Here is the inspiration board for my bright yellow and lavender spring garden wedding – iced tea or hot tea, you can pick.

An afternoon garden reception offers a few benefits. One, you can celebrate in the sunlight which is a bit untraditional and will be something new for your guests. Two, you can celebrate with your marriage with your closest family and friends and spend your first married night alone with your husband, doubly amazing. Three, you can play outdoor garden games like bocce ball and croquet – so cute! And four, if you really want you can invite your guests to wear garden hats like they wear at the Kentucky Derby, and who wouldn’t want an excuse to wear one of those. I know I would.

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

It’s never too early to begin planning a spring/summer 2011 wedding (these picks are likely too late for our 2010 summer wedding brides). I love bright colored weddings and think the ultimate spring wedding colors would be bright yellow and lavender. These two colors would allow you to work with a variety of shades because light yellow and dark purple accents would look good too. So this week I will plan a lavender and yellow spring wedding with a garden tea reception. I just love the idea of having an outdoor wedding in a blooming garden. And making it a tea party let’s you add a few whimsical touches, even if you only serve iced teas.

bright yellow short bridesmaids' dresses

These bright yellow bridesmaids’ dresses are so cute and they pop so well next to the bride’s crisp white dress.

yellow and lavender bouquets

Just substitute theses flowers into their hands and this would play nicely into my garden wedding. These dresses are from J. Crew, which is likely why I was drawn to them in the first place.

This week I’ve been picking out elements for the perfect fall wedding. I’ve brought all the elements together in this inspiration board – you really should start making these. Seeing everything together just feels complete, looks gorgeous and seems infinitely better than the individual parts.

For the do-it-yourself instructions and sources of all this goodness, check out the previous posts from this week! Purple, green and brown are such a modern twist on the traditional fall wedding color palette and adds a little bit of surprise to what your guests may have been expecting. Also, your bridal party will likely appreciate your color choices – who doesn’t look good in at least one shade of purple?

kate spade purple heels

And it allows you to sneak in these amazing, non-white wedding shoes