These Shoes Were Made For Walking... Down The Aisle

Brides and grooms are having more fun with their wedding day footwear these days. Flip-flops, glittery sneakers, and delicate Asian slippers are making their debut under beautiful wedding gowns all over the world. Shoes have joined the group of wedding details that couples are choosing to personalize.

My brother-in-law Ben is getting married later this year. He and his fiancee, Katie, can always be found wearing Converse sneakers. So, the obvious decision was to have their entire wedding party wear Converse to the event (although, if you know my husband... it's going to be pretty interesting to see him in a pair of Chuck Taylors!). As most of you know, I absolutely love anything that can be customized... so I was excited by what I discovered on the Converse website.

Converse now offers a tool on their website that allows you to design your own sneaker. The potential combinations are endless! You can select different outside, lining, tongue, stitch and lace colors. Create a pair of Converse to perfectly reflect the colors you have selected for your event decor! There is even an option to have text printed directly on the shoe. This would be a great place to place your wedding date, your new last name, or your combined initials.

Even if you are planning an event that is a little too formal for casual footwear, you can always purchase a pair to wear as you get ready the day of the wedding or to bring on your honeymoon.

Personally, I've never worn a pair of Converse, but I am DYING to design my own pair. Here is what my design would look like. The colors were inspired by my own autumn wedding.

Take a moment to browse the website and have fun playing with all the possibilities!

Flowers Say It All

I was perusing one of my favorite magazines, Martha Stewart Weddings, and came across this fantastic idea.

Instead of keeping your dried or preserved bouquet as a sentimental reminder of the day, turn the ribbon used to gather the blooms into a keepsake by having it printed with a meaningful quote. A line from your own vows, a lyric from the song you use for your first dance as husband and wife, or even a reference to an inside joke between yourself and your fiance would personalize this detail even further.

(image courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings)

ribbon: Masterstoke Canada
calligraphy: Beyond Words
bouquet: Laura Seita

Fabric Boutonnieres

Can’t decide between a boutonniere and a pocket square for your groomsmen? Get the best of both with these funky fabric boutonnieres I saw on Crystal Goss’s blog.


I’m sure there are lots of different ways to make fabric roses and other flowers, but these instructions from Portobellopixie seemed pretty straightforward. If you’re the crafty type who loves to add a personal touch to all that you do, give them a try!

Cookies speak louder than words

Valentine’s Day is only a month away and love is in the air. This year, tell your sweetheart how you really feel with these fun Message Cookies from Williams-Sonoma, a sophisticated twist on the infamous NECCO candy hearts. The cookies feature four different messages: "Kiss Me," "Cute," "Love," and "Flirt." ($22.00 for a set of 9)

Organize your wedding documents in style

As a wedding planner, I have a natural tendency toward organization. I love buying storage accessories almost (key word) as much as I love buying clothes, shoes, and home furnishings. There’s just something very cleansing about putting things in some type of order. So as I was shopping around for an accordion file to organize receipts, I stumbled upon this wonderful website: www.galison.com. They have a fabulous assortment of storage accessories and paper goods, from personal organizers, to address books, to note pads and stationery. And the best part is, they’re pretty!

Pick up one of these flashy file totes for a stylish way to organize all of your wedding ideas, fabric swatches, and vendor contracts. The totes have 8 dividers and come with 16 adhesive labels. ($20.00 each)

They have file folders too! ($8.50 for a set of 8 in 4 coordinating designs)

And while you’re at it, you might as well grab some of the matching sticky notes to jot down those ideas and to-do’s that pop into your head at the most random times. ($10.00 for 8 pads in 3 different sizes)

Be sure to visit the Galison website to see the full collection of file totes and peruse their other product lines.

Breaking the Ice

I was recently assisting a client who was interested in having an intimate and fun reception, where the guests all enjoyed each other’s company. We discussed the possibility of providing some conversation starters. Fun facts and trivia questions would create the atmosphere of friendship and casual entertainment that this bride was envisioning for her reception. Guests would get to know each other as they enjoyed some interesting pieces of information and sharing their answers to some fun questions.

In my searches for a way to do this, I came across this little gem on the Pottery Barn website. Small cards elegantly printed with interesting tidbits and questions are nestled in a clear Lucite box and can be placed on each table for your guest's enjoyment. The simple and unassuming vessel will not compete with your table décor and the lively debates that occur as a result will lend a comfortable ambiance to your event.

This idea can be recreated on your own by printing up some of your own trivia on cardstock . Personalize it even further by asking questions and incorporating facts about topics and hobbies that you and your fiancé enjoy.

Now that's what I call trashing the dress!

This photo from Jerry Frazier’s blog cracks me up. Images of brides frolicking in the ocean or running through a field of daisies are beautiful and all, but if you really want to trash the dress, this is the way to go!

Who needs a cake stand . . .

. . . when you can put your wedding cake on a tree! Or a bush! Or a . . . I’m not quite sure what this is, actually, but it’s very cool!


Check out Chenin Boutwell’s blog, where you can view more images from this wedding.

Comment for a Cause

During the holiday season, we ran a charitable special whereby 10% of the cost of any package booked with Bliss Weddings was donated to a charity of the client’s choice. While we plan on making this an annual promotion, we want to continue our charitable efforts throughout the year, and so we’ve decided to add a new feature to our blog called Comment for a Cause.

Here’s how it works: for every comment posted on our blog, we will donate $1.00 to a charitable organization. Donations will be made on a quarterly basis, and we’ll pick a different charity each quarter. A few other bloggers out there are doing something similar, and we think it's a great way to give back. Since Elizabeth and I are both animal lovers, our featured charity for the first quarter of 2009 will be The Humane Society.

If you’re an existing blog reader of ours, don’t be shy! Sharing a few words here and there will help a worthy cause. Be sure to spread the word to others as well and encourage them to stop by and contribute.

Rustic Wedding Accents

I have mentioned before that home and specialty retailers can be a great resource for wedding décor and accessories. I received an Art & Artifact catalog this weekend filled with items that would make wonderful rustic wedding accents. All it takes is a little vision and creativity. Here are just a few ideas:

Place two of these Arbor Garden Wagons on either side of the arch at your outdoor ceremony. They can be filled with flowers, green plants, or pumpkins, depending on the season and theme of your event. After the wedding, display them in your own garden as a remembrance of your special day. ($69.95 each)

These Miniature Garden Gates would make charming centerpieces. Nestle them in weathered flower pots filled with soil. They can also double as table number holders: print your numbers on cardstock, cut a slit in the bottom, and affix them to the top of the gates. ($39.95 for a set of five) Candles are a classic way to create ambiance at an event, but why not change it up a bit? Replace a few candles with these Lighted Firefly Jars for a whimsical touch. The fireflies are battery-operated and activated by a switch on the bottom of the jar. ($18.95 each or $15.95 for two or more)
Be sure to visit the Art & Artifact website for more ideas and inspiration for your rustic wedding.

Wrapping Up Your Event

As the holidays wrap up, I had a moment to look around my living room. It is, quite frankly, a disaster. The evidence that Christmas came and went is surrounding me. Extra bows, half used rolls of tape, and tons of wrapping paper scraps… EVERYWHERE!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I absolutely love wrapping paper. I take my gift wrap decisions VERY seriously. In looking at the various rolls of paper I selected, I was thinking about how much I absolutely loved my selection. And of course, the wedding planner in me thought about how the design could be used in reception décor.

This reminded me of an article I had seen not too long ago regarding how a length of wrapping paper can be used in lieu of a table runner. There are so many options available now. There are manufacturers that make high quality, gorgeous designs that would be the perfect accent to a tablescape. In fact, a beautiful piece of paper could be the jumping board for the style of your entire event.

(source: marthastewartweddings.com)

There are just a few suggestions if you decide to use this idea:

If you select a runner with a lot of design elements, pick table covers and centerpieces that are very simple, as not to compete with the runner.

Make sure that the paper you select is thick and high quality.

Ensure that the paper doesn’t curl up on the ends by laying the paper out flat prior putting on the tables. You can even weigh the ends down by taping thing metal washers to the underside.

You can add another element by using a wide patterned paper and putting a more narrow solid paper on top. The inverse can also be very eye catching.

Many retailers offer a selection of papers that are complimentary and are meant to be used together. It’s a good idea to take a look at these. Contrasting yet complimentary will really create an interesting table.

Below are some wrapping paper designs that I think would look wonderful at an event.

(source: Papyrus)

(source: Paper Mart)

(source: Paper Mart)

(source: Superior Gift Wrap)

(source: Paper Mart)

Happy New Year!