Design + Inspiration

Awhile ago Miss HoneyBear shared a link to free tape clip art which I have been dying to use, so here it is! I am still pretty bad at paint.net and can't figure out all the layers but I think they turned out alright.

As you can see I am also still pretty obsessed with things hanging from the ceiling! I am not entirely sure if I prefer flowers or those clear balls but they are all so pretty.

{Source}
{Source}*For DIY instructions click here


I like the way the balls look like bubbles. It reminds me of that scene in Cinderella....(I heart Disney). I've been starting to really consider bubbles instead of petals or confetti at the wedding. I love the idea of the having bubble guns (so I can really get the volume of bubbles I want plus I don't want weird blowing pictures...hehehe).

Now how would I go about making a bubble gun look wedding appropriate?!!? I think it may require more than just ribbon... but who knows.

DIY: Chandelier Part 2

Last week, I blogged about not being able to find a good DIY chandelier tutorial but then I stumbled across this little tutorial on Craft Stylish.








While I think this may involve much much more manual labor than I am up for, I really like the paper crystals. I feel like these could be cool if you did strings of silver and white paper crystals and some strings of tissue paper flowers... that could be kind of pretty blowing in the wind, right?

Hanging from the trees...

While I was in NOLA last weekend I was laying around watching tv (it rained for a whole day!) and I caught a glimpse of the new Taylor Swift video and noticed the gorgeous scenes in the woods with the hanging photographs. This reminded me of all the gorgeous weddings with gorgeous hung items.

{Ruffled}
{Blush Events}
{inBloom Event}
{Wedding Bee}
{Once Wed}
{Snippet and Ink}

There is something so romantic and almost dream-like about having things hanging from trees, blowing in the wind. I think its a hard balance to strike, between appreciating the natural beauty of an outdoor location and enhancing the beauty to make it your own.

One of the hardest things about planning a destination wedding is not knowing what the location looks like. It's impossible to plan DIY projects when I can't envision the location.

Well... not im-possible, but really really hard!

DIY: Chandelier?

{City Cradle Design}

I was so excited last Friday when I saw that Style Me Pretty had a link to a DIY chandelier!! I am not gonna lie I was a little disappointed when I clicked on the link and it led me to this mason jar chandelier. While I recognize that a chandelier is merely any branched, decorative lighting fixture that holds a number of bulbs or candles and is suspended from a ceiling... it was still a little whaaa whaaa whaaa-aaaa.

So I thought I would do my own research and I really couldn't find anything that met my expectations. So here's what I've come up with:

I adore this chandelier from Pottery Barn Kids:

{Mia Chandelier - $169}

Then I found this modestly priced basic chandelier on Etsy:

{Chic Country Boutique's Shop - $65}

Then I found this great website for crystal strands!

Priced at $38.70 for a 30 foot continuous acryliccrystal garland and $87 for glass crystals.

In theory that would put my DIY chandelier at around $105. The question is: Is it worth it to do all that work (and risk making a huge mess) in order to save $50??

*****FYI Decorate My Wedding also sells ostrich feathers and strands of acrylic pearls! They also have DIY Crystal Tree kits.

CORRECTION:

I found this amazingDIY Bubble Chandelier. These acrylic bubbles remind me so much of that bubble scene in cinderella.


Decorate my wedding has the grids for $19.99 each and glass bubbles in various sizes and prices. How fabulous would this be over the head table or at the alter. CB2 also carries bubble balls.

The best of both worlds

{Source: Style Me Pretty}
How genius is this location!?! This beautiful Maui location features the best of both worlds. Its an outdoor location with a built-in rain guard.

Plus I adore the chandelier... as usual.

Made for me...

I am usually not a huge fan of the from reality to inspiration vendor faux weddings but then I saw this one which I think was designed just for me! To be honest, I didn't love anything about the bride. Her dress or her veil, she was really a non-factor but then again this is a vendor wedding so it isn't really about the bride anyway.

So I don't love this particular chandelier but I do love chandeliers so this was a go sign. This chandelier is a little country ranch for me and not as romantic as the inspiration board chandeliers (which are EXACTLY the kind of chandeliers I love).

Then I saw the milk and cookies...which is actually kind of funny because my FF has been begging for milk and cookies at the wedding ever since he had them at a wedding reception.

Love the lace around the flowers and the simple monogrammed detail. I don't really have an family heirlooms but if I did I think this would be a great place to add the something borrowed.

I love love love vintage postage stamps. Another unnecessary but amazingly gorgeous detail. This envelope is so darling. I didn't realize how much calligraphy added to an envelope until I got a recent invitation that was handwritten. (I know... I've become a very judgmental and kind of mean bride-to-be... I'm not sure how it happened.)So after seeing this envelope I immediately googled "calligraphy instructions" thinking I could learn to do my own. Then I also checked out the bio of the calligrapher who did these weddings. Turns out she has 20 years experience and was master trained under some uber famous world class instructors. Did you even know that existed? I was pretty sure that I could just go to Staples or Office Max this weekend and pick up a calligraphy pen and figure it out. I think I still might.

I also LOVE LOVE LOVE the lace detail on all the wedding paper. Here's more of the great lace detail on the invitation. These invitations are from Paper Moss which I am super excited about checking out!

Then there is this awesome. Gorgeous cake! I love the subtle details. The colors are even my favorite wedding colors, white, pink and a hint of sage. Gorgeous-ness!! It also looks a lot like a three tiered cake I blogged about previously. That cake was a little more ornate and didn't have any green which almost makes me like this cake more! Also it's a two-tiered cake which my wedding planner says is a more appropriate size for my wedding party. I am not convinced. I still love the idea of three tiers.


Last but certainly not least are my SHOES!! I've seen these shoes everywhere. They've been in at least three wedding posts since I blogged about them. I like them so much but I'm not sure if I should get them now (keep in mind: I have no dress, no location and no color scheme picked). Their still on piperlime... but will they be in a year??

Just another thing to think about...

{Source: Green Wedding Shoes}
I was doing my daily blog circuit and saw this adorable wedding on Green Wedding Shoes. It caught my eye because it is another chandelier alter wedding, which I adore! Then I started to notice all the other details... like these ampersand pictures. HOW ADORABLE. What a great idea!

Then I noticed the aisle runner... I think this an amazing detail. Something I have seen in the past but haven't thought about very seriously. So the google search began, and like everything else wedding-related, it turns out there is an entire industry devoted specifically to wedding runners. A lot of the sites just featured monogrammed runners which isn't really my style. I am not even sure we are doing a monogram. Then I found Wedding Runways...(sigh)... I hate falling in love with new details that I don't need and certainly can't afford but I suppose there is no harm in looking.

The create your own runner feature is kind of fun too!

Love is in the Details {Chandeliers}

The only thing that the FF and I have agreed on is that we want to have an outdoor wedding. One of the things I really don't like about outdoor weddings are the weird floral arches. Ok, that is kind of an understatement. I hate them. They are a deal breaker. I will not get married under a floral arch.

So I've been looking for alternatives to these traditional beach accessory and have fallen in love with chandeliers.

This first wedding is in fact the wedding that inspired me to start a wedding blog. This wedding took my breath away and opened my eyes to the idea of a non-traditional wedding.

{For more from this wedding click here or here}

This is another vintage wedding that I adore. Everything from the jewelry, to the flowers are AMAZING. I also adore all the hairstyles!!


{Lovingly borrowed from GWS}


This last wedding is such an adorable backyard wedding. The bride is just so gorgeous and her dress is kind of amazing.

{More from GWS)}

Here are some other alternatives to those ridiculous (to each his own) floral arches:
{For more click here}

{For more loveliness click here}
This wedding also takes place at Terranea which I've mentioned NUMEROUS times as a possible wedding location.