If there is one thing I adore about Cali its the ability to dine Al Fresco in a gorgeous setting that samples that of the Spanish mission style ambiance.  Whats more is how perfectly the creamy stucco walls and terracotta like floors lend themselves to a really rich, deep color palette as well!  This styled session highlights so many wonderful ways to dress a table in elegance & refinement all the while paying proper homage to lush organic surroundings.   A deep berry upper layer table cloth sets the tone, while flashes of gold are present in both the under layer table cloth as well as fat bows around the chiavari chairs.  The gold serves as a much need eye pop & shimmer to an otherwise dark affair.  Beautiful gnarled wood brings a real earthy element to the table, while dressed with sliced citrus fruits, artichokes & pomegranates, creating an open cornucopia touch.  Unique blooms transport the table into a more ethereal feel while little details like single blooms & succulents are playfully entrapped in over turned glassware.  The overall effect is a wonderfully organic, rich feeling table set up that steps well away from cookie cutter & transports its guest into a twilight night under the stars!

Vendor Love

Event Venue: Aldea at Tlaquepaque, Phoenix | Event Designer: Trisha Lucy {Petals & Lucy} | Floral Designer: Community Florist | Photographer: Jill Lauren Photography

I have a real thing for table settings, when done right, setting a table properly and creatively as can be is practically art in and of itself.  When guest are presented with the {reception} room for the first time, rest assured that after the awe of the whole picture subsides, the very next thing they are looking at are your tables!  One of my most favorite boards that I curate on Pinterest focuses expressly on the art of the table setting which I have dubbed, Elegance of Table Setting.  Designing ones tables for an event is a true art but with a bit of help and design breakdown, you’ll soon enough be seeing the saucers through the forest of plates, if you know what I mean!

There has been the most chic, lovely & wondrous backyard BBQ place setting floating around for a bit now and I am super eager to discuss it on WIWW!  This gorgeous dream of a setup has color harmony out the wazoo, gentle eye breaks in the form of texture & pattern, along with a beautifully organic touch!  The full post can be found on OnceWed and as always I highly encourage you to head over to check it out!  Let’s see this light beauty shall we!?

 *Photograph by Robert Sukrachand

Color Theory:  The first element to the entire setup that really resonates is the color harmony.  Complimentary colors in the form of green & peach are the true stars here.  The varying tones of each color beautifully jive with its neighbor as each is slighty lighter {or darker} then the next.  The wonderful thing about the color scheme is that some elements, such as the rosemary sprig & some of the leaves in the planter box, contain a tonal range all within themselves!  This vibrant collection of complimentary colors delivers a truly fresh & nirvana like state to any table set up.  While the greens & peaches are spectacular, the mix of neutrals within the rest of the table serve to keep our lofty shades grounded!  In just about any color match up, neutral colors are fair game.  The rule of thumb here is simply to make sure that your tonal ranges match up.  You’ll want the right kind of whites, the right deepness of blacks, and the right earthiness of your browns.  Here, charcoal to true blacks are used, mixed with what I will call lived in whites.  Tying it all together is the light beige table cloth which is the perfect balance between the deep blacks & light whites.  Color harmony takes a lot of work, but when you get it right, there is nothing more glorious!

Pattern Party: Personally I am a huge proponent of patterns.  In most cases, if I can throw in at least one pattern, I’m a happy girl.  By design, patterns keep the eye moving, beautiful noise if you will, therefore the key is always pattern selection.  Pick competing patterns and your eyes will cry, pick just the right combos and the sky’s will sing!  The beauty to the pattern selection here is the use of two striking patterns that are not loud attention seekers.  When working with multiple patterns, the key is to select patterns that will play nice with one another.  Mixing of geometric shapes are typically a nice way to go, just make sure there is a common thread to tie them together. The pairing of these two work so well as the simple windowpane check squares in the base layer echo that of the diamond shape that is found in between the circles within the top napkin.  I bet when you first looked at the set up you didn’t even realize how very complimentary the two patterns were!  The hidden gem to the layering however is the choice of the solid black menu which provides the eye break within the pattern world and beautifully ties them all together.  Even the choice of font for the menu eloquently picks up on the thinness of the check print as does the name card which echos that of the curvier nature of the circle napkin.  Speaking of ties, the small simple black & white striped ribbon tying our napkin package together, works beautifully to counter balance those geometric shapes within the napkins.  Lastly the soft gentle textures & patterns in the floral, their leaves and even the table cloth all serve as the perfect compliment to the over all picture!

Earthy Goodness:  Perhaps my favorite piece to this puzzle is the wonderfully organic feel to the entire set up.  Starting with the simple yet oh so powerful touch of the Rosemary sprig as the perfect finishing element to the choice of the centerpiece which emulates that of how one might envision flowers to appear in a natural proper English garden.  Even the choice of using a low planter box {dark stained to beautifully harmonize with the color scheme!} brings you back to a true backyard garden feel, touching back to mother earth.  I am not sure if it is or not, but the tablecloth seems as if it might be made of  hemp, at the very least linen, either way, wonderful organic fibers that further that yummy earthy feel.

Light, bright and fresh can be wonderfully achieved with just the right elements.  Gorgeous florals, select patterns, organic or metallic, you name it, the table setting world is your oyster!  Remember just because you want a lighter {or darker} setup doesn’t mean that you can not have darker elements.  Not to get all philosophical on you, but for what is a highlight without shadow detail, and the reverse is equally as true!  Be sure to check out the full backyard BBQ wedding at OnceWed HERE.  I’d love to hear what your favorite elements in today’s WIWW are!  Are you a fan of patterns like me, or is it the organic earthy elements that touched you?  Have something you’d love to have design explained, send it in, you never know, it just might be the next WIWW!

Vendor Love

Photography by Robert Sukrachand // Event Design + Florals + Coordination by The Nouveau Romantics // Catering by14 Acre Farm // Vintage Rentals by Magpie Vintage Rentals // Wedding Dress by Leanne Marshall // Groom’s Suit byBrooklyn Tailors //  Invitations by Katherine Ahn

There’s a certain real wedding that we featured recently on SBW which garnered all sorts of lovely response for not only its wonderfully stylish couple, but the tremendous design done in decor & flora.  A focal point to the wedding was the bride’s bouquet which was utterly D.IV.I.N.E!!  I knew this gorgeous arrangement of blooms would make for the perfect, Why It Works Wednesday!

Firstly some house keeping, to view the full post {trust me if you have not seen it, you simply must!!} Click Here.  The vibe for the wedding as a whole was wonderfully rustic industrial with the Georgia peach as the inspiration both in textures & color palette.  The result are expertly mix matched tables with varying centerpieces ranging from vintage wood planter boxes along with hand colored milk bottles to suspended floral plank centerpieces.  Wedding decor maven  Juli Vaughn Designs crafted not only the design of the decor but the handled the blooms as well.  While the suspended centerpieces are most certainly a WIWW feature all their own, I wanted to focus on our bride’s bouquet which has stuck with me ever since putting the feature together!  It might seem like a surprise, but you would be shocked to know how many bouquets are nothing too special, if not even poorly constructed… therefore when you find a good one, you best hold onto it like a firefly at night!

 *Photograph by Jason Hales Photography

Know your blooms: Cafe Au Laut Dahlias | Coral Charm Peonies | Campanella and Juliet Garden Roses | Amsterdam Roses |Gloriosa Lilies | Billy Balls | Salmon and Orange Ranunculus | Sage

Elements at play: Tonal range {the colors}, bloom size/placing & finishing elements

“Lauren wanted a bouquet that was rustic, romantic, and sophisticated. We kept it romantic by using fluffier, soft blooms, sophisticated because of the shape, and rustic with the feathers and herbs.”

Tonal Range

The inspiration for the wedding as a whole was the good ol’Georgia peach.  Peaches bring to mind soft soft yellows, pale pinks, deeper oranges infused with a pink glow, pure orange and of course the greenery of the leaves when it grows.   Juli Vaughn expertly hand picked each bloom for its specific hue, insuring each would reflect some aspect of the naturally ombréd peaches coloring.  Blossoms were placed together to create a synergy & harmony that would echo the unique skin of our fuzzy tasty friend.  The overall effect is a not just a well designed piece but an arrangement that has a peaceful yet highly sophisticated look.

Blooms Size & Placement 

Did you know that romantic is an adjective that has action behind it?  When carving out the overall feel for the day, romantic was one of the buzzwords the team used to pull from for inspiration.  In effort to inject a romantic vibe into the bouquet, the team opted for fluffier more cloud like soft blooms.  These pillowy petals give off an incredible lusciousness, a feeling of a flush face, breath of life, even a touch of catching your breath as you view them.  All feelings a person feels when they spy the one they love for the first time, the emotions of romance blooming right before your eyes!  Ok ok, I am getting carried away with poetic license here but you get my point.  Big, soft, luscious blooms are the perfect conductor for a romantic vibe, they emote a genuine sense of love!  Just as important as the size of the blooms, each was skillful placed next to one another highlighting its neighbor in special ways.  Whether it was to build upon the color harmony, big up its friend {small blooms next to oversized}, even portray a textural fuzziness, know that each bloom had its place and with good reason.  The result is a tightly {thought not too tightly} constructed bouquet that is sizable in the choice of blooms used, not in an over use of simply too many flowers.  Each is strategic and important!

Finishing Elements

How a bouquet is wrapped is often gawked after, sometimes more so then the blooms, when done with a creative hand.  Keeping with the rustic romantic feel, along with sophisticated design, the team leaned on burlap to be the perfect underlay to the handle.  Choosing a thick finished {worth noting as often burlap is not finished, thus immediately upping the sophistication level!} burlap ribbon, the underlying layer easily gives off that rustic flavor.  Building upon the burlap, a layer of silk ribbons was added in a deeper more inspired hue then the bouquet, insuring it would stand out for all the right reasons.  Silk by nature is a delicate & highly revered fabric often associated with designer threads, therefore the choice of silk is equally working to bring the savoir faire to the design.  The handle is finished with the crème de la crème in refinement, a pheasant feather ribbon accent.  I looooove that Juli brought in the pheasant feather here with its rich browny-gray tone & spotted pattern.  Feathers are the ultimate in class and when wielded for good, triumphs everything!  The choice of burlap, silk ribbon & pheasant feathers beautifully echos the wedding buzzwords of rustic, romantic, and sophisticated.  Knowing how to wrap your bouquet is equally as important as the blooms used to make it!

This gorgeous bouquet has everything going right for it!   Wonderfully hand selected colors & full soft blooms as well as the details used to wrap the handle hearken attention to the full picture.  Flowers are such a powerful tool on your wedding day, something that can easily transport an entire room, or bride, to a whole new world, if just for a day.  Are you as equally enamored by this peach inspired bouquet as I am?  What are some of your favorite elements, the blooms, the colors, maybe the pheasant feathers?!  I’d love to know!  As always, if there is ever something that you would love to know Why It Works, please send it my way, you never know, I just may feature it!

To view the original post: Georgia Peach Inspired Hues In This Rustic Industrial Wedding With Farmhouse Chic Sophistication, CLICK HERE

Vendor Love

Ceremony Venue: St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church  | Reception Venue: Summerour Studio | Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier | Bridesmaid Dresses: Bari Jay  | Shoes: Manolo Blahnik &Prada  | Hair Stylist: The Hair Artist  | Makeup Artist: Kristen Phelps  | Groom’s Suit: Hugo Boss | Invitation Designer: Love vs Design  | Music: AMP’D Atlanta  | Rentals: Four Inch Fold &Bold American  | Florist: Juli Vaughn Designs | Caterer: Bold American  | Baker: Lush Cakery | Wedding/Event Planner: Juli Vaughn Designs | Photographer: Jason Hales Photography

There is so much to love about this beautifully glamorous wedding which ever so harmoniously blends a few different themes & design aspects into one!  Lauren Coalson Hardy & Chris Hardy are two very stylish, design loving folks, so it was only natural that a wedding with high design elements would do.  Enter the design whiz Juli Vaughn who ever so brilliantly blended together a rustic industrial feel with a soft feminine peach inspired color palette & various mixed elements which kept each table fresh & inspired.  From the unconventional florals to the completely adorable animal escort cards, its hard to escape an overall organic feel which only adds to this beautiful farmhouse fete.  Atlanta wedding photographer Jason Hales Photography, perfectly captured each and every detail as well as all the lovely little moments between Lauren & Chris, making this sweet southern stunner one of my top all time favorites!

What Storyboard Likes…

Peach As A Palette- The idea of working with an actual peach as a palette is superb!  There are some many gorgeous tones one can sample from peach skin, not to mention the earthy elements around where a peach grows.  Soft green leaves, yellow in bumble bees, & cream white blossoms.  When you think about it, its the perfect fruit for inspiration, giving off a strong feminine vibe while still firmly planted with a masculine touch.  I hope to see more couples & designers sampling from the beautiful palettes that mother nature comes stock with, just begging to be put to work!

The Prada In The Room- Let’s talk about the 800lb Prada in the room shall we!?  Seriously Lauren, I dont think I could love these shoes more & applaud you even harder for making them your wedding day kicks!  These lil beauties are so much fun, have so much spunk, & are all the while so incredibly classy, a complete home run for me!  While the Prada’s certainly steal center stage, Lauren &  Chris’s complete wedding day looks are perfection for me.  Each, from the trim cut Hugo Boss suit, to the flirty throw back Monique Lhuillier, our bride & groom look like that of modern perfection with the sweetest nod to old school.

Floral Lust- Juli Vaughn girl, you KILLED it in the floral department!!  Seriously I have major floral envy with pretty much every little aspect of this day.  Lauren’s absolutely breathtaking bouquet is just perfection.  Its equal parts whimsy, sophistication, & glam with the perfect balance of femininity!  However, lets get real here, the real show piece are the suspended swing centerpieces, AMAZING!!  I love the idea of really playing with an industrial space in this manner, not to mention giving guests another focal point level to enjoy.  When in a room with beautifully high or even vaulted ceilings, most certainly entertain taking your centerpieces off from the tables, lowering them from the sky and making them art in themselves!

Novella of the Bride…

Chris is a designer, and I am a marketing coordinator in the hospitality industry. We live in Atlanta with our dog/child Chloe. Chris & I originally met in when I was a sophomore in high school when I attended a homecoming for my boyfriend at the time’s school, and Chris, who was one of his best friends, was in our group. We shared a circle of friends, and I always had the biggest crush on him. During a college break, we randomly ran into one another and my heart jumped with excitement  but I was weary of getting involved since we lived in different states. After finishing school and moving back to Atlanta, I was determined to try to track him down. I asked every person I knew if they had his contact information since he wasn’t on Facebook. He played hard to get back at me for not going on a date with him over that college break two years prior. We spent the first year of our relationship dating long distance. Chris was getting his Masters in Design in Honk Kong. It was a big challenge, but it made us appreciate one another and made our relationship so strong. I felt like if we could make it through a year of living across the world from one another after falling in love, we could make it through anything. We have now been together 5 awesome years.

The feel we were going for was romantic, Southern-charm with a farmhouse chic theme. I love antiquing and Chris’s taste is very modern, so pairing the industrial design of the venue with the gathered, eclectic objects we used for table decor was a perfect marriage of our two styles.  We chose Summerour Studios because it was not only gorgeous but it reflected our taste and was located in our West Midtown neighborhood we love so much. The building is an old, refurbished leather shoe string factory that has the most gorgeous exterior courtyard, amazing wooden floors and wall –to-wall windows.

We are both Georgia peaches, so it made perfect sense to work from a peach color palette, mixed shades of peach mixed with jade, wheat and hints of gold & yellow. One of the coolest aspects, was the swinging benches hung from the ceiling above the tables that were decorated with coral Charm Peonies, Juliet Garden Roses, Campanella Garden Roses, Salmon Ranunculus, Billy Buttons , Sage Foliage, Wheat & even birds and bees to hint at the love in the air. Our event designer created a canopy above the dance floor using ombre peach ribbon and cafe lights. It was a dream come true to feel like we were dancing under a magical carousel.

We are beyond lucky to have such amazingly supportive family and friends. We wouldn’t have been able to go on our amazing honeymoon to Mexico without them giving us the gift of travel via our Traveler’s Joy registry. One of my closets friends did all of our makeup and a long time family friend styled our hair. I felt the most helpful thing of all was the love and support they gave us through out the  wedding planning process (often playing therapist). Not to be cheesy, but in the end, we wouldn’t be the people we are today without the help they give us everyday.

Favorite Moments: ‘That is a tough one! I think we both agree that the ceremony was the most special moment of the day. We incorporated the celtic tradtion of ‘tying the knot,’ which was very special. Aside from the ceremony , the toasts from our loved ones were so awesome, especially the speech given by my little sister who was my maid of honor. She caught me by surprise by brining up my completely embarrassing childhood imaginary clown friend. Our photographer, Jason, captured the sequence of the speech perfectly-from the look of shock on my face once I realized what she was saying to me trying to grab the microphone from her to laughing until I was in tears. ”

Vendor Love

Ceremony Venue: St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church  | Reception Venue: Summerour Studio  | Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier | Bridesmaid Dresses: Bari Jay  | Shoes: Manolo Blahnik & Prada  | Hair Stylist: The Hair Artist  | Makeup Artist: Kristen Phelps  | Groom’s Suit: Hugo Boss  | Invitation Designer: Love vs Design  | Music: AMP’D Atlanta  | Rentals: Four Inch Fold & Bold American  | Florist: Juli Vaughn Designs | Caterer: Bold American  | Baker: Lush Cakery  | Wedding/Event Planner: Juli Vaughn Designs | Photographer: Jason Hales Photography

A Note From Sarah Crowder Photography Regarding The Premise For The Shoot:

“I fell in love with Tolkien and my husband at the same time.  We, along with thousands of Tolkien fans, are so excited for Peter Jackson’s movie {The Hobbit}.  One of the first images that was dissected by fans around the world was the image of Bilbo Baggins reading the contract from the dwarves.  This image was the foundation of the styled shoot, but instead of a concerned hobbit, a loving groom would be reading a love letter from his bride-to-be.  I chose Cedar Lake Cellars for the venue because they have a barn loft area that has so much character, as close to a hobbit hole I could think of. The bar area was decorated with moss, flowers, and books. A signature cocktail, Ent Draught, was made with sweet tea, vodka infused with herbs, and garnished with blueberries.  Of course, hobbits love their ale, and it was amply provided by the Cedar Lake staff! Earthy breads and a cheese and meat platter were artistically plated by Chef Lee Gustin.  Our invitations for our couple were made by a wood press and cut in a circle to echo the hobbit hole doors. Our bride wore a green necklace to give homage to the emerald necklace that Bilbo gave to the Elven King.  She wore beautiful Kate Spade shoes and a cuff bracelet from Michelle Phan’s Ever Eden jewelry line from Glamhouse.  Fleur de Lis matched a perfect dress for our soft and natural theme.  Our groom was in brown pants and an orange vest that mimicked the colors we see Bilbo wearing in the Hobbit.”

What Storyboard Likes…

Vegetation Heavy- When sampling from something like one of Tolkien’s books, you better believe a world filled of lush thick greens & natural vegetation will surround you!  In just about every place possible, spongy moss beds, dangling greens, & puffy greens are used.  The crown of green earthy goodness that our bride & flower girls wear creates a circle of life while smaller details on items like the hanger for the dress are covered in mossy goodness as well.  I love the abundance of life to the overall look & feel!

Bold Autumn Colors- While these colors could indeed work in other times of the year, their rich saturated tones do lend themselves to a natural autumn vibe.  Bold yellow sunflowers, red & blue blooms on the cake, & a rainbow of fall feel hues dress the food decor.  Its hard not to feel like you do when your taking a nice autumn walk with a loved one as the sun is slowly going down.

Taking The Right Cues- Working  with movies, books, TV shows, etc for wedding/engagement inspiration can seem like an arduous task at first.  These worlds are created by their level of detail & specificness to the storyline that you might initially feel the only way it will make sense is to match it exactly, & that really isnt the wedding your after.  The secret is being able to pick up the overall vibe, the feel, & reproduce that into a palettable wedding form.  Know the right elements to sample directly from, and others where your simply noding to.  Realize key elements that will help get your vision across, but always remember that at the end of the day, your creating a wedding, not a weekend theme park.  The key in using worlds created by another person as a source of inspiration is interpreting it wedding style!

Vendor Love

Venue: Cedar Lake Cellars
Hair Stylist: Luminesce Salon Spa
Dress Boutique: Fleur De Lis Bridal Boutique, The Bridal Shoppe
Makeup Artist: Glow2Go
Florist: Troy Flower and Gift Shop
Invitation Designer: Papercuts Paperie
Event Designer: All Dressed in White
Photographer: Sarah Crowder Photography