Trendy Wednesday: Patterned Bliss

Trendy Wednesday: Jenna Paniccia

One of my favorite things about event planning is being inspired by the littlest things. Whether it is a color, a word, or picture in a magazine, it is an amazing feeling to be inspired and have a vision come to life.

What inspires me the most is patterns. The idea of mixing and matching patterns allows for a specific type of design and appeal to the eye. Patterns can be used on such a broad spectrum that the idea tends to scare people away. The best thing about using patterns when designing a wedding is that everything doesn’t have to match perfectly.

Most people compare this concept of mixing patterns to clothing. Maybe you wouldn’t wear orange floral pants with a chevron purple top, but let’s think about this in terms of decor design. An orange floral table linen adorned with a purple chevron napkin would give the most elegant contrast. With floral arrangements and glass dinnerware, this combination would be stunning.

My suggestion would be to play with pattern and color. Go to a fabric store or pick up some paint swatches or pattern scrapbook paper and play with different combinations. This will give you an idea of what is appealing to the eye and what is overbearing. The great thing about using patterns is that it can be incorporated in so many different things.

• Different tiers of your wedding cake can include a pattern
• Invitations and seating cards can be adorned with different patterns
• Table linens and napkins can have patterns as opposed to solid fabric choices
• Decor involving ribbon or throw pillows can be a fun way to add a touch of pattern

The ideas are endless and so much fun! Here are some inspiration photos to get your minds thinking. If you’re nervous to try this pattern idea for your big day test it out with a small get together with friends or even your bridal shower. You might end up surprisingly impressed.

Photo Credit: onetowed.com, saltcitycake.blogspot.com, ruffledblog.com, dawnphoto.com, brides.com, decorpad.com, apartmenttherapy.com, hollymathisinteriors.com

Trendy Wednesday: All in the Invite

Trendy Wednesday by Jenna Paniccia

The second your wedding invitations hit the mail, your wedding has officially begun! Wedding invitations set the mood for what your guests will be experiencing on your big day. It’s a way to show off the ambiance and excitement that your wedding will be filled with.

There is so much to consider when choosing wedding invitations. All the little details can make a huge impact on something so quaint.

When considering the style of your invitations I think it’s best to design around your wedding colors versus your wedding theme. Invitations are planned out early in the wedding process. Most brides find a color palette that they love and stick with it; but when it comes to design of the wedding, theme changes are endless. Also, keep your personalities in mind. Do you want your wedding to be traditional and classic, or is your wedding going to be eccentric? Your answer to this question says a lot about the look and feel of your wedding invitations.

Planning the invitations can be a little stressful, and the less stress the better! Looking through invitations and finding details from a few that you love and then applying those details to your own invitations helps make the process run more smoothly. When you have a visual of something you really like it’s easier to come up with an overall concept.

Make sure to shop around before choosing a vendor! Invitations can get a little pricey, so it’s easy to go over-board. Really think about if you want to send a save the date, if you need to include directions for the venue, whether you’ll have a seated dinner with entrée options or a buffet style event… all of these questions can change the price of the overall outcome. Make sure the stationer you pick really understands what you are looking for before sending your design to print! Requesting a sample is always best to make sure you love the invitation as much as you love your dress.

Keep in mind that your invitation is like the pictures from your wedding. Ten years from now, you’ll want to look back and have fond memories of the whole process. Make sure you love every aspect that goes into the design and be proud to drop them in the mail. Have fun with it, be creative, and keep the invitations true to you.

Photo credit: ruffhouseart.com, vponsale.com, onewed.com, weddinginvitationscards.com, ohsobeautifulpaper.com, mostweddingflowerideas.com

Invitation Arrival

Diary of a Bride to Be by Lauren Cooper

We got our invitations in the mail yesterday!  But not without some heart dropping drama, first. 

Alicia, from A&P designs told me last Monday that our invites had shipped and that we should expect them on Thursday (3/1).  Since we had plans to go skiing this past weekend, I arranged for our awesome neighbors to look out for them and bring them to safety.  Thursday and Friday came and went without their arrival. Finally, on Saturday upon hearing from our neighbor that they still hadn’t come, I contacted Alicia who tracked the package for me.  Apparently, the Post Office “left a notice” on Wednesday stating that it required a signature.  Well, this “notice”  must have been from the wizarding world of Harry Potter because IT WASN’T THERE.  Fuming, I attempted to call the post office and guess what?  They were already closed.  And the automated lady that I tried to give my tracking number to was deaf to my requests. 

Needless to say, the fiance and I both started to panic, thinking the post office would return the package to Florida, from where it came.  Worrying, I called my Mom, even though there was nothing that we could do until Monday.  My ever humorous step father reminded me that “the Post office is probably too lazy to return the package.  They’ll hold it for you”.  Mom also assured me that unlike UPS or FedEx, the P.O has records of our mail and address and know that we live there.  And they were both right.  After calling early Monday morning, I told the P.O woman that we would be in to pick up the package later that afternoon.  And they were still there! 🙂  The box looked like it had been attacked by a dog but the invites inside were more beautiful than I had imagined!!  Now to assemble and send out! 🙂  Special thanks to A&P Designs!

Pretty Paper

Diary of a Bride to Be by Lauren Cooper

The good news is the save the dates are all sent out!  (Well, except for one) The bad news is, with the response I got from our save the dates, I now feel like the stationary I had originally picked out is below par.  😦 Yea, I know I said I didn’t want anything fancy because people just throw it out, blah, blah.  And I still feel that way, which is which I’m trying to find pretty stationary for a good price.  

So I’ve gone back to the drawing board to look at more invitation options.  We’ve been traveling so much on the weekends, that spending an entire day at a stationary store is sort of out of the question.  I also feel I’ve exhausted my options through places like Minted and Wedding Paper Divas.  And so back to trusted Etsy I go.  I swear I should start a fan club for this site.  Who knew how many thousands of stationers are on Etsy?  It kind of makes my head spin.

So far I’ve reached out to five vendors whose work I really liked.  I requested samples and pricing and started an excel sheet to compare.  Obsessive?  Yea, maybe.  But there’s so many different options for stationary that it’s impossible to keep straight if I don’t have it written down.  There’s letterpress, thermography, and offset printing.  Then you have to choose how many enclosure cards you want, and what sort of card stock you want to print on…oh and some places offer menus and thank you card printing while others don’t.  It’s all very confusing.  The good thing is:  I can go custom made!  Which is really what I’ve wanted from the very beginning;  something that incorporates our theme and personal style onto an invitation.  And the prices?  SO much better for work that is created just for YOU!  Yay.  🙂

TODs Tip of the Day – SPARKle!

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Valerie from fabulous letterpress company Spark at a trunk show at Kate’s Paperie in SoHo. And it was gorgeous, girls! Going letterpress is a slightly more expensive, but worth the additional cost to create a luxurious feeling and texture to your invitation suite. The texture is divine, and I love how the Spark team embosses a single color on the same color paper for a subtle and beautiful look. Not to mention this brand is eco friendly and offers price breaks on these items such as RSVP postcards vs. envelopes. Here are some of my favorites!

TOD says: Make your invites SPARKle!

How To – Little Known Paperies

How To by Jennifer Crone

There’s something to be said for some of the well known online invitation shops. You can get something easy, templated, and simple. But if you want something different that you can guarantee that no one has seen before, try these presses out:

• 

  Milkmaid Press

  Milkmaid Press With invites as sweet as their name, you can’t lose if you’re having a wedding on the casual side. Try their Dragonfly invitation for a spring garden wedding or Aquarelle for a beautiful fresh watercolored spring palette. The folks at Milkmaid can also do custom orders and are very affordable. That’s what we like to see.

• Olive Hue For thick paper and custom letterpress in unique and organic shapes, Olive Hue is for you. Bonus: They make jewelry as well.
• Paperfinger If you care more about calligraphy than embellishments, Paperfinger is your perfect source for all things hand drawn and texted. And I don’t mean with a cell phone. They are also happy to work with couples having an eco friendly wedding in several ways.
• By Invitation Only This Etsy-an knows how to make invites, in sweet little packages complete with belly bands and all. Johnny and River Street are my favorites.
• 

  Lucky Luxe

  Artful Beginnings Fabric Invites? Um, yes please. Also try Lucky Luxe for beautiful invites on hankies. Because some people get teary during nuptials, and because hankies last longer than paper.

 

Fashion Fever – Halloween Chic

Fashion Fever by Zilia Munguia

October is just around the corner and that means Halloween fashion, but Halloween themed weddings don’t need to follow the traditional black and orange route.  If you want to try something new and darker go for an elegant gothic themed wedding.  People will be sure to remember your wedding for all the right reasons and no one will be able to deny the beauty of your one of a kind wedding.

Vera Wang Gown, photograph by Jose Villa

The gown is the main event in a wedding so awe guests with a stunning non-conventional wedding dress! These days wedding dresses come in all different styles, lengths, and colors and can still maintain the same beauty and elegance that is found in the traditional white dress. This beautiful A-Line black dress demonstrates that even with an adventurous color like black elegance and sophistication is not lost or compromised.  Max Chaoul, a Parisian designer has introduced and continues to design amazing gowns that step outside the traditional box.

It’s important to make sure the bridesmaids look like they are going to the same wedding as the bride especially when taking on a theme wedding. A deep red colored bridesmaid dress will bring a pop of color to a primarily dark wedding. Jessica McClintock has great dresses that will surely have bridesmaids excited to wear their dress!

Burberry Cufflinks from Nordstrom

Accessories bring an outfit together and can help showcase the theme of your wedding.  Burberry studded cuff links bring edginess to a groom’s suit while remaining chic and sophisticated.  Brides and bridesmaids can accessorize with jewelry from Nana Fabella, which offers unique pieces from pearl necklaces to spider chain glovettes that will impress.

Damask design patterns, which originate from European Gothic architecture brings a sense of old world charm and drama to a wedding.  Beane and Co offers flower girl dresses with damask patterns along with matching ties for ring bearers and adults. Ceci New York offers high end, one of a kind invitation that is well worth the extra cost.  Add this design to a wedding cake to bring the whole Gothic concept together.

Be proud to be different and incorporate non-traditional themes into your wedding!

How To – Everything Etsy

How To by Jennifer Crone

All of you dedicated readers know that at Private Receptions we’re all about value and uniqueness and that includes etsy shopping. Most of my themed wedding posts have items hand picked from Etsy. For those of you who don’t know, straight from the horses mouth, “Our mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice: Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.” Etsy spans the globe with buyers and sellers coming from more than 150 countries. You can get some amazing vintage, antique, or hand made items for your wedding, registry, or everyday life. But with so much content, how do you sift through the sea to find what you’re looking for? Here’s How To:

Ouma dress

Search! Just like google, searching for what you want can be helpful…obviously! If you’re trying to find, say, a unique decor item you can search using their super helpful advanced search tool – You can even shop by color! My advice? Browse Etsy without something in mind, but instead let your mouse do the walking. How else will you find a great item like these vintage hand-stamped carnival tickets? Use them as a centerpiece for your casual wedding by placing your flower pots on top of the rolls. Unique and fun!

Go to the editor’s picks section for the best of the best. They see everything that goes into Etsy and know what’s what. Favorite the items or shop you come across that you like, even if that’s not what you’re looking for now. It builds an online rolodex of your fav sellers so later when you know you want a ceramic bowl you can easily find it!

What about your wedding? You can have an entirely Etsy wedding, from a handmade bridesmaid clutch to your invitations. They have an entire category of Wedding items and even a sub category of Something Blue. Thanks Etsy!

Stumped? Start with my favorite shops!

• Sarah Seven – Gorgeous hand made clothes
• Cozy Blue – Doesn’t the name make you want to cuddle by the fireplace?
• Paper Finger – amazing calligraphy
• Whimsy and Spice – always delicious
• Element Clay Studio – all these pieces are dying to be in your home
• Ouma – Carry Bradshaw meets…the woods
• Derby Blue – check it out, these are my paintings

How To-Themed Wedding: Alice in Wonderland

How To by Jennifer Crone

With the new movie making waves at the box office all things are Alice this spring, and we’re inspired. There are many ways Alice in Wonderland can come to fruition as a themed wedding: you can do black and red and incorporate the playing cards aspect for a dramatic evening affair, or bright vivid yellows, pinks, blues and greens for a pumped up floral theme. We’re inspired by the original book by Lewis Carroll, and the romance and fun of the tea party. A theme can be subtly incorporated or totally flushed out depending on your style and vision. Here’s my vision of an Alice in Wonderland themed wedding and How To:

sources clockwise from top left: (all sweets) Laurel Avenue Bakery, (all paper) The Whimsical Paperie, Little Angels Jewelry, Brian Hagiwara for Rachel Ray, Kate Sears for Rachel Ray, Disney Swarovski, Vera Wang gowns, Anthrologie lamp, Relic pocket watch, Sarah Drake photography, Getty Images, Digby & Iona ring, Martha Stewart Weddings, Disney necklace, Chattsworth Garden maze

The overall look and feel (theme) of your wedding starts with the very first piece of wedding accoutrement your guests receive: The invitation. For this throwback theme choose a vintage drawing from the original book like the white rabbit looking at his pocket watch. And be sure to tell your guests to wear tea attire! For the venue choose something fantastical and elegant like a garden or estate with a maze: You’ll have amazing photographs and your guests will definitely have fun!

Choose spring flowers in a mixture of colors and textures. No monotone bouquets for the wonderland bride. Incorporate flowers into tea cups for centerpieces: buy a bunch of mismatched vintage tea cups and give them to your florist to create an illusory masterpiece teetering with flowers or potted plants. For the rest of your decor mix and match fresh spring pastels with vintage elegance. Think antique wooden clocks hanging around the room with a fresh coat of robins egg blue and pin tuck yellow paint.  Dress your maids in pale blue and include Alice themed jewelry. Designers are very inspired by the classic this season; try one of Swarovski’s for Disney pieces. Give your groom a pocket watch as a wedding present so he won’t be late for any important dates!

In lieu of a traditional cake have a dessert bar with variety for guests to taste. The mushrooms pictured by Laurel Avenue Bakery are actually made from meringues. Incorporate notes and tags with lines from the book like “Eat Me” on your menu card and “Drink Me” attached to your wine glasses. Have fun with this theme; Alice would!