Red, White, and Blue

Hey! It's the Nation's Birthday coming up! That seems like reason enough to do some celebrating. It's summer in this scenario so it only seems appropriate to celebrate the season of fruit. And fruit as cocktail skewers? I think so. Just switch out the lovely yellow for an additional lovely pinkish red and white-ish white and you've got a very nice theme started. Send in the buglers!

Via: Wedding Chicks
Bride and Groom: Kati and Bryan
Photography: Mary Wyar
Event Design: Elite Events

Tissue Paper Boutonniere

A few weeks ago we talked about tissue paper flowers. Beyond making a great inexpensive centerpiece, they make a great inexpensive boutonniere.

These paper flower boutonnieres are easy to customize. If you're adding pattern to your wedding, what a great place to throw it in as an accent. Also, imagine how easy this makes matching your groomsmen boutonnieres with your bridesmaids bouquets .

DIY Save the Dates

More of the Scrap Super Find made into Save the Dates!

Feather and Ribbon Boutonniere

Boutonnieres kind of drive me crazy. I was in charge of them for my sister's wedding and I could not wrangle the live flowers. (You'll notice a lack of live flowers in my own pictures...it's because I'm TERRIBLE with live flowers.) Stems kept splitting. I only had what was left over from the bouquets.

This is why I love boutonnieres that aren't based on live flowers. You can prepare them months in advance. You can pile them on top of each other. It can be 120 degrees outside (oh please dear God no) and they will look exactly the same as the day you constructed them.

The above boutonniere was made with a feather trim. This stuff (like this one here) runs expensive. When I bought it I suddenly understood why lovely fabric flowers are always so expensive. I bought Papyrus Designer Ribbon. It's glittery and costs $5.95 per 10 feet. The second ribbon is a simple ribbed ribbon found at Michaels or Joann's. Punch heart on brown polka dot paper. Hot glue. I think you could do all of these boutonnieres for a group of 10 men (maybe more) for around $30. This doesn't include gas finding all the right materials. Oooor the items you'll buy when looking for the right materials.

Tissue Paper Flowers

You know those paper tissue paper flowers we would make as children? I revisited them recently and was incredibly (and pleasantly) surprised. I am a tissue paper collector and just combined patterns I thought would be pretty together.

What's great about these as a DIY flower is that they are abundant. A lot of the fabric and paper flowers that I make are detail in focus and actually don't take up much *space.* Really abundant feeling flower arrangements do the opposite. The tissue paper flower is full and expansive. It also isn't horribly intimidating, which is great when you're asking your friends to help.

Great places to find tissue paper. For individual: Paper Source & The Container Store. For bulk: All Express, Bags & Bow : Gold Stripe upper left, Red Damask, Mimosa, Black and White dots.

Bridesmaids for under $200

ModCloth: Backyard BBQ Dress ($44.99), Star Gazer Heel ($94.99), Statement of the Art Necklace in Coral ($49.99)

SCRAP Super Find

If you are doing a DIY wedding near Portland, OR, you don't want to miss out on the amazingness that is SCRAP ACTION. This ship is a thrift store of craft materials and if you're wanting a creative wedding, this is a must-go place.

And if you're still designing your invites, you won't want to miss out on this week's Super Find. Next to the front door they have rolls (some pretty big) of sticker paper. So not individual stickers but a ROLL of sticker paper. The one I brought home was about 5 inches wide and transparent. So I decided to whip up some save the dates.



All you need is a stencil, a sharpie, some cardstock, transparent paint (I used fluid Golden Quin Magenta), and foam make up sponge, and there you have it. If you didn't want all the by-hand look, print out some simple cards with the names and date on them and then add the transparent & over the top. There are a large range of stencils out there and anything is possible when it comes to working with transparent layers.

Wedding Outfit: Under $125

Yes, it is one day, so why not look adorable and still have money for food. Or if not for you, maybe your bridesmaids. Check out this fantastic outfit supplied all from ModCloth. (Yes please!)

Dress: Pale Pink Posies $54.99
Shoes: Outfit Accent Heal $44.99
Earrings: Mint Rendition $12.99

Don't Mess with Flower Displays

I have no idea what I was doing before this picture, but now that I've seen it, I'm staring.  Pure abundance. Amazing.

Via: Style Me Pretty
Photography: Tinywater Photography
Floral Design: Atelier Joya

Glitter Wire (via Oh Happy Day)

There are so many possibilities for this DIY craft I don't even know where to begin. (Side note, is it OK to spray paint inside? This seems like a really bad idea from a particulate standpoint. I ask b/c we no longer have a yard and it's spray painting time of year.)

I love wire. Bending it is really hard on my fingers and wrist so I try and keep it to a minimum, but maybe I should start these bad boys NOW for let's say, Christmas ornaments or package tags. They'd make great card decorations or birthday. Ooooh: Wrap one into a friend's name and then hang it from a birthday balloons. Or make it into shapes and then add a pin or clip for a shirt or hair.

Via: Oh Happy Day
Photography: Hilda Grahnat

Door Frames and Chalk

Creative altars are the best. Also, why are doorways in every wedding ever? Such important questions to consider. Also please consider how fantastic these flats + chalk = sign signage is.

Via: Style Me Pretty
Photography: Sophie Murdoch of The Collective Photographers
Event Design + Planning: The Bride
Bride & Groom: Britteny & Bo

Hot Air Fantastic

I will never get tired of the tiny hot hair balloon. NEVER. In fact, it will be a birthday party or a 4th of July party motif. Maybe 32 will be hot air fantastic. 

Via: Style Me Pretty
Photography: Caroline Tran
Planning + Design: Catherine Cindy Leo
Bride and Groom: Ann and David

Power of Pattern

Centerpieces are something I love obsessing over even still in post wedding life. I may never wear a wedding dress again (OK to be fair I didn't really the first time) but centerpieces and pretty tables can be a part of my life going forward. And rightly so.

This Atlanta wedding captured by Heidi of Our Labor of Love really shows a truth of the table display. If you have a beautiful (and often way more expensive in the case of a wedding) table cloth, you need less on the table top to have the table seem full.

Round tables can be tricky. It takes a lot to make round tables feel fully decorated. Rectangular tables work well with a single flower every couple of feet. The length of the table makes it feel like a wonderfully complete design. Looking at this wedding, I'm realizing maybe it'd be less expensive to rent the ornate table clothes and then spend way less money on fancy center pieces. Because you have the lushness of pattern, you don't need as much up top.

Via: Style Me Pretty
Photography: Heidi of Our Labor of Love
Floral Design: TruSo Weddings
Bride & Groom: Virginia and Daniel

DIY Escort Cards

This idea is from those awesome women at Once Wed. Get little figurines from the dollar store and spray paint them white. Great for escort cards or for place holders at the tables themselves. Awesome.

Also, f*ck diamonds. Spray paint is a girl's best friend.

Via: Once Wed
Photography: Erik Ekroth Photography and Hatch Creative Studio

Teeny Tiny Greatness

Christmas lights are not just for Christmas. My tattoo may say this. Christmas lights are great because everyone has them in their attics. Don't be shy about asking wedding invitees to donate a strand for the party. Wrap them up in front of a pretty white piece of material and wallah. A spectacular backdrop to the dessert table.

Via: Style Me Pretty
Photography: Meredith Lord Photography
Bride: Belinda (can't find the grooms name.)

The World Needs More Sugar Hearts

There is a world where every dessert has a heart on it. (Follow the Wedding Chicks link to see the wedding cake using these bad boys.) I make a promise to you. Next Valentine's Day, there shall be sugar cookies with sugar hearts.

PS- Wouldn't "The Sugar Hearts" be the best band name ever?! Any takers? Hmmm?!

Via: Wedding Chicks
Photography: Brooke Allison Photography
Made By: Erica O’Brien Cake Design 

This is My Future Livingroom

One might ask, "The Church?" and I'd have to say no. But some day, *some* day, Zach and I will have a wall of flowering branches standing upright like trees in a wall of some house we inhabit. Or maybe on you inhabit. If you see me with giant flowering sticks, lock your doors.

Blog Trail: Offbeat Bride, via Austin Wedding Blog
Photographer: Krista Photography

The Pinot Project

OK, here's the plan. You and your friends and my friends each bring a bottle of wine to my place on Friday. Maybe they are all Pinot or Pinos Gris or Pink Sparkeling. Whatever. Then I number the bottoms and write down the numbers on a piece of paper next to their names. I peel off all the labels, and in there place I put one I've designed. (It will be block printed I'm guessing.)

Then you and your friends and my friends all come over and all the bottles are open. And everyone gets a little pad of paper and a pen, and we write down our perceptions of what we're tasting. In the end, everyone finds out what the wines were originally.

Via: Style Me Pretty
Photography: Llanes Weddings

Dessert Party

You're invited to a dessert party. First you'll get a pretty invitation in the mail. Then when you walk in, you'll get a boutonniere flag so you won't have to guess at peoples' names because we all forget them as soon as a new person says them. (Seriously, new rule: Talk bulk first THEN introduce ourselves!) Then when we've all chatted for awhile, we'll head into dessert time. And OK, maybe we have just a few too many snacks, but I think we'll all be happy to take home a dessert bag.

Via: Style Me Pretty
Photography: Kate Webber Photography
Design: Atelier Joya

Best Room Ever (via Ruffled)

I'm going to create a room and the ceilings will be made of ribbon and on the walls there will be frames filled with moss and flowers, and I will invite you over for tea and poetry, and we will spend the afternoon in quiet and delightful bliss.

Bride and Groom: Angie and Seth
Photography: Deidre Lynn Photography
Via: Ruffled

Phone Book Wall Art

I know that you can't hang candles sideways, but maybe with battery powered candles and some efforts against gravity someone could make these into a large three dimensional pattern. A giant pattern up a wall. This would be hard. Hmmm....

Blog Trail: The 3 R's Blog, via Austin Wedding Blog

Mignonne Handmade

Why don't we live in a place (or time) where people are wearing pieces like this ALL THE TIME?! This is the lovely work on Mignonne Handmade. Their Etsy shop and website are beautiful.

Paper Flower Table Installation

Can I be friends with these ladies? Yes? OK!

From the creative minds (and my future friends): Jamie of Julia’s Poppies and Aimee Strickland of MadeintheFold.

Via: Ruffled

Hanging Flowers

What an elegant set up with the draping flowers. This would take a lot of crepe paper to do without real flowers but what a fun challenge.

Via: Style Me Pretty
Photographer: Elizabeth Messina
Floral Design: Jeff Leatham

Letter Love

Pretty flowers AND pretty lettering? Sign me up!

Via: 100 Layer Cake
Photographer: Tec Petaja

Falling Flowers

I'm pretty sure these are paper flowers. They could be a large punch. They could be hand cut. These are things I don't know. What I do know is that that is basically a whole of of awesome, and the next time I'm taking over my parents' house for a part outside, these (hopefully punched) bad boys shall be hanging from some barn somewhere.

Photographer: Dekuji (this means "thanks" in Czech!)
Couple: Mel and Forrester
Via: Ruffled
Lilly Easter Backdrop Tutorial (So I'm guessing Mel used fake flowers. So great!)

An Afternoon of Flowers

Why is there something so visually satisfying about flowers? There is nothing in our genetics that makes them important and yet, emotionally, they are so very.
Via: 100 Layer Cake
Photography: Scott Clark.

Afternoon Tea and a Conversation About Wind

Chicken wire is one of the best things ever, and I'm always really excited when I see it in event photos. Bride and Groom Courtney and Geoff used it as a great idea for for their creative escort card station.

One of the things I never thought about before holding an outside wedding, is that unless you live in a place that really has zero wind, a little wind goes a long way in moving things around. You'll often notice signs with open vents cut into them. This is so there is a place for the wind to get through.

If you're working with a large plane like a board for escort cards, unless it is pretty heavy (sheet of wood) or firmly secured (nails), it may blow over. So for example, you could cover a piece of matte board with lovely cloth and stand it upright, but with a little wind, it might come right back down. Chicken wire is a great material that takes wind into account simply by by the nature of it's design. (Although I'm sure its engineers weren't thinking about wind specifically.)

So between the two images, lovely feminine straws and the graphical nature of the chicken wire, these two things would make a kick ass bridal shower or afternoon tea. (I'm obsessed with a drink I don't drink.)

via: Wedding Chicks
Photographer: Abby Jiu
Designer: Fleurish Events

Spring Wreath (via Ruffled)

I'm a huge fan of baby's breath. I'm always looking for something to bulk up whatever flower design I'm working on. Also baby's breath's bulk is wonderfully delicate. This wreath from Ruffled makes me want to try something similar but with baby's breath. Is it too late in spring to start one of these?
Via: Ruffled
Photography: Half Orange Photography
Styling/Flowers: Stems of Dallas

Springy Plaids Soft Calligraphy (via Oh So Beautiful Paper)

I keep seeing springy plaids, and I don't know if it's because I've been in Portland, OR long enough or just because the blend of colors is so wonderful but I'm becoming a huge plaid fan. I'm not even sure what these plaid pieces are (not envelopes...RSVP cards maybe?) but I love them. I love them with the soft card and the white calligraphy names. *swoon.* Wonderful work by Allie and Jamie of Yours Is The Earth.

By: Yours is the Earth
Via:  Oh So Beautiful Paper

Wall Art: Via Style Me Pretty

Photographer and stylist Jessica May knows how to put pinwheels to good use. This would be a wonderful altar piece or just wall art. Do you think it'd be possible to make grouped pinwheels like this into a table display? Amass them in the center of the table and then have them move out toward the edges and thin? I might have a weekend project to try!

Photography (and styling): Jessica May
Via: Style Me Pretty

Green Valentines (via Style Me Pretty)

For some reason I'd want to turn this wedding (photographed by Christina Diane) into a Valentine's Day party where instead of pinks and reds you have light and lovely greens. (Everyone in Oregon is desperate for a little spring by February 14th.)

I can't find the name of the bride (which annoys me about wedding websites sometimes) but she is clearly a crafty wonder, and she clearly has a wonderful eye herself.

First guests would get cards where there is writing and event details on the second page. The first page is white (cream, etc) with a single heart cut out so you can see some of the writing on the page below. (Image inspiration: top left)

Next each of the guests (which because it's a dinner party means there wouldn't be that many) would have a wire wrapped name setting.  Let's say at most 8 people. That's a lot of wrist action.

The table would have wooden boxes filled with felt succulents and small rocks down the center of the fictional rectangular table I don't actually have in my house. (Time to steal my sisters! Or better yet, throw this event at her house!)

And finally, as guests leave the evening, they would have tiny button boxes (!!!) filled with goodies and they'd find those goodies on a small table with a lovely moss (astroturf/felt) display. Instead of initials it would say, "Thank you," or our last name or be a series of hearts.

Photographer: Christina Diane
Via: Style Me Pretty