Real Wedding: Jennifer and Tavis

So, a while back we did a Color Day post on our friend Jen's "button inspired" wedding.  Photographer Angela Ferro exquisitely captured their day and, as promised, we're finally going to share some of our favorites with you! Jen and her hubs, Tavis, tied the knot on a beautiful, albeit rainy, day in Brisbane, Australia.  Australia is close to our hearts as PDR's Jen spent some time studying there in college and these photos bring back warm memories of BBQ's, relaxed and carefree vibes, and true Aussie hospitality.  Destination weddings are super hard to plan, particularly when you want to include as many personal touches as possible.  Luckily, Jen had brilliant wedding planners in her now mother-in-law and sister-in-law.  Her mother-in-law put her creativity and crafty skills to use with a number of DIY projects and the end result was a wedding bursting with character and charm.  We love the care taken to personalize this wedding and see Jen's warm personality and artist flare in pretty much every little detail.

Jen was happy to share her story and helped to shed some light on her overall wedding style and favorite moments.

On the importance of personal touches...

We also incorporated a few unexpected and nontraditional elements in the day. For instance, the initial plan was to play lawn games during the cocktail hour and use this time to take photos in the gardens. Unfortunately, it rained all day. One unexpected wedding event quickly turned into another as I told myself that I was wearing a one-use dress and was going to get the most out of it, even though it meant that Tavis and I were quite wet by the end of the photography session! Also, Tavis thought it would be funny to read his vows from his iPad and I then read my vows from my iPhone which I secretly had his best man carry for comedic effect. The ceremony was performed by both Tavis' brother and his best man and was both sweet and hilarious. For example, the first line of the ceremony was "Hello. This is a wedding." It was important to us to have a few personal details that really reflected us as a couple and I think these examples certainly allowed us to achieve our goal!

 On choosing to have a small, intimate wedding...

The wedding was cozy. Tavis and I both think that marriage is very intimate and personal and we wanted our wedding to be a great celebration of us. In fact, Tavis often referred to the wedding as a "party." We decided that the two things we wanted most out of celebrating our marriage were to be with the people we really love and take an awesome honeymoon. We happily remained true to ourselves and on budget by keeping these things in mind!

On her favorite moments of the day...

There were three really fantastic moments that stick out to me when I reflect on the day. The first was when I saw the cake. Planning the wedding from the US made me feel a little removed from the event. It wasn't until I saw the cake that it finally felt real and I became much more present; it was as though all the work had paid off and everything was going to be perfect. I am still in awe of how beautiful the cake was. The second of my favorite memories of the wedding was walking in the processional with Tavis' best man behind two bag pipers. The pipes made the most beautiful, heart-wrenching sound that set the tone for the ceremony, which Tavis wrote. Finally, was the first dance. Tavis and I danced to The Smiths "There is a Light that Never Goes out" which quickly became a sing-along for us and our guests. Then, at the end of the song, Tavis spun me around the room several times making everyone laugh and cheer. It was such a joyous event. The entire wedding was absolutely magical but these moments were definitely the most memorable for me.

Photography: Angela Ferro Photography

Venue: Home of the Groom's Parents - Brisbane, Australia

Floral Design: Brisbane Bouquets

Invitations: Keg Design

Catering: Wine & Dine'm

Wedding Cake: Josie Staines

Bagpipers: Brisbane Boys College

Bridal Gown: LoveJune

Bride's Shoes: Seychelles

Bride's Jewelry: Land and Laboratory 

Bride's Hair Clip: Ban.do

Hair: Jackie Trout Hair Design

Rings: Tiffany & Co.

Bridesmaid's Dress: Andrew Marc

Bridesmaid's Shoes: Stuart Weitzman

Men's Suits: Bill Paul Ltd.

Groom's Shirt: Sebastian Gray Clothiers

Groom's Shoes: Dr. Martens

See more details of Jen and Tavis' Wedding and read the story of how they met over at Style Me Pretty!

Thanks, Jen and Tavis for sharing these with us.  We wish you a long and happy marriage!

XOXO

Jen & Saira

Color Day Themes: Love Birds

Bird motifs and themes are becoming more and more popular with the youthful, Anthropologie inspired, types of weddings.  They are modern and vintage at the same time, charming and whimsical, and add a natural, organic kind of feel to an event.  Whether they are love birds nestled atop you cake, paper cranes hanging from the ceiling, small finches adorning your invitations, or ornate birdcages scattered through your space, turning your event into somewhat of an aviary is certain to get people talking. Here's an inspiration board that is certainly not for the birds:

Love Birds Wedding Inspiration Board

Images from: Wedding Paper Divas, margosoriginals, StudioWedbyMirela, Wedding Window, The Artful Bride, The Knot, Ruffled, ShabbyPeaDesigns, RedLightStudio, ohlouisedesigns, TimelessPaper, ryeleighrose, pompandplumage, BHLDN, Bloomingdale's, Martha Stewart    

XOXO

Jen & Saira

       

Color Day: J'Adore Paris

Bonjour, dolls! Let's take a little vacation from all this snow and think of springtime.  When it comes to spring, few places compare to the allure of Paris.  The romance (and the food) never fail to make us swoon. When you think French, you think sophisticated, elegant, sexy, and very cool. A Parisian inspired wedding can be very literal (stripes and berets), delicious (crepes, fondu, and steak frites), glamorous (ruffles and Chanel everything), or kitschy (mini Eiffel towers, anyone?).  Lucky for you today's board has a little bit of everything so let's explore!

Paris in the Spring Time Wedding Inspiration Board

Images from: Martha Stewart Weddings, Dessy, Bloomingdale's, deanpennandpaper, Powder Blue Bijoux, Kawaii Goodies, Signs of Vintage, The Knot, BHLDN, Green Wedding Shoes, Elizabeth Ann Designs, couturemakeup, Green Weddings California, A Subtle Revelry, Andrea Bricco, Dark Black Dress                

Au Revior!

XOXO

Jen & Saira

Color Day: 24k

Ok, ok, we know at this point you're craving the sage greens, buttery yellows, and honeysuckle pinks of spring but, unfortunately, winter will linger around a little while longer here in the northeast.  Lately we've been focusing on the white wedding thing a lot, but what with all this snow and frigid weather we just cannot help ourselves. Embrace your inner snow queen with this elegant, modern board featuring crisp white and enough metallic gold make Midas swoon.

24k Gold and White Wedding Color Inspiration Board

Images from: Beatrice Von Deutsch, Ravens Refuge, Galit, Weddingbee, Pretty Chicky, OmniBride, True Blind Faith, ohhowposh, Elizabeth Anne Designs, Once Wed, Eve Organics, DCBouquets, NaturalAmberDesigns, Wedding Inspirasi   

Stay gold, dolls.

XOXO

Jen & Saira          

Color Day: Shades of Autumn

Here is another great color combo for fall!  We know that incorporating a whole range of colors can be tempting, particularly for the fall season, and who are we to stop you?!  What we will do is show you how to combine multiple fall colors in a way that is tasteful and sophisticated and not reminiscent of a hand print turkey.  So, to pick a few colors we went with brown, green, orange and yellow.   You could easily add more splashes of burgundy to this palette, if you so choose, but we like to keep things a little simpler.  Plus, focusing on just these four lends to an almost vintage, 1970's feel that we are really digging.

Brown, Green, Orange, and Yellow Fall Wedding Color Inspiration Board

Images from: KottonKandy52, TheSlightlyObsessiveBride, ElizabethAnneDesigns, wedding-cupcakes, Zazzle, OnceWed, ModCloth, wishspecialevents, merrimentdesign, KellyOShiroEvents, David's Bridal, Urban Outfitters

XOXO,

Jen & Saira

Color Day: Plum, Raisin, and Chocolate

Smooth, velvety chocolate... ripe, juicy plums...sweet, delicious raisins...have we got you salivating yet? Well, unfortunately for you we're not talking food here but at least we can provide a little eye candy.  This palette of chocolate brown, plum, and raisin is a lovely color combination for a modern fall wedding. It's gives a totally different feel then the usual "warm" fall colors like marigold, orange, and red, but still is cozy and comforting, just as fall should be. Purple is increasingly popular for weddings, decor, and wardrobes and, when paired up with rich chocolate brown, it's extremely charming and feminine.

Purple and Brown Wedding Inspiration Board

Images from: Keentobeseen, marthastewartweddings, idenbridals, betsywhite, finestationary, utahlovescupcakes, weddingpaperdivas, zappos      

XOXO,

Jen & Saira

Color Day Themes: Rustic Romance

Autumn in the Northeast is a beautiful time of year when the leaves on our trees glow with brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges.  Now, as we've said before, though coordinating and found together in nature, these hues can sometimes seem a little juvenile or hokey when put together as part of your decor. Sometimes the easiest way to gear up for Fall is to think "rustic".  Although rustic details are actually beautiful any time of year, they are particularly heartwarming in the fall.  Maybe it's because fall brings about a renewed connection with nature for many people or maybe it's because the smell of fall reminds us how much we love to layer, but whatever it is there is really nothing like the cozy and comfortable feeling of a rustic fall wedding.  Lucky for you, rustic details are easy!  Add a few loose flowers or candles to a mason jar, utilize branches and leaves, keep stationary simple, and add down home touches like pies or jam and you'll be all set!

Rustic Fall Wedding Inspiration Board

Images from: Anthropologie, ritzybee, Betsy White, Chillipit, Wedding Bee, Hello Lucky, Project Wedding, labellebride       

  

XOXO

Jen & Saira

Color Day: Black and Purple

Jen's back from vacation, and just in time for this week's color day!  Let's dig a little deeper into the holiday of the season and explore some excellent color combinations for Halloween themed or Gothic style weddings or parties.  Of course we'll do the traditional orange and black in the upcoming weeks, but before we get to that, we figured we could show you some other takes on Halloween that are sure to create a dark and down right spooky kind of event.  Orange isn't for everyone.  So if you love Halloween but sunshine orange makes you cringe, don't fret.  Purple is sexy and classy enough for the modern bride, but creepy and eerie enough to take the phrase "til death" to a whole new level.

Halloween Black and Purple Wedding Inspiration Board

Images from: Project Wedding, Couture Events by Lottie, Marilyn San Clemente , Elizabeth Ann Designs, Zena Dia Design,  Manolo Blahnik Shoe Shops, Polyvore, Chrissy Watson, Jamball, Create and Adorn

XOXO

Jen & Saira