Happy Valentine’s Day, Wish readers!

I hope you’re all out there celebrating love, whether you’re getting married, in a long term relationship, newly dating, you’ve been married for year’s, you’re a newlywed, or your fabulously single, everyone has someone they love — go out there and celebrate them!!

The Indigo Bunting:

I had TONS of leftover red pictures, so today we’re going all red all the time!

Hmm, where to start?  Well, who doesn’t love flowers for Valentine’s Day, right?

Elizazbeth Anne Designs:

Some people love red roses, though!  How about this gorgeous bouquet from Fionna Floral:

Jasmine Star:

Jodi Miller Photography:

Marianne Todd Photography:

M Three Studio:

Vision Photographs:

K. Thompson Photography (LOVE her, LOVE this bouquet!)

Now, how about some flowers for the table…

Eleise Theuer:

Elizabeth Anne Designs:

JL Designs:

Leigh Miller:

Meg Perotti:

Aargh!  I don’t know where this picture came from, but I love it too much not to post it!

Studio Fleurette:

The Bloom Room:

Lighting and decor add great touches to your wedding, whether it’s as simple as ribbons in a tree…

Captured Photography:

Or as elaborate as lighting and lounge furniture…

David Stark Design:

District Weddings:

Fete NY:

Jennifer Domenick:

Kristen Steele:

A few more decor pictures…

JL Designs:

Minzilla:

Wedding Chicks:

Red is one of the easiest colors to incorporate into food and drink!

Bakerella:

Delectable Deliciousness:

I Am Baker (Oh, God…Red Velvet FUDGE!):

Kristen Steele:

Leigh Miller:

Intimate Weddings:

And for you stationery lovers out there, here are a few for you!

Emilie Inc.:

Fiore Fresco:

Gladys Jem Photography:

Martha Stewart Weddings:

And one last picture, from Offbeat Bride, just because I love the picture SO much!

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I hope you’ve enjoyed our red series!

If you’re having a wedding on (or very close to) Valentine’s Day, red and pink is the way to go!  There is no more perfect combination for a Valentine’s wedding than red, pink and hearts!

Anders Ruff:

Let’s start with the bride, of course!  Are you daring enough to wear a pink wedding dress?

Green Wedding Shoes:

Joel Flory Photography:

Vintage Glam Weddings:

The Sweetest Occasion:

How cute is Sara Bareilles in this Luisa Beccaria dress?  LOVE the red sash with the pink — this would be PERFECT for a Valentine’s Day wedding!

Not into a pink dress?  How about red?

Jessica Claire:

Love Me Do Photography:

Vision Photographs:

Victor Sizemore:

Offbeat Bride:

And don’t forget the shoes!

Gabriel Ryan:

And if it’s February, you’ll need something to keep you warm…

J. Crew:

Love and Lavender:

Etsy Seller Lilithist:

The little ones always look cute in red and pink!

Anders Ruff:

Captured Photography:

Green Wedding Shoes:

Now onto the bridesmaids.  You can do a mix of pink and red dresses, which is cute…

Elizabeth Anne Designs:

Martha Stewart Weddings:

Our Labor of Love:

Or you can go with red dresses and pink bouquets, like one of these Watters & Watters bridesmaids dresses:

with one of these gorgeous pink bouquets…

Signature K Events:

Or a great pink bridesmaids dress, like one of these from Jenny Yoo:

with a fun red bouquet!

Emilie Inc.:

Or mix it up for both you and your maids, and do bouquets with a mix of red and pink flowers — the possibilities are endless!!

The Schultzes:

Living Fresh:

Once Wed:

The Knot:

The Little White Book:

There are lots more places to use red and pink flowers than your bouquets…red and pink centerpieces add a fun pop of color to your tables:

100 Layer Cake:

Absolutely Beautiful Things:

Budget Savvy Bride:

Egomedia Photography:

Green Wedding Shoes:

Jessamyn Harris Photography:

Once Wed:

Roberto Valenzuela:

And because it wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without sweets, let’s look at some great red and pink sugary goodness!

Anders Ruff:

Bakerella:

Captured Photography:

Hostess with the Mostess:

Martha Stewart Weddings:

The Sweetest Occasion:

Monday is Valentine’s Day!  We’ll finish up this series then with “the best of the rest” of my red photos!

I mentioned this in my post about the University of Maryland , but with red and yellow, you have to be careful you don’t venture into Ronald McDonald territory when you’re going with this color scheme:

Red and yellow can, however, be a super fun, colorful, bright color scheme — you just have to do it right, like this bride!

In the Now Weddings and Events:

To me, the perfect red and yellow wedding is a picnic-type affair.  Think red and white checkered tablecloths…

Victor Sizemore:

Or a red or yellow linen with a burlap runner over it?

Style Me Pretty:

For centerpieces, I love mason jars and glass bottles filled with yellow and red flowers…

Ruffled:

Wedding Chicks:

JL Designs:

Style Me Pretty:

You could also do alternating centerpieces of red and yellow fruits, like a few simple bowls of cherries:

Some lemon centerpieces, like this one from Real Simple:

Love this simple grass with lemons in it from Yum Sugar.  This could be cute for an escort card table, too…

Gerbera daisies are the PERFECT flowers for a red and yellow wedding — red and yellow gerberas are so cheerful!

Jacobsen’s Flowers:

Lemiga Events:

Stephanie Klein Davis Photography:

Style Me Pretty:

Of course, gerbera aren’t the only yellow and red flowers.  I LOVE sunflowers for a red and yellow wedding — talk about cheerful!!!

Designs by Courtney:

Project Wedding:

Snippet and Ink:

The Party Dress (I LOVE this!!)

Here are some more great red and yellow flowers…

Amy Squires:

April Foster Events:

I LOVE Billy Balls (aka craspedia) — such fun little flowers!

Fiore Fresco:

Hostess with the Mostess:

JL Designs:

Speaking of JL Designs, how gorgeous are these bouts with raspberries in them?!?!?

Kimberly Brooke Photography:

Martha Stewart Weddings:

Mary Basnight Photography:

Once Wed:

Mantas Wright Photography:

Style Me Pretty:

HOW GORGEOUS is this altar from Project Wedding?!  Red and yellow work so well for a fall wedding!

One of the things I love about red and yellow is that you can really make it your own, even with something as simple as the bridesmaids dresses.  You can go with red dresses…

One Thousand Words Photography:

Yellow dresses…

Dan and Anne Almasy:

Lark Photography:

Or a combination of both!

Turnquist Photography:

You can also make your bar a fun part of your color scheme!

Hostess with the Mostess:

Lemiga Events:

Project Wedding:

Victor Sizemore:

Or carry the theme from your invitations on through the reception with your paper products!

100 Layer Cake:

Brooklyn Bride:

Green Wedding Shoes:

Lark Photography:

Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Stephanie Williams Photography:

Are you having a red and yellow wedding?  What elements are you using?

I love red and white.  It seems so simple, but a white wedding with pops of red just seems so cheerful and happy to me, it’s perfect for Valentine’s Day!

I love the girls red and white dresses, so I went in search of more red and white dresses, to see where I could find some good ones!

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Debenhams:

Anna Hardy:

Anthropologie (no longer available, but still adorable!)

OMG!  How GORGEOUS is Chandra Wilson from Grey’s Anatomy in this outfit?!  And how great would it be for your maids?!

These two dresses from Forever 21 would be cute for certain types of weddings, but I’m a big NO on the black stockings.  NO, Forever 21, NO!

Kim Fox Photography:

Oops…I couldn’t find where these came from, but still cute, right?!

Raissa Gerona:

Offbeat Bride:

Of course, to pull off a red and white color scheme, the dresses don’t have to be red AND white, right?  You could do a gorgeous bridesmaids dress in red, with a pretty red or white bouquet!

Emilie Inc.

Jennifer Domenick:

Melanie Mauer:

Elizabeth Anne Designs:

Of course, you could also put the bridesmaids in white dresses with red bouquets…how gorgeous would these ladies look all carrying red bouquets with different blooms in them (with the bride with a white bouquet!)

I also like the idea of the bride, rather than carrying a white bouquet, carrying a bright pop of red against her white dress.  It really brightens up the day!

Amy Martin Photography:

East Side Bride:

Jubilee Weddings:

Married & More with Michelle:

Melanie Mauer:

Of course, red flowers aren’t just for the bride’s bouquet…how about a flower in your hair?

Daisy Varley:

Jose Villa:

There are so many gorgeous red accessories out there on Etsy, brides can go CRAZY with them, adding just a little, or a lot!

Alex Bridal:

Pur Designs:

Upstyle:

Las Lopez:

Pixel and Hank:

Storied:

Prettied:

But it’s not just your accessories you can get on Etsy for your red and white wedding — you can get EVERYTHING on there!!!  Your invitations…

ello there:

Frankie and Mae:

Bklyn Stitch:

Royal Steamline:

Your favors…

Tickle My Tummy:

Bees Knees Creative:

Cedar Tree Farm Soaps:

Decor…

Victorian Station:

Pomtree:

Le Maison du Vintage:

And many, many, many, MANY more things!

A few more non-etsy red and white inspiration photos…

Celebrations at Home:

East Side Bride:

Emilie Inc.:

Green Wedding Shoes:

Swanky Tables:

Studio Fleurette:

Do you love red and white as much as I do?  Are you getting things from Etsy for your wedding?

Red and Black is one of the easiest color combinations there is.  There are TONS of red flowers out there, as well as red accessories and red dresses, but there’s tons of black too — ribbon on your bouquet, black bridesmaids dresses, a simple black tux — this one’s a no brainer!

Amy Martin Photography:

Want some red flowers?  You don’t have to go with roses (although you certainly can!)  But how about tulips?

Or anemones…

or carnations? (Photo by Jennifer Domenick)

Gerberas?

Emilie Inc.

Or, one of my favorite flowers, dahlias!

This gorgeous bouquet was created by DC’s own Petal’s Edge Floral Design.  (Photo from Studio Diana via Project Wedding)

Pair a red bouquet with a black bridesmaids dress, and you have a chic color combination that works well throughout the year.  Here are some great black dresses (including quite a few you don’t have to go to a bridal shop to find!)

Amsale:

After Six:

Anna Elyse:

Banana Republic:

DKNY:

Kay Unger (via Saks):

Lane Bryant:

Pair any of those dresses with a red bouquet and you’ve got a gorgeous bridesmaid!  Of course, pair her with some hot red shoes too, and watch out, groomsmen!!!

Fiore Fresco:

Becker:

Our Labor of Love:

Vision Photographs:

What, bridesmaids get to have all the fun??

Kimberly Reed Photography:

100 Layer Cake:

Emilie Inc.:

Olivia Leigh Photographie:

Black and red are pretty easy for your decor, too!

Flights of Fancy:

Sarah Rhoads:

Style Me Pretty:

Wedding Aces:

And a few more red and black beauties to finish it out…

Amy Martin Photography:

Bellissima Vita Weddings:

Brooklyn Bride:

Emilie Inc.

Love these hair pins from Etsy seller Foundling:

One of my absolute FAVORITE photographers, Kelsey Thompson, photographed a gorgeous black and red bridal party!

Millie Holloman:

Olivia Leigh Weddings:

Are you going for a red and black color palette?

I know, I know — you’re thinking summer, 4th of July, Patriotic, right?  Well, yes…but not always.  There are various shades of blue, and if you pair them with red properly, you don’t have to look like the American flag…unless you want to, of course!

I’ve said this before, but the best way to avoid looking too “themey” is to use two colors primarily (red and white, red and blue, or blue and white) with just small touches of the other color.  For example, I love these bridesmaids dresses in varying shades of blue, and they would be perfect with red bouquets!

Andrea Hallgren Photography:

The nice thing about blue is that there are so many varying shades, it’s easy to use your favorite colors, but not venture into 4th of July picnic territory (again, unless that’s what you’re going for, in which case, do it up!!).  But with varying shades of blue and red, you can invoke a winter feeling…

A springy affair…

Goodlight Photography:

Summer on a California beach…

Marisa Holmes:

Or a Nantucket clambake!

Stacey Kane Photography:

There isn’t a single shade of blue that doesn’t go well with red, from navy:

To cornflower…

Rebekah J. Murray:

To royal…

Merriment Events:

You really can’t go wrong!  Even Martha seems to be a big fan of these colors!

How cute are these little nuggets and their white cardigans and red shoes?!?!

I’m probably not a red pants for men kind of girl, but I LOVE the bridesmaid’s outfit!

In fact, there are a lot of cute bridesmaids outfits out there in the red and blue arena…

Indigo Photography:

Kristen Leigh:

Kristen Gardner:

Scott and Tem Photography:

Wedding Bee:

How about some flowers for you?

Indigo Photography:

Cherry Blossom Weddings:

Jessica Claire:

Snippet and Ink:

I love fun tablescapes — if I had an unlimited budget for my imaginary wedding (which I do…since it’s imaginary…) I would go CRAZY with linens, dishes, glassware, etc.!!

In the Now Weddings & Events:

Michele M Waite:

Wedding Cabaret:

Love Lee Homemaker:

Elizabeth Anne Designs:

Berries are a great way to add these bright colors, especially in the summer!

Jodi Miller Photography:

Simply Recipes:

Modern Beet:

Making Banana Pancakes (I love the names of these food blogs!)

Of course, if you’re not a berry person, there are other ways to dress up your treats!

Bakerella

Kate Headley:

Wedding and Cakes:

Are you having a red and blue wedding?  Are you going for a patriotic theme, or are you using red and blue in other ways?

You heard a lot about this fun color scheme when our very own Cristin was getting married (we still need pictures, Cristin!), but red and aqua are SUCH a fun color scheme, I wanted to make sure they got included with the other red posts for Valentine’s Day!

Amy Atlas:

I love sugar like it’s a food group.  Let’s look at more fun red and aqua foods (and drinks)!

Amorology Weddings

Amy Atlas:

Apple Cider favors!!!  I love it!!! (100 Layer Cake)

Celebrations at Home:

Jonathan Canlas

Balloons and red and aqua seem to go together for some reason…I wonder why that is?

Green Wedding Shoes

Snippet and Ink:

Style Me Pretty:

Blue flowers, especially aqua, are kind of hard to come by, so ribbon is a great addition to bouquets and arrangements!

Jonathan Canlas:

Style Me Pretty:

Under Grace Photography:

Pure 7 Studios:

I love bright aqua bridesmaids dresses with that pop of red, whether it’s a bouquet, shoes, or even a hair accessory!

Amorology Weddings:

Ampersand Photography:

Crosswhite Photography:

Elizabeth Anne Designs:

Heather H Photography:

Love and Lavender (where was this picture when I was featuring leg warmers?!?)

Michele M. Waite Photography:

The Inspired Bride:

Okay, maybe not a bridemaid’s dress (although it certainly could be) but how cute is this blue crinoline under this red patterned dress?!? (Snippet and Ink)

PAPER!  Oh, the beautiful things you can do with paper!!!

Fiore Fresco:

Boutwell Studio:

Details by Ramey via Green Wedding Shoes:

Elizabeth Anne Designs:

Meg Perotti:

Love and Lavender:

Opulent Couturier:

Parrott Design Studio:

Promise Tangeman:

Style Me Pretty:

Do you like red and aqua together?  Stay tuned for more fun red posts leading up to Valentine’s Day!

February in this area is usually cold, snowy, and generally blah.  But all of the red you see everywhere leading up to Valentine’s Day makes it a little more cheerful, don’t you think?!  So leading up to Valentine’s Day, I’m going to do a series of short posts on some fun things you can do with red for your wedding.

The first is the one that I find most interesting, red and purple.  It’s not a color combination that everyone would think of, but once I started looking around, I realized how much I loved it!

Amber Karson Events / Abby Jiu Photography via The Bride’s Cafe:

The Bride’s Cafe had a gorgeous post on purple and red that just had SO many cute elements!  I love those purple bottles!

Isn’t it so much fun?!?!

Of course, it’s not just one blog featuring a red and purple spread — there are some great weddings I found with that same gorgeous color scheme!

Amber Karson Events / Abby Jiu Photography via Wedding Aces:

Wendell Webber Photography:

Unison Event Planners:

The Painted Daisy:

Of course, The Knot is always a great source for inspiration!

Seems like some of our local brides got on board with the purple and red plan too!

District Weddings:

Documentary Associates (one of our favorites!):

Holland Photo Arts:

The Regetis (another one of our favorites!)

There are so many ways to include purple and red into your color scheme, whether it’s your bouquet…

Adrienne Gunde:

Bells and Whistles florist (via The Knot)

Blush Floral Design

Floral arrangements…

Blush Floral Design:

Elizabeth Anne Designs (LOVE the ribbon!):

Ever After Photography:

Jasmine Star:

Ceremony decor…

Green Wedding Shoes:

Jasmine Star:

Manolo for the Brides:

Paper…

Wedding Bee:

The Bride’s Cafe:

Jasmine Star:

Spark & Flourish Creative:

Bridesmaids…

Green Wedding Shoes:

Jennifer Bowen Photography:

Jennifer Dery Photography:

Kentucky Bride Magazine:

Martha Stewart Weddings:

And you can’t forget the food!

Parties and Patterns:

Crumbs and Doilies:

Stay tuned as we get closer to Valentine’s Day with some more red features!

It is no secret that Glen Echo is probably my favorite wedding venue.  I love everything about it, from the AMAZING Emily Mah Rogers, the venue coordinator, to the GORGEOUS carousel to the wooded areas all around the park, to the fun neon lighting and little touches everywhere, I just love love love it.  However, probably my favorite thing about Glen Echo is that it inspires the most adorable weddings!  I guess it’s because the types of couples that get married there are already awesome?  (See Hallie and Matt and our very own Cristin, who better be blogging her wedding pictures soon, because they are INSANE!!!)  Whatever it is, I see the cutest ideas come out of weddings at Glen Echo.

When Beth and Robert walked down the aisle as husband and wife, I had them get straight into their Zipcar (yes, that was their wedding day transportation — Zipcar!) and head over to Glen Echo, immediately followed by Cassidy and the bridal party.  I always like to make sure that, even if it’s just for a few minutes, my couple has some alone time immediately following the ceremony, plus Beth and Robert wanted to do all of the bridal party photos at Glen Echo — this killed two birds with one stone!

See why I had to break it up into two blog posts?  Cassidy did TOO good a job on the pictures — I couldn’t choose!

There are just so many amazing locations at Glen Echo for pictures — this is in front of the old trolley at the front of the park

Beth took this opportunity to be…Beth

And show off her gorgeous dress…

I’m loving the amazing light Cassidy caught here!

There are also gorgeous wooded areas at Glen Echo to take pictures:

I LOVE this shot of Beth and Rob on the bridge into the park — I’m trying to figure out where Cassidy was standing to take this picture, though?!

The group then headed over to the carousel to take a few more pictures

I don’t know why it seems funny to me that they had to wait in line to ride the carousel, but it does

I love that Beth and Rob shared a horse lion

Then it was off to the reception…with a brief stop at the Cuddle Up

Guests were treated to a DELICIOUS BBQ dinner from Matters of Taste.  Having gone to college in North Carolina, I’m very picky about two things — pulled pork BBQ and sweet tea.  Matters of Taste delivered PERFECTLY on both fronts!  I think I probably had 10 glasses of sweet tea that night!

(Do those lanterns look familiar?  We brought them over from the ceremony!  Good reason to have a wedding planner — to bring things from the ceremony to the reception!)

After Beth and Robert quickly ate their food (something I make sure EVERY bride and groom do at their wedding!) they held a modified tea ceremony.

I like that they did this as guests were eating.  I’m sure it’s not the traditional way — but it allowed them to have private moments with everyone, while others were eating, so there wasn’t too much down time either!

After dinner and the tea ceremony, though, it was on to the dancing!!!

DJ Steve with Jan Davis Entertainment ROCKED the house that night!  This was the first time I had worked with Steve and I hope it won’t be the last.  He was AWESOME!  As an added bonus, he comes from a family of DJ’s, including his gorgeous sister, who came to assist him that night!

I mean, you know it’s a good party when this is your bride on the dance floor!

During a break in dancing, Beth and Rob cut their cake from one of my favorite bakeries (which is DANGEROUSLY within walking distance to my house!), Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe.

I’m not a big cake topper person, but I thought theirs was really cute!

After they cut the cake, it was served along with a “North vs. South” dessert buffet — Whoopie Pies vs. Moon Pies!  (I’m a Whoopie Pie girl, which in Pittsburgh we call Gobs!)

Beth made the cutest signs to put all over the place!  She had them for the dessert buffet, the bathrooms, the bride and groom chairs — SO cute!

Cassidy, yet again, did an amazing job getting detail shots!  The parasols my assistants and I hung before I went off to the reception…

The cards Beth and Rob created explaining the tea ceremony, along with the favors, which they bought in Malaysia

The family photos we strung up with clothes pins and, when I realized Rob had left the clothesline at home, fishing wire from my emergency kit:

The carousel tickets…

And of course the centerpieces.  I LOVED these centerpieces — I’m always looking for non-floral centerpieces for couples who are looking to save money — Beth and Robert are reselling these lanterns to recoup some of the costs, but they could easily be reused in your house or yard

Finally, we had the bubble send off …

And I love this last shot of the newlyweds walking off…to their Zipcar

Congratulations, Beth and Rob!  Thank you SO MUCH for choosing me to be your planner — I had a blast!!!

The day began with the ceremony at the adorable Langley Hill Meeting House.  I had never heard of this place before, but I will definitely be recommending it to other couples.  The members there are amazingly kind and accommodating, the atmosphere is welcoming and friendly, and the meeting room is arranged in the “round” (okay, sort of a square, really, but you know what I mean) so that the couple stands in the middle.  I love the idea of having all of your friends and family surrounding you.

The flowers were done by the adorable Tonya Evans at Occasional Flowers.  I had never heard of this florist before, and I’m not sure where Beth found her, but she is WONDERFUL!  The bouquets were gorgeous, the chapel arrangements looked beautiful, and, when a vendor made a mistake on some lanterns the couple had chosen, Tonya bent over backwards to get them what they wanted!  LOVE this lady.

The bride and groom have some hilarious friends:

I mean, really — how can you resist a photographer that takes that shot?!   Plus Cassidy did something that we wedding planners WORSHIP — he took TONS AND TONS of detail shots!  That’s what we need, guys!  LOTS OF DETAILS!!!

(Why does my hand look so weird in that picture?  Yep…hand model…my next career…)

Beth and Rob, like many of our couples these days, chose to do a first look before the ceremony.  I LOVE when couples do this (and I know photographers do too!)  For those who are maybe a little shy, it allows you to see each other for the first time when it’s just the two of you (well, and the photographer…), plus it allows for picture time to be more relaxed, as there’s not such a huge rush!

It also allows for you to take family pictures before the ceremony, so you aren’t stuck rounding people up afterward!  I won’t bore you with the family shots, but how cute is this flower girl?!

Everyone then went inside the meeting house to get ready for the ceremony.  Cassidy took some lovely ceremony shots — I just wanted to show you a few…

Beth’s dad performed a song on the guitar during the ceremony

You may now kiss your bride…

And then it was off to the reception, which you’ll see tomorrow, with more amazing shots!