Haven''s Wedding Thread

[Haven]

Now that I''ve recently been bitten with the planning bug, I figured I''d start a wedding thread to post pictures and ideas. (Good thing I''m finally excited about planning things now that we''re just over five months from the big day, huh?)

Some background:

We started dating June 15, 2004
We were engaged September 8, 2007
We''ll be married on July 4, 2008

 

[Haven]

Here''s our engagement thread

Here''s us right after the proposal:

 

[Haven]

And my favorite shot of my e-ring, a 2 ct cushion cut set in an eternity band with 4 pointers:

 

[Haven]

And my dress, the Melissa Sweet Mila. I love this shot, I was walking by the shop after hours and saw my little dream hanging on the wall (it''s the one on the left) and just had to take a picture. Swoon!

Thanks to all of our Melissa Sweet brides for turning me on to this wonderful designer! (Jas12, Karasue, etc.)

 

[Haven]

The MS official picture of my gown:

 

[Haven]

My six bridesmaids will be wearing a variety of Jim Hjelm tea-length dresses in six different pale, pretty summery colors. Here''s one of the gowns:

 

[Haven]

Here's another dress. The other colors are pale pink, pale orange, a different blue, and hmmm, I can't remember. Something pretty, though.

 

[Haven]

Here are our engraved Crane & Co. invites, I love them so. Our wording is going to be traditional, not the modern wording they show on the sample.

Here''s a tiny picture:

 

[Haven]

FI and I are compromising on the response cards--he insists that we must have response cards, but I insist that people ought to know that a handwritten reply is the only proper way to respond to a wedding invitation. Crane offers these blank cards, which we will include for his side since he feels they won''t know how to properly respond. I actually really like them.

 

[Haven]

Since we''re having an early wedding, FI and his groomsmen will be wearing morning suits. (I actually like the pale yellow tie and blue vest on this one, even though they''re not exactly traditional.)

 

[Haven]

I'm having a difficult time sizing down the pictures of our flowers, which will be Calla Lilies and Star of Bethlehem from ProFlowers.com. They're so pretty, I'll add them when I can!

I should add that we're having a daytime wedding, and then we're going to organize a little after-party to go see the fireworks with our closest friends after the wedding. We're thinking of hiring a hotdog and popcorn stand, too, which I think will be a ton of fun!

Other things we've planned:
- We're having a jazz band and a DJ
- We'll be driving to and from the wedding in my father's baby, a red 1964 Corvair convertible. (I can't believe he's allowing us to use the car, he completely restored it himself so he's quite protective of it.)
- We're still undecided about the honeymoon, we've narrowed it down to Ireland, Tahiti, Fiji, or the Bahamas. A broad range, I know, but we're slowly getting closer to a decision.
- My mother is a talented calligrapher, so she'll be calligraphing all of our envelopes and placecards.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

You have made some beautiful choices, Haven! I love your dress and bm dresses!

Regarding the response cards, we almost always get them now and I think most people will expect them. We are in an age where very few people will take the time to write a handwritten response, even though that may be the proper thing to do. Many people will not RSVP if there is not a card enclosed.

 

[Haven]

How can I forget my wedding band?! I''m pretty sure I''m going to get this eternity band with 2.58 carats of RBs, 19 diamonds total. Delish!

 

[Haven]

Date: 1/27/2008 8:44:44 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
You have made some beautiful choices, Haven! I love your dress and bm dresses!


Regarding the response cards, we almost always get them now and I think most people will expect them. We are in an age where very few people will take the time to write a handwritten response, even though that may be the proper thing to do. Many people will not RSVP if there is not a card enclosed.

Thank you for indulging me, DS! This was actually fun to post all of these pictures in one place, it''s nice to see everything together.

I hear you on the response cards, so I''m comfortable including the blank cards that just read "RSVP" at the top. It does make me sad, though, that people don''t know to write a handwritten response. The other issue was that we would have some irritated guests on my side if we included the response cards, because they think that is a sign that we expect them to have bad manners and thus had to provide the card because we couldn''t trust them otherwise. There''s an easy solution to this, though--we just won''t send response cards to those who know the proper response, and we''ll send the cards to everyone else.

 

[Haven]

I love everything black & white, damask, and brocade, so I'm thinking of using table runners (more damask-y, though) like this one from the Martha Stewart website. I think the table cloths will either be pale yellow, or an assortment of pale colors to match the bridesmaid dresses.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I don''t come over to this forum often, but this is my favorite kind of thread where you can get an idea of everything related to the wedding!

Ooooh! The tables will be beautiful, too!!!

 

[Haven]

This is a better image of the type of runner I''m looking for:

 

[Haven]

A closeup of the menus, I love them! I also have a lot of damask dishes and picture frames, which I think I''m going to use for the wedding. We plan on having pictures of loved ones who have passed away on the table with our sign-in book and seating cards, so the picture frames will be lovely. I don''t know how I''ll use the dishes, if at all, but they''re so pretty, so I''ll see what I can do with them.

 

[Haven]

We''re thinking of offering pretty drinks that match the pale, multi-colored theme that seems to be emerging for the wedding. Do you think this is silly? Our caterer is all about it, and they''re allowing us to provide our own alcohol, which saves a ton of money for us, too.

 

[Haven]

We haven''t decided on a cake yet, but here are my two favorites. I''d like them both to have a base color of pale yellow or white.

 

[Haven]

I think this one is so pretty, and it would look perfect in pale yellow.

 

[karasue91]

wow everything is so gorgeous!! and i had no idea i had any part in introducing you to Melissa Sweet, i''m so glad i helped someone with my dress flakyness!!

question for you: are the tables at your venue round or square/rectangle? i would really love to do table runners but i''m afraid they will look funny on round tables. like, do you make them all parallel to each other? or do you just put them every which way?

also, i LOVE that shot from marth stewart with the damask table runners and the bright pink flowers. are those gerbera daisies?

 

[Sparkalicious]

Haven! Everything looks incredible so far ... you two have made some great choices! I have no doubt the wedding is going to be beautiful!

I love your pic, by the way ... so cute.

Thanks for posting all in one thread so we can all follow along with you and keep up with your story.

 

[Fancy605]

Oh, everything is SO elegant. I especially like the fact that all the attire reflects the time of day you are having your wedding so nicely. Often, I''ll go to early weddings where everyone looks dressed for night time.

Anyway, I think you are in store for one LOVELY day!

 

[Harleigh]

Hi Haven,

Everything looks absolutely gorgeous! Your wedding is going to be stunning!

I love the different dress colors/styles for the girls, and I think signature drinks will be a big hit!

Congrats on everything coming together so nicely!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I think the pastel drinks will be wonderful! And those cakes are beautiful!!!!

 

[Haven]

Thank you for all of your kind words, ladies! Having everything in one thread is making me pretty darn excited for the wedding.

Kara--Our tables are round, and I had the same concern until I saw table runners on a round table and quite liked the contrast. I think it will work out; I''ll post pictures if I can find them.

 

[Angel7]

Haven everything is beautiful! I love it all!!! Great job.
Where are you having the wedding ceremony/reception?

 

[Haven]

We''re having the ceremony and reception in my family''s synagogue, which is located in Highland Park, Illinois. It backs up to a forest on one side, and then the Chicago Botanic Garden is across the street, so we will have so many wonderful places to take pictures.

The sanctuary is stunning, there are enormous stained glass windows behind along the wall, and I think it will look gorgeous during the ceremony. The synagogue just built a new social hall which turned out to be quite beautiful. We weren''t sure that we''d like it at first, but it is stunning. There is an enormous wall of extremely high ceiling to floor windows looking out on the forest, it''s so lovely. I''m so excited--I''ll post pictures when I get around to taking some.

 

[indypitty]

Wow ~ everything looks beautiful! I also have quite an affinity for all things black and white damask... My FI often has to stop me from buying more, as we already have plates, coasters, frames, bedspread, etc... Is it possible to go overboard?