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While we love all the quirky and wild weddings out there, some brides just are looking for classic. Subdued.  Sweetly sophisticated.  A little touch of vintage.  Those are perfect words to describe our Antique Rose Wedding Invitation.

I noticed a lot of people have been marking it as a favorite design on our etsy shop. I’ve always liked it, but it really comes together and is the unifying piece in this collection if ideas.  Suddenly it goes from a simple invite to the perfect thing to frame your day.  I love these subtle and warm palettes that look so lovely on the wedding party and really let their beauty shine.  Your wedding photos will be timeless.  The memories will be even more timeless…

Check our Pinterest ideas for more things that will go perfectly with this invitation and the sources for all this excellent ideas!

I was hanging out on etsy the other day, checking out how things were going in our shop, playing around with the shop by color feature (I could do that all day!!) and checking out some awesome things from some amazing vendors.  And then I saw it.  One of those mythical things you spot everywhere on Pinterest, but it always has a broken link that you can’t track back.  I thought it was a handmade, DIY that would go on my To Do list, never to actually be done.  But there it was.  The “hey y’all” sign. For sale.

Love it because it’s just that little bit of Southern your back porch needs.  Love it because it’s fun and perfect for an entry way hung over your Grandma’s sideboard.  Love it because for just $50, it’s a perfect little splurge for your new home. Love it for your little sister’s dorm room or for your Mama’s garden shed. Just. Love. It.  The seller has a zillion other designs for everywhere around the house and for all kinds of tastes. The barrel of monkeys monkeys would be fantastic for a little boy’s room. And ‘sweet tea‘ in the kitchen? Don’t mind if I do.  All the signs are streamlined with that handmade, slightly vintage, very cool look.  Reviews are good, prices are great and I’m just trying to decide which one I really need…

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: Inspiration comes in the weirdest places.  Would you believe that Katy Perry was the inspiration for the lovely, sophisticated combo you see before you?  Lemmie walk you through it…

I was watching the previews at the picture show the other day and they showed a trailer for Katy Perry’s new movie.  I’m not a huge fan, but I do find her to be a unique twist on current culture, with her candy colored hair and anime eyes, to be interesting.  But young.  Oh. So. Young.  A question of how to make that vibrance translate to something more mature without stripping it of all it’s energy started rolling around in my brain.

I came up with two solutions.  The first was our grown up Confetti Trendspotting board. Seriously, you cannot watch that movie preview without being stunned by how much confetti there was swirling around!  And the second is this more subdued color combo that still emanates young, but without the tweenness.  The crux of it is our own Adria Floral Wedding Invitation.  It’s just a little bit unusual, just a little bit quirky, just a little bit unexpected.  The vines and flowers combine with pattern to make a beautiful border that’s both classic and fresh.  Want more ideas to go with the sources for these ideas?  Check out our Pinterest boards!

I drove through Kansas once during Sunflower season.  We’d roll through these big  roller coaster hills, marveling at how predictably Stuckey’s and their pecan rolls would appear on the horizon, make every good and bad Wizard of Oz joke there was.  But mostly we marveled at the combination of the crystalline blue sky and the fields and fields and fields or cheery sunflowers.

Is there a happier flower?  Anything more down home?  Bright and bold golden blooms as big as your head.  They’re perfect for a sunny late summer wedding.  Pair our Sunflower Wedding Invitation with burlap and twine for a rustic, countrified affair.  Or pair it with glitter and satin ribbons for that excellent mix of rural glitz.  Or, like here, use it as the centerpiece of a casual and quirky bohemian affair in a field.  Lovely, lovely!

Check out the sources for these ideas on our Pinterest board!

Math Quiz!

Confetti + Champagne=??

Confetti and champagne?  Well that just equals FUN.  Any event becomes a celebration with those two small elements.  I can’t even think of a non-party application of confetti.  Add in a ‘funfetti’ dessert and you’re in for a rockin’ good time.  It’s not a wedding for the serious or the dramatic, but for someone with a bubbly and colorful personality it is that little twist of crazy that makes the day uniquely yours.

The idea can easily move into 5 year old birthday party territory, so I’ve put together a board of  great and sophisticated options.  It would be great to pair with one of our more whimsical invitations, like our Lindsay wedding invitation. I’m completely transfixed by that felt necklace.  For sources for all the rest (including that super cute doggie bow tie!), check out our Pinterest Board.

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

You know those genius ideas that you wish you had thought of?  Those things that would have made something special even MORE special? That you can’t believe it didn’t occur to you before now? This is one of those ideas.

Once you are engaged you have the guy, but what about your girls?  The ones who’ve been by you through thick and thin, the ones who you can call middle of the night, the ones who are really *in* your life.  Sure, you can just ask them to stand up with you on your special day or…and here’s the genius idea…you can ask them in a really special, memorable, fun way.  A RingPop in an oversize ring box would be adorable, as would a bottle of really great wine tagged with your request. (LOTS more ideas on our Pinterest page!)  There are more cool ways to ask your best girls than you can even think of.

The idea I’m most drawn to is a locket with your ‘proposal’ in it.  Heartworks by Lori is a sweet little etsy shop that is just filled with different kinds of lockets.  These golden orbs are speaking to me today–very mod, very Mad Men, and only $15!!–and she’ll even provide the secret message. There are lockets for just about every taste and style, too.  Slip in a little piece of paper, a great picture of the two of you, put a ribbon on it, and get set to make a memory…

I know, I know, I know.  I’m supposed to be thinking ahead to fall and winter already.  Today I just can’t.  I can only think of the hydrangeas I have been spotting on my walks.  Beautiful, luscious, poufs of blooms, huge clusters of tiny delicate petals.  And such colors!  I love white, I am smitten with the pink, I am enamored with the green and I am utterly over the moon for all the blues.

Here, I picked the whispery blues, tinged with green and cream, to go with our Hydrangea Invitation.  Simple, beautiful and elegant.  It’s an option that’s so effortless that it’s almost plug and play.  Choose the invitation and all the elements fall into place–the flowers, the colors, the shapes.  Add some surprising elements like that amazing necklace for the bridesmaids (or yourself?) to make the day your own and your thoughts can move on to that handsome gent who’s placing a ring on your finger. Check out sources for these, as well as other ideas that would be lovely with any of our Botanical invitations on our Pinterest Boards.