An often irreverent look at weddings from an industry insider
Maybe it’s the season, but I am suddenly mad about green. A pretty place to start to pick the colors for your wedding is to choose a base of one or two related greens, then add cream and an accent color for pop. You can almost not go wrong. This works especially well if you are planning an outdoor wedding.
For more inspiration, go to COLOURlovers and type green into the search box.
It’s Flower Friday.
The most often used search term that finds Wedding Dish is either ‘Centerpiece’ or ‘DIY Centerpiece’
I just happened to run across a video today on video jug on flower arranging so I thought I would see what else I could find.
First up- how about the 411 on how to grow those cool wheat grass centerpieces. You can get flower tubes at a floral supply store. Fill them with water, pop in a flower and stick the tube into your pretty little miniature lawn. It is also a great way to display escort cards; just stick them into the grass.Fun!
Then here is an unbelievably easy centerpiece that goes way beyond rose petals and a floating candle. If you look at it is exactly how we made the centerpieces for the Gala at The Special Event in January.
Last but not least, here is the how to on the boutonnieres for the men in the party. The technique is valid for nearly any combination of flowers, berries and greenery. Remember to choose flowers on the smallish side; no guy wants a full blown peony on his lapel!
Are you having a candy buffet at your wedding reception? I think they are a lovely idea and I just ran across Candy Warehouse. What is cool about this site is that you can shop by color. Pink and orange wedding? No problem.
The secret to having a gorgeous candy buffet is for it to look abundant, like Willy Wonka set it up himself. Uh, ya…that can get pricey. Here’s a few tricks that might help.
Take a cue from the pros that do gift baskets, use fill on the large containers. Those pretty tall glass cylinders hold a heck of a lot of jelly beans but not if you take a smaller, shorter glass cylinder and place it inside, upside down first. Then you only need candy to fill around and above it. Unless you have 300 people at your wedding they would never have reached the bottom anyway.
If you are using baskets fill the bottom 1/2 with leftover Easter grass then put a piece of cardboard that you have cut to fit and wrapped to match on top before you add the candy. Remember, you are going for the look of abundance, not the real thing.
Group your containers close together and use lifts under them to add height at various levels. You can either wrap sturdy boxes in pretty fabric to match or drape all your lifts in tablecloths like caterers do. That helps with the look too. (Next time you are at a catered buffet sneak a look under the linen. You are likely to find such unlovely things as dish racks and milk crates)
Add some large things like Lollis and ribbon candy to expand the look. You won’t by any means need one of these for every guest, think of them as accents.
Use your guest containers as a part of the display.
If you happen to order any PixiStix or Sour Patch Kids you can always send me your leftovers. Teehee
It’s getting to be that time of year where everyone starts longing for the great outdoors. Along with that come dreams of an outdoor wedding. Now you know as well as I do that you are going to be told over and over “Better have a Plan B” since we all no what a fickle hostess Mom Nature can be.
Well why not just start with Plan B? I have found that many of the most beautiful events I have seen are in tents. Why, you ask?
Simple. You can control almost every aspect of the décor from shape to wall color to lighting. Are you dreaming of a wedding bathed in cool blues and shimmering whites but every banquet hall or ballroom is a mélange of gold and burgundy? No problem. Longing for an upscale lounge but the only offerings are a rustic lodge or a church hall? Build it and they will come.
The point is that you can create your dream 
event venue just about anywhere if you start with the bare bones of a tent.
Now, you will notice that nowhere in this post did I say that this was a low cost option, because it isn’t. Depending on where you set up your tent you will probably have to bring in everything, including even a second tent for your caterer in some instances. If however you were planning an al Fresco event you would have had to do most of that any way.
Enjoy these tasty examples. I embedded links in most of the images so you can go do a bit of exploring on you own. Have fun.
I wasn’t sure if everyone had caught this.
Last month Martha Stewart posted photos of the MS prop library on her blog. You know how much I love to dig around in the back rooms of the décor rental vendors I know. I just can’t imagine the untold inspiration one could find knocking around in a place like this for a few hours (Days? Weeks?).
Huge thanks to Jordan at Oh Happy Day for pointing this out. Not really a wedding blog, Oh Happy Day is still packed with wonderful style inspiration. Now that’s something you can certainly use for the wedding and beyond.
I get a ton of inquires about DIY centerpieces. Some of the easiest and my favorites are the ones made of bare branches. The possibilities are seemingly endless. They run the gambit from simple branches from flowering trees like cherry or crab apple to elaborate confections dripping with orchids, crystals and candles.
Here are a few to get your creative synapses firing.
The first group I took at The Special Event in Atlanta. Granted these are a little over the top.
The Wedding Luncheon, 2. IMG_0156, 3. The Wedding Luncheon, 4. IMG_0157
These are from Lifia & Alex’s bio on the Knot.
This really simple one came from the Japanese Wedding Favors website.
This one is from Floral Rush in Los Angeles
To get you started on your own creations here are some helpful links.
Nettle Hollow has some how to’s along with being a source for all things twig.
Ethereal Décor has a few how to’s and is a source for the crystals.
The blog Twigs and String has some helpful how I did mine type notes.
Now that you are inspired…send in your designs to share with the class.
I spent some time catching up on the posts to Wedding Bee and the Wedding Plans group on Live Journal. I kept hearing a recurring theme. “I can’t decide on the colors for my wedding”
I suggested in a previous post that you look in your closet because chance are good that you buy clothes in colors you like that also look good on you. You do want to be surrounded on you wedding day by colors you love that also look good on you, right?
Here is another thought to ponder: go where the graphic designers go. These are 2 of my favorites. Lots of inspiration.
Kuler from Adode
ColourLovers Color+ Design Community for Creative Inspiration This is also a great source for patterns
Sunday found me at the Monogram Shoppe having a meet and greet with the brides of Fort Wayne, IN. It was a delight to be able to talk to these woman one on one and dig a bit into where they were having difficulty planning.
I had noticed at my seminar on Saturday at the bridal show that one of the biggest things standing in the way of many brides getting from vision to completion was a theme. I have talked about it here and here and even here so it came as no big surprise.
On Sunday I had a chance to take one particular couple by the hand so to speak and walk them through the process.
Lisa and Nick are planning a summer wedding on an unbelievably tight budget. When I asked them what their theme was Lisa pulled two skeins of embroidery floss from her purse and said “Well these are our colors.” Argh.
Digging deeper I found that they wanted a casual garden feel to their day, very summery and natural. Looking at the colors and hearing what they said I immediately thought of Provence. That lends itself well to the rustic outdoor feel they were going for and the colors just scream France. They had already settled on French blue linens and 16’ long banquet tables. Next they said they were thinking of using floating candles in yellow! My mind flooded with images of too many poorly done church basements, so I started offering alternate ideas.
Thinking “Provence”, I suggested that they hit Target or World Bazaar and get a handful of inexpensive square white plates in a variety of sizes. Next, it’s off to the local produce broker or warehouse club to buy a bunch of lemons and blueberries. Mound the fruit on the white plates with a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary tucked in as the main centerpiece elements, maybe 3 per table. Add some white baskets of rustic artisan breads, small bottles of olive oil, little dishes of imported black olives and simple white pillar candles to form a runner down these long tables.
Once Lisa and Nick got the idea the whole event began to come into focus for them. What might have been the same old worship hall reception just lept into fabulous with out much more effort or expense; all because they focused on a theme instead of just colors. Oh, I hope they think to serve tall slender glasses of lemonade with blueberries in it. How cute.
