One of the most important aspects of your wedding is your color scheme.  The flowers, dresses and tuxedos all reflect a carefully chosen palette.  Many of today's brides are choosing hot fashion colors for their weddings (check out a recent lime green and black centerpiece), so why not choose some hot colors for your invitations?  Birchcraft has added seven new ink colors as choices on invitations.  They are:

Cherry	Hot Pink	Lime Green	Raspberry
Sandstone	Sapphire	Tangerine

While you're at it, check out the three new lettering styles, also new at Birchcraft.  These are perfect if you want a sleeker, more youthful look to your invitations:

As always, Birchcraft invitations are 30% off every day, including their new pockets invitations and slide invitations.  For full selection, visit http://www.yourinvitationplace.com/Default.aspx?WebName=bloomeryweddings.

Our bouquet this time is a lush hand-tied bouquet of pink peonies, pink roses and pink spray roses.  This combination produced a soft, Victorian look, classic and timeless.  Approximate price, $145-$160.  Bouquet photo courtesy of Creative Imagez Photography Studio.

The stems were wrapped with a simple ribbon, and for a personal touch, a brooch of the bride's initial was attached to the ribbon.

Birchcraft's Handcrafted Invitations are now available from Bloomery Weddings!  You can find them at http://www.yourinvitationplace.com/Catalog.aspx?Theme=Handcrafted&WebName=bloomeryweddings.  As usual, we offer these wedding invitations with a 30% discount everyday!  You'll receive the discount whether you order online, or in person.  If you want to see your wedding invitation before you buy, Birchcraft offers a free online proof on their website.

The Handcrafted line is a limited edition collection featuring elegantly handcrafted invitations and layered invitations.  Handcrafted invitations will appeal to brides who are looking for originality, style and elegance.  Shown below is one of the elegant invitations from the Handcrafted Invitations collection.

Today we delivered perhaps our most unique bridal bouquet to date.  Yup, that's it below--a potted gerbera daisy.  Considering the ceremony and reception were held at The Atrium, a former nursery and greenhouse, it fit perfectly.  In the background, you can see the gazebo and chairs set up for the outdoor ceremony.

Adding a personal touch to their reception, the couple labeled each table with the name of a favorite author.  Shown below is the Robert Frost table.  Apparently coffee was not served because there was no T.S. Elliot table.  Finishing each table was a funky mound of lime green fuji mums in a black wok bowl (approximate price, $35-$45 each).

Lots of couples plant a tree when they are married, to mark the passing of the years and the growing strength of their relationship.  We do need to point out that gerbera daisies are annual plants, and the couple shouldn't read too much into it when the plant doesn't sprout again next year.

Our featured flowers this time feature a combination of colors--light blue hydrangea, green pomps, light pink roses, green roses and Escimo cream roses.  The bridal bouquet was hand tied (approx. price $125-$140).  Click on the photo for a larger view.

Each centerpiece was made with light blue hydrangea, pink spray roses, green Kermit pomps, light green roses and pink waxflower, in a solver footed bowl. The flowers are actually arranged in a removable dish so your guests can take the flowers home, and we rent the bowls. Approximate price $95 to $115, including rental of the bowls. Click on the photo for a larger view.

The groom's boutonniere featured an escimo rose, green Kermit pomps and a beargrass loop in a silver filigree boutonniere holder. Approximate price, $30 to $35, including boutonniere holder.

Last year, we covered WeddingMapper.com, a free service where you can create online wedding maps for your guests.

If printed maps are more your style, idoweddingmaps.com might be more what you're looking for.  idoweddingmaps.com offers four styles of maps, which you create online by filling out some information about you and your event.  You can choose to have a PDF e-mailed to you, or have your maps printed and sent to you to include in the invitation.

We recently attended a wedding where the map was created on idoweddingmaps.com, and it was very clear and attractive, and printed on good quality paper.

The elegant Chloe B wedding invitation ensembles are now available online from Bloomery Weddings!  Chloe B invitations are a beautiful line produced exclusively for Crane & Co, known for their fine papers and stationery.  Chloe B ensembles are designed to be distinctive and to impress your guests when they open your invitation.

We offer a 20% discount for the Chloe B invitations every day--the lowest price allowed by Chloe B (regular invitations are 30% off every day).  Samples are available by request from Carlson Craft--just find the one you want and request a sample through the website.

If you were invited to Cindy and Paul Myer's Wedding University, you saw a few of our flower arrangements there.  Our featured bouquet this time is a centerpiece of 24 dusty pink roses ("Faith" variety), with bent beargrass accents in a contemporary wok bowl.  Approximate price as shown, $90-$125, but a smaller wok bowl is available and this can be made in a smaller size.  Wok bowls are a relatively new container, and are gaining popularity.  They provide a very contemporary, zen look to your centerpieces, and are very easy for your guests to take home.

Photo credit: Paul Meyer Photography