gown friday!

good morning and what a wonderful friday it is! i hope you enjoy these gowns from j crew. ahh, they are just beautiful and oh so affordable! i love ending the week with j crew :)

reader question II

to continue with our reader question today, i thought i would offer a couple of inspiration boards to get the ideas flowing. i think because the ceremony/reception site is so beautiful, it might be best to go with simple touches on your tables--bright fresh lemons, blue tinted bottles, or vibrant yellow flowers in white ceramic vases. it's nice when you don't have to dress up the site too much!

these two looks offer just an airy feel with beautiful bursts of color. i know that blue wasn't perhaps one of the main colors nancy mentioned, but after seeing a picture of the gordon lodge, i thought you could play up the blue of lake michigan and the seaside theme.

any more ideas? let us know what you think!

lemon centerpiece--{martha stewart}
pale yellow & green bouquet--{brides.com}
dress--{j crew}
drinks--{brides.com}
flowers in white vase--{brides.com}
cake--{martha stewart}

amsale bridesmaid dress

all images--{brides.com}

reader question

oh talk about a late start! oh man. but i wanted to get this one in before the end of the day. i have a reader question from nancy and would love to enlist the help of all our weddings fresh readers. and just for some general direction, i have shown an overhead shot of the location of her wedding at gordon lodge--absolutely fabulous. if anyone out there is near baileys harbor, wi you should check this place out! here goes:

I am in the midst of planning my wedding (June
6th 2009) and all I have is a location and swatch of fabric for an
inspiration board. I was wondering if you or your readers could help
me with a couple things.

First, I'm looking for a red dress for my bridesmaids. I'd like to
find a cocktail dress that doesn't look like a typical bridesmaid
dress - just something classy for a Saturday afternoon outdoors
wedding.

I am also trying to figure out what my tables will look like. I
really like different tones of yellow together, with accents of red,
green and light blue [...] The ceremony will be
outside on the shore of Lake Michigan, and the reception will be in a
sunny room on the shore as well (Gordon Lodge, Baileys Harbor, WI).

I guess I just don't know how to go forward in the general design.
What's the next step? Any suggestions?

--Nancy

okay ladies, you have anything for nancy? color pallets, bridesmaid direction, tablescape ideas; whatever you got we would love to hear it!

gown friday!

i hope you have a wonderful weekend!

this is amy michelson's spring 2008 collection. enjoy!

{photo credits}

wonderful graffiti wedding

it has been a while since i have checked out wonderful graffiti wedding and i am so glad i did!  there are so many great ideas for personalizing your wedding--i love it!!  you can create any color palete and design you need to complement your wedding, as well as your monogram or special message.  it's these little touches that really finish off your look.  and if you can't buy these from wonderful graffiti wedding, turn it into inspiration for a diy project!

soul mates photography

since we are talking about invitation ideas, check this one out. i have just recently met a wonderful photographer and fantastic person, melissa tomeoni, who is the creative eye and designer of soul mates photography here in portland. and during our great cup of coffee (well, her coffee because i am prego and can't have it!!) she showed me this invite. i absolutely LOVE this idea. this couple took their engagement photos and made a colorful tri-fold invite for their guests, including the cutest postcard of themselves for a rsvp! i think this is a wonderful idea for couples to introduce themselves and show off their personalities to their family and friends--especially if you have a spouse-to-be who is not so familiar to everyone coming to your wedding.

melissa also sent me some of their engagement shots that help create their invitation look. thank you so much melissa!!! we shall see more of her and soul mates photography soon!

studio olivine

good morning and happy monday--wow, do i feel refreshed from this weekend!! i hope you all do as well :) and when we got back last night i was so excited to see some e-mails from a good friend of mine julie dutton from studio olivine about her latest invitation endeavor! i've been anxiously awaiting her newest designs and this one is just gorgeous. she's never one to disappoint!

my eye is always drawn to letterpress and handmade paper--there is nothing like it. and since i am not the letterpress expert, i wanted her to share with you her vision and process for this invite:

So these were a really fun project. Their wedding theme is Damask. So everything relates to that pattern in some way. They came to me and said they wanted Damask, but nothing that was flowery. So I hit the fabric store and got some inspiration. They really wanted something inclusive, so I decided to design this as a folder with a pocket. The large plum colored pattern was printed with one giant wood block letterpress plate. The pockets were scored and glued on the corners by Elisabeth (my helper) and I. Then on the invitation, I used a pale lilac wash version of the Damask placed behind the text so that people's eyes would get a chance to breathe a bit, but everything would still be tied together. The rsvp cards were stuffed into the pockets. Total this took 9 different letterpress plates. There were 200 invitations, so that means that it took a total of 1,800 times through the letterpress to finish the project. Two full days of work. A labor of love, indeed.

i hope we will see more of studio olivine's designs soon! thanks so much, julie!!

purple inspiration

good morning! i hope your week is going well so far...well, i am headed out of town today and i couldn't be more excited!! it's our 2 wedding anniversary & my birthday coming up in the next week so we are off to celebrate. and yes, without our little one :) it's just till sunday, but we are in definite need for relaxation and sun. so i encourage you to check out all the days you might have missed here on weddings fresh and enjoy the archives until i return.

for today, i was inspired by this purple & white room from coco + kelley. though purple is probably my least favorite of colors, i just couldn't take my eyes off of this room. stunning.

purple room--coco+kelley blog

oscar de la renta spring collection 2009

purple linen--bbj linen

cake display--brides.com

table scape--cottage living

purple room--project wedding

old fashioned delight

poppies--tim evan-cook

flower pin--jennifer behr

heirloom tomatoes--matt bites

tara keely spring 2009 collection

creamy candles--cecily ink blog

old fashioned jar--southern weddings blog

chalkboard & rustic food display--brides.com

gown friday

good morning! i want to thank all of you for your comments and e-mails about my little announcement, you are too kind. and more than just congratulating me, i really enjoy hearing from you readers! thank you for even checking this little blog out--i love wedding so much, it's great to meet all of you who do too :)

i hope your friday is wonderful and as well as your weekend. and for today i chose some gowns from the vineyard collection spring 2009--i basically love anything they design to begin with, but this season is just such simple elegance. and if you have been with me here for long, i am all about simple and elegant :)

{photo credits}

blush & bashful

perhaps a more modern approach to the classic "blush & bashful" :)

tree lighting--{sandra lane}

flowers in vase--{polly wreford}

roses & wine--{tim evan-cook}

carolina hererra spring 2009 collection

flower stamped cake--{martha stewart}

rosemary sea salt--{martha stewart}

plum party!

we all know that wedding supply sites can be slightly overwhelming and more likely than not, cheesy. it's hard to sift through all of the ruffles and tulle and pink bows to find that one item that may fit in with your day--in fact it's just plain so annoying sometimes, i don't know how you ladies can do it! but today, i have found a website called plum party. now of course you may not like everything you see, but i have to say it's my favorite one-stop-party-shop i have found! i'm even inspired to just throw a party of my own with some of their great ideas. the website is really easy to use and they even offer some of their own stylish tips to help. and how fabulous are those turquoise vases above? those are my absolute favorites! i've picked out a couple other items i thought were really great and fun to incorporate into your wedding:

succulent candle in a clay pot--so great for centerpieces!

bulb in a bag--i love this idea! something your guest can truly enjoy from season to season!

this pitcher is just classic for a vase or even just keeping iced tea & lemonade available on the tables. i love the simplicity and the charm!

these cylinder glow candles would add such a beautiful glow to a warm summer's evening.