I have a minor bone to pick with a lot of the fall inspiration that I see so frequently.  It seems to me that most people translate fall as purely orange, filled with pumpkins & leaves, which to me becomes so very much Halloween inspired.  While one can not deny these things do indeed have a heavy hand in defining what indeed fall is, there is so much more to fall then just that.  Fall is so much more complex & wonderful with so very much more to share with us!

Fall to me is a feeling of warm inviting tones.  Colors that embrace us & surround us with earthy organic goodness.  Rich oranges indeed, but very much so golden yellows, deep soulful plums, strong organic greens & passionate reds.  Fall is like the first time you put on your favorite thick woolen sweater.  It wraps you in warmth, sharing its love and comfort in a transmission of texture & design.  Earthy smells & touch take a strong lead during the fall season, tipping its hand to decor in the form of rich rustic woods, roughed up textures, & starry nights.  We also give our last fair well to nature’s special creatures, embracing them for one last hug.  I invite you to look at fall in a different way… a way that is filled with deep musky smells, textures that entice the skin, & a color palette that is surpassed by no other!

image sources: Save on Crafts/unknown/Vermont Vows/Martha Stewart Weddings/Jason Miller via Newlywish/Sergio Rossi Kalhari Woven Bootie/unknown/Cushions by Jenny DeMarco/unknown/Jennifer Behr’s Silk Double Poppy with Veiling/Bash Please/Green Wedding Shoes/Season with Spice/unknown/unknown/Ruffled DIY/unknown/Design Seeds

Having now had many a conversation with a new bride-to-be regarding how she should tackle her own wedding planning, there is a common theme that kept coming up that I am 1000% most brides battle.  Where do I start?  The biggest concern that she has voiced to me on a number of occasions is essentially she doesn’t even know where to begin to sort out what she wants.  A spot of advice flowed out of my mouth that now comes as natural to me as breathing.  Sometimes you have to figure out what you don’t like, to realize what you do like…& by default, what you do want.

As it turns out, I am my own case & point.  Before I ever got engaged, I was totally Team Brown & Turquoise wedding.  I was so pro that color combo that my darling BFF, when she got married, was heavily influenced to my watery brown ways! (Thankfully in the end, she did not!)  When the clock finally started on our own wedding planning, into the browser went brown & blue weddings.  Turned out, it wasnt me… at all.  This ended up bring an important lesson for me.  Granted I am pretty opinionated to kick things off, but it was a reality check for me to realize some really defined lines of things I really did not like.  This helped me shape & direct my vision in a way I didn’t realize.

Another case & point is that for years I had a major female hard on for what I refer to as ‘The Mad Hatter Cake’  You know the type.  Crazy uneven levels, funky colors and explosions of God knows what going on.  Yeah, those….  When the time came to start looking at cake inspiration, oddly enough, I almost immediately realized how very much I actually did not indeed like them.  When I would force myself to close my eyes, envisioning my own wedding, I knew it was wrong, it didn’t belong, it didn’t fit us.  Once I got off of that idea, I began to look at fundamental things like shape of the cake, size, & so on.  Once I was able to decide that square cakes were not for me, I easily found myself pursing round cakes, from there I started to see the levels of the cakes, and how many we wanted.

After that, our direction become even more clear.  Did we like sugar flowers, are we ok with fondant, do we want pearls, or waves of ruffles.  When you start lining things up and systematically shooting down those that dont belong, your vision will become a lot more clear.

I think that there is this magical illusion that exists to wedding planning.  It needs to be romantic, it and of itself, the planning process, needs to woo you.  It should come naturally, like life fitting into its puzzle and all that other cue movie music BS.  Sorry kiddos, I am here to tell you it simply doesnt work that way.  I can not stress enough here that at the end of the day, a wedding is a party, an event.  Something you strategically design & plan for.  It simply is not this mystical thing that unfolds before your eyes.

Thats really the crux of it.  By sorting out things that I knew I completely did not like, did not fit, I was able to begin to hone in on what indeed was right.  I know it can be overwhelming in a blank canvas sort of way, to jump onto Pinterest, wedding blogs, magazines and so on, suddenly getting inundated.  Its almost like staring at a photo collage, your eye doesn’t quite know where to look first.  Take my advice, and start with what you dont  like, its easier anyway.  Trust me, once you get  a sniff for what you actually think is indeed you, look out world!  Much like a dog that catches a scent, once you know, the world of design is your oyster & suddenly everything falls into place!

{*Stunning Veil on top bride: Fascinating Creations} & {Bottom Bride Photo by Juliet Elizabeth}

Life is a funny fickle thing at times.  There are times when I am pretty convinced that as your  merrily plucking along, it decides that you’ve simply had to easy of a go and its time for a personal earthquake.  I am sure that many of you wonderful readers might have noticed, the offerings on site last week….sucked.  I know they sucked.  I am sorry they sucked.  While something wasnt happening to me directly, (thank you all for your love!) it was something directly effecting my immediate family, and we all know, it consumes everything.  Things are finally settling back down and starting tomorrow, I promise to be back full force and get back to writing more as I had been as well!  Tomorrow’s feature will be a gorgeous Vegas wedding with the adorable couple from the desert ghost town engagement shoot!  Today, allow me share the love to some of my fellow bloggers, and direct you to some wonderful must reads! Xo-Jess

Start things off with a stunning Golf Club Wedding on LoveToast

Want to try something a bit out of the ordinary for your bouquet?  Check out fabric flowers with Glamour & Grace

Perhaps on of my favorite sites for straight up prettyspiration, this is glamorous has a swoon worthy collection of Instagram images to bring out your inner girly

Looking for a midsummer’s night dreamy lake wedding, head to WellWed Hamptons

Personally, I like peering into what the interior design world is doing.  Believe it or not, its a fantastic source of creativity for weddings! Check out Elle Decor‘s interview with Rose Tarlow on California style

Wedding day timeline is super important, there is no getting around that, but at the end of the day, its allowing your event to truly flow as its needs to, regardless of your timeline.  Let Bitchless Bride smack the watches offer your wrists

A lil rain never hurt a good wedding especially when its a backyard stunner like this lovely treat from Style Me Pretty

My favorite post for last, Alice In Weddingland follows her dream dress down the rabbit hole known as trying to source a designer from a Pinterest pin.  This dress….is….. AMAZING!  I want to wear it and run bare foot in a field of wild flowers while a stormy sky forms overhead.  But I digress….Alice has first dibs  ;)

Morning everyone!  I am sad to say that I am feeling a bit under the weather and will have to defer today’s post to tomorrow.  In its place, I am showing the post that I actually had the opportunity to write as a guest contributor spot for the lovely Ashley Nicole Catherine blog that went live on May 14th.  I am actually really glad I have this opportunity to share this post with you guys.  I love color, and the idea of getting wonderful color combinations from just about anywhere!  Hope you enjoy it!

Once you get engaged, pretty quickly there after all the wedding related questions start to flow.   One question that no bride can avoid is…dan dan dah!!  What are your wedding colors?  It’s a constant question no matter what kind of bride you are, much the same way what you do for work always seems to get asked.  Color is a super important key part of a wedding, but I must admit, I have one…small…gripe.  Often times I think brides feel (or maybe it doesn’t occur to them) they can only select one single color and there by create… the monochromatic wedding.  Now there isn’t a thing wrong with that if that is really what you want, but I’d like to open your eyes to pops of color & introduce you to my personal BFF, the wedding palette!

Why choose just one color when so many ultra vivid hues vibe perfectly together in harmony.  Think of it this way, ever go to paint a room in your house and hunt for that perfect color?  You stumble onto a paint supply site and are then confronted with not only your main choice of color, but complimentary accent colors?  A wedding palette is at heart, the same thing.  You can blend together amazing colors, colors you never really considered that worked together, to create a breath taking moment.  Let’s be honest, we are all trying to create heart stopping moments with our wedding days, aren’t we??

So fine, now I have your ear regarding various colors in a wedding, but how you’re asking, how do I create a palette, how do I get inspired?  Oh there are so very many delicious places for inspiration!  Photography of nature, imagery of the latest fashions, mouth watering pictures of food, yes food, and so much more, can supply the simplest & most captivating palettes.  Don’t believe me, watch this J

I’m gonna pump the breaks for one tiny second here, I know I know, I juuuust got you all interested but this is important, promise.  There is one small key element to making color beyond powerful that I also don’t think many brides realize….texture.  Why texture?  Simply put, light reflects, dances & moves in the most interesting of ways depending on what it is hitting.  Various textures can bring a hue to life, or politely tone it down where needed.  The right material, right accents can be so damn powerful when it comes to color.

So lets have a look shall we at some inspiration and the palettes you can pull from them to really bring home the most amazing day.

This photo is the perfect place to slide us into our study of color theory!  Look how incredibly harmonious these pastel colors work together!  Don’t you just feel a sense of calm when looking at this photo!  So how to apply right?  Bridesmaid dresses of soft green, pale peach or even muted light grays.  Toss in accents of those very colors in their shoes, hair accessories, etc, to start to tie it together.  I envision tables with soft light gray linens, mint chargers, vintage lightly worn silverware, peach napkins or bread plates.  For the floral arrangements I see thick full creamy garden roses with young ivy vines & peach colored berries.  I might even go as so far as to actually incorporate real peaches into my table scape which would bring an earthy organic feel.  If you notice, there is a burgundy pop in the tea cup at the top, I can totally see small well placed drops of Burgundy being used around the room for smaller more accent elements of décor, even worked into centerpieces or table numbers!  Are you starting to get the picture?!

 Now lets really get into it shall we.  What about a much stronger color palette?  Here again its really personal taste.  The dresses your bridemaids where, will indeed be a focal point and interpreted as your main color, so choose which color works best for that reason, for you.  The rest of the colors are icing on the cake if you will.  For fun, lets go with Turquoise/Teal BM dresses, sharp purple sashes or accessories, maybe even a splash of metallic silvers.  I love the idea of a lush deep green cake, accented with a mixed bag of icing colors of purple & turquoise then placed in a ruffle effect on the cake layers creating a look similar to the 2 differing chiffons over one another in the dress.  Having fun playing with color yet?!

 But what if you really want to keep to one color?  Ok no worries, Ombre it out!  Go with various items in differing tonal ranges of the color that you’ve fallen for.  Shades of the same color bring their own harmony and compliment the others while still being very interesting!  Word of advice though, be careful as you combine, some shades of a color do not always play nice with others.  Look at them as a group before going full steam ahead.

Remember when I remarked about texture and how texture can really define a color?  Case and point right here.  Yes, in principle the colors are black, white , brown & pop of peach, but come on!  With the sheerness of the blouse that brings a muted black & the absolute smack in the face of light bounce that is the black sequins, how can you not rethink a stunning black & white wedding with a metallic peachy bronze pop!  This is defiantly one look that could easily hold a strong black and white print such as a damask or even yes, animal!  I think I just swooned!

This image could actually take you to a lot of places, but for the purpose of this post & exemplification of my imagination I bring you…. FLORAL!  Oh yes, floral.  I absolutely love floral bridesmaid dresses!  Soft floral, small flower pattern would be absolutely stunning!  Creamy dreamy peonies would play up perfectly to the soft milky whites for bouquets.  How adorable would mix matched muted plates in a variety of soft colors be for dinner?!  Any bride loving the idea of a rainbow wedding, but finding it not quite chic enough for them, should really consider this as an option.

Well I hope I gave you some great things to think about concerning the colors of your wedding!  They are a very important and defining part of your day and an area you should absolutely have the most fun with!  I highly suggest color palettes & using day to day captivating photographs to inspire you to hand craft your dream wedding.  I have included a few more wonderful inspiration photos below to hopefully stir your inner hue diva.  If you have any questions, want further clarification, or suggestions, by all means, please ask!  I’ll be responding to comments here or you can always reach me on Storyboard Wedding!

I am trying & somewhat failing, at keeping myself from making some Orange ya’ joke…  See what I did there?  I got it out of my system without exactly laying some horrid joke on you, yay me.  Small wins, but I digress.  Today’s featured shoot, is a lovely styled inspiration collaboration between some great local vendors who wanted to focus on two very strong colors, working together in harmony.  Tulips, Gerber Daisies, Roses were used in various hues of soft orange, making the ever powerful orange more palatable.  Crowd favorite succulents even made a cameo, but what I truly love is cake!  Such a lovely powerful design!  Rounding things out is an adorable candy bar & two happy laid back lovely ladies.  Color is a wonderful thing & soft oranges are truly amazing.

Vendor Love

Event Planner: Down The Aisle, LLC
Floral Designer: The Harwinton Florist, LLC
Reception Venue: The Farms Country Club
Invitation Designer: Michelle Hickey Design
Dress Designer: Corrine Weddings
Lighting: Social Decor
Bakery: Silver City Cakes
Photography: Candace Jeffery Photography