Brenda's Wedding Blog | Fresh Ideas for Creative Weddings
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wedding blog + planning guide for creative weddings | inspiration for DIY Brides

Brenda's Wedding Blog is your online resource for planning your dream elegant wedding. Helping you find the "wow" in weddings.

Posts in Real Weddings
Purple and Black Damask Wedding Invitations and an Elegant Maryland Wedding with Purple Accents
Purple and Black Damask Wedding Invitations and an Elegant Maryland Wedding with Purple Accents

Today's real wedding of Katie and Josh featured deep shades of purple as a lovely accent within her bridal bouquet, the bridesmaids dresses, reception napkins and cake florals. The cake itself featured a damask design which led me to today's first feature of purple and black wedding invitations that feature the damask pattern. I always find the damask pattern to be super elegant and if you can find paper with the damask pattern in flocking you are sure to have an eye-catching invitation design. Combine that with a satin ribbon and you create a super "wow" effect for your guests to open.

this post contains affiliate links

Damask Wedding Invitation Round-up in purple and black - invitations featuring both printables and embellishments
top left: Lewis Paper Designs, top right: Vivid Lane Designs, middle: Simply Stylish Events, bottom left: Blue Fence Designs, bottom right: Sheila Mari Designs

And, now for today's Real Wedding feature . . .

Isn't the photo below gorgeous? For some reason it reminds me of inside the Titanic.

beautiful bride and groom portrait from Kate's Lens Photography
Wedding Vendors:
photographer : Kate Timbers Photography
caterer : Martin's Caterers
reception venue : Martin's West
Invitations + Paper Goods, Real WeddingsBrenda Bennett Maillemaryland weddings, elegant weddings, wedding invitations, damask, damask invitations, kate's lens photography Comments
An Elegant Pink and Grey Wedding in Upstate New York from Mary Dougherty Photography
A Real Wedding by Mary Dougherty Photography

Carli and Dan crafted a wedding day that was simply an extension of themselves and filled the event with thoughtful touches and a unique timeline that allowed guests to enjoy the evening at their leisure. The color palette of pinks, white and grey was simple and perfectly elegant for their summer wedding.

The bride and her bridesmaids got ready at her parent's home in Auburn, New York while the groom and his groomsmen were in a nearby lake house. Don't you just love the bride's one shoulder Lazarro wedding dress? Cali's bridesmaids wore a variety of styles of Watters dresses in grey that suited their taste and personality.

For the reception, several dinner stations were set up for guests to visit and enjoy at any point in the evening. In between the eating, guests could stop and talk or hit the dance floor for as long as they liked. The table numbers for each guest was placed on bottles of raspberry lemonade which the guests picked up upon arrival and could be enjoyed immediately.

Wedding Vendors:
Photography: Mary Dougherty Photography
Venue: Emerson Park Pavilion
Hair Stylist: Sara Leilani Scollan
Real WeddingsBrenda Bennett Maillenew york weddings, Mary Dougherty Photography, pink, grey, elegant weddings Comments
An Intimate Rustic Barn Wedding at Home In Utah from Pepper Nix Photography
Today's real wedding of Jen and Paul is definitely going down as one of my favorites. Along with the amazing photos from Pepper Nix Photography, this blue and yellow wedding was intimate with under 100 guests and took place at home. The bride's parents home actually, among 160 acres of aspen trees in Utah. The couple married in an Aspen Grove and the reception was held at their neighbor's "barn". Everything was either made or designed by the bride and her mother.

Jen and Paul opted for a first look and here's what the bride wrote: "We did do a first look. Mostly, we were influenced by the timing of the ceremony. Given the time of year, we wanted to have the ceremony during the warmest and least windy part of the day on the ranch which was 4 PM. This did not give us much time to do pictures prior to the reception dinner at 6 PM and we wanted to reserve the time we did have for family photos and make sure that our time together for photos was not rushed. I love having a picture of the way he looked when he saw me in my dress for the 1st time. I have never felt more beautiful."

Wildflowers were used at Jen and Paul's wedding to fit the setting. Aspen logs were carved out and used as planters to fill with an assortment of colorful flowers and shepherds hooks were used to hold flowers that lined the aisle. The tables at the reception were an assortment of wooden ranch tables of different shapes and sizes with burlap runners and vintage bottles of wildflowers scattered about. Table numbers were made of moss and my favorite part was the napkins that were cornflower blue bandanans. The wedding cake was a round, 2 tier cake with white frosting and cornflower blue aspen leaves. The flavor? Lemon poppyseed.

Here's the Wedding Menu for Jen and Paul

Appetizers

wild mushroom crostini with roasted asparagus and trio of swiss cheeses
smoked salmon flatbread
scallop wanton
BBQ beef brisket on twice baked potato skins w/ vinaigrette
grilled chicken sate with peanut dipping sauce
Rosemary & Garlic Rubbed Wolf Creek Ranch Elk Tenderloin on Grilled Baguette
Caramelized Shallot & Zinfandel Reduction Sauce
Wolf Creek Ranch Elk Sausage Phyllo Cups with Apple Pear Chutney & Brandy Cream

Reception Menu: buffet style

Salads:
classic caesar salad with garlic croutons
organic mixed green salad with raspberry vinaigrette, feta cheese and tasted almonds

Entrees:
Southwest spiced, grilled Black Angus rib eye steak with avocado and totato salsa
Herb and Asiago crusted fresh Alaskan Halibut with roasted pepper vinaigrette

Sides:
sweet potato chips
grilled asparagus
risotto

Wedding Vendors:
photographer: Pepper Nix Photography
hair stylist: Ooh La La Studio
caterer: Done To Your Taste Catering
reception venue: Wolf Creek Ranch
dress designer: Wtoo
floral designer: Silver Cricket Floral Atelier
bridal shoes: Nina
bridesmaid dresses: Bill Levkoff {silk chiffon cornflower blue}
cake designer: Carrie's Cakes
wedding planner: Mom and bride {day of coordinator was Eileen from Done to Your Taste Catering and Events}
Real WeddingsBrenda Bennett Mailleutah weddings, pepper nix photography, rustic weddings, barn weddings, intimate weddings, blue, yellow Comments
A Purple Beach Wedding Along the Coast of Half Moon Bay, California

You know a wedding is going to be a good one when today's couple {Nicole and Danny} says the "main goal for our wedding was for everyone to have a great time". Even the wet gray skies and a pesky garden cat couldn't frazzle the bride on her wedding day. This is such a wonderful reminder as we kick off another week. You're marrying your love, with family and friends with you and as they always say, everything else is just the icing on the cake {whether planned or not}. One of the super sweet moments of the wedding was when Nicole surprised Danny with his father's 25th anniversary wedding band during the ring exchange. This was a very special gift as Danny's father had passed away 10 years earlier and his mom gave her blessing to give it to him. And, the purple color for the wedding? It's Nicole's favorite color.

Wedding Vendors:
Photographer: Portrait Design by Shanti
Caterer: Cheat a Little
Floral Designer: Alena's Designs
Wedding Dress: David's Bridal
DJ: Soundwave Mobile
Ceremony Location: Coastside Lutheran Church

Real WeddingsBrenda Bennett Mailleportrait design by shanti, purple weddings, beach weddings, california weddings Comments
A Handcrafted Whimsical Barn Wedding in Rhinebeck, NY from Jessica Oh Photography

Happy Friday. I am officially back from the holidays and ready to get 2014 started with some great wedding inspiration. Are you ready? Today, Jessica Oh Photography is here to share with us the super cute whimsical barn wedding of Anthony and Tammy where there's even photos of the bride sitting in a claw foot bathtub applying her lipstick. While the couple lives in Las Vegas, they opted for a rustic barn wedding in Rhinebeck, NY. Their inspiration was from one of Tammy's favorite childhood memories which was having family dinner at her grandmother's house. The bride and groom wanted to create that same festive dining experience for their guests. There was even a dance party in the dirt and a lantern send off at the end of the night. Many hand crafted elements were included throughout the wedding, including the cutest paper mache piggy bank for their cards complete with top hat and bow tie. This pig has got to be the cutest card holder I have ever seen. There was also felt hearts with hand written notes as escort cards and mini bunting.

Wedding Vendors:
Photography: Jessica Oh Photography
Event planning: Me and Rosanna Pascarella
Day of coordinator : Sarah Weiss
Venue : Rufflands Farm
Catering : Another Fork in the Road
Desserts : Wedding cake, the bride of I Heart Cake Art
All other desserts: The Pastry Garden
Rentals : Rhinebeck Rentals
Florist : April Aguayo of Flowers by April
Acoustic Guitarist Frank Persico
DJ : Damien and Milton
Dress : Vera Wang
Groom Attire : Celini Las Vegas
Stationery : DIY, the bride + groom
Printing: Sky Orange Studio
Makeup : La Tua Bella Beauty Bar
Hair: Khris Wilson

Real WeddingsBrenda Bennett Maillerustic weddings, barn weddings, new york weddings, jessica oh photographyComment