DK Designs can be found on MyWedding.com!

After much deliberation, I decided to advertise on http://www.mywedding.com/. They were offering a great rate for 1 year of advertising and for a GREAT price compared to most online website advertising rates. Since I couldn't really be in more than one location on the Oahu guide without paying more, I decided to put myself under the Invitations Section. Although the representative from mywedding.com told me she loved my favor boxes and said she had never seen anything like it.

This is a great little website/local resource guide for brides across the country. It's not as complex and busy as http://www.theknot.com/ because it focuses on giving couples their own wedding website for free but also it serves as a resource guide for many states across the U.S. I decided to advertise under Oahu since that is where my business really began to grown and because clients associate me with Hawaii. The other nice thing is that I actually found my information on their website before I even decided to advertise. It was just a short description of my services and my phone number and website address. I thought that was really cool that they did that for free.

So DK Designs is going NATIONAL!!! I'm hopeful that brides will find me and like what they see and the orders start rolling in. This year has definitely been a really exciting one and we're only 3 months into it! I can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for the company! You can view the advertisement at: http://www.mywedding.com/oahu/wedding_invitations/index.html

Pink Hibiscus Place Cards and Table Numbers
This particular couple was a referral from Paciic Coast Host on the Big Island! Thank you Stephanie! Stephanie is another wonderful wedding planner extraordinaire on the island of Hawaii. Her clients were from Connecticut/New York area. Very easy to work with which was awesome. They picked a pinkish orange hibiscus as their theme. They ordered the invitations first and decided to carry the hibiscus theme and the punchy fuschia pink and bright orange metallic colors to compliment their wedding reception.



These are just a couple of the pictures from Bob Brown of Eye Expression Photography. The sun had already set when he took these pictures, but they still look fantastic. Thanks Bob for always making my creations look stunning! The reception took place at the Mauna Lani Resort (www.maunalani.com). This is a great location for a beach wedding and outdoor reception on the Big Island. The wedding department staff is great to work with too! If you're looking for a wedding planner, check out Stephanie at www.pacificcoasthost.com and of course Bob for photography at www.eyeexpression.com!

Cherry Blossoms and Crystals...

Cherry blossoms are another theme that continue to be popular among brides and they go great with those who want the pink/brown color palette! This particular client was very particular in what cherry blossom design she wanted, but we finally came up with a design that they liked. We decided to add some crystals to embellish the invitation and make it look a little richer.

We also added a wine/burgandy trim to the invitation because their bridal party will be wearing burgandy dresses.

They also had a lot they wanted in terms of information for their response card so instead of the traditional 3.5x5 response card we went with a 4x5 style which allowed them the space they needed! I also recreated the map we found off the Internet (that was my first one!) and I think it came out pretty well (not pictured here).

If you haven't been to my website since Sunday, you'll have to check it out. I've finally updated the Wedding Stationery, Real Weddings section and more! In the month to come I hope to have all my pages up-to-date!

Orange Cymbidium Returns

Cymbidiums are my FAVORITE orchid of all time. Personally, I used green cymbidium orchids in my wedding. The wonderful thing about cymbidiums is that they withstand the heat and are a pretty strong variety of orchids so it will look nice your entire wedding day! I love it when brides ask to do an orchid theme. If you didn't already know, orchids symbolize luxury, nobility and lust!

This particular bride wanted an orange cymbidium orchid for her invitations. Not to mention she's getting married at the Fairmonth Orchid! So it seems befitting to have an orchid as her theme. For their reception, they want to go with matching favor boxes with both orange and yellow cymbidium orchids and plans to put hard kona candies inside for her guests. She's even looking at table cards!

This bride came to me via the referral of Bob Brown of Eye Expression Photography. Bob has a great eye for catching some really great moments. I love his eye for details. You can view some of Bob's work on my website on the home page and I hope to post some of the weddings we've worked on together in the coming months!

Pineapples - The Icon of "Hospitality"

To me, using pineapples in invitations never gets old! It's one of those timeless pieces that not only brings to mind the image of Hawaii or a tropical destination, but to me it somehow represents the warmth and Aloha you feel when you go to Hawaii.

I know that people have told me that the pineapple is the symbol of "hospitality". I had to look it up on wikipedia.com and this is what they had to say:

In some cultures, the pineapple has become associated with the notion of welcome, an association bespoken by the use of pineapple motifs as carved decorations in woodworking. Many people bring a pineapple as a gift when meeting someone for the first time.

Anyway, I had another client that liked my pineapple charm design and she wanted pinks and greens. I rather like this patterned stock that provides the green element, but it softer and classier than just plain green metallic cardstock. Anyway, the brass pineapple charms really make this invitation look polished and stylish!

DK Designs Website - New Updates

I decided to work on my website again, update it, and get it current. It's still work in progress, but I've done the first round of updates (adding the Blog link to the navigation), updating my Deco Clay Craft Academy course calendar for Feb-Mar 2008) and added a few new pictures and information. The next step is to post new weddings and of course some of the newer designs (flowers and invitations/wedding details).

You can check it out: http://www.dkdesignshawaii.com/!

DK Designs Website Updates - Online Store Available!

So I thought a little bit more about Etsy.com and I will continue to leave my pieces up there for now, but I realized that I can basically do the same thing on my website. So.... you can purchase my clay flower designs on the DK Designs website. It's not a TRUE online store, but this way I can keep control of what I sell so it doesn't get too too crazy. This way I can still service my brides and clients who are my top priority! I hope to update once a week with new designs for sale.