Each morning my inbox is bombarded by links and articles from the wedding & color industry's leading treadspotters sharing key design details that brides are choosing, going into the 2012 wedding season. Frankly, it's one of my favorite parts of the year, as we are knee deep in planning wedding details and bloomery for our 2012 brides, before the season actually hits when we bring all of the plans to fruition and the vision comes to life. Right now ~ the options are endless, and we're working with our bridal clients to hone in on the elements they love and want to include in their one of a kind day. This is my spin or Cliff Notes on what we've seen with our current brides as well as the many wonderful tid bits of tread 411 that hits my desk each day. Enjoy ~ and see if you can incorporate any of these ideas into your beautiful day. I've included a few examples from our repertoire of work so you can see what I'm talking about. 1)Glam it up! Glamor is back and happening. The backyard afternoon style wedding in grandma's back yard is fading quickly. However, this is glamor reinvented. The glamor prior to 2008 was more gregarious and spread everywhere. What I've noticed lately is a tread towards big showy blooms that make impact and en masse and a simpler color story, but it is thoughtful indulgence. This may mean that you do fewer flowers overall throughout your day, but the flower elements that you decide on are done really well and make a splash. A great example that I saw recently, were the beautiful robust centerpieces at the Golden Globe awards in HWood. Mark Held of Mark's Garden created a palette of glorious strong colors, but color blocked the flowers on each table for maximum visual impact while the arrangements, themselves were classic in style. Hues of purple, red, orange, green and blush were placed atop metallic linen (read on). Stunning. Images by Cameron Ingalls Photography 2)DDIY That's right ~ brides are opting to hire professionals for those elements that have been DIY projects for the last few years. Of course I think this is a wise choice, as what bride, even the most creative and organized mavens of crafty projects, should spend a moment worrying about these things on the day of her wedding? Everything from playlists to bouquets, which we've previously seen brides take on themselves, is being handed off to people that handle these details professionally as in DON'T DO IT YOURSELF! Yes, you can still enjoy the hunt of finding your own vintage and unique containers ~ but have a floral designer handle it from there. A great designer will pay attention to scale and over all effect ~ it's what we do, every week! Not to mention, we'll prep the fresh product and refrigerate it until right before your wedding for the freshest of blossoms. If you're going to take on a segment yourself for your wedding day, choose a task that can be done far in advance so there is no major pressure the day of the wedding, for example many of our brides take on their own personalized favors. Images by Cameron Ingalls Photography 3)Metalic is the new neutral It's absolutely everywhere and we're mixing it up like crazy. Gold with silver and pewter. Bronze with silver. I LOVE it because it doesn't interact with color in a negative way, it provides a rich textural & defining backdrop for blooms while not competing. I've seen it in bridesmaids dresses and of course it is one of my favorite go to linen choices. Images by Sophie at The Collective 4)Texture & layers reign supreme Yup ~ it carries over from above. One of my favorite design angles is to create a visual layering effect. For example, centerpieces at varying levels so that when you walk into the space, there is delight at several levels. It makes the visual impact of the blooms stretch further to not have everything at the same level. And on that note ~ they have to be illuminated! Aside from actually having incredible flowers on the table, having them highlighted with lighting, makes all of the difference in the world. It is a must. Your linen, and the containers that the flowers are in will play a major role in bringing this rich textural play into action. Lighting, both candlelight and pin spotting or uplighting are all a necessary layer of their own. images by Sophie at The Collective 5)Rustic Romance This is a biggie here on the Coast of California. In fact, I think this style IS California. With the wineries and historic ranches that abound in our area creating the structure for Central Coast weddings, we often work the opposite direction with design to create a contrast, that again, maximizes impact. It's totally unexpected and can be an incredible approach to heighten the styling. I've also had a few brides opt for "wildly styled" bouquets against dresses that are tailored and classic. I love the surprise that this provides and it works very well in photos by adding definition and dimension. Images by Chloe & Jake at The Collective