Coolest Wedding Pictures ever

You may remember this photo that I posted over seven months ago. Back then I thought that it was the coolest wedding picture I ever! Boy was I wrong! While I still love that photograph I recently ran across these photos:


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Here's the kicker! These photos weren't taken in a day after shoot, these were taken DURING the wedding day. After dinner the bride & groom decided to go wakeboard for a little bit before the party started. Is it just me or do you feel like some people are just too cool!? I LOOOVE these photos. I love that this bride and groom are truly enjoying their wedding day. Instead of getting caught up in the fact that people weren't dancing yet, they made their own fun. Not only that, they were also willing to trust that their guests are grown-ups who don't need to be babysat the whole time and take a little moment for themselves. It is after all THEIR wedding day :D

We are one of those horrible couples that will be having a 5 hour break between the wedding and the reception. Well, we are really having TWO receptions but that's another story for another day. The truth is we really wanted to have time during the day to be together and be married. I would love to just play on the beach, eat, cuddle in bed for a little bit and just savor the day.

Have you scheduled any private time into your wedding day? What do you plan to do during that time?

Inspiration Boards??

I love inspiration boards but WHY am I so bad at them!?!? I feel like I have a pretty good sense of style, color, light, blah blah blah... but I totally can't get one together.

So here are some fabulous inspiration boards that have got me wishing I could figure it out:

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At this point I am less than six months away from the big day and I am moving to Amsterdam in 5 weeks. I think an inspiration board would go a long way in helping me solidify my vision, and be a good thing to share with my wedding planner and bridesmaids who are trying to help me plan. Despite my best efforts I still haven't been able to put something together that really embodies my vision.

Have you made an inspiration board? Did you find it helpful? What program did you use to make it??

Flower Inspiration

Despite my continued claims that I am "not a flower person" I can't help but swoon over these pretty little green-leafed beauties. Ever since I was told that I may have the option of having dahlias at my wedding, I've noticed them everywhere.

Unfortunately, beautiful flowers don't come cheap! Like most brides, I headed straight for google to figure out how to save money on flowers. It seems like the top five ways to save money are:

1. Shop smart - This means picking flowers that are in season and are available locally. This also means, if you are getting married around Valentine's or Mother's Day, traditional flowers such as roses may cost you more.
2. Double Dip - Pick flowers for the reception that you can re-use at the reception. This means pick flowers that will last the duration of BOTH events. For example, while hydrangeas are budget friendly flowers they are SUPER prone to wilting because (as their name implies) they LOVE water. In order to preserve the bloom you can't simple cut the stem at an angle. The traditional angle won't give the flower enough surface area to get the water it needs. What you need to do is gently peel the outer layer of the stem off the bottom inch. In other words, do your research!
3. Think creatively - Instead of a bouquet, each of your bridesmaids could just carry a single flower. Sunflowers for instance make a great impact and would look great at a rustic outdoor wedding. OR if you have lots of bridesmaids they could each carry a single flower, such as a rose or a peony and then at the alter you could collect them for your wedding bouquet. This would obviously take some maneuvering but could definitely be a great (budget-friendly) choice.
4. Green is good - Use lots of fillers. Greenery will make your bouquet look fuller without adding too much to your bottom line.
5. Trust your vendor -Once you've shown your vendor what you like and discussed your color scheme, they probably have a lot of great suggestions on how to stay within your budget.

* 6. Boycott flowers!!- I didn't include fake flowers because I am personally not a fan of fake flowers. This is definitely a personal preference but obviously silk or even paper florals can be really great, if done right. Also, there is NO rule that there has to be flowers at a wedding. Personally, I love button bouquets and brooch bouquets! Unfortunately, they aren't really my style and I don't have the time or the energy to spend months collecting buttons/brooches.

There are obviously a lot of great ways to save money on flowers and the best thing about being cost-effective is that its also great for the environment!

So, after much searching I think that I have found MY dream bouquet. It is a perfect combination of the tropical yet romantic feel that I love. I love the use of the white orchid and the soft pinks.
{Source}

This is my second favorite bridal bouquet. How gorgeous is the HUGE white flower?!?!

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I'm still working on the rest of my florals but these are some inspirations that I like for the bridesmaids' bouquets and centerpieces. I was thinking that we could deconstruct the bouquets and put a few stems in little glasses vases. I figure that tall centerpieces don't really make sense at a morning brunch.

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What are some other ways to save money on flowers? Did you find that the more you looked at flowers the more you appreciated their loveliness?

Ring-less

Unfortunately I am currently engagement ring-less. We are having the ring upgraded to platinum from white gold because I didn't want to deal with the re-dipping. Plus the price of gold has gone up significantly since D bought my ring so we got a pretty good price for selling back the metal.

Originally I was going to just get my wedding ring in platinum but after a little research it seemed like the two metals rubbing against each other would cause more trouble than it was worth. Plus our jeweler is a friends mother so she gave us an incredible price for an eternity pave engagement ring setting with a matching wedding band.

I should have my rings in a week or two but I am so sad without my e-ring. I even have the indentation on my finger to remind me of my missing jewel. That's when I stumbled on this beauty... even without your ring on you have a reminder of your commitment. How amazing is this idea!?!

{Yoon Jung Yun via Oh, hello friend}

Details: Hanging from the trees

My love for hanging flowers had developed into a full blown obsession.
{Once Wed via Amanda and Luke}

{Free People}

{Olivia Leigh via Casa Sugar}

{My Pretty Touch}

{Geoff White Photography}

{Sweet Paul}

Here's the deal, I love the way these flowers look in these close-ups but what do they look like at the actual wedding. You would probably have to have a few dozen to make a real impact, otherwise they would just look really sad. Nobody wants sad flowers at a wedding. This last picture is actually really great because its a great example of how to use this beautiful detail!

{Source: SMP}

I.heart.wood!

...Don't be dirty!

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So while I was at Paper Presentation last weekend I saw there great wood veneer paper which I have fallen in LOVE with. I am always really excited and surprised when I find something I've never even heard of before and this was definitely one of those times.

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This is one of my favorites. I love the combination of wood and lace. I think the branches and birds give it a great vintage, garden romance feel but I wonder if you could use orchids or something to give it a tropical beach feel.

Most of these invitations seem to be letter pressed (which doesn't quite make sense to me), except for the first one which is laser cut which is too cool. I love the way they slide the colored paper through the ends to make it a double-sided invite.

But I wonder if you can just print these? Would you have to use a laser printer or could the veneer hold ink??

Laura? :D

Favorite Finds of the Week

It's been a busy and productive week! I got my save the dates done! I put down a deposit on Punto de Vista! I booked a photographer!

All this on my first week of class...

Well to wrap-up the week... here a few of my favorite inspirations that I found this week!

{Bridal Party Tees}
{Ruffled}
{Etsy}
{100 Layer Cake}

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend.

Hanging from the trees...

While I was in NOLA last weekend I was laying around watching tv (it rained for a whole day!) and I caught a glimpse of the new Taylor Swift video and noticed the gorgeous scenes in the woods with the hanging photographs. This reminded me of all the gorgeous weddings with gorgeous hung items.

{Ruffled}
{Blush Events}
{inBloom Event}
{Wedding Bee}
{Once Wed}
{Snippet and Ink}

There is something so romantic and almost dream-like about having things hanging from trees, blowing in the wind. I think its a hard balance to strike, between appreciating the natural beauty of an outdoor location and enhancing the beauty to make it your own.

One of the hardest things about planning a destination wedding is not knowing what the location looks like. It's impossible to plan DIY projects when I can't envision the location.

Well... not im-possible, but really really hard!

Be Inspired: No.1

Sometime I just see things that I find inspirational and that remind me of other things I've posted about or things that just make me smile... Here are some of those things:

{Green Wedding Shoes}
{Style Me Pretty}
{Elizabeth Anne Designs}
{Once Wed}
{Source}

Inspiration Board: Pink Peach and Gold.

{Elizabeth Anne Designs}
L.O.V.E

Doily... Do!

I love Doilies! Obviously because they are the nexus between my love for all things girly and all things grandma-y. Since I recently went a little doily crazy at Michaels, I have spent a lot of timing trying to figure out what to do with the 200 doilies I bought (in four different sizes). However, I am happy to see that many many people share my love for these dainty little darlings.

So here are some of my very favorite doily creations which I think are totally DIY-able!

{etsy}

{etsy}

{etsy}

{Flickr} This.is.so.adorable. How sweet is this envelope? I am sure it would get ruined in the mail but it is SO SO SO pretty. sigh.

{Dujour} I am not sure this is something I could actually use for my wedding but I think it's pretty so I thought I'd share ...

{Ashley Ann}. This would look amazing at an outdoor wedding. I think its a really sweet idea. In fact, here is a wedding that used this idea beautifully!!

{Martha Sterwart} This is an adorable idea! (oh Martha...) It makes a perfect charger/place mat and if you have clear glass plates, it also doubles as a great place card.

{Intimate Weddings Blog} These would look amazing on vintage glass cake stands.

{Maya Made} How amazing would these be for confetti as you walk down the isle!?!? More importanly how amazing would these look filled with blush pink rose petals sitting on beautiful cushions before the wedding. hehehe.

{Ashley Ann} I don't think I would make the tote bag BUT I like the idea of using the doilies as a stencil this could be cute for the outside of an envelope or something!

{Apartment Therapy} These pom poms are adorable. They would be great as a backdrop for the dessert table. In red/pink they kind of have a spanish feel. I wonder if they would look more beachy/vintage there were white...hmmm.

{Martha Stewart} Last but certainly NOT least is this adorable doily chandelier!! This might be a wedding must. I LOVE LOVE LOVE chandeliers, and doilies plus my wedding will be during the day so I won't need actually light to come out of my chandelier, but I am sure I could figure something out if I really wanted light.

I obviously can't use ALL these ideas, after all I only have 200 doilies :D I guess I'll talk to my wedding planner and my event planner to see what they think! ( I know, I have a lot of planners for someone who loves DIY projects)