inspired : Backyard weddings

I imagine our wedding to be along the lines of this...

vintage chic.. j'adore..

via GreenWeddingShoes photography by Dana Grant photography

Learning to stand our ground..

So far, wedding planning has been.. One word. Confusing.

Over the years, the better half and I would talk about reception ideas we dreamed up.. different scenarios.. we were looking for fun, no fuss, memorable, entertaining, kid friendly..

But soon after we got engaged, we quickly realized that our ideas weren't necessarily the ideas our parents had in mind. The whole thing was quickly becoming something else.. more formal, not us. With many very opinionated people in the mix it makes it very difficult to keep on track. You second guess yourself, you try to please others at all cost.. but I've come to the realization that you can't please everyone..

I don't want us to look back 1,2,15 years down the road and think 'why the hell did we do that? why didn't we do what we set out to do in the first place??' As the months go on, I find myself getting very excited about little details and ideas that are shaping up.. invitations, dress, handmade photobooth guestbook.. all little details I imagine will be absolutely amazing.. This is why we're going to start being firm with what we want in our celebrations of love (cheesy.. right?)

We are very excited about planning this thing no matter the size.. you just have to remember that the main focus here is not to get wrapped up in the stress and drama of planning a party.. It's to celebrate the beginning of the rest of your lives together with friends and family supporting you.. and there just so happens to be food and dancing nearby for everyone to enjoy.. heh

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I don't want this blog to become a place where I vent about my issues in being the "misunderstood bride". There are far too many blogs out there that are about bashing the in laws and listing everything going wrong in the planning in a negative light and that irks me.

Wordless Monday..

via Mastin Photography

Where do you draw the line?

For the past few months, we've been adding carelessly to our guest list and now that we're talking about having our invitations made we are quickly realizing we about to head into dangerous waters.

Here's why.

We've talked about weddings in the past, and we've always limited ourselves to 125 guests max. Not too big, not too small.. But after doing a head count of immediate family members who have to be invited to our wedding, the guest count starts at 85! He had tons of friends… I have tons of friends.. And they aren't people we haven't seen in years if you catch my drift!!

To avoid drama at ALL cost, we've already drawn the wedding party to 1 attendant on each side. We've also talked about including our close friends in the ceremony and planning tasks to counter balance the lack of wedding party. A cousin will be officiating, we've asked a close friend to MC the reception (funny concept, The catch? it must be bilingual.. Hilarious results!!) cake, hair, makeup.. sourced within our group of friends.

But to keep the numbers down.. where do you draw the line for final guest count? Is it rude not to invite your second cousins your parents said you HAD to invite (but whom you've never met) or your best friend from high school whom you've spoken to maybe twice in a couple years?? I really don't know what to do… It's all nice in my head.. but I'm Hopeful that it'll be painless.. (but I have my doubts..)

any tips?

Wordless Monday..

via A Day of Bliss

mis-matched

'Wouldn't it be fun if we had all mismatched chairs set up for the wedding ceremony? You know, Friends style"

I processed that sentence through my mind after the better half brought it up in a random conversation.. Sounds to me like a hip idea for the nuptials.. I instantly agreed with him..

I could see this being an incredible feet to achieve though. Here's why. Guest wise we're looking at a head count of around 125. We know a lot of people.. just not sure if we know a lot of people who would be willing to give us/ loan us that many chairs... We could probably end up finding 20 chairs at thrift stores, garage sales and flea markets.. Not sure where we'd find the other 100.. We can save that head spinning thought for later..

But in a perfect world, say we had 120 mismatched chairs.. We'd either have them painted a certain color or leave them as is and set them up in a way that there are different chairs in each row (no similar chairs side by side) Maybe paint a few chairs with accent colors to make it work. This would add so much charm to the already very bohemian/laid back setting. It would be a very romantic site.. I see lights and lanterns strung through trees where the ceremony would be held, mismatched lanterns lined along the center isle, some kind of arch made of branches and wild flowers..

Ahhh to dream..

It would be perfect..


via with this ring

P.s. we might be close to deciding on the potential wedding site this week… but I'll save that post for a rainy day..