Surprisingly, blue can be found in flowers such as hydrangeas and muscari, so it’s still possible to use in all parts of your decor beyond linens, hot shoes and candles.

Peaches are romantic, sensual, girly and move into the realm of vintage easily.  It is the color of old pearls, your grandmother’s dress-up clothes, and dried flowers.  It can be surprisingly fresh in cocktails and cobbler desserts, and interestingly modern if used in surprising places, such as your purse, the sash of your dress, or in your hors ‘d oeuvres.

However you end up skewing the two colors, it’s an unique and extremely flexible.  Have fun!!

Plus, with our unique Shakespearean theme, we got a boatload of great press from onmilwaukee.com and TMJ4.  Romeo and Juliet wandered around in costume with their entourage, and brides took photographs of our table layouts to replicate for their own wedding.  We had amazing dancers who performed to “All the Right Moves” by One Republic instead of doing a usual fashion show.  Masks, feathers and sequins were worn by dancers, models, and serving staff alike.  You need to make these things new and festive!

The food…where do I start?  Oysters, lobster, filet mignon, mini bloody Mary’s, salad on a fork, and risotto…and that doesn’t even count the cake.  It was definitely a good time to be had by all who came!  Hope to see you there next year!!

All photography below is provided by the Artist Group Photography.  Love it!

For those who want to go with either an earthy pizzazz, or a modern shock, using branches can be an inexpensive and fabulous way to bring in volume.  Whether it’s heavy branches spray painted in hot metallic shades or natural and unvarnished, you can do this minimally or as a main element in your decor.

Using vegetables or fruit is also rather inexpensive, and a very green and simple way to pay homage to spring or fall bounty.  Outdoor weddings are perfect places for produce.

You can never go wrong with candles – especially grouped together.  A splash of color can be brought in easy with a few blooms.

And of course, there’s the feather centerpieces – fabulous if you’re zoning the 1920’s or want to do something a little different – in which case, consider using great colored plumes or lights to do something a little different.  This is a wonderful option if you’ve picked colors that are difficult to find in nature, such as blue.

It’s still trendy to use crystals as part of your design, but what about really bringing in the bling?  The recent Oscars really used these dripping jewels, so why not bring in some glamour by using ropes and ropes of crystals in unexpected places. Plus, they go with any color scheme!

You can rent the Birch Branches, and Flowers-by-Design came up with some of the great veggie centerpieces – the rest are courtesy of Martha Stewart.  You can buy the white feather centerpieces at Wholesale Event Solutions, and the Crystal Trees can be viewed on theknot.com.

Whether it’s using feathers and crystals, or the clean lines of taffeta and art deco designs, you can also re-create an atmosphere of bubbly fun crossed with perfect style.  The best part of the black and white ball is that beyond the very basic, simple rule of “black and white” – there is no limit to the direction that you go for your wedding design.  Especially if you and your fiance have several different things you love – from damask patterns to clean lines, you can incorporate all the elements and it will still feel cohesive.

Perhaps you may even want to request that all your guests to wear black – and thereby you’d be the only one in white!  Everyone’s got a black dress or suit; especially with a small wedding it’d be very easy to let everyone know!

Consider it; you will have a blast pulling pieces from history or current trends as inspirational accents – and mixing and matching everything to find your own sense of wedding style perfection.

Some great examples are damask votive candles, great Ramona Keveza designs, cake by Milwaukee’s The Cake Lady, excellent feather bouquets and more refined versions by Martha Stewart.  Invitations can skew more frivolous, while you can bring in spice from Bari Jay bridesmaid dresses.  And if you still love the vintage flair, look to Audrey Hepburn’s dress from Sabrina!