tales of an american wedding planner in paris
I’ve fallen in love with the beautiful Marie-Antoinette inspired stationery designs from Paper Nosh, designer Paulette Kinney’s Etsy shop. All of Paulette’s designs are printed in-house, and arrive at your door wrapped in satin ribbon in their signature pink or aqua shimmering boxes. Sigh… For more romantic Parisian goodness, take a peek at Paulette’s blog, la pink paperie.
In honor of the 88th anniversary of the world’s introduction to Chanel N°5, I thought it would be fun to put together a Chanel-inspired wedding board. It’s a fun twist on the Paris-themed wedding, and a nice alternative to yet another Tiffany wedding. (Don’t get me wrong- I love Tiffany’s just as much as the next girl, but this trend has been diluted so far down that it’s almost unrecognizable (hint: just because it’s aqua, doesn’t make it Tiffany’s).
A Chanel-inspired wedding doesn’t have to break the bank. There are ways to bring the esprit de Coco into the design of your event, without having to fork over thousands of euros to do it. Think black and white, quilted textures, art deco patterns, grosgrain ribbon and charm bracelets. Coco’s favorite flower was the camellia- use them in your bouquet, your hair, or floating in a bowl for centerpieces. Black wedding dresses have been raising quite a bit of hoopla for the past few seasons. So black accents on a stark-white gown would be trendy and give a nod to Mademoiselle Chanel at the same time.
The essential is to keep it sophisticated, polished and elegantly Parisian. Don’t psych your guests out by wrapping a favor in Chanel ribbon or paper if it’s not the real deal inside the package. This is where the Paris element could come in- a “Paris” charm bracelet in a quilted favor box tied with a black grosgrain bow would get the “Chanel” theme across perfectly- and without any disappointments. A classic, 3-tiered cake with smooth white icing and simple black bands is a much more refined way to say “Chanel” than a fondant replica of a Cambon handbag.
When planning your Chanel-inspired wedding, remember to keep these words, spoken by Coco Chanel herself, in mind (the edit is mine!) : “A girl wedding should be two things: classy and fabulous.”
Dress © Chanel, Black Bow cake © Consumed By Cake, Quilted gift box © Favor Ideas, Dress © Vera Wang, Chanel-inspired Cake by Cake Couture, photo © Pacific Weddings, Camellia bouquet © Bouquet Chic, Invitations “Chanel” © Effigeorgia, Black lace cake © Project Wedding, “Paris” charm bracelet © A Vintage Jewel
Well, another Paris Fashion Week has come and gone, and while traditional wedding dresses were few and far between, there were still tons of gorgeous looks to get you down that aisle. Here are a couple of my favorite suits and day dresses from the Paris Prêt-à-Porter Spring/Summer 2009 Fashion Week. Wouldn’t any one of these be perfect for a City Hall ceremony or an über-chic urban wedding?
row 1: giambattista valli, row 2: vivienne westwood, row 3: valentino
and yves saint laurent, row 4: yves saint laurent and chanel
row 5: sonia rykiel. all images © vogue.fr
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