Red, White, and Blue Wedding

It may be a few weeks late for July 4th, but a red, white, and blue theme is still perfect for a summer wedding.  While most of the weddings I've seen with this theme are outdoors, I think during this time of year an indoor wedding and possibly the reception as well would be much nice indoors (Air-conditioned spaces, hallelujah!) Outdoor weddings are lovely but during the sweltering summer months of July and early August it is much more comfortable for everyone involved to not be sweating and swatting at insects all day.

Sweetheart Trumpet Gown

Beaded Taffeta Fit and Flare

For an elegant summer wedding, I imagine the bride would look fresh and gorgeous in a silky, fitted gown.  This fit and flare taffeta gown with beaded accents from David's Bridal looks both elegant and season-appropriate.  Depending on the bride's personal preference, any fitted or slim style of dress would be a good look for a July wedding.  This David's Bridal trumpet gown with a beaded, sweetheart necklace would also look fun and classy.  I think the bride could accessorize with either sparkly crystal jewelry or sophisticated pearls.  Again, depending on the bride's preferences, she could either wear a long, lightweight veil, or forego a veil and simply wear an elegant hair comb or barrette with a low updo. This rhinestone 'Firework' hair comb from Icing would look lovely right above a low chignon. Bright red or navy blue shoes would add just a pop of fun color.

Bridesmaid Dresses

 Bridesmaids would stay cool and comfortable in these strapless cotton sateen dresses in marine (or a darker blue), paired with matching pumps. The bridesmaids would also wear pearl jewelry and have similar low hairstyles that will keep them cool and sweat-free.  The bride would carry a bouquet of mainly white flowers with accents of red and blue, while the bridesmaids would carry red and white bouquets.  A great way to save money on bouquets for the entire bridal party would be to buy the flowers wholesale and then DIY the bouquets.   Globalrose.com has wholesale priced roses, hydrangeas, and snapdragons, which would all look stunning together in a summer bouquet.

White Garden Bouquet

I imagine the reception decor will be fun and bright.  I would like to see long tables with white tableclothes and tall red, white, and blue centerpieces (silk flowers are okay to use here). Cute banners and hanging decorations in red and blue would make a visually interesting backdrop. The menu would be fun and summery, consisting of barbecue-inspired cuisine.  Grilled or barbecued chicken, pork, and sliders with a gourmet condiment bar would be fun and filling. The usual potato and pasta salads and baked beans would also be present, classed up with exotic spices and ingredients. There would also be a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables to snack on, while drinks would be bottled beers, lemonade, and sodas in glass bottles on ice.  Dessert would be a light angel-food cake garnished with whipped vanilla icing and more fresh berries, some soft sugar cookies decorated with red and blue sugar, and old-fashioned root beer floats served in frosty mugs.  Sparklers would be available as entertainment for the wedding guests and as a send off at the end of the night.

I hope this has inspired you to think about having a patriotic summer wedding! For more red, white, and blue inspiration, check my Wed, White and Blue board on Pinterest. I'll be keeping the summer theme going next week with a nautical wedding theme so check back next Wednesday!


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Free Pattern Friday: Floral Designs!

Happy Friday everyone! For today's free patterns I'm showcasing my own floral design afghans that I made over on stitchboard.com! All three of these are perfect for summertime with their cool floral inspired motifs.  While each of these would be a good size blanket to take on picnics or to wrap up in on chilly nights, you could also customize each one with a nearly endless variety of borders if you so feel inclined. As usual, these three patterns are hosted at www.stitchboard.com, which does require a completely free registration. I promise, registering at stitchboard really is completely free and easy, and they definitely will not spam your email at all.  I've been registered over there for several months and haven't received a single email from them :)

Kaleidoscope Flower

1. Feel free to change up the colors on this bright floral kaleidoscope piece.  Any 5 or 6 bright, solid colors would look great. Add a few rows of complementary border and this throw blanket would be great for a teenagers room or as a stunning picnic blanket.

Lotus Afghan

 2. This next afghan pattern is ultra chic and elegant and would be perfect for the more sophisticated and zen people in  your life.  I love the calming feel of blues and purples, but this could be made in any color to match your decor. Add a wide matching border all the way around and this blanket is sure to add a spa-like atmosphere to any space.

Harvest Wheat

3. Lastly, this golden wheat afghan is perfect for the lazy dog-days of late summer and into the Indian summers of early fall.  I can imagine curling up with this blanket on an evening hay ride or taking it to the county fair. It would also make a gorgeous housewarming gift.  I would recommend using a deep golden yellow yarn to make this, and maybe adding just a few rows of solid border, or some type of decorative geometric border.






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Free Summer Fonts

Now that July is here, summer is in full swing.  July is a great month for outdoor entertaining and your parties and picnics can have some extra sparkle with customized printed menus, placecards, and decorations.  If you're having a big buffet style party, it's nice to print out some labels so your guests know what each dish is and if there are any ingredients they may want to avoid.  There are thousands of great free fonts out there so you can match your print-outs to whatever theme you want instead of just using plain old, boring Times New Roman.  I personally like to browse FontSpace to find new decorative fonts, but there are other good font websites too.  All you need to do to use these free fonts is download the .zip file, scan it for viruses (just in case!), and then open and install it.  They'll be ready to go after installation and are compatible with most common word processing programs. Most of the fonts available are licensed for personal use only, but if you want to sell your work you may be able to contact the artist directly and pay a fee for a commercial use license.

Here are some of my favorite free summer fonts:
1. Reed of Love

2. Sweet Nature
3. Summer Sunshine
4. Beach Type











And here is a sample menu printed with the BeachType font:

Some Wonderful Self-Tanners

  Since summer is almost officially here I decided I wanted to try to get and keep a healthy bronzed look this year.  It's tempting to enjoy the sunshine and tan out by my apartment pool, but I've seen too many people in their late 20s-30s with skin cancer and premature wrinkles to know that I want to protect my skin by always wearing SPF outside.  For that same reason, I won't go anywhere near a tanning salon either (unless I'm getting a spray tan ;) )

  Now, I'm usually all for loving your natural skin tone and not trying too hard to follow the beauty trend of always looking tan, but I do think that a nice golden bronze looks good for summer.  I've tried a lot of different drugstore self-tanners in the past, and none seemed to really work that well. One exception that does a decent job is the Jergens® Natural Glow line of products.  I bought the daily moisturizing lotion at Walmart and it wasn't all that expensive, I think it cost a little less than $10.  I really liked that I could just use this in place of my regular daily moisturizing lotion and build a nice even tan without much effort. However, this stains more than I'd like and the lotion takes a fairly long time to dry. Overall, this is a pretty good everyday budget-friendly choice. 

  Last month I started looking for a better self-tanner that I could use to look glowing and healthy for my college graduation pictures.  I searched on Amazon and found 2 professional grade self-tanners that I absolutely love! First, I bought Fake Bake® Flawless Self-tanning Liquid.  The 6oz spray bottle came with a nice applicator mitt, which is awesome for getting a perfectly even application! To apply, you lightly spray your body or the mitt (I sprayed directly on my body so it wasted less and wasn't as messy) and then gently rub it in with the mitt to get an even application.  I love that this dries the fastest and smells the best out of any self-tanner that I've tried so far, and it wasn't a whole lot more expensive than drugstore brands. I was able to get dressed almost immediately after applying it, and it hardly stained my bra and undies at all. The color turned out to be a nice light-medium golden tan.

  It retails for about $25 if you buy directly from the company, but I got it for around $16 from Amazon.   The only downside that I found was that it wasn't as dark as I wanted, and it faded in less than 2 days without daily reapplication. The company has darker shades though, so I may try a different shade or type once I run out of the Flawless.  

  The second self-tanner I tried was St. Moriz Self Tanning Mousse in the medium shade.  St. Moriz is basically the drugstore version of St. Tropez, but it's only available in the U.K., so you have to order it online. Once again, I got mine from Amazon and paid about $5 for it, plus another $4 or so for shipping and handling. I love that this provides a great brown-bronze color and the mousse dries a lot faster than a lotion does. I used the medium shade and it's perfect for my skin tone; it should work for just about everyone unless you have incredibly fair skin to begin with. If you are super-fair skinned, choose a lighter shade to look more natural. I do want to eventually try the dark shade, but I'm hesitant because I am afraid it may look awful with my skin tone.   

  I used a self-tanner mitt to apply the foam because I think it helps provide more even coverage, but you have to be careful when applying this to avoid streaks.  I was a little bit nervous at first because the color indicator makes your skin look almost like it's covered in dirt, but that rinses away and leaves a good bronze color the next time you shower.   The biggest drawback to this is that it does need careful application to avoid streaks, but the color and price are amazing!  

Hopefully this helps you choose the perfect self-tanner to look beach ready all summer! Also, I'll put up some real pics of what the Fake Bake and St. Moriz look like on once I get my camera working again.  

*Disclaimer: Just FYI, I was not compensated in any way for this post.  I bought and tried all of the above products with my own money, on my own volition, and liked them enough to share with my meager blog following : )