Sarah Love, Love, Loves: Pinhole Press Photo Books

I have long adored the products of Pinhole Press. If you're not familiar, they are an online boutique for photo gifts and their products are always so clean and streamlined and gorgeously unfussy. Oh, and their photo books ... le sigh. I recently put together a photo book sharing some of J&I's favorite travel adventures in Europe using the wonderful service of Pinhole Press and I could not be more delighted to share the brilliant outcome with you. And I have to say it, I think these photobooks would be amazing to document a wedding and/or honeymoon.

I chose the Panoramic Photo Book and the quality of the print and paper far out rivals any I have ever encountered. The thick matte texture of the pages feel amazing and I absolutely love how when you open the pages, the binding seems seamless! The photo book "lies perfectly flat letting your photos stretch across the spread without interruption." Umm, genius. The cover also feels luxe with the combination of a personal photo/title and the soft linen backing and siding.

Want to see what I put together? Here's a few of my favorite pages:

Above: Out-take from our Parisian shoot. Photo by Juliane Berry.

Above/below: Tropea, Italy. Read more about that adventure here.

Above: One of J&I's first escapades to Paris. Read more from that trip here.

Above: J&I's first foray to Provence. Catch up on that vacay here.

Above/below: My favorite visit to Paris with J. It was our getaway together after being apart 

for six long months {sometimes I'm really not fond of his job...}. Absence certainly made our hearts grow fonder and Paris made everything that much more magical for our reunion.
Read about our fun time here.

Above: I couldn't leave our Paris shoot out so I included this little tease. 

See more from our shoot here. Images by Juliane Berry.

I seriously love the layout of my book and it couldn't have been any easier to put together with the super intuitive design interface on Pinhole Press. It was so simple to use and I love the option for the panoramic spreads. They add such a dramatic + sweeping feel to the book. And it feels so nice to have a book of images that J&I usually just share online - it's like our photos have been brought to life. Lovely.

If you're interested in building your own Pinhole Press photo book, you can check out their gallery here. They offer a magnificent selection including hardcover, panoramic, softcover as well as a great variation of sizes. Below is the type of book I built ... see how great it would look as a wedding photo book?

Off topic, I also wanted to share a few other fabulous products you might be interested in from Pinhole Press. They have an amazing wedding collection:

And I'm really digging these cool beer bottle labels below. They're styled here for a Father's Day bash but I think they'd be pretty fab for wedding welcome baskets or bach parties!

This post is sponsored. In exchange for this review, I was gifted a photo book by Pinhole Press.

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European {Honeymoon-Inspired} Travel Journal: Burano, Italy

ENTRY NO.33 // BURANO, ITALY

J&I flew into Venice to meet T&J to begin our Greek Isles cruise and while hanging out in Venice together, we decided to take a waterbus over to the island of Burano for the day. So, so glad we did. A labyrinth of rainbow-colored houses and mesmerizing canals awaited us ... such a perfect day trip if you're spending your honeymoon in Venice or northern Italy.

After walking around for a bit, we decided to sit down for some aperitifs {oops, I don't know the Italian word but my bellini - above - was out of this world} and a long, leisurely lunch. We enjoyed fresh caprese salads and some of the most delicious pizzas {yes, pizzaS} I'd ever had in my life. The restaurant we chose was next to a little plaza and the people watching was incredibly entertaining.

The view from the waterbus as we were departing Burano! Till next time. ;)

CB's Top Tips for Burano:

- Waterbus. Unless you are on a lavish, no-holds-barred honeymoon, I'd take the waterbus over a water taxi. The waterbus from Venice cost us about 16 euro roundtrip per person. The water taxis are notorious for being over-the-top expensive and for the trip to Burano {about 45 minutes}, I imagine the pricetag wouldn't be pretty.

- Go freestyle. There are plenty of guided tours available that will take you to Burano but I've heard they only allot you, at most, a few hours, on the island. My advice would be to skip any tours and just go on your own. Go at your own pace ... meander around the canals and enjoy a bellini or two without having to check your watch every 5 minutes.

- Other islands. In addition to Burano, there are also two other famed islands near Venice. Murano, famous for its glassware, isn't far and may be of interest. Torcello is another island nearby and from what I've heard, it's a quiet little authentic slice of Italian life. If you have the time, they might be worth visiting, as well.

If you have any tips, insights, suggestions or comments, I'd love to hear them! Happy Honeymooning!

Did you miss the other entries of CB's Travel Journal? Click here to catch up! ;o)
All images by moi.

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Casual Hippy Bohemian Redwood Forest Grove Wedding

I have often thought how amazing a forest wedding would be but Meagan and Tony take that idea to whole new level of cool by getting hitched under a redwood grove. I. looooove. it. Amazing images by eLLe PHOTOGRAPHY.

Says photographer Laura Monfredini, "I wanted to send you some shots from a sweet wedding we did up in Fairfax, Calif. -- it's a cute, tiny, hippy town out in Marin County that's in between San Francisco and the northern coast. The couple got ready at Cavallo Point, which is one of my favorite spots & the wedding ceremony/reception was in Fairfax under a redwood grove.

They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but for Meagan and Tony that is anything but true. Tony is from England and he was in Las Vegas for his brother's bachelor party (or, as they say, 'stag' party) and Meagan was there for a trade show. The fates aligned and they ended up in the same bar one night. Meagan caught Tony's eye, and they started talking, and they never stopped -- one of their wedding toasters joked that they logged more hours on Skype than the whole guest list combined. For them, it was instant love and shortly after they met, Tony moved to the US to be with Meagan and he proposed to her shortly after. 

The couple are both creative -- Meagan is a makeup artist (she did her own gorgeous retro-look for her wedding, as well as a few of the bridesmaids!), and Tony is a musician. They conceptualized their day as bringing together their creative sides with a touch of their heritage and with a music theme based on their song, 'All You Need is Love' by the Beatles. Together, with the help of many of their creative friends, they pulled off a beautiful affair under the redwood trees in Fairfax, Calif., that included a caricature artist and retro-touches for an English-feel. 

The couple did all of the major details themselves -- they scoured the Alameda Flea market for vintage touches, they did all of the floral arrangements themselves. They had a touching, personal ceremony officiated by a family friend. It was really important to the couple that their guests have fun at the reception. They also set up a candy bar and had a friend play the acoustic guitar for a musical-festival vibe during the reception. Many of their friends stood up to toast the couple -- so many stories were shared and it brought the whole party together and made things so personal."

Aren't the towering redwoods and string lights just magical? Thanks so much to eLLe PHOTOGRAPHY for sharing these lovely images and congrats to Meagan and Tony! xx.

Credits:
Photography: eLLe PHOTOGRAPHY (Bill Hipps & Laura Monfredini)
Hair/Makeup: Meagan Major (the bride!)
Flowers: the bride & her maids and Mom
Officiant: a family friend
Bride's Shoes: Christian Louboutin
Venue: Cavallo Point (getting ready) & Deer Park Villa (ceremony and reception)
Caricatures: Bay Area Caricatures

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GIVEAWAY | Amazing Stationery GIVEAWAY from Minted - 150 winners!!!!

As you probably already know, Minted is one of my top favorite sites for gorgeous custom stationery so I'm thrilled to be partnering with them today to offer 150 of my readers a custom greeting card! If you're not familiar with Minted, this would be a great way to try out their product and find out just how amazing they are!

With Father's Day right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to round up my favorite Father's Day cards on Minted and share them with you ... because if you win, it might be nice to share the love with your Dad. :) You can check out my top picks below or browse the full gallery of Father's Day cards here.

But first, let's discuss the super simple details and just how easy it is to enter this contest!

THE DETAILS
What's being given away:

150 randomly selected winners will receive a gift code for a free greeting card at Minted.com

How to enter:
Just click here and enter your name and e-mail. That's it, folks! :)

Deadline to enter:
June 1, 2013, at midnight Central European Time. Winners will be notified by e-mail. Bonne chance!

And I loved that last one so much I just had to customize it for my own super special Dad: 

Yep, that's me and my daddy picking azaleas together.
Aren't we a fine looking pair? And I can't help saying we still are! ;)

I also put a little something together for my Mom because I'd never want her to feel left out. She's a pretty fabulous part of my life and I like reminding her of that:

Tell me which card you would choose if you win! :)

ps. Minted also has a great collection of Father's Day gifts and Father's Day art if you need something to go along with that card. ;)

This post is sponsored by Minted. Images via Minted and my personal collection.

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