Peacock Wedding Theme with Copper and Teal Blue

Early in my daydreaming about what our wedding could look like, I found myself liking the idea of using peacock feathers to add a little flair to a wedding of rich jewel tones. I have since dabbled with peacock palettes and themes a few times, but never quite put it together in a way that I thought really clicked for me. What I came up with for today's board is a little bit different take on peacock wedding themes, because I focused primarily on an almost exotic feeling color combination of shimmering copper and dark teal blue. You could certainly add the emerald green, chartreuse, deep purple, bronze and navy blue to accent the gorgeous iridescence of the peacock feathers. I just decided to simplify it by streamlining the color palette a bit and choosing two of my favorites. I also think that texture plays an especially big role in today's board.

Something I really love about the deep teal is that I think it could be gorgeous on darn near anyone.

In an early engagement splurge purchase, I bought an eBay auction lot of copper tablecloths because I've been fascinated with that color and was convinced I could make it work. (I also bought them for a better price than I could've rented white linens, so what the heck.) I have second guessed myself to infinity and beyond, but I think this palette is an example where the copper really does work beautifully.

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One of my favorite parts of this board is the fabulous Kayla dress in teal chiffon by Thread. I love chiffon. I love empire waist. I love the satin sash with the draping bow. And I love that color!

The second dress is a Rhinestone Pin Satin Halter Gown that I found on Amazon for only $70. Satin is another great fabric for this palette because it seems so rich and elegant. The shoes are Two Lips Vivacious Teal Wedges from Endless.com.

The center picture of the table is from Gamboa Photos.

The copper tablecloth on the bottom row is actually a picture I took of one of my tablecloths.

The sparkling rhinestone peacock feather hair comb is something that I found on eBay.

That brings us to my Etsy finds:

The pretty antique copper and teal glass sea scallop earrings are called Atlantic Bay by The Moss Garden. I know they're supposed to be sea scallops, but the shell shape is pretty similar to a peacock with it's feathers fanned out, so I kind of cheated there. I like the little rhinestone spacers, too. It dresses them up a bit.

The Glamorous Peacock Eye Feather Rhinestone Hair Clip in the center of the bottom row is by Dana Castle. I like that it's simple, but with a little rhinestone embellishment to add some sparkle.

The Tamara Peacock Feather Hairpins on the bottom left corner are by Piper Riley. Her hair accessories have pretty details because she uses little bits of other bold feathers to make them interesting.

The Contessa Peacock Headband in the bottom right corner is by sweetgrassmill. This one is a little more funky, but most girls who would chose a peacock theme for their wedding could probably pull off a little funky. Plus, that headband looks like it would match perfectly with that Thread dress!

The Satin Flower Brooch is by dollmeat. I deliberately left flowers out of this board, because I think the feathers are almost a floral alternative when it comes to bright, colorful accents in the wedding decor. This satin flower brooch with the darker blue jewel goes nicely with the theme, and adds fun texture without taking away from the colorful peacock feathers.

Oooo, and I just found this teal dress and this peacock dress at Nordstrom.

Rustic Wedding with Birds and Acorns

I've been brainstorming over the last couple of days about our own wedding. Part of me imagines something very classy and elegant. While we are most definitely on a budget, I do have a keen eye for detail and I am a budget-shopper like you wouldn't believe. The other part of me loves quaint, charming and quirky. I'd like to be able to incorporate both elements, but it's a little harder than I would've imagined to find a good balance of both.

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Here are some of the key elements that I wanted to include in this inspiration board:

We live in "The Evergreen State" (Washington), so it's easy to imagine a woodsy element for our wedding. I'm a little too girly to go for full-blown rustic, but I like the idea of rustic with a touch of crafty cuteness. (Etsy, here I come!) I included pictures from Suzi Q (upper left corner) and Josh Goleman (lower right corner) to highlight a feeling of rustic elegance and whimsical romance.

Speaking of rustic elegance and crafty cuteness, I love these Penny Loves Kenny shoes! And they're less than $40!

As is probably apparent by now, I'm mildly obsessed with lovebird themes. I found the cute lovebird cake toppers at RedLightStudio on Etsy. The love bird ring nest is from Y&E Bridal on Etsy.

I designed the wedding invitation in the middle. It's harder to tell in this format, but it has a wood-grain background. I changed our names for privacy.

The acorn boutonniere, dessert tableau and the white chocolate speckled quail eggs are by Martha Stewart. I'm not sure how they did it, but they have a moss table covering on the tables that I think gives a great enchanted forest feeling.

If you saw my first inspiration board, you saw that we'd like to incorporate acorns into our wedding. When I saw this acorn cakelette pan at Williams-Sonoma, I thought they would make adorable wedding favors. I've baked them a few times now using different recipes ranging from a delicate maple flavor to a sweetly spicy pumpkin flavor. To add a little extra oomph, I brush the acorn caps with maple syrup and then dip them into raw turbinado sugar. (Although I didn't take this picture, or ever put my acorn cakelettes on the floor for a photo op.)

The oak branch and acorn candle holders retail for about $100 each, but I did some negotiating and I bought several of them for about a fourth of that! They're really high quality and heavy weight, and we're hoping to use them as part of our centerpieces if we can find a venue that allows us to use them. Otherwise, spoiler alert for friends and family -- you may be getting one of these for Christmas, or as a thank you for helping us with the wedding. Act surprised!

The earthy brown and green candy buffet is by Rebecca Thuss, one of the queens of event planning.

Pale Blue and Earthy Brown -- Lovebirds theme!

My favorite themes involve a certain harmony and balance. I like to temper feminine with masculine, light and airy with dark and earthy, delicate with substantial.

This theme combines some of my favorite things -- the ethereal quality of lovebirds and feathers, the fragility and symbolism of eggs, and the earthy elements like birds' nests, twigs and moss. The overall feeling is fresh, and brings to mind renewal and new beginnings. This is definitely a new favorite theme!

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The layout of this board seemed tricky to try to identify, so I'm trying a new method and numbering the boxes.

1. A funky feather and berry boutonniere photographed by Stephanie Williams.
2. White roses on top of mossy vases.
3. Springtime Nest Bell Jars from Williams-Sonoma. They're even on sale right now!
4. Peonies arranged in nests for a fresh take on centerpieces. (Thank you Martha Stewart!)
5. Candy shelled chocolate eggs by Martha Stewart.
6. Faux Quince Blossom Wreath with Nest from Williams-Sonoma.
7. Feathery fringe adds a fun texture to the bouquet and looks beautiful with the feathery boutonniere.
8. Little nests filled with jordan almonds used as place card holders! (Martha Stewart)
9. A lovely pale bouquet of white hydrangeas and dusty miller leaves.
10. I think the blue shirt with the white boutonniere is a surprisingly nice change from the more traditional white shirt with colored boutonniere. This is another picture by Stephanie Williams.
11. An adorable love birds wedding cake by Martha Stewart.
12. Cookies pressed with birds and monograms -- Martha again!
13. Birds on branches centerpieces by Rebecca Thuss.
14. I want this cake plate way bad! It's birds on a wire by Fishs Eddy.
15. A French dessert buffet.
16. I LOVE this. A nest made of pussy willows -- why do you have to be so good at everything, Martha?!
17. Martha Stewart's bird's nest version of a wishing jar. Guests write their well wishes for the couple on bird shaped paper cut-outs and place the notes into nests on the branches.
18. Candles nestled into... nests? :-P
19. Lovebirds with table numbers -- woodsy and adorable!
20. Fiddlehead ferns. Love 'em!
21. Springtime Nest Bell Jars from Williams-Sonoma. These would make the coolest centerpieces for this theme!