The wedding planning continues!

I know, I know... I haven't posted in forever and a half. We basically took a break from wedding planning over the holidays. Holidays are stressful enough with the planning, preparation, cooking and entertaining. We were due for a break from the wedding obsessing. So now I'm back to obsessing, but I'm feeling refreshed and optimistic.

I just wanted to give an update for some of the progress we've made.

*drum roll please*

We have officially hired Matt Shumate as our wedding photographer. He's terrific, and we're really looking forward to working with him!

We think we have selected a caterer. It's actually one of our favorite locally owned little restaurants here, and I don't think we've ever had anything there that we haven't liked. They're also the first place that gave us the answers we'd been dying to hear. They're flexible and happy to work with us on a menu, they're happy to supply a couple of vegan meals if we need them, and they're happy to do a tasting with us once we narrow down the menu! YES! I don't know why it had to be so ridiculously hard to find somewhere that was happy to do that, but we were thrilled to finally hear it. Plus, as a big added bonus, they also supply the serving staff and the dishes! DOUBLE YES! And YAY! That'll save us hundreds of dollars to not have to rent all of those dishes. We have to meet with them again soon, but at this point, we're feeling pretty good about things.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a little adventure when we went looking for a wedding suit for Dylan. Our TV has been flooded with Men's Wearhouse commercials lately, and we kept seeing the commercial about "When all eyes are on her, she's going to be looking at you..." and how they're going to make you look your best for your wedding. We thought that seemed like a good place to start looking. As it turns out, not so much. We were excited when we arrived, and very disheartened and discouraged by the time we left. The woman who helped us was terrible. She directed us to a section of about a dozen suits on a rack and said that was where we could look. The choices were crap. When we told her we were hoping to find a dark brown suit, she just said they didn't have it. When we asked if there were any options, like maybe finding a suit in a different size and then ordering it in Dylan's size, she actually told us we should just go somewhere else! We couldn't believe it. I told her that there was a nice brown suit on their website, and she shrugged. When we saw a dark brown tuxedo, we asked her about that and she said it was a rental. We had to ask if they had something like that that he could try on, just so he could try on SOMETHING remotely like what we were looking for. We were shocked to find out that they don't have rentals for you to try on. They take your measurements, and you get what they give you. You don't get to try it on first! The woman literally told us we should shop elsewhere several times. Dylan was furious by the time we left. He was ready to write a letter to Mr. "I Guarantee It" in the commercials. It's not like we were being jerks, either. We were polite, and excited about buying his wedding suit. Blah! I don't ever want to go there again.

We decided to make the most of it while we were on the other side of town. I really don't have a good sense of the best places to buy a suit for a man, but I was thinking that our next stops should be somewhere like Macy's and Nordstrom. Lo and behold, across the street from the Men's Wearhouse was the Nordstrom Rack store! We figured it was a longshot, but worth a try. JACKPOT! There was a wonderful girl named Nicole in the men's department at the Nordstrom Rack who went out of her way to help us find the perfect suit for Dylan. We found a gorgeous chocolate brown Ben Sherman suit that we both instantly loved. Unfortunately, they only had it one size too small for Dylan! Lovely Nicole made it her personal mission to help us find the suit in his size. I don't know how many other Nordstrom Rack stores she ended up calling, but today she called and announced that she had found the suit! HOORAY! She gave me the number to the San Jose store, and when I reached their men's department I got as far as, "Hi, I'm calling because someone from the Spokane Nord--" and he said, "Yeah! Is this Alyson?" Now that's service when a complete stranger from several states away knows your name. So now we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Dylan's gorgeous new Ben Sherman wedding suit! And if for some reason the suit isn't right or doesn't fit, we can return it locally, so it's pretty risk-free. We're so excited!

This is a picture from the Nordstrom website of what I'm fairly certain is the same Ben Sherman suit that we bought him (except this one is navy, obviously):


This is a picture I took of the suit we found, so hopefully the suit that's being shipped to us will look like this! My flash made the suit look a little brighter than it really is, it's a nice dark brown.


Dylan's going to look so good!

Oooh, and I also found a pair of wedding shoes at the Nordstrom Rack. They're very simple, but they're a pretty iridescent pearl and they're so soft they feel like slippers. And I got them on clearance for less than $20! I've heard too many horror stories about brides wearing hot shoes that killed their feet, so these will at least be my Plan B shoes, even if I find something fancier for pictures.

Apple, Pumpkin and Cinnamon Spice Autumn Wedding Theme

Autumn has always been one of my favorite seasons, so I'm excited that it's officially here!

Part of the reason we chose October for our wedding is because we both love this time of year. There is something so homey and comforting about the crisp weather balanced with the coziness that we create inside.

While we might not want to use this particular color palette, we are hoping to serve this style of food! YUM! Autumn foods are our favorites, especially the warm spicy flavors like cinnamon and allspice. I have an insanely delicious recipe that mixes sweet potatoes and apples with butter, brown sugar and those spices. As soon as the weather starts to change, Dylan starts begging me to make it every year. (We're having it tonight!)

Obviously this palette would be perfect for an autumn wedding, but it could just as easily be inspiration for hosting an autumn feast or Thanksgiving.

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The autumn assortment of boutonnieres, the place setting, the caramel apples, the wood veneer place cards, the dark red bouquet, and the leaf favor boxes are all from Martha Stewart.

The autumn bouquet (below the pumpkin pie) was photographed by Theresa Valls Photographic.

The pumpkin cauliflower casserole, the pumpkin chicken chowder (bottom left corner), the pumpkin pie with autumn leaves, and the pumpkin spice cakes (top right corner) are all from Country Living.

The pumpkin martini is from Thoughtfully Simple.

The roasted sweet potatoes (bottom right corner) were photographed by Victoria Pearson.

The pumpkin whoopie pies are from Williams-Sonoma. (When Dylan saw this board, the first thing out of his mouth was, "Why don't we have little pumpkin cakes like that?")

The spiced apple cider (top left corner) is from Cooking Light.

The pumpkin votives and table decorations are from Good Housekeeping.

Can I also just tell you how much I love these fall forest pie cutters from Williams-Sonoma? They make me want to be a better pie maker. They had me when I saw they had an acorn and an oak leaf!

Green, Brown and Acorn Wedding Theme

I know it's been a while since I've posted an inspiration board, but it's because I have had a mental block. I've been really straining my brain trying to work with some colors and details for our wedding, which seems to require an extra effort. It's fun and a little easier for me to detail color palettes for inspiration, but a little more tricky when I decided to incorporate some of the specific elements we plan to use.

Here are some of the goals for our wedding:

We want autumn warmth, without being cliché. That means no pumpkins, and avoiding the more traditional orange, yellow and red palettes.

We love the symbolism of acorns and oak trees, so we want to feature them in our details, but in cute and hopefully not cheesy ways.

A little DIY craftiness is a plus, because it emphasizes heart-felt sentiment when you know that someone put the time and effort into making it themselves.

Here are some of the things we're going for:

cozy

expressive of our personalities (go ahead, you can call us "nuts")

intimate

rustic
woodsy

sentimental

romantic

elegant

comforting

celebratory

So what do you think? What comes to mind when you look at this board?

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The green oak leaf menus, the green napkins with green acorns, and the pinecone and acorn boutonnieres are from Michelle Rago.

The oak branch candle holder centerpieces, the acorn cakelettes and the acorn ornament are from me. The acorn cakelette pan is from Williams-Sonoma.

The acorn boutonniere in the top right corner is from Martha Stewart.

The bowl of green acorns was photographed by Kathryn Kleinman.

The chocolate tablecloth is what we're supposed to receive in the mail any day now. The green fabric is a sample of what we're considering for an overlay.

The lime green twig ball pomander with mini leaves is from Modage Floral on Etsy.

The green paisley fabric is a close-up of a Brioni handmade silk tie from europeansilkcompany on eBay. We love paisley, so I'm thinking about splurging on it for Dylan.

I don't know who made the chocolate cake, but it looks delicious so I thought I'd use it as an example of our desire to serve delicious comfort foods. (To my future mother-in-law Jinx, who can't eat chocolate: don't worry, we will have some kind of cake that you can eat, too!)

The tufted moss ring pillow is actually a really great DIY project from Once Wed. I love the faux bois ribbon around the edge, but you can customize it however you'd like!

Some of Our Own Wedding Inspirations!

I have been a brainstorming maniac lately. I haven't had enough time to organize some of my ideas into an inspiration board just yet, but since these are personal inspiration ideas I figure it's okay to share them just as photos. If you've been reading the blog, you know that we want to include acorns and oak leaves into our autumn theme. These are some of the things we have so far:

These are the oak branch and acorn candleabra centerpieces -- they were our first wedding purchase!

These are the acorn cakelettes and the pan from Williams-Sonoma that I made them with. I made them with a spiced pumpkin bread recipe. I like to use real maple syrup to coat the tops of the acorns, then roll that part in raw turbinado sugar for texture. They're both delicious and adorable -- one of my favorite combinations!

These are some mini acorn ornaments that we want to incorporate into our wedding favors.

We don't have these tablecloths yet, but these are some of the linens we're considering. I've actually found them for purchase for only about $2 more than it would cost for us to rent them locally, so I like the idea of just buying them and then passing along the bargain to another bride after our wedding. I'm all for sharing a great bargain! We're trying to decide what other colors we want to use with the brown. We're thinking greens, but maybe also incorporating some champagne or some other soft color. We'll see!

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I'm also excited because today we're going out to Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center to have a meeting to discuss the possibility of using them for our venue.

Dylan took these pictures yesterday. They were set up for a local event (not a wedding) but I thought it was cool to see the main hall without all the tables set up.

We both like that this venue has history and character, unlike some of the more corporate event centers we've seen. Fingers crossed that we'll be able to work something out with them. I'll let you know, of course!

Burnt Orange and Brown (by special request)

One of my readers wrote me a note asking for help and advice with her upcoming wedding.

Here are the things I know about Danika and her fiance:

They're planning for a wedding in late December using burnt orange and brown for their colors.

They want plenty of unconventional mixed with some traditional elements. For example, they want ice cream instead of wedding cake. She doesn't consider herself a girly girl, but she has decided that her bridesmaids will have brown dresses and she's planning to have a hippy style vintage wedding gown. They want budget-friendly and down to earth.

Here is what I came up with for their wedding:

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To me, one of the trickiest elements is using a burnt orange and brown color palette in December. For a wedding in the dead of winter, it's nice to add warmth to a palette, but you don't want it to come across as a stereotypical autumn wedding. I was tempted to add a third color, but I wanted to keep this inspiration board true to what Danika had requested. By adding another color, it would be easier to distance these colors from an autumn palette. Fun color options could be pale or navy blue, light or bright green, cranberry, magenta, plum, or teal. I haven't done those exact combinations yet, but I do have a pumpkin and aubergine palette and an aqua, orange and brown palette that might help to give more ideas.

Danika wants plenty of candlelight, so a pretty and fragrant centerpiece idea may be tealight or votive candles nestled into small dishes full of coffee beans. In the picture near the top right, the jars are even wrapped with orange raffia bows. For winter, I think I would even use a luxurious velvet ribbon!

I was thinking that a fun way to keep the bridesmaids (and even the bride) warm for a light-hearted winter wedding would be cute cardigan sweaters. If the bridesmaids are wearing brown dresses, they could have burnt orange or off-white sweaters. For the bride, she could have her choice of off-white (whatever version of white that goes best with her dress), burnt orange or rich brown. The key would be to have nicely fitted sweaters that are feminine and not too thick or bulky.

Here are some of my favorite examples:

I love the lace detailing on this white Just Ginger lace trim cardigan from Nordstrom.

This Elbow Length Sleeve Pleated Cardigan by Banana Republic is a lighter orange, but the pleated detail and feminine style are lovely.

This Caslon Swing Cardigan from Nordstrom isn't the cardigan style I imagined, but I like this sweater. I've always liked swing style sweaters and jackets. If nothing else, the bride would at least have a cute sweater to wear in and out of the venue!

Don't let the picture of this Merino 4 Pocket Cardigan from JCrew fool you. It looks a little frumpy here, but it's actually a streamlined and flattering style.

I'm also a big fan of interesting wedding shoes. This couple is young and wanting to mix things up a bit, so I thought the chocolate brown Converse sneakers and some funky shoes for the bride were a nice touch. (The Converse and orange bridal shoes pictured were featured on one of my favorite blogs, Snippet and Ink.) The peeptoes pictured aren't ideal for a winter wedding, but I think these burnt orange Pia Stitched Flat by Pink Studio would be perfect for a hippy chic bride! Plus, they're less than $40!
For winter flower choices, my first thought was calla lilies. Actually, there are quite a few lily varieties that come in various shades of orange. I recently had a florist admit to me that Costco sold their flowers for cost (sometimes even cheaper than the wholesale florists), and I know they have assorted mini calla lilies for a reasonable price.

Serving ice cream at a winter wedding seems like it could be a challenge, so I thought I'd include some simple and tasty looking cupcakes as another nostalgic dessert option for people who are craving something cake-like. The chocolate cupcake with orange sprinkles is from Martha Stewart. The Swiss orange chocolate chip cupcake is from Alpineberry blog -- she even gives her recipe! If you really want to stay with a theme, you could even serve Swiss orange sherbet (orange sherbet with dark chocolate chips) by Dreyer's / Edy's.

Some warm ideas that also incorporate the color palette would be serving hot cocoa and spiced cider!


The rest of the details on today's inspiration board are from a variety of weddings on The Knot.

Ooo, and on one last note:

I LOVE argyle socks! (These are from the GAP.)

Lilac, Bronze and Dark Chocolate Brown

When we got engaged, my first idea for a wedding color palette was lilac and dark chocolate brown. The few people I mentioned this to looked at me like I was crazy. This was before I had discovered the magic of inspiration boards, and I could not find good examples of the color combination I was imagining. I have gradually found a decent assortment of light purple with brown, copper and bronze wedding related pictures. This seems to be a particularly difficult color scheme to find in uniform, matching shades. I've decided to take Martha Stewart's cue and mix and match a bit. In this palette you'll find shades of purple that could be described as lilac, lavender, orchid, light violet, and maybe even periwinkle. I did find a lot of beautiful jewelry on Etsy that did a nice job of highlighting the color palette I was looking for, so I'm using extra Etsy crafts today.

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1. Lilac and brown themed boutonnieres by Martha Stewart. I love fiddlehead ferns!
2. Swiss meringue buttercream flower cupcakes by Martha Stewart.
3. A wedding cake decorated with fresh lilacs, but I can't remember where it came from.
4. Etsy Find: The Airy - double fluff chiffon headband by Mandizzle. Her lovely floral hair accessories are almost as gorgeous as she is!
5. Etsy Find: Lilac Opalescent Earrings by Candies64. I love their luminescent color.
6. Etsy Find: Romance Collection - Marianne Earrings by La Boite a Bijoux. I love the flowers combined with the opalescent gems.
7. Leafy placecards by Martha Stewart.
8. Etsy Find: Amethyst purple faceted glass earrings with copper by ShySiren. These have a pretty copper / bronze element.
9. Lilac, sweetpea, lamb's ear and lisianthus bouquet from Martha Stewart.
10. Etsy Find: Lilac drops by Kneehighs & Pigtails. These make an impact with the clarity of color and sharper facets.
11. Lovely lilac and brown stationery assortment by Martha Stewart.
12. Etsy Find: My Little Acorn earrings by AmberSky. Her jewelry has a beautiful vintage style. I love these -- lilac AND acorns!
13. Etsy Find: The Flora - layers of chiffon petals headband by Mandizzle.
14. Fresh lilacs!
15. Wedding cake with purple flowers (hydrangeas?) by Martha Stewart.
16. Etsy Find: Violet Beauties by bellalu0. I love this color so much!

Bonus Lilac Finds:

Lavender Butterflies Cake Wrap by Paper Orchid Stationery.

They call this Tiered Ruffle Chiffon Dress silver, but it looks pretty purple to me.

This lilac, gray and white seersucker bowtie is from JPress.

Indigo By Clarks Women's Tanzania Pump

Bonus Etsy Finds:

Bella Purple earrings by AmberSky.

Sweet Lilac Breeze earrings by dkjewels.

Vintage Wine Dance earrings by dkjewels.

Catherdral earrings by stregata.

Bijoux Necklace in Alexandrite by Kneehighs & Pigtails.

Aqua and Orange Wedding

I keep seeing the color combination of aqua and orange lately, and even though I'm not always big on orange, I love this palette. I have found so many great pictures, I think I may even make this a two part theme! I also included some dark brown accents on this board, but you could really play with this palette to customize it for spring, summer, or autumn.

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Some of my inspiration came from a really fun, whimsical circus themed wedding that was captured the photos of Josh Goleman. The details are great, including a kissing booth and the bride wearing a super short and flirty dress that you can almost picture up on the highwire. I'm also loving this trend of 'photo booth' style shots of wedding guests in funny poses or with interesting props. When we find a photographer, I'm going to have to see if we can make arrangements for something like that!

Another website that has some fantastic inspiration is amorology. I just discovered it recently, and it's definitely one of my new favorites. She recently posted a wedding with yellow, orange and aqua that I'm going to try to incorporate more in part two of this theme.

The cutesy eyelet lace look L-O-V-E sign, and the guest books in the lower right corner are from Darling Dexter, as are these color coordinated napkins:

Whitney (the voice of Darling Dexter) and her husband Dustin had a beautiful wedding with this color palette and tons of lovely DIY details.

The rest is from Etsy! I always like to include some handmade crafts into my themes, and I found a ton of great stuff using these colors!

• The orange rosette and aqua beaded necklace (called Scent of Lisabetta) is by Sora Designs.
  
• The tangerine chrysanthemum ring is by Gingeroni1.
  
• The orange / aqua stripe tie is by MeandMatilda.
  
• The funky bib style crocheted necklace is called Summer Statement by DaintyCrochetByAly. (Maybe I'm partial because we share a name?)
  
• The invitations are called Mum Madness by Decadent Designs.
  
• The turquoise button with coral flower earrings are by Sincerely Beaded.
  
• The coral branches picture is by ara133photography.
  
• The Clara earrings by JLeeOhioDesigns feature tiny briolette faceted citrine and moonstone with large blue topaz. While they are more expensive than what I usually try to feature here, her jewelry is really beautiful and I have to give Jennifer props for being a proud ASPCA supporter. Me too, Jennifer!
  
• A more budget friendly option could be the aqua chalcedony and orange carnelian drop earrings by The Gem Shoppe.
  
• I also think this Festival Felt Button Bracelet by Poor Robin is really cute with this theme:
  
  

I forgot to add this earlier, but I love love love these shoes with today's theme. They're John Fluevog Men's Rusnak in Vegas Dark Brown. I'm always happy when I can include some cool shoes or accessories for the guys!

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.

Muted Tea Green and Mocha Brown

Despite the color names, today’s palette is inspired by earth tones, not your local espresso stand.

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The stationary showcases are both by Martha Stewart, as is the gorgeous clematis topped wedding cake, and the gladiolus bouquet.

I think the clematis cake is fantastic, but I think the green hydrangea cake at the bottom is also a nice way to work in this color scheme.

The tiered chiffon gown is the same style that I used yesterday in red, still found on Amazon. The other dresses are by Watters. They use color names like snapdragon, meadow and acorn. I don’t know if I could’ve pictured what color snapdragon would be, but I like it.

The cutesy lovebird cake toppers are from Red Light Studio on Etsy.

The glammed up champagne silk stiletto sandals are by Delman. The fun green pumps are DKNYC Foxy Pumps in bamboo green. I like the pattern on them, it’s somewhere between eyelet lace and paisley.

On a last note, something that really helps a wedding look well put together is to incorporate the palette throughout the wedding and reception. With this palette, I love the idea of using something like limeade and iced tea or sweet tea. It's nothing too fancy, it's budget friendly, and it just helps to bring the look together.

These are both pictured with lemonade, but you get the idea.

Pink and Chocolate Brown

My cousin Heather just got engaged! Congratulations Heather and Dave! I've been working on several different inspiration boards for her that I'll be putting up over the next few days. Heather loves soft, feminine and pink, so I'm using different shades of pinks in most of the boards I've created for her. I'm also trying to balance out the girly just a little, since Dave's wedding color preference would be the University of Michigan colors. :-P

My first board for her is a classic combination of pink and chocolate brown.

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Some of my favorite elements on this board:

The candies in the center of the top line are dark chocolate covered almonds with a beautiful glaze, called Almond Jewels by Koppers Chocolate. I've had some of their products before and they've all been incredible.

Below the candy are another Martha Stewart idea -- individual flower favors for people to take home and plant as a keepsake from the wedding. I think she used different shades of violets.

The fab shoes are by Giuseppe Zanotti.

I love the bouquet and boutonniere to the left of the shoes. They're made up of Magic Silver Roses and Smokebush leaves tied up with pink velvet ribbon. Love it!

The precious mini-cake favors aren't actually cakes at all! They're fudge layered with pink sanding sugar. Another Martha DIY! Much easier AND affordable than having a bakery make individual cakes. The blossom ring is also a Martha DIY, perfect for bridesmaids.

I also love the contrasting chocolate and pink dresses for her little girls.

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!

Dark Red and Mocha Brown

Today's inspiration board is all about classic romance. I'm helping a friend plan her wedding right now, and I made this board after asking her the way she imagined her wedding. She described red roses combined with rich fabrics and textures. I love the red floral kissing balls with the candles for an instantly romantic atmosphere.

Her fiance is the head chef at one of my favorite restaurants. His specialty is French cuisine, so I thought the wedding cake made by Florian Bellanger called "the charlotte" would be a perfect wedding cake for them. Besides being an impressive French pastry, it's gorgeous!

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The sexy red peep-toe shoes are from Ann Taylor. The red patent leather shoes are from BCBG. The bridesmaid dress on the lower left is by Jasmine Bridal. The other two dresses are by Thread.

Rosy Copper, Mossy Green, Warm Brown

Some of the inspiration boards I've put together have been for us, while others have been for friends or just to have fun with different color combinations or themes. This is our current favorite for early autumn wedding. The colors are rosy copper, mossy green and warm brown.

I wanted to make an autumn inspiration board, but avoid the more stereotypical autumn decor (pumpkins, oranges, yellows, reds). It was important to keep a warm, cozy, autumn feeling. We love the idea of incorporating some flora and fauna with vintage romance. We especially love the lovebirds theme, and acorns because they're a symbol of good luck and potential for the future.

The emphasis for these boards:

• elegant
• vintage
• romantic
• whimsical
• woodsy

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My favorite parts of the upper inspiration board are the rich textures, the acorn boutonniere and the bouquet with succulents, scabiosa, roses and little tufts of feathers. And my ring, of course!

I found the adorable ring bearer's "nest" and flower girl's basket on Etsy.

We aren't religious, but we love the symbolism behind the Jewish chuppah, and the intimate space it creates for the bride and groom during the ceremony.

We'd like to have an outdoor ceremony, but I think my head would explode if we had to gamble on the weather. We're hoping to bring some of the outdoors in with elements like the oak branch and acorn candleholders (on the top row) and the woodsy decor.

So that's my latest take on an autumn wedding, I hope you enjoy it!