kate spade saves the day

I braved the DC tundra today to finish my Christmas shopping. There were mountains of snow, limited public transport, and definitely some snow-in-boot misfortunes on my end. I eventually stopped in Kate Spade just to see if they had any of the bridal shoes (they didn't) and check out the jewelry. Many guys were in there, presumably shopping for their lady friends and I ended up being head over heels in love with the gift boxes.

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How very lovely is the aqua and green together? I guess it just made me feel a lot more secure about my recent color about-face.

So here's the final palette!

Did you ever completely change your mind about some aspect of your wedding?

color change

I might have changed my mind on the colors.

I called this Draper meets Dior meets Indiana. Let's see how long this sticks.

more color inspiration, too

Last Christmas Mr. D got me a very appropriate gift.

It's pretty basic information, but gosh it looks pretty sitting on my desk. This is probably where my need to have black in the wedding came from. But then I spied another book, not yet in my collection.

Lovely, yes? The pink of that book cover is such perfection. But wait, there's more!

Trying to properly express my color love, I googled around for a floral pattern I could wreck in Photoshop. At first I made the above. And then I discovered Dorothy Draper wall paper (ok, confession, every time I start tying Dorothy Draper I want to write Betty. ugh)

Again, I fooled around with the pattern in Photoshop, trying to achieve some semblance of a color scheme. There's still too much blue here for my tastes (I want it to be a pop, not a common thread) and I don't think I've hit the peachy hue I want either.

Will I succeed in expressing my wedding color scheme in a single floral pattern? And will I share a simple tutorial of how to manipulate patterns in Photoshop to achieve such a feat? Maybe.

another mood board, of course

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100 layer cake went ahead and made a color board with my name all over it. They're calling it sweet and sassy, I'm calling it hot french..hotness.

dorothy draper

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Lovely, clear colors have a vital effect on our mental happiness.
- Miss Dorothy

Obvious statement of the day: I love pink. It's endlessly cheerful, pretty, sometimes even a little ridiculous. While I knew I wanted pink to be the main color of the wedding, I also knew I wanted to pair it with something to make it feel a little more unexpected.

I don't know when I stumbled upon Dorothy Draper's interiors, but it was love. Serendipitously, she is also a purveyor of pink.

So what about her interiors are so inspiring?

 

 

Stripes! This is actually one of her more subdued rooms, but the stripes are whimsical and striking. I have plans for stripes in the wedding invitations.

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This is a great room for one major reason - pattern mixing. We have oversized stripes, a patterned carpet, and a floral couch. And do I spy some hot pink in the background?  Oh my yes.

Seeing these images helped me arrive at my current palette. Blush pink, hot pink, black, gold, and an accent of aqua. Gold and pink is so very vintage glam, but the aqua keeps things lively. It also matches my ring!

Did you happen upon your color story in an usual way or place?

random inspiration

Here's a little diddy about me: in college I was an English major and I completed an honors thesis in creative writing. I was constantly looking around, making mental notes about odd or pretty things I notice. With wedding planning I catch myself doing the same thing -- finding color inspiration in random objects and places.

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So this is the new fragrance from Michael Kors. I have no idea what it smells like but the bottle is perfect. Coral pink and gold makes me a little giddy.

Now this introduces a new feel to my wedding scheme - glamour. We had romance and girliness and a hint of vintage, but now we have glam. It's almost leading me into a Dorothy Draper mood, where I can mix stripes and florals and yes! Gold! Oh dreaminess.

All this because of a little bottle of perfume. Have found inspiration in random places?

martha stewart loves mood boards, too

I subscribe to a few wedding blogs, including Martha Stewart's A Bride's Guide. Yesterday I was scrolling through the posts on my Reader and came across the following board. Swoon!

Isn't it lovely? There are definitely elements here I'd like to incorporate, particularly those silhouettes. Oh I feel a DIY coming on. But the black and pink, so chic.

I will be in the Chicago area this week gathering supplies (DC is not a crafter's paradise). There will be a pilgrimage to Vogue Fabrics. And it will be amazing.

everyone loves a mood board part 1

So the very in thing to do when you're planning a wedding is create a mood board. This is very unfair: with the amount of gorgeous images lurking on wedding blogs, I become pretty paralyzed when it comes to choosing a..mood.

I know the primary color will be pink. I know it's going to be girly. But beyond that I really struggled to make any real decision. So here's my first try:



I think it's a little vague since I haven't truly settled on a color palette yet. Did you make a mood board when you first started planning? Was it actually helpful?