We know that for most of us the warm summer weather is finally here – yay! And you know what that means – lots and lots of weddings as well as ones being planned for next summer! Our wedding inspiration board today combines some of the warm tones of summer, peach and soft sand, plus well worn pastel blues, giving our board just a little bit of a vintage vibe.

Our bride, with her strawberry blonde up-do and her beautiful blue eyes, makes me so jealous that I am not a red head or at least sport something close to this gorgeous color for my hair. Did you know that I just love red heads? Well, now you do. :) Ring shots are truly some of my most favorite in wedding photography. We couldn’t believe how well the blue script on the invite enhanced the blues that we had selected as well as how the gold band even reflects the peach hues. What a gorgeous emerald cut ring, don’t you think?

Now, on to the vintage touches! It never ceases to amaze me how a simple touch of ribbon and a stripy straw can enhance a mason jar taking it from ordinary to extraordinary. One thing that I love about vintage decor is truly the unique ways that various pieces can be used to add details to a wedding. Never in a million years would I have thought to put cake pops onto this scale but it so does work, don’t you think? Now that’s inspiring! And can I just tell you how much I love, love, love hand stamped vintage silverware. This piece happens to be one of my favorites! Isn’t the little mason jar filled with hearts absolutely adorable? A jar filled with love! Finally, our centerpieces combine each and every one of the colors from our palette – peach, soft sand and vintage blues. Perfect!

Happy Wednesday!

xoxo

Row 1: Bride via Bridal Musings via Twigs and Honey | Ring Shot captured by KT Merry via Inspired by This | Peachy Mason Jars styled by A Vintage Affair Rentals captured by Lola Elise via Grey Likes Weddings

Row 2: Cake Pops & Scale captured by Lane Dittoe via Wedding Chicks | Anniversary Spoon via Jessica N Designs | Floral Centerpiece via Inspired by This

Colors: Caribbean Blue, Pale Blue, Summer Peach, Soft Sand

Details, details – it’s all in the details, people!! We keep hearing it over and over again when planning a wedding. Some people (brides and professionals alike) can talk about and debate the importance of details ad nauseam. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE details right along with the best of them. It is one of the reasons why you seek out our blog as well as others, and even print magazines. And to be perfectly honest, if it weren’t for some amazing details and inspiration, there really would not be the need for wedding blogs or wedding magazines for you to peruse.

However, how important are these details? Will they make or break a wedding? Are they even necessary? How much is too much? Do they really reflect you as a couple and your love story? These are some of the questions that we often debate. We hear how stressful the selection of just the right detail places on a bride. We hear from brides about the coordination of details, the cost, and DIY or not to DIY. And we also read about how wedding professionals are even being criticized or ostracized because the weddings they have coordinated or the photos they’ve captured don’t have enough details.

So today we’re going to tackle that sometimes rocky, precarious, sensitive, always beautiful road to helping you decide how and why details will make your wedding personal and totally you!

Sunny Studios via Heart Love Weddings

I’m first going to give you the definition of detail as listed by the dictionary.

Detail  

[n. Dih-tehl, dee-teyl]

1. An individual or minute part; an item or particular.
2. Particulars collectively.
3. Intricate, finely wrought decoration.

And then there are the details as defined by a bride and/or wedding planner which vary from invitations, bouquets, bridal accessories, decor, venue, food, centerpieces, linens, tuxes, shoes – oh my! Breathe…

And now we’d like to offer our definition of details:

It’s whatever the heck you want it to be! 

Were you expecting something really deep and profound? Maybe elegant and full of emotion? A beautiful, inspiring paragraph filled with adjectives? No, we thought we’d step a little out of the box and our comfort zone. A little on the wild side by making such a bold statement. And now we’re going to go into a little more detail. Ha!

Dreamlove Wedding Photography via Heart Love Weddings

First off, wedding details should not create or cause stress. Not for you (as the bride and groom), your family, bridal party and even vendors that you work with. How can wedding details cause you stress? For starters, DIY details. We do not believe that you should become the next Martha Stewart wedding craft diva if you don’t know what a glue gun is or does. You should not be pressing your florist to get lily of the valley for your bouquet in the middle of January in Minnesota. I don’t care how much you are willing to pay for them. They are not available – you should have gotten married in April or May. :)

Next, details should not cost you an arm and a leg. Unless of course, you are Kim Kardashian and have a boatload of money and want to single handedly jumpstart the sluggish economy. Let’s keep the cost factor under control and in perspective. While it is a special day, in fact, your special day, it will only last a few hours after all. Did you fall in love with a drop-dead gorgeous Cinderella ball gown of a wedding dress with a Maserati price tag but can only afford a nice, used VW Beetle version? Then consider a simpler, less expensive dress and jazz it up with some pretty sparkly accessories that you can either purchase or even better rent. (Have you met our friends at Happily Ever BorroWED?)

Jared Rey Photography via Heart Love Weddings

Details should also not be the center of attention at your wedding or overwhelm it in anyway. You want eye candy, but you want it to complement your overall style, theme, and/or love story. You want details that are classy and pretty. You do not want kitschy, cheap or tawdry. You should not have so many details including decor, venues and activities that will have your quests so preoccupied that they in fact forget why they are all gathered – for you, your groom, your celebration of love, your wedding.

Photo by Dana Duncan Photography; Event styled by Style By Design via Heart Love Weddings

From our perspective, details should be adding the pretty to your wedding. The pretty is both for your benefit as well as your guests. It can be simple, something bold and in your face or understated and in a place that only you and your groom knows about. :) Details at a wedding are the little things that will make you, as the bride, feel and look pretty, invoke emotion or sentiment even for the groom. For the bridal party, it’s a sweet note of appreciation or a meaningful gift. Guests at your wedding will appreciate comfortable seating, great food and fun entertainment. These are some of the simple details (yes, these are details and they are simple) that will create a memorable celebration for you and your guests. It is not necessary to go overboard.

Dreamlove Wedding Photography via Heart Love Weddings

To us, details are also the things that can take a wedding from ho-hum to breathtaking, even with the simplest of touches. This is best evidenced when looking at wedding photos, and that is why you will look at blogs and magazines to be inspired by not only the details but breathtaking photos of a bride and groom in love. That is not to say that you are looking for lots of “details” in the photographs. What you are looking for is a photographer that will not only capture details, but the emotions that will make you say awwww or wowzer when first you see your wedding pictures, and each and every time you see your photos after that, even twenty years from now. There are many times that we ooooo and ahhhhh over a wedding photograph and realize that there are actually no details. But it is the raw emotion, it is the spectacular scenery and blue sky in the background, it is the experienced eye of a photographer who has captured the moment – these are the details to be remembered. It is why we feel so strongly about the quality of your photographer. You want someone that is able to capture not only the pretty details but will capture your love without the details.

 A perfect example of capturing pure magic! Leaves me breathless!

Katelyn James Photography

So, do you still want to fuss about details? Yes, of course, you do! However, we want you to keep them under control. We hate to see you get so stressed about them that you forget why you are taking so much time to coordinate what will surely be, for many of you, the biggest event in your life! Don’t get so caught up in the pressures of planning all the details! Make it pretty and magical, but keep it simple and doable. Remember, why this day is happening in the first place. It’s not about the cake or the dress or the flowers. It’s your story, your love, your wedding being celebrated.

Remember, when you look at your wedding photos, whether next year or 10 years from now, it will not be the details that you are looking to revisit, it will be pictures of you, family and friends, and the stories and memories that will be shared when you open that wedding album time and time again.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about details at weddings! Love them, hate them, are you so-so about them? How much is too much? What is the most memorable detail to you? At your wedding? At somebody else’s? Where are you placing your priorities? We’d love to know below!

What a beautiful day it is to share a wedding so very full of happy. Happy colors, happy couple, happy flowers, happy everything! :) I love it when pink and yellow come together, especially when it takes the form of luscious yellow bridesmaids dresses, bright pink flip flops and hot pink gerbera daisy bouquets. They’re such a happy flower aren’t they? I love them. Almost as much as I love this gorgeous beach wedding captured by the incredibly amazing and talented Briana and Brian Macon of Macon Photography! Just try and keep the smiles at bay…

Sarah and Chris first met while Sarah was working at AJ Gators in Chesapeake, Virginia in 2005. Chris would come in for poker on Wednesday nights and they would make small talk every time they saw each other. One night, Sarah asked his friend, Rusty, if Chris was single and asked if he would pass along her phone number. Mind you, this was the first time Sarah had ever done anything like this and was more than a little nervous when a week had passed and Chris hadn’t called. Or so she thought…

When she saw him again about a week later, she approached him and asked why he had not called. He told her that he had…three or four times. Caught completely off guard she asked if he’d left a message, explaining that she rarely picked up on numbers she didn’t know. He told her no which resulted in a good round of laughs from his friends seated around the table. They hung out for the rest of the evening before Chris left to play poker at a friends house. But not before making plans to see Sarah again later that week.

They went to dinner at Bella Monte in Virginia Beach for their first official date. It was amazing! After dinner they decided to rent a movie, Cellular, which is now a huge joke because the movie was so horrible. Really. It was. They shared their first kiss that night and it was in that moment that Sarah knew she’d found something special in Chris, something she did not want to let go of.

They spent much of their first summer together on the beach. Because Chris loves to surf and will find any excuse to go to the beach and Sarah could spend all day, every day at the beach, it was inevitable they would become the perfect match.

After about eight months of being together and going on countless dates, Sarah decided it was time to tell Chris how she really felt. One night at his apartment while reading him the lyrics to Jack Johnson’s “Better Together” (which was the song Sarah later walked down the aisle to), she told him that she knew he was the one for her. A few days later, Chris told her he loved her too.

After more than six years of dating and seeing their friends marry off, Sarah was getting that marrying itch. She began to drop “subtle” hints like leaving pictures of engagement rings on the refrigerator in their house, talking about possible locations, who would be invited to their wedding, etc.

One weekend, shortly before they were to attend yet another friend’s wedding, Chris’ mom, Michele, came into town from Texas. Little did Sarah know that she was coming to help Chris pick out her engagement ring, the very same from the picture Chris had taken off of the refrigerator that Sarah had assumed had been thrown away. He purchased the ring that weekend with his mother’s help and because he knew Sarah loved to snoop, hid it exceptionally well.

After their friends’ wedding (the second in only a matter of weeks), Chris and Sarah felt the need to get away and relax a bit. They decided to take a long weekend to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, a vacation destination they loved and had traveled to on numerous occasions.

In the week leading up to their weekend getaway, Sarah began to wonder if Chris was planning on popping the question that weekend, but didn’t want to get her hopes up. So when they arrived at the Villas of Hatters, Sarah insisted they take a moment to get settled and unpack, not realizing that Chris was ready to head down to the beach right then and propose!!! He waited patiently though, and thirty-minutes later, they were off.

They made small talk as they walked and when Sarah asked if they could walk in the water, Chris grabbed her hand to stop her. “Before you go, I have something I want to tell you,” he said. The moment had arrived and everything and everyone around them disappeared as Chris told Sarah how much he loved her, that she made him the happiest man in the world, and that having his best friend by his side had made their rather long journey together completely wonderful. He then pulled the ring from his pocket and asked if she would do him the honor of becoming his wife. Through her tears, joyful screams, and excited jumping up and down, she said yes!

{From the Bride} The weeks leading up to our wedding were stressful. Not because of last minute details, but because we were planning on getting married outside on the beach. As most brides know, weather is the one thing you cannot control. As the big day approached, we were checking every weather website there was to get an idea on whether we had to change our beach location or not.

The day we traveled down to the Outer Banks in North Carolina was very cold, windy and rainy. It quickly became apparent we would not be able to have the ceremony on the beach like we had planned as the storms of previous months had wiped a good portion of it away. We decided instead to have the ceremony on this great sun-deck overlooking the beach, and in the end, it was perfect. The weather was too. While we shivered in the 30 mph winds the night of the rehearsal, we could not have asked for more perfect weather the day of the wedding. The sun was out, the winds had died down, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Everyone says that the wedding day is a huge blur, but honestly we remember every part of our day. All of our guests stood on the top balcony as we were married on the sun-deck below. Our favorite moment was the first time we saw each other as I was being taken down the stairs by my stepfather, David. The ceremony was amazing. We each wrote our own vows and loved hearing how the other felt in front of our friends and family. After the ceremony we headed over to Duck Woods Country Club for our reception. The room looked amazing. We could not have asked for a better setup. Our first dance was “At Last” by Etta James, and it was as if no one else was in the room. As we looked into each other’s eyes, it finally sank in that we were now husband and wife and would begin a new journey together.

{Advice for Couples} Weddings can be overwhelming for everyone, especially the bride. At times, brides can get so caught up in the planning that they forget what truly matters. Inevitably someone will ask you to change something because they don’t like it – stick to what you and your groom want. It’s about you that day. You’re allowed to be selfish about this. In the end, you have to step back and remind yourselves that when it comes down to it, all that truly matters is the uniting of two people who truly love one another.

Congratulations, Sarah and Chris! We wish you both so much love, laughter and happiness in the years ahead of you! Thank you so much for sharing your love story with us! And a special thank you much to Briana and Brian for sharing their very special day and incredible talent with us today! xoxo

A picture is worth a thousand words . . .

One Photographer. One Snapshot. One Quote.

One-thousand words and emotions.

“You wear white and I’ll wear out the words I love you and you’re beautiful.” – Marry Me, Train

Photo by Pasha Belman via Southern Weddings

When Brittany Haas, owner of the premier online wedding shop that rents designer bridal accessories worldwide at a fraction of the retail price, emailed me and asked if I’d be interested in sharing some of the new sparkly baubles from their 2012 Accessory Shoot, I jumped at the chance. Why? Because a) I love anything that sparkles and b) Happily Ever BorroWED is awesome! What other place do you know allows you to cull their online collection of baubles, hair pieces, bridal belts and more, choose ones to make your perfect wedding day look, Send Before You Spend, and then rent the accessories for your big day. You might call them your fairy godmother… And in all honesty, they kind of are making your big “Cinderella-esque” moment just a little more sparkly. But to us, they are Happily Ever BorroWED! Check out these amazing new pieces, find out our favorites, and owner, Brittany’s too!

Starlet Belt – Justine M. Couture ($70) | Sabrina Comb – Enchanted Atelier ($70)

Carrie B Necklace – Enchanted Atelier ($55)

{From Brittany} This piece is absolutely stunning! Now I can hear all the brides out there saying: “A necklace?” “Oh no…that’s too hard to wear with my neckline.” Think again! Any straight or sweetheart neckline works perfectly with this gorgeous piece! Scared to take the plunge with a statement piece? What about wearing a classic veil for the ceremony, and then switching on this necklace to get your party on at the reception? Who needs to be classic – when you can be quirky?

Lily Comb – Avant Bride ($30) | Kate Earrings – Halo & Co. ($15)

Swoon Feather Fascinator – Justine M. Couture ($50)

{From Brittany} This piece is called “SWOON!” for a reason! All the drama of a 1920’s flapper without the prohibition, this piece sparkles with opalescent stones in an easy, comfortable clip that takes any hairstyle from drab to fab!

Clara-Bell Comb – Justine M. Couture ($50)

Rea Headband – Halo & Co. ($70)

Diana Necklace – Justine M. Couture ($35) | Diana Earrings – Justine M. Couture ($30)

{From Brittany} I’m LOVING the big, gorgeous, stunning STATEMENTS you can make with your accessories. While we carry a wide range of more classic and understated baubles for your special day, we love a bride who takes fashion risks on her wedding day.

Victoria Vine – Avant Bride ($55)

Kate Tiara – Halo & Co. ($75)

Cait Headpiece – Avant Bride ($70)

{From Brittany} We just had another bridal market and picked up some FABULOUS new designers like Elizabeth Bower, Jenny Yoo and many more! Keep your eye out for our next shoot soon – we’re always adding new designers and new pieces to make sure that you have the best selection of rentable bridal accessories for your special day!

Esme Earrings – Enchanted Atelier ($50) | Isabella Cuff-Navy – Enchanted Atelier ($50)

Isabella Cuff-Navy – Enchanted Atelier ($50)

Marie Headpiece – Halo & Co. ($60)

{From Brittany} I know what you’re thinking…that wedding lasted 42 days. Listen – we know Kim might have dropped the ball on her actual marriage, but as far as being original in her fashion styling for her wedding day? She nailed it! This piece is for any bride who is looking for a more exotic look for her special day. But wait – you’ve changed your mind? Easy! Flip it up into a dual strand headband for when you’re dancing your heart out and don’t want the crystals in your eyes!

Claudia Veil – Enchanted Atelier ($50)

I must say that I really do love all of the pieces Happily Ever BorroWED has added to their collection. If I was forced to pick favorites though I’d have to say the Carrie B necklace (talk about a STATEMENT), the Claudia Veil (probably my favorite birdcage veil of all time), the Esme Earrings (a little something blue for you), the Isabella Cuff Navy (I was already obsessed with this piece in ivory), and all of the bun adornments (the Cait Headpiece, the Victoria Vine, and the Clara-Bell Comb). Annnnd, that’s a long list of favorites isn’t it? Ha! What can I say? I’m a sparkly kind of girl ;) But let’s face it, on our wedding day we all want to sparkle and shine! How will you? Tell us which pieces you love and which you would pick to accessorize your big day below! Don’t forget your bridesmaids and even your mothers too! They deserve to be pretty too! :) Happy Shopping + Sparkling! xoxo

Happily Ever BorroWED is a fabulous member of our Vendor Boutique. For more information on how members are chosen, click here.