The Inspiration

So we have this blank canvas of a wedding sitting before us. Where do you start? Throughout college I had often said that I wanted to become a wedding coordinator someday. I adored weddings, this one day with all of your friends and family together celebrating. I had the Monica-from-Friends binder of every wedding idea I had ever come across. I’m a little wedding-obsessed. But once it was actually time to start planning I was a little lost.

I found two images in the first few wedding magazines I picked up (since being engaged, never mind that shelf of them in the back of my closet) that kicked everything off.

Photo from Melissa Sweet. The dress color is called Shadow.

First, this bridesmaid’s dress by Melissa Sweet. I was struggling with color. Being a designer I have a love/hate relationship with color. I get sick of colors quickly and am constantly changing my mind and finding new hues to coordinate (you should see our registry – white, white and white.) So I had kind of figured we’d go a black and white route – until this dress. Gray. Gorgeous warm, mysterious, neutral, not-really-a-color gray.

From Martha Stewart Wedding Magazine.

And then this bouquet image from the Martha Stewart Wedding Color guide. Perfect. Every single thing about it, including the setting of the bouquet – something very classic about it. I taped the two images to a sheet of paper, along with paint chips of black, ivory and this gray. Viola – my inspiration. I carried that piece of paper to every vendor meeting and went back to it in any time I was looking for direction.

Here is my bouquet on our wedding day. Image from Special Effects Photo. I’ll tell you more about our florist soon!

At some point, a fellow bride directed me to a wedding blog. I had previously thought ‘blogs’ were semi-creepy online public diaries-just being honest. I had never read a single one. There were wedding blogs? Oh mylanta, were there ever. I quickly became a complete addict. So much so, that at some point I wanted my own little online scrapbook/notebook/journal what have you, and Grace’s Birdcage Wedding was born. I was also inspired to create an inspiration board. I cannot speak highly enough of the wedding blogs that are out there, such as Elizabeth Anne Designs. I’m pretty sure I would’ve driven everyone in my life crazy if I hadn’t had these blogs to discover and discuss, vent and be inspired.

Images from: personal tree vector; tux from Knot Bio wittliz; bouquet from Martha Stewart Wedding Magazine; the Clubhouse on Baltimore, dress by Melissa Sweet; my own table sketch, dress photo by Firefly Studio; tree branch from Stylemepretty; lace pattern from istockphoto, necklace from Teleecouture, invitation from Blackbird Press.

My final inspiration board!