Out of everything that went into the preparation for our vow renewal, I probably had the most fun and least stress planning the day after brunch.  It was held at South City Kitchen in Midtown, just steps from our hotel blocks and our venue from the vow renewal the night before.

Orange as a wedding color has always inspired me, so I knew that I wanted to use it for the brunch.  It’s so fresh and clean!  I kept things super-simple, bringing in only one accent color (yellow) and using lots of fresh fruit as decor.

Each place setting was decorated with an orange wrapped in parchment paper and tied with raffia.  The leaves were goccoed with “Bonne Annee!”, French for Happy New Year, written in calligraphy by Laura Hooper (continuing the slightly-French theme that was carried through from our RSVP packets, do not disturb signs, menus, and other printed items).

{Jessica Claire}

The bar was lined with oranges and lemons, purchased from Whole Foods and donated to a local food bank after the event.

{Jessica Claire}

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Wow.  When did that happen?  The past month has just flown by and all of a sudden it’s one week until the big day!  Things have been pretty crazy (hence my sad lack of posts - I’m so sorry!), but I’ve gotten a lot of the big “to dos” checked off my list:

1. Pick up wedding dress - check!
2. Nail down all rentals - check!
3. Finalize guest list - check!
4. Put together all gifts for bridal party - mostly check!
5. Bust butt in the gym so that even if I look the same in a week, I feel amazing - check!
6. Sit down with musicians and finalize selections for ceremony and reception - check!
7. Make final menu decisions - check!

Despite all this, there still seem to be a million and one things on my to do list…  no big items (yea!), but lots of little ones.  Fortunately my wonderful fiance and dedicated bridesmaids have the reserved the upcoming weekend so we can do all the remaining wedding projects (they even seem excited about it!  though I think that may be entirely for my benefit…).

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I know, I know…cart, horse, whichever isn’t supposed to come first, whatever. I just couldn’t help but post about the dresses that I’ve been looking at so far as contenders. Really, it’s more the look of these dresses and the colors that stick out to me.

I like the multi-colored look, but do you think it’ll have the same effect with only 3 girls with me? I LOVE the colors of the dresses in the bottom photo, unfortunately they are way out of budget.

{ photos by Olivia Leigh }

{ photo by Lisa Franchot via Style Me Pretty }

Here’s what I’m thinking: I choose colors for the bridesmaids and then have them choose a dress that they like in that color. I’ve also been thinking of going the Etsy route…still having the bridesmaids choose a color and then they can work with the designer to create a dress that will be most flattering to them. Either way, I want the girls to be as comfortable as possible and (don’t we all wish this?) that they can wear it again in the future.

Anyone go the Etsy route before for bridesmaids dresses?

There are SO many amazing photographers in the world - how do you find the one that’s perfect for you?  Well, not only do you need to blog-stalk them, see images from a full wedding, and find out all of the details about the specific packages that they offer, but you also want to ask these questions:

1. Will I receive a DVD of images from the event?
2. How many images do you post-process (the more the better!  All of those amazing images you fell in love with from their website and albums are post-processed.  If the images on the DVD you receive are SOOC (straight out of camera) you should know and understand this.)? Can I see multiple examples of before-and-after images?
3. Do you color correct all images?
4. How soon after the wedding will I receive my proofs?  My DVD of images?  My album?
5. Do you write up every event on your blog?
6. How soon after the event will you blog?
7. What types of images do you include in your blog post?
8. Do you shoot in film or digital?  Color or black and white?  RAW or JPG?
9. What is your contingency plan if you are ill or otherwise cannot attend my event? {Be sure the answer to this is specifically stated in your contract}
10. Who retains copyright to the images?  Reproduction rights?

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I really like the idea of out of town welcome baskets and the like but they were never really an option in my mind due to the cost & organization they require (knowing who is staying where, knowing who is coming –the rsvps were giving me enough trouble as it was). Garrett’s parents decided to get a block of rooms at the Embassy Suites solving part of that problem and Garrett’s mom wanted to make welcome baskets, so I lucked out. She used a “taste of Alabama” theme and the bags included goodies only to be found in the yellowhammer state. Here’s what they included:

Golden Flake Chips (in a variety of dill pickle, original, bbq, and cheese puffs).

(image from country living, they have a list of the best local chips in a lot of different states so if you are stuck for an idea check here! Zapps from Louisiana, Cape Cod from Massachusetts, and Kettle chips from Oregon are all ones I recognize)

Priesters Pecans (in little mini bags, divinity and pralines I believe, but they have a really tasty key lime pecan there as well)

(from Priester’s Pecans)

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Mr.’s mom and I met with our first florist. It went pretty well I guess, although she didn’t really talk pricing a whole lot and that’s what I was hoping to get out of it. She had us sit down and look through all these books that looked like they were from the late 90’s to bookmark what we liked (for reals, totally not inspiring at all). I bookmarked a boutonniere and that’s it. So, instead, I took out some pictures of what I am looking for. We discussed the types of flowers that I’d like to have…dahlias, ranunculus, roses, stock, hydrangea, (peonies if available), poppies, anemones, lisianthus, to name a few. Still trying to go with that rustic Mediterranean feel…

We have these urns, vases, and candle holders at Pottery Barn that I love and think would look great with flowers { images via Pottery Barn }:

The one in the middle is the one I’d like…otherwise, there are these pillar holders that I think would look beautiful with flowers dripping off the sides instead of candles:

I would love to do a centerpiece that isn’t just one piece but a couple different pieces together like these tables:

This one is a little too girly…just note the setup

{ photo by Erin Hearts Court, via Once Wed }

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Last you heard, I was making the tough decision of deciding how many bridesmaids I should have, 2 or 11.  Well, we (my fiance and I) decided on all 11, and we’re sticking to it and very happy with our decision.

I wanted to ask my bridesmaids in a special way, and found so much inspiration on wedding blogs  it was hard to choose.   But when I stumbled upon a fantastic post about Elise’s Envelope Pockets, I knew I wanted to do the same, but different :).  Again, I am so thankful that I don’t have to re-invent the wheel but rather just refurbish it to suit my own taste.  Thank goodness for wedding blogs!

The front of the Envelope Pockets.  It looks like I have a pretty equal showing of blondes and brunettes!

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Alright…we had the beautiful plum v-neck dresses from Nordstrom that didn’t make the cut… and then came the super cute purple and violet dresses from Amanda Archer that won my heart at first sight.

But then…then came Jcrew.

pic from Jcrew via Green Wedding Shoes

Tried and true, gorgeous and simple…BM dresses from Jcrew.  I remember when I first ran across the Spring 2009 line (yes way back in February 09) I fell in love…IN LOVE!… with the halter dress in the above image!  So stinkin’ cute no?!  I remember thinking 2 things… it is way too early to be looking at BM dresses…and oh wait…the price…yeah not so in love with that.  I realize Jcrew dresses are pretty darn reasonable but I know my ladies and I really didn’t want them to break the bank just to look fab at my wedding.  So…I just sorta “forgot” about this cute number.

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Thank you to everyone for the time you took to make suggestions about where we should go on our honeymoon! There were many places I had not even thought of (Croatia, Buenos Aires) and I am glad I threw the question out there to get some feedback I would not have gotten otherwise. We still have not made much progress because we keep wanting different things, but we’ll get there eventually.

This weekend I picked up my dress, and now it’s sitting in my closet hanging off of our suitcases on the top shelf. And it will remain there for the next 6 months until I have my first alterations appointment! It’s a heavy white dress in a thin garment bag, and paranoid little me worries that something will happen to it over half a year. Like the cat will find it one day and decide to yank it off the rack. Or I will trip while holding it, ripping off some of the tulle or lace. Or aliens will come and decide they need an artifact from Earth and will decide that my wedding dress is too pretty to pass up. Totally possible.

A lot of alterations have to be done, including bringing up the shoulders so that I don’t *cough* expose myself in front of 200 people. The associate showed me a photo of a bride who had ties sewn in the back so the dress would stay up, but I immediately cried “Noooo! The back is the best part!”

[Buying a new gown from a bridal salon? They aren't joking when they say order 6 months in advance--it took 5 months for my dress to arrive in the store.]

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The Save the Date dilemma is over! Hooray!!

Of course you remember my incessant indecision, here and here regarding our save the dates. I promise this is the last you will hear about it.

After pulling my hair out over which “look” to go for, I finally came to and realized that most people who will receive these won’t think twice about them.  Our guests won’t care if they match the style of wedding we were going for or if they were the coolest piece of mail that they have ever received.  Why spend another few weeks mulling over them?

With that, I went online and ordered our save the dates!   We decided to go with the Wedding Paper Divas “Park Bench” style.  It was fun, non-DIY and completely us.

{Wedding Paper Divas}

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