Wedding Blog

I sent out a query earlier in the week to find some interesting wedding ideas from all around the country. I received an overwhelming response. Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing some of those items with you. Some are eco-friendly, some are money-savers and some are just cool. Today, I have something that is just cool to share with you.

Melissa Dinwiddie is an artist who creates custom wedding invitations, Ketubahs (Jewish marriage contracts) and Quaker wedding certificates… Actually, if its on paper, Melissa can create something extraordinary. Enjoy the photos of her work below!

I love this set of invitations with matching Ketubah. It would match beautifully with a peacock-themed wedding.

This is another example of a matching wedding invitation/Ketubah ensemble. Absolutely stunning.

Melissa gets her inspriation from by historical design (Arts & Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau), and lately she has been inspired by the calligraphic watercolors of Adolf Bernd.

Melissa meets with clients who want custom work, so they can design together. For couples who aren’t local to her studio in San Fransisco, Melissa works with them via fax and email. Custom designs can be expensive ($1000.00 and up), but fear not, she created a line of prints, which are printed with archival inks on the same watercolor paper she uses for her custom art, but much more affordable.

The new trend Melissa is seeing is to use Quaker marriage certificates in lieu of a guest book. She uses one of her beautiful designs and leaves space for guests to sign.

If you have any ideas or comments about wedding invitation ensembles, Ketubahs or Quaker marriage certificates, I want to hear about it. Post a message for me here or email me at susan.southerland(at)pwg.com.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

Couples ask me all the time for appropriate ways to memorialize relatives and friends at their weddings. If you follow my blog, you will remember I did an entry in July where I discussed that memorializing a loved-one should be done carefully, because you do not want to detract from the wedding celebration. Well, yesterday, I did a beautiful wedding where the couple chose, what I thought, was a perfect rememberance for relatives who had passed as well an honor for those who are alive and significant in their lives.

The florist wired the frames to ribbon and hung the frames on the pews. Later, we removed the ribbons and displayed the photos on the DJ table at the reception. All the guests loved it! I thought it was an especially nice touch that some of the photos were wedding photos of the brides and groom’s parents.

If you have questions on this or any other wedding related topic, please post for me here or send me an email to susan.southerland@pwg.com. Also become a fan on Facebook by clicking here and follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

You have heard me talk and talk about the hot trend of peacock feathers and colors. Well my good friend Lana Pelham-Faulkner from Fairbanks Florist posted a peacock-themed wedding that she recently designed on her Facebook page. When I saw the photos, I knew I knew I had to share them with you. Enjoy!

Lana: The bride came with an open mind regarding her flowers, but she knew one thing that would be certain for her wedding, Peacock feathers would be used to accent everything! However, she liked the look of the feather without the fringe; she only wanted the amazing color and clean look of just the eye.

Lana: I took a design concept where I had layered individual eucalyptus leaves in rows to cover a surface, so I suggested a two sided fan covered with the peacock feather eyes. I would then use paphiopedilum orchids, fiddle fern and colored wire coming up out of the slit between the fans in an architectural row along the top creating a truly fun and funky look for her special day.

Lana: We implemented other types of orchids and flowers to pull the colors of lime green and dark blue for her Maid of Honor bouquet and throughout the remainder of the floral decor for her ceremony and reception.

Lana: I came up with the idea for a funky architectural cake top implementing the paphiopedilum orchids and fiddle ferns. She and I had a great collaboration and the end result was a one of a kind cake that really depicted the look and feel that the couple wanted to share with their guests on their wedding day.

Thank you to Val Becker for the beautiful images.

If you have questions on this or any other wedding related topic, please post for me here or send me an email to susan.southerland(at)pwg.com. Also become a fan on Facebook by clicking here and follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

I can’t recall the last time I put an exclamation point in a headline. That should tell you how enthusiastic I am about these boutonnieres.

Many, many times throughout the years, I have walked up to a groom or groomsman to pin a boutonniere on their lapel only to be met with a wrinkled facial expression and a smart comment about not wanting to wear a corsage. A lot of men don’t like to wear flowers! I have always been in search of really cool, non-floral boutonnieres. A few weeks ago, I stumbled on a website that made me dance in my seat. Check these boutonnieres out.

I spoke with Erin Rosenow, the creative mind behind these gorgeous boutonnieres. She said that she was inspired to create these unusual boutonnieres because she felt that the boys and some girls too, didn’t want to always wear a rose or an orchid. “Weddings always seem so geared towards the bride and I thought something personal for the groom would be really sweet.” Rosenow said.

The price ranges for the boutonnieres vary between $30-$125 depending on the materials needed and Rosenow says she loves custom requests.

“That is pretty much what most of this business is all about,” Rosenow said. “I just finished a wedding where the groom loved this certain cartoon from Japan in the early 80’s so I had to track down something that would work for him. It was tough but in the end they were really happy.”

You can check out more of these cool boutonnieres at http://www.rosenowfloral.com/frittsrosenow/

If you have questions or comments on this or any other wedding related topic, please leave a post for me here or email me directly at susan.southerland@pwg.com.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan

I enjoyed researching this throw back immensely! I got such a chuckle looking at the hairstyles and the attire. I totally rocked one of the bridesmaid’s hairstyles (second one from the left, top photo). I found these fabulous photos on www.willyoubemybridesmaidblog.com/. Check them out an see what brides of decades past made their closest friends wear.

A teal dress with puffy sleeves was the height of fashion. Anyone out there remember shoulder pads?

I remember multi-colored bridesmaids as well. Is this a trend that should come back?

If you want more information on selecting bridesmaids’ dresses, check out this article on PerfectWeddingGuide.com. As always, if you have comments or questions about this topic or any other wedding-related topic, leave a post for me here or email me at susan.southerland@pwg.com.

Your partner in perfect planning,

Susan