Color Obsession

I can't help it. I know some people (that means you, Becca!), find this combination ugly, but I can't help but love it every time I see it.

Oh marigold & gray, how I love thee!


(via StyleMePretty)

One Trend I'm Not Ashamed to Love

The latest trend in wedding shoes is to wear cute shoes that match your color. While nobody really sees them, they do make for some cute photographs! :)


(Tina @ With This Ring, I Thee Obsess)

While I've been keeping my eye out for a pair of cute aqua/teal/blue stilettos, you can imagine that I've found few options.

Dyeable shoes to the rescue!!

While the word "dyeable" may conjure up images of square toe pumps dyed magenta to match the taffeta bridesmaid creations of the '80's, the line has really come a long way. Behold my potential choices:


(Daisy)


(Flash)



(Bianca)

I'm leaning towards Flash, the middle pair, because I like the simplicity. I also think they'll be a much more "wearable" option after the wedding, while the other two pairs look like "wedding shoes." Opinions?

I'm Glad You Asked...

Running off Marie's comment to yesterday's post, let's discuss the potential attire for the flower girls.

(Side note: flower girls --- weird word, huh? Repeat it to yourself 3 times. See. I told you it was weird.)

I can't imagine putting a 1, 3 and 6 yr. old in black dresses (plus my mother would have an instant coronary), so that leaves us with the options of ivory, blue or green. I'm pretty sure it's going to be quite impossible to find dresses that match in blue or green to fit all of them because of the age gap. I've been thinking it would not only be easier, but would look nicer, if we had them all wear simple ivory dresses and attach a sash in either blue or green.


(A close example. Minus the sash color. And ivory, not white.)

I'm pretty sure we would be able to find simple ivory dresses during all the Easter sales in Feb./Mar., and sashes (which are in abundance at virtually every bridal shop or pretty easy to make) could be easily implemented.

Yes/No/Maybe so?

Alternative Color Schemes

Choosing our color scheme was actually pretty easy, as we went with process of elimination. As our motto/theme was to make it as personal as possible, I wanted to avoid colors that had already been used by my sisters (goodbye purple and yellow!). As much as I would have loved to do light pink/black/gray, Tom really didn't want pink. I wasn't really drawn to orange or red for a summer wedding, either. One of Tom's favorite colors is blue, and since I really didn't have a preference, I decided to go with that. Once I saw this picture, the colors really came to life and the decision was final:



Pool blue/apple green. Awesome.


However, if we were to have an infinite number of weddings that I could design/arrange differently every time, you best believe that color would be the first thing I'd play with.

I love this scheme of pinks, oranges, yellows, browns, apricots, greens and blushes:



It would look great with a spring/summer wedding, but would also translate nicely in autumn...


One scheme that I've found recently has become my ultra favorite: Dove gray, marigold yellow and crisp white. How fantastic would some classic Jackie-O type gray dresses with some bright yellow flowers look? Again, this could be used in any season, and could look super amazing in the winter!



What other colors do you love? If you had a second chance, what colors would you use?

Fodder for the Poll...

Okay, so you may or may not have noticed the new poll to the right. If not, finish reading this, then post.

Below are dresses I love from J.Crew. Now I'm not saying that these will be the dresses, especially since the colors are not exactly what we're going for here, but they suffice for now. Keeping in mind my dress, what color do you think would go best?

Black:


Blue:


Green:

A Hodge-Podge Post

Isn't that T just something else? It's easy to get wrapped up in all the goofy details of a wedding, and when I hear him talk like he just did, it really grounds me again. :)

And, you all should totally come see him on Saturday & Sunday. There's a ton going on besides the Highland Games --- activities for kids and adults alike! Check out their website for parking information, directions, and a complete schedule of activities!

So I mentioned last week that I was making a birthday cake for my niece's 5th birthday. But this was no ordinary cake. Behold, the castle cake:

While the picture does not showcase it's full sugary glory, you at least get an idea of why I spent 5 1/2 hours decorating it!

Back to the wedding front, I've found a ton of spectacular and helpful blogs in the blogsphere. The first one, Snippet & Ink, has some really great "inspiration boards." She compiles all these great pictures and fuses them together to help set the tone and design of an event...

(Courtesy of Snippet & Ink)

The next blog I've found is sort of ironic: Elizabeth Anne Designs. Haha.

(Courtesy of Elizabeth Anne Designs)

This board is entitled "Blues & Apple Greens." While this is a little brighter than what we're going for, it still gives off the "garden party" type vibes.

I also found one last board that I love, A Practical Wedding. It's nice to look at the opulent weddings on all these other sites, but reality sets back in when you look at your bank statement. This blog shares money-saving tips and helps you to focus back in on the purpose of the day. I recently read somewhere (maybe IndieBride?) that one should really focus on planning this as a party where you happen to get married, instead of the other way around...

I know two things for sure right now:

1) I'm very confused. Prepare to watch me vacillate between the two extremes for the next few months...

2) I cannot wait to be married. Life may not be easier, but it sure will seem simpler than this purgatory nonsense...

Putting the Cart Before the Horse: A Discussion of Flowers, Invites, Themes & Colors

So it's fairly obvious that I'm on wedding overload right now...My thoughts are swimming with flowers, cakes, invitations, photographs, tents and more right now. The good news is that we (I) have a basic plan/theme in my head, which should make bargain shopping that much easier! :)

Based on the location (Lake Katherine), our (my) initial thoughts are to stick with a floral/garden theme without looking like Better Homes & Gardens visited. I'm not really a floral/garden type of girl, so this should be fairly interesting. I should also point out that I'm going to shoot for classic/preppy/contemporary all at the same time, lest it veer towards the "old bedspread in a cheap motel" look.

With that in mind, here are some of my initial thoughts for the following:

Invites: I'm all about keeping this simple & organic (can't you tell by my penchant to make everything difficult?!?). These invites are done by a freelance graphic designer in MN, and are fairly straightfoward...The colors would be similar to the "Cyan" and "Leaf" in the color chart...

Flowers: There are actually three links in this, as I can't figure out what I'm leaning towards. One is a very clean, modern bouquet of bright blue hydrangeas and green berries, while the other is more of a dusty blue hydrangea that still has the specks of green. One is bright and fresh, Two is soft and romantic. Then there's this lovely hybrid of both, which seems fresh but subtle. Ugh, the choices are seriously endless. The even scarier part of this whole mess is that this is only the bridal bouquet...there's still bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, altar arrangements, and centerpieces to consider.

So I don't think I stated it outright, but our "color palette" will be an apple green and a pool blue. Now I don't want these colors to permeate, just like the garden theme, I merely want this all to have a common chord. For instance, while you might see the table linens being that color, I promise that I won't serve "blue" cheese on the green salad, or anything crazy of that nature. I personally think that's a bit irritating and over-kill, and am aiming for something subtle and tasteful, yet bold.

Question for the day: Can something be subtle and bold at the same time, or have I just been looking at waaay too many color swatches today?