*

*

*

*

Gold table setting ideas: Elizabeth Ann Designs

Gold Torrent Drops: Anthropologie $48

Golden vessels bearing silver number stickers+ smaller gold-leaf votives: Marthat Stewart Weddings

Metallic Crepe Paper flowers: Creative Jewish Mom

Gold hair comb: Etsy $98

Elephant Card Holders: American Bridal $21 for set of 12

Hershey‘s Hugs and Kisses via Firehow

Glittery accessories: Martha Stewart Weddings

Long gold dress: Trina Turk $298; Short sequined dress Nordstrom $158

Blake Long Faceted Necklace: Revolve Clothing $149

Armani Gold tie: Nordstrom $145; Elie Tahari silver tie: BlueFly $59

Wedding cake via Pretty Little Things

*

*

*

All photos and ideas from Martha Stewart Weddings.

*

*

*

Escort-Card Posies: All you need are fabric flowers, map pins, and glue to bring your seating assignments into bloom. Would look great with little multicolored fall leaves, too!  Click here for the  How-To!

Blossoming Backdrop: A string of white lights, vellum and card stock, hole punches, and glue!  Click here for the How-To!

Paper Links:Vellum and double sided tape make paper chains chic! Mix-n-match colors to get the perfect look. Click here for the How-To (as if you really need it!)

Wooden Seating Cards: Paper-thin wood veneer, craft punches, and calligraphy pens make these distintive place cards! Get the How-To Here!

Flower Girl Cardigan: Sequins and fabric glue make it fun!  Works wonders for all sorts of other things too, including shoes, sashes, bouquets, headbands, and favors.

Poster Guest Book: Instead of having your loved ones write messages in a book, put out a poster on which they can sign their names. You can download the editable (and free!) clip art here, send the file to a printer, and it’s done! Or put together your own poster using stencils, paint, ribbon, and anything else you fancy! Get the How-To here!

Seasonal Fruit Favor: You’ll need fruit, tissue paper, and rubber stamps for this one! For personalized stamps, have an office-supply store make a rubber stamp with your names, wedding date, and  illustration. Get the How-To here!

Harvest Wedding Centerpieces: The beauty of these is that they can be made weeks in advance!  Wheat, grains, and other dried grasses (available at crafts stores), tied with a luxurious satin bow. Get the how-to here!

Mini Candied Apples: For these dainty nibbles, embellish candied apples with a paper leaf. You’ll need a leaf-shaped craft punch, glue, and short skewers. You can hand-write, stamp, or print “Enjoy” on each leaf. Get the Candy Apple recipe here!

Flower Girl Basket: For this charming look, get yourself a pretty basket, some cotton fabric, silk ribbon, and leaves. You can order pressed leaves if you don’t have any real ones in your area! Get the how-to here!

Fall Wedding Boutonnieres: Incorporate the shades and symbols of autumn into festive boutonnieres. Get the How-to here!

feature image: The bride at this California wedding, a floral designer by trade, composed her bouquet of plush ‘Pieter B’ and ‘Evelyn’ garden roses, bunny tails, and pink-edged variegated dogwood. Vintage jaquard ribbon adds a final flourish.  Read more: Fall Bridal Bouquets.

below: This bride wasn’t picky about her flowers and let her florist decide what would work best. She carried white hydrangea, orange roses, and dahlias. The roses and dahlias were two different shades of orange, adding depth to the bouquet. Read more: the Knot

below: Berries are a great way to add texture and dimension to fall weddinb bouqets. Hypericum berries and viburnum berries are both great choices. Tying your bouquet with orange, brown ribbons subtly brings in colors of fall, even if your bouquet is not made up of autumn colors. Read more: My Wedding Planning Guide

below: Rich and classic, this dome-shaped bouquet of warm-hued garden roses is enhanced by dates and kumquats brushed with gold metallic powder and set on wire stems. Shell-shaped metallic trim wraps the wider ivory satin ribbon. Read more: Fall Bridal Bouquets

1. Hang amber-lit lanterns

The warm-colored light perfectly coordinates with fall wedding colors.  With so much going on overhead, you can keep things simple on the guest tables.   Use rustic lanterns in place of elaborate floral centerpieces that might compete with the suspended setup. Also, consider using a lantern motif on all of your stationery. (From the Knot)

2. Warms-your-Heart Wedding Favors

• Make it – homemade goodies like fudge, candy apples, or jams presented in festive packaging always go over well
• Bag it – fill mini burlap bags with coffee beans, bulbs, or any treat you desire, and tie a label with your monogram or wedding date to the top
• Pour it – miniature bottles of maple syrup are a sweet treat
• Fill it – miniature wood crates lined with straw and filled with goodies are a rustic touch (From Elegala)

For more autumn-themed favors and inspiration, visit American Bridal!

3. Create a Mini Pie Bar

Pie is the dessert of choice for fall! Apple, cherry, blueberry, persimmon… and and miniature food is a huge trend, too.  You can send guests home with mini pie tins as wedding favors, including recipe cards for your favorite kind of pie.  (From the Knot)

4. Go Glam

You are not confined to rustic and casual in the fall (you can skip the hay bales and pumpkins if that’s not your style!).  To create a posh autumn ambiance, use accents such as lush velvets, antique broaches, crystal stemware, and elegant candelabras.  (Chair covers from Dreams Do Come True)

5. Blooming Bouquets

The colors of the season (red, orange, gold, purple…) can be expressed in so many ways. This beautiful bouquet of flaming calla lilies is perfect for a fall wedding. It also adds a stunning contrast against the bride’s ivory gown. (From Martha Stewart Weddings via Allwomenstalk)

At the turn of the century, Thanksgiving week was one of society’s grandest periods of social functions, according to Creative Bride, and getting married just before or just after Thanksgiving was highly fashionable.

Today, a holiday wedding has its challenges and bonuses. For example, Thanksgiving weekend is the busiest travel time of the year, so travel plans would have to be finalized well in advance. However, family members may already be planning to come together for the holiday, which would make things a lot easier . Attending a wedding at the same time would be a plus.

Thanksgiving is poignant and full of spirit. It’s more than just a time of turkey and football. It’s a time of reflection and sharing, and the brides of more than a hundred years ago may have been on to something. A Thanksgiving week wedding would be full of tradition and family bonding and love worn on heart sleeves. Giving thanks for life’s blessings by choosing that time to become united, would no doubt feel especially empowering.

Incorporating the beauty of autumn and Thanksgiving into your wedding is easy as… pumpkin pie, of course. Use colors like red, gold, rust, burgundy, brown, tan, dark orange, and yellow. AC suggests using fall flowers like mums, yarrow, daises, and roses, along with colored leaves, to create decorations and bouquets. Add pheasant feathers, tallow berries, and dried wheat to your autumn bridal bouquet for a more complete look.

Decorations for a Thanksgiving wedding include:

• Groups of gourds and pumpkins placed around the room
• Wheat sheaves
• Pumpkins: not only orange! You can find some in natural white or blue
• Cornucopias filled with seasonal produce and plants
• Sculpture pilgrim shoes (complete with buckle) set amidst carefully arranged autumn leaves and flowers
• Simple flower arrangements, like daisies or cream roses, in fall-colored vases make nice centerpieces. Instead of greenery, use pheasant feathers and wheat stalks as backdrop for the flowers.
• Create a white candle arrangement mixed with cinnamon sticks and tied with fall colored ribbons.

For dinner, you can serve a hearty seasonal meal, which probably should not include turkey. Some serving suggestions, from AC and wedding photo USA:

• Soup served in a hallowed out pumpkin is unique and festive
• Roasted quail for the meat eaters
• mushroom ragout for vegetarians
• marinated pork roast with mashed potatoes
• honey glazed butternut squash, baby carrots, green beans
• Warm apple cider or mulled wine are excellent drinks.
• Dessert can be pumpkin pie or baked apple dessert.

The Cornucopia of Harvest Wedding Inspiration from Manolo for the Brides:

Candied apples mak a fun wedding favor that’s pretty AND delicious!

A glorious crimson and gold table combination by NJDesign:

Isn’t this home-style Thanksgiving table awesome?! I love how the brick wall and floor, drapes, and sofa all match the season’s colors!

For a more modern look:

Invitations: The first whiff of fall comes to your guests in the mail. Decorate Save-the-Date cards and invitations with vines, leaves, scroll work, and flourishes for ultimate autumn elegance.

A gold leaf seal on the envelope or a sprinkling of colorful silk leaves when they open the invitation is a pretty touch!

Decorating ideas: Glittering maple leaves will help give your reception a magical autumn look, whether displayed on a wall or as part of your centerpieces. A unity candle or bridal bouquet wrapped in gold satin ribbon is pretty and sophisticated, especially trimmed with bows and pearls. And what do you think about those precious flower girls scattering baskets of autumn leaves or dried flowers instead of rose petals?  This taupe rhinestone basket will be just the thing!

Centerpieces and Table Decor: A simple vase of flowers surrounded by red and gold flower petals becomes a lovely tribute to fall’s beauty.  To wake things up even more, use eye-popping table linens in orange or crimson. You can also engage the stunning contrast of dark green tablecloths and bright flowers and accessories. Incorporate maple leaf garlands, pumpkins, fruits, tree branches, and of course fall-colored flowers such as yellow sunflowers and red roses. If you want to go with a fall harvest theme, use baskets overflowing with flowers, fruits, gourds, pumpkins, and berries.

Bouquets and flowers: Speaking of flowers, there are so many glorious options to chose from! Gerbera daisies and roses in autumn colors, calla lilies, dahlias, sunflowers, mimosa, delphinium, gladioli, bouvardia, orchids, birds of paradise. Intertwine these flowers with fruits, berries, ivy, grasses or twigs and finish off with soft ribbons or metallic accessories for a look that’s unique and gorgeous!

Wedding cakes and cupcakes: For a final taste of fall sweetness, decorate your cake with colorful frosting, ribbons, and scroll work, adorned with candied flowers, leaves, acorns, and berries.

The French approach blends the inherent beauty of flowers, gathered simply from the garden, with the personal vision and passion of the floral artist.  It is this rapport between nature and artist that gives the French bouquet, whether rendered in the haute couture or garden style, a distinctive personality, flair, and emotional impact.  This season, be sure to look for inspiration from the garden and Farmers’ Markets, in historical styles, and from fashion, to create your own masterpieces in the French style.

Here are some tips and techniques for creating your own cutting-edge designs. Let yourself be inspired by these gorgeous, pastoral creations! The look will lend sophisticated charm to your autumn celebration.

Bouquet végetal. Fruits and vegetables, always a key ingredient in the French bouquet, are especially au courant this season. At Catherine Muller’s design studio, we added a sprig of plaintain bananas, a single courgette (zucchini), and a ripe plum to a romantic bouquet of blue and purple hydrangea and pink garden roses.  Other ideas include surrounding a vase of elegant white lilies with fresh green beans and using large orange carrots to form the base of a striking bouquet of fuchsia phaleonopsis and pink mokara orchids.  Fruits and vegetables add color and substance to floral arrangements, making the “bouquet végetal” not only trés jolie, but cost-effective, too!

Marie Antoinette luxe. As enduring style icon and the archetype of luxe, Marie Antoinette reigns as the ultimate taste-maker, and her legacy continues to influence contemporary trends in French fashion, décor, and floral design.  At the Grand Palais, Marie Antoinette’s objets de luxe were celebrated in a special exhibit that generated rave reviews and renewed interest in her vision.  To achieve the look of romantic decadence and sumptuous opulence in your party décor this season, incorporate signature design elements such as boules de plume (feather balls), romantic flowers (Yves Piaget garden roses), and layers of posh fabrics (tulle, silk, taffeta).  Use rich color schemes (French blue and silver, Versailles pink and gold, royal purple and peridot green) to create a sense of unabashed, over-the-top, classic French style.

Fleur couture. In addition to deriving inspiration from history and nature, French florists are influenced by haute couture fashion, which creates incredible excitement and innovation in their designs. In my strolls through the Parisian fashion district, I noted how the new trends – structured, architectural shapes, strong, primary colors, exquisite hand-detailing (ruffles, layers, pleats), etc. will provide rich inspiration for nouvelle bouquets this season. To create the fleur couture style, use fashion-forward colors in chic monochromatic combinations, incorporate layers of textures (including a variety of natural materials), and add special flourishes and finishing touches (plaid ribbons, tweed wraps, jewel accents) fresh from the fashion runways.

]]> http://www.bride.net/2008/parisian-floral-trends-wedding-decor-and-bridal-bouquets/feed/ 1 http://www.bride.net/2007/the-autumn-bride/ http://www.bride.net/2007/the-autumn-bride/#comments Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:40:29 +0000 dena http://www.bride.net/2007/the-autumn-bride/ Winter is upon us, but this WeddingBee blog is dreaming of fall.

So is MakeCupcakesNot War:

 And take a look at these gorgous fall wedding invitations: