I was a BLUSHing bride

I've received lots of inquiries as to my dress and the color, so I thought I'd fill everyone in.

First of all, just in case you have missed it the zillion and four times I've said it before, these are my opinions and my experiences. I am a unique individual (just like everyone else) and things that work great for me my be a disaster to someone else. That being said....

I am not a fan of the stark white wedding dress. I think there are very few people that it really looks good on, and I think details of the dress can get lost in the blinding white.

[Side note: This is especially true if you have a photog who tends towards "blown out" photos. There is one photog whos work I love to see, but I wouldn't have wanted for my photos because while the images are magazine beauty edgy, so many details get lost. I can't count how many of the blog posts that I ooh and ahhh over the photos, and then realize not a single one showed the grooms face or details on the dress. (This photo is from a Flickr discussion group, NOT the photog I was talking about. Just an example of a detail-free dress.)

And didn't most of us put waaaay too much time effort (and dare I say money?) into choosing our dresses!? Anyway, thats just a thought for any of you who are still choosing a photog - don't just think the photos are cool and beautiful, make sure they capture the images and feelings you want from your wedding.] ..... {stepping off soapbox now}

Anyway... what was I talking about? Ahh... my being anti-pink and how I ended up in a blush dress.

So I am not a big fan of stark white in general, and none of the white dresses I tried on did anything for me. Most of which (like the one below) ended up in the "ewww and unflattering" dress post.

That being said, everyone's skin type and coloring are different so even if after reading this you think "no way am I wearing white!" I still recommend you try a few on just in case.

So I was in the hunt for an off-white dress. But for me, this was like being armed with a credit card and hunting with a blindfold on. I would say that I didn't want white and they would stick me in a white dress saying it came in ivory too. Great - can I see it in ivory? uhhh - no, just imagine! Ha. Some of the ivories and champagnes were beautiful and soft and really brought to life the details of the dress. But some looked dingy and made the lace look like it was from your great grandmothers coffee table doilies! So, I was not up for imagining.

When I tried on what would become my dress, the sales woman told me it came in white, ivory, and blush. Blush?! Do I look like a PINK girl to you!??! I don't think so!!! I'll take this amazing ivory I am wearing thank you very much!! .....store girl looks a bit sheepish as she explains to me that I am wearing the blush.... Wow, glad I wore my mint flavored shoes today!

My dress was a beautiful glowing ivory. It looked radiant and light without so much as a hint of pink.

Who would have thought that come April 4th, I was literally a blushing bride.

Dressing the Tables

A few weekends ago, (wow this has taken me WAY too long to get around to typing) we went back to our venue for a tasting and linen fun. The tasting, I have no pictures of (I suck, I know).

So I'll tell you quickly that it all tasted pretty good with 2 exceptions. One sauce was WAAAAYYYY too salty. I am pretty sensitive to salt. I think things are too salty that other people say "there is salt in this?". So when I tasted it first, I very much tamed my response and simply said it was rather salty to me, what did others think? O.M.G. Their faces were priceless! I wish I had taken pictures because it was like a lemon face with a nauseous twist. Well, glad to know it wasn't just me. No problem, the chef said he'd tame it down. (I think he knocked over the Morton tub without noticing.) Then came the Kalua Pork, our favorite hawaiian dish. It was good pork, but it wasn't kalua. It was his first time making it and he followed a recipe but it jsut wasn't quite it. He asked us what it was missing...umm... becuase I am such a pro at making this? I don't know dude - YOU are the chef!!! Oh well, he said he'd try some other recipies. Fingers crossed it turns out well, if not - at least it'll be good pulled pork!

Then, it was on to the linens. Rachelle, our wedding planner, had ordered samples from her linen peoples. Before we get any further in to this let me say this - I suggested we do the basic (cheapest) white linens, and the color would come from napkins and flowers. Simple and cheap(er). That idea got shot down like a duck in season. So now we are up to the color linens. My mother hated the linens that were the typical cheap fabric but in color. Up it a notch to the fancy color linens and now we start choosing. And by "we" I mean, my mother, Adam, me, and Rachelle. Apparently, we had to be unanimous. 3 HOURS later we had finally chosen them.

Please excuse that some photos captured colors and textures better than others.
(All photos courtesy of moi.)
I am not a fan of all the tables being exactly the same, so we will be mixing centerpieces and tablecloths.
First up, pretty aqua pin tuck!

(We might be using the napkins with the silver edge you see above.)

The real color is actually somewhere between those two photos. The top one looked a little too green, and this shot looks too blue.

For the high top bar tables we decided to snazz it up a little and add a fun overlay. Those white stripes actually shimmer quite a bit. But a little while later, we found a more fun sparkly one. So it'll be similar to this pic except it'll be sparkles instead of stripes.

Same thing for the cake and escort card tables, simple white under and a fun sparkly overlay.

So we'll have 1/2 the tables be the aqua pintuck and then the other half in this fun krinkly dark blue below. All pintuck is a little too formal/preppy for our tastes, but I love mixing it with an unexpected fabric texture.

And, as usual I managed to sneak my tootsies into the photo. :-)

As I pointed out above, this all took about 3 hours to decide. The most entertaining thing about it has actually been people's reactions to my saying we spent 3 hours on linens. Its either
"3 hours?! Thats it!? I took 2 weeks to choose!"
or
"3 hours!? Seems like an awful waste of time on linens. Huh... come to think of it, I have no idea what was on the tables at our wedding."

I tend to agree more with the latter comment, but I am assured by everyone else that it will have a huge impact on the space and potentially save us some money on flowers.

Ok, first up - whatcha think of the linens?
Secondly, how much time did you spend on yours?

Blog Bliss: Zenadia Design - For Me?

Zenadia Design's Blog is one of my favorite daily stalkings. Smart, funny, crafty, creative - and just a bit edgy. I love it!
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About Me

Zenadia Design (pronounced zen-ah-dee-uh) creates custom invitations and stationery for those looking to make a lasting impression. Rather than using ordinary materials, we use natural and extraordinary materials to make our designs stand out. Please contact us to discuss the endless possibilities that await you!

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So, the other day, she posed a question to the readers asking what color combinations we would like to see on her new inspiration boards. Being the no-so-quiet blog stalker I am, I commented with (big surprise) my wedding colors! Since, as I mentioned before, I hadn't seen anything like my color combination before, not only would it be beneficial to me, but to the bridal blogging world in general since it would be new and different!

And she did!!! And it rocks! Look closely and that is actually the dress that Eldest Sister in Law (Really need Bloggy nickname for her) will be wearing!

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! =)
Inspiration Board MANY THANKS to Zenadia Design!
Go, read, and enjoy!!

Color IQ Test: Will your tablecloths ACTUALLY match the dresses?

Do you care if your table cloths EXACTLY match your bridesmaids dresses? If so, WHY!? Are you going to make your girls sit in the center of the table as centerpieces? Anyway...... =)

Quick break before my Save The Date reveal....

Since we are all in the insane world of matching colors to dresses and table cloths to ties and flower, I thought this would be fun to share and see how high your color IQ is!
My wonderful photog, Rae actually sent this to me. She scored a perfect 0!! I am proud to say I earned a 12, and Guru got a 27.
Can you beat that?

Accidental Perfection

People say that the things you want tend to fall into place when you aren't searching for them. For some things, I agree. I wasn't looking for love when Adam stopped in Hawaii to visit, but 1 week in and I was head over heels. I wasn't the girl who was hounding for a ring or hinting at marriage. We were happy with our lives together and I wasn't going to try and shove the relationship in any new direction; and then he proposed.

Now if only this was true of wedding planning....

As you remember from previous posts, I went to a bazillion stores and tried on many dresses at each store before finding my dress... and then it took 6 posts to fill yall in on the process!! Then it took 3 times as long to find the company that was right for my girls' dresses.. which I condensed into 3 posts.

So I've got all these pretty new dresses picked out.... but some of my "staple" clothes in my closet were getting a little.... ok - A LOT worn out. So in a non-wedding planning I-need-new-tank-tops-and-jeans mode I went to Kohls. As I was walking towards the registers I meandered through the mens section and

AH!!!!!!!! (choirs of angels singing... not screaming)

THERE sitting on display beckoning to me with every ounce of color they could muster (muster-not mustard-yellow is not in the color scheme) were the PERFECT ties.

As I've said before, I am not detail oriented. I am also not a perfectionist. If the shade of the guys ties were off.. meh! I wouldn't care. BUT, since I put forth NO effort into this particular moment of perfection, I am quite happy with it!

Of course, the Kohls here in Pcola only had a few, so I called my mother and she went to the Panama City Kohls and cleared them out of theirs... of course we only needed 3 of one and 2 of the other. (2 Dads and 3 Groomsmen who wont be in uniform.) Oh well!

Anyone else STUMBLE on a moment of perfection for their wedding?

Dressin the girls Pt 3: FINALLY!

VICTORY IS MINE!!

I finally found 1 company with 2 great blues, and lots of dress choices!!! Ah the wonderful world of 1 umbrella company that has 3 dress companies within it! Dessy!!

I got swatches in the mail and that just sealed the deal! This is Dessy's Ocean Blue in stretch charmeuse, and Turquoise in organdy... aka - MY COLORS!!! (No, not turquoise as in the stone but more of an aqua.)Sorry for the oh-so-sorry lighting and background.

So I sent the link to my girls and after some reminding emails.... a few phone calls... a few more emails.... some texts messages.... and one more email they finally picked their dresses! (All I have to say is you wouldn't think it would be more difficult to make people happy by giving them options!! oof! Ok - enough ranting.) The dresses!



Ok, so you might be thinking a few things look odd. Well, the colors are done via their magic java coloring gadget online, so they don't look quite right. They will indeed match. The 2nd (shorten to tea length) and 4th ones will be in Ocean Blue, with the 1st and 3rd in Turquoise. Also might be thinking "huh - 4 dresses... I thought there were 5 girls." You would indeed be right! Way to go eagle eye! 2 of the girls picked the same dress (#3). ahh - all is right in the wedding world... for now. ;)

Anyone else end up being thrilled with their finds? Or less than thrilled about people's reactions?

Dressin the girls Pt 2: 2 colors, 1 company

After we decided our colors of Aqua and Ocean Blue, it was time to start looking for a company to get dresses from! I had few requirements for the company to be picked:

• Have a light AND a dark blue that I liked (and would coordinate together).
• Have several different styles of dress options for each body type because no 2 bridesmaid of mine have the same body types.
• Be reasonably priced.

You really wouldn't think it would be THAT hard!! It literally took me from JANUARY until JUNE to find the company we were going to go with. Many companies had some great blues!! But each company had a beautiful dark blue that I loved, but their light blue was baby. Or they had a great aqua-ish color, but their dark blue was blah-navy. Or - they had both and cost a small fortune!

I found this one while I was shopping for my dress and was a big fan of the fabric detailing. Unfortunately, it was a bit green, limited in styles, and the coordinating light blue was baby blah.

This one I found at the shop where I found my dress. It was fun, but only came in a few styles that were all a bit....unsupportive for anyone bigger than me.

I loved this blue from Alfred Angelo! Unfortunately, it only comes in taffeta, which only comes in 7 styles, none of which I, or any of my girls were much of a fan of.

I am a fan of Ann Taylor, so why not look into her dresses? Ahh - Because they are more of a slate blue, and less of the lighthearted colors I was going for.

Jim Hjelm has a zillion designs so there must be something for everyone... as long as you've got a large dress budget. If you do, they have some really unique designs and colors... needless to say, this is not the budget range I am aiming for.

Another pretty Jim Hjelm that is a great blue, at a grand price.

And then, through a bridal blog I stalk but can't remember at the moment, I found Lynn Lugo custom dresses.

More Lynn Lugo in beautiful blues and great styles!! I love the small details that really them a coordinating set when standing together, but still look fun individually.

I ordered Lynn Lugo samples and fell in love with ALL of her blues! I was ready right then and there to tell the girls pick any blue and design your own dress!... and then I looked at the pricing details and was crushed. It was not CRAZY expensive, but more than I'd ask anyone to pay.

At this point I was ready to give up and find one dress and let them be matchy-matchy even though I hate that. Anyone find it harder to dress the girls than the bride?

Dressin the girls

So blue is my favorite color. But I'm not really a fan of navy blue, or sky/baby blue. To me they are both just a bit blah. I love aqua's and Caribbean blues, and ocean blues. At this point, I've been through the "To color scheme or not to scheme" decision and now need to pick colors. hmm - I like blue, and blue. And Adam likes blue. Even though I plan on going for Aqua and Ocean... I have a feeling I'll be reliving this Steel Magnolia's moment at least once:

"What are your colors Shelby? - Truvy ... "Her colors are pink and pink" - M'Lynn ... "My colors are blush and bashful...I have chosen two shades of pink, one is much deeper than the other" -Shelby ... "That sanctuary looks like it's been hosed down with Pepto Bismol" - M'Lynn

While others in this day and age are moving away from color schemes... I am the daughter of an interior designer. Confused? Think about the "son of a preacher" term. Oh yeah - I like all kinds of eclectic things and I don't care if they clash. My room growing up was a tribute to anything and everything I liked.. and my mother's worst nightmare. So if I had free reign of a color palette when finding items for the wedding - it would end up a mish mash melting pot of things I liked.... which while might lend some satisfaction at my mother's expense, Adam is a little more coordinated and wouldn't like it. So thus, we are color-scheming it!

We are not, however, being matchy-matchy. I told the girls I would find one dress company with 2 blues I liked AND a wide variety of dresses and let them pick! (How much do I rock? =).

2 day's later I sent them an email saying - "I found your dresses!" Pick between one of these 2 styles... both will be in the company's "blue matrix".
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HEHEHEHEHEHEEHEH!!!!!!

To which my favorite response was

"i'm sure we'd all do anything for you love, but i have limits!"

The first time we met with the wedding planner (whom I will blog about soon) I showed her them. And she attempted to keep a straight face and wondered if maybe the slight in the leg of the first one wasn't a bit high.... and then I fell out of my chair laughing. I realize that I am NO fashionista by anyone's terms... but seriously??

Anyone else get a kick out of the extremes of fashion, or the fun of messing with someone?