Wedding Color Palettes

Wedding.

I love seeing fresh color combos for weddings. Let's face it...there were WAY too many years of the chocolate brown paired with anything combo going on in bridal land. So when you see something as light an airy as the Lemon and Mint palette below (from Martha Stewart Weddings), seems so very chic.





What color combos are you loving this year?

Classic Bridal Beauty

Gowns.

When I watched the Royal Wedding this April, I was absolutely taken by how classically lovely Kate looked in her gown. And I also thought, "well...it looks like the new bridal gown trend is going to be a bit more conservative." And you know what? I'm glad.



For the last few years, most dresses that had sleeves or covered your shoulders looked a bit dowdy. So why would you ever pick a dowdy wedding dress over a lovely yet more revealing strapless mermaid gown? Duh.

Now, designers are producing lovely options with lace sleeves, classic (non-cupcake like) shapes, and simple elegance. Can you imagine how timeless your wedding photos would be in these lovely gowns? I think it is absolutely refreshing. What do you think?








All dresses by Rosa Clara.

Gilchrist & Soames BeeKind Collection

Welcome Basket Idea.

One of the first things that I do when I check into a hotel room is scope out the bathroom...and the free products. I cannot tell you how many times even rather high-end hotels have truly disappointed me with their terrible shampoos and conditioners. But I certainly can't fit all of my liquid beauty items in a ziplock bag for airport security, so my nightcream comes with me and I suffer with frizzy hair from crummy hotel conditioner.

And that's why I love to encourage brides & grooms to consider putting nice, luxurious bath products in their hotel welcome baskets...especially if you know your hotel is lackluster on their offerings. A line that I was recently introduced to is the Gilchrist & Soames BeeKind Collection.



Not only does G&S BeeKind have a scent of lemon verbena, extracts of honey, and certified organic extracts of red clover, calendula, lemongrass and chamomile...*ahh*...but it's a good cause. They are supporting honey bee and sustainable pollination research at the University of California at Davis Entomology Department by donating a portion of the proceeds from the sales of the BeeKind™ Collection to the University's Honey Bee Research Program.

And as much as I love honey, I like to do all that I can to help out the honeybee issues that we are having in the US. So what do you think? Wouldn't some of these products BEE a great addition to a wedding hotel welcome basket?

Bulb Favors

DIY.

I love a fresh new idea for wedding favors and Once Wed has a great idea that would be perfect for a spring wedding - Wedding Bulb Planters made with vintage tin cans.



And the bright colors are making me so excited for spring events!!

BHLDN

Bridal Attire.

My goodness...I cannot stop drooling over Anthroplogie's new Bridal line, BHLDN (as in "beholden"). Gorgeous in ways that I cannot explain...love, love, love.

Come Together Studios

Photographer and an HH Destination Wedding.

We've mentioned a couple of times that Brandi and I were in Puerto Rico this past April to coordinate a fantastic wedding (if we may say so ourselves). Working a destination wedding brings a very unique set of challenges, one of which is finding a photographer that you trust to capture your most important day. Often times the best choice is to bring someone with you, rather than working with a local that you may never have a chance to meet before.

When our happy couple chose Come Together Studios, we were very happy with their portfolio. And as we worked with them during the wedding weekend we were happy with their work ethic and courteousness (no blocking the Mother of the Groom for "the perfect shot"). And now that we've seen the results of their efforts, we continue to have love for Come Together Studios.

So we thought we'd share some of the detail shots that they took during the Puerto Rico Wedding weekend. Getting those great detail shots is so important...I mean you didn't spend hours working on those programs and favors just to have them forgotten, did you?

Enjoy!






PS. Congrats again to Mindy & Seamus! We hope that you look back on these pictures with much happiness as you remember your wedding weekend.

xoxo, A & B

Hapitat

Etsy Find.

Oh how I love a fabric flower. Fabric flowers hit the wedding scene hard a few years ago and have held on strong. Whether you pinned one on your dress, put one in your hair, or carried a bundle as your bouquet...you were the height of cool for using a fabric flower.

And I think this all still applies! Which is why I was so excited when Emma of Hapitat on Etsy reached out to us to show us her work. It's a fantastic blend of vintage fabrics, seared edges, feathers, anything else unexpected. And I'm absolutely gaga for the over sized flower hair pieces...they are just so chic.

The Dessy Group - Pantone

Wedding Wear.

The Dessy Group teamed up with Pantone to form a partnership that will make your life much easier. Gone are the days when you had the perfect style dress in mind but could never quite get the right color. The Dessy-Pantone partnership provides style tools that allow you to achieve a color-coordinated event easily.

Their website has been newly designed to allow you to play with inspiration boards, order pantone swatches for vendors, and coordinate a style of dress that is pleasing to all in the pantone color of your choice.

The site is wedding focused, however, if you have a vision of sweeping into your holiday party in a beautiful strapless dress in the perfect shade of blue, this site ensures you don’t have to toil away in a mall for countless hours.

Watercolor Wonderland

Talent Spotlight.


I am constantly amazed by the talents of artists within all areas of design. Whether it is graphic, interior, industrial, or fashion design, there are so many places to find inspiration. My new stationary inspiration is Courtney Khail.

For anyone that can appreciate true artistry, her work will blow you away. Truly unique, Courtney's work blends dreamy hand-painted watercolor with the hard lines of stamping to create a look that is unlike anything that I have ever seen in the world of paper. And when I asked her to tell me a bit about herself and how she designs all of her amazing pieces, I could tell from her response that her work is a true passion. So I'll share those words with you:

"With my work I strive to keep the focus on the art and on the client. To me, something custom shouldn't just mean that it has your name or monogram- actually, I try to steer clear of that. I try instead to focus on what matters to my client- is it a certain color, flower being used in her wedding bouquet or activity they love to do? If so, that's what I want to work with!"

"So whether it is a wedding invitation, a set of note cards for a gift, or just to write "thinking of you" letters, I make sure that everything is especially created for my client. Each design is first drawn by me, then each piece is individually hand painted and then hand stamped with the design. You get to feel the ink, follow the brush strokes, and see the subtle variations of each piece."

So please make sure to take a look at Courtney's work and spread the word that there is some amazing new talent in the stationery world.

DIY Ribbon Boutonniere

DIY.

I was recently inspired by this photo of a simple and elegant ribbon boutonniere. Because you are working with fabric, the color options are virtually limitless compared to flowers, and the cost of this project is next to nothing. So I thought I would give it a try. Check out the unbelievably simple instructions below for how you can make your very own ribbon boutonniere.



Materials
2 yards of ribbon (I used grosgrain)
Cotton Thread
Button

Instructions
Fold the ribbon in an accordion style. You want the total length of each fold to equal the diameter of the final boutonniere. In my case, I made each fold 2.5" and the final boutonniere is 2.5" across.

Sew a couple of tacking stitches through the center of the ribbon length and knot the end to keep in place.

Fan out the folds.

Fine tune the folds so that each division is as evenly spaced as possible. Cut the "loose end" in a diagonal for a more finished look.

Sew a button over the tacking stitch to finish off the boutonniere. While stitching the button on, stitch slightly outside of the initial center tacking stitch. This will hold the fanned out folds in place.

And for less than $5 and 10 minutes of work, you have a beautiful and stylish boutonniere!

Creative Guest Book Alternative

Etsy Find.

Unique interpretations of wedding traditions can make some of the most memorable and creative aspects of your big day. And one of Hip Hostess' favorite things to switch up is the traditional guest book. And here's one of our new favorite ideas...

Cut the Cake Designs by Tara Lee offers a Guest Book Box that is sort of a take on a traditional recipe box. Each wooden address card box contains 26 beautifully designed dividers and 200 address cards for your guests to fill in and leave a thoughtful note. And Cut the Cake can do custom designs for the dividers to match your invitation suite as well.

And after the vows have been read and the dancing is done, you will have a very fashionable Rolodex all filled with your family and friends info and kind words. Love it!

PS. Make sure to check out the Cut the Cake blog. They are having an amazing giveaway next week from July 20 - 24th.

Budget Bridal Attire

Wedding Attire.

So you just got engaged and you started buying all of the bridal magazines with page, after page, after page of lovely gowns to drool over. Then you start looking up the price tags of those lovelies and your heart sinks a bit. It happened to me. I fell in love with every big name in the business...but couldn't stomach spending more than 2 months rent on a dress.

I was lucky enough to find my dress at a sample sale. This is always a good avenue to try...but sometimes the repair and alterations bring the overall cost right back up to ridiculous.

But there is good news for you new brides-to-be. I've been noticing that a lot of my go-to cocktail dress designers are starting to include many more options that would be perfectly acceptable for a wedding gown...at great prices. Below are some of my favorites that I've found recently that range from $250 - $700. So don't forget to think outside of the box when shopping for your dress. Your pocketbook will thank you!

BCBG - $298.oo

Marc Bouwer - $695

Kay Unger - $450

Aqua - $248
Vera Wang Lavender Label - $695