Friendly Inspiration: Shruti

Today's Friendly Inspiration is a white, cream, and gold Indian-American wedding. If you missed the inspiration, see it here.

Shruti's Friendly Inspiration:

The Color Scheme: The wedding will be focused around whites and creams with accents of gold and deep magenta.

The Invitations: Gold foiled mehndi invitations will request the presence of friends and family.

The Venue: Half Moon Bay Golf Links

Ceremony Location: The nuptials will take place on the green overlooking the ocean.

Reception Location: An outdoor reception will take place on the lower level of the golf course with beautiful views of the ocean.

Venue Details: This venue offers picturesque views of the ocean, making for perfect photography backdrops.

The Bride:

The Dress: Shruti will wear an embellished cream lengha, complete with beautiful beading and lace.

The Look: Keeping the Hindu tradition of mehndi, Shruti's hands and feet will be simply decorated. Adding to the look, Shruti will wear ornate gold bangles, have her hair in long loose waves, and carry a deep magenta and white bouquet.

The Bridesmaids: Shruti's bridesmaids will bring some color to the wedding by wearing deep magenta saris, accessorized with gold and magenta bangles and white bouquets.

The Groom & Groomsmen: Shruti liked the idea of her groom in a navy suit and the groomsmen in grey vests, so to match these looks to the rest of the wedding, the men will wear deep magenta ties. For boutonnieres, the groom will wear a white and magenta rose boutonniere and his groomsmen will wear magenta boronia boutonnieres.

The Ceremony: The ceremony will feature a traditional mandap altar in gold and cream drapery, decorated with cream roses and greenery. To match the altar, the aisle will be lined with cream roses, greenery, and candles.

The Escort Cards: To guide guests to their seats, an escort card display of white roses and henna-inspired cards will be set up outside the reception space.

The Reception: An open-draped tent will be decorated with lights and hanging tassels. The tables will have ornate white tablecloths with sparkled edges topped with cream and white floral arrangements and candles and golden place settings. The chairs will be gold, with added drapery and flowers to the bride and groom's chairs.

The Cake: A gold and white henna-inspired cake will be topped with floral love elephants.

The Favors: Shruti's love of art inspired her to paint mehndi designs on different colored candles, like the ones shown here. Guests will get to take home one of her designs, which will be displayed on golden cake stands in varying sizes.

Next week will begin my hiatus from Friendly Inspirations to focus on some new post ideas and my new job (yay!).

Friendly Inspiration: Michelle

If you missed the inspiration behind this Chinese and Hawaiian beach wedding, be sure to check it out here.

Michelle's Friendly Inspiration:

The Colour Scheme: The wedding will be filled with shades of blues and mints.

The Invitations: The invitation suite will be simple with light blue handwriting, with an added pop of waves in the envelope.

The Venue: Monterey Plaza Hotel

The Ceremony Space: The ceremony will take place on the lower terrace of the venue, overlooking the Monterey Bay.

The Reception Space: The celebration will take place on the upper plaza, with beautiful panoramic views of the bay.

The Bride:

The Dress: To begin, the bride will wear a grey Hamda Al Fahim dress with beautiful lace details. To incorporate her Chinese heritage, the bride will later wear a traditional ivory lace Cheongsam dress.

The Look: The bride will wear her hair in a side-swept updo, accessorized with plumeria and a lace-detailed veil. To complete the look, she will wear a plumeria bracelet and unique ring set, along with holding a pink rose and white orchid bouquet.

The Bridesmaids: Each of the bridesmaids will wear a different dress in shades of blues and mints. To  streamline the look, each dress will have the same skirt silhouette, and each girl will wear a plumeria bracelet and hold a pink and white orchid bouquet.

The Groom & Groomsmen: The men will wear light grey pants, white dress shirts, and light grey suspenders. To match the bridesmaids, the groomsmen will wear ties in matching shades. The groom will wear a grey tie to match his bride, along with a green and pink orchid boutonniere. The groomsmen will have simple white orchid boutonnieres.

The Ceremony: The ceremony arch will be simple, with white drapery and flowers. To spice it up, a curtain of orchids, plumeria, and crystals will hang from it, creating a unique backdrop for the couple. The aisle will have a white runner, topped with white petals. To incorporate the bride's love of Hawaiian culture, each seat will have a plumeria lei for the guests to wear during the ceremony.

The Cocktail Hour: During the cocktail hour, the bride and groom will host a tea ceremony, custom to Chinese weddings.

The Escort Cards: An escort card display will be created using large mint frames and hanging sand dollars written with the each guest's name and seating assignment.

The Reception: Decorating the outdoor space will be circular tables with light blue tablecloths. The tables will be topped with unique vases filled with orchids, as well as smaller mint and gold vases and tealight candles. Each place setting will have a white napkin topped with a colorful plumeria. To add light to the reception, string orchid and plumeria lights will be strung around the reception.

The Cake: The cake will pay homage to the ocean, with the lower tier painted in an ocean watercolor. The remaining two tiers will have golden accents and fresh plumeria.

The Favours: Michelle really liked the idea of giving each guest a sand dollar to thank them for coming. To make the favour useful, each guest will take home a decorated box filled with sand dollar coasters.

The Sendoff: Something unique that Michelle requested for her wedding was a nerf gun sendoff.

Next week, the final summer wedding of the season!

Bridesmaids' Dresses (from left to right): Watters / Lela Rose / Lulus / Watters / Lulus / Watters

Friendly Inspiration: Jamie

Week Three: Jamie

Our Relationship: I met Jamie my freshman year of high school

Her Major: Communications: Interpersonal with a minor in Spanish 

Her School: Wheaton College

Her Interests: swimming, going to the beach, all things California (especially since she goes to school in chilly Illinois)

Jamie's Questionnaire:

Colours: definitely love blues - I'm really into mint and aqua right now

Feeling: more warm/cozy, simple yet fun

Season: summer for sure!

Dress: lace, I like sweetheart necklines, or off the shoulder sleeves

Location: outdoor reception and ceremony, would love it to be by some sort of water or trees

Special Requests: I LOVE fun lighting

Jamie's Dream Wedding:

The Colours: The colours that Jamie loves inspired me to create a colour palette in ocean hues, from mint to aqua to blue. To add another colour to the palette, Jamie and I decided on light pink.

The Invitations: To introduce one of the wedding colours for the first time, this aqua invitation was sent to the guests. It is simple, yet has a fun design!

The Bride's Attire: This Angelina Faccenda by Mori Lee dress encompassed everything that Jamie wanted in a dress. The floral lace detail was a beautiful bonus!

The Bride's Beauty: Jamie has naturally wavy hair, so with this look from Jessica Alba, we're able to enhance her waves and make them oh-so glamourous! For her makeup, we went for amped-up natural, with va-va-voom lashes, a pretty pink pout, and rosy cheeks.

The Bridesmaids Attire: To match the neckline and lace-fabric of the bride's dress, this mint dress from Mod Cloth was the perfect choice!

The Groom & Groomsmen: Since Jamie is having a summer wedding, we thought that the men shouldn't have to wear a jacket - except for the groom (we want him to stand out!). To coordinate with the light grey suits and mint bridal party, we chose these perfect ties. For the groom, a speckled mint tie, and for the groomsmen, a patterned mint tie to give them some extra flash.

The Flowers: Jamie absolutely loves daisies, so to go with the light pink accent colour, these unique silk flowers are a perfect addition to the bridal party. The groom and groomsmen will also have boutonnieres inspired by the bouquets.

The Ceremony: Pebble Beach Resorts offers so many great spaces to hold outdoor weddings! With the breathtaking view of the ocean, Jamie can get married by the water without having to deal with the mess of sand!

The Ceremony Decor: To bring the beachy-feel into the ceremony, I chose to decorate in three different ways. The first is with the alter, in which I found an arch that is covered in flowy fabric all in the bride's colour scheme. To line the aisles, I chose to bring in the daisies by hanging them in mason jars. To make it unique, I created an ombre effect of ocean hues leading into the pink of the accent colour. By finding the corresponding coloured mason jars (great DIY project!), I then filled them with matching sand (great way to bring in the beach-feel) that the flowers would then be placed in. To give the aisle some warmth, candles will be lit inside lanterns.

The Reception: Pebble beach can be quite cold at night, but this great venue lets you escape the elements, while still enjoying the ocean-view. (If the weather is on our side, I would choose to have the reception in a clear-tent outside.) This room offers high ceilings and windows-galore, giving the feel of outdoor bliss, while staying warm indoors.

The Reception Decor: To bring in Jamie's love of fun lighting, I decided to hang lighted lanterns in her colour scheme, covering the ceiling, along with stringing twinkle lights throughout the space. For the tables, large rectangular vases will be filled with aqua and mint-coloured glass to create the effect of the ocean, with colourful daisies standing out of them. Other tables will have the lanterns from the ceremony as their centerpiece, filled with matching daisies.

The Escort Cards: To bring the beach-feel indoors, the escort cards are situated in sand (I would include the coloured sand from the ceremony) with a "message in bottle" sharing their names and table number.

The Cake: To bring the ombre effect from the ceremony into the reception, this ombre-ruffle cake was chosen. The cake begins with the same colours as the ceremony aisle, working its way to the pink top layer. The ruffles create a wave-like image, perfect for a reception over the ocean!

The Favours: Unique favours were chosen for Jamie's guests - coasters! Guests will have their choice of coasters, choosing what best fits their personalities.

The Extras: To send Jamie and her groom off at the end of the night, I chose to use biodegradable lanterns that the guests can send off into the sky, making a wish for the newlyweds as the embark on their lives together.

Next week, tune in to find out how I create a vintage-inspired wedding for my best friend, Caitlin!

xo

Sources:
Colours: Design Seeds
Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas
Bridal Gown: Mori Lee
Bridal Hair: Style Bistro
Bridal Makeup: Style Bistro
Bridesmaids Dress: Mod Cloth
Groom/Groomsmen Attire: Zazzle, Middleton Park
Flowers: The Knot, Amazon
Ceremony Location: Stacey Pentland Photography, Pebble Beach Resorts
Ceremony Decor: Fifty Flowers, Save On Crafts, A Champagne Wish
Reception Location: Stacey Pentland Photography, Pebble Beach Resorts
Reception Decor: Style Me Pretty, Save On Crafts
Escort Cards: Martha Stewart Weddings
Cake: Style Me Pretty
Favours: Top Weddings, Little Things Favors
Send-off: Velvet Palette