big news

So after booking the rental company and working out all of the details regarding the tent, decorations, and chair setup, we went and did something insane.

We changed ceremony venues.

Yes, there is only 60 days until the wedding. That's 2 months. And yeah, invitations have already went out.

But my mom made the mistake of showing me an article in the paper with this place- this beautiful, wonderful place- that just so happened to be OPENING in September. Brand new, hence why we hadnt heard of it when we were spending months of sleepless nights trying to find the right location.

Oh, and they have our date open.

Yeah, that's the view.

Floor to ceiling windows make me happy. Esp when they overlook mountains and water.

So we've cancelled the tent and all of the rentals that we had spent the entire day before booking, and booked this place. Now there are no worries about manuvering down a flight of 100 stairs to start the processional. No worries about "what if it storms?" and no worries about where I would "hide" before the ceremony starts. Everything you could possibly want view and detail wise, this place has. Sure, I still wanted an outdoor ceremony. But I was so worried about the weather. And so worried about it storming and we having to end up getting married in a hotel room. Plus, from the time I saw this lake view in the fall last year, I wanted our ceremony there. The problem was there were few places that had this view, andt he ones that did, had fish backdrops. Or were already booked.







We got lucky.

But no worries, everything is the same time-wise and reception wise and everything. The only thing that changes is the ceremony location. Which in the end, will make people happy, since the other place was a bit hard to find.

After we get our final RSVP count in September, we'll mail out new direction cards to everyone who is coming. We are both so excited...this is the most excited I have seen Adam since the planning began!

Back of chapel, I LOVE the floors!

aisle flowers

My mom just keeps making so many pretty things.

So a few weeks ago she sent me this pretty picture of an idea for ceremony decorations for the chairs. They are really pretty, simple lilies and tulle that add just that right amount to the ceremony without taking away from the pretty fall scenery.

And here she sent me pictures of them done, and they are even prettier than the original picture! I'm so excited, I think they are going to look really, really nice!







Yay for pretties!!!

bouquet!

As promised, here are the AMAZING pictures of my bouquet for the wedding made by my super talented mommy.

It quite honestly turned out even better than I had imagined that it ever would, and it made all of my second guessing on whether or not I should have went with the real flowers go away! This way, it is just how I want it, and it is definitely much more elaborate that I ever would have been able to create with real flowers. AND, the best part- these will never die. They will always look just as amazing as they do now, so I can preserve them and even take it out every once in a while without the fear of them falling apart and breaking.

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the broach on it. She even put antique earrings and other bling inside the actual bouquet to add sparkle- love it! So every one oooh and ahhhh with me and look at the amazingness!

The front

Closeup of the broach!

Closeup of some of the details inside, see the earrings!!?!

Side View!

My only requirement was that she put a Stargazer Lily inside. It's my favorite flower, and also one of the main flowers she had inside her bouquet when she got married, which is why I had to have it.

More pictures will follow of Kelsey holding it to see how it looks when held!

arch or colonnade? how about both.

Adam likes the look of the colonnade, and I'm undecided between the look of that and the look of the arch heavily decorated. So while i was searching for different options, I came across some pictures of people who used both, and it definitely looks like a plan to me! Now I just need to get my amazing mother to work her flower magic and make them look outstanding :)

These are some inspirations...

This one is an example of them using both. I love the look of the arch at the start of the aisle and then actually getting married under the columns.

This one I like the look of the bottom right, with the sunflowers. Since it's a fall wedding, I really kind of want the outside decorations to blend with the scenery.

This is the colonnade. It's just so pretty! We can put some fall arrangements, really bright ones, all around the top and drape some vines down the sides-perfect! I dont want to scare my mom though, those are BIG arrangements!

This is actually my favorite. If we could somehow recreate this, only less red colors, and put it at the start of the aisle, that would be my favorite part of the wedding. It's called a "twig arch".

Another really pretty colonnade. I wish this was the type the rental place had to offer, it looks more elegant, but unfortunately the only colonnade in the city resembles the other one above.

My mom is going to be afraid when she sees this. I LOVE YOU!!!! :-D

sand ceremony!!

AHHHH!!! Yay!!!!

So I pulled up to the house after work yesterday and there was a random, semi-large box on our front porch. I was confused, I hadnt remembered ordering anything. I thought it might have been my crinny, but the box was a bit too small and also, wayy to heavy. It was addressed to me, so I got excited and brought it inside.

And it was fragile!

So I couldn't find a pair of scissors, but I grabbed my keys.

Apparently Minnie was just as curious as I was.

I finally got the darn thing opened, and was SO EXCITED!!!! It was our sand ceremony set!!!!!!!





I was so thrilled it was a bit insane. It took the company quite a while to actually ship it, but it is totally even better in person. I love it!!! It's perfect! And it will be so much better than a unity candle since we can actually display this later. The two side vases can hold flowers after the wedding. Now we just need to get the sand and get it engraved!

Isn't it great!?

Now the dilemma of which color sand...

This is what it will look like all set up!

ceremony ideas?

I have been collecting alot of pictures over the past few months of what I'd like the ceremony setup to look like. I know I want it pretty simple, because the fall colors of the trees are going to make up for any lack of decoration. I know I want the rose petals in the aisle and the white wooden chairs... these are my favorites so far, each one has something I like about it!









Granted all of these have a view like none other, the setup I like. The wooden chairs just seem to have a much more elegant look to them than the plastic white lawn ones that the place has now.

rainy backups

Since we are having an outdoor wedding there is always that lovely possibility that it will rain. We are going to hope and hope and hope that it's a bright sunny day, but in the event that it's less than ideal, we have to come up with a backup location. Since our ceremony place is just a piece of land, our only option for a backup is a tent. Now, we really arent too keen on having our ceremony take place in a tent, but I have been collecting tent pictures so that in the event of weather we have a way that we'd like the tent to be decorated to take away from the fact that we are saying our vows in a plastic circus tent.




Obviously these are just a couple and I need to find more, since these are just from receptions and not a ceremony...but it's all I can find right now, and you get the idea!

ceremony site

So this has been planned for a while now, but I figured I should finally share the details of the ceremony site. I guess I've just been a bit paranoid that something would fall through or some other catastrophe would happen. But everything seems confirmed now, so I think we are safe!

I have tons of ideas for the setup, and Adam can't seem to visualize what the place will look like since he has only seen it in the winter with the leaves gone and the place looking pretty much, dead. I'll post my ideas some other time, but as of now, this is the ceremony site! Obviously picture it with pretty colored fall leaves. Not dead, stick-like things.

The lake on the property

This would be my entrance. Good lordy look at those stairs!

This is where I want the actual ceremony. Right at the end of this walkway, the chairs will be on either side, and those stairs where you "enter" is right off to the left.

This is the other spot where most people have the ceremony, in between these trees. It's pretty...I just like the other spot better.

A couple more views of the property.

So pretty! Adam has no imagination, but I see the trees all bloomed (I did see it in the fall too, I just was stupid and forgot to take pictures. Smart, Cassie, real smart.) with rose petals on the ground and little white wooden chairs down the aisle. Mmmm, so excited. And we looked at tons of places, none of them just had this...feeling. When I had pictured my outdoor ceremony place in my head, nothing that we had looked at FIT. But then I saw this place and it just felt perfect. Now I just have to pray and pray for no rain...