Real Weddings with White Ideas

Classic and elegant, white truly is the color of weddings. Whether it plays a major part in your palette or a supporting one, nothing says "bridal" more than white.

This bride's bouquet mixes classical elegance with a hint of contemporary. The different flowers (white gardenias, stephanotis, lily of the valley, polo roses, and peonies) are arranged in small groupings.

Summer's bounty provides inspiration for this stationery, a mix of classic and informal typography, calligraphy, and letterpress. Images of spring-green apples add a fanciful twist to envelope liners. Table numbers are replaced by cards stamped with images of garden plants.

This couple's wedding palette takes inspiration from their stunning venue, Vibiana, a former cathedral that boasts Baroque interiors and soaring ceilings. The elegance of black and white keeps the style of the wedding in line with the elegance of the building.

Their invitations are from Paper Source, but they added a few personal touches, including handmade envelope liners, vintage postage, and calligraphy by Katrina Centeno.

Chocolate-iced cupcakes stand in for wedding cake at this California wedding. Create the festive little flags by folding printed paper around short skewers and securing with double-sided tape.

Bride Annette designed these takeaway egg shakers, a nod to groom Dan's musical background, by overlapping their thumbprints to form a heart to go with the color palette of the day -- black and white.

These flower girls are all dressed in white -- adorable orchid wreaths included.

This wedding features a multitude of beautiful floral arrangements by Neil Hunt of Hunt Littlefield. For the cocktail hour, floral globes, white paper lanterns, and a woven sphere of split bamboo hang from a latticed ceiling in the outdoor space. The oval table houses an edgy yet romantic centerpiece of green bells of Ireland, hydrangeas, and vintage garden roses.

"I love large flowers in small bouquets," says the bride in this New York wedding. Round green proteas, pale-emerald calla lilies, and midnight-black chocolate cosmos punctuate giant dahlias in her bouquet.

For their interpretation of a mechitza (a curtain that separates men and women during dancing), Molly and David suspend several canvas panels between fabric-wrapped birch branches.

Egglings -- tiny planters filled with seeds of herbs such as parsley or basil -- make fitting favors for this New York affair that values gardening, cooking, and sharing the fruits of one's labor.

All the floral and design elements of this wedding, including this bouquet of light-pink peonies, white garden roses, and decorative kale, are the work of Megan Fickling of La Partie Events. A hanky, embroidered with bride Mindy's wedding date in blue, is wrapped around her bouquet. Hidden under the ribbon on the handle are ribbons from bouquets caught at previous weddings.

The centerpieces on the dining tables of Suzanne and Adam's wedding are a mix of high and low pieces. Bells of Ireland, native dogwood branches, and tulips form the taller pieces, anchored by a trio of simple flower groupings. Atop each place setting rests a single cut tulip.

At this black and white wedding in New York City, the groom wears a small white flower accented by white feathers and a black ribbon.

Bridesmaids in Natasha and Jay's wedding hold smaller versions of Natasha's bouquet of white gardenias, hydrangeas, and stephanotis and wear summery dresses in white with pink stripes.

Lilies of the valley are wrapped in a pale-green patterned ribbon for bride Doo-Ri's simple and chic but still luxurious bouquet, created by florist Matthew Robbins.

White "lace" plates and modern centerpieces filled with spider mums stand out against a blue taffeta tablecloth at Elizabeth and Barton's reception. The linens, which feature an eyelet fabric band around the bottom, are custom-made.

Glasses of white-peach sangria are garnished with blackberries and peaches at Susan and Steven's wedding.

Bundles of baby's breath dot the aisle at Mindy and Brian's ceremony. Inside pouches made by Mindy's mom are calligraphed programs and tissues with a note attached reading "Tears of Love, Tears of Laughter, Tears of Happily Ever After."

The bridesmaids in this New York wedding wear white silk-and-lace dresses with yellow sashes by Melissa Sweet and carry bouquets of white and yellow flowers.

A pair of 2-foot-wide wreaths hang on the exterior church doors at Suzanne and Adam's wedding. Lush white hydrangeas, tea and garden roses, and a few flax leaves create a clean yet romantic decoration as guests arrive.

A color-coordinated white and black sweets buffet features several confections and a vanilla cake decorated with sugar anemones.

Bride Lenore's bouquet has tiny pinecones and evergreen sprigs ringed with marabou.

Cloth and ribbon are used to make a label for a jar of flavored water in a self-serve bar with Molly and David's favorite drinks; other jars hold iced tea, lemonade, and sangria.

White-on-white stripes blanket the tiers of this hazelnut, chocolate, and praline cake, creating a creamy canvas for cherries, apricots, figs, and pears. The cake was a gift from bride Susan's friend, cake designer Gail Watson.

Bride Elizabeth's bouquet includes white gardenias, peonies, tulips, and cymbidium orchids.

Groom Jeffrey's boutonniere, which combined a mini white cymbidium orchid and jasmine vine, has a slightly tropical vibe.

The bridesmaids carry bouquets of Dutch parrot tulips and white peonies in a collar of hosta foliage. More colorful blooms accent the rich chocolate tone of the women's dresses.

This winsome wedding cake is decorated with paper trees and "snowballs" piped from frosting and topped with a marzipan snowman and snow-woman holding a replica of Lenore's bouquet.

The groom and groomsmen wear hand-carved wooden-chip flower boutonnieres on their lapels in this California wedding.

Bride, Kristina's bouquet, by Cecelia Heffernan of Flower Hardware, combines white flowers including antique garden roses, sweet peas, clematis, and scabiosa.

A New York city tradition and black and white to go with the color palette of Annette and Dan's wedding, boxed black-and-white cookies topped with thumbprint heart labels and graphic ribbon served as parting gifts.