Tents


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.

The Ultimate Place for Inspiration

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.

Goodies from Around the Blogosphere

I have been completely swamped for the last week and just today have gotten a chance to catch up on my blog reading. As usual I found some wonderful things to show you. So let’s get to it.

First up flowers:

Kristin Newman Designs Not a blog but still a worthy stop as you surf for ideas for your wedding décor. Kirstin is an event coordinator in Charleston, South Carolina. Her website has enough photos to keep you delighted and inspired for hours.

Michelle Rago Ltd Michelle is an event designer and florist on West 28th, in New York. I was lucky enough to find her blog thanks to a couple of the blogs in my reader (see the list at the right). Sorry that I don’t remember which one, like I said last week was crazy. If whoever originally posted about Michelle would leave their link in the comments I would be grateful. Thanks to Michelle for all the inspiration. That is her creation an the left. Very cool.

Oh Happy Day! Wants you to bring the love back for carnations.

On to DIY

Abby Larson’s blog, Style Me Pretty always comes up with marvelous ideas for DIY. You may remember a while back she held a contest to submit your DIY. You can see the entries here. This week she is showcasing some DIY design idea from Matthew Mead. Here, here and here.

Inspiration

Oh Happy Blog some great ideas for a chic modern wedding inspired by all things Ikea.

Finally, Liene is running a quick two question survey on her blog, Blue Orchid Designs. Take a moment and show a fellow blogger the love. Besides, I am dying to see the results

What Color is My Wedding? II

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

A Truly Southern Wedding Lunch


Saturday proved to be a lovely event, the Nashville Lifestyles Wedding Luncheon at the Hermitage Hotel. I work at the Hermitage Hotel so often that the place, unbelievably beautiful as it is, has become somewhat old hat to yours truly. What joy to be a guest this time! Nashville’s beautiful brides were mixing and mingling over champagne in the grand lobby. I was there with friends Courtney Hammons and Patti Corn. Courtney was kind enough to get me a seat at the very last minute and what a seat it was.

I was privileged to spend lunch chatting over chicken and white wine with the speaker, nationally know wedding planner Tara Guerard. If you are not familiar with Tara, check out her book Southern Weddings. She is the undisputed queen of Southern charm and style when it comes to weddings. A stickler for details her slide show was a delight showing all the tiny bits and pieces it takes to take a wedding from pretty to stunning. Tara has promised me a one on one interview
once she gets back to Charleston.

B. Hughes Bridal and Formal was one of the sponsors. Karen Kaforey had some of her gorgeous couture gown adoring models that graced the lobby. They just floated about and decorated the space. I must confess that I kept having the urge to run after them and bustle their gowns since that job inevitably falls to me when I stage with a wedding planner.

As far as the vendors go, there were only a few and nothing really stood out in my mind. The day really was all about Tara Guerard and the pure splendor that is the Hermitage Hotel.

Southern Weddings

WOW Invitations

Are you bored to death by most of the invitations you are seeing? Can’t find anything that is YOU? I may have the answer.

I found the coolest line of invitations called Paper Fetish. Johanna Nunez has created 24 complete collections, each unique, each fabulous, each including every item you would need for your paper wardrobe. Better still is there is no minimum order or quantity increments. So if you need 35 you can get 35, perfect for the small intimate wedding or destination event.

These are as close to bespoke invitations as you can get without having to go to that trouble or expense. They are only available ‘to the trade’ as the saying goes so you will have to order them through you wedding coordinator. If they are not already a distributor, by all means turn them on to it.

Plus , kudo on as gorgeous website.

I’m Back With The Best FromThe Blogosphere

So sorry about the lag in posts. There was so much to catch up on after taking a week off for The Special Event in Atlanta that I just now had a chance to catch up on my blog reading. I found many fun and informative posts among my fellow wedding bloggers that I just have to share.

First up a bit of fun from Perfect Bound: fantasy wedding registries. Here is one from Liene of Blue Orchid Designs. Oh I want that kitchen!

Ariel has been busy over at Offbeat Bride. You will love her interview with Miles Johnson of Fiori Floral Design on how to get the most bang for your floral buck.

I see that Saundra of Planning Forever Events is home safe and sound from Atlanta as well. Take a peep at her images from the bridal gallery here and here. From the looks of it we just missed each other. When she was working on the gallery I was upstairs helping to set the luncheon. Bah.

Oh and what the heck, you know me, I had to find some bling in all that reading.

From PRWeb I was tipped of to the cutest charms that would be just perfect for your brides maids. I really love the martini glass.

I saved my favorite for last. This from the Paloma Picassa Collection at Tiffany & Co. ~sigh~ Not that I am getting married anytime in the foreseeable future, but if I did…OooooooAhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Dress Your Event

As you may have figured out by now much of last week was devoted to event décor. From flowers to draping to lounge furniture, if you could decorate a space with it, it was there.

Here is what I came away with: the single thing that can have the biggest impact on the look and feel of your reception is the linens. I know it is probably something you have never even thought about what with all the thought of gowns and invitations and music and what not. I am here to tell you that not one other item will have as big an impact per dollar spent as creative tablecloths, runners and chair ties. With what I saw on the show floor you won’t have any trouble finding exactly what you want.

Depending on where you live, your local rental firm or caterer may not have the greatest selection in the world. Trust me, they can get them. Most of these linens come from national rental companies that ship anywhere in the world. They arrive pressed and ready with shipping duffles to send them back when the event is over. So don’t let Aunt Annie’s catering in Bump in The Road, WY tell you that you are stuck with white. If UPS or FedEx can find you can have fabulous linen just like the brides you see in the national magazines. Why not kick it up a notch? Just do a search for tablecloth rentals.

Yes some of these pictures are duplicates from previous post, but I really wanted you to look at them again from a purely fabric point of view.

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