Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
Several months after I’d decided we must have GIANT balloons at our wedding, I spotted them on super sweet engagement shoot: Read more…
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
Remember my devious plan to elicit tears from our wedding guests? (Quick update: it involves old family photos, sentimental flowers and trinkets.)
I had everything except for the flowers and so turned to our florist to add a few additional blooms to the procurement list. She loved the idea but my chosen flowers are springtime blooms in our area; the likelihood of them being available (read: reasonably priced) would be slim. She suggested I look for silk versions of a calla lily, peony and pansy. While not resistant to using silk flowers, I was skeptical about locating all three. Sure, the calla lily and peony would be a snap, but pansies? I’d never seen a silk version before.
Off Mr. PaC and I went: me to Michaels, him to neighboring Lowes. Imagine my surprise when pansies were the first silk flower I found. With the option of purple or yellow to boot! Two bunches of purple pansies found their way home with me.
For Mémère
There were also several options for calla lilies. I almost bought an off-white one until spotting the crisp white ones.
Mrs. Pony, Bloomington, ILAge and Occupation: 25, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, AttorneyEngagement Date: March 22, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Mackinaw Valley Vineyard; Bloomington Center for the Performing ArtsAbout Me: I found my Southern counterpart in law school and since he popped the question last March, we have been busy graduating, job searching, bar taking, and wedding planning. My loves include must see TV, magnets, quotes, anything green, my car, fun socks, the Cubs, and my Mr. Together we love wine, playing outside, and exploring the world together. Stay tuned to see our Midwest wedding full of Southern charm, vintage flair, lots of DIY details, and a whole lot o’ wine.
We have all been warned about the awesome power of STDs*. They are the first impression guests get of your wedding, they can set the tone of the event, they can share the theme of your event with guests, blah blah blah. Does anyone else think this is a lot of pressure to put on one little piece of paper?!
This pressure alone gave me a good excuse to procrastinate working on our STDs for a few months. But, I eventually got my rear in gear and started thinking about how to announce our wedding to our guests.
I had no clue what I wanted, so I set out just searching for things that caught my eye. Here are a few STDs that I liked after my first few searches:
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
I haz no dancing skillz. I’m a lefty with two left feet! Dancing is one of the few things that can turn this confident, outgoing bride into a reluctant wallflower. Confession: I’ve never really gone dancing. That whole part of young adulthood… I missed the memo. Merengue? Tried it while studying abroad in the Dominican Republic; never took, my hips don’t move like that.
Do these diagrams confuse anyone else??
This whole “dancing thing” (because it is now a thing for me) was brought to the forefront quite recently as I watched our newly married friends kicking up their well-choreographed heels at their wedding in Mexico. Read more…
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
As a nod to my avatar on Weddingbee, I’m doing something special and tiny—a tiny pain au chocolat charm will be attached to my bouquet. Sneaking in this little reminder of the hive will have me smiling all day… and undoubtedly craving the chocolatey breakfast treat!
Etsy, with it’s treasure trove of vendors, was my go-to source yet again. Miss Lox tipped me off about the shop, Inedible Jewelry, that created her super cute charm. One custom request later, my very own breakfast food charm had arrived. Read more…
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
Mr. PaC and I jetting off to attend our friends’ wedding in Mexico…on Cinco de Mayo! All I can think is gonna be one heck of a celebration!
Wedding pavilion at sunset
Initially, I dug my heels deep into the beach sand over the time, expense, and additional stress of traveling less than one month before our wedding. Read more…
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
Okay hive, it’s voting time! For your consideration, I’ve created mock-ups of three washi tape patterns: stripes, criss-cross/overlap and plaid. As some predicted, the plaid wasn’t so easy. (Please be kind and don’t vote for plaid. I can’t create 100 of these buggers!)
Starting in the upper left going clockwise, we’ve got plaid, diagonal stripe, vertical stripe, and criss-cross/overlap.
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
Before our last meeting at Greenville Country Club, we had a list of burning questions. Yesterday we met again with our venue coordinator to square away those pesky 30-day-out details and put out the embers of those aforementioned questions. So what did we figure out?
Set-up
1. Yes! to a sparkler send-off!!! Now we have to decide how to fit a sparkler send-off into the evening without disrupting the flow. The common sense approach (suggested by Linda) is to round everyone up at the very end of the night. That way they’re already set to go, outside and waiting for the shuttles. Two birds, one stone! (This scenario leaves us without a photographed send-off or extending the photographers’ stay by 1.5 hours.)
Mr. PaC measuring for lantern height on the terrace
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
For April Fool’s Day, my parents arrived for a little visit just 60 days out from the big day. With my sister. And my cousin J, who’s never visited us before. But nothing funny was going on. When I tried to pin down activities for the weekend, they were vague and indecisive. Bridesmaid R and my FMIL had been unusually quiet in the previous weeks. And poor Mr. Pain au Chocolat had been stressing all week about preparing the house for my family, stockpiling food and scrutinizing every corner of the house. What was going on?
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
I love getting things in the mail. Do you remember how ridiculously excited I got over washi tape? Nothing could top that…except for receiving washi tape in the mail!
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
When looking for readings for our ceremony, we thought about borrowing a page from well-loved books from our childhood. Mr. PaC found two semi-suitable Shel Silverstein poems, but I nixed them since they felt more appropriate for a graduation speech or anniversary toast (”Listen to the Mustn’ts” and “The Folks Inside,” respectively).
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
We loved the playful, abstract appliques but felt the grayscale was too drab. I like color! So we kept the monochromatic look but are swapping out the gray for shades of happier yellow. I may have even done a mock-up in Illustrator for our baker…
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
Do you remember the great bustle debate? On our last visit to the bridal salon, the consultant demonstrated two bustle options: American and French. Bridesmaid R and I were pretty much sold on the French style. When I asked the hive, you guys responded with an emphatic “American!” Even your words of wisdom and combined years of experience weren’t enough to move me from my stubborn French position.
American! No, French! The Great Bustle Battle waged war in my brain for weeks. (Images via the CIA World Factbook: USA & France)
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
What is it about men that allows an otherwise PITA chore to be so effortless?
Case in point: On an errand-filled Saturday, I suggested we pop into Macy’s to just browse through the ties. And half an hour later, Mr. PaC had found not only his tie, but also coordinating ties for his groomsmen!
From left: Ties for Mr. PaC, Best Man/Brother M, and Groomsman J
Mrs. Pain au Chocolat, Wilmington, DEAge and Occupation: 29, RealtorFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, RealtorEngagement Date: November 21, 2009Wedding Date: June 2011Venue: Greenville Country ClubAbout Me: An ENFJ with an artistic streak who loves backgammon, sailing, graphic design, and sleeping in. Travel (near or far), good wine, and tasty food makes my heart sing. I'm a compulsive list-maker who lives to plan and organize. Mr. P and I have lived together for 4 years, all the while renovating our city townhome bit by bit. We're planning a whimsical, Anthropologie-inspired garden wedding in June 2011.
I’m experiencing a bit of hair indecision. (Confession time! I haven’t had a hair trial yet. I booked my hairstylist without meeting her!) Don’t worry—I will have a hair trial, eventually. But because I haven’t tried any of the hairstyles below, I’m not sure which is best for my gown, hair flower, and personal style. So, I’m looking to you ladies for recommendations and advice! You can weigh in at the end of the post.
Unique Wedding Favors
