Budget Bouquet

I picked up some light pink wax flowers at the farmers market the other day. Each stem contains many little blossoms, so I only bought three which was more than enough to create, one small bouquet and one boutonniere. I used kitchen twine to secure the stems and leftover green raffia that I had lying around (most likely from a gift, yes I'm one of those that saves all gift wrapping and ribbons to recycle for gift giving) to make the bow and one scented geranium leaf from my window box for the boutonniere. Viola!
These budget friendly flowers are usually available all year round and come in light pink, dark pink, mauve and white
Florist's typically use them as fillers in flower arrangements but I think they make a sweet statement on their own, don't you agree?

Lace Votives

image from Martha Stewart

Tight budget? Forget the flowers for the tables and try making these enchanting lace votives, go here for step by step process

A Ribbon Garden

(image from gemma comas website)
Visions of a DIY project came to mind when I stumbled upon these beautiful ribbon & fabric creations....
don't you think something like this could be incorporated into a wedding somehow?

Dolls and Lace

{images via dolls & lace}

When I was planning our wedding last year, I stumbled upon these beautiful velvet flowers.
So, for those that can't get to Tinsel Town Trading in NYC, don't fret, this place here is a fantastic source for vintage millinery, lace and more.

Love Bird Cake Topper

{images via Bills Flower Market}

Still on the hunt for cake toppers? These adorable love birds could do the trick, not to mention they're budget friendly! More of these little creatures can be found here at Bill's Flower Market, located in the heart of the NYC Flower Market. There you will find a wide selection of glass vases, plastic containers, artificial birds & butterflies, ribbon, feathers, candles, floral supplies and fresh flowers for all those DIY wedding projects you plan to do.

Photographer Spotlight: Kimberly Reed

A friend of mine recently sent over photos of a beautiful and personal wedding she attended a couple of weekends ago....
Pittsburgh based photographer Kimberly Reed, who photographed this pretty summer wedding was kind enough to share more details of the day.

The couple, Mary and Dave, wed at the brides family estate in New Hope, PA on June 21, 2008. All the little paper goods for the wedding were designed and made by Mary and her business partner Jen who have a shop over at Etsy called, Ice Cream Social. Also make sure you check out Brooklyn Brides blog post today on, Ice Cream Social, here

{all photographs by Kimberly Reed}

little notes and invites.......

These past couple of days I have been busy working on little note cards.........
Here's a sample of our thank you notes, I decided to take an element from the wedding favor design, to create postcard size notes. sweet & simple.

illustration by deirdre quinn

I also thought I would share a wedding shower invite that recently illustrated and designed for a friend....
(sorry for the white outs, looks much better with out it)

little ideas for wedding programs...........

designed and illustrated by deirdre quinn

photographed by belathee

If your a creative and crafty bride, a great way to add your personal touch to the wedding is in the details such as the programs. It can also help keep costs down. For our wedding, I designed and illustrated a one page program that could be rolled up like a scroll and tied with beautiful silk ribbon from kate's paperie.

for more beautiful and creative ideas, check out Martha Stewart weddings and Weddingbee's blog...

Martha Stewart Weddings Summer 2007

a little gift of music...................

photography by belathee

With the stress of wedding planning, my husband and I needed to have a little fun, so we decided on DIY wedding favor for our guests. Since music is a big part of our lives, we decided to make a CD and share a funky collection of songs that we love. It's not your typical mushy and sappy wedding CD, although I will admit there are a couple that still bring tears. I illustrated and designed the art and he managed the production for CD case. Voilà! Turned out pretty good, if I don't say so myself.
The CD included 2 songs that were in our wedding, "Perpetuun Mobile", which played while I walked down the aisle and Vinicio Capossela's, "Ovunque Proteggi" for our first dance.
check out the play list.......................

"Perpetuun Mobile", Penguin Orchestra
"Venus as a boy", Bjork
"All my friends", LCD Soundsystem
"Our lives are shaped by what we love", Odyssey
"He lays in reins", Iron and Wine/Calexico

"Nothing like this", J Dilla

"Song of the Siren" Robert Plant
"Monitor" Siouxsie and the Banshees
"I know what I know" Paul Simon
"Satellite of love" Lou Reed
"Everybody" Madonna
"Bumble bee orchestra" Lady Bug
"Ovunque Proteggi" Vinicio Capossela


We had our CD favors designed and produced by a company is called, mycd.it, located here in Italy. The style we ordered was a 4 panel, digipak, with a soft spot nub to hold the CD in place, rather then the plastic tray. They also provided a template so we could transfer the artwork created for the cover and inside. Since this site is only in Italian, I've include some links to a few sites in the states that have comparable designs/packaging.

Oasis Disc Manufacturing
Triple Disc Media
Cravedog CD & DVD Manufacturing