Inspiration Board: Carnevale

Good morning friends? How were your weekends? I had a really good one, doing more January planning and organising as well as catching up with Louise from b.loved and chatting about our big blog and business plans for 2013 – all very exciting! You’ll also get to kuier with her a bit later this week. But for now, it’s time for our Monday inspiration board. I wanted to start the year with something bold and new, and after telling you that copper was one of the year’s hot colours, I just had to get stuck in. I’ve decided to combine it with both teal and navy, and it’s rich, opulent and exciting – maybe even slightly mysterious. It reminded me a little of Venice (hence the name). I’d just love to see this one come to life!

Colours: Navy, teal and copper

Top row (l-r): Copper and teal dress; glitter giftwrap {Grey Likes Weddings/T&H Photography}; copper shoes {Desiree Dawn Events/Shea Christine}; sparkly top {Fiona Kelly/b.loved Weddings}; keys {Your Las Vegas Wedding Concierge/Chelsea Nicole}
Row 2: Sweets; teal stationery suite {Sean Flanigan/Lilia DeGregory}; copper cake {Missy Photography/Merci New York}; ribbons {Grey Likes Weddings/T&H Photography}; gorgeous redhead bride
Row 3: Opulent bride {Fiona Kelly/b.loved Weddings}; navy bridesmaids; table settings; Venice.

 

Inspiration Board: Coral & Glam

Tangerine may have been Pantone’s 2013 colour of the year, but if there’s a breakout shade for weddings this season, it’s coral. And boy, am I ever glad! Coral is such a warm shade, and so versatile – I can’t believe how many colours it works with beautifully! It’s also lovely reader Carrie’s favourite colour, so of course she’s chosen it for her summer wedding. And Carrie must be a girl after my own heart, because she also loves a bit of sparkle, and wants to put her bridesmaids in mismatched glittery dresses – how pretty is that? There are some lovely coral or blush and sequin dresses available at the moment, but for this board I’ve gone for one of my absolute favourite bridesmaid combos of recent times – these copper skirt and top sequin and lace mismatches are just amazing and they look so good with the coral and white bouquets! Add in beautiful copper heart Vivienne Westwood shoes, and some good as gold accents and you have the perfect amount of metallic. A good tip with coral is to use it in a sort of ombre way, with everything from a pale blush to the most powerful orange version of the colour, just the way that it is in this adorable stationery suite. Add a few special touches – homemade lemonade, a ruffly chair back, sparkly mason jars, and you have everything you need for coral and glam wedding wonderful. Hope you like your board, Carrie!

Colours: Coral, blush, white, copper & gold

Top row (l-r): Bridesmaids {P: Jarvie Digital Photography}; table layout {S: Envision Wedding Studio; P: AC Ellis Inc.}; pink lemonade {P: White Loft Studio}; blush ruffle chair back {S: Envision Wedding Studio; P: AC Ellis Inc.}
Row 2: Coral & gold stationery suite {P: Jean-Pierre Gary and Kiera Ormut-Fleishman}; coral macaroons; Vivienne Westwood shoes; fireplace ceremony {P: Justin Demutiis Photography; S: Olivier Events}
Row 3: Sparkle mason jars; lace sheath dress with keyhole back {P: Paul Johnson}; cake {Elizabeth Messina}; single bloom centrepiece {Martha Stewart}.

 

Inspiration Board: Olympian Blue

Hooray for Mondays, SouthBound Bride! And it’s no surprise I have the Olympics on my mind today. I was going to do a gold, silver and bronze board, but having just done mixed metallics last week, I thought I would focus on Olympian Blue, one of the beautiful colours from Pantone’s Fall 2012 lineup, mixed in with a bit of shiny gold, for obvious reasons. Hopefully there’ll be at least one gold to South Africa’s name by the time you read this! This blue is lovely and fresh, but it’s also quite intense, so I’ve added a light denimy blue in as well, and gone for a look that’s kind of a cross between urban and rustic, and just a bit Anthropologie. It works beautifully with the BHLDN dress top left, which I have been in love with for the last year. Another detail I absolutely adore is the calligraphed tiles for place cards (no surprise, an innovation from Martha Stewart). And for a final Olympic touch, there’s a pretty laurel-inspired gold headband. Hope you like it, and hope you’re all enjoying the games this week! (To find out more about the Pantone range and see some colour combos, check out this post.)

Colours: Olympian blue, pale blue, grey, gold

Top row (l-r): BHLDN dress {S: Alchemy Fine Events & Invitations; P: Mike Larson Photographers, Inc.}; blue bridesmaids dresses and anemone bouquets {C: Bluebird Events; P: Leo Patrone Photography}; ceremony backdrop {P: Jason Durnin}; gold cake
Row 2: Calligraphy invitation {Sycamore Street Press/Betsy Dunlap}; laurel headband; gold and white bunting; calligraphy tile place cards: topaz ring
Row 3: Olympic rings; blue shoes {C: Jenny Brown; P: Alea Lovely Photo + Video}; reception venue {P: Jason Durnin}; spraypainted bottles.

 

Inspiration Board: Beach Tinsel

Woohoo, we’re getting our sparkle on today! Reader Tracey sent me a request for help with her summer wedding at the Oyster Box hotel – she and her fiance were leaning towards neutal colours but weren’t yet decided. They’re a young couple, so they also wanted to add a bit of fun to the event, and make their design simple and fresh. I love the Oyster Box as a venue (it’s actually one of my all-time faves) and I thought neutral colours were a great idea as not only will they work perfectly with the hotel’s interiors, they’ll also play up the colours of the beach. Flat neutrals, especially with natural and linen accents, can make for a gorgeous beach-style do. However, with Tracey’s request for fun, I immediately thought of the metallic and shimmer trends we’re seeing at the moment – there’s just something about a few sequins that puts everyone in a good mood. And it’s so easy to bring a bit of New Year’s Eve spirit into your design. Start with a basic palette of lots of clean white, with ivory and cream variations, and a bit of taupe, and then metallics like gold, silver and bronze. Add in fun sparkly accents – shiny bridesmaids dresses, metallic garlands and (my best) a blingy pinata! Pair this with beachy touches like shells and cute ‘message in a bottle’ escort cards. Finally, have fun with the food (this is an easy way to delight your guests, and makes the whole thing a fun experience) – you could have an unusual cake (like donuts) or serve mini ice-cream cones instead of dessert. Tracey can afford to be daring in her wedding attire – I just love the idea of a single (or multiple!) bold statement necklaces. What makes this look easy to pull off is that it’s essentially a classic white wedding with selected over-the-top moments, that add a real punch. And my, but isn’t it pretty? Hope you like your board Tracey – good luck with your planning!

Colours: White, neutrals, metallics

Top row (l-r): Oyster Box foyer; gold sparkle dress {P: Shira Weinberger}; Eat, Drink & Be Married sign {S: La Fete Event Design; P:Jennifer O‘Donnell Photography}; bride with statement necklace look {S: Canvas and Canopy Events; P: Elizabeth Messina}
Row 2: Silver pinata by Confetti System; message in a bottle escort cards {S: Wed Perfect; P: Denise Bovee Photography}; silver sparkle dress {S: Ginny Branch Stelling Styling & Design; P: Harwell Photography}
Row 3: Shells {S: Wed Perfect; P: Denise Bovee Photography}; shell place card {Fairyfolk Weddings on Etsy}; powdered donuts {S: Alchemy Fine Events; P: Justin Lee}: silver accent bouquet {S: Imagine… Weddings and Special Events; F: Couture Flowers; P:The Youngrens}

Inspiration Board: Beach Tinsel | SouthBound Bride

Save

Inspiration Board: Once Upon a Time

Good morning, lovelies! Before we get to today’s inspiration board (which I have been saving rather impatiently for you), I have good news and bad news. Let’s start with the good. Last week, I was absolutely thrilled and honoured to be included in a list on the Fair Lady blog of FL’s favourite tweeters! Not only is it always super satisfying to know that people like what I do here, but you guys, I grew UP reading Fair Lady. When I was a little girl, I would read my mother’s old stack cover to cover and my secret teenage fantasy was to work there one day. So this was extra special supery dupery exciting. It rocked. Merci, FL. (And if YOU don’t follow me on Twitter yet, do!)

Now the bad news. Sigh. I regret (and I really do mean regret – remember I’m an editor by trade, so missing a deadline totally cuts me up, especially when it’s one I set myself) to tell you that the new Cap Classique website will not be launching at the beginning of December. Unfortunately, some technical issues that I have no control over have got right in the way, and while the delay is only about 10 days, with Christmas coming, it only makes sense to put it off until January. Which kind of blows, but when I thought about it, I decided it was kind of cool. New year, new site, new everything. I really am disappointed, and sorry to keep you all waiting. I hope you won’t mind waiting just a liiiiiittle bit longer. Although, now that I’ve had to rejig my whole schedule for December, I do have something quite cool up my sleeve, which you’ll hopefully like. So there you go. Please don’t hate me!

And now, before I get all depro about this again, I am going to cheer us all up with some sparkle. YAY! As you know, gorgeous colours mixed in with metallics have been huge news this year, and I think we’ll see lots more of that this season. Here’s my little take on a sort of royal wedding/princessy theme, which includes my current colour obsession (navy) combined with the prettiest powder blue, champagne and then some sparkly metallics. I can’t get enough of it! It’s almost enough to make a grown woman believe in fairytales… ;)

Colours: Navy, powder blue, champagne & gold

Top row (l-r): Princess bride; navy and gold manicure; table setting (Jill La Fleur/Jose Villa); navy bridesmaid’s dress (Kristin Vining); wedding cake with crown (Jose Villa)
Row 2: ‘Believe’ gold letters; blue and gold sequin garments; metal crown; mini Moets
Row 3:‘Once upon a time’ invitations; place setting with pumpkins (Martha Stewart); bride & groom (The Brand Studio); ‘Happily ever after starts here’ sign (Studio Eleven)

Inspiration Board: Sparkle & Blush

Happy Monday folks! Hope you had a great weekend. I had a great one catching up with friends, although I wish the fabulous spring weather we saw last month would come back! I could do with some more sunshine. Anyway, on with today’s inspiration board, which I have to say, has me feeling all girly and giddy. A bit of glitter will do that for you. As you already know, metallics are big this year and they’re often paired with a gorgeous soft pink. I’ve added just a touch of pistachio to the mix, and I think it looks delicious – an updated version of the sharper candy pink and bright green that was popular a couple of years back. This would work beautifully in just about any venue, and you could adapt it depending on the season. Just perfect!

Colours: Pastel pink and green, gold

Top row (l-r): Bride and groom (Jose Villa); teacups (AveryHouse); glittery dresses (Edyta Szyszlo); cake with crown topper
Row 2: Bride with gold bracelet (Our Labor of Love); glitzy table setting; escort cards (AveryHouse); bride with sparkly shoes (Kellie Kano); pink lemonade (Alice Hu Photography)
Row 3: Cherry blossoms; macaroons; glitter; hearts (Joielala Photographie)