lovely sashes..

Over the past few years, I've been noticing that more and more brides are letting their individual personalities shine through their wedding decor and attire. From embellished bird cage veils right down to painted pumps, a blushing bride makes sure that none of these little details are overlooked. I'm going to say I've been thinking about jumping on the sash band wagon these past few months. Not only do these gorgeous sashes spice up the average looking gown but it also adds a unique and one of a kind touch that makes you stand out and shine on your special day.

Here are a few Etsy finds I absolutely love..

ivory silk dupioni sash via percyhandmade

sash belt handmade embellished ivory lace via percyhandmade

Sash belt silk rosettes via percyhandmade

Vintage Ivory on Black bridal sash via Bridal Shoppe

If only I can get the dress style sorted out.. and the search continues..

wordless Monday..

A New York bride, groom, and their guests transported by pedicabs to the reception.

photo by: Lily Kesselman via New York Weddings

more on styling our backyard-ish wedding

Over the years I've been collecting clippings from the LCBO (local liquor outlets) seasonal catalogues. I find some of their ideas would work beautifully with our overall wedding style. Since we aren't having a formal sit down reception, a traditional table setting wouldn't be in the cards; but that doesn't stop us from using these ideas as a basic guideline for our reception decor.

I love the mix of small tea light candles, lanterns and white freesia arrangements in little galvanized tin cups.. it's very laid back but adds a touch of class to the setting.

And of course, who can forget the glass globe string lighting.. finding these on the cheap might be a challenge, (a string of 20 lights can run you at $20-25 a pop online these days), but I'm sure we can find some kind of deal on eBay or see if we can't find a rental company in town.

As for color schemes, we're still deciding on our palettes but I have a feeling we'll be in the thick of purple and red hues from the jewel tone families.

It's all starting to come together!

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..

Inspiration: A Carnival Affair vs. A Rustic Affair

The best of both worlds.. right here. We keep swinging back and forth on this, but I think in the end we will find a happy medium between a Carnival and Rustic theme. Here are 2 very different yet fun inspiration boards for both receptions..

Carnival:
1. and 2. carnival themed reception, 3. pop bottles, 4. popcorn rings, 5. drink tickets, 6. snow cones, 7. carnival tickets, 8. bouquet of red lovelies, 9. candy buffet, 10. amusement park rides, 11. details


Rustic:

1. cheese spread with chalkboard flags, 2. Black lanterns via potterybarn, 3. vintage locket via Etsy, 4. pictures on a string, 5. ,6. vintage birdcage cage, 7.bouquet via Stanley Makes Three, 8. signs via latte love, 9. wedding shoes, 10. via project wedding

Absolutely love the muted tones from the Rustic board. Dark framed lanterns and beautiful greenery compliment the light and airy dahlias and vintage pieces. Having said that, really digging the bright pops of reds and blues and outdoorsy details from the Carnival inspiration board.

I think in the end, we'll be borrowing quite a few ideas from both themes to fuse our reception into something to suit our personalities.

Despite a few set backs, we're getting pretty excited about the planning. The great venue search is about to begin and I have a feeling the competition will be fierce!!!