BeCome a Long with Me-Flower Power!

Floral decisions are a major part of the wedding planning process. Some of your decisions may be what floral designer to hire, what flowers to use, or what color flowers to choose. One of the things that I absolutely knew was that is did not want a all white bridal bouquet. I wanted my bouquet to have a pop of color, and my bridesmaid's to have the white bouquets. I decided for the main wedding flower to be a hydrangea.

For my bouquet, I decided to go with a combination of the 3 bouquets (pictures courtesy of Etsy and The Knot.)

I plan to use the blue hydrangeas in place of the green with anemones and hand tie the bouquets with the damask ribbon. My bridesmaids and I are hand tying our bouquets the night before.

I have no DIY project this week but I do have a great deal. I have been really picky about cake server sets, but at the same time, don't feel like it's a detail of the wedding that I need to spend too much time and energy on. As I was doing my weekly grocery shopping at Walmart, I had to buy some craft items, when I ended up in the wedding aisle. There I found my cake server set...for only $10! See them below; I'm thinking about switching the white ribbon for a damask one. I love the swirly handle!

80 days to go until the BIG day! I wish I could freeze time to do all the things that need to be done, but where there's a will, there's a way! I will get everything done!

It's Friday We're in Love with... Flowers!

Flowers more than anything seem to dictate the change of seasons. It can also dictate the tone of your special wedding day.

So what are the 2010 wedding flower trends? Well, most wedding bouquets will continue to be hand-tied, where the flowers are gathered together and the stems are wrapped in wide ribbon. Brides wanting more glamorous bouquets choose beads, jewels, pins, etc to dress up plain ribbon-wrapped stems and blooms. But the main trend of 2010 seems to be SIMPLY COLOR. By that we mean two things. First, many brides are opting for more simple arrangements that have some splash of their theme inside the bouquet (ex: branch twine below) Second, in those simple arrangements, they are choosing bold colors (which we at Relish LOVE) - colors like bright Orange with Fuchsia. We've even seen Blue bouquets (done well)! Even in the more elegant traditional arrangements of roses, we are pleased to see the colors have blossomed into more bold pinks, purples and greens! 

Check out The Knot for lots of great 2010 wedding flower ideas!

If you are getting married in Nashville, we recommend these great floral designers (our personal faves): Fresh by Carryann & Brocade Designs

If you're looking to save some money and do some (or all - if you are brave) flowers yourself, we highly recommend http://www.fiftyflowers.com/. I actually used them for my own wedding!

How else can you incorporate flowers into your big day?

Hair Accessories! The idea of a flower in my hair seemed strange on my wedding day just 5 short years ago. Now it is a beautiful trend!

You may choose to go with real flowers or silk or even something made of fabric to simply resemble flowers, like below.

If you are interested in the fabric florals and are in the Nashville area, check out this company Stellar Made on Facebook to see some of their wonderfully beautiful fabric flower creations. You may even talk to them about doing something custom for your day!

While traditional flowers are still in, we are liking these new floral trends! In fact, this Friday you might say we are in love with them! Have a great weekend everyone! And remember to stop and smell the roses... unless they are satin. ;)

Relish Real Weddings: Tim & Julie Tupper

About the Couple:
Julie moved to Nashville from South Dakota in September 2007. Tim grew up in California but has lived here for several years now. Julie works for the FDIC and Tim works as a videographer for CBN on programs like the 700 Club. They both travel frequently with their jobs. Tim also just joined the National Guard last year and will be deployed to Iraq early next year. [Thank you Tim for your service to our country!] Julie & Tim met through an event at their church.


Couple’s Names: Julie Mitchell & Tim Tupper

How did he propose?
Tim proposed on New Year’s Eve. I had kinda hoped he would pop the question at Christmas, but nope. On New Year’s Eve, we went to church, and afterwards he planned on having some people over for a fireworks display. I didn’t think much of it because he likes doing that kind of thing. But, I did find it odd that, when people came over that night, there were a couple people with cameras and even one with a video camera. Well, the fireworks went off, and there were ooh’s and aah’s. And then somebody started handing out sparklers to everybody. I thought to myself…I do NOT want to do sparklers. But, someone had come around and offered me a sparkler, so I took one. I was having my own little party with my sparkler, and Tim found me and then he grabbed my hand and was taking me somewhere. At that moment, I realized what was happening. People were forming a circle with sparklers in hand, and Tim was taking me in the middle to propose. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t figured this out! Nonetheless, he said a few words and then got down on one knee and popped the question! (I said yes, BTW!)

Wedding Date: July 26, 2009

Location: Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville

Colors & why you chose them:
Red and sparkly…wanted something classic (with the red) and something glamorous (with the sparkly!)



Tell us about your vendors. Who did you use?

Dress: The White Room, Lebanon





Flowers: Enchanted Florist



Venue: Scarritt-Bennett Center



Photographer: Phindy Studios



Cake: Signature Cakes





Rings: Elegant Diamonds, Jared



Hair & Makeup: Bella Kru



Wedding Coordinator: Ever After Weddings & Events [*this vendor was highlighted in our blog posted this past Wednesday. Click here to view the blog.]



I don’t know that I would have done anything differently! If I had had more time, I would have loved to have been a little creative and done some things on my own. Also, we would have eaten more of the food, especially the cake! We really only got a few bites altogether! We hope to be able to order some cake for an anniversary some day!

What was the special touch you added to your day that was unique?
For the guest book, I bought a scrapbook and put a few photos of us in it and then put some lined pieces of paper on a few pages for our guests to write their names. I plan to add photos from our engagement session and wedding day to make it into a scrapbook of our wedding.



What was a surprise?
Fortunately, I don’t think there were any surprises that day!

What is one memory you will never forget?
How short the ceremony actually was!

Would you recommend Relish invitations / getrelish.com & Why?
Most definitely! Relish helped me find the invitations and wedding programs that were just right! They went the extra mile to get the invitations and wedding programs to my satisfaction!



Congrats Julie & Tim from all of us at Relish! May you enjoy the journey for the rest of your lives!

Unique Weddings for 2009

Here is our special Featured Blog, as seen on Ashley's Bride Guide Wednesday, January 14th. (http://www.ashleysbrideguide.com/):




You’ve dreamed about your wedding day perhaps for your whole life. I was personally not that way, but as soon as I said yes, the dreaming began! I have always had a creative spirit and my wedding was my chance to show who I was (and yes, who my husband was) in each and every detail of the day. As with many wedding professionals, it was after my own wedding that I begin to think of entering the wedding industry. I think that comes from being a bride who has trouble finding those things which represent her for her big day, those things which will express the tone of their wedding the way they want.

Invitations were a big part of how I set the tone of my own wedding. I have been a graphic designer for years so it seemed like an easy place to start. I began to envision the whole day and what would suit us as a couple. I decided I wanted a cute picnic themed reception. I wanted sheer green ribbon in lots of places, so it made sense to put it on my invitations, since that would be the first look our guests got of our special day. I must admit that at that time, even I had trouble thinking too far outside the box with my invitations. I had worked in printing for years and had used “The Books” to help brides get ideas for invitations. I hated that my ideas didn’t fit nice and neat into “the book” way of thinking.

Now, a short 4 years later, I am the CEO and one of the designers for Relish (getrelish.com). It may sound strange for me to say this about my own company, but I truly wish I’d had Relish when I got married! With Relish, my partners and I have tried to really come out of “the book box” with our paper designs. We have created many designs for different types of brides. If you want something more formal (like what most books have), you can get that with Relish, only you can still customize it to you. If you want something more crazy - you can do that as well! The most important thing about customizing your own invitations is that they are unique to you and your special day! Do not limit yourself in any aspect of your day. Dream in color, think BIG… and then you know - try to put it all into your “budget”.

Here are a couple photos from my own reception. To the right is a photo of an invitation I designed on getrelish.com and you can see how well it would have tied in to our wedding theme. (*NOTE: You can also have Relish adjust the colors of their patterns to custom match your exact color scheme)



So, it may be too late for me to send those out now, but below are some great photos of this season’s color trends which are used in the dresses, the flowers, the cake, and then of course the invitations! You could continue the colors and theme into the rest of your wedding stationary, your reception linens and all the other little details!


Black & White is always in style and very classy. Also, you can pair it with any color to get a unique look!


Bright Yellow is such a fresh color to see everywhere this year! Paired with Bright Whites and Garden Greens, it is beautiful, especially for Spring & Summer!


Fuschia / Hot Pink is very in this year. It’s great paired with Dark Purple, Wines & Black as well - it’s so much fun and creates a very unique look and feel to your day!


Aqua is another one of the fun, bright colors we are excited to see a lot of this year! You can go with a Dark Turquoise-Aqua (seen above) or a lighter, Sea-Green Aqua (also used in this invitation). You can pair it with Fuchsia, Lime Green (as seen below) or Dark Purple.


Lime Green is so bright and fresh, especially for Spring & Summer! Pair it with Hot Pink, Garden Green, Yellow or Aqua (as seen in previous photo).



Bright “Tangerine” Orange is another fresh color for this year! It works great in the Summer and into the Fall. Pair it with bright Whites, Peach (for Spring), Fuchsia, and nearly any shade of Green.


As you can see, the possibilities for a unique wedding in 2009 are endless! And it can all start with your unique invitations!


PHOTO CREDITS:

Dresses provided by Cherished Memories Bridal
Flowers provided by Fresh by Carryann
Cakes provided by Cakes by Shara
Promotional Photography provided by Jessica Rai Photography
Personal wedding photos by Laurie Carpenter Photography