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Ancient. Strong. Mighty. Deep roots. Weathering the storm. The oak.

I love the majestic branches spreading out, offering shade and shelter, growing to the heavens.  Under it’s boughs is a perfect place to start a life together.  Chairs set up in a clearing, sun dappled aisles outdoors in the beauty of nature.  Most of the great things in Disney movies happen in the woods, great fairy tales are rooted there.

Our Under the Oak Tree Wedding Invitation can work with so may weddings, outdoor or in.  The symbol is a strong one–we’ve featured it in another pinboard already!  Ideal invitation for a wedding in the woods.  Here we have it styled with a preppy and peppy striped skirt bridesmaid dress, a great pinstripe suit, and a pretty bouquet, all in shades of navy and green.   A faux bois wedding cake is a big trend right now and goes perfectly with the theme.  And that sweet rustic wood sign pointing your guests to the start of your happily ever after…sigh and cue the sweeping music.

Check out other ideas for styling this invitation on our Pinterest Boards!

I know that Pantone declared Tangerine Tango the color of the year and I LOVE it.  Orange everywhere, as accent, as dominant color, on shoes, on bags…it’s EVERYWHERE.  But I realized something the other day.  Ready?  It’s kind of a secret.

I think the **real** color of the year…is…

Coral.

If you look around the wide world of Pinterest, you see coral about 10 times more than you see Tangerine Tango.  Bridesmaid dresses. Flowers. Decorating.  Coral is just a little softer.  A little bit pink without being too twee.  Still red/orange, but maybe more liveable and versitile.  Pair it with cream and it seems beachy, but pair it with a taupey gray like we did here and it looks even more cool and sophisticated.  Flattering for just about everyone, it reminds me of sunsets and peach pie (or cake, like in the pinboard.)

We paired it here with a great classic wedding invitation with an unusual wedding invitation twist.  We call it the Kiev, but it is a beautiful invitation with pretty flourishes in the corners to take this from the basic wedding invitation to something very unique that will set your wedding apart.  Pretty, cool, and just pretty cool.  More ideas and inspirations, as well as sources on our Pintrest board.

Well, since we passed the first day of summer, my job is to be thinking of winter.  I try to stay in the moment, but my eyes are always on the horizon when it comes to weddings.  And today I’m picturing an early December affair, soft blues and browns and touches of frosty pine cones.  Check out the board I made up based on our Tahoe Pine Cone Wedding Invitation. From a simple garland strung on ribbons, to some amazing bridesmaid bouquets, it’s a perfect idea for a winter wedding that isn’t rooted in the holidays. I can just picture it–maybe with a hot chocolate bar? A faint scent of cinnamon everywhere?  A crackling fireplace?

The Tahoe suite of wedding products would be a perfect accompaniment to set the tone for the day.  Classic, clean and elegant, but with just that twist of whimsy that we’re always giddy about.  Only a few of the best ideas for a great winter wedding made it here, check out some others on our Pinterest board!

Tahoe Pine Cone Wedding Invitation

The flip side of our Art Deco Days and the easy, breezy style of the day, is the sleek, urban, skyscraper reminiscent turn of night.  Flair for the dramatic? How about a silver beaded wedding dress like the one here?? It would be AMAZING in candlelight, would be stunning in pictures, would make you the talk of wedding talk for years to come.  Add in a great vintage ring, some touches of color to help the silver shine and help the black stand out.  And again, the graphics–the fan shapes, the scallops, the parallel lines–all seem futuristic, yet contemporary.  All of it has a sense of time, without being too themey or costumey.  Sophisticated, sleek and stylish in any decade.  This is a champagne wedding, full of bubbles, effervescent.

Still more ideas, as well as sources for these shining examples of the 20s, can be found on our Pinterest Board.

Trendspotting.  Love it.  All the time.  Mind never stops.  And I love seeing them about a million miles away.  Art deco never really goes out of style, but with the new version of “The Great Gatsby” coming out combined with the success of “The Artist” last fall, it’s going to be HUGE for the next year.  And why not?  The graphic elements are amazing.  There is a sleek modernity to the style, but with hints of fun and whimsy in fringe and feathers and beads (Oh, wow, the beads!)  Zelda Fitzgerald. Flappers. Swankiness.  Yes.

I am smitten with this idea like Gatsby is smitten with Daisy.  So smitten I’m doing two posts this week on it.  The first is a daytime affair…reminding me of Jay and Daisy watching swans swim by, of picnics on a too hot summer day, of expanses of lawn just waiting for a croquet game.  I love how our thoroughly modern Chevron invitation can work with the graphics of the era.  The sleek dress and perfect shoes are great, but how cute would your nephew look as a ring bearer in that outfit?  I can smell the gin and tonic and feel the breeze right now…

For a MILLION* more Art Deco ideas for day, Roaring 20s ideas for night, more Gatsby love, more great dresses, check out our Pinterest Board!

*Not actual number.  Though we may reach it!

I can think of all kinds of stodgy, stuffy, formal things to write about wheat.  I can think of a million very dull ways to say that wheat symbolizes so much of what weddings are about–hope for the future, a life of abundance, the gifts of hard work. I can think of very formal ways to describe the joys of wheat.

Really, though?  It just looks amazing!

That beautiful golden color looks great with almost anything.  Depending on how you cut and display it, it can look wild and untamed or manicured and modern.  It’s sunny and lovely and everything people think of when they think “fall.”  From using it in place of flowers, to a couple of terrific wreaths to that gold necklace (that I’m already dreaming about saving my pennies for), it’s versatile and unusual.  Paired with white, it looks even more golden.  It has that wonderful quality of baby’s breath where it looks even better in huge bunches.  I’m kind of in love with this whole wedding.  Check out some more ideas of what to do with wheat stalks, from the tame to the insane, on our Pinterest Board–you can find sources for all these pics, too!

It’s getting to be the season when flea markets are in full swing.  There are so many amazing finds out there, just waiting for a new home.  Vintage is a great way to go for setting up your new home.  Not only are things well constructed, but they are unique (and often really, really affordable!)  I love the idea of using vintage finds in your wedding.  They then just become part of your household, each one made more special by the memory of your happy day.

It’s best to have a love for the unmatched and a clear color scheme in mind.  If you can sort of keep an eye on era, that can help the look seem more cohesive.  Look for teacups, plates, bottles and bowls.  Seek out great linens or scarves to help top the tables.  If you can’t find enough, add in some burlap.  Use classic florals like the roses and baby’s breath.  The look is sweet and soft in this collection.  Breezy and sophisticated.  Perfect for the woman who likes to go antiquing with mom or who likes to pick up this and that as she spots it.  A great collection for a special day.

For sources for these items and lots of other great Flea Market ideas, check out our Pinterest Board!

Well, things have been brilliantly busy around the Paperwhites offices!  Mastering our new (amazing and awesome!) printer, getting things together for some wonderful brides, thinking ahead to what comes next…the usual whirlwind that we wouldn’t trade for anything!  We’ve got some real life brides coming up that we’ll be featuring.  And we got a lovely shout out on Style Me Pretty for a wedding in New Zealand that we did paper for (loving how our Dahlia invite works here!).  So many great things!

And we’ve been thinking about weddings to come.  This color combo came to mind when thinking about September in that stretch of Indian Summer.  It’s that time when the world is giving us just a bit more sun and warmth to go with the final bursts of color from flowers.  It’s that time when the sky is an impossible shade of blue and the leaves are starting to think about changing color.  Clearly not Autumn, but almost.  That’s the perfect time to put together those same colors in your wedding.

Cobalt blue looks great on almost everyone, whether on a bridesmaid’s dress or as a touch in a groomsman’s pocket.  The vibrant orange in the flowers is picked up in the other accessories–the tie, the necklace, those fantastic shoes.  The rich blue glassware always looks amazing on a white tablecloth, but when you add in the tangerine elements in the flowers, you get a look that is unexpected and pretty and in keeping with the time of year.

Can’t you just picture it? Maybe with our Ava Invitation with Cobalt ink?  Check out the sources for these great ideas, as well as some other great Cobalt Blue and Orange ideas on our Pinterest Board!

There is a certain gracefulness to the peony.  The blooms become so heavy with soft abundant ruffles that they bow toward the earth with the weight of it all.  At the same time, they possess an ethereal delicate element.  You know that they could explode in a shower of petals at any second, but they still have substance and weight.  So beautiful and in a range of lovely colors from pure white to bold pink to the blush we show here.

Peonies inspire our Peony Invitation.  It’s our biggest seller and with good reason.  The botanical design can go with just about any theme, tailor made for your wedding with choices of inks and envelopes. And we’ve got even more ways to check out our products! Not only should you see our full range of products on our Paperwhites website, but we’ve set up shop on etsy as well!  It’s a great way to check out samples or to place your orders.  We’re always around to answer questions and help y’all out if you need it!

Check out the sources for all these goodies, plus some of our own, on our Pinterest Boards!

There are days I dream of sailing away.  It’s usually the days when I have a million things to do and only about 5 spots on my to do list, but still… There is something calm and serene about the sea.  Uncharted depths, getting away from it all, the smell of the salty air.  Add in the symbolism of “tying the knot” and the idea of starting a journey together and you have a perfect theme for a wedding.

My biggest problem with this board was selecting just which elements I would include to go with our Sailboat Invitation.  The deep blue echoes in everything from the bridesmaid dress to the cake to the lining of the envelope.  Paired with the crisp white it looks very sharp, with a twist of preppy.  The sweet touch of rope in the boutonniere, the anchors and sailboats throughout, and our invitation all make a wedding day that’s filled with attention to detail.  I can almost hear the waves brushing against the rocks.

Check out the sources for these great ideas, plus all the ones I didn’t include!, on our Pinterest Board!