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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question - is it too weird/tacky to use silk cherry blossoms completely out of season? im planning on getting married in early sept. but i really want cherry blossoms. i know its my day and all….just looking for some confirmation really. thanks!
nichole, absolutely not!! i was doing research and found that some cherry trees actually bloom in fall, though the ones you see in japan are usually in the spring. this is what i would do. pick an autumn colored palette. keep it to cherry blossoms and say… sage or olive green dresses or brown dresses to adapt it better if it makes you more comfy. i love cherry blossoms too, and they do look fallish,rustic but ethereal because of their stems. all people will see is the beauty of your flowers! i just know it!
use what you love!! anything goes now! you can even have a tropical wedding theme in the dead of winter!, so give your wedding guest a time that is about renewal, new beginning, spring. if your still uncomfy then tie it in, in a different way. have a asian inspired wedding. subtle touches of asian here and there. like a monogram of your last intital in asian. use it everywhere. it would look great!! simple chopsticks as favors or ornate paper fans. sky is the limit. it will look so romantic and if you love travel it will look like you incorporated elements of trael into your wedding.
Poll! Yes, I know blue sounds a bit odd but it looks amazing with cherry blossoms! Will post some examples (eventually)
Hi, I am actually using black and white, the only colors that we are having will be the cherry blossoms themselves. i found some beautiful cherry blossom artificial flowers on ebay that we plan on arranging into a boquet with no other flowers.
Silk cherry blossoms are a great idea, whether as a DIY accent or your actual centerpieces or part of a bouquet. Real CBs are extremely fragile, they have a micro-short season, so even a florist will usually wire silk blooms to branches or use a sturdier look-alike flower.
There are some nice artificial CBs on eBay, check out these pink and white silk cherry blossoms sprays or if La’Tasha you can personally recommend a good supplier, let us know! Darn, this makes me want to order some for my office!
These are actually the ones I found I plan on wrapping them in silk ribbon with pins in them and carrying them like roses in a beauty pagent. I am not having a huge wedding party, I mean Its just going to be me and two flower girls my fiance preacher and two ring bearers, there are some interesting things I found and actually somethings I wouldnt mind getting opinions on, here are the wine glass we are using for toasing:
Lenox “Bellina” Stemware at Macy’s
this website also has a cherry blossom label we are using for our wine
Signature Wines Labels
thier prices are really decent too.
here are two of the invitations that i have made, I cant decide if I like the silver bow or the black one better, try not to be too critical of the invitations, as i have hand made them myself.
La’Tasha hi!! oh i love the black and white hands down, those glasses are beautiful!! nicely done!!
thanks, everything was fairly easy i got a few hot glue gun burns from making the bows, But my fiance’ isnt overly fond of the black bow mainly because the frame around that is silver, I may look for the silver bow in the same material as the black
Not to make like difficult for your fiancé but I love the black too!
They are beautifully done.
How did u get the fusia cherry blossom centerpiece?
How did you get the centerpiece of cherry blossom flowers in pink and white? this question is for Blake, i wanted the ones in pink, just like in the pic
Hi C., I searched ebay and I don’t see those exact sprays in the pic anymore, I guess that particular seller stopped selling them. Sorry about that! Maybe someone else knows where to get them now? I would check around ebay for similar items before giving up, though.
OK, I found all these beautiful red cherry blossom pics last night and wanted to give them some air time too!
So here is a sumptuous red-based cherry blossom wedding, the main colors are burgundy, red and gold. Around the edges there are lovely hints of pink and chocolate brown. The colors and fabrics are so rich (damask, brocade) that this feels like a cool-season, fall or winter wedding to me. Also personally I would use more burgundy than red. A lot of red and gold together seems a bit bright to the western eye but burgundy gives it more gravity and softens it up.
To me the heart of this board are two terrific photos: the WONDERFUL silk-screened cherry blossom ties in pic 9 and the burgundy CB cake in pic 11 by cakespace, what could be more beautiful.
Plus, I love that uplighting on the white blossom branches in pic 12. Stunning. I hope this gives someone a starting point!
some credits: 1. Wedding Cake - Japanese Style, 4. My favorite time of year for weddings!!, 5. Red Sakura, 6. Peony Flourish Save the Date Cards, 8. Sakura Season in Japan, 9. cherry burgundy ties, 11. Cherry Blossom Cake close up, 15. Peony wedding cake
Not sure if anybody’s keeping up with this thread or not, but I was curious about this color scheme/theme but with black instead of brown.
Any pics?
Thanks!
natalie,
i hope these pics help!! couldnt find a pink and black cherry blossom wedding. but maybe what i have will show you how unbelievably gorgeous it will be. google image pink and black and white wedding board for lots of pics that show pink against black!! oh i hope you go with these colors!! dont change a thing!!
natalie,
here is the other 2 pics. the reception gives a black and white scheme. you should get the most luck with this one!! have fun!!! and congrats!!
I love the invitation pictures, but am having a hard time finding any to order that come close to looking that elegant. Please help!!
JODY, this FIRST link has so much cherry blossom items, even beaded silk cherry blossom branches!! check it out!!
* Senseless: Cherry Blossoms
* google image and google search cherry blossom wedding invites. also image black and pink cherry blossom wedding invites, then use brown and pink……
* “Sakura” letterpressed invites by Maura Gauthier
* Cherry Blossom Beauty (invites)
* Tastefully Entertaining: Cherry Blossom Wedding
( click on the highlighted letterpress invite set, it will take you to a website the white aisle,) you can always get a simple cherry blossom invite and tie a beautiful satin ribbon around it, will make it super elegant.
Hi Natalie! A few more pics for you (I see I borrowed one of stacey’s in my board
) I am totally on board with her photos, where the pink is very pale and restrained. IMHO this is the way to go for an absolutely elegant pink & black cherry blossom wedding. If you go too “hot” on the pink or use too much black it can look punk instead of timeless and feminine. 
- So, very pale pink
- black used lightly (aka Martha Stewart’s cameo wedding designs)
- little vintage touches here and there … just a slightly old world feel, like that gorgeous pale pink BM gown with the ruffled neck. Maybe a touch of feathers somewhere. There is a slight parisian undertone to a wedding like this (which is great)
- paper art (origami, paper fans, paper parasols, doesn’t have to be CB theme to look great)
Don’t be afraid to use a more modernized stylized version of cherry blossoms like the third cake in this board … so sweet.
Also the cherry blossom theme looks beautiful when you round it out with other flowers (after all you won’t be carrying a bouquet of cherry blossoms most likely!) I love peonies terrifically altho they are only available seasonally. Hydrangea also look great with cherry blossoms.
Use branches for wish trees as shown here, or over escort card display …
There are some gorgeous red cherry blossom weddings too so hope to post a board of that next!
Cherry blossom kit kats! I love it!!
One more: cherry blossom Mary Janes from Beyond Skin (thanks Domino Mag).
I just found this site too and it is great. I am trying to design my whole wedding around a chocolate cherry blossom cake thats in the martha stuart wedding cake book. My wedding is in May in NC. I am kinda stuck on the bridesmaids dresses. I was at first thinking either an aqua color theme or pink color theme. I love the cake so I think I’m going with brown dresses with a pink ribbon, but I also love the aqua dress with a pink ribbion. Do you think this could work, and if so how would I bring more aqua into the theme?
Hi Laura, you don’t have to choose between pink & aqua to go with your brown and cherry blossom theme. They look great together, and the combo is fresh, definitely newer than choc/pink or choc/blue alone.
Check out Jessica’s board and bridesmaid dress pics below if you haven’t already. You can definitely mix colors here, make most of your bridesmaids choc with pink sash, and a MOH or jr bridesmaid aqua or teal with a pink sash. It will look gorgeous together.
Here are some more pink, aqua and brown ideas. The table pics are very light and airy looking with the metallic chivari chairs and white linens. You can ground this much more in your colors with pale teal linens and chocolate brown chair sashes, for example.
Spots that are good options for using all three colors at once might be stationery, the cake (see the cake stand that has both aqua and pink), bouquet wraps (pink and white florals, aqua wrap) and favors, where you can bring in a third color with a lovely satin ribbon or a special hang tag. Also popular is the bright and funky pair of shoes under that demure bridal gown, aqua heels could be your “something blue.”
Thanks so much, actually that brown cake with the cherry blossoms floating down is my cake that I am working around. Do you have bigger pics or the links to those pics? i’m still unsure of the bridesmaids dresses, I only have 4 bridesmaids and two of them are maid of honors. What do you think I should do for the guys? I want them to match my bridesmaids, with out decking them in pink.
I made my invitations, it wasnt that hard at all, I found an awesome picture of a cherry blossom on photobucket printed it out took it to the ups store where I had 2 printed per page on stock card paper, they cut it and it cost me a whopping 24.00 I think I did pretty good!
I also made my cherry blossom invitations. My background picture isn’t as bold as yours but I think I did good doing it all myself. I first found the picture I wanted to use on a google search, saved it to my computer and with the Invitation program I bought, I was able to print 4 per page (I wanted smaller invitations) and I cut them myself ($10 paper cutter on ebay). Then I printed our information on the vellum and did exactly as you did, tied it with a bow. What I need to find now is how to do my cherry blossom bouquets. I bought 4 dozen silk sprays and trying to put them together is kicking my butt. (I’ve never done many craft projects before this.)
can you email me and tell me where you found the cherry blossom sprays and possibly a picture of them? I am trying to find some but I am not liking what I see so far:( thanks so much!
my invitation actually changed slightly and probably will again. I wasnt happy with the bow at all, it just didnt look right so I ended up making another bow. Although I still cant decide if I want silver ribbon or black. I also created save the date cards!
these are my maids dresses except i want all of them to have a pink bow and ribbon.
my flowergirl gress will also have a pink ribbon.
MY RINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i keep going around and around with my ideas.
the dresses that i picked out dont come in the colors i want and need so i picked a different dress and want some opinions on it please and thank you!
the blue one is for my moh and the brown is for my maids
will the dresses look ok with the flowers?
let me know!
I think you girls are awesome! I’ve been stressing and trying to find the perfect theme for my May of 2009 wedding. I just decided today on cherry blossoms. Its ironic because my fiance just gave me the idea of using teal/ baby blue last night… so the advice given below is GREAT!!
can you do a cherry blossom theme with the colors brown, pink, blue, silver, and white?
Hi Jessica, take a quick look at this mini-inspiration board, I definitely think you can do it.
I’m seeing people use black to ground color schemes that could otherwise look babyish like pink and blue, and make them more adult. I have no doubt that chocolate brown would work just as well and to my eye it’s more attractive! Especially perfect for cherry blossoms where the brown branch is an important part of the design. As for silver, it goes with everything, just adds a bit of glitz and glamour.
This board is a bit messier than the real thing since it mixes brown and black, but I think it sort of helps picture it. And I think it would look lovely. All the pics are from Brides.com except the cherry blossom cake, which is by Joy the Bakery.
Row two here I think helps convey how to get silver into your scheme, with bowls and vases and votive holders. That beautiful chocolate bridesmaid gown is by Winnie Couture. I think you could also go a lighter brown, more of a caramel or mocha brown and have it look just lovely.
Overall I think it helps to use at least some of the brighter fuchsias and aquas instead of pure pastels, which can quickly look 80s. And of course the cherry blossom pattern is a modern look. What do you think?
I LOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEE IT!!!!!!!!!
i actually have the same dress picked out for my jr maid!!!!
it is so much easier to picture my wedding now!!!!!
i think i will def be able to pull off the cherry blossom theme now!
i am doing brown linens on the table with blue and pink napkins etc. with different shades of pink red white and blue flowers with tons of crystals.
my moh and bm are going to be noticibly different and coordinate while my maids and men are going to coordinate.
my maids are having brown dresses with blue bows and carrying pink and white flowers while my moh is having a blue dress with a brown bow and carrying pink red and white flowers.
what do you think?
Everyone has two choices … they can go to David’s Bridal etc. and have a scheme pre-picked out for them … or they can forge their own path! And to do the second, you just need a way to look at your ideas. Right?
So … this is what I think your bridesmaid scheme would look like, kind of. (Click pic for a larger version. Oh, and please excuse the terrible photoshopped aqua sash in the middle pic.)
Hey, I love it. I personally MUCH prefer the wedding party look where the bridesmaids are not all exactly alike. To me, that looks too regimented. Almost military. I love the idea of the MOH having a dress that’s set apart somehow, in this case, a little more ornate and delicious! Your MOH’s boyfriend is going to freak.
I also just noticed that your Jr. Bridesmaid’s gown is sort of a hybrid between the MOH and the other BM gowns. It sort of bridges them, and the two sweetheart necklines are a lot alike. So that looks very nice.
This looks very coordinated to me without being matchy-matchy. I think it will be adorable and look like your wedding, not a template of somebody else’s.
now i think the moh dress looks better with a pink bow and maybe all of the dresses shoud have a pink bow… unless i change the jr maids to blue…
what do you think i should do?
my pictures are from theknot.com
my jr maids is the brown winnie couture dress
my maids is the jim hjelm dress that is blue and green
PS, sorry, I just realized your MOH dress has a brown bow.
Also, I really hope you’ll post some pics when you bring all your ideas to life. I’d love to see them!
how do you do the collage of the pictures!?
I just found this website and it is fantastic! I have just decided on a cherry blossom wedding theme for my May 2009 wedding and i am now sooo excited!Does any know if you can do a cherry blossom bridal bouquet? I love all the ideas below! Hey Mistty where did you get those invites? They are beautiful!
Misa,
I am also doing cherry blossoms for my wedding. Mine is in August 2009 so unfortunately I cannot incorporate real cherry blossoms but my florist is willing to order me silks and fashion them into my bouquet. I will also be using silks in my centerpieces. You are lucky though, they may still be in bloom for your wedding especially if next year is like this again.
Thank you for the tip Sakura! I will definitely check into that option. Does anyone have any good ideas on where to get Bridesmaids dresses other than bridal stores. I live in Calgary, Alberta but can travel around and am willing to order online as well. Local stores are my first preference though. The color scheme for my girls is pink and brown to go with the cherry blossom color scheme i have picked for my wedding. I am thinking brown dresses with a hint of pink. i am totally open to any suggestions people have as i am new at this whole wedding process! thanks
http://www.usifloral.com carry silk cherry blossoms in several colors and branch lengths.
I am trying to do a cherry blossom theme but with the red and black colors shown above instead of the pink and brown….I am wondering if anyone knows where to get invitations with that color scheme? All I can find is pink and brown ones…..:( Thanks!
Try Stephita
Deb those invites are gorgeous!
Thanks Deb, those are beautiful invitations and I actually found some with red cherry blossoms on Exclusively Weddings. Thanks for tip!!:D
Please help me:? I want to have my ceremony outside in A Cherry Blossom Orchard. Or at least somewhere there are some Cherry Blossoms. Then I would like to have the reception inside preferably next to the ceremony location. I live in Mass and I can’t find what I’m looking for Please help.
I need hhhhhhelp looking for the perfect wedding theme. I really do like the cherry blossom but I don’t want to have to chane the color I picked out to use this theme. My color is royal blue, pewter, and white Do you think this a good theme to go with my wedding and color? :-?
Hi!!
My wedding is in March, 2008 and my theme is cherry blossoms!… Do you have photos of wedding receptions with this theme???
Thanks
I just found this amazing album full of cherry blossom wedding ideas by wickedrice on Flickr. SO inspiring! Check it out (click on the pic to go there) …
Can anyone tell me where I might find cherry blossom designed paper or plastic plates?
I need a cherry blossom money box (big).
Hi, even though Gracie’s wedding is probably looooong over (sorry!
), anyone wanting a groovy cherry blossom card box or money box should definitely check out the card box makers on ebay. Wedding Main St. and For The Modern Bride both make gorgeous boxes … the ones here are by For the Modern Bride. They will customize flowers, ribbon patterns, monograms etc.
Please,Please,PLEASE……….Can someone tell me where I can get Gwen Stefani’s Wedding Dress????? (But with RED on the bottom NOT hot pink!) Thank you!!!!!
Gwen had the dress dyed that fadded pink on the bottum. I love it too. I was going to go all hot pink for my dress, however my mom talked me out of it. You’ll have to get a white dress specially dyed if you want it red fadded on the bottum like that.
Who makes those invitations?
Just was wondering if anyone may have pictures of cherry blossoms centrepieces?
Can anyone tell me where I might find fake cherry blossom branches…
Lyndsy, check out http://www.doltonehouse.com.au pyrmont. They have a wedding theme called “drama”
I am looking for cherry blossom center piece ideas also!!!!!!
I found this cute pic of a cherry blossom reception but don’t remember where now.
Anyway I need lots of ideas … pls help!