All images credited on my Pinterest.
Did you ever design a room in your head only to find yourself standing in a space that barely resembles your original vision thereafter? Do you kid yourself you are a pink lady and then dig a little deeper only to find yourself harbouring deeply gothic aesthetic tendencies? Did you ever plan a wedding and slowly but surely discover that your inner bridezilla has entirely different taste to you? That somehow a room, an outfit or indeed a wedding has a will of its own, long before you go wrapping it in rhinestones and froth?
Hmmm. I’ve known this for a long time. And yet every time I’m caught off guard by my Muse: she who shares my eyes but not my decorative heart. She who shows me up simply by being in possession of better taste than me. And so it is that I am not having the rosy red wedding that in the wilder, slightly more girly throes of my imagination I was secretly planning. Partly because it doesn’t feel right and mostly because the venue demands something altogether more sophisticated and sparkly. Less bunting and
Ugh. Blue. If ever there was a colour I couldn’t get on with, blue was it. And yet here I am sticking blue weddings to my Pinterest board by the minutes. Drawn to the merest of ice blue detail. Searching heaven and hell for enough blue velvet ribbon to wrap around my invitations. In love with blue for the first time in my life.
How did that happen? Possibly the same way I fell head over heels in madness with very own six foot four geek?
So anyways. It’s going to be a blue wedding. A black and blue wedding. A bruiser of a wedding! Because The Vincent has a rather frightening black and grey carpet and deep black leather booths with gold and blue accents in the gorgeous bar where our darling families will gather before the ceremony. So blue and black it is, because in an art deco cinema turned swanky hotel, the cherry florals I have known and adored for so long would look incongruous.
(Note to self: incongruous is a great word.)
Where was I? Oh yes. The Nuptial bruise. Ok so I have started with the first of what is likely of many little blue wedding collages, and as I refine the entire theme of our day it is just mighty possible I will end up posting many more… but for now this isit: blue details, black dinner suits, rhinestones and white froth.
Now if only the men werent being so difficult about the polka dot dicky bows…
Tell me now… what theme or colour scheme, if any, did you have at your wedding? Did the venue dictate the look of the day or did you go your own way and re-create exactly that which was in your head regardless?
Talk me through your day Darlings…
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Hi Alison! I found myself getting so excited for your wedding reading this! (and a little emotional!) and i never knew i was so attached! My wedding was in a barn with 200 year old beams everywhere and i wanted a simple country style wedding anyway so the theme/venue just slipped in together. My colour was yellow, big daisy gerberas all over, cupcakes with daisys on, yellow gingham on the mini damson jam favours and daisys in the bridesmaids hair.
Blue…not so bad really. I used to love it but have since changed my mind as I think I got flooded in the color. Now I am an orange and green kind of gal!
Wedding…21years ago…still see it in my head….Ivory tea length dress for me….home-died red sundresses for my girls…..touches of yellow. We were married in our church, the cake had red edible roses on it and we served punch and fruit trays as it was a July fete in California. If you are having an evening affair, please take as much time as possible to eat a decent breakfast as you may not be eating until after the service is over and you may not get that much as you are going to be super giddy and excited and wondering when this is going to happen and hurry up and be over already! Mine was a morning do, the best man was driving in with grandparents and they were an hour late! So everything was set back and I was really hungry but only got a bite of cake the WHOLE DAY.
Stick to your guns — the polka dot bow ties are FANTASTIC.
It sounds like your wedding will be beautiful Alison! I am planning my wedding at the moment too – the date is January 14th. I also thought that I would be having pink, but I have ended up going with a purple and white colour scheme, because I found purple dresses that look amazing on my bridesmaids. My bouquet will be full of white flowers (such as white roses and lillies), and my bridesmaids are having white and purple bouquets. My cake is mainly white with purple detailing too! I love those polka dot bow ties! But yes, unfortunately men are often less fond of polka dots than us ladies. Happy planning! xxx
I think it's going to be beautiful, Alison! My wedding was in November, too, and I used gorgeous Fall colors–red, amber, deep orange, and a bit of brown and yellow. I loved my bouquet… Maybe a little touch of red will fit in with black and ice blue? 😉
Alison, I'm so happy for you! Your wedding is going to be perfect even if it doesn't go as planned. When we got engaged I spent months trying on estate pieces for engagement rings – I was sure I wanted a vintage ring circa 1920's. When we went to buy our wedding bands (8 months later and still no engagement ring) I tried on an extremely classic platinum solitaire with matching band (because I was interested in the band), looked at my finger and said, "Ooh!" My husband went back and bought it and presented it to me along with my ring at the wedding. That reaction has become his benchmark for knowing when I'm over what I think I like and have actually realized what I do want (we ended up with our house and sofa based on my similar reaction!)
Our wedding was also in November with a fall color scheme (afternoon wedding) – lots of eggplant, cranberry, rust, and gold. We hand addressed campy postcards that I've been collecting since childhood to each guest to tell them their table (Dear so-and-so, the weather's fine at table nine… – yes, campy) But some my fondest memories are the glitches – the bandleader and the rabbi almost coming to blows because the band setup in front of the door I would have to enter through to walk down the aisle, getting stuck going through said door because it was not wide enough to accommodate my mother and father on either side of me, my husband expressly going against my wishes and having the band play a small riff from some hideous song called "Shotgun" as a joke when he walked down the aisle, and my absolute favorite – the complete monstrosity of a cake that the caterer somehow came up with despite my painstaking sketch detailing exactly what I wanted. 10 years later I wouldn't have changed a thing – it's the marriage that's important. No matter what happens enjoy your day!
I was going to have a dusty pink wedding by my bridesmaids refused to have anything to do with wearing pink! So I ended up with a compromise but one I actually loved…we had a hydrangea coloured wedding! They wore dusty hydrangea blue and carried white hydrangeas, and I wore white and carried pink and blue hydrangeas. At the end of the pews we had white hydrangeas. We went heavy on the blue with little accents of pink. Oh and the floral bunting…all made by my Mum, and much of it used the fabric she used to make clothes for me when I was a baby. We had afternoon tea for our reception and had mismatched vintage floral tea cups and cake stands and crockery, crystal sugar bowls filled with nubbly brown and white sugar lumps and scattered with crystallised violets….it makes me smile to remember it all. The funny thing was that although I knew I wanted afternoon tea and hydrangeas and a real country feel to our wedding, I didn't have an overall look in mind. But the night before, when we had set up the reception, it all pulled together and looked just as I wanted. You are going to have so many happy memories to look back on! Even when the details make you tired, it does give you great things to remember later! xx