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.

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?!

In Search of an Invitation...Again

With the decision to potentially change my theme/color scheme for my wedding comes the opportunity again to browse through 1000's of beautiful invitations!

Darci from With This Ring was kind enough to share this beautiful fabric that she bought for her table runners and I think that it would be a great start to the inspiration behind our invitations.

I would like to incorporate a pattern similar to this on my invitations. Possibly a strip on the top and the bottom of the invitation itself? (Can you imagine how great this pattern is going to look against the black OR white linens Darci is going to put it on!? I can't wait to see what she does with it!)

I am still loving the above invitations (from the knot) due to the sheer simplicity of each one. Perhaps I could add in a damask corner graphic of some kind!?

My overall vision for the invites is starting to come together slowly but surely. To me, this is one of the most important pieces of a wedding since it is the first taste guests will get of what's ahead.

If anyone has any links to invitations or knottie bios featuring a black/white theme or a damask pattern, I would love to hear from you!

A Black & White Affair

Here is my first inspiration board for my tempting color scheme of black, white, plum, and a splash of copper. I like to think of it as "A Black and White Affair"....enjoy!!

Row 1: With This Ring , The Knot , Lucky Me!

Row 2: J Crew , The Knot no idea...yikes!

Row 3: Springchic's Knot Bio, no idea...yikes!!, Jessica R Strickland

I love the damask table runner that Darci has created over at With This Ring...it would work with either white or back table linens. The flowers with black centers would be beautiful for the bridesmaids to hold against black J Crew dresses. However, I am toying with the idea of plum or a copper/gold BM's dress....or maybe replicating the BM's dress that SpringChic used featuring the damask-ish pattern. Love the classy invites, LOVE the monogram, and who wouldn't love those aisle decorations!?!

Thoughts?!

Change is in the Air

You may have noticed a few major changes to my blog today!
I am going to re-focus my pre-planning efforts to focus on my new "A Black & White Affair" and put "Tying the Knot" on hold (until I change my mind again!).

Any thoughts on the layout of my "new" blogger page would be much appreciated! Black v. white v. plum background? And I would like to incorporate a splash of color on here somewhere too! If anyone knows of a somewhat easy way to incorporate a damask patten on my blog header...send it my way!

I'll be back to posting regularly this evening,,,,

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!?

Chanel, Kate Spade, or Hermes?

I was checking out In Style Weddings and I caught myself laughing out loud when I saw In Style's recommendations for stylish BM gift ideas. Let's see what In Style came up with, shall we?

• Chanel Sunglasses $375: Nope. That's more than my rent payment.
• Perfume Flask $96: I can think of better uses for a flask.
• Hermes Cashmere Blanket $970: Do pass Go, do not collect $200, go directly to jail if you own a Hermes Cashmere Blanket. Although I wouldn't mind if one of my BM's got this for me.....
• Laminated Fabric Tray $70: Not unless I want my BMs to stare at me in horror.
• Leather Folder $490: For a folder? That's just funny.
• Orange Resin Pendant $49: Who thought that was a good idea?
• Damask-print Mela-mine Plates $40: Pretty sure all of my friends already have plates.
• Kate Spade Card Case $155: Ridiculous.



• Daisy Gold-plated Bracelet $78: Last time I wore/wanted to wear anything with a daisy on it was when I was 9.

Oh and these were just a few of their suggestions, others included: a compact with Swarovski crystals on black glass$95, Teapot $95, Ceramic Vases $44.

Sorry to my lovely BM's....you won't be getting any of the above gifts. Hope you understand.

Cheap Shot

I know, I know. I haven't posted in a couple days and it's a cheap shot to only post about ring shots. But these are adorable ring shots so I think that you will forgive me quickly.

Back in the day, I was all about damask details. So my heart did an extra little pitter patter when I saw this ring shot from Jessica Strickland.
"She saw him. She loved him. She got him." Photo by Laura Kay.

I didn't carry a bridal clutch on my wedding day. It just wasn't necessary. Or so I thought. Clearly it's purpose on my wedding day would have been to capture a ring shot like this by Kate Webber.

In my all time list of "favorite" brides, Nicole would have to be one of them. Don't you just love the birds she purchased off of etsy to assist with her ring shot!?

A lovely reader, Kim, sent me this ring shot a while ago and I just adore the mini snowman. He's holding some serious bling so I hope his little twiggy arm doesn't fall off! Photo by: Rose SchallerFor other lovely ring shots you can visit these two lovely posts by

An Alanta Bride and The Pink Book Blog !