I’ve recently been asked by a few brides-to-be if I have any favorite on-line sources for wedding ideas and inspiration. I’m sure most everyone knows about sites like Martha Stewart Weddings or The Knot, but I have some other places you may not know about, that are full of wedding eye-candy and keep me planning weddings in my head–even when I don’t know of anyone who is getting married.
There are so many beautiful options out there for every element of a wedding, that it can be overwhelming to make any decisions, at all. That’s why I think it is really helpful to narrow down a color-scheme/theme toward the very beginning of the process. There are a few decisions that should maybe come first like date and venue (or at least city) that might help you determine the feel you are going for. You likely wouldn’t plan a Winter Wonderland wedding in July, or an orchard picnic wedding in January. But defining the feeling you want in your wedding can help inform every other decision.
You can search inspiration boards by color you are considering. She’s got about every color combo you can imagine, and many you probably wouldn’t have imagined, but they all look nice, when put together well. It can really help you see how your colors will look together and decide what is most appealing to you.
When thinking about how to incorporate a theme, you can find some amazing inspiration on the blog of wedding planner, Heather Balliet of Amorology. She has put together some of my favorite wedding concepts.
Make sure and view the “Raindrops on Roses” themed wedding! It comes complete with girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, crisp apple strudel, and brown paper packages tied up with string! I was Liesle once upon a time in my community theatre, so I LOVE this wedding! The weddings from Amorology are a great examples of using a theme to plan your wedding. None of their themes are “in your face” or over-whelming. Rather, they use lots of clever details to tie in the theme in beautiful ways. The themes are usually a reflection of the personalities and/or interests of the couples involved, and this makes them memorable and unique.
You can find lots of wedding eye candy and a variety of weddings that might further help you define the feel you want at your wedding on the blog of noted film photographer, Jonathan Canlas.
You can find lots of wedding eye candy and a variety of weddings that might further help you define the feel you want at your wedding on the blog of noted film photographer, Jonathan Canlas.
Not only is his photography stunning, but he tends to shoot some of the most artsy, unique, and trend-setting weddings I’ve seen.
Just keep scrolling through older posts for a variety of unique weddings and ideas. His photography style feels very natural and editorial. It may give you some ideas about the kinds of shots you may want captured of your big day.
So what do you do with all of this amazing inspiration you are finding?
My new favorite place for finding and cataloging inspiration is a website called Pinterest.
Once you add the “pin it” button to your toolbar and you can save images from anywhere on the internet into your folders and share them easily (It saves the link to the original if you need to go back for more info). I have a wedding folder right now full of vintage, lacy, frilly ideas, and a rustic wedding folder for a barn/rural wedding. (You can follow my boards here.) This would be a great place to keep track of all of your wedding ideas: favorite dresses, hairstyles, make-up, registry ideas, etc. If you need more information on getting started on Pinterest, Beth from The Stories of A to Z has a great video tutorial here.
A quick word about budget. That is one of the other big decisions you should be making at the very beginning. Weddings can be super expensive! As much as I love a gorgeous wedding, I sometimes cringe when I know that couples could have had a great down payment on a home and a couple of new cars for what they spent on their wedding. This is a personal issue and every couple (plus parents, if they are footing the bill) need to decide what they are comfortable spending. It would be a good idea to get a ballpark number and some priorities before you get started and fall head over heels in love with the $15,000 wedding dress. BUT try not to get too hung up on the numbers while in the gathering inspiration stage. Clip (pin, bookmark) the images you love–whatever the cost. You may be able to find much cheaper ways of achieving the same elements you love in your pictures. A talented friend might be able to recreate that $1000 cake for $100 (if they love you). Some DIY decorations can go a long way toward stretching a budget. I find it most helpful to settle on the overall look and feel that you are going for, and then be willing to negotiate on the details that will determine where the money will be spent. Maybe there is one thing that will really make the wedding (there is a wedding on Amorology, where they rented an actual Ferris Wheel!), but borrowing a dress or serving less food might be an option to cut costs elsewhere to make the splurge happen.
To see some of my wedding insanity in action, you can check out a couple of weddings that I was very involved in. My sister-in-law’s Scottish Winter Wedding (above) and my sister’s Summer Fun blue and green backyard wedding. (below) Both were quite budget-friendly, I might add.
Do you have any favorite sites to visit for wedding eye candy?
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Thank you so much Kendra for these amazing sites. I am helping decorate a wedding in a few months and I have been trying to find some good inspiration as I have some pretty good shoes to fill on this one. You are amazing as usual!