Flowers The color palette of the wedding will be mostly neutral - champagne, ivory, chocolate brown, and some moss green - but I want the bridal party bouquets to be really vibrant. Both my bouquet and the bridesmaids' bouquets will be a deep orange. My main challenge is to keep the color palette from looking autumn-y since it is a summer wedding, so the flowers really need to be a very vibrant color rather than muted fall-tones. Bride's Bouquet My bouquet will be all orange calla lilies:   Bridesmaids' Bouquets The bridesmaids' bouquets will use orange too, but will also incorporate some bright pinks and maybe a little yellow. Perhaps bright pink gloriosa (sculptural, coral-like "fire flower" - the pink flowers in the bouquet below), maybe some mokara orchids, and green nigella seed pods for something a little different and modern.   Boutenneires Jon's bout will probably be a single orange calla lily with seeded eucalyptus to match my bouquet.  The groomsmen bouts will use orange mokara orchids to mimic the bridesmaids' bouquets, as well as rosemary. I think the rosemary and the mokara orchids look so great together:  Junior Bridesmaid and Flower Girl Still have to decide on these. Probably small nosegays for each, rather than baskets or pomanders. I am thinking of keeping their flowers ivories, champagnes, and pale pinks, rather than orange. Probably mostly tea roses. Decor Ceremony Decor St. Cecilia is very ornate, so I hadn't really been planning on doing too much ceremony decor. I think any altar arrangements would get rather lost in all the gold leaf, rosettes, and stained glass, and I just don't think it would be worth it to stretch the flower budget. I hadn't been planning or budgeting to do any aisle decor/pew markers either, but I saw this DIY idea on Weddingbee, and it seems so pretty, easy, and cheap that I think I will definitely do it:  For anyone who is interested, the DIY instructions can be found here: http://www.weddingbee.com/2008/09/22/wedding-ceremony-decor/ I think this is just simple and elegant enough to be perfect. And this particular picture is perfect for our colors, too! Centerpieces The centerpieces will be tall cylinder vases with branches and hanging votive candles. Our florist will be using a combination of manzanita and some other sturdy branch. For color, they will also incorporate either some green nigella seed pods or perhaps some orchids wired on to the branches. Each arrangement will have 7 or 8 frosted hanging votive holders, and we will be using LED tealights (to prevent our wedding from turning into a bonfire.)  I LOVE these centerpieces, the more I look at them. They are perfect - dramatic, but not too over the top. We will probably end up going with uplighting similar to this, since we are trying to go for a candlelit glow feeling. We are also talking with our lighting design person about maybe adding just a few pink tones in there as well, to keep it interesting.   Cocktail Hour Decor I want something pretty simple for the cocktail hour, but also contemporary, as we will probably move the cocktail centerpieces outside to the balcony off of the ballroom afterwards, where we will have a lounge area set up. We will probably use lots of candles, too.  The calla lilies will be orange. Table Design I'd like to keep the tables elegant but muted, so I think we will end up going with fruitwood (dark brown) chiavari chairs with champagne cushions, and a satin champagne table cloth. We may use gold chiavari chairs instead, though. Table Numbers The table numbers will echo the hanging votives of the centerpieces, and will be made of tall glass cylinders wrapped with vellum and lined with ribbon on the top and bottom. Candy Buffet Haven't totally decided if we are doing one of these (UPDATE: we are definitely doing a candy buffet...now I just have to figure out how to buy and ship 75 lbs. of candy without breaking the bank!), but if we choose to, I want it to be in really bright colors, since most of the rest of the wedding is pretty neutral (except for some of the flowers.) Maybe an orange/pink or orange/yellow palette.  Actually, though, the more I think about it, the more I sort of like the idea of an all-white candy buffet. It could look really elegant, and I love the look of pairing multiple shades of white and ivory together. Hmm, decisions decisions!   Or all green, to go with our color palette??? UPDATE: I think we have officially decided on all green for the candy buffet. I love the variations of the different shades of greens in the photo above and think it would look great in our reception. We'll have a "citron" green satin tablecloth for the candy buffet table, which I think will look fabulous! The Cake Our cake will be from Montilio's, as that is who our hotel contracts out with in their package. We haven't had our tasting yet, so I don't know what flavors we will go with. As far as design goes, it will be fairly simple: white butter cream frosting (I don't think I'd like how fondant tastes and I'm a strict vegetarian so I can't eat it because of the gelatin), champagne ribbon around each tier, and a large pastillage magnolia. The design will be very similar to this (minus the fondant):  The shape of the cake, however, will be 4-tier and will be closer to this:  Linens and Chairs Chairs: We are using walnut chiavari chairs for both the dinner and low cocktail tables. Cushions will be chocolate colored in the dining room and "lime" in the cocktail area.  Cocktail Table Linens: They will be satin in the shade "citron." This is the same satin that will be used under the candy buffet. The color is brand new and the website doesn't have a swatch available yet but it is similar to this:  Dinner Table Linens: They will be benagline, in the color "pecan." I think they will provide such an elegant contrast to the dark walnut chairs and the dark branch centerpieces.  Napkins: Napkins in the dining room will be chocolate-colored satin and will be folded just like this, with the menu cards placed inside:  |
