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There are so many things to love about this time of year–big football parties for the Super Bowl, the first hints of spring, and Chinese New Year!  You’ll start to see the crocuses soon.  Maybe even some blue sky between the snow flakes. Bits of happiness to carry us through until the real warmth of summer comes.

Bigger than bits of happiness is the Double Happiness of weddings.  I love this idea from Chinese culture with it’s pretty and symmetrical symbol of two characters, almost looking to be husband and wife, hand in hand. The red and gold glow with warmth and luxury, signaling prosperity for years to come. And that would be the wish for any mother of the bride, Tiger Mom or not. With modern twists like the macaroons and those ah-maz-ing shoes, it takes it from special to spectacular. There are, as always, lots more ideas over on our Pinterest Double Happiness Wedding board.  To check out this invitation and others, check out our boutique!

Deep breath. Time to try to start regular life again.  This is Friday’s post, saved for a few days. Heavy hearts and deeply felt prayers took the place of our usual frivolities.

I love the idea of an anchor as a wedding symbol.  Sure, it brings to mind the sea and is perfect paired with the navy blue  and white stripes.  At the same time, the bigger symbol is finding the person who keeps you grounded and being the person that keeps someone else grounded.  It acknowledges the people in your life who do the same.  What a wonderful graphic to set the tone of your ceremony.  The handmade boutonniere is an unexpectedly perfect accent to the groom’s suit. Classic navy bridesmaid dresses and a preppy striped table and cake combine to make a crisp palette that’s fresh and bright.

Yesterday it was announced, the few words that set the tone and tones for so many of the design decisions that are to come.  Pantone’s color of the year…is…Emerald!!

A love of blue green has been percolating for a while…we’ve touched on it here.  And here.  And here. But I’ll pin this particular color choice on Pippa Middleton’s bridesmaid dress, which was a perfect emerald blue green.  It was fresh, flattering and sophisticated.

The best part?  It’s surprisingly versatile. Here, we’ve got it paired with a lighter, bluer aqua for a breezy palette, but it could easily go with silver and very angular design for an art deco look. or with peach, or with gray, or with deep plum, or with….You get the idea.

For sources for all these pics, check out our Pinterest board.  For more info on our sweet Botanical Breeze Save the Date, check out our Etsy shop.  And for everything else, visit our website.

It never seems to let up.  The To Dos turning into Ta Da!s.  Making a list, checking it twice.  Making the rounds during the holidays.  Just getting the day to day done at this time of year is a challenge.  With the year winding down and the holidays gearing up, it’s easy to forget to stop and smell the lilies of the valley.

Oh, I know.  Roses.  Sure.  Love roses.  But consider the delicate little lilies of the valley.  They won’t even be in bloom for months, but the scent is one that I LIVE for in the springtime. Calm completely covers me when I inhale it.  Fresh and bright and pretty, it’s like white puffy clouds in a sunny sky in aroma form.  Even the Royals love them–they were a big part of Kate Middleton’s wedding bouquet and definitely trending in popularity because of it!

The flowers are sweet little bells that can range from simple and quaint in small nosegays or they can take on a stunning formality like they do in that cascade bouquet shown here.  This pinboard takes a sophisticated approach, from the classic black tux to the pretty gold hairpiece. Add a simple cake and our elegant Annabella wedding invitation and you have an enchanting look.  Prefer something more casual and floral?  Check out our sweet Willow Winds Garden Inspired Wedding Invitation.  Versatile, lovely smelling, delicate…and maybe just perfect for your day.  As always, sources for these great looks as well as lots of other ideas can be found on our Pinterest boards!

Lily of the valley inspired pinboard featuring a traditional invitation from Paperwhites Press

Deep reds are everywhere right now!  Reds with purple and brown undertones are lush and dramatic.  The colors are most at home on rich leathers, but they have been showing up everywhere from some amazing hats to even more amazinger shoes.  (Yeah, I know it’s not a word, but have you seen those shoes???)

I’ve never thought of these colors as a kind of neutral, but they fit nicely in many different scenarios.  Paired with touches of greenery and black and white, these colors are bold and sophisticated.  To achieve the look, you need to add just a bit of shimmer, some great flowers, and a bit of restraint.  Too much of the blood red or making your groom sparkle from head to toe and you’re venturing into Hollywood vampire flick territory.  If you were to take away the glitter and the black and white and replace it with more leather, brown tweed and cream, you’d have a steampunk flair.  Swap the black for navy and add more maroon and some stripes and it’s very preppy.

A touch or two will update your wardrobe–and I’ve got lots and lots of great jackets and bags pinned on Pinterest (and sources for all these things! Like the invite?  Check out our other work on etsy or our website!

Sometimes I’ll get a whisper of an idea that will form in my brain. Other times I’ll have things form completely in a matter of seconds.  This is the latter.

I spotted that AMAZING Carolina Herrera dress and I just knew the wedding that it belonged in.  The Hannah dress is a lovely shape, flattering and pretty, but the special touch that makes it just perfect is the hint of gray and touch of pink.  Pink dresses are hot right now.  Here, it’s just a touch, but it’s silvery and dusky and special.  As soon as I saw it, it reminded me of the pale pink dogwood blossoms that usher in spring.  And the rest just fell into place.  Our Dogwood Wedding Invitation, light gray suit with pink tie, amazing macarons, and an elegant table all play in perfect harmony with the dress. Unique, but not jarring.  Unusual, but not quirky.  And just…so….lovely.

There are more ideas than I can include here, as well as sources for these goodies on our Pinterest board.

I have a thing for houses with iconic trees.  A 150 year old oak is the centerpiece of my back yard, huge and sprawling.  And in the sweet little starter bungalow before this?  A magnolia tree that burst into pinkish bloom every spring and then dropped its glossy, leathery leaves every fall.  I had such a fondness for bringing in branches in the springtime.  I loved the craggy sticks bedecked with blossoms for transforming my shabby dining room into a chic one.

Every time I see this invitation, it reminds me of those happy newlywed times.  The sheen of the leaves, the rich creaminess of the flowers, the luxury of it all adds a note of sophistication without any sort of fussiness.   It’s pretty and unique, especially when you add grace notes like some South Carolina inspired basket weave to the cake and some lovely blues to compliment the green leaves.  Dreamy…

For sources for these great pics, as well as other great ideas, check out our Magnolia Pinterest board!

There are times I feel I breathe, eat and sleep weddings. I was on Pinterest the other day (shocker.) checking out decorating ideas and was transfixed by the array and patterns with wallpaper and fabric.  Everywhere.  The graphics remind me of everything from Moroccan tiles to bamboo lattice work.  They can be bold and overwhelming, which is surprisingly charming in a little powder room.  Alternatively, in a small tone on tone pattern, they can provide a subtle backdrop that adds polish and order and touch, which is unexpectedly sweet and gentle. Like maybe….on a great wedding invitation?

For example, here we show one of the color options for our Quatrefoil Wedding Invitation.  What a great option for a bride who loves enhanced simplicity! Tiffany blue is always beautiful, always classic, always a perfect choice, and, considering Pantone’s recent color suggestions, totally on trend.  A gray quatrefoil pattern frame surrounds the text.  The blue-green touches (and there really aren’t more than touches) stand out against the gray backdrop to make a combination that will look fresh and spectacular in your wedding album for years to come. Add an amazing bridesmaid dress with a bit of sparkle, fantastic ribbon bedecked shoes and that Lowcountry Lemonade (love when something so pretty is so yummy!) and your friends will remember yours as one of the prettiest weddings on record.

Clean lines, clear colors. A breath of fresh (wedding) air.

Lots more great ideas, as well as sources for these, can be found on our Pinterest boards!  Check out our website or our etsy shop to see other color options for this great invitation!

I went for a walk in the woods the other day.  There’s a rail trail near home that’s canopied with huge old oaks and maples.  They’re starting to think about maybe turning color one of these days, but still green and shady.  There wasn’t another soul around.  Just me, my thoughts, the expansive tunnel of trees.  There was a calm to it, but also a thrill of discovery.

That thrill is what draws us into the old stories.  It’s what makes our culture reexamine, reinterpret, and reinvent characters and familiar stories.  Take Snow White.  This year alone there have been three retellings of the tale, each one different, each beautiful, each touching on the themes of the classic.

A fairy tale wedding is the dream of so many brides, but this is one case where less is more.  Touches of apples on the cake, bouquet, and ring.  Bright pops of color far removed from any classic animation.  A beautiful and romantic wedding invitation like Paperwhites Rebecca Wedding Invitation.  And that sweet grace note to seal it all–And they lived happily ever after.

For resources for all these amazing ideas, plus some other great ways to add some fairy tale magic to your day, check out our Pinterest Board! For other great romantic wedding invitations for your own fairy tale, take a look at our Signature collection at our website or our etsy shop.

The nip of fall is starting to creep in.  Pumpkin patches are opening.  The farmers markets are shifting from the late summer to the autumn and winter veggies.  So, of course, that means I’m thinking of springtime!

It’s a strange world.

One of my favorite sites in spring are the tulips creeping up.  So pretty, so welcome after the winter.  The array of colors is stunning, though here I’ve focused on a particular orchid-y colored tulip.  Set against a cool gray, the shade is vibrant and fresh and the perfect set of details to go with our beautiful and unique Tulip Wedding Invitation.  It’s a perfect choice for any wedding, but extra lovely with lots of tulip accents, from flowers and shoe details to the almost-punny tulip skirt on that lovely bridesmaid dress.  I could have done it in a million colors–red, yellow, orange, pastels–and still only touched on a few ideas for how to incorporate this springtime miracle into your wedding day.  You can check out other options in our etsy shop, and check out sources for these ideas and lots of other purple tulip ideas on our Pinterest Board.