Making burlap look refined and wedding appropriate is shabby chic in its height of perfection. These painted burlap pennants can be purchased on funkyshique’s Etsy shop, featuring boldly glittered hearts. They are relaxed yet polished and effortlessly romantic. If this isn’t quite what you’re looking for, turn this into a quick and inexpensive do-it-yourself design. Just cut burlap fabric into triangles and spray paint the hearts with a stencil – skip the glitter for a simpler clean-up. This way you can make it any color you like, and for my shabby chic wedding this week I’d have to pick bright pink and pale blue.

rustic and romantic

On a total side note – check out the wooden chandeliers in this wedding. While the entire wedding may be a bit too refined to be shabby chic, these white, wooden chandeliers could definitely find a comfortable home at this week’s wedding. Plus, aren’t they adorable?

An afternoon garden reception allows you to put extra focus on the sweetest wedding detail, the desserts. Instead of the single traditional, elegant wedding cake why not do a modern, laidback twist? Instead of including many cakes by making cupcakes, actually just make multiple cakes. And don’t stop there, do pies and cookies and cobblers too. I just love the idea of having a ton of delicious treats to pick from and it somehow feels fitting for a tea-sipping afternoon reception.

i'll take one of each, thanks for offering

And whether you’re planning this outdoor reception or a ladies only wedding shower these yellow and lavender macarons are too cute to resist. Such tiny little bites of goodness (click the image for the recipes too - another DIY option).

macarons look chic even standing alone

I know it’s the heat of summer so it may seem too soon to be thinking about bundling up with warm beverages. But as many brides know, you need to be picking out all your wedding details at least a season ahead of the actual ceremony so you have a chance to order it and put things together (and order a backup plan if necessary). So in the spirit of my purple, green and brown fall wedding plan I have chosen two very simple and do-it-yourself wedding reception elements.

truffles instead of wedding cake

I absolutely love the idea of having truffles in lieu of a wedding cake. They are easy to eat, simple to clean up and even more delicious to eat. Plus these truffles come with do-it-yourself directions to keep within your wedding budget. You can also make these a few days ahead of time so you don’t have to worry about assembling these cuties the night before your wedding. I love the modern bride option of skipping a huge, tiered wedding cake and these tiny delectable bites offer so many shades from my wedding color palette.

hot cocoa packet favors

And once you’ve started incorporating rich chocolate into your ceremony, why stop? Send your guests home with another easy do-it-yourself project – hot chocolate mix and red wine hot fudge favors. Check out Nonpareil’s online magazine for other great wedding tips and ideas.

I recently posted a few pictures from Martha Stewart’s top 50 wedding tablescapes so this may seem repetitive. But I think having just written about them has made me more observant of them now because so many cute ones seem to be popping up all over the place. I absolutely love these reception table decorations from MadeByGirl’s own wedding and couldn’t resist sharing them.

L-O-V-E it.

table setting perfection

They match natural outdoor elements with crisp and classic dishes, glassware and fabrics to get this refined, organic setting. It’s absolute perfection. And sticking the escort cards as leaves in top of the apples is both highly functional and cohesive. My favorite elements – if forced to pick just two from the number of perfections shown – would have to be the LOVE dishes full of chocolate covered strawberries and the wheat grass filled vases.

guest view of the table setting

Also, they did it all themselves from a bunch of stores you can likely find locally, like Whole Foods and Michael’s Crafts. This proves you can have over-the-top elegance and style without an over-the-top budget.