This is charlie813's Chocolate Wedding!

I now know why people want a short engagement. You second guess EVERYTHING!

I've been looking at my brown/pink/green mosaic and I just feel like the colors aren't fun enough for the kind of wedding I want. So then I made a mosaic of blue, purple, pink, green, orange, and yellow and I liked that a LOT more. But, let's be honest, 6 colors is a bit much.

So now I'm thinking of simply replacing brown with orange. But I don't know. Brown is my favorite color. But I want a bright, fun wedding. Then again, it's in September... Are the bright colors too much for fall?

AHHHHHH!!

I've seen quite a few posts of doing some sort of memorial for lost loved ones in their ceremony. Between the two of us, we have lost 10 (including all 4 of my grandparents) very dear family members and I feel like anything we could do would just put a damper on the mood.

Since the reception will be in my house, there will be plenty of shelves and whatnot around where we could place a memorial. Nothing huge, just a memorial candle and maybe a framed Bible verse on a table cloth. We actually have this really old sewing machine that belonged to my mom's mom and I think that would be the perfect size and look really nice without being over-bearing.

The only problem is that I really want one of those vases with the floating candle. The only one that I've found that could put lots of people on it is the one pictured, and even they only go up to 8. We can't leave anyone off, but I really don't want a regular candle. Oh, the woes of being picky...

So I'm still on my kick (no pun intended) of researching traditions, and I just found this little.. ahem... gem

"In Anglo Saxon times, to establish his authority the groom symbolically struck the bride with a shoe. Brides would then throw a shoe at the bridesmaids to see who would marry next. Makes you appreciate the bouquet toss, doesn't it?

Throwing old shoes after the bride is a sign that authority is being transferred from the bride's father to her new husband. A variation is for the bride's father to throw her shoe after the groom as a token of his surrender of his daughter."

I think this is the craziest thing I've ever heard. Please! Nobody throw a shoe at me during my wedding!!

I've been trying to think of ways to make every part of our wedding something meaningful. I've been reading about every tradition (American or not, Christian or not, whatever!) and decide which I like.

My mom and dad will both walk me down the aisle and instead of "Who gives this woman to be married" the question will be "Who blesses these two in marriage" and all 4 of our parents will answer. The traditional words come from when a father would find a man for his daughter as quickly as possible and literally give her away. Yuck.

Also, instead of "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride" it will be "I now pronounce you HUSBAND and wife. You may now share a kiss". I'm not trying to spur a theological debate, but I do not believe that the woman should be submissive to the man. We will both be submissive to each other. It is a partnership. I really want this to be a point in our wedding.

Does anyone have any traditions they really want to uphold or they really want to do away with?

I have always had a problem with weight. It fluctuates DRASTICALLY and I can't control it. Whenever I gain a lot, I don't feel as if I've been eating more. Whenever I lose a lot, I know I haven't dieted. Well, I really want to be a good size for the wedding. Honestly, I just want to be healthy and look good anyway, but I really want it to happen before the wedding. This is the first time I've ever really tried to lose weight and I am failing miserably. I don't know if it's what I'm doing or metabolism, or, most likely, lack of will power. If anyone has any healthy, long-lasting tips or advice for my dilemma, I would LOVE to hear.

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my posts! I really want as much input as possible!! The more feedback I get, the happier I am. I really love this site and I love that we can all help each other with our choices, so keep the comments coming!!

I've made 2 "inspiration mosaics" partly so I can show my family and friends my vision for the wedding and partly so I can help photographers, bakers, etc. what I want.

The more I think about my wedding, the less conventional I want it to be. I'm now pretty sure that there will be no flowers in my wedding. I was the bridesmaids to use parasols and, well, we'll be outside so why decorate with flowers?

This brings me to my second point... we have decided to have the wedding in my backyard at home! Ahh!! I know this is not insane, but if you've seen my yard, you'd understand. There is a lot of work to do. I'm so nervous that we won't get it all done and everything will look awful.

So, if i'm not having flowers, I kind of want to use something other than flower petals for my flower girl to throw. Maybe confetti? I don't know. Would I have to call her the confetti girl? Just kidding.

I'm not trying to change things in order to be unconventional, I'm just unconventional. I don't like flowers, I don't like long dresses, and I don't like to be quiet or still. All the same goes for my fiance. We want it to be an exciting celebration with lots of fun! The only thing I worry about is I don't want to be so "weird" that my guests are uncomfortable. I really don't want to put anyone off.

Any thoughts? I would love comments on all of my ideas and suggestions for more fun!!

I really, really want to have a fun reception. The problem is, I don't really want dancing. What I would love to have is like a moon bounce and inflatable slides and stuff, but that might be just too out there for my family. I've also thought of carnival-style games... I just don't know! Any suggestions??

I'm torn between a Celtic ring and a Japanese ring. I can't find either at an affordable price. I know that I want white gold. I like the brown in the Mokume rings. I'm just not a jewelry person so I don't have a huge hankering for anything. To be perfectly honest, my heart's desire is for us to get tattoos on our ring fingers. Unfortunately, Rush would never even think about considering the possibility of him maybe getting a tattoo. So.

First of all, I hate buying gifts for men. I cannot think of anything for groomsmen gifts other than the lame classics: money clip, etc. I want them to get something they'll actually use and/or like. Now, for the girls, I want to put everything in a bamboo box. In it, I'll put kokeshi dolls, their flip-flops, and a tea set. I may include a parasol and/or a candle.

If I can find a flower girl, I want her to wear a tutu. I'd rather her throw something other than flower petals, just to be different. I can't think of anything. If I go with petals, I don't know what colors to choose. I like this brown basket, so maybe pink and green petals.

Being a musician, the problem here is that there are actually too many choices. Not to mention, my favorite music is heavy Russian stuff, which may not be appropriate for my wedding... I've been trying to research on traditional Japanese prayers and hymns but I can't find anything. I will probably go with solo violin, because that is what I play and I would love to have my teacher, but I sorta want to hire a cellist. I may have piano for the reception

Whether inside or out, I hope to be barefoot and wear the little pearl accents in the picture. As I said, there's really nothing like being barefoot in a free moving dress. I want my veil to be short, just past my shoulders. I want it to be near the front of my head and poof up over my scalp. I also want it out of tulle and very full.

My original thought was bubbles, but I feel like everyone is doing that now. I never wanted a late wedding, but I would love for it to be dark enough to leave with sparklers! The little kids could use silly string! I kinda want to use kazoos somehow, but I don't know if it fits. The favors would be fortune cookies with regular fortunes inside, not some lame wedding thing. I recently saw an idea for the favors to be matches, to go with the sparklers. I can't decide...

I definitely want sushi and fruit and vegetable trays. I want the punch to be pretty and delicious. Any recipes? I hope to be able to pull off ice cream (chocolate mint in pink bowls!) and those adorable strawberries in tuxes! I'll also have cucumber sandwiches and pimento cheese and chicken salad sandwiches cut into shape.

Again, hoping for the casual look here. I think it would look funny if I were barefoot, and my groom wore a tux. I want him to wear a brown blazer with a white shirt. No tie. He doesn't like them, nor do I. I'm thinking about having him wear jeans. I love my guy in jeans. Dark jeans. He looks good. As for the groomsmen, I want long-sleeved green button-up shirts. I think I want them all to buy the same one. Then they can all wear their own khaki pants.

I want the bridesmaids to wear all different dresses. If they get to pick which one they want, they may actually wear them again. On David’s Bridal I found like 10 “truffle” colored dresses that are not too dressy. To help dress-down their outfits a bit more, I want to buy them all personalized flip-flops to wear. The dresses will be brown and the flowers will be green. I feel like they need some pink in their ensemble but I don’t know how...?

I want to use balloons and candles rather than flowers. However, I found this picture of a flower in a fish bowl and I think it's so precious. I'd like to use parasols and lanterns but I think they might be difficult to do myself. The last thing I've thought of decorating with is a single wreath. I totally stole this from someone else on this site, but I'm thinking about using apples as decoration. And limes.

I love that this cake has all my colors, but I'm not positive that I love the design. If I could combine all the different aspects of these cakes into one, I would be a happy bride! As for the groom's cake, my guy isn't too fond of cake. He does, however, love doughnuts. I think it will be so cute and unique and something Rush will actually eat.

Again, to save on money, I would prefer to make my own invitation. My sister made her own programs and that turned out very nicely. I'm not sure how to make invitations though. Any comments with advice would be absolutely fabulous! I love the invitation pictured here but I would want the flowers to be in my colors (brown, green, and pink). I'm also going with a bit of a Japanese feel, so here is an invitation inspired by that idea. I'm fully aware that that one would be pretty much impossible to make.

I don't really want to decorate with flowers. My sister's mother-in-law does a lot of work with flowers. She's actually trying to start a little business. I don't know if she does bouquets, but I'm hoping to ask her to handle the flowers for my wedding. For mine, I want pink and green. The bridesmaids will have a bouquet of green roses. The groomsmen will wear pink tiger lily boutonnieres.

I hope to have two of my friend make my wedding dress. I want the dress to be white and just above the knee. I want a dipped neckline with two straps made of tulle. I want there to be a thick band for the waist. This will play into the fact that I want A BIG PRETTY BOW! This was inspired by the kimono. I think I want the bow to be brown. The bottom of the dress needs to be full with a lining around the bottom so it looks finished and, well, not cheap.