll announce the winner on Friday- (yay!)

Click Here to take survey

Apologies for the lack of posts this week- it's been crazy around here lately! It's supposed to be off season but I'll tell ya, we haven't had any sort of decline in orders at all (which is great, just keeping us super busy!) Here's some of our latest. And with that, I'm headed out of town to a bridal shower... I'll of course share pictures and the details of that when I return! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Top left: monogram13D
Top right: monogram 19D w/ ribbon edging (stay tuned for info about our new ribbon edging on table runners and banners!)

Middle left: monogram3C
Middle right: custom monogram

Bottom left: Thank You parasol in standard font
Bottom right: 3 initial parasol in font #7

The classic three letter monogram is an undeniable symbol of the unity between two people, which is probably why monogram 36A is one of our favorites. Even more classic when it's done in all black as couple Alyssa & Eric requested, this elegant monogram aisle runner is sure to make a statement at their November wedding. Best wishes Alyssa & Eric!

Bride Maleka came to us with a request for custom monograms and mentioned that an element of her wedding was red coral... we were instantly inspired. Maleka provided us with a great idea of the overall feel she wanted her monograms to convey: casually elegant, chic, modern, and beachy without being too over-the-top. We love our interpretation of the information she provided and we're glad that she loves her monograms as well! Best wishes Maleka & Stephen!

It's so fun when couple's have the same first initial and go with a first initial monogram like monogram 1D used above. Best wishes to Marisa & Mark on their wedding next weekend!

Top Left: Custom Monogram design
Top Right: Large Verse banner in standard font
Bottom Left: 3 initial parasol in matching font to monogram 15C
Bottom Right: Monogram 15C

Best wishes to these fabulous couples who will be married next weekend!

We are thrilled to share the opening of the new ETSY shop, Ella Scott Jewels! As personal friends of the talented bouquet jewel designer, Janet, we wanted to jump on the chance to share her creations.

So we mentioned yesterday that we had another great find... Jamie is one of our "funnest" brides to date. We loved working with her every step of the way from the moment she contacted us about creating a surprise banner for her soon-to-be-hubby. When we found her photos online we were thrilled... we knew her wedding would be amazing as she was so detailed about everything she was looking for, but when we saw these images of our items, we were truly blown away... and trust us, the rest of the images taken by the incredibly talented photographer, Louis Palos, are even more amazing. Check out more of Jamie & Jason's wedding and the amazing work of Louis Palos by clicking here. Aren't they just the most gorgeous couple ever?!

I love to check the stats for iDoOriginals.com cause it's neat to see how people found us, who's linking to us, who's chatting about us, etc. Every once in a while we find something AMAZING... like this!!! Bride Alyssa was sharing some of the pictures of her GORGEOUS wedding on a popular wedding message board and shared this picture with a link back to us which is how we found it... and we are so glad we did! Seriously, how incredible is this photo!?! It looks like an advertisement for our custom parasols! I am officially in love with Alyssa's amazing photographers GwyneMark Photography. L-O-V-E!

And guess what... we have another amazing find as well! Check back to see another incredible discovery!

If you plan on giving your hubby a gift on your wedding day this might just be the perfect option. As soon as I saw these sweet watches from HourPowerWatches.com I knew I had to share! Of course I love everything that you can personalize so these are no exception! When I went on to read about HourPower I was even more intrigued....

"HourPower is dedicated to the belief that people can enhance connections to loved ones, to goals, memories, or inspiration by the use of our unique patented timepiece. Every one of our watches open to reveal a secret chamber for special words and photo that can be viewed often throughout the day.

The watch design was the "brain child" of a clinical psychotherapist and life coach as a simple way to galvanize the power of intention. Now, an emotional connection or touchstone, is actualized as you check the time-And just knowing that there is a secret inside reinforces one's commitment and resolve."

I'd love to hear about what you gave your hubby or what you plan to give... or if you plan to give something at all for that matter!

I think everyone could probably see this one coming as we designated an entire week to the wedding of Kelly & James... of course we would want to have them as one of our "Featured Couples" as well! Head on over to iDoOriginals.com to read about the different items we created for them!

Top Left & Bottom Right: monogram #15B in chocolate4 & olivedrab 3
Top Right: 3 initial parasol font #5 in black
Bottom Left: monogram #3B w/o flourishes and modified date in chocolate4 & light pink

Best wishes to all these October couples!

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and we're doing our part! For the month of October 10% of all proceeds from the new embroidery line will be donated to breast cancer research... so you can know that when you order one of our embroidered items you're lending a helping hand and joining the fight against breast cancer. Be sure to enter the code CURE10 during checkout!