When spring finally shows its pretty little head in New England, we have a tendency to want to devour every bit of inspiration we can get our hands on. So this spring table shoot from Tuan B & Co, Sarah Drake Design, Pistil + Vine, Elysia Root Cakes, Debra Petrielli and Nimble Well? We couldn’t love it more. See even more here, and make sure to take note of the totally doable DIY below…
From Nimble Well…We were inspired by Delft blue, the bright hue of traditional Dutch pottery, and wanted to incorporate vintage and modern designs within a blue, white, and spring green palette. Tuan B & Co photographed at Open Secret Studio, a bright white modern venue. Elysia Root designed a 3-tier cake with a strong nod to Dutch design, including an octagonal latticed tier, stunning blue bow, and medallions with delftware designs.
Pistil + Vine designed the bridal bouquet and tabletop florals with lush white flowers, light green foliage, deep blue viburnum and privet berries in delftware and cobalt vases from Nimble Well. The bride’s bouquet is finished with delicate ivory lace to match the bride’s vintage dress from Silver Moon Vintage. The dress, from the 50s, is a silk taffetta princess-style ball gown which balloons over the lace skirt. Debra Petrielli created the bride’s soft twisting braid to complete the fairytale effect. The dinner tabletop design by Nimble Well includes vintage Spode plates, silverware, and stemware from their rental collection and hand-dyed ombre napkins which mirror Sarah Drake Design’s watercolor menu and place cards.
Ombre Napkin DIY
2 packages of the same color Rit dye in different saturations (for this tutorial we used Royal Blue for the light color and Navy Blue for the dark color)
table salt
rubber gloves
white or light color cloth napkins
1. Dye tends to get everywhere and is difficult to get out, so make sure your work area and clothes are safe.
2. Each package of Rit can dye up to 1lb. of fabric, so one package can easily dye two dozen cloth napkins. Follow the directions on the Rit package for the amount of water and salt for the number of napkins you want to dye. In a stainless steel sink, or tub that will not stain, add water, salt, and the lighter dye.
3. Holding the top edges of your first napkin, dip the cloth 3/4 of the way into the dye bath and hold for 15 seconds.
4. Raise the napkin a quarter out of the bath (now 1/2 of the napkin is in the dye bath) and hold for another 30 seconds. If you are using a double sink, you can also let the napkin hang over the center.
5. Take the napkin out of the dye bath and set aside in a stainless steel bowl or surface that will not stain.
6. Repeat the same process with the rest of the napkins until you have dyed all the napkins with the first color.
7. Add the second, darker Rit dye to the bath and mix.
8. Holding the top, lightest edge of the napkin, dip the last quarter of the napkin into the darker dye bath and hold for 1-2 minutes depending on how dark you would like it to be. If you are using a double sink, you can rest the top of the napkin over the center. Repeat with each napkin.
9. Place all the napkins into clear water. The less water, the more concentrated the dye will be and will lightly dye the top quarter that was not dipped in the dye bath. If you would like the top quarter to stay very light, use enough water so that the rinse water is very diluted.
10. Change the water several times, until it runs clear, then wring, and hang to dry.
Photographer: Tuan B & Co | Floral Design: Pistil & Vine | Wedding Dress: Silver Moon | Cake: Elysia Root | Wedding Venue: Open Secret Studios | Bar Design: Femme Du Coupe | Hair & Make-up: Debra Petrielli Freelance Hairstylist | Menu & Placecards: Sarah Drake Design | Vintage Rentals: Nimble Well
