Inspiration boards can be found everywhere these days. Style Me Pretty always has some gorgeous ones and Terrica recently began doing a weekly feature on them as well.

These are great tools for planning the design for your wedding because they help solidify your vision and give you a better idea of how to combine all the different elements and details that go into an event. The boards will give you an idea of what you want - they won't outline every exact detail, nor are they supposed to.

While many people choose to pull from past weddings, I encourage looking to fashion resources and other places for your ideas. If it's in a wedding magazine, it's probably on its way out anyhow (with a few exceptions). Besides, the point of doing inspiration boards is to avoid the cookie cutter look all together.

Here is a simple board I did, with the title straight from a button available on Etsy, called Grey is the New Blonde. Etsy is a great resource for these types of projects because it is full of original handiwork:

For original inspiration, I turned to The Sartorialist blog and had to look no further than today's first photograph. I loved the crisp, clean white of the man's outfit offset by the grey metal roof in the background. I was also drawn to how the sky softened everything up.

The handtorn edges of this grey softie journal show that everything doesn't have to be clean and straight lines. The artist describes the black drawings on the cover as snakes, but to me they give it a feminine, lacy feel - another element that can be added to keep the decor from going too industrial.

I love, love the soft flowy, billowy lines of this dress! In fact, I just love this dress. I need it in my closet. Now.

The rich textures of the dupioni silk pillow offset the simplicity of the cotton of the dress. These would be a great combination for fabrics in a lounge area or on your tablescapes.

The black and grey lace beads show that you can vary the colors while keeping a monochromatic theme. Mixing up the shades will give your decor depth and interest.

I love that this ring has the metallic elements of the original inspiration, but is still feminine and yet a little funky. It is easy to go overboard girly, but be careful not to frouf things up too much. Balance is key.

When I originally was pulling pictures for this, I thought I wanted hydrangeas as my main floral. When looking at options though, I changed my mind and opted for these instead. Too many brides act like they are marrying their original flower choice instead of their fiance. Be flexible and open to going with the flow in this area.