This is amy1979's Green Wedding!

I just noticed while reading some of my earlier posts, that I kept on saying things like, "I've decided to use..." or "I've decided on my theme". What struck me about this, is that my fiance has had just as much involvement in the wedding process, although he's in Iraq, as I have. Everything has been a joint decision. So from here on out, I will try to say "we decided" or "we are having". It's going to be hard but it's no longer just me in the this world....We're a team and a "we".!!!

Just thought the pic was funny but you get the point.

Again, I don't really want to put up pics of what I was thinking for my hairstyle because my FH might see this site and I don't want him to know a thing. However, I found my hairstylist , Tiffony from OnySalon, pretty early on. We haven't met but we email occassionally just to check in. She was recently featured on the "style network" on one of their wedding shows. Unfortunately, I missed it...bummer.

Anyway, what's so great about Tiffony, is that she only does bridal styles and is on location. I was so worried about finding a hairstylist open on a Sunday and was estatic when I found her and even happier to know that she came to me. Included will be a makeup artist as well. I'll meet her face to face in May and then obviously have a trial session closer to our wedding date. I've heard from a few people that she's good...I hope so....She definitely represents herself very well and in a professional manner.

Originally, I was going to go with calla lilies as my bouquet and then have the BM's carry smaller ones. But my mother asked if maybe I should think about other flowers. Going back and looking at it, I decided that hey...she actually has a good idea. So now I'm leaning towards a bigger and fuller bouquet..maybe using mostly roses but still adding some mini callas. I'm also thinking of having the BM's carry all white bouquest, as their dresses are sage green (you can see it in 2 of my posts), and then I'll carry a bouquet of either white and pink or white, green, and pink. Here are some pics that I like. I'm wondering if I should add color to the BM's Bouquet. I'm not sure yet what we're doing for the FG. The florist says that she has a really cool idea where they carry flowers kind of like batons. I have no idea what she is talking about but she comes highly recommended and i'm trusting her. Any ideas?

Looking around at different sites I came across some people who did an inspiration board for their wedding theme. I loved this idea so decided to do one myself. I know there's alot but, hey, I had a lot of inspirations. We're not incoporating all these ideas but a lot of them are the actually things or places we're using. But you get the idea of the colors, themes, look, style, etc. that we're going for.

It's really easy to do and let's you put all your visions on page in front you. Just get pictures together, insert them into a powerpoint presentation on one page, arrange as you would like, and then save as a "jpg" file. Then you can upload it. It took me forever to figure it out but as you can see...I finally figured it out!!!!

Now it's my background on my computer.

Happy Planning!!!

I am very eclectic when it comes to my music, so is my fiance. I really want to make sure that everyone has a good time (young, old, etc.). we thought picking the processional and recessional songs would be really hard but we found the perfect music for us. Some people have told me that it's corny to walk in to a power ballad but my fiance just laughed and said that he loved me even more for the music that I proposed to him. Here's what we were thinking.

ARRIVAL/SEATING OF GUESTS:
Mixture of Classical Music

PROCESSIONAL:
Parents, Bridesmaids, MOH
Spend My Life With You~Tamia & Eric Benet
All My Life~K Ci & JoJo (if needed)

Flower girl 1 & 2, Bride (ME)
When I See You Smile~Bad English

(I chose to have the flower girls walk out to the same song as me because the aisle I'll be walking down isn't very long and I wanted to play out the song. Also, I want to walk out at the chorus and it would feel funny to wait that long)

RECESSIONAL:
Is This Love~Bob Marley

Hopefully, this will give guests a feel of how the reception will be. Lot's of different music from different eras and a little something something that everyone can dance to and enjoy (i.e. 50's & 60's, hip hop, big band, pop, R&B, light heavy metal, etc.).

This is another thing that is killing me....the cost of invitations. I found the perfect invitations that I wanted. I showed them to my fiance and he absolutely loves them. Because we're having a destination wedding, per se, we're having weekend events so the idea of 4 or 5 enclosure cards sounded wonderful. We found elegant and formal invitations with a contemporary twist that will fit all the extras we want to have without having papers falling out (i.e. directions, picnics, etc). '

But again, the price of these things I feel like are just too much. I wanted to try and do them myself but my fiance said that he'd rather just spend the money (because it's the first thing that people see and sets the stage for the wedding). He knows me too well....I'm not artistic AT ALL, so I'd probably cut the paper crooked or something. LOL! I think that I've finally found a place that does invitations at a fairly reasonable price (otherwise I guess we'll be spending an arm and a leg). I just can't bear it. If you're interested in pocketfolds, check our Alaun by Design. I haven't gotten my custom sample yet so cross your fingers that this place works out well.

FYI: The picture isn't of an invitation is by Alaun by Design but it's exactly what I want but with the pocketfold in sage green and the invitation white with every other insert soft pink and white.

I always wanted a limo for the wedding but they are waaaaayyyyy to expensive for my tastes. I just can't wrap my finger around spending almost a $1000 on something I'll be riding in for, oh maybe 45 minutes tops (and that's pushing it). At the same time, I don't want to just ride in my car. So I think that we've compromised and decided to rent something special. My fiance wanted something like a town car (and have one of our friends drive it while we sit in the back). But I wanted to get an SUV (i.e. Lincoln Navigator) where all the bridemaids and my parents can pile into and that we can drive everyone around in going on tours, rehearsal dinner, etc. So I think I talked him into the Navigator.

What are other people doing for wedding day transportation? Aren't the prices outrageous? It's the one thing that I just don't feel like I can splurge on.

Because we're having a more formal and elegant wedding, we've decided to do the opposite for the rehearsal dinner and are having a Tiki themed, southern style pig roast at an outdoor pavillion. There's a playground for the kids, a fire pit in case we feel like having that, and beautiful views of a lake. Sorry I don' t have any pictures of the venue.
We chose a tiki/hawaiin theme because that's where we're going on our honeymoon and I've never put on a themed party. My FH excited because he owns a million hawaiin shirts (courtesy of his parents) and he finally has reason to wear one. Here are some pics of some decorations I was thinking about having.

Courtesy of my FH's parents, we will be going to Kauai, HI for our honeymoon. We plan on golfing, tubing, ziplining, visiting the botanical gardens, riding ATV's, and of course lounging on the beach sipping a drink that has an umbrella in it. I can't wait!!!

My bestfriend who is a bridesmaid found beautiful bridesmaids dresses in the perfect color for only $43.90. They were on sale on the Nordstroms website marked down from around $180. The maker of the dress was Bari Jay. I had to act quickly though and thank goodness that I did because the next day they were out of stock....I got the last 3 most likely. They also came in very quickly and now I don't have to feel bad at all about the high cost of the dresses because no one can argue with that price. Check our their website but look under the sale item for dresses. Under their regular dresses, they have some fairly reasonably priced ones as well.

I also ordered them wraps if it gets cold, which will be used as their gift. One of my bridesmaids has to cover her shoulders for religious reasons so this will work perfectly. I got the wraps from the online pashmina store. They're really nice... a little bit more expensive then ones that you would find on amazon or ebay but well worth it for the quality that you are getting. I got theirs in an off white and then got one for myself in the same color green as their pictures....just in case.

So before I was talking about how I knew what my theme was but not sure how I wanted to incorporate it. Well, I just sent my deposit into the florist, A Floral Affair, and these are some of the centerpieces they'll put on the tables. There will only be 6-8 of them and the other tables will have different centerpieces (sorry I don't have a picture of them). I'm so excited....Our wedding is now less then a year away!!!!

I have to say that the best thing that I have found in our wedding planning is a reception site that includes a wedding coordinator. I never thought that we could afford to hire one but if you go through a venue that has a person (i.e. Director of Private Events) this person will probably also act as a coordinator. I wanted to do most of the planning myself, but these people can set up decorations, book vendors, provide referrals, set up ceremony site, etc. I was dying to have the ceremony in a private location that could only be used by residents of the property. Since we're getting married at the Country Club (located within same plantation) the coordinator can do book the ceremony site through her business...YAY!!! They'll also take care of chair rentals, setup/teardown/ceremony coordination, etc. I won't have to lift a finger on our wedding day...hopefully! Anyway, my point.....if you can, book a venue that has no cost or a small additional cost for a coordinator. It is SOOOOOOO worth it!!!!

I've seen some beautiful wedding favors and even have a soap and dish still at home that my sister had at her wedding in 1999. I also love the idea of giving out lottery scatch tickets. However, we've decided to do something a little different (that actually many people are now doing). In lieu of favors we'll be making a donation to some organization (not decided upon yet) but have really cute scrolls, cards, or something so that our guests are aware of this.

I think that we have a bunch of themes going and I'm trying to tie it all together. I know what colors we're using and I know that I want to have calla lilies (at least for the bouquets) and maybe an arrangement on the guestbook table, bathrooms, etc. I'm thinking that for the centerpieces (and to save money) we'll use the beachy theme and incorporate sand, seashells, water, a few small flowers,and candles to create a formal, yet fun and elegant atmosphere. I also like the idea of using greenery, such as big plants and palm trees with small, white, lights. I've put up a couple looks I really like. Any ideas???

I have to say that picking the DJ was not an easy decision. I mean, the music and entertainment can really make or break your reception. A wedding is probably the biggest formal event that most people put on in their lives. If people are sitting in their seats, or bored, or hate the music then there goes your party!!! We all say that the wedding is for the bride and groom but I kind of beg to differ. It's a happy, joyous occassion, and you want your guests to enjoy themselves. So...that's why I had a hard time choosing a DJ. But...after a lot of research on how to pick a wedding DJ...I decided to go with experience, reputation, referrals, and their overall personality. We chose Moonriver Productions and I'm sure that the DJ will be wonderful...keep your fingers crossed for me. :-)

Instead of sending out cards, we decided to use "magnetstreet.com" and send out "save the date" magnets. We also found a magnet that had the perfect color scheme of our wedding. They should arrive around the end of October and hopefully, I can get them sent out soon thereafter. Whoever came up with magnets as an idea for save the dates is a genius!!!!

Of course the first thing any bride wants to do is go wedding dress shopping. Honestly, I think it's a good idea because it gets you to really think about the wedding and sets the tone for everything. For example, if you go in thinking you want an informal gown and then come out with a formal gown, then maybe your wedding should be on the more formal side even though you may have been thinking otherwise....I don't know...may just be my excuse to go SHOPPING!!!! Anyway, I've got my gown and am so excited. It's coming in at the end of November. I ordered it in the middle of August. I'd post a picture of it but my fiance might look at this blog and I don't want him to have any idea of what I'm wearing. Sorry all. I always love to see what everyone else is wearing.

So, I have done so much already and it feels so good to have so much done. My friend is getting married a month before I am and when she started her planning so many of the venues were booked. I did not want to run into that problem. Since when did people start planning 2 years out? So far we've book the ceremony site, reception, photography, DJ, and yes...even the hairstylist. We're getting married on a Sunday and I was really worried about being able to get someone that worked on a Sunday. One place that I called who does on location hair styling was booked through Spring 08' already. Craziness!!!! We're also getting married in a destination spot so I wanted to make sure that all the big things were taken care of. My advice to anyone....start early!!!! I think it would help alleviate stress.