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Archive for October, 2010

Halloween Weddings: 13 Stylish Halloween Wedding Ideas

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

Look beyond candy bars and carved pumpkins. From your hairstyle to the menu, here are 13 ways to throw a stylish Halloween wedding.

Source: The Knot

1. Antique Dress Details
When it comes to your wedding dress, try touches of color and antique embellishments — a dark-hued sash cinched at the waist with an embellished brooch would look chic. Try a black-net birdcage wedding veil, a pair of to-the-wrist gloves, or antique jewelry for even more flair.

2. Victorian Updos
Capture a hairstyle from a bygone era with a slightly mussed Victorian-style wedding updo. Rather wear your hair down? Have your stylist create a loose half-up style with long, flowing curls pulled back with an antique bejeweled hairpin.

3. Dramatic Makeup
Keep your makeup sophisticated with a slightly darker eyeliner or lipstick color. Consider deep plum eyeliner and shadow, or a rich raspberry color for your lips. Tip: To avoid going overboard, choose just one area (eyes or lips) to highlight.

4. Luxe Bridesmaid Dresses
Outfit your maids in rich, deep hues like dark purple, black, or navy. Capelets, crocheted shawls, cameo chokers, or sheer scarves will add just the right hint of enigma to their look.

5. Funky Formalwear
For a formal wedding, have your guys don tails or even swallowtail coats (undertaker-style). For more Halloween fun, give them striped black-and-white or red-and-black socks to wear for the day.

6. All-Black Reception Decor
Use rich, black linens in heavy velvet or pintucked fabrics for the tables. Have black chiavari chairs padded with black seat cushions. Silver chargers and ornate silver goblets along with antique candelabras and black or ivory candles will add to the ambience.

7. Bold Arrangements
For centerpieces, think Black Magic roses, deep red calla lilies, black feathers, branchy accents, and tons of votives. If space allows, consider hanging antique chandeliers over the dance floor and throughout the room and attaching black feather wreaths to the windows or doors.

8. Apple Cocktails
Ask your caterer to create a signature drink for your cocktail hour using apples — a quintessential fall ingredient. Get rum-apple cider in sleek black mugs topped with whipped cream or go for green apple martinis in black martini glasses and garnished with fresh apple slices.

9. Pumpkin-Infused Menu
Pumpkin-ize your menu. Try mini pumpkin tarts as appetizers and go for pumpkin bread or even pumpkin butter for the dinner rolls. Consider having salads with roasted pumpkin seeds. For dessert, ask your caterer to set up a table topped with mini pumpkin cheesecake bites.

10. Classical Halloween Music
Sure, there are always the Halloween favorites like “Monster Mash,” “Thriller,” and the theme song from “The Addams Family.” An original way to make your Halloween music classy? Have an organist play at your ceremony (try Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor”) and a pianist or cellist perform solo during dinner (Bolcom’s “Graceful Ghost Rag” and Liszt’s “Mephisto Waltz” are both great options).

11. Costume Photo Backdrop
Instead of a photo booth, enlist a friend to take pictures of your guests on a spooky photo set at your reception. Use a velvety curtain for the backdrop and, if resources allow, deck out the set with old furniture and fake spider webs. Include easy-to-wear props for your guests like hats, gloves, and boas.

12. Red Velvet Cake
When it comes to your cake, focus on the flavor by requesting red velvet. Have it frosted with decadent cream cheese frosting decorated with black ribbon bands to coordinate with the rest of your wedding day details.

13. Horse-Drawn Buggy
If the weather will be cold, make your getaway in a black town car. To really make a statement, opt for a black, antique, horse-drawn buggy. Have your driver play the part in a top hat, tails, and gloves.

For full article click here.

Mother of the Bride - Tips for what Color to Wear

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

Source: Mother of the Bride

The most frequently asked question by a Mother of the Bride is “What color should I wear?” Choosing the right color is stressful and scary. There are many things that need to be taken into consideration such as the time of year, the formality of Bride Mother Dresses the event, Destin Beach Weddings Dresses Should Be Light, how the color photographs, the color of the bridesmaids dresses and the color of the wedding flowers, not to mention what looks good on you. How can you be certain that you are choosing the right color?

Etiquette dictates you should probably stay away from white or ivory (you don’t want anyone to think you are trying to steal attention away from the bride!), but other than that, there aren’t any right or wrong colors to wear to a wedding. Even “taboo” colors like black and red have their place. Black may be the only plausible option for a popular black-and-white themed wedding. Dress smart with code know how, and red can be a beautiful shade in the fall and winter. As long as the color complements the wedding colors, you’re o.k.

The easiest way to get it right is to choose a Mother of the Bride dress in a color that coordinates with the color of the bridesmaids’ dresses. Notice we are saying coordinates, not matches. Matching is far too difficult to pull off. Why? Because, if the shade of peach you pick to match with the bridesmaids’ dresses ends up being just a little more orange, you’ll clash completely! Besides, who wants to end up looking like one of the bridesmaids, anyway?

Here are 5 tips for deciding what color to wear when you are Mother of the Bride:

1) Monotone

One option is to wear a mother of the bride dress in the same general color family as the bridesmaids. This is a classy way to coordinate, but still be a little different. For example, if the bridesmaids are in lavender, the Mother of the Bride is in eggplant.

2) Contrast

Another idea is to choose a Mother of the Bride dress in a color that is directly opposite on the color wheel to the bridesmaids’ dresses. You’ll definitely stand out, but the bridesmaids will still look great next to you in pictures. For example, the bridesmaids might be in orange and the Mother of the Bride in blue.

3) Tonal

You could also wear a color in the same color palette as the Bride Mother Dresses. For a seasonally themed wedding, this can nicely pick up different aspects of the season, and look very classy. Bridesmaids may be in pastel blue and mom can be in soft, butter yellow.

4) Pattern

Wear a patterned Mother of the Bride dress with a color in it that echoes the bridal colors. This adds some personality to the bridal party and pictures. For instance, if the bridesmaids wear pink, the mother of the bride can be in pink and green watercolor wash.

5) Neutral

When in doubt, neutrals go with everything! Just be careful to get a more saturated color so it doesn’t wash you out. For example, Mother of the Bride - Tips for what Color to Wear, if the bridesmaids are in chartreuse with magenta sashes and fuchsia bouquets, the Mother of the Bride can still wear a dark, Beads, silvery gray.

Of course, you can always take Bride Mother Dresses with you for a second opinion! She will certainly have a vision in mind as to how she wants her day to look, and will probably be the best person to go to for advice. With this in mind, picking out a color to go with the bridal party will be a cinch. Now what about the style? We have many more tips to make sure you look fabulous and appropriate at your daughter or son’s wedding.

Source: Mother of the Bride

Wedding Style: 15 Tips for Choosing Your Wedding Colors

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

With an entire color wheel to choose from, how do you find the perfect wedding color combo? Follow these 15 hints.

Source: The Knot

Color: it’s the unifying feature for most of your wedding details. So it’s no surprise that choosing the right wedding color theme for your celebration may seem overwhelming. But the truth is, it’s easier than you think. The key to creating a stylish and successful wedding color combo is understanding the relationship between colors — and no, you don’t need a degree from art school to absorb the ideas. Just find a starting place (your favorite hue, your forest green setting), then work from there. Here’s how.

1. Set Your Eyes On Your Site
When deciding on a wedding color palette, play up the prominent colors of your site or setting. For instance, if your wedding is by the sea, the natural choice is blue. And, if you’re marrying at a country club with navy and maroon oriental carpets, lime green and hot pink details won’t work.

2. Get Inspired By the Season
Let Mother Nature be your guide — they say she never makes a mistake. Pink may work year-round, but light pastels and barely there hues like buff can look washed out for a fall or winter wedding. In the summer, reserve dark colors like burgundy only for accents.

3. Do Your Research

Become aware of color combinations that you like, whether browsing art galleries or flipping through a stack of home or fashion or interior design magazines for the must-have colors for the new season.

4. Scout It Out
To choose an exact hue, visit a fabric store or neighborhood paint shop and collect swatches or chips of colors you might want to use. This will help you get specific, so that when you decide on green you’ll know if it’s lime green, Kelly green, sage green, or forest green.

5. Choose a Dominant Hue
Pick one general color first — say, blue — and then start thinking about shades and tints (aqua, robin’s egg, navy) or other colors to accent it with.

6. Play with Paint Websites
From seeing colors in action (by virtual room painting) to recommendations for popular color combos, paint companies know a lot about color. Visit sites like Behr.com, Glidden.com, and Sherwin-Williams.com. BenjaminMoore.com even has an interactive color wheel.

7. Pair Wisely
Stick to wedding colors of the same intensity, such as lavender and baby blue rather than royal blue with light brown.

8. Set the Mood
Figure out what emotions you want your celebration to evoke. A peaceful, Zen-like retreat? A regal, romantic affair? A jumping, high-energy party? For instance, a vibrant summer yellow mixed with chocolate-brown (think sunflowers and bees) is perfect for a country-chic wedding — add gold to the mix, and the combination becomes more reminiscent of regal France.

9. Get It On Paper
Spend time looking for wedding stationery in color combos that inspire you and express your style and fit with the feel of the reception — rich violets, oranges, and teals for a Mediterranean or Near East flair, or pink and green for a preppy summer affair.

10. Vary It Up
Can’t settle on one scheme? If your wedding takes place in multiple rooms, each can have its own palette. But choose one consistent color to keep it from looking like a kaleidoscope.

11. Take Flower Notes
The most obvious way to add color is with your wedding flowers. But first, get familiar with the different types of flowers — especially your favorites — and the colors they come in. If you want an all-blue wedding, your petal picks will be more limited than if you went with a red celebration.

12. Don’t Forget Your Linens
Look through party rental catalogs for colorful cloths like napkins and overlays that you love. Use them on guest, cake and buffet tables, underneath the escort cards, and more. Or, focus on the table accessories. Maybe a beloved china pattern could set the palette for your reception tables. Colored glassware is also huge right now and can be rented. Do most of your glasses in clear, and select one or two to be blue, pink, or green — you get the idea.

13. Light It Up
Lighting can make or break a space. Talk to your event designer or lighting expert about colors you can use to wash bare white walls (especially important for loft spaces). Pink and amber tints will soften the room without overpowering it. Blue is tricky, but can work well if you’re looking to showcase cool crisp angles.

14. Drive Home Color
Don’t forget about the impact of repetition — trimming doorways, tables, centerpieces, and the bar with the same simple ribbon in your signature hue will give more oomph than one large, ornate display in the same color.

15. Consider All of Your Elements
The last, but most important, thing to remember when making your final choice: Not all colors are easy to wear, and you’ve got bridesmaids to dress.

For full article click here.