A rose after all?

We're making progress replacing the dahlia in my full-figured red flower wish list. It's been tough, though, because the in-season red flowers in late May are either not red enough (peonies) or best used as accent flowers (ranunculus). I dislike standard red roses, so that was never an option, and red gerberas seem too simple for the occasion. That said, our floral/decor guru urged me to think about garden roses as a dahlia alternative. Although I initially bristled at even the word "rose" (Oh, how Valentine's Day has destroyed that flower - in red at least - for many of us!), she's right - garden roses are fantastic. And I don't think of lame once-a-year bouquets at all when I look at these. Whoopee!

Our ceremony decor - finalized!

I'm thrilled to say that we officially have a plan for our ceremony decor, and even more thrilled that it involves pomanders!

First, a look at our ceremony site: the deck off the Main Inn that leads out to the beach. Here it is dressed up for another wedding:






Notice the wooden structure that serves as the "altar."









Since the beginning of this planning process, I've just loved pomanders. They're whimsical, fun, and they don't take themselves too seriously - exactly like the two of us. With that said, here's our official inspiration (courtesy of EAD) that kicked off our floral/event design meeting on Monday.






















I can't wait to see this come to fruition. Using various flowers and materials (we're making tissue pomanders ourselves to supplement the flowers), colors (red, shades of blue, and punches of white), and sizes (small to huge), we'll create an eclectic, festive "altar" that I think will set the tone perfectly.

Leading us to the altar? A patterned aisle runner using one of the fabrics we rejected for our reception tables. All the reasons this fabric wouldn't work for the tables actually makes it a prime candidate for the runner, and we already own the fabric!

An inspiration image of another wedding at our venue, also styled by our floral guru Renee. Notice the same wooden altar, begging for pomanders! (Kidding, this wedding was really beautiful - black, white, and pink!) Next to the photo, you'll recognize the fabric we have on hand, ready to be transformed into a graphic runner that will lead the eye straight to the pomander party going on ahead.






















Could this plan possibly be more exciting? Oh yes! It can!

Renee is making a few huge pomanders that are going to be casually scattered up and down the aisle near the chairs - very random, no order. And we're making "wish sticks" with ribbons attached for folks to wave during our huge group photo and again as we leave the reception later that evening. They're going to be displayed on the chairs as everyone arrives, styled with the ribbons resting over the backs of the chairs. This colorful display will provide the look of the chair ties I wanted, but didn't want to pay for.

Is the scene set or what? Guess it's time to hunker down and start writing the ceremony...

Speaking of flowers...

I have a meeting with our floral designer in two weeks during my final OBX planning trip, and there's a lot to discuss. I want lots of strong red flowers at our wedding, mixed in with a palette of pretty blues and whites.

My first flower love is the dahlia. So full and spunky and me. But sadly, more of a late summer/fall flower -- like all of my favorites, apparently (hello zinnia). Flowers were not something I gave much thought to when picking our wedding date, obviously. So we'll see how prohibitive red dahlias in late May in NC are, but I'm not holding out much hope.

(Let's break for some dahlia love...)






























The florist recommended that I think about red gerberas in lieu of expensive dahlias, and while I really like gerberas (I buy them all the time), they don't quite feel like our wedding flower to me. Too... something. Maybe too much what I have on our table every week? Not sure. But anyway, I've tried to seek red flower inspiration elsewhere.

First up, red peonies. Gorgeous! One flower expert has already noted that it can be difficult to find truly red peonies - deep pinkish red is more common. Regardless, behold the red peony...



Via Brides and Rosenow Floral Design


















Next up for consideration, red ranunculus. Another favorite flower, but I'd never seen them featured so strongly in red until I stumbled upon Rosenow Floral Design (one of the best sites for floral inspiration, in my opinion). See what I mean? Precious!



Via Rosenow Floral Design














Another favorite flower full of personality is the anemone. May is the end of their season, so these may not be readily available either. They're as fun and lighthearted as the gerbera, but perhaps a little less common. And I love the variety in all their little faces.



Via Sarah Pepper



















As for blues and whites, I love french blue anemones, deep blue hydrangea, hyacinth, delphinium, white anemones, white ranunculus, white spider mums, white peonies, and of course, gardenias.

We'll see what we end up with... But I'm pretty excited to start playing with flowers.

Sick Day Ranunculus Party

Working from home today in a pool of snot (lovely!), so am relying on prettiness outside of my person for inspiration today. Luckily, ranunculus season has begun in earnest. Every time I'm at the market I cannot resist grabbing a bouquet or two.

My lovely purple ranunculus from last week are still kicking. The heads of household show some interest.
















Last night's flu edition: color! I love, love, love these.



Side by side:




















Flowers truly make everything better.

Tulips instead

I can't get over how pretty the pink and white tulips in our living room are. They opened up yesterday, and even through my champagne buzz, I had to stop and ooh and aah over them. Perhaps my excessive oohing and aahing was because of the champagne buzz? At any rate, I still thought they were beyond gorgeous this morning, so it can't be an exaggeration. I'd take pink and white tulips over red roses any day.


For major giggles, go check out this "Valentine's Flowers Decoded" guide courtesy of Design*Sponge. Don't you want to know which bouquet says “Girl I understand that you are exotic and unusual and have needs like a delicate flower. Because I am sensitive. And I know that luxury is important to you. And that is why I spent an obscene amount of money on these. So much in fact, that I have been forced to give up my spot at Treasure Island Self Storage, and that is why you are surrounded by my model car collection.”

You do, don't you?

Inspiration Wedding: Ranch Rustic

Finally, the gorgeous ranch wedding I was raving about!

Enter Satoko and Alex's Napa wedding, featured in the Fall/Winter Martha Stewart Weddings. This wedding makes me swoon for its homegrown sensibility, quirky personalized touches, and whimsical charm.

First, I'm absolutely enthralled with these invitations. Satoko (a graphic designer) created a heart graphic made of ranch animals that was incorporated throughout the wedding.







I love the typography and use of graphics, and can you beat invitations printed on cloth with red stiching?! I think not.

















Just look at this display... beautiful!

Cloth bags with the heart graphic printed on them, plus great tags for names.

The clothesline approach is perfect for this setting.

















I adore these programs and recipe books (their favors).

Loving the patterns on each and how complementary they are.















Finally, I've just gotta give a shout-out to the brilliant use of pattern in the rest of the wedding: stripes and dots (huge fan) incorporated in the bouquet, on the kids, and in the table settings, which connect right back to the brilliant graphics that Satoko created.

Flower tool

During my fantastic talk with Amy of ABCD Designs this morning (more on that later), she mentioned that the dahlia prominently featured in my inspiration board would be terribly expensive in May. Oops. But Amy handily provided a list of readily available flowers in May, and I see lots of other May-blooming flowers that'll give me that big, bright, casual, messy flower look that I love, but with more bang for the buck.

Check it out! (Look for the drop-down menu under Wedding Flowers for your month.)

ps: I love, love, love the bouquet above.

Vintage Americana? Political at Heart? Electorally Wed?

We changed the whole thing, and couldn't be happier about it. I mean, we're thinking about the election 24/7 anyway, so why not plan a wedding with the same theme?

It all started with this "campaign button," which I posted last week. An ensuing IM conversation went something like this:

M: "It's brilliant. I can't believe we didn't think of it first."

T: "Oh my god, you're right. It's perfect for us. Can we shamelessly steal it?"

M: "But it wouldn't work in our colors. And wouldn't that be weird to just give out buttons in red and blue?"

T: "Hmmm..."

M: "There are these."

T: "And my grandfather's blue seersucker suit."

M: "And navy blue J. Crew bridesmaid dresses! And ABCD Papercupp creating our very own campaign logo for us! And dahlias and zinnias and hydrangeas!"

T: "It feels like us. I know you were afraid the other colors were too generic."

M: "It feels more like us than like a wedding, and I love that."

T: "Wait, are we serious?"

M: "Kinda."

T: "Yeah. Let's do it!"

So here it is, our M+T Wedding Inspiration Board! (click for a closer look)

Feel: Vintage, folksy, homespun, FUN

Colors: A palette of reds and blues. Light blues to purply-blues, great punches of red, whimsical patterns, a mix-and-match feel.

Materials: Cotton, blue glass, silver, paper.

Reading the board:

• Top section: The fabulous red-feathered CLs, Trevor in his grandfather's blue seersucker suit (with a cat toy remnant in place of a flower on his lapel), his father's tie, a bouquet I adore, blue glass table-settings with patterned textiles

• Middle section: The J. Crew Lydia dress, the inspiration button (we'll give ours out attached to escort cards), red dahlia

• Bottom section: Berry cake, Anthropologie platters and bowls, J. Crew Claudine dress, fab strawberry shortcake, lace wedding gown, red ties for the guys

And case you haven't noticed yet... no stars! no flags! no 4th of July anything!

Inspiration Wedding: Emily and Sam

This wedding nails the color and floral element we're going after. The bridesmaid dresses are very close to "Sangria," the guys are all in khaki suits, and the flowers are spectacular... incorporating shades of orange and pink beautifully. The groomsmen's ties are the exact same ties we've already purchased for the guys in our wedding. Her dress... very much the style I've been leaning toward. The outdoor setting is so dramatic here - the Sanderling deck won't be nearly as pristine, but I love their use of flowers along the runner here. My mom and I have been discussing the runner issue - I want to limit the use of white in our wedding, but could handle a white runner if it was liberally covered with flowers like this wedding. Their table settings are traditional, but really fun due to the flowers and gold chairs. And their dessert selection? Spectacular.



See more of Emily and Sam's wedding (especially the fantastic barn conversion).