SHE's Crafty: Props

Props.  These could also be called accessories.  It is currently a trend to use props and accessories to make weddings unique and fun!  Whether they be used for engagement photo sessions, wedding ceremony decorations, or for the reception, props are making a grand debut for many weddings.  The types of props I’m referring to are banners that read things like “Happily Ever After”, “Save the Date” or “Thank You” displayed in photos, chalkboards with thought bubbles or wedding dates used in photos, and the subject of this blog post: the ampersand.  If you don’t know what an ampersand is, it’s the “&” symbol.  Currently it is a great little prop used when the bride-to-be and groom-to-be stand next to each other, each holding onto the ampersand, representing their unity.  I LOVED this idea, so I had to make one, covered in moss.

MATERIALS:

1 Ampersand (I found a cork board shaped like an ampersand at JoAnn Fabrics on clearance.  You can also find wooden or cardboard ones at fabric stores.  If you’re super crafty, I’m sure you could cut one out of cardboard as well.)

1 Bag of Craft Moss

Spray Adhesive

DIRECTIONS:

These directions are pretty simple and won’t take you long.  Learning by trial and error, spray glue worked the best for me based on the cork board material.

1)      Spray a small area of the ampersand that you will be covering.  Take a generous amount of the craft moss and place it where you’d like to go on the ampersand.  Apply slight pressure to make sure it will stick.

2)      Repeat step one until the entire ampersand is covered.

3)      After the whole thing is covered, I sprayed mine with another round of glue, just to make sure it would stick.

One thing I did not do but think would make it easier to hold for the couple would be to add handles on the back.  I would suggest if you’d like to do this, apply them BEFORE you put any moss on the front.

That’s really all it takes!  I don’t have any photos of my particular prop being used yet, but here are a few examples of what can be done:  

Something Blue

 

Photo courtesy of Kelly is Nice

This kicks off our SHE’s Trendy blog series (no pun intended J)!  Starting in October, on the 3^rd Friday of every month, yours truly will be blogging about a current wedding trend.  We’ll post pictures, explain its origin, who’s doing it, who’s not, why it’s on our radar, etc.  If there is a trend that you love and plan to incorporate it into your wedding, shoot us an email at info@stellaharperevents.com , let us know what it is and we’ll feature it in one of our posts.  Alright, now to the shoes…

Years ago a bride’s shoes were just meant to coordinate with her dress.  To somewhat blend in, going unnoticed.  Things have changed dramatically!  More and more brides are choosing to wear a shoe that coordinates with their bridesmaid’s dresses, color scheme or what we’ll be focusing on in this blog, their “something blue.”  We love this trend!  Whether you’re wearing a blue shoe or blue embellishments on your shoes, it’s something that stands out, that gives a fresh twist to a long standing tradition and we think it’s just fabulous!  

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something BLUE.  Have you ever wondered how this tradition began?  These good luck charms originated from an Old English rhyme ("Something Olde, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, A Sixpence in your Shoe").  Traditionally, a bride will add these four items to her bridal attire or carry them during the wedding.  Something blue represents love, purity, and fidelity.  Most brides mothers followed this tradition and their mothers before them, but just because we’ve been doing it for hundreds of years doesn’t mean we can’t add a little twist to the tradition! 

Here are some pictures taken by Kelly Lewis of Kelly is Nice photography.  She’s AMAZING and so are these pictures!  They totally capture this trend!

 

For more information on Kelly, visit her website at www.kellyisnice.com (and check back for her Vendor Spotlight on our blog in November!)

Coral and Turquoise

So what is the first thing you come up with when planning your wedding? After all of the years of dreaming and scheming, flipping through magazines, and cutting out pictures? The color scheme! But do you ever get stuck after that point trying to find unique and beautiful concepts for your wedding to fit in with that color scheme? Well, we are here to help you find those unique and beautiful concepts! Just like the DIY blog posts, we are going to be posting new ideas every two weeks specifically by color scheme. Let us know if you are having trouble with your color scheme or if you're just looking for new ideas.

For this post we are going to work on the popular color scheme of coral and turquoise. These two bright colors really compliment each other, and there are so many things out there that incorporate them together. Something casual or on the beach comes to mind when thinking about these colors, so the ideas and suggestions below are focused for that type of wedding. Check out the links at the bottom to find these items for sale.


IDEAS:

The wedding invitation really sets the mood and idea for a wedding. It's the first thing a guest sees, and they can pull hints as to what type of atmosphere to expect at the wedding by looking at it. The invitation below gives the feeling of a casual beach wedding. It is also a great use of the coral (color and literal sea object) and turquoise.

Once your guests have an idea of the theme and color scheme of your wedding, it is time to choose the little details that bring the whole event together.

The first thing guests will see are of the ceremony decorations. For a beach wedding it is nice to keep things simple. The simpler, the cleaner. Some people choose not to set up chairs and just let the guests stand to watch the ceremony. If you do choose to have chairs, either line the aisles with something simple like flower petals, or just add some color on the arch.

The next thing the guests see will be the bridal party. Here is a great dress from JCrew that would be fabulous on the beach, and comes in a gorgeous turquoise color. This color is currently on sale for $139.99, so your girls will love you!

Pair it will this great necklace from Etsy and they will look stunning! How cute are the cupcake color holders; it's a great alternative to trying to make the frosting bright colors (if the frosting was turquoise you'd have a lot of guests with blue mouths!)

To make the groomsmen look just as great as the bridesmaids, get them a tie that brings in both colors, like the tie below. The pattern on this tie keeps the groomsmen from being outshown by the bridesmaids jewelry/dress combination. White chairs help not to distract from the real color scheme of turquoise and coral.

And of course the most important look of the wedding day is the bride. Although the beach is a casual place to be, you can still stun your guests with a gorgeous dress. Going with a fabric like chiffon moves well with a breeze that may come in near the water. To tie in the color from your bridesmaids dresses, go with a great pair of turquoise shoes like the ones below. Adding a punch of color with the shoes can make your outfit more fun! Turquoise shoes can also be your something blue!

For the bridal bouquet, go with a combination of white and orange/coral flowers to balance out all of the blue from the dresses and shoes. Using some orange and white roses mixed with different shades of orange calla lillies gives the bouquet a light look, but also very beautiful. Using an orange calla lily for the guys' boutonnieres will match the ties as well as the bridal bouquet. The addition of the curly accent on the photo below gives the flower a little more life. Small details like this really add a lot to an overall look.

After the ceremony, the guests want to have fun, especially at the beach! By making the centerpieces bright and fun like the ones below, the guests are ready to have a good time. Try finding some tropical flowers and a blue punch of color in the table linens to give off this feel.

You can also add small touches for different parts of the reception to make it unique and fun for your guests. For example, to do something different for your guestbook, make a wish tree. Provide your guests with cards asking them to write a wish for you and your groom. Have a tree with empty limbs on the table to hang them from. This also gives your reception a sentimental decoration. After the wedding you can put the wishes in a scrapbook and read them whenever you want! You can even make your own wish cards.

Doesn't turquoise just scream beach! It's such a fun and bright color and can be paired with so many different things! I love how this bride incorporated the starfish on everything even her toasting glasses!

Check back in two weeks for some more ideas for another fabulous color scheme!
If you love coral but want to more romantic color scheme check out our Gold and Coral Post! Or if you love a bright color but turquoise isn't doing it for you check out the Navy and Pink post!


~ Erin


References:
Wedding Invitation
Bridesmaid Dress
Bridesmaid Necklace
Groom's Tie
Wedding Dress
Bridal Shoes
Guestbook

Chairs Turquoise Details

Table Name Cards and Flowers

Coral and Turquoise Wedding

Turquoise Wedding

SHE's Trendy: A Not Too Fall, Fall Wedding

My friend Ashley is getting married next fall and asked for some ideas on how to incorporate fall, without being TOO MUCH fall.  I think when people think of fall weddings they think they have to use pumpkins and leaves.  While pumpkins and leaves can be so great, (I am definitely a fan) they can also be overdone.  So for Ashley, I have come up with some ideas to incorporate fall without the typical fall staples.

The first thing Ashley mentioned was that she wanted to use some pink.  I think pink in the fall is gorgeous, but you have to use the right pink.  Pink with tans and golds work better in the fall than say, a hot pink.  So to go along with this pink, gold, tan color scheme, I came up with some great fall ideas. 

 These flowers kind of jump started my ideas.  I love this overall look and it’s a great pink color. 

I also found some custom ribbon that reads “I LOVE YOU”, that is an ivory color that the bouquets would be gorgeous wrapped in.  It’s one of those great details that the photographer should know about in advance to capture on camera.  Such a special detail that looks great far away, and it is so unique up close.

To match these flowers, I would use a few different centerpieces.  My ideas incorporate the tans and golds using straw and wood/beige candles.  For the straw centerpieces, you could wrap the straw in a pink colored ribbon to incorporate that color.  The other centerpiece has a wooden base.  I like using wood accents, but I would stay away from too many wood pieces if you’re trying not to be too “fall”.  If you ARE looking for fall, I LOVE all the things you can do with wood accents.

 

This cake is such a great idea to tie in the straw from the centerpieces, and still give it a classic look.

I think for the bridesmaid dresses, a long flowingdress would be great for the fall.  It will cover up their legs so they don’t get too cold, and the dress I found fits perfectly for what I had in mind.  It comes in many different colors for fall- ivory, mocha, cappuccino, dusty rose, blossom, and coral were my favorite.  Check out the website to see what color would go best in your mind.

I also think you make a wedding unique with the small details.  The first one I found incorporates the wood touch, and I think it would work great for back of the getaway car, or if it’s an outdoor wedding it can be hung on a wall as a decoration.  Also great for photos.

Another thing I love for wedding receptions are signature cocktails.  I found this ginger, apple, bourbon drink that is perfect for fall!  I love the little apple garnish.  Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks! 

As a favor, I love the idea of hot chocolate or s’mores in a jar!  You can make these yourself, or you can buy them on places on Etsy.

I also found this great guestbook that is similar to the tree with fingerprints that was featured in the last Style Blog, but also different!  This print is already made for you, and your guests sign inside the leaves.  I love this print and you can customize the colors to match your wedding or your home décor!

My last little touch is for the bride (just for you, Ashley).  This touch allows you to purchase more plain shoes, and make them amazing!  This Etsy shop sells clip on flowers, in any color you want, to add to your shoes!  In my opinion it’s genius!

I love fall weddings, and I think these ideas show you that you CAN do fall without pumpkins and leaves.  Good luck planning!

Ribbon

Bridesmaids Dresses

Wood Banner

Cocktail

Favors

Guestbook

Shoes