Category: Inspiration Boards

Inspiration Board: Nordic Nuptials

by gaby

Hello lovelies! Time for some wedding inspiration from the far north today – Scandinavia to be precise. I don’t know about you, but I love Scandi style, especially the clean, elegant neutrals that they use in their design. I wanted to put them together into a beautiful, modern but a little rustic and woodsy wedding design. I think this would be perfect just about anywhere in the world – and it doesn’t just have to be for winter weddings either. Oh and PS, antlers are totally a hot wedding motif at the moment. I have no idea why. But they’re pretty awesome.

Colours: White and beige neutrals

Top row (l-r): Antler art {Kari Herer}; bride {Love Made Visible}; kransekake; pie pops {Call Me Cupcake}; stone church
Row 2: Scandinavian wedding decor {Kate McLuckie/Mariah Breitenberg & Jess Pedersen}; antler monogram {Lydia Abbott Designs}; ring bowl {Paloma’s Nest}; antler candlesticks
Row 3: Flower girl in crown; wedding dress {Delphine Manivet}; lamps {Beautiful Days/White Loft Studio}; bride and groom {Fotograf Bjervig}.

 

Colour Story: Indigo & Violet

by gaby

As promised, here’s another of the SBB Collection that we haven’t yet featured – this collection of wedding invitation loveliness was the result of a collaboration between SouthBound Bride and the designers of the Invitation Gallery. Each designer chose one of our inspiration boards to work from, and today’s is really digging back into the archives – Indigo & Violet is from the early days of SBB. That may be, but the colours – two rich variations on the purple palette – are really hitting the spot for brides nowadays and the motif used on the collection (hydrangea) is very much of the moment in terms of floral design. So I thought it was high time that we took a fresh look at the way you can incorporate this look into your wedding. Here’s the original board…

Full inspiration board credits here.

The stationery suite could work for just about any venue, but I’m particularly fond of it for a garden wedding or perhaps a vineyard. It’s feminine without being overpoweringly so, sophisticated without being bling, and perfect for a romantic bride who just loves her shades of purple.

Read More

Inspiration Board: Denim, Peach & Coral

by gaby

Peach and coral together are so my current fave. Or coral and blush. It’s that developing ombre-ness of it that really gets me. But the thing is, that these shades are a bit… well, I don’t know, tropical? without a bit of a cool base to ground them. A certain shade of indigo works wonders. So does navy. But today, I’ve paired them with one of my absolute best blues, because it not only comes with a pretty colour but with texture and chilledness too. I am talking denim, as you can probably guess by now. Denim, which you can actually make chic for a wedding, because, like burlap, it’s a surprising and interesting texture that can be softened or glammed up with the addition of more romantic tones. Play around with modern and classic, traditional and irreverent, for a combination that is 100% you. I love the mixture. But what do you think?

Colours: Blue, coral & peach

Top row (l-r): Cake {Sweet & Saucy Shop}; bouquet {Bryan Rupp Photography/Champagne Wedding Coordination}; bride in denim jacket; peach neon; bridesmaids {Tec Petaja}
Row 2: Love is like denim… {Brancoprata}; rings; bridesmaid bouquet {Brit Rene Photo}
Row 3: Couple {ee Photography/Sweet Sunday Events}; caravan; table setting {Elizabeth Scott}; cocktail {Rebecca Wood}.

 

Colour Story: Hawaiian Honeysuckle

by gaby

Afternoon, my lovelies! We’re heading into the last few weeks of the year, and as we do, I thought it was time that we gave a bit of a spotlight to some of the invitations from the SBB Collection at Invitation Gallery that you may not yet have come across. Although some of them have starred in shoots I have styled, there are still a few more that I absolutely love, but haven’t had a chance to play with yet. And today’s is hands down my favourite. In fact, it may be my favourite from the whole collection: Hawaiian Honeysuckle. Here’s the inspiration board that started it all…

Hawaiian Honeysuckle

Full inspiration board credits here

Hawaiian Honeysuckle is all about relaxed beach loveliness, and m.studio did a phenomenal job in putting it together in a gorgeous coral and turquoise/aqua colour scheme. Even the wording is fun, perfect for a picnic wedding on the beach, with a camper van as a getaway car.

Read More

Inspiration Board: Copper & Cobalt

by gaby

If I had as many boy crushes as I do colour crushes, I’d be falling in love every other day of the week. And here I go having my head turned again, this time by a gorgeous combination of copper/rose gold and blue. It’s amazing. And it totally works using every shade from a blue indigo to a dusk or smokey blue, to bright royal shades to sophisticated navy, so you can vary according to your favourite combination. I suspect that blue is going to be THE colour for 2014, and with metallics not going anywhere, bronze, copper and rose gold are a lovely update on glitzy gold or shimmering silver. What do you think?

Colours: Cobalt blue, copper & white

Top row (l-r): Shoes {Jennifer Laura Design/Val & Sarah}; cake {Fiona Kelly/Always Andri Wedding Design}; copper crockery; bridesmaids {Corbin Gurkin Photography/Loluma}
Row 2: Groomsmen in blue suits {Corbin Gurkin Photography/Loluma}; diamond ring; invitation suite {Kristen Weaver Photography/An Affair To Remember/9th Letter Press}
Row 3: Blue dress; cobalt vases; bridesmaid with corsage {Mr Haack/Jesi Haack}; hydrangea centrepiece {Docuvitae/Kourtney James Perry}

Inspiration Board: Botanical Blush

by gaby

Monday, Monday… Never my favourite day of the week, except for one thing. We always get to start it off with a lovely inspiration board, yay! I absolutely love today’s – botanical has been a gorgeous theme that has come up in wedding design recently, and ferns are one of the florals that have been a big part of that. So I thought, what if you combined these pretty organic elements with just the softest touch of blush, for romance? I have to say, I LOVE the effect – what do you think?

Colours: Fern green, blush pink

Top row (l-r): Bride with fern {Heather Roth Photography/Simply & Forever}; fern table arrangements {Erin Grace Photography/Fieldwork Floral Operation}; cake {Heather Roth Photography/Simply & Forever}; bride in blush dress {Landon Jacob/Parkside Wedding Studio}
Row 2: Fern wedding invitation suite {Bailey and Emma of Antiquaria}; blush patent shoes {Aaron Snow Photography/Gibson Events}; table setting {Leo Patrone/Honey of Thousand Flowers}; ferns in vintage vases {Dear Heart Photographer/Function Flowers}
Row 3: Marquee {Birds of a Feather/Amorology}; fern wreaths {Leo Patrone/Honey of Thousand Flowers}; place setting {Anneli Marinovich Photography/Branco Prata -Sofia Ferreira}; chair {Jose Villa /Laurie Arons Special Events}; bouquet {Katie Stoops Photography/Events in the city}.

 

Inspiration Board: Blood Orange

by gaby

Good morning, lovely friends! I’m back in Durbs after a really lovely week away. After spending time with a few old friends (and new babies!) I headed to Kruger Park on Thursday with my mom, one of her best friends, and her daughter (who was my absolute bestie growing up). They used to live across the road from us in Johannesburg, so I have literally known them both my whole life. What an awesome girls’ weekend, enjoying the quiet and beauty of the African bushveld (in my element!), spotting game (no cats this time sadly, but I was so happy and relieved to spot some rhino), and generally chilling out catching up. Of course, there’s lots to catch up on now (when is there not?) but it’s always lovely to see more of our beautiful country. Even if you do land up driving home in thunder, lightning and in rain. Speaking of that particular witch’s brew, with Halloween happening this week, I thought it would be fun to create a bit of a spooky All Hallows inspiration board. Of course, this is a super elegant, totally non-cheesy version of a Halloween wedding, with the colour scheme of orange and black the only real nod to the holiday. For the rest, it’s black tie elegance with pops of bright citrus, and a bit of a formal vintagey feel. Don’t you love it? Of course, the black Vera Wang dresses just take the cake – so, so beautiful. Happy Halloween folks!

Colours: Orange, black and white

Top row (l-r): Black Vera Wang wedding dress {Jose Villa/Joy Thigpen}; citrus centrepiece {Belathée Photography/McKenzie Powell Designs}; groom {Magnolia Pair/Meade Wenzel}; outdoor wedding {Wedding Artists Collective/Gloria Wong Design}; blood orange cake
Row 2: Bridesmaids with black lace back dresses {Amber Glanville}; place setting {Krista Mason/Calligraphy Katrina}; citrus garland; black shoes with bow
Row 3: Blood orange cocktail; black calligraphy place names {Andrea Nay}; opera glasses {Brandon Kidd Photography/Amorology}; Vera Wang dress; centrepiece {Honey of a Thousand Flowers}.

 

Inspiration Board: Neutrally Beautiful

by gaby

Hello lovelies! How was your weekend? Just to let you know, this week I am off to Joburg and Kruger with reduced email and internet access, so while you’ll still be getting fresh inspiration every day, there will be a reduced number of posts compared to normal. We’ll be back to doubles next week! Of course, there’s still plenty to inspire you, starting off with this board which I am absolutely loving! Mixed neutrals are such a pretty look, especially when you add in the softest puce. A lot of brides would associate this palette with a vintage look, but I personally love the romantic elegance of this board, a sort of Elizabeth Messina softness. Which is your favourite detail?

Colours: Mixed neutrals, puce, black and white

Top row (l-r): Bride and groom {Chelsea Mitchell Photo/Oak and the Owl/Twine Events}; bridesmaids {Birds of a Feather/Amorology}; invitation {Steve Steinhardt Photography/Beth Helmstetter Events}; champagne with blackberries {Jennifer Lindberg}
Row 2: Bouquet; shoes; pashminas {Carrie Rodman Photography/Raina Dawn Events}; bridesmaid dresses; key escort cards on door {Zelo Photography/Couture Events}
Row 3: Statue {Elizabeth Messina}; printed ring pillow {Laura Murray Photography}; table setting {KT Merry/Aisle Candy}; cake.

 

Colour Story: Placid Blue & Hemlock

by gaby

Not long ago, when I put together some inspiration boards for the new Pantone spring colour palette, I predicted that the combo of pastel green and blue would be a favourite, and that this might just be the key colour combination for 2014. Well, we won’t know for a while yet if I was right, but judging on the many Facebook likes and shares and Pinterest pins the board has had since then, I’d say I might have been on to something. So I thought there was no better pairing for a colour story! Here’s the original board:

Full credits here.

Those cool tones just meld together into perfect prettiness, don’t they? When you use two colours that are close to each other on the colour spectrum, another advantage is that you can easily create a sort of ombre effect with your colours, instead of going too mix and match. Mix your pastels with whites and neutrals – again, this gives you quite a lot of flexibility. And with blues and greens not being too girly, it’s a colour combo that your groom is sure to love too.

Read More

Inspiration Board: Portrait of a Lady

by gaby

Happy Monday friends! How was your weekend? The weather has been completely mis here in Durban, although happily I was safely installed in a box for the Sharks game yesterday instead of sitting in the stands in all that rain. Hopefully the summer starts hitting South Africa a bit more soon though, because my tan is fading fast… Anyway, Monday morning means inspiration board time, and I must say, I am loving this one. A lovely dark teal (does that colour have a name?) with blush is the perfect combination of soft romance with dark jewel tones that are very much on-trend at the moment. The look is very sophisticated but pretty at the same time. What do you think?

Colours: Teal, blush and gold

Top row (l-r): Bride with statement necklace {Christine Meintjes/The Pretty Blog}; bridesmaids {Reg Campbell Wedding & Editorials/Keely Thorne Events}; shoes and bouquet {Desi Baytan Photography/Modern LA Weddings}; tablescape {Fondly Forever Photography/Yellow Bird Events}; teal groom’s suit {Fondly Forever Photography/Yellow Bird Events}
Row 2: Cake with blush flower detail; bouquet {Elisa B Photography/Southern Blooms}; car {Erin Hearts Court}; macaroon {Fondly Forever Photography/Yellow Bird Events}; flower in gold goblet {Fondly Forever Photography/Yellow Bird Events}; flower girl {Elisa B Photography}
Row 3: Bride {Fondly Forever Photography/Yellow Bird Events}; blush cocktail; pink calligraphy stationery {Ryder Evans Photography/White+White}; teal door; flowers {Fondly Forever Photography/Yellow Bird Events}.