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Question 5: I am getting married May 1, 2010 in Charlottesville, Virginia. I am a woman who has been dreaming about her wedding her entire life. Now that the time has come for me to plan I have begun to feel very overwhelmed. Specifically, I am having a hard time editing myself. I see all of these ideas and details that I like and I am not quite sure how to incorporate these ideas into my special day. The weddings that stand out to me (and I think most others) is the ones that work in small, unexpected details. The details are what I am getting lost in. So, I come to you for help.
I know that I my wedding colors are going to be a bright pink (more raspberry) and white. I will be married in a vineyard and the ceremony will be outside. I am a girl who is attracted to shabby chic styles. I see myself using more vintage chic/rustic type of details and designs. My friends and family would describe me as very preppy and not as trendy as other 25 year olds. While I am not desperate for penny pinching ideas, I also do not have an extravagant budget to work with. Can you help me figure out where to begin?
I think that finding a starting off point is the biggest challenge when coming up with your wedding style? Do you guys have any tips for this reader that might inspire her decor?
Find an object that inspires you: jewlery, a tea kettle, a favorite vase. This can allow you to branch off your colors into an asthetic you already like.
I love vineyard themed weddings. You're getting married in a vineyard, so you can use the scenery around your venue as your inspiration! You could have mini potted grapevines as centerpieces, or perhaps white tablecloths with bright pink swags and arrangements of wine bottles and wine grapes in the center.
I helped my cousin plan her vineyard wedding and we used bottles of the vineyard's wine as centerpieces at the reception. We gathered a grouping of three bottles (with different kinds of wine) at each table of six and then tied them all together with a brightly colored sash and currounded them with mini tealight votives.
She customized the wine bottles with some wine labels she ordered in her wedding colors (chocolate and aqua) and the whole effect was stunning (and economical since she had to buy the wine anyway).
I think she sewed the table linens herself using fabric from Michael's and bought the wine labels from Bottle Your Brand. She told me she worked with them to create her custom label and they obviously did a good job because the colors matched perfectly.
Good luck with your upcoming wedding!
When I think preppy & raspberry/white, I think of grosgrain ribbons in pretty patterns tied in unexpected places or madras plaid used as table runners. Add in some natural elements in a neutral palatte to add texture, keep it fresh and not oversaturating your event with color.
OOH, I can see it now -- it's beautiful in my mind :-) Good luck!
Little raspberry jam favors like in this wedding - http://www.oncewed.com/index.cfm?postID=299&title=An_Orchard_Wedding - would be so sweet. I would say pick one big detail (like the favors) and use that as your inspiration for everything else. In the end, though, the day is about you and your fiance and your commitment to each other. Everyone will love the details but mostly they'll be looking at the love between you two and you will be so happy and in the moment you probably won't even notice all those little things.
My Advice: Come up with a theme!!
"Vintage Chic" is more of a style to be inspired by. What do you want the theme of your wedding to be?
My wedding (as an example) could be referred to as Contemporary Southern Hospitality, but my theme is "Our Favorite Things." My favorite color is blue, his is orange; we're having slate blue bridesmaid dresses and orange touches in the flowers. My favorite flowers are mum daisies, so they will be everywhere. We're doing a book of our favorite places around the city for the out-of-town guests. The candies will be labeled as "Bride's Favorite," "Groom's Favorite," etc.
There's more, but you get the idea! Good Luck!
I echo the come up with a theme! It took us almost 4 months to come up with ours, travel. But once we did WOW things just started falling into place.
If you have not started an inspiration board do that. Adding and taking away pictures from a inspiration board will help you refine you ideas.
all of these are great ideas...and it sounds like you already know the direction you want to take, you're just not sure how to begin. for every bride, it's different. you already have a venue, which is a great start. from here, i think you need to come up with a list of what is most important to you..number them from most important to least. after that, keep it simple and do one thing at a time. keep a calendar of when you'd like to accomplish each item on the numbered list..and stick to it! and don't forget to collect pictures of things you love. for instance, i keep an album online of all the things that remind me of what i want my day to "feel" like. you can see it here: http://picasaweb.google.com/amylynnfrank/WeddingIdeas?feat=directlink
don't stress out about it...whatever you do, it will be beautiful..
best wishes!
I feel your pain.
Although I have not been dreaming of my wedding my entire life, once I got engaged I started scouring the web for great wedding blogs for inspiration. And it seems like the more ideas I find, the harder it is to edit myself and narrow down.
What I did, was to just start. (As crazy as that sounds.)
I decided that I would have to just start somewhere... And I think the first thing I did was buy a dress. That alone will help you determine your unique style and mood for the day. The way I have approached to planning this great party, was to pick my colors and mood. And knowing that you have your own individual style and mood you are going for, chances are everything will end up working together, and your "theme" will emerge. (as mine has)
For example, I picked out a cake ages ago from the Martha Stewart cakes book. And I have since put it on the back burner. Months later I started to design my table numbers. And they matched perfectly to my cake, without even trying! I couldn't have been happier.
So just remember that it definitely pays to listen to yourself, and know what kinds of things you like. And you will then have a perfectly-you wedding and reception. :)
Have fun!
Since you're throwing around words like shabby chic, vintage chic/rustic, and even preppy - combined with vineyard and raspberry and white - for some reason I'm thinking birch. I think tablescapes can really set the tone for a reception, so deciding on your centerpieces might be a great concrete detail to settle on (at least preliminarily!), and then move out from there. I've seen birch logs hollowed out and filled with either candles or flowers to make beautiful centerpieces, including in at least one wedding on Style Me Pretty!
Good luck!
I also think tablescapes set the tone for a wedding. The center pieces are so critical for establishing the feel of the room. I've been to so many wedding where the venue is beautiful per se, but the tables are bare with whimpy center pieces - such disappointments.
What worked for me was "the rule of three"--that old adage about weddings that says you should pick three things that are important to you and that you want to devote the most time and money towards (since most of us don't have a skies-the-limit budget). For me and my husband, these were photography, location, and a live band. But for someone else it might be cake, dress, and flowers. It depends on who you are. But prioritizing these things allowed me to choose one as a starting place that I could use as a jumping off point for decor and details. So, since location was important to us, we had our ceremony and reception at an art museum that was architecturally modern/contemporary. So I took my cue from the design of our locale and everything became very modern, simple, and chic.
But if you want more specifics, when I think preppy-shabby-chic, I think stripes and big garden-esque flowers. Happy planning!
May is the perfect time of year for peonies which can be found in a variety of gorgeous raspberry and white/cream colors. As flowers go, I think they are the one of the better representations of a shabby-chic esthetic. I second Liz's idea of getting your dress for inspiration as well. Once I bought my dress, it set the tone for the rest of my ideas. I also agree with Emilia about the idea for little pots of jam, but I would take it a step further and look into making raspberry jelly with wine. I live not to far from wine country in Ontario, Canada and jellies made with wine are very popular here. I would also look into a dessert table spread with the raspberries and cream theme, against a white table cloth it would be stunning! Good luck!
I felt the same way when I started planning. What helped me was figuring out what meant the most decor wise and letting that set the tone. For me it was a certain color of purple. From there I got the idea of peacock feathers and the rest just grew from there. Try starting with a detail that has a lot of restrictions and that can help you edit along the way. Sometimes more restrictions add up to more creativity.
Please HELP!!!!
I am absolutely in love with a tuxedo jacket I saw on one the "Inspiration Board Contest II, Day 3" on August 22nd, 2007
on Barbara’s board which reflected "a Scandinavian Elegance".
(http://www.stylemepretty.com/2007/08/22/inspiration-board-contest-ii-day-3/comment-page-1/#comment-39419)
I have been looking for this cream/white cutaway/morning coat everywhere and know one seems to know what I am even talking about, let alone how I could go about finding it.
Do you know what this coat is called and where I might be able to find it in the cream/white coloring?
I am desparate, my wedding is this April 09'.
Dear Abby,
Just trying to figure out how to get in touch with you or who I should contact. I'm a hair and make up artist and worked on many weddings, some of my work was shown on the wedding channel a as well as the Mike and juliet show, I worked with many wedding planners, please feel free to check out some of my work on my web site at www.hairandmakeupbyjasmin.com. I would love to work with you, also a portfolio on several weddings i worked on is availlable upon request. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to hear from you soon.
Warm Regards,
Jasmin
I'm getting married on May 9th 2009 and I'm having the hardest time finding shoes for my wedding dress. I'm looking for something stylish and isn't the same old dyeable shoe. Of course, I have expensive taste, but no a budget.
I'm in some serious need of suggestions on where to look...
Desperate bride,
Katie
I can relate. My boyfriend proposed Feb.1. We haven't picked a date, we just know the wedding will be sometime next spring. I'm totally overwhelmed and don't know where to start. I feel like I can't decide on anything until I've decided on a location for the ceremony, which I don't want in a traditional church. I've looked at three reception halls, next I will look at a cultural arts center. Any other ideas for a location?
It's a great idea to save pictures of things I like so that I can incorporate them into the planning.
Help! How do you make an exit from your reception so that people can throw confetti or light candles, etc.. If you are spending your wedding night in the same hotel?
Hello Abby,
I wanted to ask you if you know about any photo album company that has unique, beautiful and classy albums.
All I can find on the web is plastic, fake leather, quite commercial wedding albums... And I couldn't access Priscilla's website :(
Please help!
I work as a freelance photographer in IBIZA.
Big kisses from sunny island.
This comment is about question #5.
You have described your own personal style (vintage, shabby chic, rustic, preppy, not too trendy with a desire for unique unexpected details), themes(raspberry and white, vineyard), venues(a vineyard in Charlottesville) and season(spring) very well! If your detail idea does not reflect these design parameters then don't use it.
As I read your question I began to imagine the table settings, stationery, flowers that I have seen that might work together for you. I would like to see a photo of your gown to get a better idea of your taste and style though. One idea for the tables is to select a vintage raspberry fabric table linens and use white panel grape milk glass containers for the flowers, perhaps raspberry peonies, roses or lilies. White panel grape milk glass from the 50's- the 70's is easily found at thrift stores and raspberry pink peonies are in season in May, both will give a beautiful look with less expense.
I am looking forward to seeing what you do.
Good Luck on planning, Best wishes on your wedding!
Maureen