Tuesday's Tips: Spring & Summer 2011 Color Palette

At Relish, you can use our software to create your invitation in any color palette you desire. While the creativity is up to you, we are often asked what the color trends are for the Season. Here is the color palette our friends at Pantone (the geniuses behind the master color book used for the many areas of the design world) have come out with a list of the Top 10 hottest colors for Spring / Summer, 2011.

“The colors designers have chosen for the spring season present an interesting marriage of unexpected warm and cool tones,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute® By cleverly combining complementary colors, those that are opposites on the color wheel, they have created a striking intensity to the palette. These unique color combinations make it possible for consumers to pair existing pieces in colors traditionally associated with fall, with new favorites to punch up springtime wardrobes."

We personally love these colors! Our favorite combos?

• Honeysuckle & Coral Rose: Honeysuckle was the Top color of 2011 chosen by Pantone. We love it combined with the Deep Orange (what we might call Tangerine)! It makes you think of a bright Summertime bouquet. Gorgeous for a bright wedding!
• Russet & Beeswax: Try this for something more rustic. If you are getting married towards the end of Summer / early Fall - this might be the perfect embodiment of that time of year.
• Silver Peony & Silver Cloud: For something more "cool", try this combo. It's perfect for a beach wedding or for a classic clean color scheme.

If you can't find the pattern you want in one of these colors, call us for FREE custom colorization to choose one of these 10!

So what are you waiting for? Start creating your perfect Relish wedding invitation HERE.

Tuesday's Tasty Treats: Coral, Orange, Mustard... YUM!

Ahhh.... it's that time of year when colors start springing out of trees, bushes and even under foot - everywhere around us. At Relish, we love color so this is of course our favorite time of year!

So what colors are trending this Spring in the fashion / wedding world? We found a great article at Refinery29 showing off some of the hottest colors for this year!

Coral seems to be the running theme. The smoky pink shade pairs well with mustard (we love the image above!), white and every color in between! You can even pair it with a hot pink as seen below.

Since the beginning Relish has been a huge fan of bright orange AND combining it with pink! Looks like we are finally trendy. :)

It seems that every type of blue is trendy this year. From Sapphire (see our salute to the royal wedding) to Aquas and now the popular sky blues, as seen here.

For more information on the hottest trends, view the whole article from Refinery29 here. And stay tuned to Relish as we develop new stationery to suit these trends! 

Enjoy the colors around you this Spring and get inspired!

Monday Morning Inspiration: Fall Weddings

What a beautiful time of year to get married! The colors turning, the crisp air, the crunchy leaves underfoot. Here are some beautiful ideas we at Relish found for Fall brides.

Of course, the color palette consists of brown, burgundy, rustic orange, basically any color you can find on the leaves.

I've seen sunflowers for floral arrangements, but a more delicate look would be one of the following...

I love this idea for centerpieces, using wheat stems. Besides being beautiful and very Autumn, it could also be very easy and budget-friendly. Add accents like a ribbon to add just a bit of color.

Another centerpiece idea are cranberry votives. You could have a few of these on each table.

Another thing you think of when you think of Fall are apples, specifically caramel apples. If you give some as favors, you will have a season-specific treat, as well as a beautiful table display. Add an Autumn colored tablecloth to really get a great effect.

Another idea for apples is to coat them with dark chocolate and white chocolate. I'm not sure how they would taste, but they look beautiful! Plus, can you go wrong with chocolate? :)

Speaking of tasty treats? Let's not forget the cake! Not only can you make the outside reflect the Fall theme, but consider making the layer flavors cinnamon apple, pumpkin, brown sugar, etc. Now looking at the outside, there are so many ways to make a beautiful Fall cake that we couldn't show them all. The most common way is to add the Fall flowers and leaves to the cake. 

A more unique idea that I fell in love with was the Dark Chocolate cake below. How beautiful!!!

Another great treat would be pumpkin cookies for favors! What an easy way to bring in the Fall love!

Speaking of pumpkins, using mini-pumpkins to hold your place cards is a fantastic idea! Choose between white & orange pumpkins, depending on your color theme.

Don't forget to show guests your theme by first sending them beautiful invitations, like these from Relish's Fall Exclusive Line:

Is your Color one of the Hottest Colors of 2010?

So you're engaged (congrats!) What is the first things that you do? First, you tell everyone!!!! Then, it's setting a date, and then maybe you pick your bridal party or book the venue. For me, it was picking my wedding colors! I decided to go with black, white and tiffany blue. I know some say you're supposed to pick colors that go with the season that you choose to get married in, but I wanted to go with the colors that I love! It's my day, right? With it being wedding season and everyone getting married or engaged left and right, I thought I'd blog about an interesting article I stumbled across that discusses the top 5 wedding colors for 2010.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-5-Hottest-Wedding-Colors-For-2010&id=3653431

Top 5 Hottest Wedding Colors for 2010

1. Blue or any hues of it - This is actually the year's lucky color also according to the Chinese predictions.

2. Off white - It's not just brides who have access to the pure color these days. Dress your entourage into something close by giving them off white as a background with some colorful highlights.

3. Orange - Bright and colorful, the color orange is a fun experimental way to highlight your wedding this year.

4. Purple - Purple may not be the year's color but it sure is going to be a hit this year for your wedding day.

5. Green - Use mint greens or yellow green as your hue should you try this one as your wedding color.

Now on for my DIY project for the week. I've always seen those card boxes that look just like wedding cakes but did NOT like the price tag attached to them! EEEEKKK! I decided to take matters into my own hands and create one myself. I was very nervous at first...and here is the final product!

I spent $10 for the set of paper mache boxes at Amazon.com (with free shipping,) $5 for the damask wrapping paper at Michael's, satin flower for $2.46 at Walmart (on clearance) and used leftover ribbon to decorate the box. For me, I'd rather make something and know it's my own creation, then to buy it from someone else! And it was so much fun to make!

At Relish, we love COLOR and advise you use as much color possible! :) Although we love to follow trends, it's YOUR day and make it your own!

Black & White Served up Right!

One thing you will know about Relish is that we LOVE color! In fact, the idea of fresh beautiful colors being used throughout weddings is one of the main reasons we started this business. We talk about the color wheel, the appropriate use of accent colors, the different color hues - we even dream in color! However, there are times when we see the "traditional" color themes done in such beautiful ways that we have to come off our color horse to appreciate the beauty. Today, we give honor to beautiful ways that we've seen Black & White done right.

One of the main reasons women everywhere are falling in love with this tradition again is because of the new twists added to it. Now there are whispers of color added (like the yellow in the cake flowers above) and there are bold patterns mixed with classic looks (try stripes against a pattern). Add in the use of textures and you get endless beautiful ideas for your own unique take on the classic. [See our Relish inspiration board below for great ideas.]

Start with a beautiful invitation at Relish! You can make it as fancy or as fun as you like. And you can bring in touches of your accent color!

Then bring in your personality to everything. Whether you are going for something funky or classic, your bridesmaid dress designs will be endless! Check out these gorgeous Summer options from Anthropologie.

Keep bringing in your personality, whether it's through new and trendy styles like this floral arrangement below from Rikka Floral...

or something funky like this amazing custom designed wedding cake from Nashville's own Cakes by Shara.

Or go classic and "tasteful" with this cake from Maples Wedding Cakes.

Dress up your table with your accent color as the linen with everything else done in trendy black and white patterns. BONUS: Choose a fantastic fabric for your linens and get that extra texture layering we were talking about!

And last, but not least - don't forget wedding favors like these from favorideas.com

In the end, we have found that today you can customize black and white to fit your individual personality. And that is the #1 most important thing to us at Relish. Happy planning!!!

Spring Brings Pastel Things

I must admit that I love bright, bold colors. It's evident in most of the designs I create. In fact, I tend to shudder at the idea of pastels. I think it's because growing up, I was enveloped in pastels. My bedroom went from shades of light blue and pale yellow to peach and white. I considered lavender my very favorite color. However, I think that after I reached a certain age and independence I wanted to break out and start living more boldly (like a woman instead of a girl) and that helped shape my grown-up color preferences (FYI: Fuchsia is now my fave).


However, lately I am beginning to warm back up to the "cools". A big reason for that is the wedding industry has introduced beautiful new ways to express yourself in pastels that while they are still feminine, they are somehow becoming more bold as well. [Check out the Christian Louboutin shoes!] So, whether you are a Pastel Princess or part of the pastel resistance like me - you won't be able to deny these beautiful new trends. And you may even find yourself loving the softer side for your own beautiful wedding day.



I love these After 6 dresses from Dessy.com in the Inspiration Board. Here's a larger version of one:



What better way to bring pastels in than by mother nature herself who loves pastels in beautiful floral arrangements! Check out this beautiful arrangement from Nashville's own Fresh by CarryAnn:



And what's a wedding without CAKE? Here is a beautiful cake idea we found from a New York inspiration board which has a bolder approach to pastel. This cake is from Savages Bakery in Birmingham, AL.



Here is a beautiful cake from Nashville's fave The Bake Shoppe:



Prefer cupcakes? Try this beautiful assortment from our favorite Cakes By Shara (they taste even better than they look!)



We also love these favors from Wedding Favors Unlimited (although, we suggest ditching the matching candy and add yellow or something to mix it up!):



And last, but not least, you have to have the perfect invitation! As seen in the inspiration board above, check out Relish to go as bold or as Pastel Pretty as you want!



So while I still prefer bold, I might add Lavender back into my life, especially if it comes in those shoes! ;)

COLOR me happy!

Often times we like to talk about colors, because let's face it - Relish is all about color! That's why we started our company, because we had a passion for color and using it to personalize your wedding day.

We recently stumbled across a great blog that talks non-stop about color and about how to use it for your special day. They actually featured one of our invitations for their yellow & lime wedding theme.



Check out this awesome blog, called The Perfect Pallete (perfect name!) and get inspired for all the details for your special day. Here is an example of their Thanksgiving palette inspiration.



It's easy to learn how to use colors correctly to build your perfect palette. Check it out and then come back to Relish to build your custom, colorful wedding stationery package!

What's YOUR wedding COLOR?

Colors are endless and the slightest difference in shade can make a difference in the whole tone of an event. The question is "How do you decide what colors to define your wedding day?" There are many factors to consider when answering this question. You can use these factors (below) to map out which colors (primary and accent) are going to work best with the tone of your day. Most of these factors can be found right on your invitation!

1) Location
Think of the tones already in the location setting of where you are having your ceremony. You don't need to necessarily match them - you will need to choose colors that complement them though.



If you are getting married in a garden full of greens and maybe some bright flowers, a lot of blue would clash. If you are getting married in a church with lots of burgundy pews and fluorescent lighting... Blue may be right up your alley, along with Yellows - which would help brighten everything up. You can use the color wheel below to show you what colors are complementary. Click here for the full Blog on Complementary Colors.



There are 2 points that need to be made on this subject.
1 - Just because you are getting married in a garden doesn't mean you just use green as your color. (which is what yours truly did!) There are options and even while you may choose green, you can also choose an awesome accent color to add even more personality to the day!
2 - You seriously may not want to make your color selection until you know your venue.

2) DATE
The season you are getting married in helps set a tone for color choices. Of course with Spring & Summer come the greens, yellows, plums, etc. With the Fall comes more of the oranges and reds. *Remember though - trends don't matter if they clash with the other factors in your wedding. We will be doing a blog soon on some of the upcoming Winter color trends.



In the meantime, here are some of this Summer & Fall's wedding trends shown by photos:







3) TIME
The time of day that you are getting married often established if it is a more formal wedding or a more casual setting. Black is rarely the color choice but at night, it is a perfectly acceptable choice to give a formal setting. Don't forget to use an accent color though!



4) Last but not least... WHO
YOU & your fiance are the biggest deciding factors! If all the other factors point to pink but you HATE pink with a passion, then throw it out! If everything in the church is purple, we wouldn't suggest having purple as your color. However, if you LOVE purple, then do what you love! Again, as we always say - the wedding is about YOU! So while we in the wedding business can offer you our suggestions and tell you about the latest trends, ultimately there are no hard, fast rules. Do what makes you happy (even if it is putting your bridesmaids in peach!) :)