botanical – Sweet Violet Bride

Fiddlehead Fern Wedding Inspiration

Naomi — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 15:24:52 +0000

One of nature’s whimsical gifts, fiddleheads are the coiled fronds of young ferns. Watching them unfurl in in the spring is one of my favorite things about the season. I also love to see them incorporated into wedding bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, and even sugar fiddleheads on cakes. I’ve heard of them being called Monkey Tails, but Monkey’s freak me out, so I’m going to give them the alternative name of Butterfly Antennae. The beautiful scrolls come in a range of green to purple hues and add an instant fantastic woodland effect to your floral arrangement. I love them in any bouquet, but find them especially attractive in dark bouquets, like a few of the ones below, with almost black flowers. Fiddleheads are also a traditional springtime dish in places like New England where Ostrich ferns grow abundantly in the wild – though these are not typically the purple kind seen in bouquets. If you do find the edible kind at your local farmers market, it can be a great way to bring fresh, seasonal produce to your reception and also jazz up the visual appeal of your menu.

I was lucky enough to be invited along to our friend’s big day, this was the first time I have ever saw a full-on floral wall mural used in a wedding, it was beautiful. This was when I knew I needed to stay on top of the latest mural wallpaper trending designs. I figured there has to be a way to include wall murals in my home. I decided to put in living room wallpaper that fits my personality and that’s exactly what I did.

1) Pinterest 2) Marvin Tsai 3) Mike Brensen Photography 4) Flickr 5) Kay English 6) Finishing Touch Event Design 7) Village Green Florist (Violet Vendor) 8) Buy Poppy Pods 9) Everly True (Tumblr) 10) Melissa Tuck Photography 11) iphone wallpapers 12) Pinterest 13) Cakes We Bake 14) Minnesota Bride

11 Ways to Use Ferns in Your Wedding

Naomi — Thu, 25 May 2017 12:00:19 +0000

Ferns are undoubtedly one of the prettiest and emblematic plants in the realm of woodland style. They are also quite affordable. If you envision a wedding lush with botanicals, but don’t have the budget for hundreds of flowers, these feathery beauties might be the way to go. Here are eleven ways you can incorporate them into your big day. They’re such an easy thing to source and so elegant in their organic beauty, that you may just want to theme your entire wedding around them!

1) Wear them in your hair

Arina B Photography

Diana McGregor Photography via gws

2) Use as lay-flat table decor

decorotation.com

3) Table Garland

Eden Ingle Photo

4) Boutonnieres

Meredith Coe Photography

5) Escort Cards

via moncheri bridals

6) Place Settings and Menus

Paper Antler

paper pleasures

7) Ferns on Cakes

Photo by D’arcy Benincosa via Style Me Pretty

8) On Chair Backs

Jose Villa via Style Me Pretty

9) Along the Aisle

Pretty Planner Weddings & Events via smp

10) Fern Bouquets

Arina B Photography

11) Hanging Installations

via Pinterest

Wedding Inspiration Board #33: Boho Botanical

Naomi — Mon, 08 May 2017 12:45:18 +0000

Bohemian, or boho weddings can by styled in a number of ways, but our favorite is with a lush infusion of botanicals! We suggest a mix of greenery and flowers, as well as fun vintage prints, lots of different textures, and furniture sourced from a variety of cultures and eras. Organically styled florals in free-spirited jewel-tone shades of purples, pinks, yellows, and browns can pop against a blue backdrop, cake, or dress. By the way, if you want more botanical décor inspiration you simply must pick up the book Botanical Style by Selina Lake!

Spotlight: Custom Wedding Stationery from Basic Invite

Naomi — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:30:55 +0000

Creating a truly personalized experience for your wedding begins with paper and postage. Whether you’re looking for a rustic chic invitation suite, or a bohemian botanical save the date, truly personalized wedding stationery means you get to choose the colors, fonts, and design. I love Basic Invite because their website allows you almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. Once you choose your design you can change the color of each element on the cards to more than 160 different color options. Your card will clearly reflect who you are and the theme you’re so excited to share with your guests.

After you have fun previewing all the gorgeous designs and colors, you’ll want to order a sample before you place that order for hundreds of invites. You can order a printed sample of your actual invitation with Basic Invite so you can see exactly how it will look and feel before moving forward with your order. Something I’d highly recommend so you don’t get any surprises.

I am in love with this vintage botanical floral invitation suite featuring poppies, violets, and magnolias! How gorgeous would this be for a summer garden wedding? You can literally change the colors of all of the flowers and details in this design (though I personally love how they look already), making it quite a fun experience!

Mark your calendar! These are the stationery milestones you should pencil in on your wedding timeline:

6 months prior to your wedding day you should have chosen your colors and ordered samples. You should also order save the dates about this time.
4 months prior to your wedding day you should have your wedding invitations ordered, as well as thank you cards and bridal shower invites.
2 months prior you should mail out your wedding invitations, and order menu cards and wedding programs.

Choosing postage can be just as fun when personalizing the whole look of your invitation suite. Besides what the USPS has on offer for wedding themed stamps you can also search sites like Etsy and ebay for beautiful vintage stamps that will give your envelopes a unique look. Speaking of envelopes, Basic Invite offers 40 different colors of peel and seal envelopes to coordinate your look effortlessly.

Basic Invite is one of the most interactive wedding stationery website’s I’ve seen and it takes a lot of the frustration out of stationery shopping because you can get exactly what you want with all the custom options. I wish I’d had options like this when I got married!

*This post is sponsored by Basic Invite. All opinions are my own.

Modern Botanical Greenhouse Wedding {The Light + Color}

Naomi — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 14:30:43 +0000

Natalie and Eric had a beautiful nature inspired wedding at Tower Hill Botanical Gardens, in Massachusetts. Lush florals and a beautiful wildflower meadow in the golden sunset made for some truly romantic shots by The Light + Color. “Whenever I watch a historic period movie and they have a scene that is a summer garden party, with fabulously dressed people enjoying the outdoors, indulging in good food and wandering carefree around the beautiful, lush landscape, I desperately wish I had a time machine. So, that is what I wanted the wedding to be like. The courtyard at Tower Hill is what sold me,” Natalie says of their chosen venue. Read more about their story and special day, below.

From the Bride…

Before the Ring:

Eric and I met in college (Connecticut College). Despite our school being very small, we almost never even met. Because of my being a transfer my sophomore year and each spending semesters abroad we actually only spent one year both living on campus and two years total going to school together. I was a neuroscience major and he was a double major in film and government, so we obviously never had a class together.

We met on one occasion at the end of sophomore year through a mutual friend, Brett, and I immediately liked him. A few weeks later, I saw him in the dining hall only briefly, and then more than a year later we both hung out with friends one night. I was so excited to finally see Eric again after so long. Unfortunately, I didn’t see him again the rest of the semester, and December break soon followed. When we returned to campus, we had a formal dance where I got into a fight with one of my friends. I was really upset, and I couldn’t find any of my friends to talk to. I saw Eric and asked him if he knew where Brett was, but he didn’t. He offered to talk to me about why I was upset, and we’ve spent nearly every day together since that day 7 years ago.

Eric is from Portland, Oregon and was very homesick after spending four years on the east coast, but he agreed to stay with me in Boston to try to make our relationship work after only dating for a few weeks. We both took a huge leap of faith, and we are so happy we did. After living in Boston for a year, we moved to Portland for the next two years. Then, Eric decided to go to law school and agreed to do that in New England so that we could be close to my family. In between Oregon and New England, we got to spend three months traveling in SE Asia: Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia, Borneo, Java and Bali. Then, we drove cross country from Portland to Vermont, with Yellowstone being our favorite spot along the way.

Proposal Story:

In Eric’s last year of Vermont Law School, we attempted to go apple picking, which is one of my favorite things I do each year. The first day we went it was uncharacteristically warm for October – I felt like fainting and there were screaming children everywhere. Eric told me that we didn’t have to stay if I didn’t feel well, and we both decided to try again. The next day, we went back only to have the skies open up in a downpour the moment we drove into the lot. The third time was the charm. We had the orchard nearly to ourselves and the weather was perfect.

We headed straight for the Honeycrisp row, and I, being the intense decision maker that I am, had to thoroughly inspect each apple before trying to remove it from the tree. If a particularly good apple was out of reach, I would call over Eric to help, and we both showed off the very best apples we found to each other.

“Look at this one,” Eric said, and when I turned around, he was down on one knee with a ring. I burst out crying immediately and tried to make my brain identify what was happening in front of me. Ring? Box? Why is Eric kneeling? Proposal? What is that?

I’ve never been more confused in my life. After what seemed like 10 minutes but in reality was only seconds, I realized I hadn’t said a single word. I was just standing, clutching an apple and sobbing. You would think after being together for years that I would have seen it coming, but I didn’t. Thankfully, I was finally able to make my mouth work and remember what people say in situations like this: Yes.

Wedding Inspiration:

I was a very not-bridey bride. I never watched wedding shows, had never bought a wedding magazine, and had only ever pinned one wedding-related image. I thought that I would do those things once I got engaged, but I didn’t. Despite all this, for some reason I had filed away many little things in my mind over the years that I knew I wanted when we started planning the wedding. First of all, I knew I didn’t want a white (or off-white or bone, etc.) dress. I looked at blush and gold dresses online and saw one at BHLDN that I fell in love with right away. I even tricked Eric into approving of it by showing him every dress on the BHLDN website and covertly watching his reactions. It was the second dress that I tried on, and I knew right away it was the one. My family liked a different dress better, but I stuck with what I knew was right for me. I never even went into an actual bridal salon through the whole process.

I love wearing nature-inspired jewelry, so I looked through everything Michael Michaud offers and chose the necklace I wore. My mom gave me the bracelet to wear, and I thought the delicate design didn’t compete with the necklace but still added some sparkle. The earrings were also a wedding gift from my mom, they are aquamarine, which is Eric’s birthstone and the color of the bridesmaid dresses.

The other style details weren’t important to me. I typically wear very natural makeup, so I did the same at the wedding. I painted my toenails myself the day before and didn’t have a manicure until the morning of the wedding. I only cared that the shoes were comfortable, and they remained comfortable dancing until the very end.

The florist and I worked together to design the centerpieces, I told her I wanted fruit: lemons, limes and kumquats and I wanted it to be a variety of colors and very free-form. We looked at all the flowers in the shop and came up with the design.

Photographer: The Light + Color / Bride and Bridesmaids Dresses: BHLDN / Caterer: Fireside Catering / Invitation Designer: Minted / Floral Designer: Perros Flowers / Event Venue: Tower Hill Botanical Gardens / Invitation Designer: Wedding Paper Divas / DJ: Beat Train Productions / Submitted via Two Bright Lights

One Dozen Floral Cocktails for Spring & Summer

Naomi — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:30:03 +0000

If you love flowers as much as I do then you are going to love these spring and summer floral cocktail recipes! These are perfect for bridal showers, or if you’re looking for a signature drink for your wedding that tastes as pretty as it looks. From Chamomile honey whiskey or Elderflower and Thyme cocktails, to Lilac and Lavender Pisco’s and Lady Rose Cocktails these drinks will add some botanical beauty to your menu. Cheers!

1) Chamomile Honey and Whiskey Cocktail from A Cozy Kitchen

2) Strawberry & Jasmine Wine Cocktail from Jerry James Stone

3) Lillet Rose Spring Cocktail from Martha Stewart

4) Elderflower and Thyme Cocktail from Pink Patisserie

5) Blackberry French 75 from Heather Christo

6) Rose Water Cointreau Fizz from A Pair & A Spare

7) Lilac Pisco cocktail from Sugar & Charm

8) Lady Rose Cocktail from Jillian Harris

9) Lavender Bee’s Knees Cocktail from Style Me Pretty

10) Vodka Pear Lavender Lemonade from Sugar and Cloth

11) Lavender Pisco Sour from The Drink Blog

12) Refreshing Blueberry and Lavender Cocktail from Honest Cooking

Tried any of these, or made something similar? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Best of Sweet Violet Bride 2015

Naomi — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 14:34:36 +0000

When I sit down at the end of each year to sift through each and every post to find my “favorites” it is always a humbling experience, and a difficult task. I’ve been able to share the work of so many talented photographers and I love them all! However, I ended up narrowing it down to a dozen real weddings and a dozen styled shoots that really stuck with me this year. I hope you enjoy looking through my personal favorites (they are arranged in no particular order). It is my hope that Sweet Violet Bride continues to be a place of inspiration in 2016, for both brides and wedding professionals. A place to take pause and dream during your busy day… Happy New Year, Violets! xo – Naomi

REAL WEDDINGS

Artsy Industrial Wedding with Rustic + Vintage Details
Deer Themed Woodland Wedding
Destination Wedding in Iceland
Snowy Winter Wedding in Vermont
Hops Themed Wisconsin Farm Wedding
Light Blue Country Wedding with Rustic + DIY Details
Misty Purple + Green Yosemite Valley Wedding
Rustic Sequoia National Park Wedding
Charming South Carolina Wedding at Litchfield Plantation
Southern Vineyard Wedding
Rustic Yellow + Grey New Jersey Farmhouse Wedding
DIY Barefoot Summer Wedding

STYLED SHOOTS

Natural + Elegant Nautical Shoot in Santa Barbara
Woodsy Glamour Bridal Shoot
River Bridal Inspiration in Bend, Oregon
Peach & Teal Vintage Book Themed Wedding Inspiration
Blue & Yellow Country Chic Bridal Inspiration
Wildflower Bridal Inspiration at Stray Cat Flower Farm
Bohemian Nepali Wedding Inspiration
Rustic Blush + Peach Blossom Styled Shoot
Bright Botanical Greenhouse Editorial Shoot
Free Spirited Bohemian Styled Wedding
Lilac + Lace Country Chic Wedding Inspiration
European Style Farm-to-Table Inspired Shoot

Woodland Table Numbers: Free Wedding Printable

Naomi — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 14:00:47 +0000

Woodland weddings are my favorite! I had so much fun creating these botanical woodsy table numbers complete with ferns, mushrooms, owls, and butterflies! The backgrounds are inspired by the pages of antique botany books. You can easily print and cut these out at home for a simple DIY project that takes less than half an hour. I hope some of you will be able to use them for your woodland celebration. Download and print numbers 1-32 below.

P.S. You might also be interested in the wheat wreath , jam label , pink rose wreath , or romantic vintage rose table numbers.

I recommend printing on white cardstock. If you need them for more than 32 tables feel free to email me. Enjoy!

Woodland Table Numbers 1-4
Woodland Table Numbers 5-8
Woodland Table Numbers 9-12
Woodland Table Numbers 13-16
Woodland Table Numbers 17-20
Woodland Table Numbers 21-24
Woodland Table Numbers 25-28
Woodland Table Numbers 29-32

Sweet Violet Bride Magazine – Issue 4 is Now Available!

Naomi — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 13:30:46 +0000

So much hard work and love goes into each issue of the magazine and so it is with much excitement that I am releasing Issue 4, Summer / Fall 2015 into the world today! It is full of gorgeous natural light photography, real nature inspired weddings and inspiring styled shoots from Colorado, Utah, Russia, Ireland, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington to name a few. You’ll also find berry bouquets, DIY tutorials, an interview with plant-dyed silk ribbon artist Silk & Willow and amazing work from talented wedding artists around the world who share our love of natural wedding style.

Read the digital version on any device, or purchase a print copy here.

Cover Photo: Ashley Sawtelle / Floral Design: European Flower Shop / Styling: Laurel & Rose

Inside you’ll find 134 pages of beautiful inspiration like the glimpse below from photographer Connie Whitlock. Plus the love stories of six real couples.

As always, each issue has a round-up of hand picked natural beauty items to help you look and feel your best on your big day. You can also visit Sweet Violet Beauty for even more natural beauty finds.

I can’t wait to hear what you think about issue 4 and hope you all enjoy the beauty it contains! xo – Naomi

Modern Wildflower Wedding Inspiration {The Light + Color}

Naomi — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 14:46:44 +0000

This styled shoot from The Light + Color captures the essence of summer in Vermont so well. Born out of the Green Mountain State’s love of everything floral and the new trend of bringing in a bit of modern flair, this shoot is ripe with inspiration for your summer celebration. Stray Cat Flower Farm was the perfect setting for the elegant Watters dress and whimsical bouquet by Village Green Florist. We’ve never seen yellow, pink, and orange look so good! Zinnias, Juliet Roses, and Ranunculus, among other botanical beauties have us completely in love with the flowers here, not to mention the exquisite sugar flowers to match on the cake!

Photographer: The Light + Color / Venue: The Barn at the Intervale / Floral Designer: Village Green Florist / Bakery: Caketopia Cakes / Dress Designer: Wtoo by Watters / Dress from: Fiori Bridal Boutique / Hair Stylist: Kerry Armstrong~ Formal Hair Design / Makeup Artist: makeup artist Jennifer Perellie / Submitted via Two Bright Lights