Trends In 2013: Use your photos as decorations

I love taking photos, always have. I’ve been taking photos of my loved ones since, gosh, junior high, when taking photos involved film and a couple of days to get your pictures developed at the local drug store. Seeing as how we’re all so crafty and DIY now, and armed with smartphones with cameras that give us instantaneous photographs, it makes sense to incorporate more of those photos into wedding decorations.

Photo from photojojo.com

One of my favorite sites lately has been Photojojo. It has all sorts of accessories for iPhone users and photography enthusiasts, and its blog is chock full of DIY ideas on how to make your photos the centerpiece of your event. For example, the under-$5 contraption holds photos with the help of florist wire and rocks (or seashells). They call this the DIY Stone Photo Holder.

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Trends In 2013: Rainbow wedding theme

Whilst reading the tea leaves on Pinterest, it seems to me that there are some brides out there who really don’t want to settle on one color when it comes to their wedding. Instead, they seem to want to go with a rainbow theme, but with different details — bridesmaid dresses and shoes, jewelry, decorations and especially cakes. Who has the ovaries to go this route? I don’t know anyone personally, but judging by the photos out there, there are more than a few brave brides who incorporate the whole rainbow into their wedding.

Flickr photo by linh.ngan

As an aside, I was actually talking with a coworker about this topic, and impressed her by singing the colors of the rainbow, thanks to a ditty from The Cat In The Hat cartoon on PBS. So, what are the colors of the rainbow? Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The Cat in the Hat indeed knows a lot about that!

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Trends in 2013: Do-It-Yourself photobooths and backdrops

I should’ve known this was coming. My friend Michelle (a blogger/journalist hybrid like myself) is much more of a trendsetter than I am, so I should’ve known, when I blogged about how she created her own photobooth for her wedding a few years ago, that it would be come a trend.

Michelle & Matt posing in their DIY photobooth

Photobooths have taken off, but they’re expensive. So, seeing as how people can be innovative when it comes to saving money, DIY photobooths — basically a wall set up so you can take photos in front of it — have taken off, and there’s no sign of that trend abating.

I’ve done plenty of backdrops, but they’ve all been for behind sweetheart tables, head tables and cake tables — there’s less traffic in front of these backdrops, so you can use fluffy material like organza.

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Bridal gowns with color

Thanks to Jessica Biel, I think its safe to say we’ll be seeing a lot more pink bridal gowns in 2013. It apparently shocked, shocked! celebrity watchers when she chose a pink wedding dress. Um, it’s 2012, and I think many brides are throwing wedding traditions — like the white wedding dress — out the window with no regrets.

Ivory/pearl pink wedding dress from David’s Bridal

Apparently, 2013 bridal gowns from designers like Vera Wang, Enzoani and Maggie Sotero were in all sorts of strong colors — scarlet red, deep burgundy, peach, even black. However, when it comes to high fashion, from my experience, fashions seen on the runway are tempered down when it comes to regular consumers. So I don’t expect too many brides to rock scarlet red wedding gowns — unless you’re Chinese, and you’re wearing a traditional Chinese gown in red, symbolizing good luck in that culture.

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Trends in 2013: Mint

When it comes to color, I think mint green will be popular in 2013’s weddings. I can’t say exactly why, but I’ve seen it at a couple of weddings this year, and it makes me think that as a color, it will just continue to grow in popularity next year.

In terms of flowers and decorations, mint green (or light green, if that’s your preference), its an easy color to work with. Probably the flower most closely matching mint green is the green cymbidium orchid, like the one in the little silver cup at the base of this tall arrangement. When choosing flowers for a mint green wedding, you really just need lots of greens and lots of white flowers. And you can mix in a few green cymbidiums and green mums, too.

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Trends In 2013: Flying Wish Lanterns

I remember seeing flying wish lanterns in the animated film “Tangled.” I’ve never seen flying wish lanterns in person, but the film was so great, I felt like I’d seen them close up. Then I saw someone had pinned a flying wish lantern on Pinterest, and it was over. It’s my wish that they become one of 2013’s hot wedding trends.

Flickr photo by elizaIO

Flying wish lanterns, also known as sky lanterns, are Chinese in origin, according to Wikipedia. They work kind of like mini hot air balloons, with the hot air from the flame lifting up the entire lantern to the sky, like a balloon. When used singly, it is quick to disappear. But when you light dozens into a dark sky, the effect is breathtaking.

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Trends in 2013: Garlands

I worked with garlands very early on in my “career” decorating weddings with my mom. In fact, I’d say that garlands were the first thing I draped. For us at the time, garlands were silk flowers and leaves that I would use on pretty much anything — church pews, reception tables, gazebos. This was back in, gosh, 1994, 1995? So it doesn’t surprise me that garlands are making a comeback, with a modern twist.

Fresh garland as aisle decorations

This garland, which my mom had made, for a friend’s wedding in Pasadena, was made of fresh greens — lemon leaves and another green leaf that is thorny and itchy — for the aisle decorations. It’s very traditional. But I think 2013’s wedding garlands will be very DIY.

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