Florist: Check!

Ever so delighted and pleased to announce that we've *officially* booked a florist for the big day. Brooke Howsley from Pollen Floral Art charmed my pants off and won me over with her professionalism, creativity, and mad organizational qualities. (I'm such a sucker for all of these things. As you well know by now.)

[Images from Pollen's website and blog]

Plus, she's practically my neighbor. And she has pretty red hair. And she met me at one of my favorite coffee shops for our initial consultation. Hyde Park, represent!

She even got a shout out in a New York Times article from earlier this week. Go Brooke! (Ok, we get it. I'm a fan.) Much thanks to Tara for sending me her way. What a gem! Can't wait to see her floral touches at play on October 30.

In other floral news...

I'm totally excited about the DIY portion of our wedding flower package-combo-mix-bit-thingy. In an attempt to save some pennies (even though Pollen was super affordable), we will only be using Brooke for bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres. (The most important stuff, really.) The reception flowers, however, will be purchased wholesale from one of the following 2 companies and assembled by a lucky, as of yet undetermined bunch of amateur floral arrangers. Aka, my [insert flattery here] friends. Look out, it could be you!

[Austin Flower Co. on 35th Street and Texas Specialty Cut Flowers in Blanco, TX]

For now, I'll just be flipping through my wedding books, perusing the wedding blogs, and quietly stalking any photos of centerpiece arrangements that I can get my hands on. I have absolutely no experience in floral selection or floral arrangement, but darn it all, sign me up for another creative wedding opportunity! By far my favorite part of this whole process.*

*(Aside from the bit about marrying my best friend, creating a new life together, etc, etc...)

My Personal Wedding Color Palette (So Far)

Bride and Bridesmaid Dresses

So I decided to go slightly rogue with my J. Crew bridesmaid dress colors. (Ever so slightly, really. I wouldn't necessarily put "rogue" and "J. Crew" in the same sentence, but for this, I'll make an exception.)

While I'll be clad in the traditional ivory hue, my leading ladies will alternate between two different shades of gray - light pewter and violet stone - to create a sort of tone-on-tone look. Two bridesmaid colors? How daring am I!

Why this decision? When I sat down to pick dress colors, I just couldn't bring myself to choosing a bubblegum pink or cotton candy blue. "Traditional" bridesmaid dresses honestly tend to warm up my gag reflexes. And pick just one color? My ladies aren't clones. Or robots. (Or fem-bots, more accurately.)

I realize this still might sound a little strange, so here are a few pictures from which I drew inspiration, to give you a better idea of how it will look all together:

Now that's not so bad, is it? Actually, I have no idea how it will turn out, but I think it's worth a try. And I'm going with my gut! My bridesmaids (bless them) are also on board and have even started purchasing their dresses. Fingers crossed my idea's not lame.

But bleh!, you say. A gray wedding? How boring! But of course, it's all part of my master plan. (Mmmooo-haha.) What better, more neutral palette than stone gray from which to paint the most beautiful, vibrant colors? Which brings me to my thoughts on....

Flowers!

Deep reds and burgundies, lavenders and violets, punctuated by white and ivory accents... all these splashes of color against neutral, stone-gray backgrounds are what constitute the current mix to our wedding backdrop.

The spotlight will be on fall colors, which I absolutely love, and so I feel really good about my choices so far. I just can't wait to see my vision fall into place!

So there you have it. A sneak peek into my Wedding Wonderland of fabric and color. (Um, is the bridal (ec)centricity starting to show?) 142 days and counting!

Inspiration of the Moment

Over the past week or so, every time I sit down to write a long and thoughtful blog post on a pre-determined wedding topic or idea (I've got loads down the pipe, there's just so much to gab about!), the words simply won't come. At least not lately. I stop mid-sentence, hold down the backspace button, retype, rearrange words and sentences, consult the thesaurus, and then eventually end up saving a pitiful assortment of word vomit onto my computer before logging out in complete frustration and bitter disgust.

I'm left feeling empty. Unfulfilled. I'm left, for lack of a better word, speechless.

So tonight I've decided to post something other than words. I've decided to post lots of fun wedding idea photos instead. Because the planning doesn't stop for my temporary lack of linguistics. Because the wedding doesn't get pushed off or put on hold. (Ever. Oh we're doing this thing.) And because, well, a picture's worth a thousand words, right?

Hoping to get my voice back soon. And when I do, I'll be blogging with a vengeance! But until then, enjoy the images that have been flashing through my mind this past week. (I know I have.)

[Photos via stylemepretty, greenweddingshoes, and theknot]

Inspiration: Flowers & Color

I'm pretty in love with these wedding bouquets, each for their own distinctively unique reasons. From dahlias to roses, succulents to gerberas, each arrangement inspires a different type of wedding. A different kind of feel to the evening, the setting, the event in its entirety.

While I've always envisioned (well, for the past 2 months anyway) carrying deep red flowers with me on my wedding day (red is my all-time favorite color), seeing some of these inspiring photographs makes me daydream not only in shades of red, but also in hues of orange, green, and purple, too.

Here are the flowers & colors that are inspiring me today:

[Red dahlias with touches of green]

[Beautiful yellow gerberas, orange baby roses, and of course, more green accent flowers. I could totally steal this idea, but perhaps trade out the yellow/orange for shades of red, instead.]

[Deep dark reds, with hints of an almost purple color. Taps into my romantic side...]

[While I'm not a pinky girl, I love the hues of red/orange in here. Perfect for fall.]

[Succulents! Such a cool idea for summer weddings (if only I were having one).]

[More deep dark reds/purples. :::Love::: ]

[Classic red roses in a classic red bouquet, tightly wrapped with white ribbon. This was my original idea for the bridal bouquet, but look at all the other beautiful competition!]

Who knew I could be so into flowers? That's one of the unexpectedly wonderful side effects of wedding planning: being able to tap into your creative side and create the perfect dream-like backdrop for all to share. It's like inviting your family, friends, and loved ones into your personal fantasy world of food, music, design, and color.

I love when my original ideas are challenged, and it will be fun to see what flower scheme I end up with.

What's your favorite bouquet?