Winter Chic Table Setting

I know that it's the almost the end of Spring here in Ohio, but I also know that there are some of you out there searching for winter wedding inspiration. I just love this holiday tablescape that was put together for a styled shoot {see vendor list below}. The {stunning} arrangements of all white flowers are grouped together by flower type featuring anemones, ranunculus and tulips. You'll want to consider the seasonality of the flower that you are hoping to use. Roses, orchids, daisies and carnations are other flowers that are always available in the winter.
Christmas tree ornaments are used here as centerpieces in apothecary jars, flocking the flower arrangements and serving as individual place setting decorations. Wouldn't you agree that the ornaments are used here without looking too "Christmas-y"? Winter chic might be a more appropriate way to describe this table setting. However, as much as I do love this table setting, I am more ready for summer than winter!

As seen on: Green Wedding Shoes

Flowers: Janie of Janie Medley Flora Design and The Bride’s Cafe

Photography: Jodi Miller

Styling: Lynn Lindsay of Sunshowers and Rainshine

Business Proposition

I have a little business proposition for all of you out there. Someone find a space as open as this and I'll bring the robins egg blue paint and chandeliers draped with non-foo foo garland and we'll have ourselves a lovely little reception hall. After a couple finishing touches we can throw open the doors to brides to be and their rehearsal dinners, bridal shower lunches and even the occasional intimate wedding!
Who's with me? Extra points if you're a wedding planner since we could combine your mad planning skillz with my penned & pretty calligraphy skillz. Can you say full service?!
photo by: laura novak

Birch & Pumpkins & Sticks

I have always loved the work of stacey kane and I have always loved fall weddings, so when I saw this little detail on her blog, I just had to share it with all of the fall brides out there searching for inspiration.
Wouldn't this be a lovely little way to spruce up your guest book table or head table!?

I am quite ready for fall!

Chivari Cushions

When it comes to the reception, most brides {myself included} use the chairs provided to them by the reception venue. Some brides dress up those chairs with chair covers. There are a few lucky brides that are blessed to have a venue offering chivari chairs {or pay a rental company to provide them}. And then there are brides that take the lovely chivari chairs to a whole new level:These pink cushions are absolutely divine. What a great way to utilize the beauty of the chivari chair and incorporate a color from your color palette! And my little eyes spy matching pink ribbon woven into the back of the chair making for just one more pretty little detail. Don't even get me started on the table. I love it all.

pretty picture via: jonathan canlas

Don't Be Confined

As I said before, in this post, I was set on having plum and raspberry as the only two colors that appeared throughout our wedding day. If I could go back, would I change it? Perhaps. I probably wouldn't go bright & bold, but I would try not to confine our color scheme to only two colors.
Looking back now, I would love to pick two or three colors and blend them together. The colors in these photos do just that. Delicate shades of strawberry combined with mango, white and a soft green make for a beautiful palette that can be infused into the day through bridesmaid dresses, table decor, paper goods and pretty little details.

So, when choosing the colors that will be present throughout wedding day, don't confine yourself to two or three. Instead pick a few pretty hues that you adore and incorporate all of their various shades into the details of your day!

pretty pictures from chelsea fuss

It's the Little Things...

It's the little things in life that remind you that summer is just around the corner, right?

This picture from marie labbancz gives me hope that the sky will soon stop spitting snowflakes and the frigid winds will eventually disappear. It allows me to think happy thoughts of friends gathering at a lake house to witness intimate nuptials on a pier as the warm sun sets. And afterwords...a little cocktail soiree, wonderfully simple food and an abundance of dancing.

I am ready for summer.

Lovely Damask or Bold Stripes?

Going the extra mile to spruce up your tables can have a big visual impact at your reception. Using nontraditional patters such as black & white damask or black & white stripes will leave your guests in awe.

I have always had a "thing" for damask. In fact, I wanted to use it as our wedding color scheme way back when {before I changed my mind 100 times}. When executed well, the damask pattern can be the belle of the ball, next to the bride of course!This damask table-scape is from the lovely wedding of kate's wedding blog who can now be found at pretty damn fabulous. Her wedding was adorable and attention to detail impeccable. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

If you haven't seen the work of Robert Sukrachand, get a move on over to his blog. I found this wedding particularly stunning. And if the black and white striped table cloths weren't eye popping enough, can we talk about the floral arrangements?!

The fluffy dahlias paired with squares of green grass make for a stunning series of centerpieces, don't you think!?

And if you haven't checked out this damask wedding, go now.
Whether you prefer the lovely and versatile damask or the bold style of thick stripes, I think that we can all agree that both patterns are stunning.

Football Fields of Ribbon

In an effort to explain why I will need 240 yards of ribbon:

Let’s discuss, shall we?!
1. Ribbon streamers I posted about here
2. Roughly one foot of ribbon will be used to bind together each program.
3. The florist stated she needs about 4 yards to wrap the BM bouquets. I rounded up just to be safe.
4. Unsure if we will wrap the GM boutonnieres, but I threw in a foot just for fun.
5. Detail on the invitations to come
6. Please let me explain my vision for the napkins:

(please forgive me, I don't have a credit for this photo. let me know if you know who took this!)

A white napkin folded with a "tuxedo fold" making a little pocket for a card I will (hopefully) soon be designing. I envision it not to be a menu, but more of a card that will detail the events of the reception. More on that later.

7. Each of the 17ish centerpieces will have a thick ribbon wrapped around it with our monogram affixed to the ribbon. (I told you I would be slapping the monogram everywhere…) The small centerpiece vases will be similar to this vase:

hy studio

So. 141+118=259 yards of ribbon. More than 2 football fields. Wish me luck.

A Little Birdy Told Me....

....that even though I'm not too crazy about birds, that I should check out this wedding (photographed by sara france):
The invitation envelopes are pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen. From: THE LOVEBIRDS. How precious!? Imagine walking into a reception and finding your table adorned with this elaborate centerpiece:
And then to look down at your plate and see 1) a handstitched place card 2) an adorable photostrip 3) and a nest with THE cutest saying, "love tweet love" atop egg candies. Are you kidding me!?!
And if that wasn't enough....the cake. Check out the detail on the layers AND the topper.

For more detail check out this post at joyful weddings & events.
Tweet tweet!

DIY Bouquet Centerpieces

I love love love this picture taken by jonathan canlas photography:

Gathering a batch of carnations or dahlias and wrapping the stems with colored ribbon would be quite painless. Clustering a couple of the bouquets on a table at the reception produces the above lovely results.
P.S. If you are even thinking about adding a bold punch of yellow into your color scheme then you will do so after seeing this wedding.

A Box & a Stand

Laura Novak, as in THE Laura Novak, got married not too long ago in which can only be describes as what looks like one of THE most fabulous weddings of the year.
Two of my favorite details from the big day were, ironically enough, her card box and the “stands” for the table centerpieces at the reception.

Her card box appears to be just a normal box, but it was so beautifully designed and put together that I know all of her guests stopped to marvel at it as they passed by it.

It looks like I’ll be in search for some textured plum fabric in the near future so we can make ours look half as attractive.

And the girl, or her decorator, is a genius in dreaming up this idea to hoist her centerpieces about 6-9 inches off of the table. In sticking with her damask-themed décor, she used these cylinders to boost her centerpieces off the table. L-o-v-e. I'm thinking about using the same concept to make our "tall" centerpieces "taller."

(photo via Jessica Claire)

Read more about her big day here and in Jessica Claire's blog.

Because I Can

Because I can, today's post will be filled with inspiring images of "this and that." Some eye candy, if you will.

I received such a great response on my Ring Shot post the other day that I put together another one! My favorites are the pink and the blue in the middle. Breathtaking.

(evoke, nicole green, evoke, apertura photo, the brides cafe, evoke)

I think it would be neat to blow it up your ring shot onto a canvas or putting it into an oversize frame and hanging it on a wall in your home. Ours will be on display for sure.

Definitely enjoying this low centerpiece arrangement shot by Jennifer Skog . I was originally going with white centerpieces. Now, of course, I am changing my mind.

Erin over at Lucky Me! had this invitation designed (by her Mom!) for her baby shower. I'm totally ripping it off for our save the dates (the magnet idea is out. tear.) Our picture will replace the damask on the right and then all the save the date info will take up the other 2/3 of the invite. Get excited!

The socks, people. We need to find these socks. ASAP. This shot (by Jose Villa) WILL be recreated at our wedding. The socks are imperative to make the shot work, but I cannot find them. Help!?

In Style Finds

The other day I chuckled at In Style Weddings BM gift ideas that would cost around a years worth of rent payments for me to afford. But, I did find a couple of pictures that I adored:
If I had to do my color scheme all over again, I would do a soft pink and navy scheme. I l-o-v-e the look of these romantic flowers combined together a simple centerpiece cluster.

This buffet combines the best of everything!! Cookies, cupcakes, and candy...how could one possibily resist?!

I especially loved this reception card. I'm a sucker for ampersands and I couldn't help but love the pretty script. I am crossing my fingers that our turn out this beautiful!!

Twiggy

This weekend my parents and I were reception hall shopping and actually came across a centerpiece idea we all loved! Three tall cases of alternating sizes were stuffed loosely with branches and a large white hydrangea sat propped up on the very bottom of the vase, amidst the twigs.

The arrangement was simple, affordable, and would add height to the tables at the reception hall. I would like to place the tall twig centerpieces at every other table and place a smaller and shorter gathering of hydrangeas at the other tables.

I found this picture on The Knot that captures some of what I am envisioning.

I would love to wrap/tie a thick plum ribbon around at least 1/2 of the vase.

And then I found this picture on The Knot and I would decorate the church like this in a heartbeat if I was going for a winter wonderland or fairytale themed wedding. The last thing that I need to do is think about changing my theme...again...

Are any of you doing anything twiggy or have some twiggy inspiration to share?!

The Perfect Table

In starting from scratch, I will I begin the search for my black & white table decorations with this picture from Jasmine Star :

I love the idea of a damask table runner on black or white linens. I took a cue from Darci at With This Ring , and have found some pretty inexpensive fabric ($6.95/yard + free shipping) at Buy Fabrics for my table runners:

I also love the idea from the picture below of taking a thick ribbon and tying it around the table if the linens are long. A plum ribbon perhaps!? I am also envisioning tying a thick plum ribbon around the backs of every other chair at the reception and perhaps around the vases that hold white centerpieces.

DIY Bride features black chalkboard votives that you can personalize any way you would like, perhaps with the words "love" "trust" "luck" "hold" etc.

And, of course, one can always look to Toast and Tables for inspiration!

So, to re-cap:

- Damask runner on white or black linens (maybe every other table will alternate between the two linens?!)

- White centerpieces in tall(er) vases wrapped with plum ribbon...or perhaps 2 or 3 arrangements of white flowers of varying heights/vases arranged in the middle of the table.

-4-6 Black chalkboard votives personalized with love-related words

-Plum, or copper, ribbon wrapped around every other chair and perhaps the middle of the linen drape as shown above.

- Betting on white plates and black napkins provided by the venue and hoping for white chairs!

Any other thoughts/advice/pictures you would like to share?!

Caught in the Act

So this weekend I was caught in the act by my boyfriend...visiting weddingbee! Oops!

Seeing as how we're not engaged YET, I knew he would give me a "look" and ask why I was visiting such a site. I applied my most innocent smile and told him that I was just browsing and getting inspiration...which is true!!

Meanwhile, I have been thinking about table names for the reception. Should I go with names of various knots (bowline, clove hitch, square knot, etc), different synonyms for love(Commitment, Honor, Devotion, Faith, etc.), or other nautical images such as the flags below: (from theknot)

Although I l-o-v-e this look, I feel as though I am too much of a color-coordinating freak and I wouldn't be able to handle a red and yellow with my navy and green details. So....I am leaning towards the different kinds of knots to substitute as table numbers.