Color Crisis

I think a lot of future brides are afraid to commit to wedding colors (not to marriage obviously) for good reason. The colors determine everything else! Choosing your colors is such an important decision and it's one of the first we have to make. We can't pick flowers, bridesmaid dresses, or really delve into decor without first picking our colors!

I've always imagined my bridesmaids would wear olive green, because it's my favorite color, but that was before I knew I was going to have a garden ceremony. I don't want my wedding party blending in with the trees! Is that a legitimate concern? Are certain colors off limits for outdoor weddings?

{Photo credit: The Knot Real Weddings}

Initially, we wanted to have pale colors like pink, champagne, and creme to go with our olive green. However, I've heard that soft colors such as these do not look good in the fall and I'm having a fall wedding. Traditionally, fall colors are bold like orange, red, and mustard yellow. I like those colors, but again I'm worried my bridesmaids will blend into the fall foliage.

To solve my problem, I think I'm going to mix and match the colors. I'm going to add just one striking color to our muted base, therefore, having olive green, champagne, and burgundy! The bridesmaids will wear the bold burgundy so that they are sure to stand out during the ceremony and we will accent everything else with the lighter colors.

{Photo credit: The Knot Real Weddings}

Here are some pictures that inspired my burgundy vision:

{Photo credit: Brides}

{Photo credit: Etsy seller Mollusa Wedding Art}

{Photo credit: Vintage Design Company}

I feel like a babbling mess, going on and on about colors! Please tell me I'm not alone. Are you debating your colors? Are you afraid to commit to one palette? How did you decide what color your bridesmaids would wear?

Wedding Colors & Fashionistas

Hello all!

As summer approaches, so do the weddings of many close friends, as well as engagement parties! Perhaps the most fun I had when I started planning my wedding was pulling inspiration from a myriad of sources. I went through magazines, cd covers, fabric samples, and a few Anthropologie catalogs to get some idea of the "look" that I wanted.

I unfortunately smashed so many elements into my wedding that I don't have a "theme," but I am slowly putting together a "look." Once I decided on a season (fall), I knew that I wanted to incorporate the color orange.

I was also in my navy blue phase and that color stuck around as well in the wedding "look."

My color inspiration looks a bit like this:

Photo from: http://www.bridalbuds.com/2009/02/inspiration-board-navy-and-orange/

While furiously browsing the internet the past few weeks, I realized that some of the best inspiration can come not just from pictures online or stacks of wedding magazines, but from fashion shows.

Many designers put together a theme for their collection each year and some of them have color schemes and themes that truly stand out. This year, my favorite, especially if you're having a garden wedding or are in love with flowers and bright colors, take notice of Christian Dior's fall 2009 Couture line:

Click here for the full collection!

The Dior stage was set with a million flowers and the colors are bright, bold, and stunning. Another collection that you bright colored brides can grab some inspiration from is Erdem.

How did you come up with your colors/theme?

Vintage Bohemian Chic...Part I

I kind of been holding back on you guys regarding a few specifics. I do have a clear "vision" for what I want my wedding to look like, but I hate the word "theme." Let's use "style" or "feel"..."ambiance"...whatever, no matter what you call it, I got one and I will share it with you all today! (YAY!)

I have coined our style as "vintage bohemian chic," mainly because it sounds really cool, but also because I could not make up my mind if I wanted a vintage or bohemian style wedding with just a general overall "chic-ness"...so I decided to combine them! "Impossible," you say! Nope...very doable.

When I first began looking for style inspirations, I came across this Seville poster and totally fell in love. It depicts a fabulously festive, Art Deco, classy, colorful and fun event. This is totally my idea of vintage. (source)

So, from this image, I pulled my color scheme. Here are our colors, they are awesome! (source)









I am mainly focusing on the purple, green and peach colors with the mustard color as an accent.

After discovering these treasures, I began to travel on a decor whirlwind. I was envisioning a mix between "Stomping at the Savoy" and a "Great Gatsby" garden party fiesta!

I reached a wind tunnel, however, when I fell in love with this dress. It is Pronovias Regaliz and it is friggin gorgeous! But, so NOT vintage, well...not vintage in the Art Deco, Seville poster kind of way... (source)

The reason why I totally love this gown is because my own personal style is somewhat bohemian. I wear my hair naturally curly, am partial to baby doll dresses and funky colors. I knew that I wanted something flowy and ethereal in a gown and swooned over this one from the moment I saw it on the rack.

So, I felt as though I was in a conundrum between my original decor plan and the feel I got from the dress that I loved. How do I fix this? Well, I find inspiration in one of my favorite places...

What do you guys think so far?

Red, white, and blue

In honor of 4th of July, I have decided to talk more about our wedding colors. What does this have to do with Independence Day? Well, our colors happens to be the good 'ol red, white, and blue. In our defense, I don't plan on it being "Americana" themed, but rather I'll be using cherry red, aqua blue, and white. I always knew I wanted some sort of blue in my wedding (my favorite color), but I was unsure as to what to pair it with. Yellow? Sand? Green? White? Pink? I was so indecisive that at one point I threw out blue altogether! That is, until I saw this inspiration board...

Gorgeous, no?

I never in a million years would even think about putting aqua and red together, but I absolutely adore it! The richness of the red complements the playful aqua perfectly. It's young, fun, and summery, perfect for our personalities.

And that is how our wedding colors were finalized! The red will be incorporated into the flowers, centerpeices, invitations, and napkins. The white will just be scattered throughout the entire wedding, and the aqua will be incorporated in the tablecloths, invitations, cake, and bridesmaids dresses. I must say though, finding bridesmaids dresses in the perfect shade of aqua that AREN'T $35o is quite a difficult process. More on that later :) How did you decide your wedding colors??

colors for a spring wedding

I think I forgot to mention our wedding date: March 20, 2010, first day of spring. Also, it's the wedding anniversary of Mr. Fairfax's parents. I was hoping to do something big to honor them during our wedding but they don't seem to want to be made a big fuss of.. I'm going to have to figure something out that will not embarrass them but will recognize them in some way.. Any ideas?

So we have tentatively chosen our linens - a light sunny yellow for the table cloths, and a cornflower blue for the napkins (images fromWeParty.com). I didn't really mean for it to set the tone for the entire wedding but it definitely has. I am now obsessed with having a yellow and blue wedding. I think it'll really go well with our venue. For one thing, it'll bring the chairs in.

Old Town Hall provides tables and chairs at no extra cost. The chairs look Comfortable, but uhh.. they aint

no chiavari. They're dark blue, and don't look like they'd take well to sashes or anything like that, so I'm not going to fight it. I'm going to work With them instead of against them.

Another thing about the venue, it's a really charming historical building, and inside there's a lot of exposed beams and columns and all like that. So I'd like to have a more toned-down sorta vintage feel to the decor - and then make it really bright and springy with the flowers. We are not hiring a florist. A couple friends have gardens so I'm hoping they'll be able to have some spring flowers blooming by the time our wedding comes along - if they don't, it'll be Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. I'm already saving as many glass jars as I can so I can fill them with flowers and use them as centerpieces - along with some votives and maybe some button flowers. Button flowers? more on that later.. :)

But I'm Too Tall!

One of the sad things I have encountered during my wedding planning is shoe shopping. Our colors are red, brown, and ivory/white, and I plan on wearing sassy red shoes. You'd think that would open up a world of possibilities, right?

WRONG!

You see, Mr. JeffMemorial is a bit over six feet tall, and I... am six feet tall. Couple that with a crippling lack of coordination that has rendered me unable to walk in high heels since I was in high school, and you understand why I have been exiled to the world of dress flats.

Which is fine! I do really love flats! It amazes me, though, how hard it is to find a gorgeous pair of red dress flats. I do not want dyables. I think dyable shoes are great, but I want to buy unique shoes. Plus, I'd probably end up accidentally dying our pooch, Wee JeffMemorial, red in the process.

I have found a few options, though. (All courtesy of Zappos.com.)


Gabriella Rocha. $58.50.


Delman Welcome-P $114.80


Steve Madden. $79.34.


Sigerson Morrison. $244.50. (So beautiful, but the price makes me cry.)

I even entertained the notion of shoes not in red...


Type Z Cathy. $67.50.
Maybe traditional white?


Steven Kleo. $94.50.
...or I could go funky.


Franco Sarto. $88.95.
Oh, Franco. <3


Steve Madden. $80.01.
This time in gray!

I definitely want a shoe that goes from ceremony to reception.

Either way, while I have LOVED looking at shoes, and have bought a couple of almost THE shoes, it's so frustrating! I see all the cute heeled shoes and get cranky. Oh, to be not so freakishly tall. (Shamelessly buying new shoes in the name of the wedding is a great excuse, although I think Mr. JeffMemorial is starting to catch on, heh.)

There are so many options. Classic traditional white or color? One pair of shoes for the whole thing, or do you get one for the ceremony and one for the reception? Flashy? Subdued? And there are too many pretty shoes in the world!

Boogie Shoes

Well, Mr. JeffMemorial and I are officially and exactly one year away from our wedding date. In one year and one hour we'll be on the West Lawn of the Jefferson Memorial tying the knot.

I've decided something else important for the wedding: Reception Shoes.

What's interesting is that before I actually started planning myself, it seems like a lot of times your shoes are a good way to express yourself even if you're being traditional in other ways.

I found this shot through OffBeatBride.com. (A great resource for the unique, and even though a lot of it isn't my style, I've gotten so many great ideas from there!) You can also look through more of the photos from Jose and Danielle's creative and one of a kind wedding HERE!

The above shot really inspired me. Do I really need to go with the norm? White shoes? My colors are red, black, and white, and I would love to kick it reception style and some snazzy shoes.

One of the shoes I even have under consideration are:

I think they're great, and might be a fun contrast to the formality of my dress... but only for the reception, though. I'm also pretty smitten with these beautiful angels.

It's times like these I wish I could walk in heels. And that I wasn't almost the same height as my fiance. (The drama of being almost six feet tall.)

So are you getting crazy with your shoes? Are you going traditional? Are you somewhere in between?

What are some other fun ways to introduce color?

Miss Capitol Hill Wedding Recap - Posed Photos

Once we had the big reveal it was time to take the posed family photos. Don't worry, though, I'm not going to post most of those...I always found it kind of boring when people posted family photos cause nobody besides myself knows those people so it's not very helpful for other brides. But I will post some with the bridesmaids/groomsmen.

All photos below the work of Linda Wallace

^Before we went for photos we had to get the flowers! This is my calla lily bouquet from Blue Ridge Floral Design and my purse! I looooved my purse. I don't know why I even wanted one, but I did, and I searched high and low and never really found anything that I liked that wasn't insanely expensive. I ended up buying something that was "o.k." Then the day before the wedding I had a last minute errand to run and ended up at the Charlottesville shopping mall (which is tiny) and the only real department store they had was a Belk. Which is a pretty inadequate department store...but there on a sales rack marked down half off was my no name brand purse. It matched my dress perfectly and was only $25!

^Here is one of the groomsmen's bouts, also from Blue Ridge Floral Design

^Here we are with all the groomsmen. Navy Blue, three button suits from Men's Wearhouse, navy blue ties with green shamrocks and groom's kelly green tie with navy blue shamrocks from Wild Ties.

^Socks from The Gap

^Bridesmaid dresses from Maggy London at Nordstrom. Flowers from Blue Ridge Floral. Bridesmaid hair from Daphne Latham.

^My cutie flower girl in her Rare Editions dress from Dillards.

^Once photos were over we all began to leave for the church. Linda captured this great photo of my Dad looking on as fiance and I shared a moment.

Vendors So Far:

Video- Monachetti

Photography - Linda Wallace

Hair/Makeup- Daphne Latham

Dress Designer - Vwidon

Dress Salon - Promise for the Saavy Bride

Shoes - Vera Wang new from Ebay

Bracelet- Carolee

Veil- Occansey Design

Purse - Belk

Flowers - Blue Ridge Floral

Suits - Men's Wearhouse

Ties - Wild Ties

Socks - The Gap

Bridesmaid Dresses - Maggy London from Nordstrom

Flower Girl Dress- Rare Editions from Dillards

Purple Week on EAD

It's color week again over at Elizabeth Anne Designs --color weeks are my favorite b/c there's such an overwhelming amount of inspiration it's a little bit of heaven for any bride who has those colors. I was a big fan of pink week and I don't even like pink in weddings!


So this go around, purple is the color of the week and EAD has a really unique inspiration board with purple, aqua, and chartreuse. I ran across the below image the other day on the website of German photographer Thomas Rusch.


It's not a wedding image exactly and Rusch isn't a wedding photographer at all, but remember to look in all types of places for inspiration. You never know what you might find. And this beautiful image just so happens to fit in perfectly with today's inspiration board over at EAD.

Rules of Engagement: What You Need to Know

Who would have thought that getting engaged was something that you had to put on full protective gear for! It's somewhat combative in nature due to the barrage of questions fired at you by everyone from your mother to complete strangers in the elevator. So, take it from me - be prepared!

1. Know who's on the short list - who you are going to call in the 10 minutes after it happens. In fact, outside of the parents, I'd recommend sending a text to siblings, other family members and close friends.

2. Turn your phone off! Seriously, your phone will exploded with all the well-wishes, which are awesome, but...spend some quality time with your fiance basking in the excitement of the commitment.

3. Know the date - its the first question and everyone wants an answer right away. So, don't be vague (my response was maybe May, June, or September of next year) - that doesn't satisfy people's curiosity and encourages unsolicited advice. If you don't have a date - make one up. Really.

4. Know where you are going to get married - This should be an easy answer, but if for some reason its not been settled between you and your soon-to-be spouse, pick a place. Any place. People will want to know, trust me.

5. Have pictures taken. Why? Well for one you'll want to remember the occasion, but also because your parents will want to submit the announcement to the local newspaper right away and a picture is a necessity. You also want to have a general sense of what you plan to say, particularly if you have divorced/remarried parents, etc.

6. Know who you want in your wedding - and don't ask them. Not yet anyway. Even if you do know - don't ask anyone to be in the wedding in the midst of your excitement. Let things calm down and then reconsider. There are so many well-wishers and people you care about, its easy to get caught up in the moment, run your mouth and oops! you've now got 14 bridesmaids!! So stay mum on these arrangements!!

6 1/2. And the special bonus prize? Know what your wedding colors are going to be. Who would think that would be a questioned asked in the first week after getting engaged, but it sure is! I still have no sense of what colors I want, but people keep asking! I'm inclined to start saying in "pink and green" just to see the priceless expressions I'll get in reaction. Hee hee heee.

But, seriously, these are a few of the things that I wish I had known to expect. I'd typically say - lesson learned for the next time, but I don't plan on a next time!