Dried Flower Monogrammed Wreath (Photo by Lone Pine Photography)

These are the supplies I used to make my wreath:

• Wreath frame (I used a foam one, but suggest a natural material)
• Dried flowers (I used lavender as it smells WONDERFUL, but you could any flower – dried or artificial)
• Moss (I used about 3 packages of moss for this project)
• Wooden letter
• Ribbon
• Hot Glue
• Green Floral Wire

Foam wreath frame

To start off with, I covered my wreath with moss using a hot glue gun.  I cut the moss into to sections to cover the wreath front and sides.  I didn’t put any moss on the back as my wreath was hung on a tree, but if yours is hanging in the open, you might want to cover the back as well.  This was probably the most time consuming  of this project.

Covering the wreath with dried moss

You may want to let your wreath dry for a little while before affixing the flowers.

Next, I took my dried lavender stems and arranged them around my wreath in a pattern that I liked and wrapped wire around each one, twisting the wire on the back of the wreath so that it doesn’t move, and cutting the ends off.  I also stuck the sharp ends into my foam so they didn’t catch on anything.  The wire blends in with the moss to hide it and you can also tuck stray flower pieces in to cover the wreath up.  If you also glued moss to the back side, you may want to glue some more moss over the wire cover it.  I also added a little moss on the front to cover some exposed wires on the front, that way it would blend seamlessly.

I’m sorry that I don’t have any pictures to add here of the flower wiring process, but it was close to my wedding when I was finishing this project and I didn’t take time for pictures.

I then attached my wooden letter to the bottom of my wreath (of course you could put yours on the top, too, or you could have letters for each of your names as well — pretty much whatever suits your fancy!).  My letter had hooks on it, so it was easy to wire the letter on the frame.  I put another wooden letter without hooks on a ready-made frame that was hung on a gate leading into our wedding area and wrapped wire around the base to attach it.  My letter for the lavender wreath was already painted white, so I didn’t have to do anything to it, but you might want to paint yours or add glitter or designs.

I then made a hanger loop out of floral wire to hang the wreath by wrapping wire around the top and twisting it into a loop.  And then I tied some ribbon into a bow and wired that on as well and VOILA! my wreath was done!

(Photo by Lone Pine Photography)

And here’s my other wreath, which was a ready-made one I bought at JoAnn’s and just added a wooden “H” too.

(Photo by Lone Pine Photography)

Anyway…..I am hoping that a new trend begins and perhaps these style setters will bring classic gowns like these back into the fold.

Ivanka Trump in Vera Wang

The first beautiful gown I saw with sleeves in the past few years was this  Vera Wang creation that Ivanka Trump wore to her October 25, 2009 wedding to Jared Kushner.

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump

Ivanka’s gown is reminiscent of Grace Kelly’s 1956 wedding dress.  It’s a romantic modest ivory gown with hand-appliqued lace overlays (three layers!). So classically and beautifully simple.

Jared Kushner & Ivanka Trump

Lauren Bush in Ralph Lauren

Lauren Bush married David Lauren on September 4, 2011 in one of the most beautiful wedding gowns that I’ve ever laid eyes on.  Her gown, designed by the groom’s father, Ralph Lauren, looks even more superb in the gorgeous vintage style photographs.

Lauren Bush & David Lauren

Lauren’s ivory gown is layered with lace and hand-embroidered antique tulle of silk and metallic thread, Swarovski crystals and pearl beads.  It is a lavishly spectacular gown topped off with a veil reminiscent of the 1920′s.

Lauren Bush & David Lauren

And the open back adds some modern elegance to her old west vintage style. Definitely triple A pluses in my gradebook!

Lily Allen in Delphine Manivet

Lily Allen married Sam Cooper on June 11, 2011 in this beautiful custom lace gown by Delphine Manivet.

Lily Allen

What I think makes her ensemble so stunning is the 1920′s cloche veil she wears which I fell in love with at first sight.  Lily’s floral embellished veil looks gorgeous with her lace and silk tulle gown.

Sam Cooper & Lily Allen

Lily’s dress elegantly embraces her baby bump without over-emphasizing it.  I love the simplicity and the romance of her ensemble.

Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) in Carolina Herrera

No, she’s not a real bride, but I have to include Bella’s dress from Breaking Dawn.  This dress is even more fabulous than the one described in the book and is quite apropos for a bride marrying a vintage vampire.

Edward Cullen and Bella Swan

Bella’s handmade dress is a beautiful adaptation of a 1930′s style gown made of crepe back satin and Chantilly lace and features an open back with a paisley design.

Bella

Edward Cullen & Bella Swan

Bella Swan

I just love the Chantilly lace cuffs on the sleeves and all of the buttons. Gorgeousness at it’s finest!

And we just cannot forget the wedding gown of 2011 . . . .

Kate Middleton in Alexander McQueen

This demure royal gown designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen worn by Kate Middleton marriage to Prince William on April 29, 2011 has already become as iconic as Grace Kelly’s gown which Kate’s is most certainly reminiscent of.

Prince William & Kate Middleton

Honestly, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the most talked about gown of the year when I first glimpsed it, but after seeing the details more closely, I fell in love with it.  Kate’s dress, made of ivory and white satin gazar and covered in silk tulle,  French Chantilly lace and English Cuny lace is fashion design and couture craftsmanship at it’s best. The more I study this gown with it’s nine foot train, the more astounded I am at it’s beauty.

Kate Middleton

Kate Middleton

Kate Middleton's wedding gown

Kate Middleton's wedding gown

And NO, I cannot get enough of looking at the fine details of this gown…..

Here’s hoping that the trend is over for cookie-cutter brides in the same strapless gown.  Yay for vintage!

Art Nouveau wine label (photo by Rachel Gorham)

They looked so pretty on our wine table, with rows of bottles, glasses and the engraved silver ice chest.

Wine table (photo by Lone Pine Photography)

(photo by Lone Pine Photography)

I bought these labels from Colorful Images and they are listed as “vintage poster all-purpose labels (if you’re doing a search).  They have five different designs, plus some vintage poster envelope seals that I also bought which were intended to close shut cones of rose petals for throwing during the recessional.  I decided instead to use wedding wands and used the seals for our wedding thank you cards.  There are a plethora of places where you could these labels at your wedding and they are so gorgeous and perfect for an Art Nouveau or vintage inspired wedding.

Carrying my bridal purse on my wedding day (photo by Lone Pine Photography)

My bridal purse is made out of silk dupioni with a Victorian reproduction brass purse frame.  It has a silk ribbon handle, a silk rosette in the center and is also lined with silk.

Bridal purse by Tanya Maile Hughes (photo by Lone Pine Photography)

This purse is one-of-a-kind and is one that I will not be recreating.  It is my most favorite of all the purses that I’ve made so far (and yes, I make them and sell them in my etsy shop!)

I also made this purse for my mother-in-law with the same fabrics from her Edwardian style my gown.  It is champagne satin with an embroidered and sequined net overlay, a gold purse frame and hand-beaded with gold Czechslovakian seed beads.

Alana's purse by Tanya Maile Hughes

I wanted to make one for my mom, too, but she doesn’t carry small purses (my mom is a woman who likes to carry everything with her! lol).  I considered making them for my bridesmaids as well, but as I had a large bridal party and was making their dresses, I didn’t go that route.  I did make one for my maid of honor out of her royal blue crepe back satin dress fabric with a chiffon rosette and blue beadwork, but didn’t take a pic of it…..

Here are some samples of a few purses that I’ve made which are for sale in my etsy shop.

Lavender silk dupioni purse with fine silver lace overlay & silver beaded frame by Tanya Maile Hughes

Peacock silk dupioni purse with silk rosette and beaded frame by Tanya Maile Hughes

Ivory silk dupioni purse with silk rosette and gold beaded frame by Tanya Maile Hughes

I take custom orders for purses and I can make one to match your bridal vision!  And of course, these will also look good as evening bags!  Right now I have a custom order to make to match a Victorian bustle gown and I think it will be awesome.

There is an Italian tradition that a bride carries a purse called a bomboniere on her wedding day to keep cash in it.  She carries it around to her guests to collect their monetary gifts.  I thought I would use mine for the same purpose, but at my wedding, the guests put their bills in our cards, so I suppose our card box served that purpose.

Carrying a bridal purse on your wedding is a personal decision.  Some brides may prefer to simplify their trousseau and others may want to accessorize and add their own unique personal touch.

For custom gowns you will need the following measurements:

• Bust
• Waist
• Hips
• Dress Length

It’s also advisable to provide your bra size (hopefully you’ve already been custom fitted for a bra and are wearing the correct size!) and your arm width if you are wearing a gown with sleeves or a jacket.

BUST

Measure the bust line at the fullest part of your chest. Stand naturally with your heels together and arms resting by the side of your body. Position the tape so that it covers the widest part of the back and the fullest part of the chest.

WAIST

Place your hands at your natural waistline. This is where the tape should be positioned. If you can not find your natural waist, stand with your feet slightly apart and bend to the side. Where your waist creases is the natural waist.

HIPS

Stand naturally with your heels together in a relaxed pose. Measure with the tape around the fullest part of the hips. Do not pull the tape tight.

DRESS LENGTH

Make sure that you have on shoes similar to the height of the ones you’ll be wearing with your garment.

Front:
1.From shoulder to waist.
2.From waist to top of foot (or desired length)

Back:
1. From bottom of your neck (where your neck meets your shoulders) to your waist.
2. From waist to floor.

ARM WIDTH

For gowns with sleeves or jackets, I suggest taking the following measurements to ensure a good fit.

1. Stand with your arm out and measure the circumference of your biceps (the widest part of your upper arm).
2 For gowns/jackets with 3/4 length sleeves: measure the circumference of your arm below your elbow.
3. For gowns/jackets with full length sleeves: measure the circumference of your wrist.

If you have these measurements down, you will certainly be on your way to a custom couture fit!

Our Custom Cake Topper

Custom cake topper by Alana Bennett and pansy cake by Karen Cutter (photo by Lone Pine Photography)

Custom cake topper by Alana Bennett (photo by Rachel Gorham)

My mother-in-law doesn’t usually make these as the dolls are expensive and hard to find, but she found these and made tiny little outfits for them.  I had considered using the topper from my grandparents’ 1946 wedding,  but kept their topped packed away and made new memories with this topper, which now sits in our china hutch with our wedding crystal and other keepsakes.

Custom Bridal Dolls

Custom bridal dolls by Alana Bennett (photo by Lone Pine Photography)

Custom bridal dolls by Alana Bennett (photo by Nubia Gonzalez)

These are gorgeous Tonner dolls adorned with our wedding outfits.  Mine even has my calla lily bouquet and bridal bouquet and my husband’s even has a peacock feather boutonniere!  Some people have swatches of fabric from their wedding dress for a keepsake — we have doll-sized recreations!

Our dolls stand in a bookcase with our framed wedding photos and wedding albums.  I can’t look at my wedding dress and trousseau everyday, but I can look at a miniature version and remember our wedding day. <3

If you want to have a personalized addition to your wedding, please visit my mother-in-law’s website.

And here is the RL version of our dolls.

Tanya & Brian Hughes (photo by Lone Pine Photography)

Tanya Maile Hughes & her Bridal Party (photo by Lone Pine Photography)

From left to right: Sarah, Nubia, Elle, Jo, Ashlyn, the Bride, Shea, Jen, Shannon, Vera & Ola; in front, Samaire

My bridesmaids’ dresses are based on a 1920′s Art Deco painting (will post that later as it has to be scanned) and are made of emerald green crepe-back satin and are adorned with chiffon rosettes with swarovski crystals in the center.  They wore their dresses with peacock feather hair combs.  Every gown was made to each bridesmaid’s specifications as I wanted each one of my girls to be comfortable.  I had originally envisioned making low-waist dresses, but decided against it as those are not flattering on everyone.  I was so happy on how these turned out.

Our niece, Vera (photo by Lone Pine Photography)

My bridesmaids traveled from New York, South Dakota, Colorado and from here in California to support me on my wedding day.  I also had two other great friends who served as the reader during our ceremony and the VIP in charge of the guestbook and greeting guests (my beautiful dear friend who was our reader even traveled here from Denmark!)  They also helped to create my wedding vision as they were to here to help set everything up and decorate.  Words cannot express how loved I felt when they were here taking care of every little detail.  I really could not ask for more. <3

Our Guestbook gal Serena, our Reader Anita, and BM's Jo, Elle & Sarah (photo by Lone Pine Photography)

My wedding gown is a late-Edwardian style gown with Art Nouveau details made of ivory peau de soie satin and silk chiffon with silk satin ribbons and vintage  pearls.

The main inspiration for my dress is one of my favorite gown designs – Rose’s “swimdress” from the Titanic.

Rose's "Swim Dress"

I love the robe overdresses of the Edwardian era.  This dress is reminiscent of an Edwardian teadress and to me, is gorgeous in it’s simplicity.

But I veered a bit away from my original vision and chose a different look for my wedding day.

This is my wedding gown.  It is ivory peau de soie heavy satin with a beaded French Alencon lace insert on the bodice (the same lace as my veil), a rosette of silk dupioni and silk satin ribbons.

My wedding gown

The back of wedding gown features a corset back with silk satin ribbons.  I also added two little rosettes on the top edges.

The back of my wedding gown

And then I saw this gown on vintagetextile.com and knew that I had to have some pearls…..

Perry estate satin wedding gown, 1908

I had decided to wear a strand of my grandmother’s pearls with my wedding ensemble and knew that this would work well.  Oh pearls….. love …. love …. love….

Perry estate satin wedding gown, 1908

So going along the lines of this Edwardian gown for my inspiration, I added swags of pearls to the bodice, exactly matching the set of vintage pearls I would be wearing on my wedding day.

The new bodice

And then a major modification was this silk dupioni bridal bolero jacket that I made and loved so much that I opted to wear it with my gown rather than the original overdress that I had designed and created. It has ruffled edges reminiscent of Victorian and Edwardian fashion, rosettes and pearls in the rosettes and is lined with satin.

My bridal jacket

Originally I was going to wear my overdress for the ceremony and then change into my jacket for the reception, but after making the jacket and trying it on with my dress, it was definitely what I wanted.

I wore my wedding gown with these Stuart Weitzman heels….

My Stuart Weitzman wedding shoes (Photo by Lone Pine Photography)

And then changed into a pair of Jimmy Choo sandals for the reception.

And here is me in my wedding gown with my handmade ensemble, including my handsewn English cotton net and French Alencon lace mantilla veil.

Tanya Maile Hughes (photo by Lone Pine Photography)

Close=up of my mantilla veil (photo by Rachel Gorham)

Rosettes (photo by Lone Pine Photography)

Pearls, ribbons, silk and satin (photo by Lone Pine Photography)

But I did end up wearing my overdress as we had some family photos taken after our wedding.

Tanya Maile Hughes (photo by Rachel Gorham)

(P.S. I’ve recently designed a few bridal jackets and  making samples and will be offering them soon in my etsy shop.

I purchased my paper materials from www.paperandmore.com . I looked around and they were the best value. Beforehand, I ordered plenty of samples to check out the different papers and colors and made a couple of mock invitations to see how they printed. I made my invitations on Microsoft Word 2007 and printed them off on my HP Deskjet.

These are the materials I used for this project:

– Computer, word processing program and printer (and lots of ink!)
– Paper cutter
– Ruler
– A-7 Pocketfold Invitation Cards (you can use the other sizes as well, but will need to modify paper sizes)
– Heavy card stock (80#) (for the mat)
– Text paper (70#) (for the invitation and inserts)
– A-7 Envelopes (outer envelope)
– 4 Bar Envelopes (RSVP envelope)
– Ribbon (for the “belly band”)
– Adhesive squares (I found photo mounting squares to be the easiest to use)

First, you will need to make your invitation. I practiced this for quite a while before getting it the way I wanted it. I initially was going to use Art Nouveau fonts, but found them to be a little hard to read (I was considering our elderly guests in that quotient), but instead used my favorite font (FeelScript) and TrajanPro. Both go well together and are classic, easy-to-read font styles.

To make my invitation, I put my page layout to “landscape” and made two columns, adjusting the margins and centering the text. It will take some time to get this right, but practice makes perfect! My margins were set at 1″ for every side on each column. I also read a lot about invitation wording and etiquette beforehand and looked at different examples I found online. If you have a problem with making your invitation, I suggest the website: www.downloadandprint.com — there are mahy different design templates and some are available to download for free.

After designing my invitation, I worked on the inserts. I had three in my invitations == 1. an explanation of our theme, events,location and our wedding website; 2. Directions; and 3. RSVP card. I used the same fonts for the inserts as the invitation to make it pleasing to the eye. For insert #1 I made my document with three columns and the top, left and right margins at .25″, with the bottom being .5″. I have a heading on the top with my script font so that it will show like a tab when the inserts are all in my pocketfold. Insert #2 also has three columns and the same margins as #1, but I ensured that I didn’t fill up the entire column as this insert needs to be smaller than the first in order to lay right. BTW: I suggest copying and pasting your text info on each of these so that they’re all the same. For insert #3 I made a little box with the RSVP information and copied and pasted, fitting six on each page. I used the text paper for this, but I’d suggest a thicker weight paper for the RSVP.

My invitation has one mat (teal) against the backdrop of the pocketfold (purple), which makes it look like it has two mats. You could have more mats if you choose, but would need to adjust the size of your invitation. Also, if you are not having a mat and only an invitation against the pocketfold backdrop, I would suggest using a heavier weight paper than the text paper.

I cut my invitations and inserts to the following sizes using my paper cutter: (If you are using a different size pocketfold, you’ll have to adjust the sizes.)
– Invitation 4 1/4″ W x 6 1/4 L
– Mat 4 3/4″ W x 6 3/4″ L
– Insert #1 3 1/4″ W x 6 3/4″ L
– Insert #2 3 1/4″ W x 6″ L
– Insert #3 3 1/4″ W x 3 1/2″ L

I have seen tutorials on how to construct your own pocketfold, but found that too be too time consuming and not as professional and nice looking as buying your pocketfolds.

For cutting out the invites, I suggest doing these in parts and on different days so that you don’t stress yourself out and make them messy looking. I cut and constructed my invitations without any help as I’m a perfectionist, but my husband helped out when we made our announcements (which were similar but without the inserts).

After cutting the invitations and inserts, I affixed the invitation paper to the mat, ensuring that it was centered properly and looked nice. You could use a ruler for this. I used photo mounting squares (bought in the scrapbook section at Michaels) as I found them to work the best. Some people use paste or sticky adhesive dots, but these are better in my opinion. I then mounted the invitation and mat to the center section of the pocketfold. Then I lined up my inserts, placing in the pocket with the RSVP card set inside it’s envelope and placed in front of the other inserts. I also put an engagement photo in with each one of our invitations.

I had also initially made envelope liners for my invitations, but found that to be way too much work and only sent those out with a few of my invitations.

I looked at and tried different methods of “tying” the pocketfolds closed and came up with using satin ribbon as the “belly band” and closing the ends with an adhesive dot. I went the extra mile on mine and made little matted tags with our guests’ names and put them in the center of the ribbon band with an adhesive dot. This also worked well to hide the cuts of the ribbon where they were affixed together.

Guest Tags and Ribbon Bands

I bought a custom Art Deco stamp on etsy which I then stamped on the back of the sealed envelopes and used my calligraphy skills to address them. I also used vintage style address labels that I purchased from Victorian Trading Co. which completed my look. FYI: These invitations will cost more to send out. Mine were 64 cents a piece and if you have more inserts and/or use heavier papers they may cost more. The USPS has a nice wedding cake 64 cent stamp, which is the one that I used for my invitations. You could also buy different stamps that go along with your theme and combine them.

Our custom-made Art Deco stamp as "seals" on our envelopes

Front of envelopes

Make sure that you keep a copy of your invitation for yourself!

Photo by Lone Pine Photography

Peacock feather beaded hair comb (photo by Rachel Gorham)

Materials needed:

– seed beads

– jewelry wire

– swarovski crystals

– hair combs

– felt

– peacock feathers (small eyes)

– glue gun and glue sticks

– beading thread

– beading needles

First, I followed this tutorial to make the beaded flowers, using size 11 seed beads in various colors to coordinate with my bridesmaid’s dresses.  I added swarovski crystals in the centers of my beaded flowers to add a little sparkle.  I formed a wire loop on the backs of the flowers so that I could later sew them on.

The next step was to cut strips of felt the same length as my combs. I used faux tortoiseshell combs and green felt, of which I only needed to buy a small piece of felt for this project.  I then cut and trimmed my peacock feathers and arranged them on my pieces of felt before adhering the quills with hot glue.  I tried different methods for the feathers and found that a small amount of hot glue worked the best.  After the glue dried I beaded the felt strips with coordinating seed beads over the feather stems, covering up the glue.  If you are not a beader, I’d suggest reading some beading tutorials first before proceeding.  You could stop here if you just want a beaded peacock feather without the flower, like this one I made for my a good friend who read a literary passage during our ceremony.

Peacock feather beaded hair comb (photo by Rachel Gorham)

After I completed my beaded felt strips I sewed my beaded flowers on to the strips, sewing around the back wire loop and into the middle of my felt strip, avoiding the hot glue, feathers and between the rows of beads.  Sew until the flower is firmly in place and then place a strip of hot glue on the back of the felt and affix to the comb.

And then you’re done and hopefully will end up with something like this:

Peacock feather beaded hair comb