Butterfly Theme - What would your colors be????

[lesley]

Sorry - Long Post
Hey ladies, for those of you that I haven't already met, My name is Lesley and I am a bride-to-be (sounds like I'm in an AA meeting :lol: )
I just found this forum (thank god for that!) and I was telling the ladies in "Bride Chat" that I have never been to a wedding so I need to be completely trained.

Anyway, with the help of my sister brides, I have decided on a butterfly wedding since I love them so. I haven't picked out my gown, although I am searching online for one, but I am having trouble deciding on the colors for my theme and how to get everything & everyone to coordinate w/o over doing it.

These are the colors that I like:

Lavender, light pink, light green, light blue and maybe a yellowish tone

Now I need help picking out three for my theme with Lavender being a must.

I am looking for an ivory dress, but white isn't out of the picture either. Hopefully I can find a dress with one of my "theme" colors in it preferably lavender. If not, I was thinking of attaching a couple of butterfly accents to my dress.

And once you guys help me decide on my colors, I need help figuring out who wears what colors and how.(ie., maids in lavender gowns, groomsmen with lavender vests, ect.)

Sorry if I am needing to much help but when I say that I don't know what I am doing, I am serious! :oops:

So I guess I am also asking for ideas. If you was doing a butterfly themed wedding - what would your colors be? How would you decorate? Who would wear what? Any ideas will help ladies!

[bnd94]

I think it would look pretty if you used a whole bunch of pastel colors, even more than three. The colors you listed are perfect. Check out this cake
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Bnd94/damaro.jpg

It has alot of different colors but I think they all work well with this theme.

[lesley]

I think it would look pretty if you used a whole bunch of pastel colors, even more than three. The colors you listed are perfect. Check out this cake
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Bnd94/damaro.jpg

It has alot of different colors but I think they all work well with this theme.

What exactly are you talking about when you say use a whole bunch of pastel colors, or should I ask where to use more than three? I don't want to be too tacky and trust me, since I don't have a decor or coordinating bone in my body, my wedding could get pretty **** tacky! :oops:

I think the cake is beautiful!!!!

[bnd94]

Well with a butterfly theme you have the chance to make the wedding have a little fun theme too with a variety of colors. When I think of butterflies I think of spring/summer and all the beautiful colors of the flowers blooming. I have seen weddings where each bridesmaid wears a different color dress and it was beautiful. Definetely unique. I don't know how many bridesmaids you are having or what time of year you are getting married though. It would also be pretty if you had the bridesmaids all wear lavender. Also the flowers are a good place to use a variety of colors. Here are some ideas so you can see the colors together.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Bnd94/Spring20Wedding20Bouquet.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Bnd94/pinkywhite.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Bnd94/pinkor.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Bnd94/pastel.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Bnd94/MSOpastulbqt_l.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Bnd94/lavwh.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Bnd94/ftd_C22-3062_bouquet_fleur_.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Bnd94/pastelpinklavbou.jpg

For the table covers you could use one solid color, say the lavender and then have centerpieces with a variety of colors that go with lavender. candles are cheap and look beautiful with any color too. It may be cheaper for you to do a floating candle bowl in the center of the tables and then put a few flowers around the bowl
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Bnd94/butterfly-d-2393BP00-lg.jpg

I don't think it would be tacky, just fun.

[CarlosHoney]

With the flowers and the cake you can definitley mix it up. If you wanted to do all of your favorite colors, you could choose one (like Lavender) and play the rest of the colors to flatter. Like, pastels in the bouquets and table centerpeices, and on the cake (the flowers on the cake can even be the same flowers that you're using elsewhere).

I would personally limit the butterflies WITH color to the cake, and centerpeices and the rest do either white or ivory. Then again, I'm all about the simplicity. I am having a late summer wedding, and I want it to be simple. It's easier to coordinate with one or two colors than a whole bunch. I'm going with Lavender and Ivory, and that's it.

I'm doing my dress Ivory, and I'm adding a little lavender underlayer peeking out in the back. The Bridesmaids are having different dresses, all in lavender. The Groomsmen are having Ivory vests and ties (I personally see matching vests/ties and dresses as being very prom-ish.. That's just me, though!) I'm having lavender roses to offset my dress, the Bridesmaids will have ivory so that the flowers don't blend in with thier dresses.

If you haven't seen it, look at my planning page:

www.freewebs.com/7uckily

There might be some ideas that you like. Feel free to borrow!

[lesley]

Honey: I did see your site, that is where I came up with the Lavender colors. You ladies gave me some great ideas. I guess I just need to come together and start deciding on what I want to do, what colors and stick to it.

I am a very undecisive individual (if you haven't already noticed) and it is extremely hard for me to pick out an outfit at the mall let alone plan my entire wedding. I can never make up my mind and I always second guess myself. I have two people here that "claim" they are going to help but they are the type that will "love" any idea I say and won't be objective at all and that is not what I need.

I will be doing some brain storming, breaking up my ceremony and reception into small details and creating a site like you Honey to keep track of my visualizations. Then I will post so you guys can critique it for me.

thanks a ton girls!

[CarlosHoney]

Sounds good to me!! I'd love to see it. Freewebs has a really easy website planner, so if you're going with them, it's as easy as operating any web based email. Can't wait to see!!!!! :wink:

[lesley]

With the help of my fellow oneweds, I have decided to go with -

-----------DRUMROLE PLEASE-------------

Lavender, Sage or Mint Green, and Ivory.

[CarlosHoney]

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! It's will be gorgeous. I've added blue to my colors since it's Carlo's favorite color. Like a light but bright aqua/turquoise blue. It's his wedding too, and though he likes purple and all, it's not his favorite color. It's mine. So, he's going to have blue in there.

[BeckyB]

Just a note I hope helps, I did a wedding in June with butterflys as her theme. You name it we tried to use butterflys. Her dress came from Davids and it was ivory with soft victorian flowers in soft colors across the bust line and on the front hem of the dress. We used that as her color scheme, soft pinks, blues, yellows, greens, and lavenders. She had hand held flowers and I wraped each stem using a linen hankie with a color that cordinated with there dress and her initals were embroidered in the same color just darker. Flowers were open roses, sweetheart roses, tulips, freesia, tube rose, ivy and wild grass. Colors were in darker colors and brighter colors like fussia and soft pink, dark purple and lavender,
and creamy ivorys with a lot of soft gren in themand soft touches of light yellow. Her dresses were in lavender, soft yellow, pink and the flower girl wore ivory with sheer overlay, satin flowers in the same colors as the dresses were between the layers of the sheer material, she droped petals in all the colors used in the wedding.I used the white sheapards hooks and put a med pink satin to make a backdrop( you have to put them on the hooks like a curtain and pull it tight, the hooks were put into pots filled with dirt and some sod on top of the dirt with flowers ) on the veranda of the country club. We made some cone shapes out of a soft floral wallpaper with butterflys on them, and had some small flowers flowing out of the cones, I used satin ribbons in pinks to hang them from the tops of the hooks.
On the railing we used pink tule and ribbins hanging. I lined the walk way with rose petals and near the front we filled tall glass tubes with water and had real rose petals floating in them, this helped define the front where the bride and groom were to stand. Inside I made flower arrangments for the tables and in the middle of each arrangment was a glass tube covered with floral velum paper found in the scrapbooking section of "Michaels" This gave a soft glow when the candles were lit. I used butterflys the bride bought at AC Moore in the arrangments so it looked like a few butterflys had landed on the flowers. The seating chart was on cream parchment, at the top and the bottom I used a limb from a tree. On the chart I painted 10 different butterfly each with its own number, that matched a butterfly house painted with the same number and butterfly on each table, the guest names were on the chart beside of a butterfly, to let them know which table they were to sit at. This was at the table with her register book. At the country club guest arrived and walked thru the reception site to go outside to the location of the ceremony. The tables were covered in white linen with a sheer overlay I make, then stamped them with a butterfly stamp using glue and sprinkleing glitter in her colors, finished by puting a tassel at each end on the point of the runner. Her cake was a stacked fonde with pinted pastel butterflys on it, I made a caketop using there initals, made of small porcelain pastel flowers. I made a small garden on each side of the cake with ferns and real flowers, small white sheapards hook with lanters and ivory iorn butterfly garden stakes( Hobby Lobby). When you came in the doors of the countery club which was at the back of the building, coming down the hall to the ball room I had made butterflys out of place mats and painted them, I placed them like stepping sotnes, also used pots with flowers and small hooks with hanging lanters to look like you were in a garden. On the table at each place setting I had made chocolate butterflys that I put into sheer pouches. The napkins were tied with butterflys and satin ribbons.The bride had just her wedding party gather around them after the announcement of husband and wife and released real butterflys that she had orderd. Favors were on a table overlayed with the sheer table runners and on silver trays were more chocclate butterflys, bubbles, and tule with bird seed, all had a butterflys tied to it.
I had found some small butterflys that looked croched in the sewing section at Wallmart and put that on her garder, we put them on here register book and on the pen holder.
As a special suprise I had bought pink quart beads in the shape of butterflys and hand sewed them randomly on her wedding gown, and used the extra to make simple necklaces for each bridesmaid. In her throw away flowers she added a silver butterfly charm.

[bnd94]

WOW Becky that sounds beautiful!!

[anxious bride]

I agree with everyone else's replies. I am using a variety of colors to go with my butterfly themed wedding. My dominent color is a peachy/apricot color, but will be also using light blue, lavender, yellow, etc. I want it to look very summery and fun. It really depends on your tastes. I had a question for you since you have the same theme as we do.

What are you using for your centerpieces? I have no ideas for the centerpieces, but thinking about doing colorful butterfly overlays on the white tablecloths that the country club offers. Any suggestions would be helpful. Good luck with your planning!

[CarlosHoney]

I think that a flower centerpeice with butterflies in it would be beautiful! A pair or a whole 'flock'.

This is a neat idea for Butterlfy Brides:

http://www.african-butterfly-home-decorating.com/all-butterflies-dragonflies-moths.htm

Here's some items for Butterfly Themes:

http://www.bridalpeople.com/butterfly-wedding/Default.asp?Page=1

I like those moving butterflies, though. I might get one for my bouquet!

[WebLady]

I love butterflies too, in fact I have 3 butterfly tattoos (and I want more) :wink:

Anyway, I think you could do lots of great things with this theme.

Now you had asked about what to do with the colors and I didn't notice anyone really mention anything about that (please forgive me if I just missed it)

Lets look at the colors you chose "Lavender, Sage or Mint Green, and Ivory" When I think of these colors this is what I see ...

Lavender:

http://www.plushdesigns.net/samples/lavender.jpg

Sage Green:

http://www.plushdesigns.net/samples/sage_green.jpg

Mint Green:

http://www.plushdesigns.net/samples/mint_green.jpg

And of course Ivory:

http://www.plushdesigns.net/samples/ivory.jpg

Now the Ivory in wedding gowns may be slightly darker or lighter than this.

So my thoughts would be to have your groom in an Ivory vest and the BM's and GM in the lavender and use whichever green (I like the sage myself) as accents in the flowers and the ribbons and such.

You can get little fake butterflies in lavender and green too ... use them in the favors, on the cake, etc ...

Here are a couple of cakes with butterflies I found, the colors are not the same but you can get ideas ...

http://www.debbiebone.co.uk/butterfly%20wedding%20cake.jpg

http://www.pastryartanddesign.com/images/butterfly-cake.jpg

http://www.dessertworks.net/pics/damarothumb.jpg

http://www.dessertworks.net/pics/butterfly.jpg


I found this site that does butterfly cake toppers, maybe you can get more ideas here ...

http://www.designsbydorian.com/Dorian/Butterflies_cake_toppers.htm

Here are a couple of butterfly invitations that I thought were nice -

http://www.stylartwedding.com/images/Products/YVF10757D_402pr.jpg

http://www.leighswishingwell.com/invitations/wedding/butterfly%20scattered%20-%20periwinkle.jpg

You could put little butterfly accents in your hair, your veil, whatever. Just don't go too overboard :wink:

I like this idea ... have butterfly applique in your veil kind of like this -

http://altura.speedera.net/ccimg.catalogcity.com/200000/208000/208048/Products/5419447.jpg

I did a Google search for "Butterfly Theme Wedding" and got lots of great ideas for other ways to incorporate butterflies ... too many to post :wink:

I personally would not recommend releasing live butterflies. For one the colored ones are very expensive and in the few weddings I have that did this, half the butterflies died :( I would use bubbles with butterflies on them or something.

I personally like the look of throwing rose petals at the getaway, it makes for a great photo.

Best of luck to you!

~ WebLady :)

[anxious bride]

I'M GLAD YOU CHOSE YOUR COLORS! IT WILL LOOK BEAUTIFUL. THANKS FOR ALL THE DIFFERENT IDEAS. HOPEFULLY, THEY WILL HELP ME ALONG THE WAY. WE ARE ON A VERY TIGHT BUDGET AND ARE TRYING TO STAY IN IT. JUST TO LET YOU GUYS KNOW ... I FOUND A WEBSITE WHERE YOU CAN ORDER LOTS OF BUTTERFLIES PRETTY CHEAP.. WWW.ORIENTALTRADING.COM I'VE GOT TO GO TO WORK NOW, BUT I'LL CHECK BACK WITH YOU GUYS TOMMORROW. HAVE A GREAT DAY! :)

[simone]

Hello Lesley,

I can help you with the butterfly wedding decoration.
I have some pictures.
Post your mail if you want to see. S.

[anxious bride]

If you don't mind I would like to post my e-mail for you also. I know you were directing it to Lesley, but I think it will be very helpful to me also. And trust me.. I need all the help I can get! Thank you very much.

lil-kim@ec.rr.com