Archive for November 2011

Board #542: Ruby Red and Gray

by admin on November 29, 2011, under Wedding Ideas & Advice

Friends, I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather (which is why I forgot to publish this post to go up earlier today!), so I don’t have much to say about today’s inspiration board, except that I’m very much in the mood for festive winter inspiration, and I’m loving combinations of gray with warm colors like red and orange and pink, so I hope you love them too!

Mood: urban festive
Palette: ruby red, grapefruit, blush, pale gray, winter white


Top row from left: anyone have a source for this one of Olesya Senchenko???, red and gray letterpress invitation suite by Kate Arends via Oh So Beautiful Paper, red peony photo by Elizabeth Messina,
Row 2: grapefruit mojito and pleated ring pillow both from Martha Stewart, reindeer tea towel from Inside Out via Pia Jane Bijkerk
Row 3: calligraphy by Plurabelle, crosswalk photo from Brides, dress by Isaac Mizrahi for The Aisle, blush satin slingbacks from BHLDN

 

If you like this inspiration board you might also like:

Board #442: The Red Piano
Board #517: Blushing Beauty
Board #523: Our Wedding

 

Kiss the Groom is a sponsor of Snippet & Ink.


This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.


Board #541: Coral and Storm

by admin on November 21, 2011, under Wedding Ideas & Advice

I’ve been thinking lots about unexpected color schemes for fall, and when I came across this painting, I fell in love with the idea of gray and coral, especially with some bay leaf garland accents. It would work wonderfully in almost any season, but I think with the orange blush of the coral, it is a sophisticated take on an autumn palette. Also, as a neutral, I don’t think that gray is going anywhere (calling it trendy would be a bit like calling basic black a fad). It’s wonderfully subtle and can range from sleek modern to softly romantic like it is here to dark and moody, and I really just love it in all its forms.

Mood: sweet, romantic
Palette: storm gray, faded coral

Top row from left: Sappho on the Leucadian Cliff by Pierre-Narcisse Guerin, photo of bouquet with dusty miller by Elizabeth Messina, escort cards on peach ribbons and Versailles backdrop both from Martha Stewart Weddings
Row 2: peach and gold cake and gray calligraphy by from Martha Stewart Weddings, cameo via My Heart’s Song
Row 3: napkins with orange wreath print by Linea Carta, photo with gray puff sleeve dress by Elizabeth Messina, peach cocktail and bar with garland both from Martha Stewart Weddings

 

If you like this inspiration board, you might also like:

Board #258: Grapefruit & Gray
Board #249: Premiere danseuse
Board #481: Nude & Gray
Board #515: Sidewalk at Sunset

 

 

Kiss the Groom is a sponsor of Snippet & Ink.


This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.


Aqua Blue to the Rescue!

by admin on November 16, 2011, under Wedding Ideas & Advice

Remember my initial color inspiration and how I eventually chucked it to start anew? Well, y’all, I’m ready to share a very important update! I’ve finally found the inspiration I was looking for! I knew that I was all about yellow, but for some reason I was fighting my girly-girl nature. I must admit that it took a lot of long hours in front of the computer screen, but with my (non-DIY’ed) blue Mason jars in hand, I knew I was onto something. The combination was fresh and spring-y, perfect for our May wedding. Aqua blue and yellow it was! (Phew, that was easy! Who would have known those little jars would have been so instrumental in my decision?) But just to prevent any future waffling and wavering on my part, I decided to throw in some green and rose pink accents. (See, I couldn’t fight the pink!)

Aqua Blue to the Rescue! :  wedding color schemes richmond Collage Collage

Top row, from left to right: Bouquet via Kelly’s Wedding Flowers Gallery; Love Birds Topper via Vintage Green Modern on Etsy; Cupcakes via Wedding Magazine / Cupcakes by Cakes by Robin; Monogram via Charming Little Nest / Monogram by Southern Proper Monogram; Shoes via Hayden Olivia / Photo by Critsey Rowe; Sign via Family Attic on Etsy; Arrangement via White on Rice Couple
Bottom Row: Table setting via Green Wedding Shoes / Photo by Edyta Szyszlo Photography; Bouquet and bow ties via Southern Weddings / Photo via 1313 Photography; Lemonade stand via Brenda’s Wedding Blog / Photo by Bello Photography / Styling by Desiree Spinner Events

I don’t want anything that looks too baby/nursery, so I’m going to make sure to keep the yellow and aqua vibrant. (But I do love how the other colors add visual interest.) Best of all, the color combination fits my vision of “Southern vintage/shabby chic,” which I must admit was partially inspired by our menu.

How did you come to your final color decision? Were there other parts of the planning that helped you decide?


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.


Board #540: Gingerbread Pear

by admin on November 15, 2011, under Wedding Ideas & Advice

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I find myself thinking of family and feasts, which I think would be an excellent theme for a wedding. For today’s inspiration board, using seasonal colors (flavors) of gingerbread and pear, I imagined an intimate wedding dinner at a favorite restaurant. Since my own reception was held at a restaurant, I’ve seen what a wonderful choice it can be for a wedding celebration, especially if it’s a chance to share one of your favorite places with your closest family and friends. Decorations would be simple here, just candles and fresh pears. And menus would be perfectly designed (Cynthia Warren comes to mind), with each guest’s name at the top of the menu at his or her seat.

Mood: rich, intimate
Palette: molasses and chocolate browns, pear and olive leaf greens, gold

{click image to enlarge}

Top row from left: wreath chandelier from Camino via Food Gal, I Do Films business card with wreath by Two Paperdolls via Design Work Life, photo of Swedenborgian Church interior by Q Weddings
Row 2: bowl of quince (thought they were pears, but apparently they’re quince) from Coty Farquhar, bouquet by Ariella Chezar for Brides
Row 3: brown Burberry plaid, pear and napkin photo by Rikki Snyder, photo of chocolate silk dress by Rodney Smith, gingerbread bundt cake from Smitten Kitchen

 

If you like this inspiration board, you might also like:

Board #317: The Bride’s Cafe
Board #251: Perfect Pear
Board #447: Fantaisie de Noel


This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.


Our Save the Dates Come to Life!

by admin on November 7, 2011, under Wedding Stationery

When I was first came across handkerchief save-the-date inspiration, I could not contain my excitement. Thus, in addition to searching the web for pictures at roadrunner speed, I also immediately ordered supplies to get my project started!

I was quite pleased when I came across these on GiftWagon.com. They have a scallop edge to satisfy my need for a little something pretty, and they meet Mr. Dalmatian’s request of not having flowers on it. (FYI, they also have ones with a floral border for those of you who can convince your fiancés.)

Just to make my life more difficult (oh yeah, and also to make the save-the-dates look nicer), I decided to hand embroider a small heart in the corner of each one. The process went a little something like this:

Use a pencil to trace your shape onto your handkerchief.

Our Save the Dates Come to Life!  :  wedding diy nashville save the date stationery Std9 std9

Tighten the handkerchief in an embroidery circle, tie a knot in the thread, and begin threading needle through the fabric, following the lines to form your shape.

Our Save the Dates Come to Life!  :  wedding diy nashville save the date stationery Std7 std7

Voila! You have an embroidered handkerchief!

Our Save the Dates Come to Life!  :  wedding diy nashville save the date stationery Std6 std6

Each one goes relatively quickly, but I would definitely recommend leaving plenty of time to work on these. It took me a few months of sporadically embroidering to get all 75 completed. They are the perfect thing to work on while watching TV on a lazy day. But don’t plan on doing too many at once unless you want sore fingers!

For the text on the handkerchief, I was inspired by this delectable little card:

Our Save the Dates Come to Life!  :  wedding diy nashville save the date stationery Std5 std5

Image via NightOwlPaperGoods.com

After browsing many free online fonts, trying out many different colors, and trying many designs, I came up with this:

Our Save the Dates Come to Life!  :  wedding diy nashville save the date stationery Std4 std4

When I first finished this design I was pleased. Unfortunately, the more and more I looked at it the less and less I liked it. Then I showed my two sisters and Mama Dalmatian, and they (very politely) expressed the same feeling that was creeping into my mind: Meh.

Enter amazing Sister K with her degree in graphic design and incredible talent. She managed to keep the bright colors but make it look less like a kindergarten project and more like a fun, whimsical save-the-date! Note to self: embrace help from others.

Our Save the Dates Come to Life!  :  wedding diy nashville save the date stationery Std3 std3

So much better! Next, I researched different ways to transfer the image onto my handkerchief. I thought about buying the Yudu and attempting silk-screening, but after watching a few how-to videos I was left less than confident in my ability to pull it off. My doubt + high price tag = wasn’t gonna happen. So I moved on to iron-transfer sheets, and purchased some that happened to be on sale at Michaels that week, which were Jolee’s Easy Image Transfer Sheets.

Our Save the Dates Come to Life!  :  wedding diy nashville save the date stationery Std2 std2

Personal photo of Easy Image Transfer Sheets from Jolee’s

A quick tip: when you are cutting out the image before ironing it, cut as close to the words as possible because you can see where the clear part of the transfer sheet ends on the handkerchief. Other than that, just iron your image onto your embroidered handkerchief and you have yourself a save the date!

Our Save the Dates Come to Life!  :  wedding diy nashville save the date stationery Std01 std01

My labor of love—the completed handkerchief!

I am going to fold and attach them to cards before sending them, but we’ll get into that more later! (Hint: it will involve me developing a full blown love affair with Paper Source.)

Did you take on any ambitious projects in the name of a cute wedding?

*All photos personal unless otherwise noted


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.


Pretty Pretty Princess: Inspiration for My Wedding-Day Look

by admin on November 6, 2011, under Wedding Dresses

“What do you want to look like on your wedding day?” That is the question they always ask at the beginning of an appointment on SYTTD. But from the start, I knew what I didn’t want to look like! I know many women want to look like a princess at their wedding, ball gown, tiara, glass slippers, and all. Although I sure enjoyed the game Pretty Pretty Princess as a kid. (Do you remember?)

Pretty Pretty Princess: Inspiration for My Wedding-Day Look  :  wedding beauty long island Ppp

Pretty Pretty Princess via Amazon.com

I never wanted to be a princess on my wedding day! I think this stems back to my mother. You see, my mom is a realist. She and my dad have been together for over 30 years and, while they still stand strong, they have seen their fair share of marriages fail. So from an early age my mom liked to remind me that “life is not like the fairy tales.” She explained to me that while my Disney princess movies were fun, life rarely works out like that. And more importantly, she explained that relationships are a lot of hard work. The endings of fairy tales, when the couple marries, is really just the beginning of their story! So as excited as I am to plan an awesome party to celebrate the day Mr. Elk and I say “I do,” I cannot think of myself as a princess.

But what do I want to look like on my wedding day? Myself! And what does “myself” mean? Well, all my life I pretty much imagined I would wear a lace dress when I got married, but then came Sunday Rose…oh Monique!

Pretty Pretty Princess: Inspiration for My Wedding-Day Look  :  wedding beauty long island Sundayr

Monique Lhullier: Sunday Rose

I know this dress is controversial in the wedding world…but I fell head over heels when it first came out a few years ago and my cousin was getting married! I saw it in the bridal salon and nearly cried! So when I got engaged, I decided I wanted a romantic feel with three-dimensional floral details! Here are some of the very expensive dresses that stole my heart during my internet quest:

Pretty Pretty Princess: Inspiration for My Wedding-Day Look  :  wedding beauty long island Dress207

From left: Christos, Angel Sanchez, Melissa Sweet, Elie Saab for Pronovias

And here are the more affordable versions I lusted after for months:

Pretty Pretty Princess: Inspiration for My Wedding-Day Look  :  wedding beauty long island Dress208

From Left: Watters Sonara, Wtoo Desdemona, Tara Keeley, Watters Mojave, Saison Blanche

How do you feel about the whole “princess bride” idea?


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.


Real Wedding: Neela Marshall

by admin on November 5, 2011, under Wedding Day's

Today’s wedding has so many lovely details and personal touches, I just knew you would enjoy it. Says Neela, the beautiful bride: “Planning our wedding was a unique experience coming from two different cultural backgrounds. My family is from Afghanistan, so we wanted to incorporate the cultural elements of a traditional Afghan wedding into a sort of fusion with the grand outdoor manor style weddings that I have loved since a little girl.”

And that’s just what they did!

The ceremony took place at the Love Temple on the grounds of Villa Montalvo.

Instead of one beautiful cake, Neela and Marshall had three! “Our cakes echoed antique Wedgwood patterns and Victorian cameos,” says the bride. Dessert also included pink Persian Rose macarons.

Neela shared all about the day with us:

Why did you choose this location?  Picking the venue was my favorite part. I wanted to find a mansion or a home that had large manicured gardens, like something from an E.M. Forster novel or the Great Gatsby. Villa Montalvo was such a beautiful location, with its gorgeous historical villa, with both a sprawling natural landscape and a manicured Italianate garden and great lawn, and a beautiful Spanish style courtyard with fountains. The theme for the wedding went from there.

Tell us about incorporating Afghan wedding traditions into the day.  Bringing in my culture and my family’s traditions was very important, but I was a little stumped at how to work things in seamlessly. Amy Nichols was wonderful with helping me solve this problem. She researched the cultural traditions and worked them into our timeline. We had a very memorable Afghan ceremony on the veranda that was elegant and touching. Part of this ceremony involves henna, so I thought it would be fun to have a henna artist on hand during the dancing portion of the event. It was a huge hit! She was wonderful and it was really great to have something else going on during the dancing that guests could occupy themselves with. Our caterers were also integral in working in all of the traditions and cultural elements. Our wedding occurred during Ramadan, so some guests were fasting. Global Gourmet made certain that they were not neglected and that they were served properly at exactly sundown. The menu that they created for our wedding was spectacular, and they were able to incorporate some Middle Eastern flavors. The guests had the most fun during the dancing. The DJs are friends of ours who know our taste in music very well, and they managed to track down a lot of very hard to find Afghan music as well. They were going to play it by ear, to see what people loved dancing to the most, and we were both surprised that everyone loved dancing to the Afghan music! It really brought both families and cultures together. It was so fun to see my family teaching my husband’s American family some of the Afghan dance moves.

Is there anything else that helps tell the story of the day?  Our wedding was a perfect marriage of two very different cultures, which represents my husband and me as people so well. We wouldn’t have been able to pull it off and make it look as beautiful without our all-star team of vendors. It’s so important to do your research in this regard. I couldn’t be more pleased with the results (especially the gorgeous photos by Cooper Carras).

 

Vendors

Photography: Cooper Carras / Venue: Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, California / Planner: Amy Nichols Special Events / Bride’s dress: Vera Wang / Bridesmaid dresses: BHLDN / Hair, makeup: Armando Sarabia / Flowers: Natalie Bowen Designs / Henna artist: Henna and Beyond / Cakes: Cake Coquette / Macarons: Chantal Guillon / Catering, rentals: Global Gourmet

Photographer: Cooper Carras
Bride’s Dress: Vera Wang
Bridesmaid Dresses: BHLDN
Hair and Makeup: Armando Sarabia
Floral Design: Natalie Bowen Designs
Henna Artist: Henna and Beyond
Photographer: Cooper Carras
Bride’s Dress: Vera Wang
Bridesmaid Dresses: BHLDN
Hair and Makeup: Armando Sarabia
Floral Design: Natalie Bowen Designs
Henna Artist: Henna and Beyond


This article was originally posted onSnippet & Ink.


Wedding Favors You’ll Fall in Love With

by admin on November 4, 2011, under Wedding Ideas & Advice

Jones Soda personalized wedding favor via McClanahan Studio

Those little baubles and trinkets to take home after the wedding are what help keep the memories alive for guests.  Have a good think about how you want your wedding to linger on.  Whether you’re earthy, quirky, punky or just wanderlusty, we’ve got some spectacular wedding favors that your guests will actually want to take home.Mini trees and The Knot's potted herbsPhoto Booth US rentals and props from Engaged and InspiredVinyl record via Jeremy Lawson and guitar pick favorsPostcards from Corbin Gurkin and paper fortune cookie favors



This article was originally posted onBridezilla.


The Ups and Downs of Hair

by admin on November 2, 2011, under Miscellaneous

Ever feel like your hair was just destined for high-fashion catwalks?

The Ups and Downs of Hair :  wedding hair indianapolis 2861 14

Image via SodaHead

I sure do.

My hair is naturally curly, and it’s a fact about myself that I just started accepting recently. I still enjoy a good ol’ hair straightening for special days. Don’t worry, it’s nothing but a case of the “you always want what you can’t haves.” Here, I’ll let you see what I’m working with.

The Ups and Downs of Hair :  wedding hair indianapolis Raccoon1 raccoon1

See the process I’ve made with my teeth whitening?

The Ups and Downs of Hair :  wedding hair indianapolis Raccoon2 raccoon2

See the love for my curls in my face?

Enough of this nonsense—please let me show you the purpose of this post now! Here are some pictures of what I might love my hair to look like—if not every day, at least for THE day!

The Ups and Downs of Hair :  wedding hair indianapolis Raccoon3 raccoon3

Image via Hair Romance

There are also a ton of updos to consider!

The Ups and Downs of Hair :  wedding hair indianapolis Raccoon4 raccoon4

Image via Hair Romance—They have so many ideas!

I think I want my hair pulled back somehow but not too tightly. I’m always a big fan of braids, side ponytails, and buns!

Do you plan on wearing your hair up or down? Will it be similar to a way you wear it normally or completely different?


This article was originally posted onWeddingbee.