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…that I didn’t even think twice about before.

Succulents in jars with burlap table runners.

Carrie Patterson via Style Me Pretty

…or just some potted ones.

Stephanie Williams Photography

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While Nick and I were taking photos, our guests headed to the reception tent for the cocktail hour. They were supposed to gather around the rectangular pool — amidst round high top tables and mason jars of candles tied with red and orange ribbon — but the wet weather prevented that from happening. However, I heard they still had a pretty excellent time.

The space was decorated with red and orange Chinese lanterns, strings of white lights, baskets of greens, and fichus trees (all expertly arranged by our day of coordinator, Betsy, I must add).

Susan Savia provided the entertainment, and drinks were served alongside a European cheese spread with fresh bread, fruits, dips, and mustards (provided by The Festive Board of York).

We offered two signature drinks: Arnold Palmers from the groom and Peach Sangria from the bride. The Arnold Palmer is a blend of iced tea, lemonade, and vodka. And we mixed the Sangria the morning before the wedding. (Get the recipe.)

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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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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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Always on the lookout for what to hang from the ceiling of our venue, a friend sent along a link to Frazier and Wing. How beautiful are these!! I can see them hanging above and around the bride and groom during the cermony, and then scattered around the reception venue.

{all images via Frazier and Wing}

What do you think? How else could you see these used?

Well, at least that’s what I keep telling myself because it’s all I can think about these days!  Fortunately, it’s not the tables themselves or really what’s going on them that’s keeping me up at night, it’s the gosh darned table numbers!

I know exactly the shape/size/dimensions of all the tables and where they’re each going to be located in the reception space - my poor, sweet Caroline at High Hampton spent several hours with the rental company coming up with a design that I liked (I strangely have an aversion to round tables, which made this all much more complicated that it otherwise would have been - I’m sorry, Caroline).  Also, I have a wonderful florist doing all the centerpieces and overall table decor and my amazingly crafty mother is making all the table runners.  I keep thinking I should feel really good about the tables, and trust me I do, I just can’t for the life of me figure out what I want to do about table numbers!

There are so many cool options out there and I can’t seem to narrow it down… please help me!  What do you think of my top three ideas (pictured below)?

These are from The Craft Pedlars and go with some of the other pieces from our wedding (like the invitations and our seating cards), but they seem kind of pricey ($3 per number) for something that is cute, but ultimately not a big wow factor… but I keep going back to them, so maybe it is worth it…

I love the idea of chalkboards, too, and this could be used elsewhere in the reception (like menus with the food):

(image from little white book)

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After we took pictures, I went upstairs with Matt to check out the ballroom…

I honestly couldn’t have been happier at how it all came together. I had envisioned everything in my mind and to see it come to life was amazing. I had purchased all vases, branches and votives and hired a designer to put it all together. It looked incredible…

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[Blooms from the Heart, San Diego, California]

In the wide world of wedding blogging, I feel as though flowers get the rep for being the most disposable, the one part of the day that very easily dies and ends up in the trash bag along with the plastic forks and paper plates used for the cake. For this reason, we’re doing potted plants for centerpieces, with the hope that 1) people will bring them home, or 2) they can be donated. Since the first will unlikely happen since most people are from out of town, I am very excited that our florist, Paula Rae of Rae Florae, introduced me to Blooms from the Heart, a San Diego organization which repurposes your event flowers by bringing them to hospitals, homeless shelters, senior care facilities, and other organizations in which they can be enjoyed and not tossed. This is a 100% volunteer run program, and Paula describes it as a top-notch non-profit with a big heart. They even take pictures of your flowers being delivered so you can see your flowers being given to a new home.

Are you planning to donate your wedding flowers?

With all the ideas I have for our reception, I am left pretty blank on inspiration for the church. There are FAR fewer photos of churches in all the inspirational blogs and so it hasn’t really been on the top of my list to think about. So what exactly do people do?

Off the top of my head, the only things I can think about are altar decorations, pew decorations, and maybe something on the doors.

Let’s talk pews. Honestly, there are some seriously HIDEOUS pew decorations out there. Sorry to say, but just search “pew decorations” on etsy and…wow. It made searching such a drag.

Anyway, I was still able to find a couple pictures. You all know my love of ribbons!!

{ image via Modern Day Design }

{ image via snippet & ink }

Our church has a little hole in the top of every other pew…seems like you might be able to stick something in there like a hook or something to secure whatever you want to hang from it.

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At 9:30 in the morning the FedEx guy wished me a happy marriage. He left three boxes; two deceptively narrow, one the size of a small coffin.

Thirteen hours later…

(There are a few more pieces, including one big mama of a bouquet for me.) I’ll tell you all about it in a week or so. I’m off to get married! I have had such a good time at EAD, getting advice about veils and family struggles and enjoying all of your ideas. After 21 months of I have an idea and I think I could make that, it’s all happening!

Although, at the moment I am most excited about handing my bouquet to Katie so I can hold DJ’s hands. Walking back down the aisle together. Sneaking glances at his hand with a ring on it. Doing the stand-and-sway to a sappy song. Celebrating a life ten years in the making, and worth every minute.

Run, don’t walk, over to the Green Wedding Shoes blog to have a look at this most beautiful tablescape styled by Summer at Grey Likes Weddings and several other fabulous vendors for Jessica Claire’s (the photographer for our vow renewal!) photography workshop in Orange County.

It’s beyond fabulous!

{Brandon Kidd}

Ah food. One of my favorite subjects! Planning the menu was so much fun.

{Our dessert table - more on this later… Image via Jenna}

Starting out, I knew a few things regarding the food that we would serve. First of all, because I was holding people hostage for over six hours, I knew we needed a lot of it! Secondly, my husband and I both wanted simple, well-made items that reflect quality, not creativity. Third, this was not a wedding, and I wanted no part of wedding cake. Fourth, I needed the caterer to understand my vision for the event and potentially contribute to it. And lastly, there would be nothing at my event that I personally would not eat.

We met with four caterers in Atlanta and quickly narrowed the choice down to two. One choice violated criteria 2-it was a bit frou-frou for our tastes. Another choice was nixed due to criteria 4-they were too mainstream. After tastings with our final two choices, I had a clear winner - Bold American Catering. William Neal at Bold was the epitome of criteria 4. He not only took our choices and ran with them but he also suggested several ideas on how to present and pair the menu, as well as contributing his knowledge to the overall direction of the cocktail hour and reception, even advising on the lighting.

So what did we end up with, you ask? A veritable smorgasbord of our favorites!

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