Miss Dalmatian, Nashville, TNAge and Occupation: 23, Pediatric NurseFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Computer Engineer and Entrepreneur Engagement Date: April 13, 2011Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Historic CedarwoodAbout Me: I am a Northern girl from Chicago who is planning a wedding filled with Southern charm in Nashville, Tennessee. I love dogs, the White Sox, Full House reruns, and anything with ruffles on it. Mr. Dalmatian is my computer-genius problem-solving fiance who is constantly teaching me new things and making me a better person. We live with our adopted pup Echo, who is very excited that his parents are getting married!
When I began pondering the colors, theme, and feel of our wedding, there were a lot of thoughts bouncing around in my head. Let’s start with colors. I considered pink and navy, then pink and teal, then pink and chocolate, then pink and light blue, then pink and green. Notice a pattern? My love for pink gives Elle Woods a run for her money!
Personal Photo - My pink room at my parents’ house.
The contest entries are in, and it’s time for you to vote for your favorite inspiration boards to be brought to life by The Lab Event! Bees and hive members alike submitted some gorgeous boards, and we can’t wait to see which the hive loves most! Check out our four finalists below, and vote for which board you’d most like to see brought to life at The Lab Event!
Magenta, bright yellow, orange, and dark plum by Ms Sloth:
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
The first time I ever remember hearing about wedding colors was when I was younger and I was watching one of my favorite movies, Steel Magnolias. This is when I understood the sheer importance of wedding colors.
One of the first questions people seem to ask about your wedding is, “what are your colors?” Growing up looking at my mom’s and dad’s wedding photos, their wedding color was something I always remembered. (’80s mauve, if you were wondering.) It also sparked my own imagination: what would my colors be?
Miss Fox, Washington DC/Havre de Grace, MDAge and Occupation: 26, Massage TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Field Support EngineerEngagement Date: April 18, 2010Wedding Date: June 2012Venue: Vandiver InnAbout Me: I’m a dancer turned massage therapist who was born and raised in New York. Alas, true love has brought me “south” where I still maintain my penchants for pretty shoes, wine, crossword puzzles, cherry blossoms, and the Mets. I own more sunglasses than a normal person should and don’t eat red meat (though I make up for it by eating my weight in sushi). I tend to be a big planner who likes to get things started early, but generally end up being indecisive and procrastinating when it comes down to it. I have a (not so) secret crush on Chris Carrabba, but my loyalty and love ultimately goes to the future hubs, of course! Together, my Foxy man and I love to discuss (read: debate) politics and current events, have Mario Kart and Scrabble duels, and just laugh. A lot. We’re hoping and planning for a laid back, fun, summery, rustic vibe to our June wedding that will be genuinely “us” – that is, if we finally make some decisions. Huzzah!
…except I totally know what I’m fighting aiming for.
REO Speedwagon, anyone? No? Just me? Psh.
The long and short of it is that I keep getting asked what “kind” of wedding we’ll be having, what the “feel” of it will be.
And for a while I had no stinkin’ clue. I would ramble on and on about stuff no one but myself cares about, like how it will be a laid-back, kind of picnic-y, summery feel with a splash of sophistication here and there. Modern with a twist. Simple but classy, but more casual-classy. Etcetera and so forth.
Then I came across this wonderful little term: rustic chic. The beautiful thing about this current wedding buzzword is that it can be defined a million different ways and it encompasses a wide variety of ideas, themes, details, etc. In the wedding world, it seems like everyone and their mother is doing their own twist on this, but whatevs. I’m totally enamored.
I would write out my personal definition of rustic chic (and hence, our wedding), but it’s so much more fun to do it in an inspirational picture board, no?
Miss Porcupine, NYC/Lancaster, PAAge and Occupation: 26, Sales Coordinator/PublishingFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Assistant Manager/SalesEngagement Date: August 8, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Riverdale ManorAbout Me: I'm a born and bred New Yorker with a love/hate relationship for the city I have always called home. Although I may seem quiet from afar, I have a loud personality once you get to know me. I am a book nerd at heart, but love a night out in the city with good friends. I have a serious addiction to all things cheese, chocolate, cardigans, Mexican food, and reality TV. The future hubs and I met in college, settled in New York, and decided to go with a rustic/peacock infused wedding in Lancaster, PA, right near his hometown. Come the big day, we will be together 5 years, and we're looking forward to making it official!
My friends, family, and bridesmaids keep asking me what is up with the peacock thang? I am not overly into “themed” weddings, but I have been incorporating peacock accents into the wedding. But why?
Miss Porcupine, NYC/Lancaster, PAAge and Occupation: 26, Sales Coordinator/PublishingFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Assistant Manager/SalesEngagement Date: August 8, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Riverdale ManorAbout Me: I'm a born and bred New Yorker with a love/hate relationship for the city I have always called home. Although I may seem quiet from afar, I have a loud personality once you get to know me. I am a book nerd at heart, but love a night out in the city with good friends. I have a serious addiction to all things cheese, chocolate, cardigans, Mexican food, and reality TV. The future hubs and I met in college, settled in New York, and decided to go with a rustic/peacock infused wedding in Lancaster, PA, right near his hometown. Come the big day, we will be together 5 years, and we're looking forward to making it official!
Part two of the bridesmaids’-dress hunt began on a gray day in NYC, the day before Hurricane Irene was set to strike. I was feeling a case of the blahs.
I didn’t have high hopes for the first stop: Here Comes the Bridesmaid. The shop is located in an office building, which I didn’t realize when I made the appointment. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s a weird feeling walking into an office to look at dresses. I took the elevator up and found the office suite. Although not what I imagined, the store has a great selection. The sales associate pulled every single one of the dresses I hoped to have the girls try on. When the girls came in, we started the try-on.
We immediately had a case of the Goldilocks (this one’s too big, this one’s too little, this one’s juuust right—or not).
Mrs. Skunk, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 23, Post baccalaureate studentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Mechanical DesignerEngagement Date: February 13, 2011Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Neverland Farms About Me: I’m a Georgia peach born and raised in the dirty dirty. I love reading, baking lots of sweets and forcing them on my friends, and most of all, rock climbing. I am in the process of applying to graduate school in physical therapy and I work at farmers’ markets around town selling bread for a local bakery. The mister and I met while rock climbing just over two years ago and have been inseparable ever since. Our climbing friends mean the world to us and have played an integral role in our relationship. We’re planning a barnyard shindig filled with good food, good friends, and lots of love.
Around these parts, I normally see inspiration boards that evolve over time into beautiful, cohesive weddings. Sure colors might change over time, but eventually something is decided upon and a vision is created. My inspiration boards have been so all over the place that our vision now is to have an awesome wedding. We haven’t picked colors, there are no fonts that will be used in various places, and there’s no theme, per se.
At first, I settled on purple and gray. It would be easy to come up with flowers and easy to find dresses, and there was tons of inspiration on the interwebs that I could pluck from.
Mrs. Sunhat, Dyer, IN Age and Occupation: 32, Tax AccountantFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Landscape ForemanEngagement Date: September 25, 2010Wedding Date: December 2011Venues: St. Andrew the Apostle, Fiesta PalaceAbout Me: I'm a Midwest girl who grew up in the country and now works in the big city! I love cooking, entertaining, reading (addicted to my Kindle) and going to the movies. I don't miss an episode of Hoarders and I start cleaning every time I watch! My profession doesn't call for much creativity so wedding planning has been a great outlet. Mr. Sunhat and I met online three years ago, cheer for rival MLB teams and share a home with our dog, Wrigley. We are planning a traditional, Polish, Catholic wedding with lots of DIY elements and some fun surprises. I'm so excited to be married on New Year's Eve and we can't wait to ring in the new year as husband and wife!
I can’t say that I’ve dreamed about or had my whole wedding planned since I was a little girl. What I did always know was that I wanted to be married in the winter and I wanted the colors to be navy and silver. The rich, dark navy against fresh, white fallen snow seemed so dreamy!
I can’t pinpoint one thing that drew me to the navy and silver colors. Maybe it is because those were my high school colors? Go Wolves!
Mrs. Sunhat, Dyer, IN Age and Occupation: 32, Tax AccountantFiance's Age and Occupation: 35, Landscape ForemanEngagement Date: September 25, 2010Wedding Date: December 2011Venues: St. Andrew the Apostle, Fiesta PalaceAbout Me: I'm a Midwest girl who grew up in the country and now works in the big city! I love cooking, entertaining, reading (addicted to my Kindle) and going to the movies. I don't miss an episode of Hoarders and I start cleaning every time I watch! My profession doesn't call for much creativity so wedding planning has been a great outlet. Mr. Sunhat and I met online three years ago, cheer for rival MLB teams and share a home with our dog, Wrigley. We are planning a traditional, Polish, Catholic wedding with lots of DIY elements and some fun surprises. I'm so excited to be married on New Year's Eve and we can't wait to ring in the new year as husband and wife!
Holding our wedding on New Year’s Eve wasn’t something I had ever thought of prior to our engagement. I knew that I wanted a winter wedding, so once we looked at the calendar and saw that NYE fell on a Saturday, a light bulb went off. Why not ring in the new year with my new husband surrounded by all the people we love?!
I have never been to a New Year’s Eve wedding, so I needed some inspiration. We wanted the overall feel of the night to be celebratory, but with a warm, cozy, winter atmosphere.
I wasn’t too hopeful that I would find much inspiration—but I was wrong wrong wrong!
Miss Kettle, Chicago, ILAge and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit Donor Resource CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Musician & TeacherEngagement Date: May 29, 2011Wedding Date: February 2012Venue: Patrick C. Haley Mansion, Joliet, ILAbout Me: I'm a city girl who loves a good escape, so I'm planning a Chicago wedding outside of the city. I've been described as a quirky yet down-to-earth drama queen who loves fiercely. I used to be a scientist, but now I'm learning to navigate the world of non-profit organizations. I love cooking, blogging, shopping, and music, and movies (Hans Zimmer is my favorite movie composer). Mr. Kettle and I had a short courtship and now we have a happy home with our cat-who-thinks-she's-people, Belle. We spend our days and nights with good food, live music, video games, family, and friends. Our wedding has become this wonderful excuse to bring together hundreds of people we can't bear to be without.
Anyone want to say this post title three times fast? It’s hard. Hehe, I crack me up.
OK, hive. It was quite the journey to our current color palette, but I’m very happy with how it turned out. I’ve alluded to our colors here and there and mentioned some changes we went through. Ultimately, I’m very happy with how it turned out.
When Mr. Kettle first proposed, I was thinking blue. Like a nice, happy royal blue.
Miss Ticket, Riverside, CAAge and Occupation: 25, Executive AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, HVAC TechnicianEngagement Date: November 14, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Crestmore ManorAbout Me: I'm a lifelong So Cal gal, a chocoholic, a closet gamer, and a television enthusiast (love me some Vampire Diaries!) who adores playing in the kitchen and lives in flip flops. Mr. Ticket and I are best known for singing and dancing in the car, our World of Warcraft addiction, adoring food, crane game playing, and our general homebody ways. Oh, and GO STEELERS!
There were a few decisions in wedding planning that were quite simple for us. The fact that I had worked as a wedding coordinator’s assistant (WCA from here on) for most of 2009 helped in that department. I had already put some thought into what I might one day want in my own wedding, and I had met some pretty awesome vendors. Within the first week of being engaged we had chosen our colors, booked our venue, and chosen our photographers.
First up: Colors
We chose my favorite color (pink), Mr. Ticket’s favorite color (orange), and one to tone the others down a bit (black). We chose our color scheme before booking the date for our wedding and decided to keep it despite everyone telling us it looks “Halloween-y,” given our wedding is in October. With those colors in mind, we forged on with images like this guiding the way:
Mrs. Funnel Cake, Zürich, Switzerland/Columbus, OhioAge and Occupation: 24, Visual Communication DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Application EngineerEngagement Date: May 30, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Catholic church followed by a botanical conservatoryAbout Me: I'm an American designer who moved to Switzerland for love after a fairytale beginning at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I love travel, photography, museums, learning German so I can speak with my mother-in-law, cooking (eating), cuddling, and I'm not afraid to try something new even if it terrifies me. My Swiss/Brazilian man and I are both down to earth people planning a traditional Catholic wedding in my hometown with some quirky cultural exceptions to reflect our different backgrounds. We look forward to celebrating with friends and family from all over the world in a classic, sophisticated fusion of heritage and love.
Nothing was set in stone at this early stage, but Mr. Funnel Cake was positive that he wanted to wear a red tie, so it formed the base of our colour palette.
Miss Snapdragon, Chicago/DallasAge and Occupation: 32,Associate ProducerFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Lighting DesignerBlogging Since: November 14, 2008Engagement Date: January 1, 2011Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Marie GabrielleAbout Me: Voracious reader of short stories, Russian literature, National Geographic and Cosmo. I'm a GENIUS at spicing up Weight Watchers recipes and a pathological cheater at board games. I run a slow marathon, but my feet are learning to move faster. Mornings aren't my thing, but I can night owl with the best of them. Don't tempt me with your Cherry Cokes---I'm trying to quit. Tomorrow. Or never.
Since the Snapdragon bridal party needs to get themselves something to wear to the wedding, Bossyboots and I have been working hard on an overall feel/colors for the big day. Really, our venue has done most of the work for us already. Since it’s a garden hidden in the middle of a major city, we’ve decided to take that romantic, secretive look, and run with it:
Mrs. Parasol, San Ramon, CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 25, Non-profit writer, editor, and bloggerFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Law school studentEngagement Date: December 19th, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Bent Creek Winery (Livermore, California); Reception: Family Residence (San Ramon, California) About Me: I am a California girl at heart. I love the outdoors, sunny days at the beach, and hiking in the woods and mountains. I also love good books and am fresh from completing my Master's degree in English and Comparative Literature in New York City. Living in NYC was an amazing experience, and while I'm glad to be back on the West Coast, I'm also thankful that my two years back East gave me an opportunity to explore new places, make new friends, and indulge my passion for Broadway shows. Oh, and I received a pretty awesome proposal from Mr. Parasol in Central Park. Above all else, Mr. Parasol is my biggest cheerleader and my best friend. But even though I'm thrilled to be marrying him, I wasn't always totally on board with this whole wedding thing and at first, I wanted to run off and elope. I've finally been convinced to throw the wedding I never thought I wanted, and so now I'm busy planning an intimate September wedding filled with DIY details. Along the way, I'm slowly learning to appreciate, perhaps even love the wedding planning process.
When it comes to wedding decorations, it’s usually those little details that really bring your wedding day vision to life. These little details can often be overwhelming because there’s simply so much to think about (or maybe it’s just me). But two very specific details have been at the top of my “must-have” list for a very long time, and I know that my wedding day won’t be complete without them.
So what are these details? Mason jars and striped straws.
Mrs. Honey, Durango, COAge and Occupation: 28, Financial AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Lab Tech/PhlebotomistEngagement Date: August 1, 2010Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Vallecito LakeAbout Me: I am a Colorado girl through and through, marrying an adrenaline-fueled Alabama boy. We love the outdoors just about as much as we love spoiling our dog and three cats. On any given weekend you can find us being adventurous, doing anything from rafting to snowboarding, and everything in between. We live in an outdoor mecca and truly believe in "Work Hard, Play Harder." I'm an optimist to the core, a crafter wannabe, a Southern food cook-in-training and a big time believer in girls nights. We met, fell in love and got engaged in eight short months and are now knee-deep in planning what we hope to be a super-fun, very us wedding celebration. Join us as we plan a rustic meets whimsical, Colorado winter wedding with loads of personal touches and good food!
Inspiration boards are probably one of the coolest things about being a 21st century bride. I’ve made multiple boards, only to change them up again and again. But, like Miss Magic, I was having a difficult time piecing the entire celebration together in one board. So, thanks to her, I began creating smaller boards for different parts of the day. It was much easier on my brain.
So in an effort to wrap my own mind around my own thoughts, I need a visual list of what needs to ultimately come together before W-day. Mama Honey is off for the summer so we want to craft, craft, craft, and I need that running visual list of what needs to happen. Here is my Ceremony Inspiration Board:
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
