How to get the word out about a ceremony musician?

My fiance (a high school band director) is a trumpet player and a pianist. I don't know if I'm just not looking in the right places, but I'm not seeing a whole lot of musicians available for ceremonies in our area. That got me thinking...

I asked him if he'd be interested in playing at weddings and he said yes! He plays at his own church now, but aside from family and close friends, he hasn't played for anyone else.

Where do/did you look to find musicians for your ceremony? Any tips on how I can get the word out about him?

Fashion & Color Trends Summer 2010

Every year my mom sends me this and I think it's neat to see which colors are predicted to be the trends for that season. It starts out talking the color trends for Summer 2010:

"Wide-ranging agreement at the latest biannual color meeting organized by Eurovet: stylists and industrialists agreed that the market demands color. Stars of the season: the greens. Guests of honor: nuances of red and soft and refined pinks, mauves and neutrals in full evolution. And essential are bright – almost neon – accents targeted at beachwear which is ever-more influenced by the street and clubbing. Last but not least, white (color 26!) and indigo blue remain very much in focus. "



{ image via fashion trendsetter }

And on the topic of fashion:

"The background and shapes: the Capri spirit of the Fifties, haute couture precision, the desire of a perfect, radiant elegance... Motifs and prints are rich, lines emphasize the contour and strike the right balance, details and finishings are perfect. Nothing is left to chance, nothing is vague: everything is well conceived, neat, pretty, ravishing, harmonious, graceful.

"The most demanding design direction with its apparently contradictory, subtle mixtures of authenticity and the new modernity. The desire for durable luxury with genuine lingerie fabrics but now in the revolutionary lightweight fibers. Collections combine perfect performance, generous volumes, details which project natural eccentricity, hand made and artisan effects, as if aged by time..."

Not like I understand what that says, but there ya have it. I'm a fan of these colors for our wedding:







These colors more or less match the inspiration board I made on Style Me Pretty's Style Circle:



Add in some cooler greens and aquas and call it our color palate!

If you haven't tried their inspiration board maker yet, you're missin' out! Fun times. I only wish that you could upload pictures of your own or even have access to all the photos from their blog. It's something that they're working on so it should be available soon!

Flower Garlands

I'm still on a hunt to find something to hang across the beams in our venue. I saw these lovely garlands and thought they were beautiful!



{ photo by our labor of love via once wed }

Unfortunately, at $64 for 3 yards, they are absolutely not in our budget. So, off I went to try and find some sort of template to make these fabric flowers. I knew I had seen something like this, and then remembered that of course Martha has one!

Then of course, I still like the pom and ribbon idea:





{ photos by Aaron Delesie via Style Me Pretty and Style Me Pretty }

So, what do you think? If we're looking to do tables and flowers along these lines:



{ photo by Steve Steinhardt }



{ photo by Lisa Lefkowitz via Style Me Pretty }

For our venue, what do you think we should hang from the beams?



1) Fabric Dahlia Garlands
2) Multi-Color Tissue and Ribbon Poms

{ photo from our venue }

I Tried It!

Yup, I tried that DIY painted glass jars thing that has been popping up around the blogs (I originally saw it on BridalBuzz), and it didn't turn out as I had expected. I'm not giving up though!

I used a Gold Peak iced tea bottle, the same glass stuff that they described on BridalBuzz, but did not use a fan brush. The paint stuff goes on like nail polish...ya know how if nail polish dries just slightly and if the brush doesn't have enough polish on it but you swipe it on the nail anyway? How it kinda pulls at it and makes it all bumpy and clumpy? Yeah, that's what I dealt with.

I had a hard time mixing it too. I think the brush I used just soaked up too much paint because the amounts described in the tutorial were DEFINITELY not enough to do my bottle (which I think is probably smaller than a ball jar?). Instead of tupperware, I flipped the bottle upside-down and placed it on a bottle of rioja :) It was the perfect size to hold it!

Just after I painted it, but before baking it:



Here's the final result with some water and birthday sunflowers:



{ photos by me, sunflowers courtesy of Mr. :) }

So, it turned out pretty streaky. Either way, it's still a whole lot nicer than a plain bottle. I plan on trying it again with a fan brush next time. I'll keep ya posted! If you've tried this and have had better luck, let me know!!!

So we're like, really getting married

Do you still have those moments at all? I mean, with all the planning and such, sometimes it doesn't feel real yet.

We just had our first meeting with our pastor and he walked us through exactly what the ceremony will look like. Everything between who will sit where, who comes in when, different ceremony options, music, and where we face each other. Wow. I just get SO excited every time I realize that this whole thing is real! :) But, the biggest lesson I learned today?



{ image via polyvore }

I am absolutely going to need waterproof mascara. I was tearing up just being there by ourselves!! Oy.

Anyway, I'm very excited to start this process with our pastor. Two things that I got (idea-wise) from our meeting today:

-Receiving line (sorta): I didn't really want a traditional receiving line, so I liked this option. After we initially leave the sanctuary with our bridal party, Mr. and I think we will head back and greet each row instead of having the ushers allow each row out. After people leave, they can hang out in the meeting area and then we can still do a send-off out the main doors of the church. Which leads me to...

-Our church send-off: We can't do rice, birdseed, or anything that leaves stuff on the ground (no big loss on our part, didn't want that anyway), so I was thinking of going with my love of ribbons and possibly making those ribbon wands I keep seeing everywhere.



{ photo via amy squires }



{ photo via Wilton }



{ photo via Your Best Wedding }

What do you think about the wands? You all know my love of ribbons...I'd love the color it would add!

So yeah, do you still have those moments? When does it/did it hit you the most that you're going to be standing at the altar with your love?

what's the deal with send-offs?

Really though, what's the story?

Birdseed, flower petals, confetti to send off from the church. Got it.



{ image from Seasons of Life }

But what about the getaway from the reception? Sparklers, bubbles, etc...



{ image from Seasons of Life }

Are you supposed to do two send-offs?

I like the idea of doing a ribbon wand send off from the church, but I also like the idea of a sparkler send-off from the reception.



{ photo by Birdsong Photography via polka dot bride }

Is it normal to do two send-offs? What's the deal? I feel like making people line up and cheer for us more than once would be a lot...

What did you/are you going to do?

Wedding Dreams

I had my second wedding dream last night. Pretty much the same as the first one I had, it was as though the wedding would happen right now, like today, with all the work I had already done, which...isn't very much. Needless to say, there was a lot of confusion, lots of errors, lots of things that needed to be completed (me hunching over a laptop in my wedding dress trying to print programs).
The cool thing was, it actually reminded me of projects that I want to add to our to-do-way-ahead-of-time list!
In the end though, lots of our friends were there and although it was stressful, everyone still had a great time.

On the Topic of Orange Blossoms...

I am not sure how I came across this blog, but I believe that finding their logo is an omen:



{ images from Orange Blossom Ink }

They also had some really cute save-the-dates, maybe could tweak something like this into an orange tree?




{ image from Orange Blossom Ink }

Seriously, someone's trying to tell me to go with this orange blossom thing...so off I go for some orange inspiration!

Recently I have been seeing lots more oranges (or kumquats) used on tables or flower arrangements:



{ photo from Details Details via Style Me Pretty }



{ photo by Josef Isayo via Style Me Pretty }

I'm still planning on using this table top by Courtney (aka my idol) from Flush Designs as inspiration for our dining room:



{ photo by Flush Designs }



{ photo I believe by Wedding Style Guide? }



{ photo by Denise Cregier via Style Me Pretty }



{ photo by Michael Norwood via love and splendor }


Or, go beyond the table!



{ photo by Leah Powell via Style Me Pretty }

Love the bouquets:



{ photo by Josh at Bella Grace Studios via Green Wedding Shoes }



{ photo by ink & peat via ritzy bee }

And then there are also these invites at Flush Designs:






{ images from Flush Designs }

For the guys? Kumquat and orange blossom bouts:



{ photo by Blonde Tulip via Snippet & Ink }

Totally not for the wedding, but I also have been eyeing this poster for a long time (I came upon it in JHillDesign's shop on Etsy in searching for anything having to do with southern Spain last year), only I'm too cheap budget-conscious to make the purchase yet. The poster is about Andalucia, Spain, where Mr. Proposed.




{ image from JHillDesign on Etsy }



{ photo by A Bryan Photo }

Who's in the mood for an Orangina now? :)

Perfect for a Vineyard Wedding

Anyone out there having a vineyard-themed wedding? I saw this DIY tutorial for a wine bottle tiki torch over on Design*Sponge and thought it was such a great idea! We're not doing anything with a vineyard theme, but might make them for our back yard anyway.



{ photo via Design*Sponge }

So of course I just HAD to find an inspiration board to go along with the torch and thanks to Snippet & Ink, I found one!



{ via Snippet & Ink: Top row from left: photo by Positive Light, bentwood chairs photo by Elizabeth Messina via Kiss the Groom, bouquet from Brides, calligraphy by Maybelle
Row 2: olive tree centerpieces from Martha Stewart Weddings, photo by Jesse Leake, fruit and cheese plate via The Invitation Lady, wine bottle favors from Duet Weddings
Row 3: invitation by Ceci New York, photo by Ian Grant, photo by Leah McCormick, cake from Martha Stewart Weddings }

How pretty would this be in a small evening outdoor/garden reception with twinkle lights overhead in the trees...sigh.

And, the personalization options are endless...colored bottles (I tried that DIY painted bottles...post coming soon!), acrylic-painted bottles, logos...We have a beautiful wine bottle that has the owner of the vineyard's hand print in all the beautiful paint colors, that'd be pretty!

The one thing I might change if it was for a wedding though is the look of the threads on the rod...to me it makes it look a bit science experimenty, ya know? Anyone have any ideas of how to maybe weddingize it? Either way, it's a great excuse to clean out your wine cellar. Just make sure you wait a while after you finish the bottle (like the next day) until you try the DIY :)

A Masterpiece

With 11 months to go and the school year right around the corner, I'm a bit more antsy to make some more decisions about the wedding. I'm not talking about cake flavors or napkin folds or anything, but I feel like it might be good if I had SOME sort of idea of what this whole shindig should look like, right?

I've spent hours upon hours looking at beautiful weddings and have bookmarked hundreds of inspirational images or articles that I've loved (I know y'all feel me), it really is just too much fun! But how do I choose what I actually would like at OUR wedding? I find it insanely challenging to take all the elements that we love and put it into one cohesive look for our wedding. We just like too much of this stuff. All you creative people out there...too much coolness!! I think the biggest challenge of all is making sure that everything blends in with the venue itself. How do these wedding stylists do it??

Enter Beth Helmstetter (and on my birthday too!). I have been absolutely obsessed with inspired by this wedding since I saw it a week ago on Style Me Pretty (see also II, III, and IV). It fits our secret garden meets Mediterranean rustic vibe perfectly...AND there are succulents!

Photography is by Steve Steinhardt and the event was designed by Beth Helmstetter.



Oh, and they have a Rhodesian Ridgeback, the same breed of dog we want to get next summer. It's meant to be.





Favorite part? I feel like this is totally doable on a smaller budget. Lots of pillar candles (Ikea!), colorful votives (hello DIY), and save money on the florist bill by buying succulents directly from the greenhouse and plant them in advance. It might take some time to track down the right napkin wraps and fabric for the table runners at the right price, but I love the pops of pattern and color that they provide. And although all those flowers are beautiful, I think that even half that amount would still be stunning.

My only wish is that we can see more...the dresses, the bouquets, the invitations, the bouts...I'll be keeping my eyes glued to Steve and Beth's blogs patiently awaiting their updates.

I love how this wedding has just springboarded a ton of new ideas! Can you see something like the wedding above in our venue?





{ photos from our venue }

When did your wedding design click for you? What did you do to turn one idea into a cohesive theme/feeling/vibe?

My Wedding Shoes?

Mr. and I took a trip up to Maine this week, and on the way up we stopped at the outlets in Freeport. I had no intention of buying anything, but he suggested that we stop in at Nine West, just in case I might find some shoes for the wedding. No really I promise, HE suggested it to ME. Anyway, I walked out of there with these:





{ photos by me }

What do you think? I'm still not 100%, but I like them a lot. I knew I wanted blue shoes, but...I'm curious to hear your opinions.

Choreographed Wedding Dances

...have quickly become my biggest wedding pet peeve. You know the ones, the bride and groom are dancing romantically for their first dance when all of a sudden this beat comes out of nowhere (gasp, "what is going on here??" says the look on the bride's face), and then all of a sudden, SURPRISE! The new Mr. & Mrs. are doing a full-out "running man" into the "robot"... Sigh.



{ image via DanceJam }

Let me preface this by saying that I majored in dance in college and therefore consider myself to be a dance snob. So, forgive me while I vent for a moment and please know that I by no means mean to offend anyone...we just will not be doing a choreographed first dance at our wedding since it is definitely not something that matches our personalities. Hope that makes sense? You know I love all of you :)

Now, I get it. For some people, it's hilarious that the usually-quiet groom actually got roped into doing some romantic-waltz-slow-dance-UH OH-DJ-gone-wrong-turntable-scratch-into-baby-got-back dance in front of all his fraternity brothers. OR, like my friend Matt, some people are just natural comedians so it's completely fitting to incorporate both the "sprinkler" and the "shopping cart" into the first dance. I just really don't find it funny to watch strangers dancing poorly at their own weddings on YouTube. Am I crazy here?

I partially blame it on all the dance shows on TV: Dancing with the Stars (or Mira Quien Baile on the Spanish channels), So You Think You Can Dance (LOVE!!!), America's/Britain's Got Talent, Dance Your A** Off, and so on...We've been exposed to such great dance lately that it's just hard for me to watch people dance poorly.

So my plea is this: it doesn't have to be intricately choreographed and you don't have to make complete fools of yourself (if you can do the worm, save it for after everyone is on the dance floor and has had a couple signature cocktails), but there ARE ways to make the first dance fun for you and the guests. Need some inspiration?

Somewhere Beyond the Sea - I hope you take the time to watch this, it's lovely! Of course, it'd be lovely if everyone could dance like this, wouldn't it? Ok, obviously this couple has had years of training, but I'm guessing that as long as you have a bit of rhythm and body awareness, if you bring this video to an Arthur Murray or the local dance studio, they can give you something watered down that will be just as beautiful. Just make sure it's a good song!

Dirty Dancing Wedding Dance - Amazing! I guess it helps that I'm in love with that movie...but, see? The choreography is not that intense but still it gets everyone into it!

So, on the topic of non-traditional way of wedding dances, I say go more Fred Astaire, Gene Kelley, Patrick Swayze, and less MC Hammer, Kid n' Play.



{ image via goleech.org }

Otherwise, just enjoy the moment of holding your new hubby close, slow dancing to your first song together, whisper "watermelon, peas and carrots" into his ear so people think that you're saying sweet nothings (I used this trick in choir all the time), before you get swept away amidst all the guests, food, and drinks for the rest of the night :)