Big City Wedding

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Photography: Kate Sears

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Message on a Bottle

Have wine bottles do double-duty as table numbers. Cover-weight paper printed with large, graphic numerals can be adhered over existing labels with double-sided tape for a clean, contemporary look. It is a clever touch that will have guests drinking to your good fortune -- and your good taste. Cotton-linen table runner with black-and-white floral pattern from Anthropologie.
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Table Numbers Around Town

Searching for the perfect table numbers? Look no further than your front door -- and those of your neighbors. Snap digital photos of house numbers, as well as those on awnings and signs.

How-To
Photography: Stephen Lewis

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Black Tie Bouquet

White carnations are transformed into an amazingly stylish bouquet thanks to ingenious details like handmade white ribbon flowers and a pleated stem wrap adorned with black silk blooms.
Photography: Ellen McDermott

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Sugar-Cookie Cakes

Basic sugar cookies become elegant favors when stacked to resemble miniature wedding cakes and topped with sugar flowers. Each cookie was spread with royal icing, then assembled once the frosting was set. Small dabs of icing also secure each layer, holding the tower intact but still allowing the cookies to be pulled apart easily. Package in clear plastic boxes (from Spectrum Ascona), and tie on a hole-punched card-stock tag with ribbon (from Mokuba).

Get the Recipe
Photography: Anita Calero

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Golden Touches

Birds and feathers flock together on this cake, inspired by motifs found in Spencerian script, a calligraphy style characterized by extravagant embellishments. The designs were impressed on fondant plaques with rubber stamps and painted with lustre dust; the pieces are attached to fondant tiers with royal icing. A love note and inkwell are perched on top. Gold-rimmed seating cards mirror the ornate plaques. Calligraphy by Michael Sull.
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Suited to Your Taste

Whether taken from the fabric of your gown or your groom's formal shirt, pleats, pin tucks, and ruffles look incredibly elegant when done in gum paste and fondant, as cake maker Wendy Kromer proves.
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Balloon Decorations

Let balloons rise to the occasion as a simple yet stylish way to fill a big space. The secret to a grown-up look? A simple color palette. Attach them to ribbons to make garlands for the ceiling.
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Champagne Tower

A fancy party just isn't fancy -- or much of a party -- without some French fizz. Here, the celebratory drink serves as both refreshment and decoration. Champagne maker Veuve Clicquot created this soaring tower -- adorned with a simple ribbon -- using coupe glasses.

How-To
Photography: Frank Heckers

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Chic Pearls

A chic pearl monogram tied with a satin bow hangs from a sconce. To make, string pearl beads onto 16-gauge wire (make loops at ends; shape into a letter 20 inches tall. Secure junctions with finer wire.
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Candlelit Path

At night's end, guide tired revelers home with a candlelit path. Glowing candles in simple glass containers placed along the front steps lend romance. A spectacular garland by event planner Michelle Rago frames the entrance.
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