Mood Board #49: Across the Universe

Dreaming up a wedding filled with starry skies takes us back to our childhood nights, many of which were spent stargazing in the rugged mountains of Colorado, where there were no city lights to dim the celestial beauty of the night sky. And what’s more romantic than the mythologies of the constellations, the stories written in the stars? Take, for instance, the constellation Berenice’s Hair, which refers to the legend of an Egyptian queen who shore off her long, flaxen locks and offered them up to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, as payment for keeping her husband safe in wartime. Aphrodite carried the queen’s tresses up to the heavens, where they would remain for the rest of time.

It may be somewhat (okay, more than somewhat) impractical to have a nighttime wedding under the stars, but some brides have actually held their ceremonies in planetariums, with Chicago’s Adler Planetarium and Philly’s Fels Planetarium being popular choices. (Ah, nostalgia for all those planetarium field trips we took as kids suddenly sets in!) If you’re simply looking to incorporate a starry feel into your wedding, we love some of the paper elements in this board, including asymmetrical star place cards, cleverly inserted between fork prongs; constellation table cards; and a mesmerizing constellation seating chart, all created by our favorite calligrapher, Mara Zepeda of Neither Snow, for this Dunton Hot Springs wedding.

CREDITS: CONSTELLATION SEATING CHART >  DESIGN BY NEITHER SNOW, PHOTO BY TEC PETAJA (VIA STYLE SERENDIPITY) / CONSTELLATION NAME TABLE MARKER > DESIGN BY NEITHER SNOW, PHOTO BY TEC PETAJA (VIA STYLE SERENDIPITY) / CONSTELLATION INVITATON > MR. BODDINGTON’S STUDIO (VIA MARTHA STEWART WEDDINGS) / STARRY STRING LIGHTS > SVPPLY / MIDNIGHT BLUE FLOWER > SOURCE UNKNOWN / VANILLA SUGAR PLUM SPARKLER > THE BLONDE GOURMAND / CONSTELLATION CARDS > DESIGNED BY LAURA PALESE AND PRINTED BY CLARKSON POTTER (VIA NEITHER SNOW) / STAR SPARKLERS > CHRISTMAS CRACKER SHOP / STARRY SKY > VIA WE HEART IT (SOURCE UNKNOWN) / BLUE GOWN > ELIE SAAB FALL 2011 COUTURE (VIA LELA LONDON) / “SHINING ROUNDS” TIARA > JENNIFER BEHR / PLACE CARD > DESIGN BY NEITHER SNOW, PHOTO BY TEC PETAJA (VIA STYLE SERENDIPITY)

Here are some of our favorite starry-skied picks! We especially love this fresh rose constellation ceiling installation by designer Lea Mcintosh; these WHOA!-inducing solar system lollipops from Vintage Confections; and these constellation cards by Nature’s Cubbyhole. (Each one contains an astronomically accurate representation of one of the constellations found in the Northern and Southern hemispheres; the diameter of each star on the card is directly related to that star’s brightness.) We’re also taken with these Ursa Minor-inspired bear cake toppers.

1. ROSE CONSTELLATION CEILING INSTALLATION > DESIGN BY LEA MCINTOSH, PHOTO BY MICHAEL SOO 2. CONSTELLATION CUFFLINKS > YUMMY & COMPANY 3. BLACK SEQUINED GOWN > ELIE SAAB AT BOUTIQUE 1 4. BIG DIPPER AND LITTLE DIPPER EARRINGS > ELLAPOE 5. BLACK SEA SALT-RIMMED COCKTAIL > THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SEA SALT 6. SOLAR SYSTEM LOLLIPOPS > VINTAGE CONFECTIONS 7. CONSTELLATION BEAR CAKE TOPPERS > WATER BIRDS 8. CONSTELLATION EMBROIDERY > WHAT. NO MINTS? 9. STARRY STARS HEADBAND > WISH PIECE  10. TWILIGHT EARRINGS > BHLDN 11. FESTIVE STARRY RHINESTONE HEADBAND > TWIGS & HONEY (PHOTO BY ELIZABETH MESSINA) 12. CONSTELLATION CARDS > NATURE’S CUBBYHOLE 13. “WE ARE MADE OUT OF STARS” POSTCARDS > MEERA LEE PATEL