Colors: mustard, tea rose, pebble gray, aloe green and buttercream

1, 2, 3 and 4

In case you missed any of our features from this week…

This intimate ballroom wedding
A Milwaukee wedding with handmade pinwheel details
An Australian engagement shoot on the beach
This wedding inspired by 1960s Nashville
A Kangaroo Valley vintage wedding
Central Park wedding inspiration from Jen Huang
A modern wedding with a “sophisticated Lego” color palette
This backyard Yorba Linda wedding
A handmade wedding at Terrain

This week in Recycle Your Wedding…

Lot of vintage china
Hand dyed mauve mason jars
Industrial light bulb arrangements
Birch + moss ring bearer pillows and flower girl basket

Related posts:

1. Weekly Wrap Up
2. Weekly Wrap Up + Winners!
3. Weekly Wrap-Up

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Posted under: Weekly Wrap Ups color card, pink, Recycle Your Wedding, summer, wrap-up, yellow

From the bride, Jen: Jeff and I joked that we had a theme for our wedding “stuff we love.” It was fun for us when guests would point out different little details we put in that dealt with aspects of our individual personalities and us as a couple. I discovered our venue on accident and fell in love with the space immediately. At Terrain we could have an intimate wedding with hand crafted and worn vintage touches that Jeff and I love so much.

We served dinner family style because the food there was so great we wanted everyone to be able to try everything. To help keep costs down I did a lot of DIY projects, including the place cards, fun signage, our wedding cake and hand stitched programs. I went to flea markets, yard sales, and second hand shops like a mad woman searching for quirky details for the wedding. From the antique keys, which I have been collecting for years, to the mason jars and beakers (which are a nod to my science nerd background).

From Etsy, we had a cake topper made to look like our kittens we got together. I found my wedding dress and skirt on sale at J.Crew. The dress was originally long and I had a seamstress cut it down and work the long skirt in a way that it could come off for the cake cutting and the rest of the night having a fun laid back party dress. Luckily for us our fantastic photographer Maria DeForrest was there to document all of our hard work. It was truly a magical night for us!

Wedding Vendors (Glen Mills, PA):

Wedding Venue and Caterer: Terrain / Wedding Photographer: Maria DeForrest / Wedding Dress: J. Crew / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: J. Crew / Wedding Flowers: Sherry Ryden / Wedding Invitations: Loveleigh Invitations / Wedding Guitarist: John Kemp

Related posts:

1. Handmade Illinois Wedding
2. Handmade Violet Wedding
3. Handmade Cape Town Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Posted under: DIY Weddings beakers, Glen Mills, gray, J.Crew, Maria deForrest, outdoor weddings, Pennsylvania, pink, purple, Terrain

From the bride, Tess: About the wedding, Joey and I really just wanted it to feel comfortable, intimate, fun, and reflective of the things that we like. We were limited though, by the fact that we had a tiny budget, we live in Chicago but the wedding was in California, we were both graduating (I needed to pass my nursing boards 2 weeks before we left for the wedding) and once we arrived, we only had a few days to set everything up. I had to choose my battles wisely and not stress out about what didn’t come together.

We wanted to spend the bulk of our budget on three things: good food, good music and a good photographer. We had a small wedding with about 90 guests. We didn’t care about traditions, we wanted everything to feel personal. No cake cutting, no lame-o chicken or salmon dish and most importantly no impersonal ceremony. Joey’s parent’s backyard was such a lovely place to get married. We wanted our ceremony to celebrate all of the people who’s relationships were inspirational to us, so we had friends and families wedding/commitment ceremony pictures hanging from the tree behind our homemade altar.

Joey used to live in Spain, and before he moved there he had spent time there in Pamplona for the running of the bulls with his family. So his ties to Spanish culture and his Cuban heritage were part of the reason we chose Allegria Cocina Latina (Long Beach) to cater. They were AMAZING! I couldn’t recommend them more. I also love the communal feel of family style dining, that was a must for me. To top it off, an old family friend of Joey’s is in an incredibly talented Latin band (Cafe Fuego) who played our ceremony, dinner, and then stayed for a salsa session. They now play at Allegria and my in-laws go to see them regularly!

The bar had to keep up with the great food so I used some of my past Chicago bartending experience to come up with a few signature drinks. We had boozy snow cones (basil syrup with blueberry vodka and lemon rosemary simple syrup with hendricks gin). The bartender was churning out lots of mojitos, sangria, and Goose Island’s Matilda (had to represent Chicago).

Dennis Owens and Patrick Miller of Proper Sound were our DJs. Wow. They were so good that I made a “no requests” sign to ward off any Lady Gaga or YMCA requests. Joey and I LOVE soul music, so the guys took all of our suggestions and built up an awesome set from just a few songs.

All of the decorations were either bought at thrift stores, found around the house or handmade with the exception of the colored lanterns. We rented lights from a guy who puts up Christmas lights in the winter and put them up ourselves. (Saved soo much money that way). We had a great deal of help from our families in the days leading up to our wedding. My in-laws put in countless hours of work on the house to get it wedding ready (and it looked great!). Overall, it was a lot of work, but not overwhelming because of our awesome support team.

Wedding Vendors (Yorba Linda, CA):

Wedding Venue: Private residence / Wedding Photographer: Paul von Rieter / Wedding Dress: David’s Bridal / Bride’s Broach: Lulu’s / Bride’s Reception Dress: Vintage / Bridesmaids’ Robes: Plum Pretty Sugar / Bride’s Makeup: Dana Delaney / Wedding Band: Cafe Fuego / DJ: Dennis Owens and Patrick Miller of Proper Sound / Wedding Caterer: Allegria Cocina Latina

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1. Intimate Backyard Wedding
2. Small Michigan Backyard Wedding
3. Backyard Napa Valley Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 9 comments | Posted under: Garden Weddings backyard weddings, California, Long Beach, Paul Von Rieter, Yorba Linda

From the bride, Trish: Our hope was for the wedding to reflect our personal style and to include things in our everyday life. The colors that we chose were the same as bowls and French serving plates that we have in our kitchen. We have lots of friends and family who live far away and who we don’t get to see as often as we’d like so, as much as possible, we wanted them to feel like they were visiting us and seeing our lives when they came to our wedding. Also, we go to a lot of parties and celebrate often so we wanted the guests at our wedding to have fun and feel like we were celebrating them and showing them how grateful we are to have them in our lives.

We both work in the design industry; Michael as a founder of creative agency called Dumb Eyes and I’m a recruiter for Filter, working with web and graphic designers. We met while working at The Stranger, an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle. When Michael proposed, it was with a ring that he made out of paper that had lorem ipsum printed on it, which is used by web designers as placeholder copy in comps. This would be the placeholder ring until I picked one that I liked.

Because we met at a newspaper we really wanted to use paper as a theme. Since we had a pretty limited budget, we wanted to keep the paper décor simple and bold to avoid an overly crafty look. As we sought inspiration, a friend introduced us to a book on paper folding techniques “Creating With Paper” by Pauline Johnson. We also watched the documentary “Between The Folds”. We enlisted the help of artist Matthew Parker, who shared our admiration for geometric paper shapes, to bring these shapes to life. Our ring bearer carried our rings down the aisle on a paper sculpture created by Matthew. Rather than flower petals, our flower girls dropped “petals” of colored tissue paper that Michael and his mother cut into geometric shapes.

Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? Michael and I were really fortunate to have supportive families who didn’t impose their expectations or wishes on our event. In that respect, we could do almost anything we wanted and this became daunting sometimes. We tried to focus on the top things that were important to us and remind ourselves of those things when our attention would start to become divided. This ended up being really helpful when I’d find myself obsessing over some minor detail that wasn’t on my list. If you’re lucky and have wonderful friends like we do, they’ll offer to help you. If you’re organized enough, graciously accept!

Wedding Music:

Flower Girl Processional: “Here She Comes,” The Velvet Underground
Bride’s Processional: “Terrapin,” Syd Barrett
Recessional: “All My Loving,” Almighty Defenders
First Dance: “I’m Sticking To You,” The Velvet Underground
Father/Daughter Dance: “‘Til There Was You,” The Beatles

Wedding Vendors (Seattle, WA):

Wedding Venue: Rainier Chapter House / Wedding Photographer: Jenny Jimenez / Officiant: Wazhma Samizay / Event Design: Matthew Parker Events / Wedding Flowers: Katherine Anderson of Marigold and Mint / Wedding Dress: Neiman Marcus / Wedding Veil: BellaBridalVeils / Wedding Hair: Beehive Salon / Wedding Rings: Greenlake Jewelry Works / DJ: Mark Gockley, DJ Buttontop and Chris Sutton / Wedding Caterer: Long Provincial Restaurant / Wedding Invitations: Designed by groom, Dumb Eyes / Stationery Printer: United Reprographics

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1. Woodsy Port Townsend Wedding
2. DIY Geometric Favor Boxes
3. Sodo Park Barn Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Posted under: Whimsical Weddings geometric, Jenny Jimenez, modern weddings, Seattle, Washington

The marquee level talent at Scratch Weddings is multi-dimensional, highly skilled, and will personalize the soundtrack to your night. Their wedding DJs go through a rigorous 10-step screening process so you can count on an exceptional DJ to keep your dance floor packed all night. They also ensure you have a stress-free experience by offering a 72 hour “Change of Plans” refund policy, so you book with zero risk. It will be the easiest decision you make planning your wedding. With the variety of DJ choices they have to offer, you can be sure to find a wedding DJ that will help you make your day one you and your guests will not soon forget!

Check out their website or Facebook page and book them today, to ensure that you and your guests shake-a-booty to the perfect blend of Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, Justin Timberlake, & Rhianna tunes.

photos by Our Labor of Love from this wedding feature and bottom image by Kate Harrison

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© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Posted under: Sponsored Posts

Wedding Resources:

Photography: Jen Huang / Tzo-Ai’s Dress: Saja / Tzo-Ai’s MUA: Kerry Makeup / Tzo-Ai’s Bouquet/Bout + Large centerpiece: Saipua / “LOVE” Bunting: Figs and Ginger / Sarah’s Dress: Lovely Bridal / Sarah’s MUA: KerryMakeup.com / Sarah’s Engagement Styling: / Brilliant Events / Sarah’s Headband: Jennifer Behr / Sarah’s “The Luckiest” Signage: Paperfinger / Super 8 video: Jon Schienberg

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1. Central Park Elopement
2. Jen Huang Workshop
3. Amaryllis + Manor Wedding Inspiration

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 4 comments | Posted under: Design Inspiration Central Park, Jen Huang, New York, New York City

From the bride, Kate: The most important thing for us was that our wedding was authentic. We didn’t want to select a package from a “wedding factory” we wanted to find a venue that felt like home & decorate it to feel like Us.

We found Melross by searching holiday rentals & were so lucky that they would rent the entire property to us. We sourced every element from the table cloths to the crockery ourselves. We also did all the decorations. We trawled blogs for ideas but mostly took inspiration from illustrations on old 1960s Buttericks sewing patterns.

All our hard work really paid off. It was a big year collecting boxes of glass jars, linens, crockery, papers & ribbons but it really was worth it. I would recommend getting as involved as you can. I think the more of yourself you put in to your wedding the more welcoming the vibe & the greater feeling of inclusion for your guests.

I walked down the aisle to Elvis’ “I Can’t Help (Falling in Love With You)” & carried a daisy bouquet. We wrote our own vows & kept them secret from each other until the day. Our friends sang “One hand, one heart” by Leonard Bernstein at the ceremony which was officiated by our Scottish celebrant. We walked back down the aisle to “Home” by Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros as our guests threw rice.

After the ceremony we all followed the bagpiper down a dusty road to the marquee. We had perfect weather including a bright pink sunset just as we went in for dinner. The night ended with delicious deserts & dancing with the band until the “wee” hours of the morning. Graeme & I watched the sun come up from the house on the property.

My advice would be enjoy yourself! So many brides had told me how stressful the process is but you can make the decision not to get stressed. We had so much fun dreaming, planning & sourcing & it was an incredible day. I just wish we could do it again.

Be sure to watch the video by The Story of Us!

Wedding Vendors (New South Wales, Australia):

Wedding Venue: Melross, Kangaroo Valley / Wedding Photographer: Julian Beattie / Bride’s Dress and Veil: Karen Willis Holmes Couture / Jewelry and Shoes: Vintage / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Alfred Sung and Chloe & Reese / Groom and Groomsmen’s Suits: Jack London / Makeup: Christina Cleary / Hair: Cathy King of Toni & Guy, Mosman / Wedding Flowers: Gwenda Louise at The Country Flower Shop, Bowral / Wedding Caterer and Dessert Bar: PB Catering / Wedding Music: Ulterior Motive / Marquee and Furniture Rentals: YES Events / Bunting: Victorian Station / Officiant: David Courtney / Table Linens: Burlap Tablecloth / Wedding Invitations, Paper Goods, and Videographer: The Story of Us

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1. Backyard Napa Valley Wedding
2. Chic Santa Barbara Wedding
3. Jazz Age + Classic Wedding Ideas

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 7 comments | Posted under: Vintage Weddings Australia, Julian Beattie, Kariz-Matik, NSW, pink, suitcases, The Story of Us, vintage details, vintage wedding dresses, white

There’s nothing quite as dapper as a men in a tux, and today we’re deciphering the essentials of black tie for the guys. Jim’s Formal Wear, the largest rental company in the world, just launched a FREE Tux Builder app for the iPhone and iPad. You will be able to mix and match items to build your own look. Upload a photo of yourself for a true sense of what you will look like on your wedding day. Share the image with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter. It’s a decision involving many, after all :)

You can also browse their huge inventory with over 50 tuxedo styles to choose from. You will also find designer brands like Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren. Once you have selected your look, be sure to visit in person one of their retailers near you to be professionally fitted for the best fit and best look possible. With over 5000 retailers locations, there may be one right around the corner!

Black Tie Anatomy:

Neckwear: black (duh) bow tie or long tie, in silk
Pocket Square: silk or linen white handkerchief
Shirt: white tuxedo shirts must have pleats and French cuffs
Lapels: shawl, peaked or notched for a more modern look
Buttons: Tuxedo jackets generally have just one button and are typically single breasted, colors can be black or midnight blue
Cufflinks: traditional materials such as gold, silver or mother-of-pearl
Trousers: same fabric as jacket, must have single braid along outside seams to match lapels, always black
Shoes: black patent leather or polished black leather shoes
Optional: vest, cummerbund or suspenders

The hot weather alternative is a white dinner jacket instead of black. The only difference is in the jacket color, which can be white (modern, less formal) or ivory, but the shirt is always white regardless of the jacket!

With The Tuxedo Builder, you can also create different looks for all of the men in your bridal party – including your dads. After everyone has chosen their looks, each can go to a retail store near them to try them on – no sweat if your groomsmen are spread across the country. Check out The Tuxedo Builder and start building your look!

Tuxedo images from GQ

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© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Posted under: Sponsored Posts

From the bride, Amber: Our biggest goal while planning our wedding was to have it be both a reflection of us as individuals, and as a couple. We also wanted to blend both old & new, showing our guests that just because we’re non-traditional ourselves, didn’t mean that we wanted to disconnected ties with all traditions. Lastly – we wanted the whole process and day of to be a lot of fun.

Our starting point for a theme was 1950s/1960s Nashville. John and I have visited there a couple of times together and have just fallen in love with the music scene, southern hospitality and the food! Because we both love all things vintage, this naturally played a large role in the decor.

There were a TON of DIY projects involved in this wedding. Here’s a list:
-Hand-painted burlap table runners
-Hand-dyed doily garland
-Groomsmens’ bowties made using vintage fabric
-Bridesmaids’ dress hangers and button rings
-AJ DIY Marquee sign
-Vintage style concert posters, I designed them in Photoshop and had them printed on Vistaprint
-Painted dessert stands
-Banners for around the reception
-45rpm record place cards
-Ruffled streamers
-Here comes the bride banner
-Doily poms at the end of pews
-Flags & lavender sachets for post-ceremony parade

Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? If you’re doing a lot of projects yourself, it is NEVER too early to get started. Get as much done ahead of time as you can! Also – keep yourself as organized as possible. I swear by a wedding binder. It’s a great place to keep all of your contracts, to do lists, inspiration, etc.

Wedding Music:
Bridal Party Processional: Four Seasons Spring Movement, Vivaldi
Bride’s Processional: Sonata in A Major, Op. 65, No. 3, Felix Mendelssohn-Barthody
Recessional: Symphonie No. 2, Op. 13, No. 2, Charles Marie Widor
First Dance: “Picture in a Frame,” Tom Waits
Father/Daughter Dance: “In My Life,” The Beatles
Mother/Son Dance: “You’re the One,” The Black Keys

Wedding Vendors (Easton, PA):

Wedding Ceremony: Trinity Episcopal Church / Wedding Reception: Third Street Alliance / Wedding Photographer: Alison Conklin / Wedding Dress: Vera Wang for David’s Bridal / Wedding Veil: made by bride / Wedding Shoes: Discount Dance / Jewelry: Family heirlooms / Hair: Ashley’s Main Street Styles (Coopersburg, PA) / Groom’s Outfit: Express / Bow Tie: Countess Mara / DJ: Soundscape DJ Entertainment / Wedding Cake and Sweets: Bride’s Family / Wedding Invitations: Kevin Maloney / Cake Topper: Simply Silhouettes

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1. New Year’s Eve Wedding
2. Intimate Nashville Wedding
3. Pastel Nashville Farm Wedding

© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | Posted under: DIY Weddings Alison Conklin, black, Easton, lace, Nashville, Pennsylvania, rockabilly

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© 2008-2012 Ruffled® , 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Posted under: Engagement Sessions Adrian Tuazon, Australia, beach, engagement, engagement sessions, Mornington