Wedding Blooms

Wedding flowers make the look! It's lovely to see just how many options, colors and styles of flowers are out there for weddings these days and just how much floral choices speak to the couple who pick them. I love arranging flowers so I didn't mind doing mine myself (plus I had some great family help) but if you prefer not to, there are other easy ways to save money when it comes to picking flowers for your own big day. Try a wholesale florist or even a farm close to where you are getting married because they are much more likely to negotiate on the price to get you what you need. Here is what really inspired me when it came to choosing flowers not only for bouquets but the tables and aisle as well.

{THE INSPIRATION}

{Bouquets}

{Table Arrangements}

{Aisle}

{WHAT WE DID}

           

   

Need A Favor?

Thinking about what you might give your guests as a small and subtle reminder of your big day can be so much fun. I loved seeing images of what other couples had done and having the chance to think creatively about what might work for my own wedding. If you have it in your budget, I think doing something to really wow your guests and thank them for their effort to celebrate with you can be as memorable as the day. The bonus to this is that there are tons of DIY ways to personalize your own favor without spending much so here is a taste of what really inspired me!

{THE INSPIRATION}

real simple and DaSweetZpot offer ways to personalize a favorite food to help make it DIY fabulous

the liquor might be easy to find but the labels you'll need some help with so check out these DIY templates from the wedding chicks


 favor packaging made easy by martha stewart with these DIY boxed gift ideas

visit intimate weddings for one-of-a kind favor ideas like these to get some unique inspiration of your own

{WHAT WE DID} 

because i got married in Maine, it made sense to incorporate lobsters in some way so we went with these great cast iron bottle openers from Magoo's General Store with a thank you note from craftedbycherry wrapped in twine. i was able to negotiate the price of the favors significantly since i was buying in bulk...all i did was ask! they were a huge hit with our guests and seeing them in the houses of all of our friends is the best part!

Yes to the Dress

Picking the right wedding dress-whether it be for the night before or the big day-is obviously one of the most important things a bride will do. There is a lot of pressure to choose a dress that looks great but in my opinion, there should be more consideration involved when saying those oh-so-important words "yes to the dress." The first is budget, a dress should be beautiful at any price point so don't fret if you have to do some searching, you will always find something you love that fits within your dream price. The second is functionality because the dress you love should also be something you want to wear forever. I know, I know, you only technically need to wear it for one very important night but when you fall in love with a wedding dress, you won't want to take it off and that means it has to be comfortable. Lastly, CHIC STYLE! Who doesn't want to look fabulous on their big day so finding the right dress means something that looks amazing, fits your own style, and is so memorable that people will talk about you at brunch the next morning. I remember well what my own wedding dress inspiration was so I've included some style ideas I loved below and a few great places where you can look to get that dream dress on a budget, of course!

{THE INSPIRATION}

{Classically Lovely}

try the Recycled Bride site for great and classically beautiful wedding dress options for less

{Open Back}
                                  
open back dresses can be tougher to find and tailor but the Hustle Your Bustle site offers a HUGE variety in all styles including great and unique dresses like the ones above

            
         {Perfectly Preppy}  

searsucker or bust! all you need to do is look at the catalog to see that Jcrew has amazingly preppy wedding dresses but if you try ebay for the dress that you like...they are all online and super affordable

{Hippie Chic}

     

for the perfect flower child wedding dress, check out the BHLDN website

{Making a Statement}

   

you obviously want to stand out so consider Rent the Runway for a dress to match your style in the $100-$300 price range. this is a great alternative to buying and means you have plenty to spare for all of that great accessorizing to your stand-out look

{WHAT I WORE}

   

i finally settled on the Conservatory gown from Siri at Garnish Boutique during a sample sale

i loved this style because it was simple, chic and great (light) fabric for an outdoor summer wedding

           

I wrestled with whether or not to wear a veil being a fairly non-traditional bride but finally decided to go with this fingertip lace one from alexbridal for under $60 that gave my look a throw-back style that I loved

Show Me a Sign

As promised, the rest of August will be dedicated to great DIY wedding ideas so to kick things off, I thought I would highlight some sign inspiration that spoke to me when I was planning my own wedding! Most everyone wants their big day to look chic but your guests also need to be directed in many ways so unique signage offers the perfect way to combine the two. As a rule of thumb, I always tried to take what I loved from the images that I was drawn to and make them my own in some way. Whether it was changing the colors to match my own wedding style, switching out ribbon for twine or even just tweaking a font, it's important to pull from an image what truly inspires you and then add to it with your own sense of style. Most importantly, these are all things that you can do on your own (for you budgetistas!) so don't be afraid to rethink any you like and add in your own great sense of creativity!

{THE INSPIRATION}

for a "whimsical" feel that's easy to incorporate with any item, look through the Martha Stewart tag templates here

to make your own FAB banner, try the Typography Banner Clip Art or the Just Married Banner Template

check out the Patterned Flag Banner Template or visit the Lovely Glass Jar etsy shop for glittery inspiration

try these great patterned templates to create eye-catching Directional Signage for your guests

{WHAT WE DID}

we chose rustic frames like this barnwood one from Michael's and created our own signs using powerpoint

mixing-and-matching styles is key so we used this silver frame for $3.99 ikea to compliment the barnwood one above

mini chalkboards (6 for $19) were used for displaying our menu and featured drinks

 

using the Typography Banner Clip Art from Martha Stewart, we created food station signs that represented the places we had lived to match the food we were serving (and one vegetarian salad station, pictured above)

we used signs from pertyfultings etsy shop as Thank You cards after the wedding