Pretty coral and yellow wedding stationery

Recently I had the privilege to work with a great group of people to put together some very pretty things for a styled wedding shoot. The colour pallet was coral and yellow, with a very feminine, fresh feel.

I was a bit nervous about this project, as it was the first of it's kind for me (and hopefully not the last!).

At first I really had a bit of a creative block, maybe because I knew the things I had to make really had to look good. The success of this photo shoot depended on everyone's individual work which had to fit into each other like a puzzle. So the pressure was on to produce something unique and beautiful.

My briefing was to make the table number, invitation and a decoration for the table. The invitation was the least of my worries as I've been making cards (handmade with stamps and stuff) from primary school. I must admit that the printing on the inside made me a bit nervous, as I'm not a graphic designer and don't have much experience with designing the printed parts of the stationery ;)  (hehe, to tell you the truth, I don't even have design tools on my computer like Coral Draw and the rest...). So, armed with my craft supplies, an old laptop I found in our archives (as my pc which I usually use has some kind of problem that has to get fixed) and the mood board I received from the photographer I started my first "real" stationery design project.

In the end (just to make sure that they had something they could use) I made 3 sets of stationery... I was so scared that they wouldn't like it or would think it wasn't good enough. Needless to say that I sat in my craft room many very late nights to finish it.

I told myself, after receiving the beautiful pictures from the photo shoot, that I should really stop doubting myself and my abilities with regards to designing and creating beautiful things...

I would really love to hear from you if you ever went through something similar, and please feel free to post pics of your projects on my Facebook Page.

I would like to thank Alicia S Photography for the opportunity to be a part of this project and also all the other service providers (Tanique Echardt: Model, Cupcakes and Candy: Cake decorations, Chantelle Nel: Make-up, Rene Nune: Hair, Alicia Smit: Photographer and stylist).

How to choose colour for special occasions - Segment 1

It's a bright in sunny day in Cape Town with a feeling of spring in the air. Sunny days like this makes me dream about colour and different colour combinations.

A question this morning about which colours to choose for a wedding, on a Facebook page I quite like, tickled my curiosity about which colour combinations are "in" at the moment for special occasions. With a quick Google I found the most amazing websites and blogs discussing just this topic. This post will be a bit of an overview on the topic and will be discussed in segments (bear with me, as I haven't decided how many yet, so just keep watching this space... :) ).

It seems that some of the first things to consider when making the colour choice is the venue. It is thus quite important to visit the place where you intend to host your wedding, party, etc. The décor at the venue is usually set and will help to give some direction to your choice of colour. For example, if the venue you've chosen for your wedding has brown curtains, it is advisable to pick a colour scheme that won't clash with that. Although these days pretty much anything goes...

The fact that it's YOUR wedding or party means that it reflects your personality in one way or another. An interesting thought is that the colours you choose may have a certain meaning. The image below is from the website My Own Bridal Show and gives you an idea of what I mean.

  

Some of the sites advise that you pick your favourite colour (visit Photodream for more info) as it will make you feel happier and less stressed on the day... Whichever way you choose to go, I've added some colours that are predicted for spring 2013 from Bait by Kiya Frazier. I personally love the turquoise and gray (maybe with a hint of yellow) combinations at the moment. To read a little more on what to keep in mind in which season, visit Bridal Guide for a few extra tips. 

A good thing to also keep in mind when choosing colour combo's for a special occasion is to consider which flowers are in season at the time and if there are flowers available to match your scheme. That said, you don't really get grey or turquoise-coloured flowers... What to do then? When faced with a dilemma like this, considering adding something else to your flower arrangements or center pieces is advised. A great variety of quirky, and colourful, options exist (which will be explored on another day and I will not go into detail for now...).  

DO keep in mind that colours for morning and evening weddings would also be chosen differently as you want to create a different atmosphere.

Some ideas for brunch or early morning weddings (so beautiful and fresh):
{Click on the caption at the bottom of the pictures to visit the websites}

Yellow and grey

Sage and mint

Citrus hues

A few ideas for evening weddings (beautifully bold):

Black and white

Navy

Eggplant and olive

I leave you with these ideas for now. Keep your eyes peeled for the next segment where I will continue on the topic of colours... Also visit The Perfect Palette for more extremely interesting colour combo ideas.

To be continued...