BRONZE BUDGET BRIDE

I just have to thank Pomela of The Ultimate Affair for sending these photos of the stunning plum perfect wedding that she did for bride S. Radclif. I'm in love with plum purple and I hope you all like these images as much as I do. Enjoy!

 
Should I have black and white wedding to save money? This is a question I asked myself many months ago when I realized that many of the venues I contacted only had white linens available as part of the package with a choice of napkins that always included black, white and Ivory. Originally, I loved the idea of a black and white wedding with red as an accent color and as you will see from the photos it's a color combination that is quite stunning when done right.  Plus with budget friendly Baby's Breath centerpieces on the tables, it's easy to see how easy one can have that stylish, elegant wedding with a mini budget.

Now, would you change your wedding colors to save money?

On an episode of Whose Wedding Is It Anyway I saw a wedding planner tranform a drab reception room simply by hanging chandeliers, similar to these, over each of the guest tables. That is why when I came across these Chandelier Candle Holders for $29 I had to share them with you  because it things like this that will help us to create that platinum wedding look for less.

This is a photo from DesignSpongeOnline.com where these chandeliers were used in the ceiling of a glass tent.




Here's another from DesignsbyHemingway.com used at an outdoor beach reception...



So you can use them anywhere you want to...

People are often surprised that I am using royal blue and dark  green, instead of oranges, baby blue, mint green or beige for our Caribbean theme. Even when I try to explain that it's more a "Night in the Caribbean," not a sunny walk on the beach atmosphere we want to create, I still get an "Oooooooo" with a confused look. So, I searched online for some photos of St. Kitts, where I'm from, as well as photos from Guyana where my Richard was born and I think I've found some that explains our color choices.



I will also like to add that in St. Kitts, perhaps even in Guyana, there are Peacocks roaming about and often times the feathers are used in celebratory costumes!



So using peacock feathers as a major part of the reception decor is keeping true to the Caribbean theme as well.



For those of you who were confused by the direction I've been headed and thinking that maybe I'm going a bit off track in my wedding planning, :), do you understand my vision a bit better now? I hope you do.

I mentioned earlier this week that I've been thinking of changing my wedding colors to save money since our venue fee would include white linen and napkins. Since then, hubby and I have decided on doing a whole new theme using green and blue, which just so happen to be our favorite colors as well.

 Since I am originally from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, we thought it would be so much fun to have a Caribbean fiesta at our reception. We are both so excited about this and the colors are beautiful together.

I am all about being unique, so instead of doing the typical palm tree, sand and sea shells thing, we'll be doing it up with a bit of a modern twist. I'm thinking of incorporating Peacock Feathers into the theme and I am liking the set I've added above that can be found here on Etsy.com for a fairly decent price (thanks Sandra).

The colors of the invites are perfect but that is as far as I've gotten with this new theme. I will, of course, keep posting my budget friendly finds and encourage you all to keep doing the same.

Bye, bye for now...

Right now I am stuck on finding plum wedding photos since as you know that is my new wedding color. This set comes from the wedding of Ansley and Andrew who got married in San Francisco, California. I choose the ones that I found most inspiring but you can see them all here on projewedding.com. I just love how they incorporated the features into their theme.



For the ceremony I like the decor because it's simple and easy for most brides to replicate. The crystal trees you can find instruction here for under $30.





You can find Orchids for your DIY centerpieces here on fiftyflowers.com!



These Calla Lilies are beautiful and 50 stems can be purchased here for $139.99!





Want to do this yourself? You can buy feathers here like the one above and much more to replicate this look.

Even since seeing the plum and robin egg blue together in the Eco-Beautiful Weddings magazine, I've been searching for more images with that color combo but have found very few. The one above came from the Wedding Chicks and I love it! I've put together a few ideas using the plum as the main color and aqua (blue) as the accent color. These are colors I would love to use in my wedding so this post is mainly about what's in my head right now.

For the cake, DIY cupcakes seems perfect, decorated with blue frosting and a purple butterflies that sell at Crafta.com for $2.79 and that price is for a set of 25.



Flowers for this theme can be a bouquet with different shades of purple that are found all year long at fiftyflowers.com! If you try this don't be afraid of adding some green to bulk up your centerpieces since as you can see in the photos below, it won't over-power the purple that easily.

   






I choose an aqua vase for the centerpiece because with the purple it's so visually stunning! The vase you can find here at giantfood.com for $8.99!! Just look at it altogether! The blue vase really makes a statement and if you want to use plum tablecloths to create an even more enchanting look go here to linentablecloth.com to find them starting at $8.95!



The wedding party would most likely be in plum but I see the guys wearing plum ties with a black vest and jacket suit.

I'll update it as I go along but there is no denying that plum and blue make awesome wedding, color theme!!


photocredit: utahlovescupcakes.com, projectwedding.com, bellacupcakes.com, weddingchicks.com

Many of the dresses featured in the themes above are from clairepettibone.com/bridal whose dresses sell for $2500 and more. However, you can always find a look for less that works for you and your budget.

These beautiful birch branches, painted silver, have always reminded me of Winter. Perhaps it's the glitter that sparkles like snow when the sunlight catches it or it could be the resemblance to the ornaments we hang from our Christmas tree. I just know I want to get some this year to create a centerpiece this holiday season that I know will last well into the new year. They great news for you as a bride-to-be is that they are affordable and make beautiful centerpieces that would look perfect at a Winter wedding., just look at the images below.

 





For the price of just $6.99 you get 4 branches which makes one centerpiece or add a few branches to your floral arrangements to give a sparkle effect!

Find them HERE on save-on-crafts.com and have fun experimenting with the different ways you can use them at your Winter wedding.


photo credit: weddify.com