A few years ago, a crafty friend who was invited to a last minute birthday party whipped together a set of stunning napkins from a yard of material by cutting squares from it and hemming each of the squares on all four sides. A quick iron and the gift was good to go … and it’s one that’s turned up on many table settings since.

A selection from the huge range of patterns, colours and prints from Designer Fabrics

I love the idea of creating napkins for your tables at a wedding, especially when you come across that fabric that is so perfect it makes you smile. As we enter into spring and summer, outdoor, casual feasting becomes more and more common, and by making a set of colourful, fanciful napkins you can add a pretty dash of colour and a whack of personality to your party with this single décor element.

Use different fabrics to coordinate and identify different tables,  or mix and match from sets of 8 or 12 which you can use down the road on your kitchen table. You can even stamp your napkins with a monogram, date or image to make them even more personal and if you’re super keen, create a second set, tie them in pairs with matching ribbon and voilà, a darling token of the day for your guests.

Butter coloured fabric swatches from

Queen Street’s Designer Fabrics is a visual playground for established designers and newbies alike, check out their online selection and order some samples to test your colour choices with the rest of your décor, alternatively, there are Etsy sellers who produce original fabrics and retail vintage material, Sky Reve Fabrics is particularly good at putting collections of prints together.

Love this ring pillow from Etsy seller, The Blooming South.

As beautiful as the pillow itself is the designer’s write up of it, who notes that it’s one of her favourite designs, possibly because it reminds her of her days as an equestrian: “The pillow is made with Belgium Burlap Linen tied with a French Velvet bow. Centered in the pillow is a monogrammed button in pale pink Italian Crepe Linen. Initials available are: T, S, R, N, L, K, H, and D. A sweet chocolate brown and ecru gingham check ring ribbon finishes the look as well as keeping your rings safe as the pillow makes its way down the aisle.”

The eco-friendly pillows are approximately 5 x 5 x 2 inches and filled with premium, buck wheat hulls for maximum fullness.

The Blooming South also sells sweetly simple covered button cufflinks in six colours and all of the items come gorgeously packaged in handmade boxes and pouches.

Duo Lucid Flower Necklace, $55US

The third accessory designer we met at Indie Wed was Katie, the metalsmith and artist whose hands are behind the work at Dollybird Design. Launching her first bridal collection for Indie Wed, Katie promised us she’d hurry to get her bridal designs up on Etsy but we had no idea we’d hear from her four days later, be among the first to view her bridal-specific designs here.

I love Katie’s aesthetic, from the her website that feels like a revered specimen collection to this bridal collection that, as she says, strikes a balance between being non-traditional but also non-competitive with a wedding dress, to that incredible poppy ring on her homepage (that I would definitely give to a bridesmaid — but want to keep pour moi)!

Made from sterling silver and lucite, the rings, necklaces and earrings of this collection are feather-light and brilliantly white, they’re lush and large and absolutely perfect for a spring wedding, paying homage to the over-sized blooms of the season.

Lucid Flower Button Earrings, $40US

Layered Lucid Flower Ring, $65US

We’re leaving you this week with a look at a great vintage Toronto engagement session. Our Sassoon contest winner, Lisa, who wants “jet black and sexy” hair for her 1950s-inspired wedding this September has sent us the engagement photos she and her fiancé, Ash, had taken in the Old Towne area of Toronto. She wrote in her email to The Wedding Co.: “Our original plan involved ice skating but due to the nice weather, everyone in Toronto was on the rink and it was way too crowded, [but] our photographers found better locations that went with the vintage feel.”

Photos: Elizabeth & Claudia, E. Photography

A huge congratulations to Melissa who has been selected as the winner of the Vineland Estates Winery and Executive Travel Services Ltd.-sponsored overnight to wine country. The bride, whose wedding happens to be THIS WEEKEND will also receive Crate & Barrel’s win-themed gift basket… there’s nothing like knowing you have a little holiday already planned for after your wedding to sit back and relax while you reminisce!

We found this on the lovely Twig and Thistle blog — what a brilliant way to warm up the holidays! Change out the regular marshmallows for complementary colours, flavours and hand-cut gourmet stock for something even more personal.

“I wish I could take credit for this fun little kit but I actually spotted this while shopping at Packaging Specialties, my favorite packaging store here in Seattle. They used clear accetate boxes to wrap up all the necessities for homemade S’mores and I just added a bit of baker’s twine to finish it off. The two bottom boxes measure 3″x3″x2″ and the top one is 2″ square. These would make a sweet guest room gift at a wedding or a nice treat for house guests over the coming holidays. Simply add a coordinating ribbon, roast and enjoy!” Kathleen, Twig & Thistle

Just finished reading Deirdre Kelly’s memoir where she recounts eight highly memorable trips she’s taken to Paris, the city she says has an “impenetrable aura of beauty.” The book is a great holiday read and a super gift for any Parisian-at-heart, especially one who’s engaged; in Fiancée, her sixth chapter, Kelly writes about introducing her beau to the city of light as a test, she writes for the “assurance that he was the One.”

By Stephanie Gareri

Who doesn’t notice a great pair of socks? Grooms are venturing away from black and discovering a world of stripes, patterns and polka dots for sock fashion. “Men are understanding that they don’t have to be in basic black all the time,” says Melissa Austria of Gotstyle Menswear.

Checker board, contrast heel or toe, dot socks, pencil flower socks, argyle and stripes – grooms are using socks as a stylish addition to express their personalities, complement the bride’s shoes or wedding colours and to have a bit of fashionable fun on their special day!

Find these quality tootsies locally at:

Keep Your Socks On at  Green Shag
Happy Socks and Richard James at Gotstyle
Paul Smith and Duchamp at Holt Renfrew
Simon Carter

Photos by: Leo Patrone, Kelly Melissa Photography, Stephanie Williams Photography, Jose Villa Wedding Photography, Todd Pellowe Weddings, Michele M. Waite Photography and White Box Wedding

Walkers take note! We love this little tool for its ability to help you travel by foot whether you’re planning a shopping day with your mum or your friends, suggesting a few must-see spots for out of town guests or looking for the perfect hotel location for your honeymoon all without the bother of transit or parking!

Check the Walk Score of your venue, neighbourhood or that super fabulous dress shop you want to try, that way, when you’ve found the frock and want to celebrate, you already know you can walk around the corner to the equally fabulous spot to re-fuel! The website is really straight-forward and it’s original purpose was to help people find walkable neighbourhoods to move to – something that might come in handy after the wedding and honeymoon!

This is a snapshot of a score for The Winter Garden Theatre, Toronto (tomorrow’s featured venue). Part of what’s so cool about that particular venue is that it’s in the heart of the downtown of our fabulous city and so why not suggest some great walking destinations for your guests either before the wedding or between the ceremony and reception for visitors and locals alike to enjoy a pedestrian’s view of Toronto. With so much emphasis being placed on creating a spectacular experience for guests, this is a super way to take advantage of the spot you’ve chosen – especially if it’s a destination for anyone – it’s exciting to share your city or explore a new one with your favourite people.

Since we’ve got a bit of an impromptu theme of theatrical outdoors going on this week, I thought it mighty fitting that I stumbled over this blog post from Parrott Design Studio, a stationer who specializes in letterpress and screenprinted designs.

Rustic Invitation

Not only is the gocco’d and organically written {by Betsy Dunlap} invitation for Mary and Bobby’s wedding gorgeous, you’ll love the details that went into every element:

I found vintage images of a barn, church, & house & paired them with Betsy’s words. … The {RSVP, Invite and Map} were parceled together with some natural twine & embellished with a little round tag featuring a little blue nest, symbolizing the new life the couple will be starting together.  The entire invitation suite is just adorable & I loved having the opportunity to work Mary, who had such a vision for her suite, as well Betsy, whose work I love.  The invitation was screenprinted in chocolate brown & wedgewood blue inks on soft, 100% cotton paper in Pearl.  For a final rustic touch, the suite was sent in 100% recycled brown kraft envelopes. {Sarah Parrott}

Detail of invitation with birdsnest image and twine

Teaser of the invitation, the RSVP and the hand-drawn map

A pair of pretty 'blue' birds on the RSVP card