w+w featured on Polka Dot Bride!

One of our favourite weddings is featured on Polka Dot Bride http://www.polkadotbride.com/2011/05/cindi-and-davids-shanghai-inspired-wedding/.

Cindi + David's wedding was one to remember!

Their love of 1920s Shanghai, drums, cats and bunnies made for a very unique wedding. Check it out!

The Princess Party

w+w were lucky enough to be involved with the amazing Princess Party at Mirra, this year.

The Party, an initiative of the Amira Project (www.theamiraproject.com), was a night of inspiration, information and fun times designed to enhance the lives of young women at risk.

Here's what happened...

Once registered, the girls were all given balloons and ushered to the SHINE workshop. Here they were able to make friendship bracelets, write down their wishes and dreams and also messages of hope to girls living in the She Rescue Home in Cambodia.

Make-up and hair were on hand to get the girls looking fantastic for the night ahead.

The SHINE workshop concluded with a huge balloon release where each girl released their balloon with their dream attached.

The girls were then escorted to their seat by strapping young men, who also presented each of them with a flower.

The girls were then seated along beautiful vintage inspired long banquet tables for a scrumptious two course dinner.

During dinner the girls were serenaded by Scotty Fields and inspired by two wonderful speakers who uplifted and motivated them with their stories.

After dinner the girls partied away to Jamie Lee before all being given goody bags filled with an assortment of gifts as they left.

What an amazing night!

Thank you to our friends...Vintage Wares, Bouquet Boutique, Styled Events, Eyetopia Sound and Southern Cross for kindly donating your time and services. And of course all the volunteers on the night. Without your help none of this could have been possible.

Fabulous images by the talented Dale Napier www.dalenapier.com.

Personalise your invitations!

We received a fabulous wedding invitation the other day and we just had to share it with you. The invitation features a custom illustration of the gorgeous couple on the front and back of the 150mm squared folded invitation. What a great way to personalise your wedding or event stationary.

w+w featured on Portobello Bride's Blog!

What a lovely surprise! The lovely ladies at Portobello Bride have featured white+white on their blog. http://portobellobrideblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/getting-to-know-whitewhite.html

Portobello Bride is a great wedding tool, full of fun new trends in wedding styling and planning. We just love PB!

Crane Craze

The tradition of 1,000 Origami cranes has been a wedding tradition for many years. Folding a crane takes time, patience and understanding. It is believed that a man and woman who can fold 1,000 paper cranes together have enough practise and trust to sustain a happy marriage as these same qualities are vital for a marriage to last and thrive. Some believe in the tradition of giving 1,000 cranes, they do this to wish the couple a thousand years of happiness and prosperity.

Crane curtains create a whimsical mood for a wedding ceremony.

Use cranes to decorate your wedding cake or even use them as cupcake toppers...cute!

You could incorporate your colour palette and only make cranes in those colours.

Strands of floating cranes make a stunning backdrop to your wedding reception, bridal table or cake table.

An origami crane seating chart would be a fantastic piece to tie your ceremony and reception together.

Guests could write there wishes and words of wisdom on the cranes and hang on a wishing tree for the couple to read.

Origami boutonnieres for the groom and his bridal party.

Origami place cards doubling as favours for your guests.

Birdcages or clear vessels filled with paper cranes as table centrepieces.

The cranes can become the central theme in your wedding styling or be an individual feature piece for your guests to marvel at either way the symbolism of 1,000 hand-folded paper cranes is very beautiful and quite powerful plus they are a wonderful styling idea. The end result is a visual testament of your love for one another.

w+w featured on the Bride's Diary Blog

The amazing team at the Bride's Diary featured white+white on their recent blog http://thebridesdiary-brisbane.blogspot.com/2011/05/whitewhite.html. What a wonderful surprise. Thank you for thinking of us! We love the magazine.

New twist on Vintage trend

Vintage styling has always been a popular theme in wedding trends in recent years. Lately we are beginning to see new ideas emerge as vintage style really comes into its own.

Here are the new trends in vintage we see happening over the next 12 months.

Mix 'n' match table shapes and sizes, chairs, linens and vessels.

Keep colors organic and natural, think shades of charcoal, lavender, silver peony, oyster and shell.

Grey is definitely the new black for 2011 while navy blue and deep colors such as honeysuckle are also making waves this year.

We will continue to see the use of fashionable props such as birdcages, typewriters, books, and old window frames in amongst more of a warm, comfortable home like feel.

Say goodbye bunting and polka dots and hello to all things lace, crocheted and cross stitched.

Keep furnishings simple with large wooden banquet style tables, stools, benches or even old cinema chairs.

Ceramic jugs and large pitchers filled with flowers fresh from the garden or glass jars or bottles with individual flower stems can tie in with that mismatched and simple feel.

Popular sites for vintage events are warehouses, barns, estates or farms, art galleries and of course vineyards and be sure to check out Vintage Wares (www.vintagewares.com.au) and the Fancy Tea Company (www.fancytea.com.au) for some fabulous vintage inspiration.

Thank you Studio Sixty (www.studio60.com.au) for these amazing images and

Amini Concepts (www.aminiconcepts.com/blog), , Epic Empire (www.epicempire.com.au), Bouquet Boutique (www.bouquetboutique.com.au) and Lightspace (www.lightspace.net.au) for providing the beautiful styling, furnishings, flowers and venue.

Real Wedding - Christine + Justin

We had the lovely pleasure of coordinating Christine and Justin's Wedding late last year. The beautiful rain meant the original garden ceremony at Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens had to be abandoned and the newly renovated Botanical Restaurant was to be the new home for couple's nuptials.

The wedding celebrations continued at the Terrace, State Library commonly known as the 'Tea Cup' room (where Chinese tea cups surround the room). Fish bowls filled with gorgeous garden flowers lined the two long banquet tables. An abundance of tea light candles added to the intimacy and romance of the day.

Photos of the Bride and Groom as young children featured on the tables.

Along with menus and seedings for all the guests.

Beautiful couple + Beautiful setting = Beautiful Wedding

PS. Thank you Vivid Photography (www.vividphotography.com.au) for your amazing images.

Royal Wedding Trends

While the big day has passed, the effects of the Royal Wedding are going to linger for quite some time. At white+white we believe Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding is sure to set trends for years to come. Here is our list of wedding trend predictions from the unique elements of the Royal Wedding that look set to become big hits.

1. Fascinators and hats

Fascinators and hats have been a longstanding tradition at weddings and can be the perfect accessory to finish off your outfit in style.

2. All white bridal parties

Kate's sister and Maid of Honour Pippa's dress may inspire more bride's to put their bridal parties in white for a clean, sophisticated look. There is nothing that says the bridal party can't be in white, it looks elegant and classic.

3. Adorable flower girls & page boys

It's a royal tradition to have a bridal party full of young children with ties to the couple. Most of all they are just incredibly cute in their wedding attire.

4. Demure wedding dresses with sleeves

The biggest takeaway from the royal wedding is the dress! The fitted lace bodice and fuller skirt will definitely become a huge trend. It's already something we've been seeing in the likes of designs from Romona Keveza and Monique L'Hullier.

5. DYI make up

Maybe you don't quite feel like yourself after having your makeup professionally done. Why not take professional makeup classes and do it yourself like Kate did.

6. Relaxed wedding hair/ jewelled tiaras

This hairstyle will be a very big trend that will be emulated. Especially for those brides that want to wear their long hair down but are torn between wanting to look more dressed up and elegant but still want to feel like themselves, Kate did this relaxed do with striking style. While you may not want to run out and buy a huge tiara be inspired by Kate's princess style by wearing some hair bling such as jewelled headbands and hairclips.

7. Greenery/Keeping it local

The environmentally conscious royal couple decked out Westminster Abbey with Maple trees lining the aisle to create an avenue feel with the understanding the trees would be replanted. Everything was locally sourced reinforcing the importance of supporting local vendors and doing what was right for the environment. Trends that we have been seeing are bride's wanting to bring the outside in and Kate was no different, it looked like the Abbey had sprouted a forest overnight. Kate's understated bouquet were painstakingly chosen for their meaning not for their size. The bouquet included Sweet William, Lily- of- the- Valley (the return of happiness), hyacinth (constancy of love) and ivy (for fidelity, marriage and affection). Myrtle was also included in the arrangement from plants grown from the sprigs of the bridal bouquets of Queens Victoria and Queens Elizabeth.

8. An all day event

Traditionally, British weddings are held in the morning followed by a brunch or lunch reception. We can definitely see couples adopting morning ceremonies followed by two receptions and late night partying. After all an all day affair is the perfect opportunity to change dresses ladies!

9. Charity registries

Prince William and Kate Middleton requested charity donations in lieu of wedding gifts. Twenty-six different charities close to their hearts benefited from this cause. A charity registry is a great idea for couples who enjoy giving back and don't have a need for an extra toaster. Think of how great you'll feel knowing your guest's gifts are benefiting those in need.

10. Coloured gemstone engagement rings and yellow gold

Yellow gold is definitely making a come back!

11. Streaming wedding nuptials

The ultra-modern royal couple streamed their nuptials on YouTube. This is a great idea for any couple throwing a destination wedding.

12. Keeping it personal

The most important thing to remember and the biggest "trend" to takeaway from this royal wedding is to "KEEP IT PERSONAL!" Kate and Will put their personal stamp on everything from Kate's earrings she received from her parents, to how they personalised their vows, right down to registering for a charity.