Project Wedding Blog

There are a lot of things going on over here, but I wanted to give you a sneak preview of a lovely lily of the valley bouquet from next week’s real wedding of the week…

Photo by Little White Dress, Coordination by Alison Events

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“Rich girls don’t marry poor boys, Jay Gatsby”.  When Mia Farrow spoke this line to Robert Redford in The Great Gatsby, that summed up the entire movie.  The mood of the movie, set in the roaring twenties, was light, rich, slathered in fabulous clothing and constant parties.  A roaring twenties theme wedding should be just that – fun and light.

As a 1920’s bride, your dress should be airy and you definitely get extra points for lace.  Here are two pictures of Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby for inspiration.  Her look is ethereal and so pure…perfect for a wedding.  If you opt for a veil, one with a cloche would finish off the look perfectly. Check out this real 1920′s inspired wedding. The bride and groom got the attire just right!

            For the bridesmaids, this picture from a McCall’s pattern shows wonderful choices.  A dress with a drop waist is very indicative of the 1920’s and some light ruffles on the bottom would make a perfect bridesmaid dress.

            A tea party inspired reception would add sophistication and whimsy.  Colors like cream, pinks, light blues, mint greens and other pastel colors would add the perfect look to any tea party reception.  Tea sandwiches, pastel colored macaroons, cookies and cupcakes would finish off the look. 

            Think Art Deco, think jazz, think The Charleston, think excess – and you have all the ingredients for a great 1920’s wedding.

Tags: 1920's, Inspiration.

Good morning! Today is an exciting day because I am introducing our very first guest blogger, Elle! She is one of our most beloved hostesses, and is planning an autumn wedding in Connecticut. Welcome Elle, and thanks for guest blogging today!

From Elle: My honey proposed to me on August 4, 2008.  Although I knew that he was going to ask me to marry him, it came as a total surprise because I was not sure as to when he was going to ask.  I met him at school.  We are both in the same adult accelerated program and will graduate next spring. Our wedding is scheduled for September 19, 2009 at Real Art Ways (art gallery) in Hartford, Connecticut.  We are excited and he has completely immersed himself into the planning (although not as much as I)!  He especially loves the tastings because he has a bottomless pit stomach and I tell him so at least 3 times per day.  He is the only man that I have ever met that has a bigger chocolate craving than I do and I could eat chocolate EVERYDAY!!!

Our wedding vision is modern and somewhat minimalist.  Our colors are ice blue, black and white.  He has left all of the decorations up to me which is just the way that I like it. (:  We are renting everything which gives me creative control right from the beginning.  We have already booked our photographer, DJ, and venue.  We are in the process of booking our day of coordinator, caterer and cake.  We have two tastings for cakes at the end of October and I can hardly contain myself.  Sugar – YUM!

Can’t wait to share ideas with all of you!

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This is a really cute DIY entry from Kristen!

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Paper cranes are a great way to accent a wedding with an Asian theme.  They’re versatile, easy to make, and origami paper is pretty cheap.  You’ll have to bear with me though as my wedding hasn’t happened yet, so the pictures I post really don’t do justice to the project.  My apologies.

How can you use them?
You can use these hanging paper cranes in multiple ways.  As pictured above, they can be creative escort card holders, but be sure to have a sturdy background because the tiniest bit of wind will cause them to twirl around.  If you have a nature theme, you can hang them from a string (use a paper clip as a hook) and put them against a blue background – it’ll be like birds on a wire.  You can also use them as decorations for the various tables (sign in, guest book, buffet, dessert, gifts, etc.), or hang them from manzanita branches in a decorative vase to serve as a centerpiece.

So how do you make them?

Materials:
- origami paper
- thread and needle
- decorative beads (2 sizes)
- scissors

Procedure:
1. Fold origami paper into a paper crane (as demonstrated here)

2. Pick out any kind of beads you want.  For my project, I used opaque white beads that were about 1/4″ in diameter, and clear beads that were about 1/8″ in diameter.  Bought them at Jo Ann’s for about $3.50 total. 

3. Cut a piece of thread into a 7.5 inch strip.  Put the thread through the larger bead (make sure the ends match) and then slip the two ends into the needle.  Take the needle and slip it through the smaller bead.  It should look like the picture below, although I accidentally took off the needle.  Don’t do that, keep the needle on.

4. Then you will take the needle (with the thread and beads) and slip it through the hole at the bottom of the crane.  Then carefully guide the needle straight up so that it punctures the peak of tbe crane’s body, as shown below.

5. Pull the needle through until the beads touch the crane.  Then you’re going to the take the thread and knot it.  It’s best if you use a string-like thread, something with a some grooves; if it’s too thin, it’ll easily slip through the crane.

6. If you’re going to make them as escort card holders, cut a slit between the head and the body.  For these cranes, I cut an “escort card” that was 1″ x 3″.

The origami paper I used was roughly 4.5″ x 4.5″.  It doesn’t produce a large crane, as the picture below shows (the crane is being compared to a Dove promise chocolate):

How is Kristen going to use them?
I’m getting some branches, spray painting them a light gold, and putting them in a cylindrical vase with leaves wrapped around the inside.  I’ll hang about 50 paper cranes (it only took me a few hours to string them as my MOH was kind enough to fold them) and will put the vase on the escort card table so that the cranes are hanging over the tented cards.  I was going to put votive candles underneath but realized that the heat wouldn’t be good with the paper cranes.  Maybe I’ll get those flickering light kind of votives.  Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of all this just yet.  Check my bio in about 5 months.

But you can really make this your own – origami paper comes in all sorts of designs and you can get colorful with different beads and thread.  You can even hang multiple cranes on one thread (make sure the knot is big enough so the cranes don’t slide through).  Get creative and have fun!

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Welcome to The Inspired Bride!

I’m so excited about our new blog branding and our fresh new design. Our awesome graphic designer, Marissa, redesigned the blog to reflect the look and feel of the rest of our site, incorporating an elegant color palette and a romantic lily of the valley letterpress style header.

What do you think of the new design? =)

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This ultra-chic DIY entry comes from the extremely talented TheChicBride. She created this gorgeous white pomander with crystal bead tie and a crystal dragonfly accent. Fabulous!

Materials:

-(15) 2.5 inch silk ranunculus heads

-(15) 2 inch silk ranunculus heads

-4 inch white styrofome ball

-Glue gun

-12 inch crystal strand

-Crystal dragonfly bouquet stick

-Wire cutters

Instructions:

1. Take crystal stand and hot glue it to the styrofome ball. Make sure to use a generous amount of glue so the strand will hold.

2. Please allow 30 minutes for glue to set completely before adding flowers.

3. remove flower heads from stems.

4. Add a generous amount of hot glue to the back of the flower head and attach to ball.

5. Please allow 5 minutes for glue to get.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 untill your ball is completely covered.

7. Once the ball is completely covered with flowers, it is time to add the crystal dragonly bouquet stick.

8. Snip the metal stem of teh dragonfly bouquet stick with wire cutters so that the stick will only be approx 2 to 3 inches long.

9. Add a bit of hot glue to the back of the dragonfly bouquet stick.

10. Place stick where ever desired and press lightly. Allow 5 to 10 minutes to adhere.

Voila!!!! You have just made a pomander.

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I am loving all the DIY entries coming in! Mhudnall made this creative and eco-chic centerpiece using produce from her local farmers markets! I love the finished look, and best of all her centerpiece is not only beautiful and earth friendly, it’s also extremely budget friendly as well. Here are her detailed directions on how to make this beautiful wedding centerpiece!

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