photo credit: My Wedding Dream via Bunches of Bliss

Vistaprint identified five top wedding trends for Spring 2011 by looking at a series of variables, including theme and color trend research in Europe and North America, Vistaprint’s top selling save-the-date and invitation products, as well as market research. And what were the results? Here they are:

• Green (Eco-Friendly) Weddings – Eco-friendly weddings are emerging. Everything from sustainable wedding dresses to plantable favors and recycled invitations will be commonplace. The setting will likely be an outdoor venue or tent, with decor consisting of LED lights and locally produced flowers. Green, brown and rust are common color choices.
• Vintage Inspirations – Vintage inspired weddings are one of the biggest trends for 2011. Brides can be glamorous and chic without breaking the bank. Common themes include beaded or feathered hairpieces, and natural and outdoor settings. These weddings include elements such as lace, do-it-yourself touches like homemade favors and hand-tied ribbons around the invitations, and softer, muted colors for a touch of extra romance.
• Traditional Elegance with a Modern Twist – This bride embraces the traditional wedding but wants to add her own personal flair. This may include an unexpected pop of bold and bright colors with her clutch or shoes, a unique hair piece, bold necklace or modern invitations and stationary. Colors are primarily white, silver and ivory with a minimally used accent color like red or chartreuse.
• Bright and Bold Color Choices – Expect to see lots of color in 2011, from the Pantone® Color of the Year, honeysuckle pink to turquoise, coral, and the ever popular apple green. Bold colors are hip, attention-grabbing, and the perfect way to add lots of personality to your special day.
• Black – Like the little black dress, black is always in fashion. Today it lends itself to a variety of styles from contemporary and elegant weddings, to the romantic and baroque. It also pairs well with almost any accent color.

Vistaprint offers a multitude of products and services for any type of wedding, including wedding invitations, save the date cards, place cards, promotional apparel like hats and T-shirts, and even wedding websites.

Teacups photo from Vintage Touch

I love the stacks of tea cups: “We took inspiration from other things we’d seen and stacked, stacked, stacked as many tea pots, tea cups, and cake platters together as high as we could. It’s amazing what super glue and patience will get you.”

Check some of the photos below and head over to Green Wedding Shoes to see even more!

An afternoon tea party is such a sweet idea for a wedding shower, even if you are not doing the Mad Hatter bit. There’s something so elegant and ladylike about it, especially if you’ve got a garden like this available! Here is more tea party inspiration from Country Living:

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I also love the way these floral napkin rings brighten up the table!  All you gotta do is buy faux roses in your favorite colors at a crafts store, then sew them, singly or in pairs, onto regular hair elastics with a few stitches. Viola!

One way to add instant charm is to mix-n-match your place setting china, as mentioned above. Keep the look cohesive by focusing on common features — the underlying shade, delicate details, and gold embellishments– as seen here.  Martha Stewart shows us how it’s done:

And of course, now that you’ve got your pretty table all set, you want to know what’s on the menu! Here are some dainty and delicious ideas from Country Living (click here for more ideas!)

image: Message in a bottle

Here’s a super cute table number idea that was inspired by a restaurant that had something like it on their tables.  All you  need are some tin cans, paint, and a drill… Aren’t they cute? Inexpensive, recycled, and they double as candle holders, too!

Over at 2000 Dollar Budget Wedding, they’ve created vases using recycled wine bottles.  These were inspired, in part, by the transparent, subtle quality of glass and the muted variety of colors found in wine bottles. You can find the how to here! Aren’t they pretty?

Here’s a brilliant idea for a shabby chic garden wedding.  You can create lovely,one-of-a-kind napkins, table linens, and runners using vintage bedsheets!  Cheap, and best part: no sewing involved!  Simply cut them to size with pinking sheers. From A Backyard Wedding, via Intimate Weddings.

More ways of recycling cans… you can paint them or cover them with shiny contact paper, and use them to package edible wedding favors (get the how-to here!). Or you can just clean them thoroughly and leave as they are, tying some ribbon or raffia around the can and filling with flowers for a sweet centerpiece!

If you are truly eco-friendly, you can use your cans as planters, so that they plants can be taken home and re-planted in your (and your guests’) backyards. At Project Wedding, they used these can planters as both centerpieces and favors!

One popular wedding reception decor idea is using old furniture pieces like shuttered windows, antique dressers, and coffee tables as part of a display. Think about the area you want to set out place cards, a buffet table, or vintage photo booth. This white glass window display, trimmed with a little greenery, pulls off the trend magnificently.

A similar idea was used by Candace and Jared, featured on Project Wedding:

Using an old window to display photos of loved ones gives a new meaning to the words “window frame”! Photo from Weddings by Color:

An old door is a rustic choice for posting seating cards(photos from Libby James and Wedding by Color:

Another good use for vintage doors- they’re too pretty not to do something with– is to set them up at entrance to the reception, like this whimsical garden themed wedding, where guests pass through, underneath a swarm of fluttering paper butterflies. Check out the other vintage furniture they used, including an old bed headboard and dresser. Photo from Lang Photographers via Ruffled.

If you’re a do-it-yourself bride, these look deliciously easy to put together, and the best part is how simple they’d be to stack in a box and transport to your wedding venue (no worries about smashing the cake on the way!). You can buy jars such as these from Amazon (found via Our Best Bites):

Slap on a sticker with your wedding monogram or message to your guests and you’ve got the perfect package! But what to fill your cute little jar with? Well, just about anything, really! Here are some ideas:

Cupcakes!

Photo, recipe, and tutorial from cakies, found via Elizabeth Ann Designs.

Cake!

These cakes are baked right in the jars! Transform your favorite cake into a deliciously-mini version of itself, such as these poppyseed cakes (Delicious Days), pumpkin spice cakes (Angry Chicken), and chocolate cakes (Instructables).  Yumm!

Pie!

Photos, recipes, and tutorial from Our Best Bites, via Elizabeth Ann Designs.

More pie and cobbler ideas and tips from Not Martha, who points out that you can make these in advance, freeze them, and then bake them on a later date so they’re fresh-out-of-the-oven:

And, even better than fruit pie, is chocolate! Here’s a yummy, super rich looking frozen mudpie from Lloyd and Lauren:

Cheesecake!

Photo from Gaia Restaurant via Celebrate Beautifully!

And a no-bake cheesecake tutorial from Lloyd and Lauren:

Pudding!

Any flavor would work, but here’s a pretty-looking banana dessert topped with meringue from Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook, via {It’s all a Matter of Design}

Candy!

For easy, sweet, and attractive favors in a jar, how about some colorful candies? Get some tiny, personalized vintage jars from American Bridal and fill with Jelly Beans (Wedding Moo) or chocolate lentils.

Drinks!

Not what first popped into my mind when I think of “dessert,” but these apple martinis in a jar look pretty and refreshing!

Feature image of trifle: blue moon charleston

For an outdoor or nature-themed wedding, this moss pillow is lovely. Glue green ribbon around an ice cream-pint top, and glue green felt to bottom. Arrange spikemoss in top. Anchor ribbon to moss with floral wire. Slip rings through ribbon; tie a bow. For a fall wedding, this pillow with embossed velvet leaves, made with a rubber stamp and an iron, dress up a silk ring pillow. So pretty!

In the same spirit, if you love flowers, you can make your ring pillow into a flower… or out of a flower! The pillow below on the left is made from a silk flower! The one on the right is actually made from flowers! Cut a block of floral foam to size and poke ‘Kermit’ chrysanthemum stems into top and sides. Push a U-shaped piece of green floral wire through foam; bend tips flush against bottom of block. Tie rings to wire with ribbon.

For a vintage look, make a pillow embellished with an heirloom handkerchief or another meaningful bit of linen. A few stitches keep everything in place and can be snipped later. Another idea that’s warm and cozy is a knitted pillow… maybe you can ask Grandma for help with this one!

And if your ringbearer is an ever-faithful canine friend, sew a special collar with the ring pillow attached, like this Lab’s gingham collar!

Visit Martha Stewart Weddings for even more ring pillow inspiration!

The Dress

Designer Akira Isogawa says that recreating old Hollywood is about simplicity. Gorgeous fabrics, especially silk and satin, should drape softly and allow the focus to be on the bride’s face. He suggests adding a statement peice such as a vintage brooch or family heirloom. About.com suggests that you look for bias-cut dresses with v-necks and fish-tail skirts. Designers to look at include Jenny Packham, Badgley Mischka, Amy Michaelson, and Monique Lhuillier.

The Make-up

Old Hollywood make-up suits just about every bride, says make-up artist Napoleon Perdis. “The look comes from a classic era so it stays quite current. There’s a hint of romance that makes it especially appropriate for brides.” The base should be matte, with a press powder for touch-ups.  Perdis explains that well-brushed lips, like Jessica Biel’s in Easy Virtue, are vital. This means that lips should have a clean, finished shape, although lip color does not need to be bright and bold. Eyeliner and mascara are also main ingredients, with eyeshadow swept through the socket to really define the eyes.

The Hair

Both up and down styles are appropriate styles for Old Hollywood glamor. Hairdresser Brad Ngata says that a bride’s best option is to turn a pre-designed celebrity style into their own. “Hair should hold the classic shapes of old Hollywood but without the stiffness it once had. In most cases, soft waves falling to frame the face is most flattering.” Have your hairdresser uses heated rollers and a setting spray to keep your hair in place throughout the wedding day.

The Jewels

Stefano Canturi, who has created rings for celebrity brides and grooms, says it’s about adding a personal touch. “Jewels of old Hollywood circa 1940s were all intricately sculptured and reflected the artistry of filmmakers and actors of the time,” he says. “Each ring was a true reflection of who they were; they were interesting and beautiful.”  Think big stones, chokers, and chandelier earrings. Pearls, of course, are always classic.

Special Touches

About.com has a few ideas to add movie star quality to your wedding. For the setting look for an old art deco movie theater, an old-fashioned formal restaurant or supper club, or a grand ballroom at a hotel. Name your tables after classic Hollywood stars, or romantic movies.

Give your bridesmaids high quality feather boas. Consider wearing a feather and rhinestone hair accessory, a la Josephine Baker. If you’re renting your dance floor, ask for black and white checkered. Use classic flowers, such as roses, peonies, and lilies, and consider wearing one in your hair. A swing band with a dance instructor, to teach your guests how to do the lindy hop and the Charleston, would make your Old Hollywood wedding just about perfect!

As well as making gorgeous shoes coveted by the likes of Natalie Portman, Beyond Skin’s philosophy is to ‘…trade in a manner that is non exploitative to humans, animals and wherever possible the wider environment. Using no animal products, all our footwear is hand-made to order in the UK promoting ethically-sound and less energy intensive working practices.’

Ok, so it seems that the UK has a monopoly on ethical shoewear, and the 10 shoes pictured at the Wishopt blog are actually all from the UK. Does anyone know where you can obtain shoes in the USA that meet these standards? And look this pretty?

Some use recycled rubber for the soles, or recycled vintage fabrics and trimmings. Others are produced under a Fair Trade agreement and are careful to use less energy intensive working practices. And of course, no leather, unless it’s recycled!