An Inspired Bride: September 2013

Hello all! Sorry for the blog hiatus and brevity of today's post. Eric and I had an absolutely amazing time in Ireland, and now I am playing catch up at work for taking those two weeks off! If anyone is thinking of a vacation to Ireland, but you are on the fence about it, I strongly recommend you get off the fence right now and get your ass to a travel agent to book the trip. It's one of the most beautiful places in the world, and it is so fun. And if you're like me, and you love bread, meat, potatoes and beer....well then it's basically heaven on earth. :)

<3 this boy.

And now that we are back, it's back to wedding planning! I took a look at our to-do list of 135 things a couple days ago, and I'm proud to report that we are 34/135 done. Which doesn't seem like much, but most of the to-do items are like 1 week before the wedding. There isn't anything that is in the "9 months before" category that isn't done, so I don't feel behind! Right? Right? I SAID. I DON'T. FEEL. BEHIND.

One of the things I'm working on right now and have a couple upcoming appointments for is the flowers. I'm very excited about flowers, but I'm not excited about how long they last or how much they cost. I read a lot of wedding websites and watch a lot of wedding shows, and I find people fall into one of two camps: they either love flowers, insist they must be real for a wedding, and spend a huge chunk of their budget on them, OR they hate flowers and the fact that they die so fast, don't care if they are silk or plastic, and spend barely nothing on them.

Soooo yeah. Those look natural.

I hate silk flowers. Like a lot. What's the point? You're not fooling anyone. They don't look like real flowers, as much as some brides like to think they do. Some brides are like “But if they are silk, they will last forever! And we can use them for other events! Frugality and sensibility rule!” But honestly, who wants that? Who wants to store a bunch of tall silk centerpieces that will get dusty and smushed and then haul them out again 8 years later for your cousin’s wedding. No thanks. But while I do prefer real flowers, but I don't want to break the bank. I see no reason to have big elaborate sprays and huge flowered centerpieces and flowers hanging on every chair and crevice in the place. But I do appreciate beautiful flowers, and I wanted to share some of my ideas with you!

The first aspect of the flowers is the bouquets and the boutonnieres. I want them to be subtle and complement the wedding party, and not draw too much attention away from my lovely ladies and handsome men. Since our wedding "color" (if you can call it that) is purple, that limits our choices of flowers. I do love me the purple calla lily though. It's dark, dramatic, elegant and gorgeous.

Something like that for the ladies...

...and I like these for the men! But that will be up to Eric. :)

As for my bouquet, I definitely want it to be white, no color at all. And without giving away too many details, I want the bouquet to match my dress. The dress I chose is a little more fashion forward, more couture looking, and a bit more unique than your average shiny white satin bridal gown. So I want a unique bouquet as well! Something that I really love for the bridal bouquet is feathers! Not too many, but just a little fluff to add some texture. I also love the little blingy inserts that go into bouquets. Bling it on.

Love these bouquets! So floaty and romantic.

I could do without the orange roses, but I love that little sparkle!

As for the centerpieces and other floral decorations, I am hoping to find a florist that will just do everything. I have learned from all these appointments that the fewer vendors I have to deal with, the better. I even found a girl that does reception décor, lighting, invitations and stationery! 4 in 1! When she told me all she offers, I wanted to hug her right then and there. So I'm hoping our florist will also bring centerpiece vases and all that other stuff, and also bring the vases and flowers from the ceremony space to the reception space and just basically be awesome.