Detail To Love: Dressed Up Napkins

Nov 3rd

by: Lauren

Happy weekend everyone! I’m a big fan of adding in bits of gorgeous details wherever you can, and what better place than the ever-so-necessary-yet-overlooked napkin! Napkins can add that extra bit of something to a table… so why not utilize that and dress them up a little bit too?!

Photo by Stephanie A. Smith Photography

Left image by Stewart Leishman Photography via SMP, Right image by Eliza J. Photography via SMP

See? Just a little ribbon wrapped around plain and simple napkins add the right about of color, texture, and *something* to all of the placesettings above!

So what do you think? Are you going to do anything to dress up your own napkins?

Rustic and Elegant Wine-Inspired Wedding

Category: REAL WEDDINGS 1 Comments

Nov 2nd

by: Kristine

pinterest twitter fb stumble gplus

Any wedding inspired by wine already has high marks in my book but Trish and Matt managed to infuse their wine-themed event with glitz and glamour too. Gleaming chandeliers lined the barrel room where the couple said their I Dos, candlelight provided the perfect ambiance, and everything- from the bouquets and paper products (by the amazing Gourmet Invitations) to the cake and the bride- was decked out in crystal brooches. Diana Maire Photography was on hand to capture all of the rustic elegance.

What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?

My mother retired six months before my wedding and transitioned right into being a wedding planner superstar. She scheduled appointments with vendors and spent a great deal of time researching ideas, themes, items, etc. that all helped shape the entire day of the wedding.

What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?

The most important thing in deciding who to work with for my wedding was flexibility. My vision of the day and the theme of the overall wedding changed so many times and in so many different ways. All vendors that I worked with listened carefully and modified or enhanced original ideas to fit nicely into what was ultimately the wedding of my dreams.

What was your inspiration for your wedding details and/or design?

Inspiration for my theme came from two things; our love for wine and my dress. My husband and I live near wine country in California and have been to our fair share of wine-themed weddings. We wanted to stay true to the rustic side of wine and ended up finding the ideal venue, The Palm Event Center. The Estate Room is a barrel-lined room with a romantic and rustic feel that we fell in love with. Our ceremony was candle-lit and the candles illuminated the room in a magical way. The second inspiration came from my Lazaro dress. The hand-stitched crystal belt was such a beautiful statement that I took that and infused it all over! I had a crystal brooch themed shower and the brooches my guests gave me were used to make my bouquet. The remaining brooches as well as some handed down family brooches were used to decorate our cake and as part of centerpieces throughout the room.

What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

The favorite thing about my wedding was having all our closest friends and family together to celebrate our journey to our big day. We had relatives from as close as a few miles away come and some from as far away as Australia. It was magical to share in the joy with everyone who was special. And, the wedding coordinators at the venue were amazing. Their guidance throughout the day kept the event right on track!

What is your best piece of advice for other brides?

My best piece of advice to other brides is to take the time during planning to make sure the vision is on track and as it changes, make sure everyone involved understands exactly what you want! Vendors are such important people to a bride and when they “get it,” they take their tools and create something special just for the bride.

I love when couples manage to combine two styles so effortlessly. A big thank you to Diana Maire Photography and Trish and Matt for sharing their rustic, elegant wine-inspired wedding with us!

xo-Kristine

Vendors who made it all happen…

Pale Pink and Mint Green Florida Wedding

Category: REAL WEDDINGS 4 Comments

Nov 2nd

by: Carlee

pinterest twitter fb stumble gplus

Pink and Green. As far as color palates go, it doesn’t get more traditional than that! I love the soft blush pink and mint green featured in today’s wedding from Shea Christine. Perfectly preppy, it suits the summertime Florida sunshine and tropical locale.

What was your inspiration for your wedding details and/or design?

I had always dreamed of a classy wedding with soft, pretty colors and myself as a “blushing bride”. My favorite color is green, so that was an obvious choice for me for bridesmaid dresses. I loved the cap sleeves on the dresses. They had such a classy look to them. Roses are a classic flower and I couldn’t resist the soft, ivory hydrangeas to complement. I think lace is so beautiful, and was thrilled when I found my dream dress. I am not a bling girl, but the touch of bling on the dress and my bracelet were the perfect things to add some extra sparkle on my big day. The Addison (the venue) had it’s own old, mediterranean charm, and I didn’t want to detract from that, but just complement the beauty that was already there. The reception room had a built in wine rack and that is where I got the idea for the wine cork place card holders and table number holders. I wanted a wedding that reflected my style and personality and I think that was definitely achieved thanks to the help of the many people who interpreted my vision so well!

What (or who) helped you most in your planning process and/or on your wedding day?

My mom helped me the most with planning the wedding & getting everything together. On the day of the wedding, my sweet bridesmaids & the wedding coordinators at The Addison helped everything run perfectly.

What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

My favorite thing about my wedding was how personal it was. It was less than 100 people, but the perfect amount for an intimate ceremony and reception space. I actually got to spend time talking and dancing with all the guests. And isn’t that what weddings are about? Family and those who love us enough to drive/fly hours to be there on our big day.

What was the most important thing to you when deciding who to work with for your wedding?

I really wanted people who understood my vision. When I went to meet with the vendors, I described my vision and saw how they responded. I am absolutely type A, so I brought pictures and written descriptions of what I envisioned each aspect of the wedding looking like. They were great and once I described what I wanted and made sure we were on the same page, I let them run with it and was very pleasantly surprised when I showed up on the day of the wedding.

What is your best piece of advice for other brides?

My biggest piece of advice for other brides is sometimes less is more. I focused on a select number of details that were most important to me– a customized picture guest book, a family picture display, the centerpieces, & a willow branch arch for the reception. There are a million different things you can do for your wedding, but simplicity is beautiful in itself. As the bride, you want to be the detail that everyone is looking at, not your 10 foot tall centerpieces.

I love that Ashley and Tyler’s color palate was a perfect match for the season. Have you chosen your wedding colors yet? Are you opting for traditional colors for your wedding season or thinking outside of the box?

XOXO,

Carlee

Vendors who made it all happen…

Photographer: Shea Christine / Reception Venue: The Addison / Flowers & Decor: J.Morgan Flowers / Invitations & Stationery: Wedding Paper Divas / Entertainment: Center Stage Entertainment

Using Pinterest To Plan Your Wedding

Category: WEDDING PLANNING 6 Comments

Nov 1st

by: Lauren

pinterest twitter fb stumble gplus

So today I want to talk about using Pinterest to plan your wedding. I LOVE Pinterest. I think it’s the greatest thing since Facebook. ;) It’s been wonderful for inspiration, collaboration, and most of all- weddings. What’s funny is that I remember when Pinterest first started. When I told people about it, they thought I was crazy. And at first, it wasn’t that great because there weren’t that many people using it- but as more people started pinning, it became more and more useful.

Some of you may know that before blogging full time, I was a wedding planner. In fact, the last two weddings that I planned were super amazing, and I was kind of sad to be leaving wedding planning- but alas, I just would not have the time to plan and run this fabulous website! But I really and truly think that one of the reasons (besides the fact that my brides were awesome) my last two weddings were so super amazing was because the brides and I used Pinterest to plan the design and details! [Note: when I say “plan your wedding”, I mean planning your details. It’s kind of hard to plan your timeline and send confirmation emails with Pinterest, right? ;)]

Now that Pinterest has been around for a little while, I’ve seen the good and bad of using Pinterest to plan your wedding. So I thought I would share a few tips pointing out the best methods for using Pinterest to plan your wedding! [Note: And possibly even NOT using Pinterest…]

Image via Ashton Events, photographed by Dave Lapham

Be Inspired.

Pinterest is ALL about the inspiration. There are SO many wonderful ideas for your wedding on Pinterest- from Save The Dates to ceremony programs, you are bound to find something for every part of your wedding. The key to using Pinterest is to remember to stick to using it for inspiration. Sure, it’s a great thing to see something that you love and want to use it for your own wedding. But be inspired, and then make it your own- don’t replicate it. It’s about the inspiration, not replication. So pin away, and get inspired!

Organize.

The point in using Pinterest for your wedding is that you want to be able to go back to what is inspiring you. The key to this is organization. Now I’m no organization queen, but when it comes to files and Pinterest boards, I’m pretty good. ;) I recommend creating one main board for general wedding inspiration first. Then, once you start to get a little more decisive in your colors and style, create boards for all of your wedding elements. Bouquets, centerpieces, invitations, etc- you can go take a look at some of my boards for an idea of which boards you should create. This way, when it’s time for you to show your floral designer what you want for your bouquet or centerpieces, it’s as easy as pulling up your board! And now, keep pinning! :)

Invite.

If you’ll be working closely with a wedding planner, friend, or designer on the planning or designing of your wedding, I highly suggest inviting them to some of your Pinterest boards so they can share some ideas and inspiration with you too. This was the key to the super amazing weddings that I planned with Pinterest. The brides and I shared a Pinterest board, and I was able to pin things to share with them instead of having to send countless emails with links and images. And then as we progressed with the design and ideas, we were able to move on to the next step, editing!

Edit.

Editing your boards will help you A TON when it comes time to start narrowing down your inspiration into what you actually want for your wedding. It’s usually kind of cool to see the progression of your inspiration and design, and it should be pretty easy to get rid of the things that don’t quite go along with the look you’re going for. You can just delete the pins that don’t fit, or you can edit them to go to a different board- perhaps just a general wedding inspiration one.

Step Back.

And now for the hard part- take a step back from Pinterest. Once you have your design figured out and decided on, spending just as much time on Pinterest as you did when you were “planning” could be a bad thing. You’ll keep seeing new ideas for things, and quite possibly end up with too many options for favors, centerpieces, etc etc. Sure, if you see something cool, keep pinning onto your general wedding inspiration board, but try not to add more pins to your own wedding boards unless you absolutely love something. It’s really not a good thing to end up with 3 favors, 2 guest books, etc etc. Sometimes it can be too much- and end up causing unnecessary stress for you!

Pinterest can be a wonderful tool for planning your wedding if you use it in the right way. It’s been amazing for showing brides ideas for details (which of course I LOVE!) and getting them to think outside of the box. But honestly, sometimes I feel like it’s diluting weddings, and perpetuating the same things over and over. And so that’s why I wanted to do this post- because it’s a wonderful tool for planning weddings, but it can also be used TOO much. As I stated above, it’s important to remember to be inspired, and then use that inspiration make something your own.

So do you have any great tips of your own to add for using Pinterest for your wedding planning?

Oh, and don’t forget to come follow me on Pinterest! :)