You are Cordially Invited...

A well styled wedding doesn't have to do with just the ceremony and the reception. It begins long before that. Wedding invitations are a great indicator to your guests what kind of wedding you will be having. And not just because you add the note that says "black tie event" or "casual dress."

Your invitations should match the theme of your wedding, and correspond with the colors you have chosen. This also gives guests an idea of what to wear, they won't want to match your wedding party and your decorations exactly, but they also don't want to clash and stand out. If you don't tell them, or your invitation doesn't tell them your color story and theme, then you may have that awkward moment when they coincidentally match perfectly or stand out like a sore thumb.

You have many options for types of invitations, and the smaller your wedding the more creative you can get with invitations, they aren't exactly cheap. But that doesn't mean you need to spend a lot of money on them or that you have to go with plain, ugly, or mainstream invitations just because you are on a budget.

The wording you use on your invitations can also tell a lot to your guests. There are options for casual weddings and more formal weddings, spiritual or secular weddings, and choosing the right wording for you is important. Don't think you need to stick with the traditional and boring wording, get creative and personalize it to you, your future spouse and the overall ambiance of your special day.

Below I have uploaded sample invitations I have designed to show different styles and types of wording possible. But remember, there are still many more options!

Happy Planning!
Contact me if you like the designs you see and want your own personalized and totally one-of-a-kind invitations!

The Support System Cont.

Let's talk more about the bridesmaids and maid of honor. They are a main part of your wedding, after all. You want them to look beautiful because you're pictures are going to be around forever, but they shouldn't upstage you.

Your bridesmaids could go with or without accessories, but always keep in mind that less is more. Don't go overboard because you don't want any attention taken away from you and your groom. But you don't want your bridesmaids to fade into the background or look "naked" either.

So when choosing their accessories, keep yours in mind. Always take their accessories a step down from yours, but keep them similar to yours; if it's not necessary to complete the look, then eliminate it.
You don't want them to be too matchy-matchy to you either though, because you should be standing out from them not blending into them.

Let's not forget about some very important little people in the wedding, the ring bearer and the flower girl or girls. The ring bearer is not necessary for every wedding, many people assign his duties to the best man. But if you do have one, try your best to dress him similarly to the groomsmen, who doesn't love a tiny child in grown-up clothes?

As far as flower girls go, I will never suggest matching her dress to the bride's dress, I personally think it's tacky and weird tradition, also many times it's impossible to do correctly.
So my suggestion is to put her in the same color as the bridesmaids or the groomsmen, and give her a fun, comfortable and child-like dress.

Tutu's are very trendy right now, and most little girls love them! You won't have to fight to get her in the dress, you might just have to fight to get her out of it, plus tutu's can usually grow quite a bit with the girl so you don't have to worry about her growing out of the dress before the wedding.

If a tutu isn't formal enough for your wedding theme, then put her in a more cutesy version of the bridesmaids. Having a floral print on a flower girl's dress can be very adorable!

The Support System

One of the most vital parts to a well styled wedding has to do with the bridal party. Not only do they need to coordinate with each other, but they need to be coordinated to the bride too.

There are a few different ways to style your bridesmaids for a wedding, in a beautiful way.
For more formal weddings, brides like to style each bridesmaid exactly the same. This can be boring though, consider that it might be fun to have an aspect of their outfits slightly different from each other in order to express their personality. Possibly different styles of heels or hairstyles and hair accessories.

For more casual weddings, it has been a trend to have the bridesmaids in mismatched, and more casual outfits. But if there is no common element between them, this can look tacky. My advice for something more casual is to make sure the silhouette, length, and the fabrics of the dresses are the same, maybe with all different necklines. They don't have to all be the same shade of a color or even the same color, infact if they don't all match perfectly it can give dimension to your party, but they have to at least look like they belong together. If you let your bridesmaids go wild and pick whatever they want, make sure the dresses are all at least solid colors, ending up with one or two bridesmaids in a printed dress will look tacky, if you are going to go with prints, they must all be in the same print.

Always consider the type of fabric the brides dress is and the silhouette. A well styled wedding won't have drastically different styles between the bride and her bridesmaids; they should coordinate with each other, and always match the theme of the wedding.

The groomsmen are a little more boring. They usually wear a tux or a suit so you don't have much to worry about as far as styling them. They should always have the same tux or suit on, but what's underneath can vary depending on your wedding theme.

Keep in mind that bow ties are the fanciest choice. But ties or vests are not always necessary.
A fun idea for a more casual and fun wedding is having the boys wear graphic tees that match the wedding colors underneath the jackets.

If your wedding has two colors consider having the men in one and the girls in the other. Sometimes a fun twist is to switch the colors of the maid of honor and the best man.

There are many more possibilities with your bridal party. It is definitely an important aspect to making sure your wedding is well coordinated, but you also have many options.


A beautiful floor length style for a formal winter wedding!

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRlXpU8xr9QNHPn5KPaOIe-ruBzr35fCMml-koeqvxi-7BNmuA1oQ

Mismatched bridesmaids dresses done well:

These are the same color and fabric, similar lengths but different styles. They also match well with the style of the brides dress, flowy and light.

http://boards.weddingbee.com/?bb_attachments=1470068&bbat=186403&inline

These dresses are very whimsical and different. They all are in the same style and similar fabrics but all a little bit different. The printed fabric used is seen in all of the dresses, but in a different location. This works for the right wedding theme!

http://italianweddings.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/screen-shot-2012-04-02-at-11-10-37-pm.png

Another play on mismatched dresses. The same dress in different wedding colors, from silver to slate gray, dark blue-green and purple. Very fun idea.

http://www.societybride.com/assets/ombre-bridesmaids-mismatched-dresses.jpg