They’re everywhere. Literally, everywhere.  Interesting how one of the biggest wedding trends of 2010 was, ironically, completely different for every bride. Inspiration Boards of all shapes and sizes can be found on weddings blogs from around the world and in almost every bride’s planning binder. Why? Because they’re great – I promise this is a project that will make your life easier.

What?

Inspiration Boards are visual articulations of your wedding vision. They are collages of feelings and ideas, put into a context everyone can understand – photographs. What’s great about Inspiration Boards is you can make one for the overall vision of your wedding, and then you can create as many as you want to focus on the details of your wedding. Make one for your cake, your favours, your bridesmaid dresses, your flowers, your shoes – you get my drift.

Why?

A photograph or a picture is a very effective way to express yourself.  If you went somewhere where no one spoke English and said “white roses”, a lot of people would give you a funny look and point you towards a subway. But if you showed them a photo of a bouquet of white roses – they would understand what you were saying. And if you showed them a photo of a smiling bride on a green hillside with a bouquet of white roses, they would understand the feeling you were communicating. Inspiration Boards are just that – a great tool for you to communicate the feel of your wedding. If you’re anything like me, I do a lot of my wedding communicating by blinking back confusion. My Inspiration Board helps keep me on track of how I want my wedding to feel – I don’t get side tracked by new trends or “bright ideas”. It helps me stay focussed.

How?

So the big question remains: how do you actually make one? There are lots of different ways – maybe you have already been cutting pictures out of magazines and it’s as easy as gluing them to a piece of paper and then taking a photo of it with your camera. For those brides who consider themselves rather tech savvy – you are in luck. I did up a little YouTube tutorial (you’re welcome) where I show you how to make an Inspiration Board using two different programs. The first is Picasa, which is a free photo management software you can download on your computer. The second is theknot.com, which (aside from being a great overall wedding resource) has an online collage builder where you can pick and choose from any and all of the images found on the site.

Click to enlarge image

Send me your Inspiration Boards when you are done – we love to see them and share them!

Photo Sources from collage:

http://www.capclassic.wordpress.com

http://www.magnoliarouge.com

http://www.bow-occasions.co.uk

http://www.snippetandink.com/

Does anyone else ever get confused on where to start? I only ask because it’s topical. New year , new month, new day – like a clean sheet of paper, you just want to fill it up. But what are you filling it with? Try to break down yesterday to the minute, every task (big and small) taken account. Isn’t it over whelming to think about, even though yesterday is already over and done with? Now try and do this for a single day that is six, 12, 16 months down the road and multiply the significance by ten thousand.

Well, when you put it that way – why would anyone do that to themselves, or their wedding?

My name is Alix, and I’m a 26 year old bride to be – a rather cheeky bride to be. And yes, I’m going to be your unofficial bridesmaid for the next, oh however long you need me. I’m here to help you (among many things) sort through all the details that will come together to be your wedding day, find calm within your chaos and translate the wedding industry “language” (including acronyms).

I want you to send me your pictures, your ideas, your questions and your frustrations. I’ll share them, answer them and relate to them and in turn, I’ll bring you ideas that are useful – ideas that I have either tried myself or would be willing to try myself (I will tell you all about crafternoon’s later), ideas I feel are feasible and cost effective and most of all, ideas that will help make your wedding more beautiful and less stressful. Because I’m exactly like you – just a bride trying not to be overwhelmed by her wedding.

And on a more personal note, I’m also here roll my eyes with you at all the stuff you hate, and help you justify all the purchases you make and be cranky about the stuff you don’t want to do. I’m here to be irritated when you feel like your vendors aren’t calling you back, frustrated when your mother just isn’t hearing what you’re saying and smirky smile with you when your fiancé does something adorable and smushy that makes all your effort worth it. And the effort is worth it.

When will you see me next? Tuesday, and every Tuesday after that. Pinky swear.

To give you a feel for me and my wedding, here’s an inspiration board. Yes, that is my fiancé and I, about five hours before he proposed to me in Emerald Lake.

Feel free to send in your inspiration boards, we love to hear your stories and share!