Today we continue with day 4 of the April Wedding Vendor Challenge. This month the vendor teams worked with the color palette of bubblegum pink, mint green and robin's egg blue to create a bridal shower tablescape with a dessert display and like the previous challenges, there will be at least one DIY provided.?

Sarah of Events by Sarah Elizabeth wrote to me that she'd been wanting to do a styled shoot for quite some time but felt it was intimidating so she had put it off. She says that my call-out for vendor teams "was definitely a kick in the pants for me and got me moving and pulling together a team of great vendors". And, as I'm sure you'll see by the following tablescape, Sarah is no longer intimidated :)?

Once Sarah heard of the theme for this month, Sarah knew she wanted to hold the shoot at Terrain which is a boutique garden center in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I love what Sarah writes when she talks about shopping for items . . . "Whenever I need to pick up props for an event I head right to Home Goods! Most trips to Home Goods end in success, but if they don’t there is always Target! I love shopping with a theme because I’m always amazed at the unique things I can find. I also find that when I’m shopping with a theme I see things that I may have thought I originally couldn’t use, but I start thinking more creatively and come up with some of my best ideas!" This advice works for any time of event you are planning - and I have to say that I LOVE shopping at Home Goods and Target too for unique items.

I think these "Love Blossoms" tags are super pretty {which are also used later as dessert tags} and here's a little early surprise for you . . . they're one of the DIY Downloads today :)

DIY DOWNLOAD FREEBIE: Today I have 2 DIYs for you. First up, Brad with 23rd & 5th has provided the "Love Blossoms" tags for your to download. Simply print out the Love Blossoms Tags from Scribd, trim and attach around your flower blossom, drink stirrers, straws or lollipop sticks and you're all set. {the download link at Scribd is directly underneath the item's title in the right column} And, up second, Sarah has provided a step by step tutorial for creating her Thank You tags for the potted plant favors.

Wedding Vendors:
Coordinator and Stylist: Events by Sarah Elizabeth
Photographer: Jim Heine Photography
Florist: Peicha Chang with Falls Flowers
Baker: Emily Malloy with Le Fouet
Paper Goods: Brad Wason with 23rd & 5th
Venue: Terrain

Happy Sunday. I'm continuing today with another fun photo shoot from the April Wedding Vendor Challenge. This month the color palette was bubblegum pink, mint green and robin's egg blue. Instead of an intimate table for 2 like the previous two challenges, I asked vendors to create a bridal shower tablescape with a dessert display and just like the other challenges, there will be at least one DIY provided.

It's a fun bridal shower picnic luncheon in the park with a hand-crafted country chic theme. This shoot features the talents of Kim from Something Spectacular Custom Floral & Event Design and Something Floral, Kate from Kate Elliott Photography, and yours truly {also of Wedding Girl on etsy} for the invitation and paper goods.

Kim explains the design of this tablescape . . . The casual, homespun, hand-crafted look was achieved by first covering the picnic table with a soft mint green, floral patterned, quilting fabric but leaving the aged wood of the benches exposed. The alternating blue and white and solid hot pink crocheted placemats added another handmade element to the look. Solid white, non-patterned plates, basic stemware, and paper napkins were used for a casual, picnic feel. Robin’s egg blue cupcake ramekins containing pink frosted and sprinkled cupcakes were placed on each plate and added a nice splash of blue and pink to each place setting.

This photo shoot was held at Warren Community Center Park, which was chosen as a location for its unique, 4-person picnic tables and its visually interesting, curvy and twisting mature trees. The tall but compact, garden-style centerpiece was created in a vintage-style, ivory, opaque, ceramic urn. It contained hot pink, Ravel roses, light and medium pink lisianthus, soft blue hydrangea, light green carnations, and blue/green seeded eucalyptus.

Kim writes the guestbook table was covered in the same mint-green quilting fabric as the picnic table. A mint green and white-striped journal containing a “shabby chic” style rose on the cover was used as a cute and casual guestbook, and it sat atop a crocheted placemat. {this guest book could either be used to have each guest "sign-in" and leave their mailing address, perfect for thank you writing time, or guests could leave words of advice to the bride-to-be. And, awaiting each guest at the guestbook table was a favor of hot pink miniature tin pails accented with coordinating ribbon and filled to the brim with pastel pink, blue, and white miniature Cadbury eggs.

For both the invitation and menu I included textural elements with the crocheted blue ribbon on each and on the invitation I even included 2 rows of garland with a button flower strung onto the pink and white twine. I love how adding something as simple as a ribbon can add so much visual interest to an invitation.

DIY DOWNLOAD FREEBIE: I'm offering you the Springtime Cupcake Toppers and/or Gift Tags as a download and they're even perfect for Easter too. Simply print out the Springtime Cupcake Toppers and/or Gift Tags template from Scribd, cut out with a punch and you're good to go. {the download link at Scribd is directly underneath the item's title in the right column} PS: I will have the paper goods shown above in my etsy shop later this week - but feel free to reach out to me if you might be interested in them.

Wedding Vendors:
Planners/Designers: Brenda's Wedding Blog along with Kim of Something Spectacular Custom Floral & Event Design in Warren, MI
Florist: Kim of Something Floral, Center Line, MI
Photographer: Kate of Kate Elliott Photography, Grand Blanc, MI
Invitation and Paper Goods: Brenda of Wedding Girl
Cupcakes: Meijer, Warren, MI
Photo Shoot Location: Warren Community Center Park, Warren, MI
Cupcake Ramekins and Crocheted Placemats: Christmas Tree Shops

I came across this photo gallery on InStyle Weddings that showcases a wedding cake for each season and wanted to share them with you. My favorite is the fall wedding cake, which ones is yours?
Fall Cake by Jim Smeal of Wedding Cakes by Jim Smeal
Winter Cake by Brenda and Mary Maher of Cake Girls
Spring Cake by Kaye Hartman of Petal Crafts
Summer Cake by Elisa Strauss of Confetti Cakes