Pink and Gray

I don't happen to be a fan of pink weddings. I later realized that any color wedding, if done right, can be gorgeous. As with any color it is important not to over saturated the area with your color. Spread it out a little bit by adding neutral colors in between. So here we go with a gorgeous pink and gray inspiration board set out to make those haters of pink weddings realize that it can be done right! Pops of color, pretty much my all time favorite wedding term, are far better than a color or theme which takes over.

Do you have a pink and gray inspiration board?? If these are your colors I would love to see what you are working with!

Source: Elizabeth Anne, Amsale, Erica O'Brian, Lotus Haus,  Orange Beautiful, Pretty Cheeky

Red, Inspired

Source: William Sonoma, One Love Photography, Melissa Sweet, One Charming Party

I'm no fan of the cookie cutter red and white wedding, which may be why I have stayed away from doing red and white inspiration boards. But these gorgeous pieces just came together perfectly and the result was love. Mix anemone flowers, Melissa Sweet and Louboutin, and this amazing combo will leave you swooning.

Get This Look: Vintage Barn Reception

I absolutely LOVE this reception look. To me, lighting is absolutely my favorite part to the wedding. I love how they made everything look simple and elegant with that vintage flair. The result is just beautiful!

Get This Look:

Mason Jars: 12 for $10 This look is incredibly cheap but Mason Jars really add a lot of vintage flair for a low price. Definitely a worth-while addition to any wedding.

Lights: 100 lights for $6.99 Lighting is amazing. Even something as simple as small white lights can add a lot to any space and make it look absolutely gorgeous. For a low price, you can add some big style to your wedding, lighting is so important and incredibly amazing :)

Bouqet: DIY Darling DIY bouquet! Use these for the centerpieces, the BM bouquets, and even the bride's bouquet. These are so stunningly simple that you might as well same some money and go for these instead!

Picture Source: Mason Jars, Lights, DIY Bouquet

Wedding Worthy Eye Candy

I am super excited about today's post! First of all, sorry it is incredibly late! I can't upload any photos to the blog at all :( and I am pretty lucky to get this post out as it is! Anyways, enough about that, and let me show off the source of my excitement!

Invitations to the party. Adorable

One of the most amazing dessert tables I have ever laid eyes on!

Source: P is for Party

The colors, the details, the pretty! I just can't get enough of this incredible party! Everything about this is perfect and adorable! The cake even matches the invitation. There is major eye candy to be taken from this, and so much great inspiration for your wedding day. I love every single part of this, down to the straws!

What is the occasion for such an incredible backdrop such as this?? A child's birthday party! Can you believe it? I don't think I have ever had a birthday party that even closely resembled this, but this two year old has "wedding worthy" eye candy for her second birthday! You better believe I am taking insane amount of inspiration from this which are going straight into my planning!

Chalkboards Add Instant Vintage

Source: Sarah Hearts, Vintage Amethyst, Little White Book, Get Married, Joy De Vivre, Elizabeth Anne, Wedding Paper Divas, I have a serious obsession with chalkboards. I plan to use these a lot in my wedding plans to add a touch of vintage to the space. There are so many different ways to display chalkboards, and the how-to is incredibly easy!

Recently, people have been using chalkboard tape to add a little something extra to containers. Then there are more traditional chalkboards which can be made using regular picture frames or old windows. Having the cute frame around the chalkboard makes it that much more presentable.

The how-to to turn anything into a chalkboard is pretty easy. Most hobby and craft stores have chalkboard spray which you simply spray over the area. It's so easy to change anything into a chalkboard and add instant vintage!

Getting to Know Eachother! – Proposals

Tina Bass Photography (Love this photo!)

Myself and two of my friends are all getting married. We are all in each other's weddings, and we definitely spend a lot of nights sharing wedding plans and inspiration over wine. I feel like we (the wedding blog world of readers, writers, and vendors) are a close knit group of friends sharing our plans and inspiration minus the wine!  So it's about time to get to know each other!

Each week I am going to post a new question as well as my response. Leave a comment with your story and answer (and a link to your blog or website if you have one) so we can all get to know the people behind this fabulous wedding world!

I'll start with something easy this week (and always a fun one to tell!)

How did he propose???

My answer: December 3rd, 2010 I had a Thursday night off. I had a fashion show coming up in about a week so was in my bedroom looking over all the new clothing I had just received. We had just put up our Christmas tree (he was SO insistent that that tree was up and decorated!) and he kept calling me out to the living room. I came out there and he told me to sit in his lap. He was acting super weird and just kept staring at me. He pulled out the ring box and handed it to me. If he had a speech planned, he was too cute and nervous to say it, and frankly, it was so much for me that I don't think I could even hear what was going on. In the flustered moment that was the proposal, I managed to say yes through the beaming smile, as I just couldn't believe it was happening. I doubted it ever would, and it did! Then I got to open the box and I was pretty darn surprised by the ring. He picked it out all on his own, and it was exactly what I wanted! Looking into his eyes at the moment was the best thing ever.

YOUR TURN! So spill the beans, how did he propose??

Creating Wow Lighting - Hanging Lanterns

Definitely something I plan to incorporate A LOT of, hanging lanterns! I will definitely be doing a lot of those little white lights, but hanging clusters of lanterns will give it a different feel and a bit more "wow factor" to the space. And, as I showed in my previous lantern post, I already have a few, and getting more will only cost about $6 each! Not bad.

Does anyone know where to find smaller lanterns or different looking lanterns?? I am also adding lanterns to my centerpieces and I need something on the smaller side.

Newest Inspirations

Source: SMP, MSW, SMP With my venue pretty much in place, I am now starting to visualize an ACTUAL wedding, with actual decor in an actual space. This is quite an exciting part because I can start creating a space, and get into the details!

In one of the first posts I wrote, I disclosed my interesting wedding colors including a slight hint of zebra print! I have never found any zebra incorporated in a wedding until I saw that top photo on Style Me Pretty. The zebra fabric as part of the centerpiece is one of the things I was planning on doing. My centerpiece will be a lot different than that, but doesn't it look awesome with just a touch of zebra on the table??

As far as the favors, this is another thing I have always wanted to do-pie! In a nutshell, my grandma made some incredible apple pie. Every family get-together would include this apple pie of hers and it was always a family favorite (and every time it was highly requested.) Before she passed away I went over to her house and she taught me her techniques of the recipe and her little additions. I then sort of became the "pie person" at that point. I think it would be very cool if I made little pies as the favor for each guests in honor of my grandma :) (The downside-I am making all the pies! eeks) I would tie it with some baker's twine and a little personalized tag! Ador.

I want to do something really simple with the centerpieces, and those white flowers seem like a good idea! They have taken over as my favorite flower. But ranunculus is still pretty high on my list!

The first draft of the centerpieces are almost finalized. I am going to create a mock-up and then I will post those! How about you guys?? Any little details you are so excited about??

Dessert Table and Cake Pops

Suppies: The little white platters are from Crate and Barrel along with the amazing yellow vases which were $9.95 each. I got 4 big diamonds for decoration and the "i do" napkins from Michaels. I also picked up some mason jars from Michaels to put flowers in. The flowers were from Trader Joe's and were only $1.50 per bundle! The tags on the cake pops were made by Print Your Party. They added an amazing personalized touch!

The treat table was my favorite part! The cake balls and cake pops (all those little pink and white things on sticks) were an absolute hit! And well I am glad because I spent about 8 hours slaving away at those!

The idea was to make cake pops that look like the ones above. The mini cakes didn't turn out like that, but the balls didn't look too bad.

Bakerella provided some great instructions for how to make these and what supplies to use. After spending about $40 on the special chocolate, cookie cutters and pop sticks ( plus I had to pay a lot in shipping!) I went to Michael's and found all the same supplies there! So my one tip is to check your local craft store to save shipping costs.

(This is only about a quarter of all that I made) The recipe is really simple, it is just the actual sculpting, dipping, and drying that takes a long time. You basically mix a cake and a lot of frosting together to make the substance that holds it in a ball shape. The chocolate ones had too much frosting and the vanilla ones didn't have nearly enough- so error to the side of more frosting as it balls easier and stays moister! Oh and if you can help it, I don't suggest making them the day before unless you can store them upside-down overnight. Right before the party I had about 5 or 6 fall off the stick.

But in the end, all of them were eaten! :)

White and Yummy

This is not what my engagement party will look like, but I wish! So gorgeous, chic and WHITE! The party is this Saturday so next week you can look forward to actual pics of the party instead of just tons of ideas. I can't wait to get everything decorated so I can actually see all my ideas come (or not come) into fruition. The process will start tomorrow, that way I have a day to figure out where I went wrong and how I can fix it.

Though I sort of can't wait for this party to be over (due to the planning stress of it all) I am so excited to see it all come together. I have to say this was a smart idea in terms of practice for planning my wedding. I will be able to see how things go right or wrong, and how to mock it all up before-hand, so it all comes off without a hitch!