Winter Wonderland Wedding Bouquet

As long as we're planning a Winter wedding and I have given you ideas for a festive background for your wedding line and other decorating ideas (in previous posts), here is a beautiful wedding bouquet perfect for a Winter wonderland!

Perfect creamy colored peonies, ranunculus roses,and soft glitter edged white hydrangea form this holiday wedding bouquet. Some vintage sheets of music have been fashioned into cones and each music cone has a glittered pine cone tucked inside it. Soft feathers with mini silver bells are attached to the feathers, and beautiful wire edged ribbon printed with music and cherubs complete this beautiful wedding bouquet.

Sure to compliment your wedding dress with its soft winter look! Faux flowers have been used so you can use it later as home decor and a special memento of your holiday wedding!

Soft glitter and gold

There are so many decorating possibilities when it comes to having a Christmas or New Years wedding! You can use the same ideas for party decor! Found a blog I really like over at The Wedding Decorator Blog! Laura shared these photos with me that she got from a blog called City Sage.

Don't they inspire you to incorporate some soft glitter and gold into your wedding decor for your wedding luncheon, or wedding reception? Whether hanging gold or glittering white stars from the ceiling or displaying ornaments creatively strewn down a staircase (that will be used only for decoration of course)your end result will be nothing short of breathtaking! Add some bunches of white roses tied with wired ribbon that has a music and cherub print theme to your staircase for added wow appeal!

Shoes filled with some ornaments and trinkets will delight those who see your beautiful decor! You could use the shoe idea for table centerpieces and sprinkle small gold and silver star confetti on the tables. Display a decorated shoe such as the ones in the photos up off the table on a glossy white gift box tied with a long wired gold ribbon. Attach white boas to the edge of a simple white table cloth for added elegance!

Rent a white or black sleigh to put your wedding gifts in. Decorate the front with a beautiful Christmas wreath and once again put Christmas baubles at various places on the sleigh.

Glass jars filled with a variety of Christmas candies and a large gingerbread house could be a focal point for any photos you might like to display.

Use the Christmas tree background I described in an earlier post and let your imagination go as you create your own Winter wedding wonderland!

Winter Wonderland Backdrop for Christmas or New Year's Wedding

Anticipating a wedding at Christmas time or New Year's? Here are a few suggestions for making your wedding day "Merry and Bright"! Display a row of pre lit Christmas trees for your wedding line to stand in front of.

You could have a musical theme and wind ribbon(designed with musical notes on it) around the branches or tie bows printed with musical notes on the branches. Spray large pine cones with glue and sprinkle with "Diamond Dust" glitter. Hang them on the branches.

Be creative and use whatever color ribbon you like. You can add partridges, musical instruments whatever your heart desires to put on the trees. If you prefer, just leave each tree undecorated except for the lights.

This creates a winter wonderland and makes a beautiful backdrop for your wedding or reception!

Simply Beautiful Wedding Favors Tell Guests You Care!

You can get very creative with your wedding favors these days! Take a small simple gift sack the color of your wedding. Fill it with individually wrapped truffles, pillow peppermints, or some other treat of your choice. Fold the top of the sack over at the top and punch a hole in it. Take a contrasting colored mini parasol and stick it through the top of the sack. Finish it off with gorgeous ribbon and there you have a nice thank you gift for guests or would also come in handy to give your guests at a bridal shower.

Wedding Inspiration!

Credits: Rings (2), martha stewart (12), Wedding Cakes (4), Favors (4), Invitations (2)

Just had to share this inspiration board I saw on the Style Me Pretty Blog! Aren't the colors beautiful! The wedding accessories are charming, the cake absolutely delectable, the favors simple and elegant. Isn't the ring in the cupcake a fun idea! Very nicely put together. (Click on the pictures to see the whole thing.) Enjoy!

Choose a Bouquet That Will Last For More Than One Day!

When choosing a wedding bouquet, why not consider buying a faux or a silk flower bouquet. The artificial flowers of today are beautiful and very realistic looking. Here are some great reasons for choosing silk over fresh:

• You'll have a wedding keepsake that will last indefinitely!

• You can purchase your bridal bouquet long before your wedding day. That way you can plan your wedding decor and colors around it. You can also use it for your bridal portrait. It is one less thing to stress about the day of your wedding!

• You don't have to worry about keeping it fresh. It will look perfect all day long for your photos, wedding, and your wedding reception.

At The Wedding Contessa shop at Etsy you will find beautiful wedding bouquets handmade with special care. Blooms are carefully chosen making sure they look realistic and are made of the highest quality. An artist's touch is added by adding creative acessories in the bouquet like bridal tulle with the look of dew drops, scrumptious ribbons, toile, twigs, dried berries, fruit etc... I love custom work so if you have a certain look and colors in mind for your wedding day, contact me at theweddingcontessa@gmail.com and I will create it for you!

Simple, Easy, and Elegant Table Wedding Decor

If you are a "do it yourselfer", you can easily make a beautiful table centerpiece for guest tables, the guest book table, or a table where you display your wedding and bridal photos.

Garden Art

Don't forget to look in your garden for flowers that are in season. Or you can gather a nice variety of flowers from your local florist or garden nursery. Look around your home for a container that will give you the look you want. Add a faux berry wreath, put real cabbage roses, sunflowers, etc...whatever flower you want inside the container to get this simple but elegant look. Create an interesting display by putting the same color containers but non matching on the guest tables and create a garden art look for your wedding.

Antique Look

Got an old tarnished pitcher sitting around? (Go treasure hunting at your local secondhand store.) Get this look simply by gathering greenery from front yard bushes. Add three beautiful rosebuds. Tie a creamy or colored ribbon around the handle and let the ribbon fall carelessly from the handle of the pitcher. Add a wedding photo(s) to sit to the side of it and you have eye candy for your guests!

Glass with Colored Water

Use a drinking glass or other glass container of your choice. Then color the water with food coloring to match the color of your wedding colors. Set your glass container on a white plate. Stick one blooming rose in the water just before guests arrive and put a twig wreath (which you can make before hand from twigs in the yard or purchase) around the flower. Though very simple it makes a nice floral display!

There you have three simple, easy, and elegant floral centerpiece ideas! Happy Creating!

The Crown Jewels for Your Wedding Day!

Looking for just the right earrings or necklace to wear with your wedding dress? Perhaps you are looking for a special gift for your bridesmaids. Stop by Ella Belle Boutique and find the perfect look for your wedding day! Each item is handmade!

Exquisite designs and Ella Belle Boutique will work with you on a custom design if you like! Czech glass gems, fresh water pearls, and antiqued brass settings are a few of the materials used in her jewelry. You can request pierced or clip on earrings.

Their gorgeous and very affordable! Shopping is easy and maybe you will want to pick up more than one pair for yourself!

A Royal Way to Announce Your Engagement

Looking for a cute way to announce your recent engagement? How about inviting close friends and relatives to an afternoon or evening a "royal tea party"?

Invitations

Make cute invitations by embellishing a little girl's dress up shoe purchased at the dollar or variety store. Print up the time, date, & place on some regal looking computer paper then print it off. Roll it up and tie a beautiful fancy ribbon around the invitation. Tuck it inside the "glass slipper". Hand deliver your invites by having a little sister, friend, or relative dress up, deliver each glass slipper on a pillow and hand it to the guest.

You can say something like,"Your royal presence is requested at a royal tea party for (the name of the bride to be)"she has found her prince charming and wishes to share her good news with you!
Castle: Your address
Royal Time: The time
No gifts please. Just come and enjoy a royal affair of visiting and refreshments.

Delightful Menu

• Serve gourmet pink and yellow lemonade bottled in pop bottles.

Take the top off the bottles and then stick a straw inside each with a lemon slice on top of the straw and inside the top of the straw stick an opened small parasol. (Glam up the little parasol with some sequins, lace, ribbon, or beads.)

• Serve a variety of light cookies such as sugar cookies in the shape of wedding cakes, lemon squares, mini cupcakes or muffins, and long pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate with pink sprinkles on it.

Enjoy!

Make your announcement, answer questions about when, where, and who, etc... then everyone can visit and enjoy their refreshments. Have a designated photographer or a couple so you can scrapbook this special event celebrating this time in your life!

Use your Creative Side for Flower Girls and Bridesmaid Dresses

Use your creativity to dress your bridesmaids and your flower girls at your wedding. You know they say "variety is the spice of life"! One new trend is to have them wear the same color but different style of dresses.

If you choose an all white wedding, you can add a colorful sash to bridesmaid or flower girl dresses to match the color you have chosen for your wedding decor.

One beautiful wedding I saw, each bridesmaid was in a different pastel color same design of dress. This theme was carried into the bride's bouquet. It was charming!

Fun Bridal Shower...Old Fashioned Quilting Bee!

Thinking bridal shower? Why not have fun and add to your wedding trousseau at the same time! Tie or quilt a blanket for your new home! First decide what size quilt you want to make. You have lots of options here so choose one of the following:

Buy a piece of fabric for the quilt top and bottom and make sure both are big enough for the size bed you want to use it on.
OR
Sew squares of fabric together to make a pieced quilt top and buy a solid or patterned piece of fabric for the bottom side of the quilt.
OR
Buy a two flat bed sheets and use it for a quilt top and quilt bottom.

You will also need a quilt bat to go between the top and bottom fabric layers of the quilt. Borrow some quilting frames, clamps, and tacks. If you don't know how to set up a quilt for your guests to tie or quilt at your shower, then visit your local fabric store and enlist their help or find an avid quilt maker in your area and ask them to help you. Don't be afraid to ask family members or friends to help you set up your quilt. If you prefer, your mom or grandmother would probably jump at the chance to set up a bridal shower like this.

Have the appropriate needles and yarn, embroidery thread, or ribbon for people to use to complete your quilt with.

Voila! You have an old fashioned quilting bee in the makings! This is a great time to relax and visit as you and your guests tie your quilt. (Tying a quilt is relatively easy and quicker than quilting but quilting is such a beautiful art!) You will make memories that last a lifetime! The edge will need to be finished later and you have many options there as well.

One more quick idea: get some fabric pens and have everyone sign the back of the quilt once it is finished. Don't forget the refreshments!

Visit my wedding shop and find beautiful and unique wedding bouquets, wedding garters,
bridal veils, etc... Happy Wedding!

Something Old and Something New

Many brides incorporate "Something old, something new
Something borrowed and something blue..."
into their weddings. If a bride does this, it symbolizes the hope for good luck and happiness in her marriage.

Something old might be an item handed down from a grandmother or mother to her daughter such as earrings, a necklace, or handkerchief. Or perhaps something vintage like a veil that would go with your wedding attire. Jackie Bouvier Kennedy wore her Grandmother's heirloom rose point veil draped from a tiara of orange blossoms when she married John F. Kennedy in 1953. It was gorgeous! You can find lots of pictures online well worth seeing its beauty!

Queen Elizabeth II carried a sprig of myrtle in her wedding bouquet cut from a bush growing at Osborne House, Queen Victoria's home on the Isle of Wight. Myrtle is an herb that signifies love and constancy.

(Use your imagination and you can think of a lot of things you could use at your wedding to represent the "something old".)

Something new could be a pair of shoes, a gift of jewelry, your bridal bouquet, whatever you consider as special for your wedding day. Princess Grace of Monoco carried a book to her wedding entitled, Bride's Manual by Rev, J.M. Lelens. It was a gift given her by a friend of her family.

Something borrowed shouldn't be too hard to come up with an idea for this. Lady Diana Spencer lovingly known as Princess Diana wore a borrowed Spencer family heirloom tiara on her royal wedding day. Legend says the tiara was traced back to Marie Antoinette.

Something blue is usually a wedding garter worn by the bride and has something blue on it. Blue is thought to be worn because of its meaning of love, modesty, and fidelity linked to the ancient Romans.

One more interesting tidbit of bridal lore, there is an old quaint custom of a bride putting a sixpence in her shoe to represent wealth and security. Nowadays, a dime or a copper penny is used in place of the sixpence. It is interesting to note that Princess Grace of Monaco wore a copper penny built into her specially designed wedding shoe (the right shoe) for good luck on her wedding day.

Planning Your Wedding Now!

There is one simple secret to making your wedding a royal one, less stressful, beautiful, and one that you will happily remember" foreverafter" as they say! Plan ahead! Even if you're not engaged or dating anyone special. Now is the time to plan.

"What", you say that's a novel idea! In high school, my Home Econmics teacher gave me the assignment to plan a wedding. I had to choose my wedding dress, bouquet, bridesmaid dresses, rings, wedding decor, etc...This came in handy when my husband and I had only three weeks to plan our wedding. He had to report to two a days football camp when he asked me to marry him.

Because of my school assignment, I knew the style of wedding dress I wanted. One day while shopping with my Mom I saw the dress of my dreams so to speak. She encouraged me to try it on. I ended up buying it. That was five years before I met my husband! It worked out great though because it was one less thing on my wedding list that I had to worry about!

Here is what you do! Make a Wedding Planner Scrapbook. Purchase a notebook. One with paper or put your own card stock in a binder.

Wedding Dress:

Start looking for wedding dress styles that you like. You can look through magazines, take pictures at wedding receptions you are invited to, or go and try some on at a local bridal shop. Ask before taking pictures as some shops won't allow it. You can also look for pictures online.

Once you find a style(s) you like, cut them out or put the photos you have taken in your scrapbook. Do the same for your wedding veil.

Wedding Colors:

What colors do you want your line to wear? How about your wedding decor? Put samples of the colors you think you would like to have at your wedding in your scrapbook.

Wedding Bouquets

Lots of options here! One thing to consider as you put samples in your scrapbook. Many years later I wish I had chosen a lasting bouquet. I went with fresh roses and although I had them preserved, my roses faded from the sun and got crushed and destroyed. If you want a lasting memento that you can use to decorate your new home with, go with silk. They are very real looking these days and the type of flowers and colors are endless!

Don't forget the rest of your wedding line! Find a few ideas for corsages, groom and best man boutineres, and parent wedding flowers.

Wedding Decor

Same idea here. As you attend wedding receptions, bridal showers, anniversary or birthday parties find inspiration for table decor, and other ideas for decorating. look through magazines, online resources, even your local garden nurseries, etc...to find ideas to create a beautiful wedding reception setting.

Bridesmaid and Flower Girl Attire

Get fabric samples in the colors that you would like to use. Also get photos or pictures of the style of dresses you want to use at your wedding. A great online resource for beautiful girls dresses (sizes baby to size 12) to coordinate with your wedding line is at www.Christmas Twigs.com.

Wedding Cake

What kind of a statement do you want to make with your cake? Will it have fresh or silk flowers cascading in a spiral design down your cake? Do you want an elegant or cute cake topper? Gather pictures of cake decor to get an idea of the special cake you want for your wedding day. Will you "Let them eat cake?" at your wedding or will it just be for display? A cake topper is something you can easily purchase now in planning ahead.

You can create whatever sections you want in your Wedding Planner Scrapbook including the food you would like to serve, napkin ideas, beverages, favors, etc... By planning ahead, you won't be disappointed in how your "royal wedding" day turns out! You will have the confidence to put your wedding together when the opportunity comes and be able to truly enjoy your day!

Welcome!

Hello & Welcome!

Here you will find helpful, charming, and inspiring ideas to make your wedding day all that you want it to be! Thanks for visiting!

Visit my etsy shop at http://theweddingcontessa.etsy.com/ to find beautiful wedding bouquets (with the look of real flowers but the lasting quality of silk.) I hand pick the flowers, ribbon, and such for each bouquet. Each is like a work of art and lovingly put together to achieve a unique and original look! Also find many other beautiful accessories for your wedding day!

I can customize items as well so e-mail me at theweddingcontessa@gmail.com Make your wedding dreams come true!