Meet Me in Morocco: Inspiration from North Africa

By Lauren on November 13, 2011 in All Posts, Culturally Inspired, Destination Weddings, Mood Boards

Today, we’ve journeyed to Morocco’s bustling markets and medinas and across the High Atlas Mountains to the red deserts to bring you some truly spectacular wedding inspiration. There is so much to love about Morocco: the Moorish architecture with its ogee arches, domes, keyhole shapes, and arabesque windows; the terra cotta tilework, known as zellij, with its bold, geometric patterns; and the rich, saturated colors, including cobalt, saffron, burnished orange, and violet.

MOOD BOARD #20: MEET ME IN MOROCCO

If you can’t have a wedding in Morocco, bring Morocco to your wedding! This mood board was inspired by a stunning corseted silk-satin dress from Amanda Wakeley’s Morocco line and an amazing Moroccan market–inspired dessert bar by Amy Atlas that included Moroccan lanterns and burlap sacks brimming with ground spices. Spiced truffles and spiced hot chocolate were presented in Moroccan tea glasses and displayed on rattan vessels filled with whole spices.

We also came across these fantastic Moroccan tile edible wafer papers, which are just $16 for 30, from Queen of Tarts. If you’re not familiar with edible wafer papers, they’re frosting sheets that essentially transfer an image onto a cake or cookie, so your treats will look exactly like Moroccan tiles! Queen of Tarts provides detailed instructions for do-it-yourselfers, but if your baking skills are anything like mine (desperately lacking), you’ll do the smart thing and send the wafers over to your baker or cake artist.

We hope you like the fabulous Moroccan architecture–inspired fashion goodies, including a keyhole necklace with a purple haze Swarovski crystal by Max & Chloe; an amazing pair of rose gold–dipped earrings from Dogeared’s Holiday 2011 collection; and a must-have-it-now Moroccan paisley linen dress by Ralph Lauren.

As for floral décor, we envision an abundance of native flora, such as damask roses, jasmine, violets, citrus fruits, figs, and olive branches.

CREDITS (from left to right, top to bottom): Corseted silk satin dress (style AW154) from Amanda Wakeley’s Morocco line / “Frolick” Moroccan tear necklace with purple haze Swarovski crystal, $80, from Max & Chloe / Ralph Lauren’s Moroccan paisley linen dress, $310, from Stylebop / Arabesque windows via Ladies of Luxury / “Always Beautiful” Moroccan rose gold-dipped earrings, $68, by Dogeared / Scrolled Nepalese-inspired wedding invitation created from Nepalese lotka paper by Soolip / Moroccan tile edible wafer papers, $16 for 30, by Queen of Tarts / Moroccan wedding cake by Sweet and Sinful / Moroccan market dessert bar designed by Amy Atlas for Brides magazine / Moroccan spices via Sweetwater Salvation / Moroccon-inspired room via A Perfect Kind of Day / Moroccan red arch via Pinterest

ROCK CANDY + MOROCCAN TEA GLASSES

We found this gem of an idea on Mon Tresor.

{1} Moroccan tea glasses, $30 for a set of four, from Just Morocco. Glasses can also be rented from companies such as Saint Tropez Boutique.

{2} Rock candy from Oh Nuts

{3} Concept by Mon Tresor

SPAGHETTI JAR MOROCCAN LANTERNS

We just had to share this über creative project by Katie Steuernagle. She made these one day while snowed in in Minnesota and bored. Oh, how I wish these were the fruits of my boredom! See the materials list and full tutorial on Katie’s blog, Matsutake.