I love when local brides are featured on bigger blog sites. It really shows that the Midwest is coming along in the wedding industry.
If you have not stumbled upon it already, be sure to head over to Style Me Pretty and check out Abby’s posts about the wedding.
This bride uses a lot of creativity and ideas that me and the FI are looking for in our wedding. She executed a lot of DIY projects, which gave her wedding the feel that it was really about her and her husband. Plus, her reception venue is the same place where we will be having ours. It is always nice to see how other brides set it up.
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Let me also mention that the bride bought her wedding dress from J.Crew and had her seamstress ad the flowers and the overlay. AYKM? That takes some creativity and a strong vision!
How could I forget to mention that the bride and her bridal party made their own bouquets! I have had my eye on this DIY project since before the FI and I got engaged. I’m crafty and think this is a fabulous way to be green (support the local economy by buying local and in-season flowers) and save some money!
There are so many elements from her wedding that I love. So, Audra, if you’re reading this, I might just borrow some of your ideas because they are faboosh!
And P.S. I love that they hung paper lanterns. Makes me feel 110% better about wanting to hang paper lanterns at Windows.
Who doesn’t love a little mood lighting, right?
Basically, if someone out there could do this for our wedding, that would be fantastic (ignore the image on the right). We’re willing to pay, but also willing to lend a hand.
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So, I vote yes. Granted our colors are not purple, but AYKM? The lighting is just so romantic and fun. And, for the record, I completely love the projected image of their monogram on the floor. Now….to find an event designer willing to work with our budget…..
I love to stalk photographer blogs…most of you out there know this, but for those of you first time readers, I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHERS’ blogs. Okay, glad I got that out of my system.
Anyway, I love to read wedding blogs (another note), because many of the bloggers out there plug the names of some fantastic photographers, and I just get hooked. While perusing my wedding blog usuals, I stumbled upon the greatest. idea. ever. Ever. Thanks to the lovely Abby over at Style Me Pretty, I found what could be one of the greatest ideas for a wedding reception (next to the photobooth, no matter how overdone).
Okay, so take a stroll over to this post by the Youngrens and just scroll down, enjoy the gorgeous photos. Those are some great photos, right? I know! I love the backyard wedding, the groom’s tan suit, and wait. Did you see that? You know, that photo almost 3/4 of the way down the page?
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You cannot tell me that having a cotton candy machine is not the greatest idea ever. Because it is. The FI and I (and mom included) were tossing around the idea of having one or two old-fashioned popcorn machines at the reception for the later guests to have something to much on. But THIS just adds to the fun. I could care less about how much of a distraction it may be, guests would love this. It would be nostalgic for the older guests and just plain fun for the younger crowd (and by that, I mean our college friends). I know, it’s a bit of a tie to the “Carni” world, but I so love this idea. Popcorn and cotton candy. Best. ideas. ever. You with me on this one?
Nothing like witnessing the marriage of two people truly in love. I was so happy to attend M & M’s wedding on Saturday. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was fun. It made me really fall in love with Windows even more (which made me excited for having our reception there). And, I of course took a ton of photos, but made sure to hit the dance floor a few times! Here are some of my favorites from the night!
The fountain in the lobby of Windows.
The Bride and Groom’s entrance!
Cutting the cake!
First dance!
Congratulations to M & M! Have a fantastic time on your honeymoon!!
Although wedding planning has been put on hold because work has owned my life, I still have had time to catch up on my favorite wedding blogs.
The other day I happened to be snooping around on Style Me Pretty and came across this fantabulous candy buffet set up. I have tossed around the idea of having a candy buffet at the wedding with the FI a few times and we both really like the idea of it as a wedding favor. We just have yet to really find a set up that we like. On top of that, we both really LOVE the idea of a photo booth (more on that in another post).
Back to the candy buffet. So I was on Style Me Pretty and found this:
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How fantastic is that set up? Obviously we would go with colors that complement those in our wedding scheme, but it’s just so fun and refreshing! We’d opt for circular stands, instead of the square stands seen here, but I love how Amy Atlas set this one up. Now, with the size of our guest list, we would need to make it larger, but this is a great foundation (if we really go the candy buffet route). Not only that, this just makes the candy look so appetizing.
Now I want some rock candy!
Have any of you thought about doing a candy buffet? What helped you to make your decision?
So, I’m pretty sure we’ve decided on colors for the wedding. And, as cliche as it is, we really want to go with reds and oranges. I had contemplated navy blue for a short period of time, but reds and oranges beat it out.
Even though our wedding is in the Fall, and reds and oranges are everywhere, I want to use them in a different way. My initial thought was to go with the color of Fall foliage, but it just seems too overdone. And, after re-doing the invitation suite recently, I thought the best thing to do is stick with “fresh colors”. So, with that being said, here are our colors:
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Below is my inspiration board for colors. We are going for a modern twist on the traditional wedding. We will be replacing old elements with new ones and just making it more about us and our relationship/personalities. I think that is more important than “traditional” wedding elements. The colors will be displayed everywhere as “pops” of color, making it fun.
Have any of you gone back and forth on color choices?
We finally have our reception venue booked! FINALLY!
So, here is the rundown of here it all started! Right after the engagement, we had both talked about having the reception at the Missouri History Museum. It just seemed like the right choice. It has beautiful architecture and it appealed to the FI, 1. because it is the History Musuem and 2. there is a replica of the Spirit of St. Louis airplane in the atrium. It was perfect….except that it was not large enough to hold all of our guests. Heartbreak #1 of wedding planning.
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So, after knowing that the Missouri History Museum would not work, we started our search over again. This time, we stumbled upon the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark. They have a new ballroom that overlooks the Arch and Old Courthouse, and it has floor-to-ceiling windows. Perfect, right? It was a modern twist on the old-fashioned ballroom. I loved it, mom loved it and FI loved it. Only problem we were concerned about was what we got for the money. Trust me, I would give my left arm for this room.
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And, so began the search…again. This time, we knew we needed to stay downtown, but our choices were limited with what was available. I wanted something unique and not your traditional ballroom or reception hall. That lead us to our last option: Windows on Washington. After researching and asking friends who had or are having their reception there, the FI and I finally agreed this would be it. It has character, windows, a view of the city, it’s modern and contemporary, and for what we were paying, it was well worth every penny. And with a final confirmation of our date, signing of the contract and mailing of the deposit, we have booked the 8th floor of Windows on Washington. We loved that it was on the top floor, the bar was unique and there were windows galore! Take a look for yourself:
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The suspense is even killing me! I want to reveal our reception location, but I want them to confirm receipt of our contract and deposit (I know, petty details)!
I hope to have an announcement either tomorrow or Thursday. It’s eating me up inside!
First off, I am sure most of you are even wondering why I am thinking about stuff like this so early in the game. What can I say? I’m a planner.
Any who…
I have really been racking my brain for ideas for centerpieces. We haven’t met with any florists, but I already get the idea that flowers (beyond bouquets, bouts, etc.) are going to be outrageously expensive). I cannot decide if I want something dramatic or simple. I surely know I do not want anything gaudy or too tall.
I found this today while searching around on Project Wedding. I really like the simplicity of it. By just immersing a few calla lillies into talk cylindrical vases of varying heights, it gives off a classic modern fell that I really like.
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I really like the idea of working several different looking vases or ones of varying heights just to give depth to the centerpiece. I would rather not have one big hunk of flowers in the middle of the table. Here is another idea similar to the other one:
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I also really like the idea of using local, fresh organic ingredients/elements. Sort of like the image below. It creates a good mixture of different textures and shades of green (my wedding colors are red, brown and orange….so I would go with elements in those hues). It is a different look than your standard vase with flowers.
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What sort of ideas have any of you thought about? Any ideas/suggestions for me?
