Incredible Talent

A while back I found A Very Chocolate Wedding (now A Very Chocolate Life). She was just starting recaps of her fabulous wedding, and I was SO inspired by so many of the projects she did. It's a little late in the game (we're only 7 days away from the 100 day mark!) for gathering more inspiration, but I just had to pass these gorgeous pictures along to those of you who are still at that stage. 

First of all, she made all of her bouquets out of paper flowers! And she's posted tutorials for several different types of flowers. They turned out SO well!

She made her boutouneiers as well - They're made out of modeling clay and she posted a tutorial for these as well!

And you know I loved the paper lanterns and paper poms hanging over the dance floor:

Did you notice the banners in the background of the last picture? She made all of those herself, too! They're inexpensive and they make a huge impact!

I loved her centerpieces and table numbers:

Another fun idea - Covering glass doors with kraft paper! She punched all of those holes so that light would shine through the design:

Ok, I could go on for days, but the moral of the story is you should go check out her blog! It's awesome to see the pictures from such a gorgeous wedding that used SO many DIY projects. I hope mine turns out half this well!

What weddings have you found that have beautifully incorporated lots of DIY projects?

**All pictures in this post are from A Very Chocolate Wedding

The Wedding I've Been Dreaming Of

 I've already posted about how I love seeing ideas that I'm incorporating in 'real life,' so I couldn't help but share this wedding with you all. I happened to find this bride's planning bio, and it was incredible how many of the pictures she used as inspiration I've had saved/bookmarked. She used the same colors and damask theme, had mismatched black bridesmaid dresses, had almost the exact hair and makeup look I want, and had tons of adorable personal touches that I absolutely loved. It's so fun to see how her details turned out in relation to her inspiration!

 

Love the bridesmaids' headbands!

What's that? You'd like to see more details? Ok!

(I have an upcoming project involving damask hangers!)

Love love love her makeup!

All images from her bio and copyright of Studio 563 photography

It's so exciting to see a wedding that perfectly achieved the feel I want! I love being able to see the mess of ideas in my head come together in something so gorgeous - I hope I'm able to do as good a job as she did of making my dream come to life!

Have you seen your dream wedding achieved by another bride?

Is That Really Necessary?

About a year ago, a group of my girlfriends and I got together and had pictures taken by B, one of our friends from high school who was a year younger than us. I organized the shoot because I wanted MOH A (my best friend) to have pictures to take with her to basic training as she was joining the Air Force a couple months later. It was so much fun, and I loved how the pictures turned out:

 

 

BM M, MOH A, and I

(We took several that were obviously posed laughter, but I loved the genuine look of shock on my face in this one! Ha! I still remember the story one of the girls told to get that reaction)

When thinking about engagement pictures, I knew B was talented and that I especially loved her style and her post-processing talent, but I somehow kind of forgot about her. That is, until a couple days ago when I saw some engagement pictures she took of her roommate and her fiance in the snow! I fell in love and decided we need some e-pics in the snow - Just look at these!

 

 

 

 

 

I apologize for the overload of pictures, but I just couldn't choose favorites! And naturally, I looked for more inspiration from my favorite source and came across these beauties:

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(We could even bring Paisley! Ha, she'd be so mad at us.)

So, it's decided. I talked to Brynne, and we're both going to be back home for winter break. We're going to watch the forecast for snow and plan a shoot around it! Were two engagement shoots not enough? Is a third one really necessary? Nope. But we're only engaged once and I'll cherish the pictures forever! Also, we originally wanted one shoot in Lawrence (where I'm at school, on campus where we got engaged) and one in Wichita (our hometown and where the wedding will be) and Brynne's style is completely different from FSIL's which is fun! I'm so excited!

Have you found something you loved (but wasn't necessary) and decided to do/buy it anyway? Was it worth it?

Centerpiece Ideas

I've (finally) decided on my centerpieces, but I realized I had a lot of centerpiece ideas in my inspiration folder, so I thought I'd share them in case any of you are still looking for ideas.

I know paper lanterns are a big trend right now, but here's a new take on them:

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They used artificial flowers, but I'm sure there would be some way to do the same thing with real ones.

I'm sure many of you have seen pictures similar to these, but it's amazing how much of a statement tightly clustered flowers (carnations, even!) make:

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Carnations make gorgeous pomanders! The ones sitting on top of vases look similar to mine (but are so pretty in pink!)

These lace candle centerpieces would be so easy, but are still so pretty:

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And you know I love luminaries:

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And in case you don't like any of those, here are 50 more you can check out, courtesy of Martha!

I think they're each so pretty, and I'd love to try and include all of them, but I think that might be a bit much. So, I'll do the next best thing and live vicariously through any of you who choose to use them!

Have you found more ideas than you're able to incorporate?