Archive for August, 2011
2011 Wedding Trend: Over-The-Top Cakes!
With all the new bakery and cake shows out right now, (don’t you just love Cake Boss on TLC?) one of the fabulous new wedding trends is to do a fun and unique wedding cake that all your guests will remember. Whether you use your favorite movie characters (see the Shrek cake? or the Alice in Wonderland?), your favorite video game (Mario!), you want to be a princess in a castle, create a fun scene (see the CIA secret agent bride and groom?), or just create fun shapes and bright colors, your wedding cake is an excellent way to express yourself, and challenge your baker ;)
Until Next Time!
-Kacia
2011 Wedding Trend: DIY (Do-it-yourself!)
The Bouquet!
You just may notice that two of these bouquets hold real flowers and two do not! Whether you choose to add some spunk to your DIY bouquet with detailed ribbon and brightly colored flowers or keep a simple elegance by using all the same flower and a pretty, white ribbon, a real flower bouquet can be a fun project for you to express yourself and your style. If you’re looking for something a little more unique, try a brooch bouquet! This trend has quickly been sweeping the wedding world. The last bouquet is an elegant mixture of gorgeous silk flowers and handmade newsprint creations. This is something I’ve never seen before, and I absolutely love!
Place Cards that Double as Favors!
One great way to cut costs is to create a fun DIY project that combine two ideas into one! The awesome new trend of creating place cards that double as the guests’ party favors is fast becoming a productive way to help save in the budget. Plus they’re so stinking cute!
The Guest Book!
I LOVE this little guest book idea! The bride and groom created little “post cards” using stamps and cardstock! Each of their guests was then able to sign their name, draw a picture of themselves and leave their best wishes for the couple. What a fun and unique way to remember all the friends and family that attended your big day!
Having a photo booth at your wedding is fast becoming one of the hottest trends of the season. It’s a ton of fun for the guests and it can double as your guestbook! All this couple did was buy a simple “scrap book” that could be written in, and provide markers and tape! The photo booth spits out two copies of the photos, one for them and one for your book! How fun is that?
For the DIY Bride who wants a traditional guest book but with a twist of her own flare, a great way to create a guest book is to buy yourself a simple “guest book” or “scrap book” and create the cover yourself! This bride used her fabulous scrapbooking talents to artistically combine one of their engagement photos with fun colors and textures for a gorgeous DIY guest book.
So if you’re a Do-It-Yourself kind of bride take some of these awesome ideas and put them into practice!
Until Next Time!
-Kacia
2011 Wedding Trends: Tara Keely
We are very excited to be adding the Tara Keely line here at The Wedding Tree. The Tara Keely collection is designed by Lazaro and represents some of the best styles and fashions available to brides. The gowns include silhouettes from sheaths to eye catching ballgowns.
Silk fabrics, organza overlays, and delicate lace make these styles glamorous and sophisticated. With delicate details and just the right amount of sparkle, these gowns offer something for every bride! 
Come see the gowns at our Tara Keely Trunk Show from August 26-28!
Check out this video to see the Tara Keely Gowns on the runway!
2011 Wedding Trends: The Parasol
Parasols originated in the East Indies about 5,000 years ago. In 3000 B.C., the Egyptians used parasols as a sunshade for sun protection. This was a royal privilege and bearers did the carrying. Around the 1st century B.C., the parasol spread to ancient Rome and Greece.
It took the Italian renaissance in the 16th century to introduce the parasol to European soil. King Louis the XIV soon after brought them to France. The English, ever imitators of French fashion, soon followed suit. The English were still not convinced and not much is recorded until 1787 when Britain manufactured its first batch. In the United States, a parasol appeared on a street corner in Windsor, Connecticut in 1740 carried by a fashionable lady. It had been brought all the way from the West Indies and may have been the first parasol in North America. A century later, no one would have noticed, much less parodied, a lady carrying a sunshade, for wealthy women throughout America and Europe considered parasols an essential part of any well-dressed lady’s wardrobe.
The parasol is most often thought of with Victorian society in England and the U.S. Perhaps the chief reason for its popularity at the time was the Victorian admiration (or obsession) for a fair complexion. It was more than a sign of beauty; it proved to the world that a woman was a lady, who didn’t have to work outdoors like “common” females did. They were as a much a part of a well-dressed lady’s outfit as were her gloves, hat, shoes and stockings. A fashionable lady carried a different parasol for each outfit. They became popular gifts for men to give their lady. Like the fan and lacy handkerchief, the parasol was both practical and an aid to the subtle art of flirtation.
A change in the social climate doomed the parasol, making it seem first quaint, then outmoded, and finally preposterous. In the 1920′s, a tanned complexion replaced pale skin as a status symbol, indicating that the owner didn’t have to work and could be around on the beach all day. During that decade when flappers wore rolled stockings and cloche hats, when hems rose and inhibitions fell — parasols disappeared. The most romantic accessories under the sun were relegated to the attic of history, with wasp waists and high-button shoes.
I, for one, love the idea of using parasol’s as a fabulous wedding day accessory! In fact, a few of our brides from 2010 hopped on this very fashion forward trend and I think the pictures turned out amazing! Check them out!
Words and History Credits to InventorSpot.com and Sara’s Parasols.
Until Next time!
-Kacia