Board Poinsettias in Pink

Today's winter wedding board draws its inspiration from a classic harbinger of the holidays, the poinsettia. But instead of the traditional red, I've used poinsettias in various shades of pink and cream. With a mostly white palette and lots of candles, the pink isn't cloying - though it would certainly make for a sweet bridal shower as well as a wedding or holiday party. Invitations are all white, except for calligraphy lettered in pink ink, and they're finished off with white twine and sealing wax (if you want to send envelopes wrapped in twine, you'll need to put them inside glassine envelopes for mailing). I imagined this as a simple tea reception, with cake and candies, and of course champagne and tea - a budget-friendly option that's charming and sophisticated.

Mood: warm, charming
Palette: poinsettia pink, candlelight white

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Top row from left: poinsettia wreath from Matthew Mead Style, white Christmas crackers from Rebecca Thuss, red calligraphy from Mr Boddington's Studio, red-lipped bride with pale pink dress from Martha Stewart Weddings
Row 2: various white candies via The Bride's Guide, blusher veil photo by Corbin Gurkin, tea cake from Crown & Crumpet, ceremony site with candles from Wonderful Graffiti
Row 3: bouquet with cattleya orchids from Martha Stewart Weddings, envelope with twine and wax seal from Linea Carta, vintage gloves photo by Anna Kuperberg, pink poinsettia from Matthew Mead Style

A Winter Holiday Soiree

I've posted a number of winter wedding inspiration boards this week and last, so when my sweet friend Janie at The Bride's Cafe asked if I'd like to share this winter holiday shoot with you here on Snippet & Ink, I jumped at the chance. And that was before I'd even seen the photos! Created by some wonderfully talented ladies, including Janie, Courtney from Merriment Events, and Katie from Open Air Photography, this lovely shoot is exactly what I love - beautiful and thoughtful without being overdone. Whether you're looking for inspiration for your winter wedding or for next week's holiday party, you'll definitely find some great ideas here...

The tree was decorated with pine cones and mercury glass ornaments hung with jute twine.

Courtney created this garland by stamping the letters on vintage tags, then stringing them on jute twine.

Vintage sheet music can be found throughout the shoot, from accordion "garlands" on the mantle, to paper pinwheels, to gift wrap. (Can you see the name on that gift tag? It's Kathryn! How much did that make my day!)

Gifts were also wrapped with kraft paper and tied with gold ric rac, upholstery ribbon, or green satin. This one was embellished with vintage skeleton keys.

The mantle was decorated with various flowers in mercury glass vases and a vintage box filled with jute twine and silver ornaments. Silver serving trays were hung on the wall above the mantle - what a simple and effective way to fill up wall space!

Janie decorated the table with white amaryllis, French anemones, Victoria white ranunculus, supergreen parrot tulips, and white peonies all in mercury glass vases. Using only one type of flower in each vase allows each flower to stand out, and is simple solution for centerpieces. The amaryllis arrangements are rather tall, so they can be removed once guests are seated to allow for conversation across the table.

The menus were lettered in the shape of a star, and embellished with little stars made of sheet music.

Menus and place cards were calligraphed by Jen at Pretty Pen Jen, using gold ink on ivory paper.

Croquembouche is a perfectly dramatic and appropriate dessert choice for a winter wedding or party. This one, created by Jenny at Sweetest Thing Bakery, is drizzled in white chocolate.

For the winter brides out there, a bouquet of white peonies, gray dusty miller, nearly black privet berries, and tied with beautiful striped French wire ribbon.

Thank you so so much to all of these talented ladies for sharing this beautiful winter shoot with us - now I can't wait to throw a holiday dinner party! I hope we'll be able to have all of you back on Snippet & Ink again very soon.

Photography: Katie Stoops at Open Air Photography

Styling: Courtney Spencer at Merriment Events / Little White Book)

Flowers: Janie Medley at JM Flora / The Bride's Cafe)

Calligraphy: Pretty Pen Jen

Cake: Sweetest Thing Bakery

Hair and makeup: Sarah Valentine at Mango Hair Salon

Board Gingerbread and Lavender

This is sort of a mini-inspiration board - it just worked better this way than with any of the other images I tried to fit into it. Sometimes less is more...

If you're a winter bride who loves lavender, how about a bouquet of dried lavender, wrapped in soft velvet ribbon? After the ceremony, treat your guests to dessert and champagne (I'm dead set on bringing this type of reception back, can you tell?). Gingerbread linzertorte is a perfectly appropriate, yet totally unexpected, winter wedding "cake." Each dessert certainly doesn't need to be color coordinated, but the table also doesn't have to look like a middle school bake sale. Arrange things thoughtfully, maybe with a small vase of flowers, and let this table of sweets be the focal point in the room. Unless you're lucky enough to hold your reception in a room with a working fireplace - that would be the perfect focal point for a winter wedding. You'll have one less thing to worry about if you skip the party favors, though you might make small glassine bags available for guests to take some chocolate truffles home with them.

So what do you think? Can you still get a sense of this wedding with only 6 images?

Mood: sweet and simple
Palette: gingerbread, faded lavender, rosé

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Top row from left: winter bride and groom from Brides, champagne coupes filled with rosé and chocolate truffles both from Martha Stewart Weddings

Row 2: gingerbread linzertorte from Martha Stewart, dried lavender bouquet with velvet ribbon photo by Elizabeth Messina, snow-topped church

Things are winding down here at Snippet & Ink - this is the last inspiration board of 2009! I've still got a few beautiful posts lined up for you, though, before heading out for the holiday. Later this morning, I'll be posting a beautiful shoot that Janie Medley, Courtney Spencer, Katie Stoops, and some other talented folks put together just for us! It's full of winter and holiday inspiration for a wedding or dinner party, so don't miss out on that. Also, don't forget to enter in the Ban.do giveaway before Thursday at midnight!