Wonderful Wedding Poppies

Poppies are amazing!  It only takes a few stems to add beautiful and vibrant pops of color to any scene.  Color theory has proven that these citrus like hues evoke happiness and fun… what a brilliant color palette for a summer wedding!

I had so much fun gathering poppy inspiration.  It was hard to narrow down the elements!

In this inspiration board:

• Poppy invitations from Minted
• Cake found on Project Wedding
• Beverage and tray image from Beth Helmstetter Events
• Menswear image found on Project Wedding
• “Eva Silk Chiffon” bridesmaid dress by Jenny Yoo
• Seating by Chameleon Chairs
• Favors by Jubilee Events
• Tabletop decor from Elizabeth Anne Designs

Astrid Mueller’s Incredible Illustrations

Astrid Mueller, has captured the hearts of brides from across the globe with her brilliant, custom wedding illustrations.

Mueller has mastered the art of bringing love stories to life through her delightfully engaging designs.

With illustrations appearing in magazines like The Knot and Marie Claire, Astrid is on the radar of the savviest brides in the United States and beyond.

Check out this Astrid Mueller exclusive (below) invitation, recently created for Audrey and Nathan.  The chic invite features the beautiful bride in her Monique Lhuillier “Scarlet” wedding dress.

While guests believed they were attending an engagement party, the couple surprised them with a wedding!

Audrey and Nathan used the  illustration for their cake topper, table cards and thank you notes too.
The products were a hit!  Guests took their seating cards home with them and someone even stole their cake topper.

For more information, rates and details visit Astridmueller.com.

COMING SOON TO A STORE NEAR YOU:

The Astrid Mueller Collection of stationery products.  I’m beyond excited and fully ready to be blown away by Astrid’s incredible new designs!

Bella Bleu

The newly launched website, Bella Bleu, carries unique gifts and adornments for chic and stylish brides.

Chicago resident and founder, Andrea Petlock-Novak, launched Bella Bleu with a mission to give brides hard to find luxury bridal products.

From fabulous designer wedding shoes to handmade beaded handbags and silk floral clutches, the shop is anything but cookie cutter.

Andrea is constantly updating her website with couture bridal treasures as special as the occasion itself, so keep bellabluebridal.com on your wedding radar!

Wedding weekend @ Gilt

If you have not yet discovered Gilt Groupe, you are missing out!

Gilt is a luxury web retailer, offering the most coveted designer fashions and brands at  50-70% off the retail price.  Gilt is not like shopping at a Marshall’s or T.J. Max.  You don’t have to dig deep to find your designer steal.  The hottest styles from the runway are at your fingertips and are finally pocket book friendly.

The site is by invitation only, but you can sign up for free at this link:

http://www.gilt.com/invite/ali

Starting tomorrow, Gilt pays homage to the savvy bride with their Wedding Weekend sale series.  Who more deserving than brides to save money without sacrificing style?

In partnership with Martha Stewart and affiliated wedding expert Darcy Miller, you will have access to some of the most beautiful designer bridal fashions, including Carolina Herrera, Amsale and Vera Wang.

See a few of Darcy’s favorite finds on the Gilt Groupe blog…

But bridal fashion is only a one of the many luxurious wedding products offered including:

For the Groom gifts

Bridal Party Favors

Wedding Stationary

Bridal Accessories and Lingerie

Flower Girls and Ring Bearers

Fabulous wedding gifts

Ladies, stand by!  We know how crazy bridezillas are when it comes to saving on style.

Inspire Yourself!

Let’s face it, some brides go a little overboard when it comes to wedding themes and schemes.  While it’s always nice to start planning with a concrete vision, allow yourself to be inspired along the way…

As an invitation dealer for several companies like Carlson Craft, Encore Studios and Rexcraft, we have a full library of invitation books in our home, to browse through at our convenience.  We found our invitation first- a shimmer pearl, pocket style invitation (#E1160) from the Encore Expressions of Love Wedding Ensemble Collection. Sadly, it’s rare for my hubby and I to have similar taste, so the choice was a no brainer when it appeared on both of our “list of favs!”

When browsing gowns with my bridesmaids, I was thrilled that they all loved this silky satin Melissa Sweet dress (style MS215 in fig) at Bella Bridesmaid.  Pictured on two of my bridesmaids above, the beautiful sweetheart style bust strongly resembles the folded pattern on our invite!

Finally, with the big day right around the corner, I was brainstorming cake ideas in my pocket notebook. We wanted it to be simple and elegant, with some added flair.  With the pearly fold pattern on the brain, I came up with this design (please excuse my terrible sketching skills).

I faxed this sketch to the fabulous baker/designer, Mary Winslow at Take the Cake, who created our beautiful and BEYOND DELICIOUS wedding cake.

We received lots of compliments for the subtle incorporations, from beginning to end.

We allowed ourselves to inspire ourselves (I know that sounds cheesy) and it resulted in an affair with beautiful originality and cohesiveness=)