Plan a Wedding with Simple Elegance

Sunday, February 7th, 2010, by Bridget Mora, , , , , Bridal Jewelry, pearl bridal jewelry, wedding planning, No Comments

Brides who like the aesthetic of a simple elegance understand that sometimes less is more, and that over-the-top is not always better. There are a number of wedding trends this year that show that more and more couples are feeling that way. It is absolutely possible to plan a wedding which has a restrained graciousness, instead of one that screams, “Hey! Look at me!”. The key to pulling off low key without leaving your guests feeling underwhelmed is to carefully select the details which you wish to highlight, and to make them the pinnacle of quality and good taste.

What does simple elegance mean in a wedding gown? It means a dress without a ton of pick ups and frills on the skirt. It means a wedding dress which is not made to look like lingerie, complete with the bride’s skin showing through the corset bodice (with apologies to all you brides who fell in love with Pnina Tornai gowns while watching “Say Yes to the Dress”). The ideal bridal gown for a simple elegant wedding is made from a divine fabric with clean lines and a minimum of fuss. That could be a 1950s inspired strapless in a pleated silk organza, a contemporary silk charmeuse sheath, or even one of the less outrageously adorned one shoulder gowns, perhaps in silk chiffon. Classic accents like a ribbon edge veil and pearl bridal jewelry suit a gown with timeless grace perfectly.

Another way to enhance the simple elegance of your wedding is with the flowers. After several seasons of elaborate “tablescapes” and increasingly eclectic centerpieces, there is something refreshing about a return to basics. If your flowers are breathtakingly beautiful on their own, they truly do not need all that extra stuff. Try a big bunch of lush pink peonies stuffed into a white hobnail pitcher for a garden wedding. Or get more dramatic with a centerpiece with cascading orchids, but keep the effect un-fussy with all white flowers and a clear vase (with no fruit, flowers, or other accents filling the vessel). When you select flowers which are utter perfection, your centerpieces will have a quiet power without turning them into a spectacle.

There is also a trend towards a return of simple elegance in wedding cakes. It has gotten to the point where many cakes are now elaborate sculptural structures which barely resemble a traditional wedding dessert at all (this is no knock against a whimsical groom’s cake, by the way – they are great at any wedding!). Enough already! Let a wedding cake look like a wedding cake. A classic white cake festooned with either fresh or sugar flowers can be a work of art in and of itself. And by all means, make sure that the cake tastes as good as it looks.

What is In and Out for 2010 Weddings

Saturday, February 6th, 2010, by Bridget Mora, , , , , Bridesmaid Gifts, Bridesmaid Jewelry, wedding planning, No Comments

A new year is upon us, and with it comes a new wedding season. Each year, the trends and directions of weddings change, and 2010 is no exception. Whether you are a bride, a bridesmaid, or simply love weddings, take a look at what is “in” and “out” for 2010 weddings.

In: Coral, turquoise, charcoal, silver, shades of purple, and pale buttercup yellow. These are the colors which are hot for everything from bridesmaid dresses to invitations to reception decorations to wedding flowers.

Out: Pink and brown together are passe for 2010 (if you love pink, choose charcoal as the neutral accent color). An all Tiffany blue wedding, complete with the wedding cake designed to look like gift boxes from Tiffany. Blue is always pretty for weddings, just not done in such a heavily thematic way. Try a soft robin’s egg blue and apricot color palette for a fresh look.

In: Allowing bridesmaids to look like individuals. Choose one general color and let each woman select a dress that actually flatters her. Your bridal party can look coordinated without matching exactly. Another trend in bridesmaid dresses is for non-shiny fabrics; think chiffon or polished cotton instead of satin.

Out: With each passing year, it becomes more dated looking to line up your attendants like the Rockettes in matching dresses, shoes, hairstyles, and makeup. Not only is forcing every woman into the same dress old school, but so is giving them all the same bridesmaid jewelry gifts. A more modern approach is to select bridesmaid jewelry as gifts which is unique and specially selected for individual tastes.

In: Family style wedding meals. This trend can be seen in the long tables which are so popular as an alternative to numerous round tables for the reception. Family style service, in which large platters of food are passed is also a very hot idea. Brides and grooms love the idea of their wedding being all about the gathering of their loved ones, and treating their wedding reception more like a great big family dinner helps to create this atmosphere.

Out: Separating the newlyweds from the other dinner guests. This makes the isolationist sweetheart table a definite no-no. After all, these people have come a long way to celebrate your wedding with you; why set yourselves apart from them?

Personalize Your Wedding with Local Foods

Sunday, January 31st, 2010, by Bridget Mora, , , , Uncategorized, No Comments

Think about it, you want every part of your wedding to feel special, right? You personalize your bridesmaid gifts so that the gifts suit the taste and style of each bridesmaid. You create a custom monogram to adorn your wedding invitations and cake. And what about the countless hours spent finalizing the perfect playlist for your band or d.j.? After you have put in all that work, how could you possibly serve standard wedding food? An easy way to make your wedding food fun and memorable is to serve dishes which are specific to the location of your wedding. Your guests will love it, guaranteed.

The great thing about introducing local specialties to your wedding menu is that they need not be fancy, even if your overall style is fairly elegant. Let’s say for example that you were planning to get married in Cincinnati. As one of your appetizers, a great choice would be mini cups of Skyline chili, served 3-way with the classic chili over spaghetti and a mountain of shredded cheese on the top. This is sure to be a huge hit with your local guests, and a great introduction to a classic Cincy food for the out-of-towners. Don’t be afraid to serve a popular local treat alongside more traditional appetizers. If you make clear that it is special, everyone will think it is a great touch.

No matter where you live, there is going to be a local dish that says something special about your region. A Chicago bride could serve bite sized deep dish pizzas as one of her appetizers. If the groom is a New Yorker, even better; add tiny thin crust pizzas to the menu. Maybe you can at long last solve the debate about which style of pizza is best. If not, the bride and groom can at least have fun with a friendly little wager about which pile of appetizers disappears the fastest.

Your local cuisine can also make an excellent choice for the main course at dinner. If you live in Seattle, a nice piece of salmon grilled on a cedar slab would be a delicious entree. Or what about shrimp and grits for a Southern wedding? Should the bride and groom happen to hail from New Orleans, the entire menu from appetizers through dessert can be planned around classic local dishes. Just be sure to invite me, please!

The “Un-Wedding” Wedding

Saturday, January 30th, 2010, by Bridget Mora, , , , , Bridal Jewelry, wedding planning, No Comments

Getting married is as popular as ever these days, but no so the traditional wedding. What truly sets an “un-wedding” reception apart from its more traditional counterpart is attitude. An un-wedding celebration is rarely formal, never stuffy, and a lot of fun. The emphasis is on throwing a party which promises a great time to friends and family, full of delicious foods, wonderful wine or cocktails, and relaxed conversation.

Restaurants are a great venue for an un-wedding reception. A party in a restaurant is going to feel more like a great big dinner party than a standard wedding reception. And by choosing your favorite restaurant, you can be sure that the food will be utterly fantastic, a far cry from the usual chicken or beef entrees served at most receptions. The bride and groom can choose relaxed attire, rather than a heavy looking tuxedo and ornate ballgown. A modern silk organza gown with a black ribbon trim and handcrafted bridal jewelry would be très chic.

Unusual settings are also popular for un-weddings. Why not select an interesting site like an aquarium or a trendy art gallery for your reception? The space itself will be so visually engaging that you will need to do very little in the way of decorations. Plan your menu to suit the space. At an art gallery, stations featuring contemporary and unique cuisine would be ideal for dinner. Naturally seafood would be appropriate for a wedding in an aquarium.

When working with an off-beat venue, choose your colors to suit the locale. Watery blues and greens would look wonderful for an aquarium, for instance. At a site like a gallery which will have a lot to look at on the walls, a restrained color palette like white and charcoal would blend well. This color combination is one of the most popular for weddings this year for everything from bridesmaid dresses to invitations to handcrafted bridal jewelry. Charcoal dupioni tablecloths with a bit of shimmer and texture can be topped with tall clear cylinders filled with a modern flower like white allium.  When you do away with tradition, your wedding can be anything that your heart desires and your mind can envision.

Wedding Vendor Dos and Don’ts

Friday, January 29th, 2010, by Bridget Mora, , , , Bridal Jewelry, wedding planning, No Comments

This list of the dos and don’ts of working with wedding vendors will help to make sure that you get those all-important relationships off to the best possible start.

Do: Choose to work with a full service bridal salon for their personal service, style expertise, and attention to detail.

Don’t: Take advantage of their service if you have no intention of buying there. It is very poor bridal etiquette to waste a consultant’s time trying on gowns if you are planning to buy a knock-off of one of their gowns on the Internet. Even if you have bought your gown there, do not take up your fitting appointments trying on tons of bridal jewelry, veils, and shoes that you bought somewhere else. You are not obligated to purchase your bridal jewelry and other accessories where you bought your gown, but it is impolite to throw it in their faces.

Do: Be honest with prospective vendors about your guest list, budget, and any concerns you may have about fitting the two together. It is acceptable, for instance, to ask a reception venue if their weeknight rates would be lower than those for a Saturday afternoon.

Don’t: Try to negotiate a deal off of the listed menu prices, especially at a popular venue. It will not fly, and there will be plenty of other brides waiting in the wings willing to pay the going rate for a great reception site. A better bet is to pleasantly agree to the set rate for the dinner, and then politely ask if the venue coordinator can throw in some extras, like an extra hour or a waived cake cutting fee. Your relationship with your venue is key, and you do not want to offend them in the early stages of planning!

Do: Bring your florist pictures of centerpieces and bouquets which appeal to you. Photos of your venues will also be very helpful, especially if she has not decorated that space before.

Don’t: Discount your florist’s advice. If she tells you that out-of-season tulips are going to come in looking wilted and sad, believe her and choose something else. You should trust your florist to give you good advice on how to choose flowers that will work for your style, your season, and your budget. They may be alternatives to what you had initially imagined, but in the end, the results will be beautiful.

Beautiful Summer Wedding Bouquets

Thursday, January 28th, 2010, by Bridget Mora, , , , , , Uncategorized, No Comments

Summer will be here before you know it, so it is time to decide on all of the special details for your summer wedding. One of the most important elements is your bridal bouquet.The style of bouquet a bride carries should suit the theme of her wedding, her signature colors, and the season. For summer, there are numerous gorgeous fresh flowers from which to choose, each with their own distinctive appeal. Before ordering your flowers, take a look at these beautiful summer wedding bouquets.

If classic elegance is your taste, there is nothing better than a lush bouquet of big garden roses. A large bunch of fluffy roses in either white or the palest pink is a feminine and timeless complement to a classic wedding gown. This style of bouquet pairs beautifully with a lace wedding gown worn with a pearl tin cup necklace. The elegance of the flowers evokes the same feeling of gracious bridal style as the classic tin cup necklace design. Wrap the stems with a wide satin ribbon for the perfect finishing touch.

Hydrangeas are a great summer flower, and make wonderful bouquets. They also happen to come in shades of blue and green, both of which are popular colors with limited options for flower types. The blue hydrangeas evoke a breezy summer afternoon on Nantucket, and look wonderful loosely gathered into a simple bouquet. A sheer white organza bow is a lovely accent, or play up the New England preppy side of hydrangeas with a striped grosgrain ribbon in white and apple green. Other pretty color options for hydrangeas include white and pink, and their large blossoms means that it only takes a few stems to make a full looking bouquet.

Purple is one of the hottest colors for summer weddings this season. Explore the trend with a gorgeous purple bouquet. It can be extremely elegant, featuring purple orchids arranged in a glamorous cascade bouquet. That would be a great choice to carry with a chic one shoulder bridal gown. If you like mixed bouquets, combine pretty purple flowers like lisianthus, iris, and lavender. To increase the drama of any purple bridal bouquet, layer in some fabulous multi-colored peacock feathers.

The Latest Styles for Mothers of the Bride

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010, by Bridget Mora, , , , , Uncategorized, Wedding Jewelry, No Comments

There are some very pretty color trends this year for wedding attire. Purple is a huge color for 2010 weddings, and is one of the more widely available options for brides’ mothers. A rich and regal purple is ideal for a glamorous evening wedding, or lighten it up a bit with an orchid purple dress for afternoon. Shades of purple look especially nice in flowing chiffon. By the way, for moms who are most comfortable in pants, there are some stunning options for very dressy beaded chiffon pants outfits which would be gorgeous for any wedding. To increase the elegance factor, play up your glamorous side with custom wedding jewelry in dazzling Swarovski crystals.

Turquoise is another big trend for weddings this summer. It is not a color which everyone can wear, but if bright colors suit your personality and coloring, why not have some fun with a stunning turquoise dress for your daughter’s wedding? It is a wonderful choice for a wedding by the ocean, especially when paired with keshi pearl custom wedding jewelry. Such a bold color works well with the tea length dresses which are fashionable for mothers of the bride and groom this year. If you need to make your dress a bit more formal, it can be worn with a matching bolero jacket for the ceremony, which is popular for both brides and moms right now.

Platinum or charcoal is the top color for formal weddings right now. To keep the hue from looking somber, select a dress in a fabric with some shimmer, such as silk satin or shantung. This would be a fantastic color option for one of the full length trumpet skirt gowns which are the height of style. Fashion-forward moms can select an ultra chic one shoulder gown. Black and white pearl jewelry has the perfect elegant sophistication to wear with such a stylish ensemble. Another trend is to for mothers of the bride and groom to carry small posies of flowers rather than wear corsages. This would be a great place to add a shot of color to the outfit, such as red or bright pink.

Cap sleeves are also a top choice for mothers of the bride dresses. They are more modern than long sleeves, and much more comfortable for summer. Yet, they do provide the feeling of having more coverage than a strapless or spaghetti strap dress affords. Coral is another hot color this summer, and looks like in chiffon, perhaps with a sprinkling of light beading. The hue looks wonderful against a bit of a tan, so consider coral if your daughter’s wedding will be in July or August. In one of these latest styles, the mother of the bride may well feel like the prettiest woman in the room, second only to the bride, of course!

A Passionate Purple and Red Wedding

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, by Bridget Mora, , , , , , , Bridal Jewelry, crystal bridal jewelry, wedding planning, No Comments

Not all brides are the white and pale pink type. When you are looking for ways to inject some passion into your wedding, think about using colors with more intensity. One of the best color combinations is passionate purple and red for a wedding with sizzle.

Flowers are a great place to begin planning your wedding design. Purple and red flowers in combination will be bold and rich, conveying passion and fire. For a formal wedding, roses in deep purple and rich red make lovely bouquets for the bride and her attendants. Hand-opened blossoms will be more lush than roses fresh from the florist’s refrigerator. Add a bit of glamor with crystal accents in the bouquets. A nice tough is to select crystals for your bouquet and a set of custom bridal jewelry which will coordinate. Pick a unique crystal shape around which to design your custom bridal jewelry, such as a teardrop, or opt for a colored crystal in red or purple. The effect will be ravishing.

Purple and red together make a strong statement. They can work well for bridesmaid dresses as long as you take care that the outfit does not overwhelm your attendants. Choose one color as the focal point, and let the accessories pull in the accent color. A deep purple dress, for instance, could be accented with a red sash and a red flower in the hair. Or pick a red dress for your attendants with purple embroidery along the hemline and a pair of very strappy deep purple sandals to coordinate. Your bridesmaids will look festive and flirty; no demure looking attendants with this color palette!

When using colors as intense as purple and red, it can be helpful to layer them with another more neutral shade to keep the effect from being too vivid. Stunning red and purple centerpieces, for example, could be set on tablecloths in a more subdued color. If you want to keep your entire wedding color palette deep and mysterious, chocolate brown linens would be an excellent complement. Or add a lighter color for contrast, such as pale gold or even a rich taupe. It all depends on the time of day, formality of your wedding, and just how dramatic you are prepared to go.

When you want your wedding to express the love and passion that you and your fiance feel for one another, a dramatic red and purple wedding palette is just what you need. From flowers to attire to the food and favors, red and purple will make every part of your wedding look more special. Dramatic and seductive, this color pairing will make an unforgettable wedding design.

Wedding Roses

Monday, January 25th, 2010, by Bridget Mora, , , , , , pearl bridal jewelry, wedding planning, No Comments

There is no flower more beloved by brides than roses. Whether used in arrangements that are traditional or modern, sweet or seductive, roses are the ultimate floral expression of romance. These are some things that every bride should know about how to use roses in her wedding design.

Many brides adore roses because they are traditional for weddings. If that is what you find appealing about this lovely flower, then you should design bouquets and centerpieces which also give a nod to tradition. No bouquet is more classic than a round nosegay featuring white roses and white stephanotis. Stephanotis is a tiny pure white flower shaped like a little star. As they have very short stems, it is customary to place a pearl tipped pin through the center of each one to allow it to be wired into the bouquet. The pearl accents are gorgeous when the bride has chosen that other wedding classic, pearl bridal jewelry.

Not all wedding roses are quite so traditional. Cheerful yellow roses are great in combination with purple flowers like grape hyacinth for a spring wedding. Or mix them with yellow spotted orchids for bouquets that are fluttery and exotic. If weddings make you feel nostalgic, yellow roses are lovely with romantic ruffly sweetpeas. And don’t forget about the Yellow Rose of Texas, all you Lone Star State brides.

Think about the symbolism of the various colors when selecting your wedding roses. White is innocent, pink feminine and romantic, red passionate, yellow cheerful, and dark purple exotic. There are some less common colors that are also lovely, such as lavender and terra cotta. It can be gorgeous to combine different sizes and varieties of roses within a single arrangement, as well. There are so many beautiful ways in which to use roses that is is no wonder that they are the most popular wedding flower.

Spring Wedding Attire for Men

Sunday, January 24th, 2010, by Bridget Mora, , , , , , Uncategorized, wedding planning, No Comments

Spring is right around the corner, and it is the perfect time to lighten up! If a spring wedding is in the forecast, now is the time to decide on the attire for the groom and other men in the wedding party. Take a look at these fresh ideas for spring wedding attire for men.

For daytime spring weddings, consider suits in light colors. A navy or black suit is handsome, to be sure, but can look a bit heavy on a beautiful spring day. Get into the spirit of the season with khaki suits for the groom and groomsmen. They look fresh and spring-like, and pair wonderfully with bridesmaid dresses in pastel colors. The neutral khaki color allows for infinite shirt and tie options. It can be very nice to choose a shirt which coordinates with the colors the bridesmaids will wear.

Another nice spring wedding look is for the men to wear blazers with trousers rather than an entire suit. It is less stiff and formal, which is ideal for semi-formal weddings. The classic navy blazer is a can’t-miss, and can be worn in a variety of ways. Traditional brass buttons are nautical and conservative. Pair them with a striped tie and a nicely starched shirt. Or let the navy blazers be a little more understated by switching out brass buttons for plain navy ones that match the jacket (this is an incredibly easy alteration). A yellow shirt with a tiny check or a classic blue and white striped button down would be perfect with this outfit. As for the pants, they can be an all-season wool gabardine in a light color like tan or gray. If the wedding is really relaxed, cotton khakis would even work, as long as they are crisp and freshly pressed with a hint of starch.

Accessories make the man, just like they do the woman, so do not overlook their role in the mens’ wedding attire. If you are not using a boutonierre, a pocket square in a spring color will add a dash of color to their jackets. Cufflinks are another great accessory for the men in a wedding, and they make excellent groomsmen gifts. Silver cufflinks with an initial are one of the most popular groomsmen gifts, or select cufflinks which tie in with the theme of your wedding, such as small silver sailboats for a nautical wedding.

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