Planning the Wedding You Imagine: From Paper to Perfect

Posted byCathy

March 8, 2015

DIY Fun

We had a wedding right in the middle of the Christmas holiday. And both the bride (Julianna) and her mom (me) were also working together on a number of studio deadlines. Whew! Now, we are coming up for air and we are happy to share our tip for making a wedding that looks just the way the bride imagines (even if you’re juggling other work or life projects).

MOOD BOARDS! These little paper planners help everyone involved truly “see” the bride’s vision. They are an excellent way to inspire your florist, caterer and even to give some clarity to your own mom. (In this case, that would be me.)

You can make your mood boards on paper, or happily, now, you can make them on Pinterest. We did both. However, sometimes one has collected so many moods on a Pinterest board that it’s hard for the vendor to decipher. So, cull your vast Pin board to make a “Seriously, This Is The Look I Would Like To Have For My Wedding” board. Print them and keep them with you as you are searching for everything from cake to nuts. Here are some of the mood boards that we created to inspire our vendors … and ourselves.

Julianna was a winter bride, and from the beginning, imagined it all to be white and twinkly, with classic black for her bridesmaids and accents of gray and rose-gold all around. Her wonderful groom is from Denmark, so she wanted to keep the look clean and elegant like she had observed in so much Danish design.

Julianna loved the casual but chic wedding ensemble (above) that the beautiful Olivia Palermo wore for her wedding. (However, we both nixed the wedding shorts since it was a winter wedding, after all.) Like Olivia, Jules wanted to find a full tulle skirt and pair it with a soft cardigan. And she was hoping it could be the perfect length to show off some sparkly shoes. Below is the final ensemble. I am pretty sure she is happy with the result.

For her bridesmaids, she imagined a timeless look that Audrey Hepburn might have worn in 1965 or today. And her little flower girls would wear dresses that Jackie Kennedy might have chosen for her own flower girls.

Below you can see the way these mood boards came to life. There were smiles all around … especially when our flower girls (one from Denmark and one from Texas) walked down the aisle with purpose and cuteness. And, I mean cuteness with a capital C.

We started with the invitation.

Mom: “Jules, what kind of invitation would you like? Engraved? Letterpress?”

Jules: ”Mom, I think I need to design my own, or else it would be rude to my degree.”

Mom: “Oh, well we certainly wouldn’t want you to hurt your degree’s feelings.”

The invitation set the tone. Modern, simple, black and white and gray with a little touch of rose-gold bling. It included a nod to the fun fact that the bride and groom found each other, even though they grew up across the sea. Once the invitation was created, all the other pieces fell into place.

We held the reception in our home, catered by the amazing Eddie Bernal of 34th Street Catering. All was warm, rosy, twinkly and easy. Photos below: For rose-gold sparkle, I gathered every piece of mercury glass I found from near and far. I am still having mercury glass dreams. And, here are some of the flowers by Westbank Flower Market. The floral pieces looked as though our mood boards had burst into full bloom.

We wanted to welcome our new friends and family from Denmark, as well as embrace some Danish traditions. Below is our version of a Danish Gate of Honor. Later in the evening, we were introduced to the curious tradition of cutting off the toes of the groom’s socks. You can read about that here. (P.S. If you are a Danish groom, don’t wear fancy socks!)

And the twinkle continued inside. Thank you to Amanda Pomilla Photography for capturing all the sparkle. Below left clockwise: 1) Petit Fours in rose-gold and ivory were made by The Cake Plate, and were as delicious as they were pretty.  2) The hand-painted Happily-Ever-After Globe was the one thing on my list that I thought I would have to give up due to time, but luckily, Ellen stepped in and painted the base, so I could embellish with abandon. 3) Here are more flowers by Westbank Flower Shop 4) And, the party favors were hot-chocolate-for-two kits, inspired by our pin boards and assembled (and taste tested) during some sisterly pre-wedding craft sessions.

After smiling until our cheeks hurt, the evening ended with the rose-gold sparkle Julianna imagined on those mood boards months ago.

So, if you are about to begin making some wedding plans, start pinning to your Pinterest board … and be sure to share it with your mom. Happy Wedding!

Tillykke (congratulations) and best wishes to Julianna and Anton.

Okay now Jules, back to work! :-)