Wedding Advice – Here Comes the Blog

Archive for the ‘Inspiration Boards’ Category

When planning a wedding and choosing colors, many brides bring out the usual suspects – pinks, whites, creams, blues, silvers, and even chocolate.  But you want something different; you want something that sparkles, that impresses even as it surprises.  For you, purple is perfect.  Long associated with royalty – because kings and queens were once the only ones who could afford the luxurious dye used to create purple garments – purple is very rich, extremely varied, and always interesting.  You could play it safe with soft lavenders, or you begin incorporating some purple passion into your big day.

Light purple colors are lovely, and they can be quite intriguing when paired with shades of pale or baby pink, lime green, powder blue, silver, or gold.  Darker hues of purple work well with chocolate, light and darker shades of pink, and darker greens. These are all great options, but consider throwing convention aside and trying a monochromatic theme for your wedding:  purple comes in any number of rich, gorgeous shades, and you can combine them for a dramatic, royal affect.  Lilac, amethyst, lavender, aubergine, fuchsia, magenta, mauve, violet, wisteria, and other hues can be dramatic and dynamic when arranged in different combinations and accented with simple brown, silver, or cream.

A great purple passion bridal bouquet can be made from lovely wisteria, lilac, lavender double tulips, bluebird roses, pink godetia, and lavender dendrobium orchids. These are arranged with a touch of greenery, such as catmint or varieties of oregano.  It is whimsical and elegant.  Also try blooms in reds, blues, pinks, chocolate (chocolate cosmos and roses are great choices) or shades of purple.

The bride can opt for a white dress with a sash in her preferred purple hue, while her bridesmaids wear purple dresses with white or a darker or lighter shade of purple sash.  Or again, if you really want to embrace the purple passion theme, consider a purple wedding dress.  Upon first hearing this, you may think that a purple wedding dress would be hideous: they're not!  In fact, they can be very sophisticated and chic.  Dita von Teese, for instance, wore a Vivienne Westwood creation of purple silk taffeta that was anything but understated.

But you could also opt for a more sedate – but hardly boring – version.  Assepoester makes a couture dress with a sleeveless v-neck top with ruffled neckline and a darker layered skirt.  The gray tones literally tone the dress down, while the interesting lines create a thoroughly innovative and chic gown. Bridesmaids would look wonderful in gray or silver dresses.

Men can wear vests and ties of accent colors, such as another shade of purple, silver, cream, or brown, with a purple pocket square; purple tie clips and cuff links; or a purple vest with silver, cream, or brown tie.  The men's attire is dependent largely on what the bride and her bridesmaids wear.

Depending on your tone, your reception venue can be decorated with pastel, soft purples and complementing white, cream, and pink tones, or your could go with a darker purple with lots of texture, including dark and light purple and white balloons, scented candles, rich purple table linens, solid white chair covers with purple ties, and other sensuous touches. There are plenty of purple wedding favors to choose from, and you could even opt for purple wedding reception centerpieces as well. There are plenty of ways to subtly tie in purple amongst your other complementary colors.

Purple passion can also extend to your menu.  You can feature dishes made with the lavender herb, such as meat dishes, or you can add lavender butter into cupcakes and other desserts.  Melt some butter and culinary lavender and dip artichoke leaves in this aromatic mixture.  Try a purple signature drink:  instead of passing out champagne, give your guests the purple passion for your toast.  Simply take your regular champagne, add a splash of blue grape juice and a small handful of blueberries.

Purple is passionate, and its many beautiful hues are ideal for creating a passionate, loving, and fresh wedding.

More Inspiration Ideas:

• Cherry Blossom Wedding Ideas
• Pretty Garden Wedding Favors
• Wedding Inspiration: Pastel Pink
• Mission: Color Scheme Green
• Seaside Blue Wedding Color Scheme
• Pink and Chocolate Color Scheme
• Going Yellow With Your Wedding
• Teal & Champagne Wedding Colors
• Daisy Themed Wedding Ideas

Color, color, color.  Weddings today are all about shades, tones, and hues – not of white and variations thereof.  Brides are bringing their favorite colors into their weddings as integral components of the décor, flowers, the cake, the favors, and even the invitations.  They are no longer mere accents for white; they are making their own stand.  Two of the most popular are pink and chocolate wedding colors.  How can you incorporate these two colors into your wedding?

Pink has been a perennial favorite; it’s the color of young love, blushes, innocence, and romance.  But brown has been largely neglected until only recently. Today, though, many brides are turning to this forgotten color, especially in conjunction with pink.  It is rich, versatile, and depending on your chosen shade, it brings wonderful class and elegance to a wedding.  A chocolate dress with pink sash for a bridesmaid, for example, creates a rich, sophisticated look that will work to contrast beautifully with the white of your dress.

Brown and pink wedding favors have been used frequently in weddings of late, and some experts say that the colors have been overused.  Should you still go with it for your wedding color scheme?  If you love the colors, and especially the contrast between them, then yes.  They are still tremendously popular – because they are so versatile and endearing. They can also be worked to create fresh, new looks.  2010 is the year of mocha, which is lighter than chocolate, and blush pink.  We are also seeing mocha, coral, and ivory, as well as chocolate and hot pink or fuchsia. These are excellent choices for spring weddings, and many brides incorporate ivory and other neutrals as well.

Dresses from Dessy.com

When using your colors in your ceremony and reception, do not go wild with matching flowers, ribbons, sashes, bridesmaid dresses, groomsmen vests and ties, tablecloths, napkins, and centerpieces.  Your guests will have had more chocolate and pink than they care for by the end of the day.  Instead, start with five of the most important elements of your wedding: the gowns and suits of the wedding party, invitations, flowers, cake, and your pink and chocolate wedding favors, to incorporate your colors subtly.

With the bridal bouquet, for instance, you do not have to have a bunch of pink flowers tied with a brown ribbon.  A look that is too “matchy” can be off-putting.  A beautiful choice may be a bouquet of pink garden roses, Avalanche roses (which are large white roses) dark green leaves, rosy pink celosia, or cockscomb, and chocolate cosmos.  You can tie this with an ivory or champagne, or chocolate ribbon.  You can incorporate more chocolate by wearing a rich sash with your dress.

Your bridesmaids will look simply stunning in a brown dress and tightly grouped bouquet of cream flowers.  The groomsmen cannot go wrong with chocolate vests, and patterns, simple vertical stripes, for instance, can help add visual interest and a dynamic appearance.

Extend the colors to your reception, but remember to incorporate some other tones for contrast: for instance, you can drape tables with alternating overlays, creating a delicious mix of these hues.  Wedding reception centerpieces will look wonderful with hints of pale green and peach.  Chocolate and pink are ideal for cakes, and you can make a masterpiece with brown fondant and pink accents.  Many brides are choosing chocolate backgrounds with fun pink polka dots or stripes, elegant flowers, or graceful swirls.  You may want to consider a candy buffet as well so guests can satisfy their craving for sweet treats after seeing such lovely shades of chocolate and pink .

Chocolate and pink bring together wonderful symbolism for the modern bride: we have the innocence and femininity of pink, combined with the sophisticated, yet warm, tones of brown.  Your wedding is a day to indulge your fantasies, and chocolate is always the ultimate indulgence.

More on Pink and Brown:

Chocolate Brown & Pink Wedding Ideas

Pink & Chocolate Brown Wedding Favor Ideas

Pink & Brown Wedding Inspiration Board

Chocolate & Pink Wedding Dresses

Autumn is right around the corner and that means that brides will be looking to the colors of a fall harvest for inspiration.  But why not add a twist to the traditional orange and browns of the season by adding a splash of teal to the mix?  Perhaps a bit of teal embroidery on the bridesmaid dresses or some teal in the ties the groomsmen wear. Or what about using some teal ribbon on the bridal bouquets and centerpiece arrangements for the reception hall.  Here  is a montage of inspiring photos that you could incorporate into your dream wedding.

If you are looking for that beautiful peacock teal blue taffeta neck tie shown in the collage above, visit Dessy.com where you can pick it up for about $20.  The perfect accessory for the men in your bridal party!  The cinnamon colored bridesmaid dresses are also available from Dessy.com in various styles including the tea-length strapless princess-line dress in iridescent taffeta that has a matching or contrasting sash so you can choose either cinnamon or a perfectly matching peacock teal blue if you are getting the taffeta neck ties for the men.

For the centerpieces and wedding reception decorations, I like the idea of using the traditional things like gourds, pumpkins, sunflowers, twigs, berries and other fall themed items.  For the wedding favors, consider some leaf-shaped soaps or bottle openers that you personalize with a thank you hang tag.  And finally, for the cake, use flowers to match the rest of your wedding along with some teal accents to tie it all together.

Teal & Brown photo courtesy of k8et.

More on Fall Weddings:

• Fall Themed Wedding Favors
• Autumn Wedding Ideas
• Fun Thanksgiving Craft Ideas for Kids
• Fall Wedding Ideas

Chances are, if you are planning a spring or summer wedding, yellow may have crossed your mind for your main colors. However, it's sometimes tough to find a second color when it comes to yellow, because it's such a bold color as it is. You may even be worried about the black tuxes making your yellow dresses look like a giant bumble-bee wedding. Well just like any colors, if you play your cards right, the color scheme will make your wedding party sparkle almost as much as you.

When it comes to yellow, you have two main options for yellow wedding cakes, dresses, flowers, decor and even wedding favors. There is the bright 'mango' or 'daisy' yellow or there is the subtle 'sunflower' or 'buttercup' yellow. We've put together a couple different color scheme ideas for both yellows.

BRIGHT YELLOW
(Daisy)

LIGHT YELLOW
(Sunflower)

As you can see, the options are endless. There are plenty of colors out there, so don't think that these are all you can come up with!

Use your ideal flowers as your inspiration. Do you think that daisies would be a beautiful choice for your bouquets? Then maybe opt for the colors you see in a daisy to really make it all work together. This is where the different shades of green may be a great contribution to your color pallet. Sometimes a bright color mixed with another bright color can be a bit much, so make sure you are seeing the whole picture when putting together all of your wedding details.

Here's an example of how you can make the colors play together  nicely:

Overall, yellow is a gorgeous color for any seasoned wedding. When it comes to unique touches, all you need is a little creativity and a passion for making your wedding look great! There's no doubt you can make it work, and love your photos for years to come.

Have you or a friend used yellow as a color in your/their wedding? How did you like it? Post your comments, we'd love to hear about it!

More Yellow Wedding Ideas:

Black & Yellow - White Wedding Cakes

Wedding Inspiration: Lemon Yellow Color Scheme

For an elegant spring or summer wedding, you might consider using teal and champagne as your main colors. The teal makes for a beautiful accent for the season, while the champagne really brings out the chic-factor. The colors blend together very well and really play off each other wonderfully.

For a spring wedding, you might choose the bridesmaid dresses with ruffly flowers on the side to play with the spring theme. Your bouquet is also another opportunity to pull out your colors. Opt for ivory-toned roses or lilies and use some teal ribbon to make them pop.

Bright vivid colors are a staple in a traditional Indian wedding and this inspiration board shows how you can mesh all those colors together to obtain a picture perfect day (or the traditional week for that matter).

Beautiful and elegant are words often used to describe an Indian wedding, but understated is not a word that comes to mind for the function.  The red and gold traditional color palette is often complimented by other hues such as orange, purple, yellow and more.  The above photo montage is based on the Pantone color swatches in Claret, Sunrise, and Merlot.  If you want to use this color scheme for your wedding, you should consider picking up the Pantone color or fabric swatches at Dessy.com.  That way you can carry them with you when you are on the hunt for matching bridal party attire, reception decor, and Indian wedding favors.  Finally, for detailed ideas on cakes and decorations for an Indian wedding, visit our Indian themed wedding ideas page.

Indian Summer photos courtesy of mmm384

Find more Indian wedding inspiration.

Whether you are planning a wedding in the big sky country of Montana or in the shadow of the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee, look to this mood board for some true rustic country inspiration. Whether you choose an outdoor ranch with a large meadow or the interior of a local barn as your venue, you can utilize any of the ideas shown in the following board.

Every country boy knows that you can't leave home without a pair of Wrangler blue jeans so having the groom in a pair of these jeans with his cowboy boots and hat is a no brainer.  Many country brides choose to wear their boots and hat as well (although some also go for a casual hair-do for the ceremony and switch to the hat for the reception).  If you are having your wedding in an open meadow, then the groom arriving on a horse like Prince Charming is a fun addition to the ceremony.  Denim dresses and corduroy blazers are casual options for the bridesmaids and groomsmen.

Create a casual inviting atmosphere at your reception by utilizing hand-made quilts like the one shown in the upper left to cover the benches or haybales (you can do this at the ceremony as well).  White-washed picnic tables set in a long rows are a great way to set-up a casual reception area.  Utilizing glass canning jars for the table centerpieces can also be fun....just fill them with a small simple arrangement of local wildflowers.  Big jars of iced tea (sugar and no sugar) are always a big hit with Southerners.

Finally, although this isn't shown in the board, I love the idea of using a "Wishing Tree" constructed from twigs with leaf-shaped wish cards rather than a traditional guest book at country style weddings. Oh, and don't forget to choose some truly rustic wedding favors to top it all off.

Photo Credit: Big Sky Wedding by Angelise07

More Country Wedding Ideas:

• Country Western Wedding Cake Ideas
• Country Western Wedding Ideas
• Southwestern Burger Recipe

How about a little Independence Day inspiration? I ran across this amazing polka dot red and teal blue inspiration board at Dessy.com and fell in love with it. Of course, I thought the color scheme would be the perfect thing to share with our readers on the Fourth of July....seems appropriate, don't you think?

Heather from All The Rave Events chose the items for this board perfectly in my humble opinion.  The polka-dot covered wedding dress, red satin shoes, and the teal blue bridesmaid dresses with the red sash are sure to make a bold statement at the ceremony.  And the red and white polka dot covered wedding invitations are a lovely way to introduce your theme and style to wedding guests.  I always love when brides use the invites to give the guests a little taste of things to come.  Of course, no reception for a red and teal blue wedding would be complete without a signature blue wedding cocktail that is topped off with a bright red maraschino cherry.  Both of the photos on the upper right side of the board showcase amazing ideas for setting your reception tables. Be sure not to forget some polka dot red and white or even teal blue favor boxes that are filled with your favorite candies like red and teal blue personalized M&M's or Jordan almonds.  And last, but not least, give your bridal party some thank you gifts that also fit with the theme.  The red polka dot and teal blue tote bags are the perfect way to say thank you to your bridesmaids.

I just LOVE everything about this board and this color scheme.  Yes - it is bold, but hey, if you want to break from tradition, I can't think of anything better than a bright, fun, and cheery color scheme!  What do you think?

If you love teal, why not try a teal and brown wedding?

Have a passion for purple? If the answer is yes, then you and I are on the same page.  Using a gray or black base for your wedding palette allows you to incorporate a splash of purple throughout the wedding reception and ceremony.  Using purple irises and lilacs in the spring or purple hydrangeas in the summer can add just the pop of color you need in your reception centerpieces.  A beautiful plum purple color would look great for the bridesmaid dresses when the groomsmen wear simple graphite gray tuxes.   And of course, incorporating a simple purple floral design on the wedding invitations is a must.  If you are planning a purple and grey wedding, you've come to the right place for inspiration!

One of my favorite places to find inspiration is at dessy.com.  They enable brides to easily create their own inspiration boards and share them with the world.  I'm always impressed with the creativity of the brides who take a simple color palette and create a truly inspiring mood board.  The above Winter Modern Glam purple and gray board was created by Winter Heather who shows that purple isn't just for spring and summer anymore.    You can see hints of purple in many things such as the lilacs in the floral bouquets, the martini glasses (which would be the perfect way to serve a signature cocktail), the purple duchess satin ties on the groomsmen, and of course the purple bridesmaid dresses.  A truly glamourous look!

I found another gorgeous purple and grey inspiration board created by yellow and gray at dessy.com.  You can see that the following collage shows a vision for a purple inspired garden wedding.  A few lime green accents have creeped into the design as well.  Eggplant colored bridesmaid dresses are paired with simple graphite gray tuxes with duchess satin gray ties.  A flowing floral pattern wedding gown features a grey sash.  And purple flowers abound.  Simply stunning!!

More Purple Inspiration:

Wedding Inspiration for a Purple Passion Color Scheme

Wine Wedding Favors

Dare to be different! The typical beach wedding color scheme usually incorporates a sandy brown or an ocean blue and normally these really are my favorite beach wedding colors.  However when I saw this unique orange and bright pink color scheme used for a beach wedding, I was blown away and wanted to share it with all the Here Comes The Blog readers as soon as possible. After all, some of you may be planning your beach wedding right now!

The above fuchsia and orange wedding inspiration board was submitted for a contest on Dessy.com. Colleyberry's collage of images includes photos of the bridesmaids all dressed in simple orange and fuchsia dresses along with the groomsmen who wear khaki pants and white shirts. I can't tell you how much I love the "jumping" photo. The freshwater pearl earrings in a posie pink color and the taffeta flipflops in sunrise orange or rose quartz are also a nice touch. For the reception, brides can bring the color scheme to the celebration by utilizing fuchsia and pink chair sashes and centerpiece flowers such as Gerbera daisies in a color scheme that matches perfectly. Finally, use those same flowers on the wedding cake along with Swarovski crystal accented monogram letters for the wedding cake topper. Stunning!

So if you are planning your beach wedding, I recommend considering this unique color scheme....you'll definitely make a statement!

More wedding color inspiration:

• Inspiration: Nautical & Sailor Style Wedding
• Wedding Inspiration: Tiffany Blue and White Color Scheme
• Wedding Inspiration: Pink and White Color Scheme
• Wedding Inspiration: Lemon Yellow Color Scheme
• Wine and Pink: Inspiration Board
• Polka Dot Red & Teal Blue Inspiration Board