Pantone Colour of the Year 2017: Greenery

by gaby
How to use Pantone's 2017 Colour of the Year Greenery in your wedding | SouthBound Bride

With a new year comes a fresh colour of the year to play with from the folks over at Pantone and while some years I’m not completely on board with their choice (cough cough Marsala), I am ALL about Greenery, the 2017 COY. It’s fresh, it’s bright, it’s organic, and it feels absolutely right for this brand new year. I can’t WAIT to see what all my favourite wedding pros come up with in styling this shade over the next few months, but in the meantime, I had a play around and came up with five palettes incorporating Greenery, as well as several of Pantone’s other Spring 2017 shades. The great thing about Greenery is that it combines into classic choices, but can also substitute for the greens in less obvious palettes with a really fresh effect. For example, we normally see blues combining with soft sage, but use Greenery and you have something pretty and new. The key thing is to use Greenery as an accent colour – a whole wedding in it might be overwhelming, but in clever touches (especially those using actual greenery), you’re winning. Which is your fave? Links in bold denote affiliate links. SBB may make a commission on any sales made.

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Romantic Baroque Wedding at Waterwoods by Roxanne Davison

by gaby

Jewel Tone Bouquets with Ribbon Ties | Credit: Roxanne Davison

I always feel like I’m opening a village fete at the start of the year, like I should be standing in front of this feature in a big hat and a Sunday dress, with a comically large pair of scissors. I declare this wedding season OPEN! Well, I do. It’s our first real wedding of the year, and I can’t think of a better way to begin than with this dramatic, drop dead gorgeous celebration from Roxanne Davison. Jessica and Brent were inspired by red roses, and art (specifically still life) and a touch of Baroque opulence in creating the design for their Midlands wedding, and wow, is it a showstopper! I love everything, from the fruit and flower-decked tables, to the bridesmaids in Spanish-style black lace, to the bride’s amazing Casey Jeanne gown. And I spy one of our favourite venues too, with some of the couple shoot taking place at the incredible Crystal Barn, part of the SBB Collection of venues. So much pretty in one place, beautifully captured by Roxanne. Let’s do this!

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Dreamy Blue Wedding Inspiration with a Surprise Proposal

by gaby

Time to kick off a new year of inspirational content! And I honestly can’t think of a prettier way to do that than with this styled shoot by the wonderful Courtney Leigh. It’s full of dreamy, dusky blues and touches of elegant gold, gorgeous organic florals and an extraordinarily beautiful two-piece gown by Alexandra Grecco. Jade Magnolia did an amazing job with the table, layering textures and using different shades of blue alongside Blush and Vine‘s lush flowers to really make it pop. Every detail is super swoony (just wait till you see the chocolate strawberries!), but as wonderful as all of it is, what makes this shoot beyond special and memorable is that it ended with a surprise proposal for the sweet models, Chalie and Andrew. The looks of love on their faces, especially during and after Andrew pops the question, just radiate happiness – no wonder capturing these moments is something Courtney describes as a highlight of her photography career. It also makes this the perfect way for us to launch January’s editorial theme: Just Engaged. Enjoy!

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Wedding Trends for 2017

by gaby

Credit: Nadine Aucamp/Anel Botha on SouthBound Bride

Let’s get this party started, shall we friends? Our editorial theme for January is ‘Just Engaged’ and we’ll be kicking off all of that loveliness later today, but first we just had to do our annual roundup of all the trends that are in store for you in 2017. I always feel like this is the best way to start my year – reflecting on the gorgeous trends from years before (many of which are still with us, happily, or have evolved into some of the ideas you’ll see here), and getting excited about the year of weddings to come. And as always, the best part of that is seeing how couples will make these trends their own, adding personal details, DIYs and twists that will set them apart and make them shine. So here are my Top 10 predictions – pick a fave or two that speak to you, and then make ’em yours.

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Best of 2016: Moments

by gaby

best-of-moments-2016

Before we end our Best of 2016 series, I wanted to look past the details (much as we love them) – the pretty dresses and delicious cakes and fabulous decor and spectacular bouquets – to the heart of what we do here on SBB, the heart of weddings, the moments. Even though we don’t know most of the brides and grooms whose weddings we feature, that’s one of the joys of a great photographer, that they capture these slices of emotion that are real and true, even if you don’t know the story or the person behind them. There have been so many times we’ve smiled or shed a tear over the year through these images and stories, and at the end of the day, that’s what makes this so much more than fashion or decor or style. It’s the love. It’s sharing the love. And it’s always a privilege. Here are twenty of those moments, and they’re also the perfect way to finish off our 2016 content. So here’s wishing you all a very happy new year – and we’ll see you back here in 2017!

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Best of 2016: Dresses

by gaby

2016-best-dresses

Ah, one of my favourite posts of the year! Wedding dresses are one of the elements I adore about the real weddings we feature, and we’ve seen so many absolutely GORGEOUS dresses over the years, each with a story of how they came to be ‘the one’. This year has been no exception, and while we’ve seen a return to more traditional white gowns in general, it’s been all about the details – low backs and plunging necklines, soft tulle skirts, lace sleeves and backs, extraordinary fabrics and elegant silhouettes. It’s so hard to pick just twenty favourites, but in the end, this is the group of beauties we settled on. Dress swoon!

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Best of 2016: Aisle & Ceremony Style

by gaby

best-of-ceremony

Today we’re turning our attention to that most special time of a wedding day, the ceremony. I personally love it when a couple puts that extra attention and care into their ceremony style, because while it’s relatively short compared to the reception, the ceremony is where all the most important stuff happens, right? This year, each of these couples created something extra special – a dreamy, magical place where vows where exchanged and a new chapter was begun. And PS, if you’re looking for even more aisle style ideas, you can find them in our dedicated Pinterest board.

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Best of 2016: Bridesmaids

by gaby

Bridesmaid gowns are one of my FAVE parts of weddings, you guys, and let me tell you, when I’m looking at submissions they always catch my eye. And catch my breath sometimes too, because some brides get this so, so right. Whether the look is uniform or mismatched, classic or fashion forward, and whether the colours of the bridesmaid dresses complement or reflect the wedding palette, a well dressed group of ladies always stands out, and they always make the bride look extra amazing (tell THAT to anyone who says your bridesmaids shouldn’t upstage you by looking good). This year we’ve seen such a range of looks, and I loved every one, but eventually managed to narrow them down to these twenty favourites. So get inspired, and then if you like them, get shopping – links in bold denote affiliate links; SBB may earn a commission on any sales made.

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Best of 2016: Cakes

by gaby

Oh, cakes! Gathering together the greatest confections from the year that was is one of my favourite parts of this series, because it always reminds me just how many incredible creations have breezed into SBB HQ over the last twelve months. This year I think we had even more than ever, because wow, narrowing them down was hard! We’ve had tiered cakes and metallic cakes and naked cakes and even a display of cupcakes made to look like succulents that was a breakout on social media. Some have come from real weddings, some from our beautiful styled shoots, but every one of them will inspire you – and if you want to see more amazing cakes, be sure to check out our Pinterest board!

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