They say success is in the details. I have to agree. While the major decisions of a wedding (who you will marry, when in will happen, where it will take place etc) are certainly the most important, it's the little things that can truly make the day your own. As I go through this planning process I am realizing how important it is to let inspiration guide you when it comes to choosing these fine details. You can draw inspiration from all sorts of places. It's helpful to flip through magazines and cut out images that strike you, think of your favorite colors and perhaps to try and incorporate them into the day, even the time of year could inspire your decision making process. I have tried my best to think of each element as a continuation of another, rather than separate entities. For example the invitations use the same color palette as our reception
décor. I carry around a swatch of the bridesmaid's dresses so the florist can match ribbons we use to their color. In the end I hope it will create for a cohesive "look" and a very thought filled event. Allowing inspiration to guide me has made this planning process a lot easier and way more fun.
Our initial source of inspiration came from the Chicago History Museum.
(
I am thrown' up the west side represent. I am so street.)
It's classic architecture, clean lines, and simple elegance is what struck us and what subsequently informed every decision we made thereafter. Hence, a good reason to choose a location first before deciding on any other decorative elements. The CHM definitely informed my flower choice, because while I have always loved Calla Lilly's, I felt that a calla embodied the same classic beauty as our reception site.
Now it was time to choose a color palette. Or as they say in the bridal world "your colors." It being a winter wedding I certainly wanted to use colors inspired by the season. Any sorts of reds or greens were vetoed immediately for fear of looking like a Christmas village.
Blue has always been my color of choice
But there are a plethora of blue hues out there and how was I ever to choose one? I thought about a champagne color...
or maybe even a chocolate brown (my mom did not approve of this idea)
(
these collages were created on the ever so addictive Montage-a-google...yeah I have no life)
Instead of freaking out about it I decided to put it on the
backburner and move forward. Inspiration found me in the form of a dress at
Rebecca's Bridal in Louisville, KY.
I decided to try on some wedding dresses with my mom while I was home. No pressure, no expectations. I had tried on maybe ten dresses and had found a few I liked when my delightful dress consultant brought me one final dress. She had clearly been inspired too! I put it on and instantly liked it, and in retrospect I think I "knew" right then. However I put three on hold to return at a later date, which ended up being the very next day. I nixed one right away and was down to two, although I knew my choice. My mom snapped some photos and they were quickly emailed to the people who mattered: my oh-so-fashion-forward brother Neill, my
MOH Brittany (who forwarded them to her mom and sister), and my friends Katie and Jenn. The response was unanimous for dress #2. It was my dress and I would search no further. Now I cannot go into detail about the dress, as I do not want to diminish the dramatic power of "the big reveal" on the big day, plus
Jürg wants to be totally surprised. I will say though that an element of the dress set off a light bulb in my mind. What about white, light silver and sapphire blue?
Perfect! Silver and blue have always been my favorite colors, I adore sapphire's and what a lovely classic wintry combination! Eureka! I was beyond pleased with my choice.
In general the overall pallet will consist of mainly white and light silver, the sapphire will serve as more of a surprising accent.
My beautiful bridesmaids will be wearing sapphire blue dresses. It's a color that looks good on anyone. They will not, however, all be wearing identical dresses. I prefer to mix things up. Here is a photo of one of the dresses in my chosen color (it appears brighter than it does up close and personal).
Along with the sapphire blue dresses some of the vases will be wrapped in deep blue ribbons. Here is the photo that inspired me (minus the brooch like thing)
The choosing of these colors helped me pick out our invitations. There are so many amazing invite options these days. With fanciful fonts, and adorable motifs it's could be difficult to choose. Luckily I knew we wanted something very simple. Here is what we chose.
This is not the font we will be using, nor is in the same ink choice. Our ink is light silver; the paper is white with a light pewter border around the edge. It's very classy and very wintry. We picked them from a delightful independently owned store in Louisville called Celebrations. It is the only place I looked as I am all about "freedom within boundaries." We will also be working with them on our wedding programs. These have not been printed as we have yet to pick our music etc, but they do incorporate the blue in both the ribbon that binds them and the ink color. Pictures to follow along with updates on other little wedding details.
Thus concludes my multi-part series on wedding planning. Things are moving along smoothly as we enter the T-Minus 4 month mark. Time is flying by! The next steps to tackle are finalizing the wedding ceremony, the out of town gift baskets, figuring out the final menu, or yeah and the whole floor plan debate. That's a whole separate entry!
