Match Your Wedding Invitations to Your Wedding Location

It is always said that the wedding invitations help to set the tone for the event. They are a wonderful way to give your guests a hint about what to expect. A fantastic way to do this is to select invitations which are inspired by the site where you will have your wedding. Learn how to match your wedding invitations to your wedding location with beautiful results.

For instance, imagine that you plan to hold your reception in the grandest hotel ballroom in town. Perhaps your vision includes chandeliers, an orchestra, a bevy of bridesmaids in designer gowns and crystal bridesmaid jewelry, and black tie attire. Convey the elegance of your wedding by selecting engraved invitations with opulent flourishes, such as hand calligraphy on the envelopes. If you wish, you could have your stationery bejeweled with crystals or adorned with a chandelier motif. Your guests will definitely know to expect a swanky wedding when they receive your elegant invitations.

Outdoor locations are extremely popular for weddings, and they tend to be a bit less formal than a ballroom wedding. Maybe you are getting married in a field of wildflowers; an invitation made from paper with petals in it would be ideal. Or perhaps you will exchange your vows with a stunning mountain view in the background. A natural choice for wedding stationery would be paper with an abstract mountain design. If you plan to tie the knot at an oceanside yacht club, a classic nautical motif like a sailboat or nautical flags would be appropriate. Couples getting married on the sand in Florida could choose stationery with a palm tree embossed on it.

A modern wedding calls for invitations which are unique and non-traditional. Let’s say that you have planned a hip reception in a modern loft and your bridesmaids will wear chic cocktail dresses with unique bridesmaid jewelry. Give guests a hint at the style of your wedding by choosing something with an ultra-modern vibe. Look for paper that is square or round, use a bold sans-serif font, and play with unexpected color combinations. When your guests receive your contemporary invitations in the mail, they will know that your wedding is not going to be a generic cookie cutter affair. By selecting wedding invitations that coordinate with your venue, you will be able to showcase the character and style of your wedding.

Colorful Flowers for Summer Weddings

What could be more cheerful than a daisy? A brightly colored gerbera daisy! These happy flowers come in virtually every color a bride could ever want for her wedding, making them a terrific choice for an informal summer wedding. Combine fuchsia and orange gerberas for a spicy summer look, pale pink and lime for a preppy ceremony, or yellow, hot pink, and orange for a casual backyard wedding. Gerbera daisies usually look best as round bouquets, but for other decorations they can be displayed in all sorts of creative ways. Hang strings of daisies behind an outdoor ceremony altar, place single stems in test tubes down the middle of a table for a modern centerpiece, or plant them in boxes of wheat grass for a whimsical design.

Zinnias are a wedding flower whose stock is on the rise. They are not as widely used as traditional blossoms like roses or peonies, but maybe they should be. Zinnias have a lot going for them: they are inexpensive, full, and come in tons of vivid hues. They are generally regarded as an informal flower and would be fantastic for a country wedding. Pop mixed colors of zinnias into vintage tea tins, white hobnail pitchers, or Mason jars for a great look. Feel free to mix and match unexpected shades of zinnias like bright purple and crimson. You might just like the combination so much that you have custom bridesmaid jewelry made to coordinate.

If you really want to make a splash, opt for dinner plate dahlias. True to their name, a single blossom is as large as a plate! It won’t take many of those stunners to create a remarkable summer wedding centerpiece or bouquet. Dahlias can be found in a gorgeous array of vivid hues like yellow, red, pink, purple, and orange. Some of the most spectacular dahlias are variegated blossoms with more than one color per flower. Picture enormous flowers in orange and yellow, pink and white, or red and white and you get the idea. A single dinner plate dahlia tied with a satin ribbon would be a very chic bouquet for a bridesmaid. It would look marvelous with a polished cotton strapless bridesmaid dress and custom bridesmaid jewelry in a coordinating shade.

Colorful flowers will add a festive and cheerful flavor to your wedding. Whether you mix in a few with more classic white and pastel blossoms or go for an all out explosion of color, the bright flowers will look fabulous. The upbeat hues are just perfect for a summer wedding.

Sophisticated Gifts for Your Wedding Party

Gifts of bridesmaid jewelry are among the most traditional for wedding parties. The wonderful thing about jewelry is that there is a piece of jewelry which will suit the taste of any woman. When you seek bridesmaid jewelry gifts which are sophisticated and stylish, look for pieces made with unique design elements. A pair of keshi pearl drop earrings is a chic gift for the bridesmaid who loves fashion. For your maid of honor, add a necklace with keshi pearls strung on a fine silver chain.

Bridesmaids who adore beautiful things will also enjoy receiving sophisticated gifts of silver. A monogrammed silver compact mirror would be a terrific bridesmaid gift for your friend who likes designer bags. After all, she wouldn’t want to pull a cheap plastic mirror out of her fabulous handbag! For your bridesmaid who likes home decorating, a chic silver picture frame with her initials is an elegant wedding party gift. If you have a friend who is crazy for jewelry, a great gift idea is a small engraved silver jewelry box to hold her most treasured pieces. It is perfectly fine to choose a different personalized silver present for each attendant, as long as they are all of comparable value.

Let’s not forget about the men in the wedding party. Groomsmen deserve sophisticated gifts too! A terrific present for a formal wedding is a pair of monogrammed silver cufflinks that can be worn for the ceremony. Choose oval cufflinks for the men who have the most classic taste and square ones for the guys who like more modern streamlined style. Executive silver gifts are also highly appropriate for a group of groomsmen who are mature and successful professionals. An engraved silver business card holder will make a handsome addition to a man’s briefcase or desk. Pen sets and silver plated USB flash drives are also very sophisticated choices.

Personalized leather gifts are another excellent idea for the groomsman with sophisticated taste. A leather portfolio is a nice choice for a lawyer or any professional who needs to keep a notepad handy. Or how about a monogrammed leather passport cover for your best man, the world traveler? A customized leather and plaid covered flask will add style to a tailgate party for your buddy the college football fan. As with the bridesmaid gifts, groomsmen gifts can be chosen for each individual, or you can select one item that you think the whole group will like.

A Wonderful Wedding Whatever the Weather

Wedding day rain is the most common weather challenge faced by brides. You plan for every tiny detail of your wedding, right down to the custom bridesmaid jewelry for your attendants, but the one variable which is completely out of your control is the weather. Rather than let a rainy day give you the blues, it is important to put your inclement weather plan into effect. You do have a plan for rain on your wedding day, right? If your wedding is scheduled to take place outdoors, a solid “Plan B” is essential.

So what should you do if rain threatens? Step one is to round up an army of golf umbrellas and enlist the ushers to cover guests as they arrive. If your ceremony or reception is to take place outside, you must either have an indoor location as a back up or have a tent erected. When reserving a tent, be sure to also get a floor installed if it has been raining before the tent goes up. Otherwise, your guests will have dry heads, but muddy feet. The last thing you want is to have the bride in all her finery and the bridesmaids looking lovely in their gowns and pretty bridesmaid jewelry dragging their soggy hems through the wet grass.

Rain is the most typical wedding day weather problem, but there are other things to be considered. Winter brides may need to contend with snowstorms or sub-zero temperatures. You might not think that cold weather is a big deal, unless you have ever found your car battery dead on a freezing cold day – what if that was your wedding transportation? For wintery weather, your biggest ally is time. Rather than dressing at home and then heading to the church thirty minutes before the wedding, leave several hours early and dress at the ceremony venue if at all possible. That way you will definitely be there on time. If a snowstorm is in the forecast for your wedding day, make sure to arrange for four wheel drive transportation for all of the wedding party and your immediate families so that no one is left stranded. It would be a nice touch to reward your wedding guests for braving the wintery weather with a hot toddy awaiting them when they arrive at your wedding. It will quickly take the chill off and get everyone in a festive mood for your special day.

For most brides, rain on their wedding day turns out to be little more than a theoretical worry. But a little planning can go a long way towards ensuring that if Mother Nature does unleash her fury, you will be able to go on to have the wedding of your dreams.

A Silver and Gold Theme Wedding

Silver and gold is a wedding theme which can be used at any time of the year. If you wish, add an accent color in a seasonal hue to tailor it to the time of the year in which you will be married. Silver, gold, and pink are delicate and romantic for a formal spring wedding. Or add burgundy for a rich autumn color palette. Black, gold, and silver look spectacular for a New Year’s Eve wedding. Or simply enhance the metallic hues by pairing them with white, cream, or pale champagne. The results will be stunning.

Your bridesmaid dresses are a great place to introduce your wedding colors. Choose a dress in either silver or gold, unless you happen to find an elegant jacquard dress which combines both metallic hues equally. Clear crystal bridesmaid jewelry is always an excellent choice with a metallic dress. Bouquets of beautiful white or ivory blossoms such as roses, orchids, peonies, or calla lilies will be perfect when tied with a silver and gold ribbon. The bride can choose a wedding gown with metallic embroidery, wear silver or gold shoes, and carry a white bouquet tied with metallic ribbon.

Painted accents are a wonderful way to bring the silver and gold wedding colors into the floral arrangements for the ceremony and reception. Tall branches can be painted in metallic colors to add drama and elegance to centerpieces and altar arrangements. Decorate them with white roses, orchids, and hanging crystals for a spectacular design. For a fall or winter wedding, natural elements such as pine cones will look great painted gold or silver. You can dip the edges in glitter for an extra bit of sparkle, if you like. Wire your metallic pine cones into bouquets and centerpieces for an unexpected detail. Non-floral decorations such as metallic Christmas ornaments or metallic vases are another great way to bring your wedding theme into the centerpieces.

For the wedding reception, choose either silver or gold silk dupioni tablecloths. Quilted silk cloths are also extremely elegant. You can layer in napkins in the other signature metallic shade. You may also wish to rent gold or silver chiavari chairs for the seating. Select china with a silver and gold scroll design around the border for a rich effect. You may also wish to rent heavy silverware which is both silver and gold to set your regal table. Even place cards and menu cards can have a metallic edge to add to the look.  Any formal wedding could be enhanced with a regal silver and gold color palette.

Where to Find Bridesmaid Dresses on Any Budget

There is a huge range in the price of bridesmaid dresses. At some stores, style start at $100 or less, while designer dresses can top out well over $500. Depending on the style of your wedding and what your attendants can afford, there are different places you may want to shop for bridesmaid dresses. These are some ideas on where you can find beautiful bridesmaid dresses for your wedding at any budget.

If you know that your friends do not have a lot of spare cash, take care to shop only at stores which carry low-cost options. Big chains like David’s Bridal (or your locally owned equivalent) are often good places to find a wide selection of bridesmaid dresses for about $100 or less. If your bridal party is small, you might also have great luck finding a couple of deeply discounted dresses at the end of the season at a department store or a chain like Ann Taylor. You can dress up simpler dresses with beautiful crystal bridesmaid jewelry.

When you seek moderately priced bridesmaid dresses, say in about the $200 range, your options will open up considerably. Many chains like J Crew, Ann Taylor, and Talbots have party styles (as well as styles which are designated for bridal parties) which are appropriate for bridesmaids. Knee length or tea length dresses tend to be less costly than full length styles. A bridal salon is another option for this price range. They will usually have a number of options in the moderate price range, especially if you are not looking for a costly fabric like pure silk satin. Some bridal salons also offer discounts on bridesmaid dresses with a wedding gown purchase.

If you are looking for a bridesmaid dress style made from silk or one with a lot of options for customization, you will find a huge number of options in the $300 and up range. High end bridal salons will be a good place to look for special order dresses for attendants. Allow yourself plenty of time to order, as they will probably not carry dresses that you can take home off the rack. Companies like Siri and Thread have great websites from which a bridal party can order directly. The wonderful thing about made to order bridesmaid dresses is that it is often possible to get pattern changes, like extra length for a tall bridesmaid or straps on a strapless style. In the end, there are definitely great options for dresses for your attendants at every price point.

What Your Wedding Colors Say About You

The colors which you choose for your wedding do much more than simply add to the decor of the event. They also make a statement, both about the wedding and your own personality. Picking the right color palette will really help to put your personal stamp on your wedding, while choosing carelessly might result in making a statement which you never intended. Learn what your wedding colors say about you.

White and Ivory: If your wedding is predominantly decorated in shades of white or ivory, it says that you love tradition. The classic white wedding tends to be more conservative and it can be very elegant. Be careful, though, because an all white wedding can also end up looking boring and unimaginative. You can give your white wedding personality by using interesting textures like lace or damask, flattering lighting, sparkling crystal in both the stemware and the bridesmaid jewelry, and elegant flourishes like tall centerpieces.

Pink: A pink wedding tends to be very romantic and feminine. To give it more depth, layer shades of pink ranging from pale ballet pink to bright pink to raspberry. This works especially well for the combination of bridesmaid dresses, jewelry, and bouquets. When pink is combined with an accent color, the mood it creates can be changed. Add green to pink for a classic preppy style. Combine orange with hot pink for a spirited summer celebration. Mix black with pink for a more modern take on a classic wedding favorite.

Charcoal and Yellow: Who ever would have guessed that gray could become such a popular wedding color? It has though, due to its modern sophistication. To keep gray from looking dreary, it is often used in unexpected pairings with bright colors, particularly yellow. Choose this color palette if the statement you want to make is that your taste is chic, contemporary, and a bit daring.

Red: Red is the color of passion, so obviously a red theme wedding is going to be one all about love. It is also a strong color and can be controversial depending on how it is used. A red wedding gown, for instance, is going to raise eyebrows in traditional families, and should only be worn by a bride who wants to make the statement that she is non-traditional. A bouquet of red roses carried by a bride in a white wedding gown, on the other hand, is simply romantic. When red is mixed with purple, the message of passion is intensified; pair red with black for the ultimate in drama.

Yellow Bouquets for Spring Weddings

For a formal spring wedding, you simply cannot go wrong with lush yellow garden roses. Yellow roses symbolize friendship and cheerfulness, which is a great theme for a wedding ceremony. The garden roses would be gorgeous in a large round nosegay shape, perhaps with a few white peonies mixed in. More natural floral arrangements are in style this year, so another lovely option is a loose bouquet of yellow roses with trailing ivy. Or use standard hybrid roses to create a striking composite bouquet, in which the petals are arranged to make the bouquet look like a single large flower. A ruff of green leaves will set off the yellow petals to perfection.

If you are more of a modern bride, a great choice for your yellow spring bouquets would be calla lilies. A chic presentation bouquet which is cradled along the bride’s arm would be fabulous with a sleek modern bridal gown and a birdcage veil. Round bouquets of mini calla lilies in yellow would be fantastic for the bridesmaids. The sunny hue of the flowers would be a great contrast against charcoal gray chiffon dresses worn with minimalist bridesmaid jewelry. A neat cuff of ribbon is the ideal bouquet handle wrap for mini calla arrangements.

Of course no flower says spring quite like daffodils, and they are a delightful choice for a spring wedding bouquet. Mini daffodils are particularly popular for hand-held floral arrangements. If you wish to add more color and variety, opt for an assortment of daffodils. They come in a great range of hues, like all yellow, white and yellow, orange and yellow, and orange and white. These would also be terrific bridesmaid bouquets. Break up the yellow by choosing bridesmaid dresses and jewelry in different color like blue, lavender, or spring green. Add a gingham or toile bow to the blossoms to complete the effect.

The classic bride will swoon for yellow tulips in her bouquet. Remember that there is more than one type of tulip available, as well, so you can choose from the classic Dutch tulip or a more fanciful parrot or French tulip. Although they can combine well with other flowers, there is something special about an all tulip arrangement. Try out one of the dramatic presentation bouquets with a long trailing white satin ribbon, or keep it simple with a neat nosegay of yellow tulips. You simply cannot go wrong with this elegant spring blossom.

DIY Flower Dying for Weddings

Many a bride has decided upon a stunning color palette for her wedding, only to discover that she cannot find blossoms in exactly the right shade. What’s a creative bride to do? Create her own custom colored flowers, of course! This is what you need to know about diy flower dying for your wedding.

When selecting flowers to dye for your wedding, it is generally best to start with white flowers, as they are the easiest to manipulate. Flowers with open stems will absorb dye more quickly and reliably than those with woody stems. Some excellent varieties to dye include carnations, Queen Anne’s lace, daisies, allium, and tulips. Gather your flowers, some standard food dye, and the vases, and you will be ready to get to work.

If you are planning to dye your flowers to a custom hue for your wedding, you will definitely want to do some experiments in the months before your event. Take notes about your samples, so that when you create the perfect shade of apricot to match the bridesmaid jewelry or the most vivid turquoise blue for your summer celebration, you will be able to duplicate the result later. Be aware that the food dye can also dye the leaves of the flowers, so keep a careful eye on how long it takes for the flowers to become the right color, without leaving them in the dye so long that the leaves take on the same hue as the petals.

When prepping flowers to dye, the first step is to cut the stems at a sharp angle under running water. The food dye will not harm the blossoms or cause them to wilt. Then place them in the vases with the colored water. The more food coloring you use, the more vivid the end result will be. So if you want to create navy blue flowers for a wedding with a “true blue” theme, right down to the bridesmaid jewelry and cake, you will need to use a high concentration of dye. Yearning to decorate your ceremony with ballet pink Queen Anne’s lace? Just a few drops of red coloring will do the trick. Allow about 24 hours for the flowers to take on the color of the water. Just think about how much fun you can have creating a one-of-a-kind flower color for your wedding!

Lace Bridesmaid Dresses

Lace is a beautiful and romantic fabric for a wedding, and it is not just for brides. Pretty lace can be a wonderful choice for the bridesmaid dresses as well. Here is a look at the many options for beautiful lace bridesmaid dresses that your attendants are sure to love.

White lace can be marvelous for summer bridesmaid dresses. A substantial cotton lace or Venise lace is ideal. Layer it over a lining in your favorite summery color like sunny yellow, pretty pink, or baby blue. This is an adorable look for a knee length strapless bridesmaid dress. A sash around the waist made from the same color as the lining will complete the dress perfectly. Classic pearl bridesmaid jewelry and strappy sandals are beautiful finishing touches for this lovely style. Check out the spring collections from designers like Lilly Pulitzer to find the dresses.

Another beautiful design for bridesmaids is a solid dress with lace accents. This is often done in a fairly high contrast way, such as a heavy white lace layered over the bodice of a solid black dress. Another lovely style is a shift dress in a dark color like navy with white lace trim around the hem or the neckline. Shaped lace can also be used to create a beautiful neckline for your bridesmaids, such as a romantic scalloped border framing out a halter neckline. These are marvelous options for brides who prefer to have bridesmaid dresses which are not entirely made of lace.

Remember that lace can be found in colors other than white. A brown chantilly lace would be stunning for an autumn wedding. Black lace over a neutral colored lining is very elegant, and much softer than a solid black bridesmaid dress. For a formal wedding, consider breathtaking metallic gold or silver lace. A very soft lace in a metallic will flow and drape beautifully. Your bridesmaids will look like movie stars in such gorgeous dresses! Strappy evening sandals will complete their ensembles. Not only are lace dresses beautiful, they are so different than the standard bridesmaid dresses that your attendants may actually be able to wear them again. That is something which is sure to bring a smile to the faces of all of your bridesmaids!