In With the Old and a Slight Twist of New!

I hope you all are surviving the beginning of summer by keeping cool and drinking your gatorade! To start-off this month I wanted to talk about a trend that all the bridal magazines are talking about - as well as I'm hearing it from several brides - and that is VINTAGE!

If you have a Vintage client, the first thing to do is to determine WHAT time period they are talking about - Vintage can mean different things to different people. It could be Vintage 30's, Vintage WWII Generation ('40's), Vintage 20's ... perhaps they mean Vintage Swing ('50's). Once you have the time period nailed down, then research becomes a lot easier!

In this particular blog I'm going to tackle the Vintage 30's with a touch of glam which means opulence, feathers, crystals, sparkle (but in a glam way, not in a Vegas way!), lush flowers like roses, peonies, hydrangeas, etc.

THE INVITATION

Well, as we all know, most of our brides and grooms choose their invites, many times before they even meet us. But I couldn't resist introducing these great invite ideas, which could also be utilized as accents in escort cards, place cards and table markers. I absolutely love this accent which was found at Imagine Wedding in the UK. And these classic, yet beautiful lines done by Ceci New York and Scriptura are absolutely delightful! I especially love the texture and beauty of this pink invite, also done by Ceci New York.

THE CEREMONY

I think there are several different ways you can go with a ceremony, depending on your bride and groom. One way is to go crystals - crystal everything - crystal ceremony aisle, crystal accents on programs, falling off of ceremony chairs, etc. The problem with crystals (at least here in Vallarta) is they are very very $$$ (as you all know!). So, unless you have a client dripping with money, it will be out of the majority of our clients' price range.

The other option would be to go with feathers. Feather everything. I think this look could be beautiful, if done right (and not look like a chicken coup!!). But, while more cost effective than crystals, feathers here in Vallarta are still $$. I hate to spend a lot of money on a ceremony when the ceremony doesn't become something else (i.e. say the dance floor later on, or a lounge).

Third option, which is the one I'm going to show you, would be to flower it up!! Big luscious roses, peonies, and other really open, old-world flowers are the most inexpensive choice and look amazing. I love this ceremony huppah I found at Love and Splendor. I also love this combination of roses and crystals found at The Spiraled Stem.

THE BOUQUET

So many beautiful bouquets, it was hard to choose. But I fell in love especially with these feathery creations by Michelle Rago and found at Toast and Tables. The contrast of the dark feathers with the white flowers, I think is really dramatic! For something a little simpler, but still in the Vintage theme, I also think this white/cream bouquet found at Snippet and Ink fits the style with understated elegance.

CENTERPIECES

Oodles and oodles of ideas! But some of the most interesting ones I found was this urn filled with flowers at Touch of Class. While I know it's not something we could easily purchase here, it is something that we can make - not exactly but in a similar style!! Also of note, this chandelier style found at Wedding Announcer and these hanging crystal votives found at Half Value. But what really is over the top, Vintage glam has to be this amazing feather centerpiece found at Dove Wedding Photography. My absolute favorite, however, I found here at Love and Splendor and have every intention of capturing at least the idea of this centerpiece.

SPECIAL TOUCHES
So many special touches!! Place card stands from Snippet and Ink as well as beaded purse accent. These beautiful votive ideas by Eco Art Weddings are wrapped in a pretty fabric and accented with left-over costume jewelry and they utilized a similar technique with these pretty napkin rings! I love this crystal butterfly place card stand found at The Knot as well as these pretty ringing silver bells. And last, but not least, is this wine glass accent found at Brilliant Wedding Jewelry.

THE CAKE

I thought I might have a hard time finding a cake, but no, they were everywhere! The beautiful peach cake with crystal bow accents was found at Cake That. Next to it is the exquisite, white, silver-beaded veiled affair found at The House of Clarendon. Underneath we have the jeweled top affair found at Snippet and Ink and next to it is the elegant, yet simple concoction found at Wedding Vendor Guide. At the bottom, from left to right, we have Signes Bakery, a knot pick found at The Knot and my personal favorite, of course at Lovin Sullivan Cakes!

I trust there were enough pictures in this blog to keep you busy for a while! I'm not sure what I have up my sleeve exactly mid-month, but I do believe it will touch on place cards/escort cards and table markers!

Dramatic Black and White with Splash of Red!

What a whirlwind couple of weeks! I found some really beautiful things and I can't wait to share it with you, so here it is!

I love the dramatic theme of a black and white wedding, but I do feel like there needs to be a splash of color somewhere to give it some "oomph" ... whether it's red, mango, lime green, yellow ... I chose to go with red for this blog because it feels so Spanish to me and ties in well with a lot of our villa settings.


The Invitations
I fell in love with these invitations when I was designing an event a few months back. These are designed by Kenzie Kate and I think they are absolutely wonderful!

The Bouquet
Black magic roses, crimson calla lilies and feathers ... what's not to love?!! I would add a beautiful beaded trim and wa-la, gorgeous! I found these bouquets at The Knot. Of course, you know I try to stick to things we can actually get here in Vallarta and as you all know, beautiful beaded trim is usually something not readily available, as these are at MJ Trim. However, beads are available, and that's what I would do for this particular bouquet - make some beaded ribbon to accomplish a similar look!

The Ceremony
So much depends on the location, of course. But I love the idea of incorporating some detailed lace with sparkling crystals (Black White Bliss)! And these fans are a wonderful idea that I have every intention of incorporating somehow (found at The Bride's Cafe and created by Oh How Charming).

The Cocktail
For whom, and how I would use this idea, I'm not sure. But in this particular blog of black and white, here's a GREAT idea to recreate an old-fashioned look in a way that we can actually "find" here in Vallarta! These are just fabric covers over boxes but painted to look like furniture, found at Black White Bliss. I love this idea and I'm sure you'll see it one day in one of our designs!

The Reception
I couldn't find anything that really represents in my head when I think about this particular black and white with splashes of red look, but the idea is to print off a piece, such as this tango artwork and wrap it around a hurricane vase to create centerpieces. Then I would add a black tablecloth with white lace runner, similar to the photo (Easy Street Antiques), and some sort of red, white and black printed napkin (Saffron Marigold). I love this burnt number look and would incorporate that into the table numbers as well as the place cards (Black and White Bliss). Then, as the final finishing touches. a couple of filigree red lanterns and clear candles (Illumination) and you're ready to go!

The Dance Floor
I think red hanging lanterns with an arabesque touch would be a great touch and I love the way they are represented in this photo, found once again at the Brides Cafe and created by Oh How Charming. I'm sure you're wondering, "How on earth would you get something that looked like those lanterns here" and all I'm going to say is there are ways! If I gave you all my secrets what would you need us for?? :)

The Cake/Cupcake
I love both this cake (Glass Slipper Gourmet) and this amazing cupcake decor (Black White Bliss) equally, so it would be really hard to make a decision and would have to be up to the bride and groom's preference! But great ideas, nevertheless!

Well, that's it for mid-month. Next month I'm going to tackle the next current and upcoming trend which is vintage, vintage and vintage!

Mexico Chic Wedding!

Wedding Date: May 24, 2008
Location: Villa Crescencia
Wedding Coordinator: Vows Vallarta
Months of work: 4 months

Here it is, the event we've been working months on! The bride wanted her guests to have a true Mexican experience, but not in the "commercial" sense of the word. It was a fun, exciting project! Here is an example of my idea page which I used to inspire me as I created her design:

The Bouquet
The bride wanted calla lilies, but they weren't available. So, we decided on stargazers and roses. My favorite part of the bouquet was her accent ribbon and I was very excited when I found it when I was out shopping!

Bridal Bouquet

Bridesmaids and Bridal Bouquet

The Ceremony

So, we decided to create a papel picado huppah with the bride and grooms names and date of their wedding etched inside, atop a platform built especially for them, so their guests could see them better. We also had sandalwood fan favors with beads in the bride's colors of fuchsia and orange as well as seashell accents and chocolate brown ribbon. The bride and groom weren't real "seashell" people but, when I asked them for their invitation, their invitation had a seashell on it so I knew I needed to have a few accents of seashells spread through-out the wedding.

The Cocktail
After the ceremony, we took the ceremony chairs into the reception area and brought down cocktail tables which were covered with a rich chocolate brown and candles wrapped in orange, fuchsia, gold, chocolate brown and pink chiffon. The villa chairs were alternately covered in chocolate brown or various shades of chiffon. Adobe candles were also spread through-out the cocktail area.

Escort Cards and Drink Sign
The bride wasn't real crazy about fresh flowers, so we made paper flowers! The escort cards were propped-up in a large handmade paper flower rose. Drink Signs were modeled after the bride and groom's invitation, down to the cream and white striped background!

The Reception
Tables were covered with a beautiful sand/fuchsia tinted chiffon fabric and we used ordinary pinata bases for centerpieces but dressed them up with handmade paper rose and lily flowers and rocks. Table signs were various seashell photographs. Surrounding the paper flower centerpieces were adobe candles. I found out a few days before that two children were expected, so we bought and propped-up some toys at their place setting for them to enjoy! Napkins in sunburst orange were placed on the talavera dinnerware with the place cards. Paper flowers in orange, fuchsia and white were wrapped around the wine stems and indicated who was eating meat, fish or vegetarian!

The After Party
After dinner, guests were invited back into the previous cocktail area where we had lit the over 400 candles which were scattered through-out the villa as well as the hand-made beaded lanterns which framed the dance floor. The bride and groom had also supplied party masks which were displayed on the various cocktail tables. Hand-made floating lanterns were aglow in the pool - truly beautiful!

The Cake (cupcake tower!)
The bride and groom actually had a cupcake tower and, while we decorated the cupcake tower itself, the cupcakes were done by Charme! The cupcakes were adorned with the same seashell accent as their invitation and, as promised in a previous blog, the bride and groom cupcake were a dress and suit respectively. They were a big hit!

That's all for now ... mid-month I will tackle the black and white trend. Until then, have a great rest of the month!