Peony Passion

Peonies are the most trendy flowers included in today’s arrangements.  They are sweetly scented and relatively inexpensive.  Their bulbs are large and their colors range from white to coral.  They can be paired beautifully with many accent colors.  Peonies are a sophisticated alternative to the rose.  Peonies bloom in May and June, making them the perfect choice for your outdoor wedding.  Here are five wedding themes that peonies compliment perfectly.

1. French Garden – French garden decor incorporates blue and green pastels with soft grey hues for a classic French look.  Light pink peonies are a perfect way to maintain continuity with the pastels while introducing another color for added interest.

2. Classic Nautical – Nautical decor mixes neutral tones of navy blue, white, and tan for a classic look.  Incorporating magenta or coral peonies add a bold punch of color to your decor while light pink or white peonies will add texture to your arrangements.  Consider pairing light peonies with an additional accent color like yellow or red.

3. Rustic Barn – Rustic barn decor is all about lots of earth tones and texture.  Mixing pines and other foliage with textured flowers is a great way to play up this effect.  Peonies are very soft and delicate so using light colors like white or light pink intermixed with ferns and berries can create an interesting look.

4. Black Tie – Black tie weddings are focused on elegance.  White peonies with smooth, dark green leaves can help create that clean, classic, and sophisticated look.

5. Shabby Chic – Shabby chic decor is all about color and texture.  Any color peony works magically with a shabby chic look.  Combine white, light pink, and magenta bulbs of different stages (some closed, some opened) for a natural look.

Emerald Everywhere

I found this photo on The Bride's Guide on marthastewartweddings.com - follow this link for more inspiration:http://thebridesguide.marthastewartweddings.com/2011/01/inspiration-emerald.html/emerald_green_wedding

I found this photo on The Bride’s Guide on marthastewartweddings.com – follow this link for more inspiration: http://thebridesguide.marthastewartweddings.com/2011/01/inspiration-emerald.html/emerald_green_wedding

I hope everyone had a wonderful time over the holidays and is excited for the start of a New Year!  After the end of a long semester, I decided to take a break from True Blue Wedding for a little while to spend time with family and friends.

There is no color us lovers of the outdoors cherish more than green (and blue of course)!  This year, Pantone named Emerald the color of the year for 2013.  Emerald is rich and bold and is one of the most flattering of jewel tones.

If you’re having an outdoor wedding, there will be tons of green all around you, so emerald on it’s own may not be what you’re looking for.  Luckily, there are so many combinations of colors that emerald works well with.  Here is a list to give you some creative inspiration!

Emerald and navy are classic and clean.

Emerald and other jewel tones.  Think magenta, midnight blue, or amber.

Emerald and peacock feathers.  Pull out colors from the peacock feathers to accent other factors of your reception.  The peacock theme will work well with invitations and centerpieces.

Emerald and other shades of green and yellow are a fun and bold combination.  Shades like chartreuse and lemon can bring out the beautiful colors in nature.

Emerald and white create fresh and clean elegance.

Emerald and lavender are simple and fresh.  Lavender looks great with any rustic decor as well.

 

 

Designer Profile: Delphine Manivet

“Simplicity well-carried out” is how wedding dress designer Delphine Manivet describes her personal style and her designs in an interview with bhldn.com.

Manivet chose to end her studies of economics to pursue her true dream of becoming a fashion designer.  Manivet moved to Paris and started working for a design house until one day it was time for her to find a dress for her own wedding.  Unable to find anything that felt truly her, Manivet designed her own dress.  She channeled her creative energy into wedding dress design and now has her own design house in Paris.

Manivet’s ideas are inspired by eighteenth century portraits, the symbolism of the wedding gown, and the individual femininity of every girl.  Her goal and biggest challenge is to create timeless looks.

Her dresses are all about the mix of modern and vintage and dream and simplicity.  Manivet looks to every day as an opportunity to gather inspiration for her next design.  The designer loves looking for vintage inspiration at flea markets and charity sales.

Manivet names the dresses in her collections after men’s names.  “For me, it’s a way to pay tribute to the man who is never included in the process of choosing or making the dress, but counts in the choice for sure”, she says.

Manivet’s looks are absolutely beautiful and worth taking a look at.  I love the simplistic femininity of her gowns and her classic use of white!  Please read this article on Manivet for more about her.  Here is her website.  Browse through her collections; they are stunning.