Color Your Wedding Wonderful -Part 2

Feature Article
by Tracey Baxter

To complete our series on color combinations we’ll jump around that color wheel a little more to find complimentary colors for your wedding design scheme. If you missed the first part of this article, be sure to check out the Aisle Do Blog post on Thursday October 28, 2010 to catch up!

Choosing Colors

You’ve chosen your favorite color for your wedding and are looking for a great accent color. Complimentary colors come in a few basic regions on the color wheel. This is where I have to stop and say – there is such a thing as working with too many colors.


Unless you are working to specifically create an ubermodern multicolored event or your cultural traditions typically include multiple colors, working with no more than 3 colors, is going to keep your wedding planning and design life simplest! Brides purposefully working with multiple colors will need to focus on balancing each colors intensity.


Balancing Colors
Back in elementary school, you probably played on a see-saw and tried to make it so both you and your partner were suspended evenly. Like this see-saw trick, on the color wheel directly opposite of your primary color choice, you will find its instant balance! Here is a visual:

 This is the simplest form of complimentary color. If you ever wondered why shades of purple and green can go well together, that is why.


Multiple Color Combinations
If you want to work with 3 different colors, you have a couple options. Split complimentary colors are found on the color wheel on either side of your primary choice’s complimentary color. Waaa? OK, the see-saw analogy was helpful so let’s get a visual of this too. Think of a peace sign. Now think of that peace sign over a color wheel.

So you have your primary color choice, its complimentary color and on each side are its split complimentary colors! That was so easy. Split complimentary colors are great fun to use. They are exciting and unexpected combinations that work well together.


Triads create very bold color schemes. A triad, as the name suggests is created by making a triangle on the color wheel. Finally, an obvious one! But just in case, there is a visual aid for this also.

Your Wedding Planning Homework

 

It's time to get inspired and finalize your color schemes. If you are well into your planning process, you can start using these same color combining techniques when choosing home decor items for your registry or to compliment what you already have.









Want to use this article in your e-Zine, blog or website? You may as long as you include this complete statement:



Wedding Solutions Specialist Tracey Baxter publishes the "Aisle Do" bi-weekly e-zine. Get your Free Report: "5 Fun and Fabulous Reception Ideas for a Reluctant DIY Bride” at www.aisledoweddings.com

Color Your Wedding Wonderful -Part 1

Feature Article
By Tracey Baxter

Your wedding color choices should embody your personality. After all, that is the spirit of the event! Even if you want a light and airy feel to your wedding, if you don’t like yellow, you won’t enjoy the décor. So first think of colors that you love for the dominant color for your flowers and decor. If you love rich colors you can still achieve a breezy feeling by choosing lighter tones of your favorite shades.



Once you have narrowed down the main color, you have to decide how you’re going to accent it. You could search the internet for “orange weddings” and see what design boards come up. But if you want to create something a little more unique than everyone else’s color palette on the web, start with a color wheel. Remember from grade school ROY-G-BIV? Now take that concept and put it in a circle and you’ve got a color wheel. So let’s explore some color combining techniques.



Monochromatic:


If you want a monochromatic style, you’ll be using your main color in darker and lighter shades. On a color wheel, the darker shades are toward the outer edge of the circle and the lighter shades move in toward the center. Not getting that visual? Think about the paint department in your local home improvement store and what easily comes to mind is the array of paint swatch cards on the wall. The cards are typically arranged in monochromatic schemes with a dark shade on one end, a light shade on the other end and 2-4 shades in between. Find your favored color on a paint card and voila instant monochromatic scheme right? This is a fairly straightforward idea but you should still take the time to choose your shades wisely. To be sure to create an authentic monochromatic event, continue to check your color palette swatch against the linens, flowers and other décor you select. It’s easier to veer off the monochromatic path than you think. The danger in monochromatic schemes is they can look monotonous so carefully think of the space where your design will be used.






Analogic:


Analog colors neighbor each other on the color wheel. Because of this, they will have an harmonious feeling when used together. In simplest terms: red, orange and yellow are great autumn tones but technically speaking; they will work together because they are neighbors on the color wheel. Analogic color schemes are quite common.


If you want to try creating monochromatic and analogic color schemes, check out our post on 10/12/10 for links to fun and free tools!

The Bride's Shoes

I love this shoe! I would love it more if it had a platform, but that’s a post for another day! I love it because this is an incredibly versatile shoe.

It’s the Flash 647 and it also comes in a chocolaty brown. The white is great because it’s dyeable. I know, yawn – a white satin dyeable shoe, BTDT in 1987 right? But I look at this and see a graduated shade of your favorite color or maybe in blues to complete your set of somethings. With each fold of the satin, the color gets gradually darker.  Or instead perhaps make the heel, back and front most folds one of your wedding colors and the other folds are the accent color. This is the kind of shoe you can really get creative with. A strappy shoe also makes an easy DIY dye project! There are lots of dyeable shoes out there and there is no reason why you have to dye them a solid color.



How else can you customize your shoes? Add crystals, add ribbon, add glitter, sequins, a broach, paint the toe, paint the heel (yes, you can paint shoes!)… jazz up the soles with paint or if they are new add blue crystals to spell “I DO”, your names or initials, your wedding date or other lovely words. If your shoes are not new, you might want to get them resoled (any shoe repair shop can do this) or if they are in good shape but just dirty, clean them up well.


Don’t be the only one with great shoes – let your bridesmaids have some great shoes too! A cheese and chocolate gathering to work on some shoe crafts would be a fun addition to your bridesmaids itinerary!  

Whimsical Wednesday!

What could be better than wedding cake bling?  Chocolate wedding cake bling of course!  Check out this simple wedding cake design that's made simply spectacular with the addition of Bedazzle My Bonbons. 







The twin packs make great favors for your guests, top your wedding attendants gift with a box of 6 or 8, garnish a cocktail with a single bonbon, or use them in your candy or dessert buffet.

There are so many ways you can add some dazzle to your event with these sparkle-luscious goodies!!

Orders can be any mixture of the 24 colors and 6 flavors available.  Yes, you read that right, you can mix colors and flavors- at no extra charge.  That is a pretty sweet deal!  But even sweeter than that, if you provide a swatch, the chocolatiers at Bedazzle My Bonbons  will create the custom special color you need for your event - complimentary! 

Now that's the kind of real service we like at Aisle Do and we look forward to incorporating these into an event soon! 

"The Most Common Mistake Made by Newly Engaged Couples"

Feature Article


"The most common mistake made by newly engaged couples!"

by Tracey Baxter



This major mistake can be costly in many ways. Whether you are dreaming of a very intimate gathering or a bash that rivals New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve, the most important factor to consider is creating your wedding guest list. Most brides and mothers of these brides estimate that they will host a certain number, say 135 guests, and jump right into booking venues and dress shopping. Unfortunately, what they think will be 135 guests actually tallies to something quite different when they finally sit down and make a list of who they really would like to invite. Let’s examine a couple examples of how guessing your guest list total sabotages your wedding planning before you get started.







Some brides justify procrastinating creating an accurate guest list thinking there will be a large number of guests that will be unable to attend. This is not usually the case. Inviting more than 10 guests over what your venue will safely accommodate is not a gamble worth taking. You will be in a world of hurt much too late in the game to change the location and your venue will have no choice but to force you (or your family or wedding planner) to turn guests away at the door because they take fire code violations very seriously. This would be more horrific than not inviting some people to begin with don’t you think?






When you over estimate your guest list and choose a venue scaled for well over your actual needs, you’re still not making the most informed decision. Hosting a small event in a massive space is not the end of the world but you will still have only two options if you don’t care for the idea of your intimate event getting lost in the expanse of the ballroom. And your options could be expensive. You will need to either increase your budget to make the space feel more intimate by adding fabric, tents or other large scale décor or forfeit the deposit so you can find a venue elsewhere that is more appropriately sized for your event.






The guest list, particularly the trimming of the guest list, has more potential for prickly discussions than any other wedding planning category. When brides immediately start searching venues and caterers, they often choose a site that is too small because they underestimated their guest list. This creates unnecessary stress as the guest list has to be reduced. Traditionally, the guest list size is determined by the host and is divided in half for each family to select their share of the guests. But if the reserved venue is much smaller than the guest list needs, there are only two options. You must either trim the guest list or lose your deposit and booking somewhere that safely accommodates all of your invited guests.






Guest list size makes the financial impact. If you have a large reception in mind, say 300 guests, allotting $65 per person will total $19,500. The same reception for 200 guests drops to $13,000 and for 100 guests to just $6500. This example of $65 per person included bar service, cake, décor in addition to a plated meal. If you selected a menu that alone is $65 per person, revisit the numbers above and add to them at least 50% for the addition of décor, bar service and cake. You can easily see the financial significance of accurately figuring out the guest list right from the start.






Communication is key!  Regardless of if you go with the traditional guest list allocation, tally based on who is contributing to the budget, or some other formula, clear and compassionate communication between you, your fiancé, and both of your families is important. Not only are you more likely to create an event that you truly desire, it will also set the standard for a future of good communication between you all.

Your Wedding Planning Homework!

It's time to make that guest list! Don't procrastinate! I like to use a spreadsheet and make columns at the top for the guest first name, last name, their spouse or guest's name, names of children, total guests in the party etc. The auto tally feature also helps so you don't have to count them up when you are done. If you already have a gotten started on your guest list, have you considered a column for how the invitations outer and inner envelops should be written?


If you're closer to the wedding then sending invitations, on your guest list spreadsheet, don't forget a column for how the escort or seating cards should be written and recording the date when you wrote a thank-you card!

Feature Article

“Manage Your Motif So You Don't Make a Mess”


By Tracey Baxter

Managing your motif means prioritizing your spending. Never before has DIY wedding planning been so easy to do. The web has numerous wedding websites, blogs and professional design boards just a click away. With so many inspirations, it’s also easy to get carried away and attempt to pull too many elements into one wedding. I’ve heard it before, “I just want this one last thing to pull it together…” Meanwhile, this bride had to increase her budget to accomplish this. Prioritizing from the beginning, this bride would have kept the budget in check and clearly communicated her wedding style without needing a single thing to pull it together. And really, will that one last thing pull it together? Not likely!


So many elements, where to begin? Bengaline, damask and pin tuck – Oh My! A Candy Buffet or a dessert buffet ...or both – but why? Using a notebook to collect and file ideas is an easy way to remember what you like. But pulling it together should not be an afterthought. It really should be the very next thing you do after determining your total wedding budget and guest list. Does having both a candy buffet and a dessert buffet even make sense? Maybe, if your overall theme is inspired by a sweet shop. Do you need trinket favors and a candy buffet? Again, this depends on the overall style of your wedding. But rather than taking on all the latest trends, let your personal style influence your décor and menu choices. This is your day so begin by examining who you are and what you love.


My advice to brides is regularly examine what you have collected in your notebook. While you are in the early planning stages you should weed your notebook regularly. Some ideas might have been added in the impulse of the moment. And some are truly things you will want to include in your wedding décor. Invest in the areas that make you say “Oh yes, I need this” and minimize or eliminate everything else. Carefully choosing elements you want most and doing them exceptionally well will be more appreciated by your guests. More importantly, you and your fiancé will be happier with the polished end result!

Your Wedding Planning Homework:
Start your wedding planning by figuring out who you are.  How do you really want to celebrate your wedding?  What elements are the most important?  Let the answers to these questions be your guiding light.


Want to use this article in your E-zine, blog or website? You may as long as you include this complete statement:

Wedding Solutions Specialist Tracey Baxter publishes the "Aisle Do" bi-weekly e-zine. Get your Free Report: "5 Fun and Fabulous Reception Ideas for a Reluctant DIY Bride” at www.aisledoweddings.com