southernafternoon.com

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’ve been mapping out the summer and have been dreaming of one wonderful summer night of star gazing at the Perseid meteor shower.  It was a warm night, breezy, clear.  I saw showers and showers and showers of stars.  A night of a million wishes.  As my nostalgia crashed over me, I realized that if you have an early August wedding that a sprinkle of stars might be just the thing to make the night sparkle. Want more ideas?  Check out our Pinterest board for more star filled ideas…

There are as many ways to dress your bridesmaids as there are bridesmaids.  And do you go matchey?  Mismatched colors? Mismatched shapes?  One way to do any of those things is to check out the offerings of eShakti.com.  They have cute dresses with so many different cuts and shapes, many of which are customizable.  So if you have one bridesmaid who wants strapless and another who needs a longer skirt and capped sleeves, you can do that!  If you have a size range from Zero to 26, they can accommodate it.  They tend toward the casual, but for a sweet afternoon wedding, they might be just the ticket.  And these really are dresses you could wear again.  Plus, the prices are GREAT for the bridesmaids who are getting started in their careers.  Cute, practical AND friendly to everyone?  Certainly an option to check out!

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 not often that I find myself dissolving in tears as I pin, but today I did.  With Mother’s Day coming, I wanted to do a post about remembering Mothers and Grandmothers and other loved ones who passed.  And what I found was example after example of  great ways to pay tribute to generations past.  Lovely ways to hold their place in your day as well as in your heart–an empty chair with a framed photo, a collection of your grandparents wedding rings worn on a chain for your ‘something borrowed’, centerpieces made of their wedding memories.  There are so many small ways to remember them.  Here I featured a sweet locket pin on the bouquet, and the brooch.  It seems that most weddings I’ve been to lately have had a collection of wedding photos from the grandparents, though I love them on the wall with ribbons as in the picture below.  The votives featured below are really pretty simple DIY and a great way to integrate old photos throughout the wedding.

No matter how you choose, remembering loved ones is something that has a timelessness beyond timelessness.  May all of you have a happy and memorable Mother’s Day honoring the women who helped make you who you are.

Sources for the photos above can be found through our Remember Always Pinterest board.

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!

In the world of weddings, you’re always looking forward.  Sure, there are times we work on the fly, but usually we’re in some of the earlier stages of wedding planning.  Which means that on Derby weekend, we’re not writing about the Derby (we did one of my favorite boards earlier), but I couldn’t let one of my favorite sporting events pass without a nod.

It got me thinking about Kentucky and how there is one aspect of Kentucky that is appropriate any time of year.  Bourbon.  Ah yes.  And what a great jumping off point for some Groomsmen gift ideas!  There are a million cool flasks out there (including these).  A lovely bottle of Blanton’s is welcome in any bachelor’s bar. It’s the good stuff.  The really good stuff. And the bottle with the horse on it is super cool.  Those nifty gray ice cubes are Whiskey stones–put them in the freezer and chill your drink without watering it down–genius!  And, if you want to go around smelling a bit like the Soup of the Day, that Demeter fragrance would be perfect. (I have smelled it and it does smell like bourbon, but not like a bar room.  Just a little whiff of the Angel’s Share.)  Finally, check out that super cool DIY suitcase bar!  Any of them would make great gifts that celebrate one of America’s greatest gifts to the world.  Links to all these goodies can be found on our Pinterest Boards.

I love featuring things from the studio!  This time it’s the enchanting Sea Oats Wedding Invitation.  Gaze upon it and think of the sound of the water on the sand, feel the salty breeze, smell that fresh ocean air. You can picture it, can’t you?  That’s exactly what an invitation should do for your guests.  It sets the stage for every aspect of the event.

I love the sea oat and succulent boutonniere and love that photo of the happy couple.  The other elements are all available on etsy to fill out the theme. You can check them out if you’re visiting our shop over there.  The Sea Oats clutch would be an outstanding bridesmaid gift. It’s pretty, functional, and totally in theme.  The wedding sign invites guests to kick off their shoes and feel the sand on their toes–a fun way to welcome them.  But my very, very, very favorite is the Sea Oats necklace made in silver from a vintage French wax stamp from RQP Studio in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Sea oats surrounded by French words. A beautiful image.  A reminder of the day.  And the translation?

“This is my destiny.”

More nods to the distinctive Sea Oats, as well as sources for all these images can be found on 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!