David's Bridal

Karen Bussen, Celebrity Wedding Planner & Author
BLOOMING BASICS: Choosing Flowers for Your Big Day

Beautiful flowers add magic and romance to your wedding celebration, so choose them carefully to reflect your color palette, your personal style, and your budget. For me, flowers are a passion, and I’m excited to share some of my favorite tips to help your big day blossom into everything you’re imagining.

Shop smart. After deciding on your mood and overall décor, compare at least two written proposals from recommended florists, and check references. Seasonal flowers are often less expensive, so ask your florist to help you with what’s best at your time of year, or what substitutions can be made to help save money.
Also, find ways to get double duty out of your floral décor. I made these sweet dahlia escort card bud vases which had three uses—cards attached to the stems told guests which table to sit at, then when the guests carried the bud vases to their tables, the “arrangement” became the centerpiece. At the end of the night, everyone took their bud vase home as a pretty guest favor.

Photo by William Geddes from Simple Stunning Wedding Flowers.

Let your floral choices blossom everywhere. Add a floral motif to your invitations—did you know the David’s Bridal site has a whole section of invitations with floral and botanical themes? I love this beautiful budding design.

Let your bridesmaids bloom. Choose bouquets that complement your ladies’ style and dresses. I love the new trend of creating a slightly different bouquet for each bridesmaid—it makes each girl look and feel special.

Have your dream bouquet! No matter your budget, you, The Bride, should carry your favorite flowers. And here’s a little tidbit of floral history. Your groom’s lapel flower is called a boutonniere. Tradition says that he should wear a blossom as if plucked from your bouquet. Isn’t that sweet?

photo by William Geddes, from Simple Stunning Weddings

The key to beautiful wedding flowers is equal parts inspiration and organization. Use the tips here and I promise you’ll watch your wedding vision bloom before your very eyes!

Karen Bussen, Celebrity Wedding Planner & Author
THE FINE PRINT: Inspired Invitations and Wedding Stationery

If you’re newly engaged, I’ll bet you may have already started thinking about your wedding invitations. But while the main invitation is the center of your wedding stationery, there are many other printed pieces you may want to coordinate—save-the-dates, ceremony programs, menus, escort cards (those are the cards that tell guests at which table they’ll be seated), and of course thank you notes! Here some of my favorite tips to help you create a stunning suite of wedding stationery.

First things first: identify your priorities. Before you can order invitations—or even save-the date cards—you’ll need to choose a venue and a date. Let the time of year and your chosen setting inspire your stationery. If your tastes run more toward classic elegance, choose invitations and printed accessories that match that mood, like these pieces I coordinated from the David’s Bridal invitation site. I am loving the gunmetal silver ribbon with the black and white invitation, and the other pieces play off this theme of timeless sophistication. Shipping is free if you spend $150. That leaves a little for an extra pair of shoes!   

If your style is funkier, play with form, pattern, and color and layer your accessories to add a powerful visual punch to your reception. This fresh retro invitation set just says “festive” to me!

Know the rules. Everyone who receives a save-the-date card must receive a wedding invitation, even if they tell you in advance that they won’t be able to make it. Check all your grammar, spelling and addresses very carefully before going to print on any wedding stationery. Ask your caterer and venue to take a look at your final wording for menu cards, and consider letting your officiant take a look at your program before you sign off.

Try to send your wedding invitations at least six to eight weeks in advance of the celebration to give guests plenty of time to respond. When gifts arrive, make sure to send out hand written, personally signed thank you cards as soon as possible—I suggest within one month—and always mention the specific gift so that the giver will know how much you appreciate that fabulous new copper tea kettle or those Egyptian cotton towels! Also remember, if you’ll use your thank you cards before the wedding date, just have them printed with your first names (Ashleigh and Andrew), since you don’t want to use your married name before the Big Day. I do suggest ordering extra thank you cards, as you can always use them after the wedding as your personal couple stationery.

Don’t forget about your satellite celebrations. Showers, engagement parties, even your rehearsal dinner or welcome celebration—each piece can tie together with your invitation or have its own distinct personality to match the party vibe. Rehearsal dinner invites can be sent out closer to the wedding date, but if possible allow at least four to five weeks so you have time to firm up numbers and details with your restaurant or caterer.

Karen Bussen, Celebrity Wedding Planner & Author

Your wedding invitations are often the first design element of your celebration you’ll share with guests, a hint of what’s to come on the big day itself. While the whole world is going digital, and I consider it completely acceptable to invite folks to brunch or a rehearsal dinner via email or one of the online services, I am a believer in a printed wedding invitation. It’s too important of an event to let the invitation disappear into the ether of the virtual world!
With so many great choices out there, deciding which invitation is right for you can be overwhelming. Here are some insider tips to help you in your search.

o Start with your location and mood. If you’ll be married in a historic space in a black tie ceremony, you might want to opt for a more classic, simple, elegant look for your invitations. If you’ll tie the knot at the beach, a more natural, elemental design might be better. And for a more funky celebration, a bold floral or print could be just the ticket. Write down some adjectives that describe the mood you want to create for your wedding, and use them to guide your whole design process, starting with your invitations.
o Next stop: Color. If you’ve already chosen the colors you want to feature at your wedding, congratulations! You’re a step ahead. If not, start by flipping through magazines or looking online at bridesmaid dress hues and flowers for inspiration. Again, keep your mood in mind—spicier colors for a spicier mood, for example. Then, stick with your chosen color palette as you make decisions about all your design elements, including invitations.
One of the things I love about shopping for invitations on davidsbridal.com is that you can view the designs by color, so you can browse all the options within one color way. I also like that many of the designs are available in multiple hues, so that you can customize your favorite design to match your wedding palette.
o The whole package. Think of your wedding stationery as a “suite” of pieces, like a well-coordinated wardrobe. While your save-the-dates don’t necessarily have to match your thank-you notes, you will make more of a powerful design statement if you choose elements that harmonize with one another in style and color. Also, you can often get a discount if you order multiple pieces together. And you’ll want to make sure you have those thank-you notes handy early in the process so you can send them off as soon as gifts start to arrive!
o Order extras. Remember, you’ll want to save a few copies of your whole invitation suite as a keepsake of the occasion, and you’ll want to have a few extra copies just in case. So add a few extra invites onto your order and you’ll be good to go!
o Stamp of approval. Check out great online sites like zazzle.com to personalize your wedding postage. You can upload photos or artwork to coordinate with your invitations.