You can also embellish the table runners/place mats by gluing ribbons or other trimming along the sides of the wrapping paper. Scrap-booking papers, while smaller, also provide lots of colorful decorating options, such as place-mats, table numbers, and gift wrap!

photo: Country Living

Here are some photos of how it’s done!

Preston Bailey’s Blog via Divas and Weddings

Martha Stewart Weddings

Real Simple

Home Stories A to Z

Katek via The Savvy Event

Lollipop Event & Design via Details Events

Martha Stewart Weddings

Style Me Pretty

More Wrapping Paper and Scrapbooking Paper ideas!

coasters/votive mats: The Cooke Family

backdrops: Pepper via Parties and Pretties

Place mats and Table Numbers: Martha Stewart Weddings

candle wrappers: Grace Designs

Once you’ve decided on your colors and have your wedding logo designed, the next step is to decide what elements of your wedding should include your logo. This is the fun part! There are so many ways to use wedding logos and monograms to create consistency throughout your day, but you’ll want to keep in mind that going overboard is a big mistake. Here Stacey presents 18 ideas for you to pick from, but be sure to pick only your favorites!

1. Save-the-Dates. Save-the-Dates are the first thing your guests will see, and using your logo on them will help set the tone for the rest of the decor that they will experience. Using your logo alone or with a photo of you and your fiance, are both great ways to incorporate the imagery and your colors. Magnets are my personal favorite, because your guests can use the magnet to hang up your invitation when it arrives, and it serves as a constant reminder to mark their calendars every time they go to the fridge!

2. Invitations. A no-brainer, your logo should be included on your invitation. It can be used in a variety of ways here, either on the top of the invite, as a watermark in the background, or even on the envelope. Make sure your text and color scheme matches or complements the logo colors.

3. Stamps. Custom stamps make all of your wedding mail seamless integrated into your decor. Plus they make a great addition to your wedding album!

4. Ceremony Runner. Custom runners are a growing trend in weddings, and wedding logos make the perfect motif. We suggest a white on white color theme, so as not to distract from the ceremony location, flowers, and bride.

5. Ceremony Programs. What do all of your guests usually look at as they’re waiting for the bride to come down the aile? The programs! Cover yours in your monogram.

6. Bouquet Ribbon. Make your bouquet even more personal with your logo on the ribbon that wraps around the stems.

7. Ceremony Candles. Often during ceremonies, brides and grooms elect to include a candle-lighting ritual that represents the coming together of the couple as one. These candles would look fabulous with your custom wedding logo front and center!

8. Escort Cards. Escort cards help to decorate the table as everyone brings theirs to claim their seats.

9. Gobo Lights. As mentioned in a previous post, gobo lights can be used to shine on your dance floor with your names in lights!

10. Cake Topper. Gone are the days of the traditional bride & groom statue cake toppers. Make your cake super personal with your initials, and take it home to put on display next to your album!

11. Cocktail Napkins. With cocktails flowing, have yours handed out with a custom napkin!

12. Door, Wall, & Floor Decals. Decals (which are basically great big stickers) make the place look like it was built just for you.

13. Wine Labels. Offer your guests wine at each table, straight from your very own vineyard (or it can appear that way)!

14. Champagne Flutes. Include your wedding logo in your toast, as everyone raises their custom glasses! These also make great favors for your guests to take home.

15. Stickers. So versatile, stickers can be used on all of your envelopes, or on practically any favor to make it customized for your wedding.

16. Hang Tags on your favors also add a personal touch.

17. Thank-You Cards. Your Thank-You cards are the last thing your guests will receive to remember your day, so include a photo of the happy couple as well as your logo to tie the theme together.

18. Wall Art. As a new couple, you’ll be decorating your home together. Use the first symbol of your married life together as wall decor, and you’ll have a reminder of your special day every time you look at it.

Here are some of Stacey’s great custom wedding monograms! Don’t forget that Stacey has created a coupon code for 10% off for Bride.net readers! Enter the code BRIDENET when you’re ready to check out, and receive this 10% discount on your custom wedding logo! You can also check out her blog for more great logo ideas!

If you have any other ideas for using wedding logos, please share them in the comments!

If you are planning a waterside wedding or just want to bring the magic of summer into your wedding scheme, decorating your tables and venue will be a ton of fun (in the sun)! Aside from seashells and starfish, there are lots of ideas for a gorgeous, classy, and unique summer wedding.

Colors of the Sea

Let your wedding colors be influenced by the varying shades of the ocean. Blue, green, turquoise, and silver, accented with navy or sandy shades are perfect for a beach-themed wedding, lending your venue that elusive, mystical beauty of the sea.

images from weddings on the french riviera

Or take some inspiration from this silver and navy blue wedding:

Candlelight

Your celebration may begin during daylight hours, but we know you’ll be partying through the night! Light up the night with lots and lots of candles–the twinkling lights add romance and festivity. Put them on your tables, line your isles, and any other available surface!

Images: candles and sandcastles: Wedding blog via Chillipit, candles in seashells: perfect-wedding-day, candles, stones, and orchids:  cheap wedding centerpieces

Fun Touches

Follow the beach theme as far as you want to go with it! Place cards, wedding favors, guest books, and wedding cakes… there is endless space for creativity!

Images: fish centerpieces: wedding by color, cake from pinkcakebox on flickr, coasters from American bridal, seascape centerpieces from PicsDigger, message in a bottle place holders: Blushing Bridezilla

Dress Accordingly!

Whether or not you are actually getting married on the beach, your dress choice should be light and airy! Bring on fun accessories such as parasols, shades, and sunhats, for both the wedding party and the guests!

Images: bridesmaids with parasols from SMH.com, Sunhat from Clothing Coupons, bride & groom in sunglasses from luster studios

Once you have chosen a type of flower, says centerpiece-ideas.net, you can get creative with the details. For a truly striking arrangement, use multiple cylinders in varying heights in the center. You can either use the same kind of flower in each vase, or choose different flowers in the same color palette. Orchids are one of the most popular choices for submerged flower centerpieces, and they are available in gorgeous colors.

You can also choose to add some detail to the vases. For a Zen look, place a layer of smooth black pebbles in the bottom of the cylinders. If you are going for an dazzling evening look, then glittering crystals will look amazing when the candlelight bounces off of them. You can choose clear crystals or go for a bold choice like deep red or emerald. You can also float candles on top of the flowers for a very pretty effect.

Here are a few gorgeous samples of submerged centerpieces.

Tall Cylinder Vases

Fishbowl Flowers

Clustered Centerpieces

Submerged Bouquets

Flowers by Candlelight

Images from No Fuss Fabulous & Bridal Cheek

Do-it-Yourself!

If you chose to do your own centerpieces, here are some tips from No Fuss Fabulous:
1. In order for your flowers not to float to the top of your vase, you will need to a) attach the stems to the bottom of the vase with aquarium glue or b) use fishing weights. Fishing weights are small silver weights sold at hardware stores. Attach weights onto the flower with clear fishing wire and let it sink – cover up with decorative stones or c) for some flowers simply adding decorative stones or pebbles to the bottom of each vase around stems keep the flowers from floating to the top.

2. If you use regular tap water, bubbles may eventually begin to form on your flowers. Use distilled water to prevent bubbling.
3. Real flowers are recommended. If you use silk flowers, make sure you test them in water to prevent bleeding. I have heard that synthetic flowers work better than silk.
4. If your arrangement starts to look too heavy, try submerging only half of your flowers. I have been to a few events where they only submerged a portion of the flowers and they looked quite lovely. See photo below offlowers not fully submerged.
5. In water, everything is magnified. A floating wire or fraying silk flower will show. Be sure that your pieces are well put together before adding water.
6. Depending on the flower you choose, the blooms can look nice up to a week submerged in water. The length of time your centerpiece will look fresh depends not only on the flower you choose, but also how much jostling will take place. This is something to think about if you are hauling a few of them to a wedding reception or other event.

After buying some books on the subject, she began making her own silk wedding flower creation from her home. After some time, she took a job with a local florist and fell in love with fresh flowers, and moved on to become the manager of a busy flower shop and the head florist designer…. and the rest is history.

What it all comes down to is that Louann has tons of experience she wants to share with the rest of us about flowers, from ordering them to making gorgeous wedding arrangements. I suggest you check out her site, Wedding Flowers and Reception Ideas, for ideas, pictures, advice, and tutorials, to get you started on your own wedding flowers!

Here are a few of my favorite ideas. Your guests will “ooh” and “ahh” over these unique and beautiful designs, in addition to being astounded at your creative genius!

Centerpieces in a Bag!

Something as simple as a brown paper bag, adorned with a cheerful bow can hold a blooming plant as a simple, attractive (but cheap!) wedding centerpiece!

Fish Bowl Centerpieces

Create quick and elegant centerpieces using fish bowls , Oasis florist foam rings, and flowers. You can add colored water and floating candles to the fishbowl, or delight your guests with real goldfish! (Photo courtesy of John Henry.)

Dainty Candle Centerpieces

These small candle centerpieces can be tucked most any where – on supper tables, near dinner reservation cards, bridal showers and more. Here we have a small candle nestled in the center of a rose, (with center petals removed) and an unusually pretty, rustic-looking candle holder made of fresh leaves, such as ficus or lemon, glued to the sides of a candle cup.

Delightful, Fruity Centerpieces

When life hands you lemons… make centerpieces! These over-the-top centerpieces are certainly out of the ordinary! (Photo courtesy of John Henry.)

Black Magic Bouquets and Centerpieces

These dramatic black magic roses create quite an impact, both in your bridal table centerpieces and in your bouquets. When using these flowers, use some bright red or hot pink for contrast.

If you are interested in designing your own flowers, be sure to check out the Easy Tutorial pages and the Supply Store, where you can find all the products you need, from bouquet holders and stands to centerpiece supplies. These products are sometime difficult to find, as they are usually only available to professional florists.

You can also find galleries of inspiration for the following wedding-related themes: Wedding hair styles, bridal bouquets, flower girl baskets, corsage and boutonnieres, wedding cakes, bridal shower ideas, church decorations, weddings by color and season, invitations, and more! Check out Wedding Flowers and Reception Ideas for hundreds of photo galleries full of wedding-inspiration!

DIY Wedding Favors, too!

Are you interested in making your own wedding favors to go along with your hand-made centerpieces? Check out American Bridal’s Wedding Favor supplies for incredibly creative, unbelievably cheap wedding favors your guests will love. Whether you’re looking for edible goodies or luxurious aroma beads, American Bridal has an impressive selection of cheap and discounted wedding supplies to create wedding favors that are fun and functional!

American Bridal also has candles and tea lights that you can use as wedding favors or as part of your centerpiece designs!

The NY Times also mentions a cool website called Bravo Brides. This is a fantastic forum for brides-to-be who want to save money by purchasing pre-owned stuff, and brides-who-were who want to get some money back on wedding items they no longer need. You can buy or sell anything wedding-related, from designer wedding gowns to groom’s attire, veils, shoes, jewelry, candles, isle runners, ring pillows, flower girl baskets, place card holders, cake toppers, centerpieces, wedding planning guides, party and shower items, and much more!

They also have listings for local vendors and wedding tips to help you save even more money on your wedding planning needs!

Why choose Bravo Brides? Here are their reasons!!

	We’re the premier one-stop resource for all your wedding needs
	You won’t find bicycles or fish tanks on BravoBride. Instead, we focus completely on pre-owned designer wedding dresses, jewelry, accessories, ceremony and reception items, wedding favors—everything you need for the perfect wedding. Here’s what some of our satisfied customers have to say about their experience with BravoBride.
	It’s easy to find exactly what you need on BravoBride
	With our advanced search features, you’ll find the items you need quickly so you can focus on more important things like deciding on the flavor for your wedding cake. Search for wedding dresses by style, size, designer, or price—to name just some of the options. If you see what you want but aren’t ready to buy, simply add the item to your ‘Favorites’ list to purchase later.
	BravoBride makes selling your items easy
	Listing items for sale and uploading your photos is very simple, there’s no technical knowledge required. We don’t charge any listing fees or commissions so you can sell your item at the best possible price. Your listing stays on the site for 18 months, giving your buyers plenty of time to find and purchase your items. You can upload up to eight images and make three image and text edits after your listing has been posted at no additional cost. It’s easy to track your sales and update your listings.
	We support the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Campaign
	Did you know that heart disease affects more women than cancer? BravoBride is proud to donate a percentage of our proceeds to the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Campaign to reduce cardiovascular disease and stroke among women. You can read more about the Go Red for Women Campaign here.
	BravoBride is good for your budget—and for the planet.
	When you shop on BravoBride, you’re not just getting the wedding items you need at a great price. You’re also making the Earth-friendly choice to re-use and pass along. Just a little something extra to be happy about when you walk down the aisle!
	BravoBride offers a range of features no free site or auction site can match. For example:
	Featured Item placement Advanced search capability Multiple photos My Favorite Items section Recommend items to a friend

If you want to celebrate your heritage and showcase the beauty of Asian cultures, it can be featured in a wedding that reflects your personal tastes, whether it’s more trendy, classic, or a mixture of both! Incorporate elements like cherry blossoms, brocade, saki cups, and chopsticks, all embellished with Japanese calligraphy or Chinese characters.

The photos above come from Manolo for the Brides. The decor is from Social Couture, but MftB points out that the look can be easily and inexpensively replicated with accessories from the craft store, eBay, the Oriental Trading Company, and Amazon. These favors below are from the Oriental Trading Company:

American Bridal also has a selection of Asian-styled favors such as these, for something a little more upscale:

Paper lanterns, like these pictured at MftB and Paper Lantern Store, add a delicate, colorful touch:

The Paper Lantern Store also sells hand fans and parasols in a variety of colors and patterns. How pretty your bridal party will look in pictures, carrying these lovely accessories! Here are a few of their parasols:

And here are some of their pretty fans (in all colors to match your wedding!):

To put the perfect finishing touch on your Asian styled wedding, you’ll need a cake adorned with cherry blossoms, of course!