Salute the Spring with a Cherry Blossom Wedding
Cherry blossoms are beloved: by the Chinese, the Japanese, fashionistas, home decorators, girly-girls and poets. They stand for virtue and new beginnings. Even more, they stand for ephemeral things: our lives, our joys, and those all-too-brief times on cloud nine, like your wedding day.
Chocolate brown and strawberry pink: these two are still going very, very strong for weddings, and look great together. The cherry blossom theme lets you not only draw on those lovely colors (or spin a new set altogether), but bring a sophisticated Asian flair to your reception without having to wade in too deep.
Setting the Scene
People journey from all over the globe, East and West, from Tokyo to Washington, D.C. to see the cherry blossoms peep out in spring. What makes everyone gasp (and return year after year) is the sensation of being surrounded by a snowstorm of flowers: overhead, the "cloud layer" of flowering branches; below, the thickly-laid "snowflakes" of individual petals.
Bring a similar feel to your own wedding by celebrating the outdoors. If your climate and date will play along, marry outdoors with a thick layer of flower petals carpeting the aisle like a mini snowstorm. For centerpieces, use compact flowers that suggest cloudy skies, like hydrangeas or peonies in delicate colors. Group them with crystal-beaded willow for dramatic height, and scatter petals generously down the table runners.
Finally, take a page from celebrity planner Jo Gartin's playbook, and give your venue a scent dimension. Have a helper spray around the room with something slightly Asian, slightly sweet — but not too overpowering — before your guests arrive.
More ways to give your affair that Pan-Asian flair
Hand your bridesmaids pink oil-paper parasols, or sandalwood fans.Instead of the usual flat satin, coordinate all your gowns with beautiful, rich brocade sashes.
Candy's sweet, like spring — and love — so consider a candy buffet, stocked with heaps of pink and chocolate treats. Set out personalized pink take-out boxes for guests with a sweet tooth.
Take advantage of the sumptuous, you-could-frame-this papers designed to celebrate the cherry blossom. Use these to design absolutely one-of-a-kind invitations, save the dates, paper fans or favor tags. Lightly spray your invites with that special signature scent to get guests in the mood.
For jewelry, look to lacy, filigreed silver pieces — or pearls.
Libations are an important part of any blossom-viewing party, so mix up a special drink: champagne with a candied cherry, or a custom cosmopolitan.
To add a bit of glow, hang round paper lanterns from the ceiling, and place shoji-style lanterns on the tables.
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I was wondering if anybody could give me their opinion on this…I have a dress already and it is more of a princess dress, strapless and very poofy at the bottom, and I had fallen in love with this dress but I adore the cherry blossom idea…would it look strange if I tried to pull the asian theme in with a more traditional princess theme? Please help!
Julia, i say go with what you love. are youwanting cherry blossoms or blending in some asian accents? why not have simple paper lanterns( say whites and neutrals, lace?), find a very white ribbon with subtle asian print on it. i have seen similar ribbon at craft stores. have centerpieces of flowering cherry blossoms sitting in traditional silver urns.
*THIS IS SOOOO PRETTY!
*part 1 of wedding
would cherry blossom work for a april wedding outside and the colors be off pink and light blue and ivory or champaign?
sarah, yes it can work. i would actually pick the blue and ivory or champagne as my main two colors then bring in centerpieces and decor with cherry blossoms added.
*blue and pink example
*cherry blossom to this would be WOW!
*another board
*project wedding
sarah, here is a board i just put together to give an example of how it could look. Simple champagne linens with blue napkins, runners, etc.. with the pink centering the tables. i wouldnt make them low centerpieces unless protected by a tent, etc.
sarah, i meant i would make them low centerpieces and the blue on the table should be subtle, not to much blue so the pink can shine.
Hello all, I found this site so fantastic when planning my wedding. The theme was cherry blossoms of course, and my colors were pink, and brown, with accents of Tiffany blue. My wedding has passed, and I am left with lots of extras that were really hard for me to find. I will be selling my wedding stuff off on ebay in Feb of 2010, but I thought I would see if anyone is in need on this website first. I know how frustrating it is not to be able to find stuff. Things for sale are 4 tall large brown vases with pink cherry blossom stems in them, cherry blossom garlands (I had 20 of them, a few got cut by the place, but are still use-able- I should have at least 13 whole ones), pew bows (white with cherry blossoms in the center, and sheer brown and pink bows with cherry blossoms in the center, I have cylinders with cherry blossom stems in them for filling with water- 10.5 in, 8.75, and 7.75- I have 12 of each size, and like 10 more of the 7.75, gum paste cherry blossoms for a cake or cupcakes- I made the ones for my cake- tons of hours, but it saved me so much money in comparison to the one site that makes them for the brown floating cherry blossom cake by martha stewart- unfortantly our cake person failed at using the right icing, if it was fondant it would have looked just like the picture of the martha stewart cake. I am willing to make these gum paste flowers again. We made like 550 for that cake, and used around 300, then used the extra for super cute cupcakes later. I need to inventory everything exactly and come up with a price, feel free to ask any questions my email is ( sunset72859 bellsouth net) take out the spaces, add an @ and a . or you could check out our wedding website for more pics and ideas. everettandlaura.ourweddingday. com I only really check my email, please put cherry blossom in the title so I dont delete. My guys wore black tuxes and brown vests with homemade cherry blossom ties, the girls brown dresses with homemade pink cherry blossom sashes, if you want to see pics of any detail just email me I am happy to share. This site didn’t allow me to post my pictures!!! ERRR! So just email me, I am putting some pics on my website but it takes forever to up load. I wish you the best of luck planning your wedding, and a great day!
I may be interested in some of your items, but would like to see pictures. email me.
Michele I would love to email you some pictures, but the site won’t give me your email, and you didn’t include it. Email me sunset72859 bellsouth.net
Im getting married july of 2010 and its so hard to find the theme i have in mind and u seem to match my vision almost perfectly. please email with price details and we will go from there. your wedding sounded beautiful!!!
Cara I need you to email me directly, I can not access your email through this form. I’ll see if I can post some more pictures this time. Please email me directly if you are interested. Thank you!
Laura
Currently (10/28) I only have bows left and my availability to make gum paste cherry blossoms for cakes and cupcakes. I am also considering hand painting a cherry blossom branch onto votive’s if I can find a way to make the hour and 15 minutes a little shorter. If you are interested in any of these please email me sunset72859 @ bellsouth . net Thanks again, I have gotten so many requests from you all I only wish I had more stuff
Laura
Hi, just wanted to ask question that you girls might know. When do you think a cherry blossom wedding would be cheaper may or in september? Thanks!
christina,
they will be much cheaper in spring when they are in season. though, silk you can use anytime, any season and come out great!!
Well i am making my own cherry blossom decorations at my wedding, here is a pic….the only thing is i am having red instead of pink. That was the only paper i had so i tested it out and i love it.
wow that i beautiful…if i wanted to recreate this look what did you use and where did you get the stuff…
I used cherry branches off my cherry tree and then cut out origami paper into blossoms and glue gunned them on, very tall vases i used and sprawling branches. Cost me a whopping $12.00 to make. I still love them very much everyday i look at them and so easy to make.
One of my really close friends plans on using the cherry blossom theme for her September 2009 wedidng…we need help putting together the Bouquet for her to carry. Any suggestions?
nadia,
with the cherry blossom theme i would carry a simple wedding bouquet of roses, in either white or a shade of pink. make sure your roses are in top notch condition and if they are real have a vase of water to set them in before and after the ceremony. google image diy wedidng bouquet
I am planning a late may-june 2010 japanese cherry blossom wedding and I will be wearing a white kimono for my wedding dress. I will also be wearing a “uchikake” or formal robe over the kimono for the ceremony.
I attached a photo, I am trying to find the right color combo’s to go with my 3 ladies/men in the wedding party. The ladies are considering kimono! which I love, but may be too expensive for them to purchase. 
Any thoughts to help pull it all together more? I’ll be having pink and white cherry blossom theme at the reception, thanks to all the beautiful suggestions I have seen here, it is helping tremendously in decision making there!
windy,
why not consider a silvery grey for the girls? the pink your using would stand out against their dresses. the guys could wear darker grey. i love your attire!! it is breathtaking! you could also consider having the girls and guys in brown or black. if they go with standard dresses why not tie in a asian ribbon sash around the dresses? something simple yet would tie it all together. just head to your local fabric store and find a pink asian influenced embroidered fabric to make into simple sashes, not to wide, add to a black or brown dress and voila!!
Stacey,
…but we’re getting there! Thanks again!
Thank you so much for the compliments, ideas. I never considered the silvery-grey/platinum and I was already considering the gents in charcoal~ maybe not pink on them lol
Keep the imagination flowing
I thought you ladies might enjoy this DIY-heavy cherry blossom wedding: great ideas for inexpensive centerpieces, a gorgeous cupcake/cake, and as a third color the bride used gold, which is unexpected and lovely here. Oh and you must see the DIY invites!
* My DIY wedding on a budget
I love that pink and brown together I am goin to use them colors for my wedding thinkings for the idea
Fun new cherry blossom favor gals! Seriously, we love these!
Perfect for you pink & black brides. Clicky-clicky on the pic!
I went to the website whiteaisle.com to buy some pink cherry blossom branches (the $6 ones) and they are back-order until april, MY WEDDING IS IN LATE MARCH!!!! Does anybody know anyother website where i can buy some of these beautiful pink cherry blossom branches??? HELP!!!
Hi Rebecca, esperanza — try ebay, some brides here have used the silk ones and liked them. I just checked and there seems to be a good selection.
Here’s a link: cherry blossom silk flowers
Save-On-Crafts.com We’ve already ordered a sample. They are perfect except…they are listed as peach blossoms. They look like cherry. The branches even look real. We loved them and got them immediately. Hope this helps.
I just bought some at Pier 1. They are beautiful. I believe they are $12 for a bundle of 4-5.
Rebecca - my daughter is having a cherry blossom wedding next month in DC and I found beautiful long branches of silk cherry blossom stems at Michael’s and we are using one in each of the guest welcome bags - they have long pliable stems and are very reasonably priced - they have them in white and pink. I brought a coupon for discount on one item and they wrapped up 50 together with a bough and let me use the coupon the whole lot of them!
http://www.save-on-crafts.com
One more idea for those of you who are insanely crafty. “The Flirty Bride” at The Flirty Guide blog posted a DIY tutorial on origami cherry blossom branches, which if you think about it just about perfect for an Asian-fusion wedding. Plus, they look gorgeous in the pic. Her instructions are here:
http://www.theflirtyguide.com/tfg_everyday/3_origami_cherry_blossoms.html
Check out: http://www.estiloweddings.com …they have “japan flower stems” very, very similar to the ones from white aisle with the beads and everything! I ordered the chocolate brown and pink cherry blossom wedding card box from them and its amazing!!!The blossoms they have only come in red and white or green though and i need the pink ones from white aisle so unfortunately my search is still on. I am freaking out as i get married in May! If anyone knows of any other place to get similar cherry blossoms to white aisle please, please let me know!
hi my wedding is on valentine’s day and i can’t find cherry blossoms anywhere i don’t think whiteaisle has them do you know any other place they might hav them?
I am planning a cherry blossom renewal of vows in June 2010. Going to this web site has helped me a lot in getting prepared. I need help with the men. My colors are brown and pink or black and pink. I like the dresses listed above from bill levkoff. Tuxes and centerpiece ideas.
Hi I am having a july wedding and really want cherry blossoms, is this to tacky???
oh also with the color red???
michelle, no its not tacky, cherry blossoms are great! love the red by the way!
* cherry blossom board in red, gold & burgundy
* Cherry Blossom Shower Theme: The Return
( love the light feel of this one)
* Red Cherry Blossom Wedding Invitations (Sample)
i ove the cherry blossoms i was wondering where you got yours because i can’t find any floral store in nj
I think this is a great idea!!! If you want real flowers try getting some leafy branches and have mini red carnations hot glued to the branches they will look just likc red cherry blossoms! I did this with pink for my june wedding since the season was warm and the real thing was out of bloom already
Here’s a totally sweet cherry blossom/love birds theme wedding, red and chocolate brown, with super-hot florals. Click through for a few more pics: Rhonda & Erik’s Wedding
brides, here is a great website for cherry blossom theme!! many items!! dont miss this site!!
* Aylee: Cherry blossoms
jody, in addition to the post i sent, here is an amazing take on an invite. a oriental fan wedding invite! pricey but absolutely amazing!!
* Oriental Fan Wedding Invitation ( this site has pink ones)
* Printed Asian Fan (scroll way down to bottom)
Sorry the photos did not post last time. Kets try this again…
Beautiful pictures! One question… what did you use for your bouquets?
I used peonies. White with pink center for myself and my girls carried pink one.s They were pretty
is it possible to see a picture of your bouquets? These sound gorgeous. I am having a cherry blossom wedding in may and and throwing around different flower ideas right now.
where did you find the dresses?
bill levkoff
Those gowns are amazing.
Amazing dresses!!
were did you get the dresses?
Hi, I saw the pic that u have up from your brides maits, and i am planning my sisters wedding. I have not been able to find the dresses, I was wondering if you can tell me how or where u got the dresses. They are excately what Im looking for. PLEAS!!!!!!!!!
Thank you.
I had an asian cherry blossom theme wedding in June of 2008. Everything was beautiful. Our cake was done by Ron Ben Israel in NYC. We had cherry blossom centerpieces with hanging tapered votives. My Bridesmaid dresses were black and pink by Bill Lekoff. The pink sash on the dress had cherry blossoms embroidered onto it. Our invitations were by Elizabeth Allis & Co in Chigaco IL. We gave stemless wine glasses with cherry blossoms etched onto the front with our names and chop sticks wth cherry blossoms as our favors. Please e-mail me if you need any help I still have all of my links and photos from my planning. Here are a few pics from my wedding hope this helps! my email is babybeiiaxo@aol.com
Caitlin, thanks so much for posting the pics, I think I would have died if you had just mentioned that Ron Ben Israel did your cake and then not posted pics.
Hi My name is Felisha and I am assisting with a Cherry Blossom (pink and chocolate brown) themed wedding in July and would love to see some pics of your wedding and especially the center pieces as floral arrangements are my weak spot and I have no idea what to put together. All suggestions are welcome.
Sincerley,
Felisha J.
where did you get your cherry blossoms at specifically
i want to download a cherry blossom branch to make my own table decor for my daughter’s wedding…any suggestions? I absolutely love what you had at your wedding.
thank you,
maureen
mother of the bride… (who lives in DC)
i want to do a cherry blossom wedding but need to do the center pieces myself so we can stay on our budget please let me know of silk artificial cherry blossoms thanks
yolanda, if your local craft store doesnt have them. google search silk cherry blossoms they have tons of places.
I needed to do the same and make my own Cherry Blossom Centerpieces….i found a beautiful Cherry blossom stick at… whiteaisle
There about $7.oo a piece but well worth it. Hope that helps
I am having a cherry blossom wedding in May and have been trying to think up some ideas for centerpieces. Do you mind if i ask you what you did? These silk’s from whiteaisle look amazing! Did you just put them in a vase and set that as your centerpiece? We are having an asian themed cherry blossom wedding and I am trying to get ideas for asian type centerpieces, somehow incorporating the cherry blossom. Our colors are chocolate brown, pinks and white. Can anybody suggerst ANYTHING? I am at a loss. Thanks
misa, have you thought about laying branches flat length wise on table and incorporating candles here and there? or cluster candles and within and around base add cherry blossoms. also another idea would be… have your different heights of pink candles in glass containers or glass containers of pebbles at bottom, and floating candles ( i love cylinder vases best) then at on e side of the table(if square or rectangular have an amazing “cherry blossom tree” to one side. this might be expensive, unless you can find branches at a bulk price. every table would have their own cherry tree. how gorgeous woul dthat be? another idea set simple branches in vases and from branches suspend candles or framed pics of you and your fh. it would definitely be a conversation starter.
* Cherry Blossom wedding / cupcake tower
Stacey!! Thank you soooo much for the ideas!!! I may take bits of pieces of all the ideas you suggested and try something out! I have ordered some samples of silk cherry blossoms and when they arrive in the next few weeks i will post the pics here and let you all know how they are. They are not cheap that is for sure! I love this blog, you have all been sooo helpful!
How many cherry blossom sticks did you use per vase?
Are you by any chance done with your white aisle branches and perhaps willing to sell them? I wouldn’t ask this if i could order them from the website but i spoke to Rebecca at White aisle and they are backordered with the distributor until May and my wedding is in May. I am so desperate for these branches. I already ordered a few samples earlier on in the year and my florist is using these in our centerpieces. I went to order the rest and now they are backordered. Let me know if you would be willing to part with them if you are done using them. Thanks Misa
Can you please tell me how many you have in the vase? Let me know at…..
SamanthaHerron08@live.com