Stella Harper Events

I was recently introduced to a fantastic wedding planner. The owners name is Emily Hoffman-Smalling, and she is the owner of Stella Harper Events. Don't let the name of the company confuse you. She has 2 adorable twin daughters who she named it after, so remember, her name is Emily. SHE (Stella Harper Events) is an event planning and design company based out of Atlanta, Ga.

SHE was voted Best Event Planning of Gwinnett in 2011, was TheKnot.com featured vendor from 2011-2012, and has clients featured in  The White List Blog;  Perfect Wedding Guide;  Head Over Heels Blog; and WeddObsessed Blog. 

SHE offers Complete Wedding Services, Rehearsal & Wedding Day Packages, as well as A La Carte services. Contact them for a free one hour consultation to put together the package that is perfect for your needs.

Stella Harper Events has Blacky Designs as one of their preferred vendors. Should the brides choose Blacky Designs as their invitation vendor, they are subject to a 10% discount on their order!

To find out more info on this amazing company, check out their website, Facebook page, or follow them on Pinterest.

Chris + Rachel = Amazing wedding!

One of my good friends from college, Rachel, married her man a couple weeks ago. The wedding was in a beautiful location called, Fair Weather Farms in Monroe, GA. The venue was amazing. It is the ultimate setting for a Country Chic wedding, and Rachel's detail for all the decorations made it even more breath taking. I really wish I could post all of her pictures on here, but you can head over to Scobey Photography's blog page to see their blog on her event. They did some of the best photographs I have seen for a wedding, so if you are looking for a photographer, check them out.

I mean seriously, it looks like this should be in a bridal magazine, but no, it's my girl Rachel's wedding.

Anyways, I had the pleasure of doing the jewelry for the bridesmaids. It was so much fun making the designs. She wanted different jewelry for each of the bridesmaids, but wanted to make them similar. They all had different dresses, so we wanted to make sure the designs complemented each one. 

This was my favorite piece to make. We had designed this hair clip to originally be a hippy style head band, but it also had the clip in case her Maid of Honor wanted to wear it like a clip. She had planned to change it to the head band for the reception, but the way her hair was set up (with a ton of bobby pens in it), it wasn't cooperating.  Either way, it looks awesome!

muslin rosette and pearl/bronze cluster earrings 

Muslin and pearls as well as the vintage bronze colored metal are all incorporated into the designs. 

This keyhole necklace was one of my favorite pieces. The ribbon tie allowed the length to be adjusted and incorporated the wedding color of peach. 

Peach pearls, bronze beads, and peach coral beads

Bracelet for the Matron of Honor

These are hard to see from the picture, but the earrings are made of peach pearls and a vintage peacock feather! It was the simplest design, yet the hardest to make, but the end result was amazing!

If you would like to learn more about custom designs for bridesmaid jewelry, please feel free to send me an email. Kara@blackydesigns.com! 

Chevron

The Chevron pattern has been around for ages, but has made a huge comeback in the past 6 months or so.  This design has become hugely popular with wedding and party themes. It's classic, yet contemporary. If you don't want to have too much of the design, mix it with a polka dot pattern to break it up. 

There are so many fun ways to incorporate the Chevron pattern. Cookies done in your wedding colors in the pattern make for a fun treat and wedding favors. If you won't them to have the pattern on it, use chevron patterned bags to wrap them in as favors.

If you don't want your wedding cake to have too much of the chevron pattern, try mixing it with dots or ruffles like the image below. The yellow and grey color scheme is widely popular as well right now, and look excellent in the chevron pattern.

This Mad Lib is a fun way to add the chevron pattern and is a great way for your guests to kill time before the ceremony or before dinner is served. You can use a fun basket that has a chevron patterned bow tied to it as a place for people to return the completed cards. The Mad Lib shown also has an invitation that matches, and can be found on the Blacky Designs Facebook page. 

(Invitation below is a Blacky Designs product)

Use a chevron table runner for that added pop of pattern for your table decorations. These awesome pink chairs are also a great design idea and give you that unexpected color placement.

Having a Photo Booth at your wedding?? Hang a large piece of chevron fabric to use as the back drop on all of the photos.

Look for fun ways to incorporate the design, things that people wouldn't normally think would have the print on it. It will leave people taking about your wedding and wanting to steal your ideas! :)

Tangerine Orange

I am normally not a fan of the color orange. It reminds me of too many sports teams that I cheer against. I guess for me, it needs to be the right color of orange. The irony of this, is that I'm wearing an orange shirt as I type this. Go figure. It is more of a pinkish orange, so I guess that is OK. Tangerine and Blood Orange are two shades of orange that I do really like and have found go with lots of other colors especially pink and yellow. 

A fun way to personalize your wedding is to have a "Signature Drink". This Blood Orange Margarita would be a perfect pairing for an orange themed wedding. The blood orange is a more exotic orange that has a deep orange/red coloring and is typically sweeter than your regular morning citrus fruit. 

This stenciled two tiered cake with the single flowers detail is beautiful. The orange color looks perfect against the smooth fondant finish and the delicate flower petals are a good contrast to the clean lines of the tiers.

If you want something with a little bit different flavor, try a Creamsicle cupcake! Cupcakes are extremely popular for weddings so why not do something that is a little out of the norm for flavor. Most everyone loves the taste of a creamsicle. Come on, the tangy orange mixed with the creamy vanilla, it makes the perfect combination once mixed together. I have tired a LOT of cupcakes in my day. Way too many that I should actually admit, but every creamsicle cupcake I have eaten as made me want another. 

Flowers offer so many options for an orange/peach/white/pink/purple combination. The ideas are endless with the beauty that has been created in nature. Mixing and matching different species and colors together make for amazing bouquets.

This dress is adorable! I found it on a website called Moon Light Gowns. I loved the rosette accents on the cream sash and the color isn't overwhelming like orange can tend to be with dresses. 

This invitation would make a perfect starting point for an orange accented wedding! Check it out on Blacky Designs' website!

Duckies Baby Shower

In honor of all the babies that have been announced in the past few months, I decided to go with some ideas for a Ducky themed baby shower. Duckies are gender neutral and admit it, we all love those cute little yellow guys.

When planning your shower or party, check out these new Blacky Designs Pop Art Duckies invitations. They are perfect for a baby boy or a girl.

Find some cute onesies and hang them from a line with clothes pins behind the future momma. They are perfect for decorations and are part of the gift! There are so many options with duckies on them, you won't know which ones to buy!

Dessert options come in so many choices. Pick out some cute cupcakes or go with a full cake. Fondant balls double as bubbles, or do some nice butter cream swirls. 

Hand made bunting makes a cute and cheap form of decoration. Making them allows you to customize your own colors and patterns. Use table cloths, napkins, plates and food bowls for accents colors such as blue, green and pinks.

Rubber duckies floating in the punch, stuffed animals lying around the room, and even PEEPS make excellent decor for a shower! If you are looking for a way to personalize some gifts, buy a bunch of regular yellow duckies and Sharpie markers in fun colors and let each guest decorate the duck for the baby! There are so many fun ways to celebrate baby with the help of our favorite yellow quacker!

www.blackydesigns.com

Sixpence for your shoe!

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.... and a Six pence for your shoes. Almost every bride has heard the traditional say, but not all have heard it the proper way, which includes a Sixpence. Most people don't even know what a Sixpence actually is. It's a British coin that represents 6 pennies. First minted in 1551 for the British Empire, they stopped making them in 1967. They are thought to bring good luck to the bride and groom on their wedding day. Typically they should be placed in the shoe, but you can wear it as an anklet, incorporate it into your bouquet, or even have your groom wear them as cuff links.

I was lucky enough to receive my Sixpence from the store where I purchased my wedding dress. It was a perfect addition to my wedding seeing as most of my husbands family is from England. My Sixpence has since graced many of my friend's weddings as their "Something borrowed" and the lucky Sixpence. Two birds with one stone.

When placing the Pence in your shoe, I have found it is better to use a little tape, just to make sure that you don't loose it. I wore ballet flats for my wedding, so I placed mine under the shoe liner. It went all the way to St. Lucia with me, kept us safe on the flight, and has brought us 4 years of marital bliss so far. 

These cuff links would make an awesome grooms gift, and are sure to be a conversation starter anytime he wears them after the wedding. 

To purchase a Sixpence for your upcoming wedding, visit Silver Sixpence to browse their selection and to learn more of the history behind the Sixpence.

Something Blue

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a Sixpence for your shoe! (See my post on the Sixpence to find out more!) For now, we will stick to the something blue. Why not make it your wedding color. Blue can be used in so many diffract colors for a wedding, but for this post I stuck to a personal favorite, Cobalt.

A dress this color can look great on a variety of women. The color suits someone that is dark skinned, or someone who is fair skinned. Use a pop of color, like the yellow and green flowers above to break up all of the blue in the bridal party.

Blue hydrangeas are extremely popular, but can be tricky to find the proper shade that you want. These blue flowers used on the white cake add drama without being overly floral. The blue hydrangeas below are some of the bluest I have ever seen. I did the flowers for the wedding party in the top picture, and at the time, we had to settle for pale blue. The dark blue can be really hard to find, so don't get too attached to the dark color, especially if you are having your wedding during a month when they are usually not in bloom. This is a perfect blue hydrangea. The accent of white roses adds a real traditional feel to the bouquet without over doing it.

Don't want to do blue for your main color. Surprise everyone with BLUE SHOES! Love this.

Set the color scheme with your invitation. These invitations a perfect match to the Cobalt colors of the wedding. These invitations are available from Blacky Designs.

This boutonnieres had a blue wire wrapped around the stem. It added to the color scheme and made it a little more manly. Adding metal or a non-traditional item to a boutonniere is a nice contrast to the soft feminine flowers.

For more information on the Sixpence, check out our next posting!