wedding wednesday: colors and tunes

Hello my dear neglected blog and readers. I swear I haven't been living in a hole, or that I ran off to some remote island. Well the second one is actually true I did spend a great week during the 4th of July on a small island off the coast of North Carolina, Topsail Island to be exact but that isn't really my true reason for neglecting my lovely readers - it was more to do with wedding planning and getting back into the swing of things after my vacation. Which reminds me a vacation blog update might be a great topic right? I'll get right on that. After my "back to reality" depression subsides.

On to other important things, like weddings - You know, the thing that has been consuming me non-stop. Even if I'm not actively planning I am suffering from wedding brain. It's all I think about. I never thought I'd be one of those brides. Thankfully I am not a Bridezilla - have you watched that show? It's insane! I will say this, Mike and I have been watching it here and there and we both agree that we want to hang out with and shoot the shizz with Porsha from Mississippi. The other girls I want to slap in the face repeatedly!

PORSHA IS GLORIOUS!

If you haven't seen her episode of Bridezilla you're missing out, she's a riot!!!

"Ain't nobody wanna go to recess, bitch!"

Anydiva, I figured I needed to update the wedding information for myself and anyone that was interested in reading about how it's all coming together.

COLORS: Chocolate Brown and Fern Green

via google

Mike and I decided to go with chocolate brown and fern green, partly because we love the color scheme [our entire living room is done in these colors with burnt orange accents] and because we really wanted a color that would pop next to chocolate. Originally Mike had thought about wearing all black, but after looking at suits found he really liked the idea of either a dark chocolate suit, or a light tan suit. I left the choice up to him. Knowing many personal friends that went with the blue/turquoise color scheme for their wedding I wanted something different. I feared that if I did all chocolate and orange the wedding may come off as a bit too much like Halloween, since it's on October 22nd. I didn't necessarily think that was a bad thing, it's my favorite holiday, but I wanted it to be more about our special day, and not a holiday. The first logical choice was then Green. I fully intended to have hints of gold and rust throughout the reception, and in the wedding day decore, but for the wedding party and for the peace of the Alabama fans in said party no one will be wearing orange flowers on the big day. Superstitious? Yes, I am. Alabama plays Tennessee on our Wedding day and while one groomsman is a Vols fan, one is a Wolverine fan and one is a Auburn Tigers fan, the rest are die hard Alabama fans [at least on the grooms' side]. Add to that the fact that the bride and groom are both big Alabama fans and that a few groomsmen have requested to NOT have orange for that purpose - I'm totally game for making these changes. ROLL TIDE! And before you worry or ask, no the wedding cake won't have houndstooth icing... but I may sport a garter w/ this pattern fo' sho!

BRIDESMAID DRESSES: Fern Green and Chocolate Brown

I sent my dear friends on a mission, one I thought would be really fun and totally nice to do. I asked each girl in my wedding party to pick a style dress they loved, so long as it was in the same shade. Easy right? Wrong! Apparently, while all the girls were excited to pick a dress that would flatter them independently the issue came up when four of them went together to David's Bridal and they discovered most of the dresses they loved didn't come in Fern Green. This limited their choice of styles in the right color considerably. I had explained they didn't need to go to a bridal shop but in the end, busy mothers with children and scheduled days do have more time to get together and go to one place vs. driving all over the place to different stores. In the end four of my girls solidified their dresses in the same shade and sort of different styles, and one more had found her dress and shoes as well. My junior bridesmaids will be wearing chocolate brown and I am so excited about the dress they choose. It's going to be ADORABLE!

TUNES: Musicians and DJ's

When it came to planning our reception and our special day we knew music was going to be one of the biggest factors of the day. Mike and I are huge music fans and have similar taste for the most part. I think mine can be a bit more off the wall than his but we agree about most of the songs and artists we love passionately. Mike worked hard to find just the right DJ for our reception and secured him. Originally we had talked about having a friends band play but ultimately we feared it might be too stressful and that often times a band only plays songs that the bride and groom like, and our bottom line is we want EVERYONE invited to have fun and enjoy themselves. We knew a DJ was the way to go for us. He can play all spans of music and keep everyone moving on the dance floor.

For the ceremony we chose to go with professional musicians who played classical instruments. We have secured a violin and a cello/guitar player for the big ceremony. Meeting with them was awesome. We gave them our selections and they were both so excited to be doing something different and fun. I am not going to give away any of the information about what songs we have chosen, otherwise I'll have nothing to blog about after the big day, that and I want to keep it a surprise to the guests who may read this. Bottom line, our wedding is going to be original, and different and that's what we love about it. I'm so happy the musicians are on board.

WUV, TWUE WUV is the WEASON we are gathered here today.

We have also secured an officiant, something we were seriously worried about. A dear friend and youth leader at his church has agreed to marry us and I couldn't be more excited!

HARDEST PART OF PLANNING: Including all those you love in the special day.

The hardest part about planning a wedding for me hasn't been the colors, the venue, the choices of dresses or even finding my own dress - it's actually being worried about hurting friend's feelings. My wedding party is very large, I never thought I'd have a big wedding party, but Mike's family is very big, and his immediate family of brothers and sisters equals 6 including him alone. He has two sisters, and three brothers, and one brother-in-law all of which are part of the wedding party. All have been added to the wedding party. I had never thought I'd have such a big wedding party. But even with all the friends I have standing up with me, there are many that I wish I could have had as well. That being said I look forward to asking each of those friends I feel bad about not being in the wedding party if they want to take part in the special day in other ways. There is lots to do on a wedding day and while I often times worried that friends might be offended if I asked them to handle programs or the guest book, in the end I know most will feel honored to help out, that helps me feel a bit better.

What was the hardest part of planning your wedding day?