And that's the feel of this 4th of July wedding - an easy and relaxed wedding in the back yard with your friends, some kids, and the one you love.
Starting off, I wanted the bride to be in something comfortable and breezy, and I came across this cute strapless dress (very summery) from Monsoon. I wanted to bring the red, white, and blue into the color scheme without making it crazy (what do I mean by crazy? look at this horrible dress). So I decided to put the bridesmaids in one color, and make the groomsmen's tie the opposite. Since white is the bride's color, and red dresses are a bit flashy, blue it is! And then! Oh! I came across this so so cute gingham dress from God Diva in the UK, and this made me think, "bam! here's our overall theme!" So for the groomsmen, red gingham ties to go with their cream-color suits. Love it!
My next thought was flowers. Something simple yet American, thinking 'girl next door' influence. Gerber daisy's. You've got the simplicity and innocence of a daisy, yet it's just a little more dressed up for a wedding (and comes in different colors!). For the bride - a bouquet of red Gerber daisy's. For the bridesmaids, white Gerber daisy's (for the contrast to their outfits and the bride's bouquet). From there, I found this cute centerpiece idea of the daisy's in a shallow vase with a striped ribbon around the base - just substitute a red, white, and blue ribbon, change up the flower colors per table, and there you go!
The tables, a nice play on the gingham for the tablecloth. Stick with one color for all the tablecloths - having both a blue and a red tablecloth (one table with blue, one table with red, etc) will actually take away from the cohesiveness of the look.
The ceremony - again, want simple. So for the aisle chairs, such a cute idea, little blue paper lanterns hung by red ribbon. I absolutely adore this idea! And, they can be moved to tree branches when the sun starts to set to add romantic lighting.
For the invitations I wanted to, again, find something that conveyed the color-link to the Fourth, without going crazy (like that dress above). So I hunted and found this pretty white invite with a blue and red ribbon, and the envelope has a blue inside as well. It doesn't scream '4th of July', but makes it obvious when your guests read the invites. Perfect.
So I needed a few more things. I didn't want to add fireworks 'cuz they are very very dangerous for kids to play with, and hiring professionals costs a few thousand dollars and this isn't that kind of wedding. So how to incorporate firework fun without firetruck eventuality? Martha Stewart showed me the way. I love this - add some glitter (in the wedding colors) to some balloons (in the wedding colors) and then fill with helium. This is uber easy to do at your local Michael's. Then, let the kids loose with a little pin. You get the pop and sparkle from the sky like a firework, but won't burn down the house!
The signature drink needed to be something refreshing (as guests are most likely very hot at this point), so mixing some punch, I've got a great recipe for a champagne punch - perfect for a wedding, and put them in a highball glass. Another cute idea, add a little 4th of July umbrella to make it fun.
Something I saw once a few years ago and absolutely loved, individual pies for each guest. But to make it extra neat, have some pies be cherry pies, and some pies be blueberry pies. This way, you're bringing the color scheme into your desserts in a unique way. And last but not least - the cake. There's a lot of interesting Independance Day cakes out there. But this one from the Oh Joy Blog (bakery not noted), is the perfect mix of fun, cute, and color. And the best part? It's got gingham ribbon!
{Rebekah} 4th of July: Love on the Fourth of July by bekahross
