The compendium - basil''s wedding ideas

[basil]

Ok, Pandora. Here you go! This is going to be long, I think, and I have trouble spending this much time/bandwidth talking about myself. So I hope it isn''t too boring for everyone!

Date: 9/20/08
Time: ~5:00 pm
Ceremony: In a garden, in front of a gazebo. We will have white wooden chairs, a wreath decorating the gazebo. Two large urns with floral arrangements will flag the aisle.

 

[basil]

Wreath will look like one of these:

 

[basil]

Floral inspiration: My bouquet, bridesmaid''s bouquets, ceremony flowers, and centerpieces are based more or less on this.

 

[basil]

My dress: Jim Hjelm #8663

 

[basil]

Hairstyle: Low bun, loose on top, side-swept bangs. Sorta like this photo from the knot.

 

[basil]

Shoes: People didn''t like these much when I posted them before, but we''re changing out the toe ornament for a pearl brooch. I like the shape and they''re comfy. It''s hard to find a moderate heeled shoe with a thick-ish heel that doesn''t look too casual.

 

[basil]

Jewelry: ?????????

I''m going to tie my grandmother''s heart locket into my bouquet. Both she and my mother wore it at their weddings. But since I hate hearts and don''t think a necklace would look good with my dress, I''m putting it in the bouquet.

 

[basil]

Veil: My mom is going to make mine. I know I want something very sheer and long, and I''m kind of torn on a lace edging or not. It might be too busy. But I sort of liked this photo of another lace dress with a lace edged veil.

 

[basil]

Fiance''s outfit: he wants to wear a "James Bond" tux. We''ll probably buy one. I''m not sure what kind of tie he''ll eventually pick.

Bridemaids'' outfits: I don''t know on this either. I have two bridesmaids - one a fair redhead and one asian. Both very petite. I just can''t decide what color would look good on them both but still fit in with the wedding colors, yet still be wearable, and not be black.

 

[basil]

Reception: The carriage house of the mansion.

Here''s the mansion - tours will be available before the wedding and during the cocktail hour. It was built in 1810 and featured in the film "the Great Gatsby".

 

[misysu2]

I love it! I think it''s a perfect mix of things. Very romantic, and all of your garden elements go together well. I am also having a garden wedding, so it''s nice to see some else''s ideas!! I say you have a great hold on things!

Also, I LOVE your shoes! Where''d you find those?

 

[basil]

Here''s the carriage house. It has cherry wood floors and a huge fireplace.

 

[basil]

Centerpieces:

Will be red roses, green yoko onos and hydrangeas, and assorted other flowers to give the texture. In urns like these.

 

[basil]

Here''s another picture of the ceremony site, this is in September, so the foliage will be a lot like this.

 

[Pandora II]

Yay!

Wow, it all looks amazing!

Are you keeping the sash the same colour as it is in the picture?

Will your bouquet flowers and the centrepieces and the urns for the ceremony all be similar colours and types of flowers?

I love your venue - I thought it looked Gatsby-esque before I read what you had written. That place is to die for!

Also the table urns are beautiful - is your florist supplying them or did you source them yourself?

 

[basil]

For the reception, we''ll have white or ivory tablecloths, maybe with champagne organza overlays. We''ll use the white garden chairs.

I''m not sure what the menu will be, but the caterer suggested "early fall" - flavors like apple and pear, but not heavy fall like pumpkin and cranberry. Probably we''ll have a beef and a fish option.

The placecards I want to use I can''t find the picture of right now. It''s like a set of chopsticks with the card in the middle. My fiance is Chinese, so I thought this would be a nod to his culture, but I don''t know how well it will fit in with everything else.

 

[basil]

For favors, I want to do Chinese take-out boxes with jordan almonds inside. Again, kind of a combo of fiance''s Chinese heritage and my Italian heritage. I still have to figure out how to make the stickers look that nice, though.

 

[basil]

For the reception, we''re also having an antique-style photobooth.

 

[basil]

Here''s my cake inspiration. I don''t know what I''ll end up with, though.

 

[basil]

For our save-the-dates, I am copying Robbie and doing the photobooth-style cards. I can''t decide if I want to make them into magnets or not. Right now I''m working on making the photos we took look acceptably like a photo strip. It''s harder than it looks!

 

[basil]

My mom really wants to use a drawing that my grandmother made for her wedding invitation for our invitations. The problem is that it is drawn as a stand-alone drawing, whereas I want it to be on the same page as the text. It doesn''t help that a few of our lines are really really long so it messes up the flow.

Here''s the original picture:

 

[basil]

I also need to figure out the labels for the favor boxes, programs, menus, thank you cards, and beer labels (my brother is making his specialty beer to serve at the wedding).

 

[Pandora II]

I love the cake! Those pears are gorgeous - and the way it twists down the cake could be made to look quite oriental to fit with the chopsticks and the favours.

The pears would tie in with your menu - and you could even put some small country apples and pears still on their branches in amongst the foliage in the big urns.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 11/4/2007 7:02:31 PM
Author: basil
My mom really wants to use a drawing that my grandmother made for her wedding invitation for our invitations. The problem is that it is drawn as a stand-alone drawing, whereas I want it to be on the same page as the text. It doesn''t help that a few of our lines are really really long so it messes up the flow.

Here''s the original picture:

Could the drawing be printed in a pale green shade, or even embossed onto your invitations so that the wording isn''t affected?

Or an outer cover that opens down the middle with the invitation printed inside...

Sorry, I''m just throwing ideas out here - feel free to ignore them!

 

[basil]

Whew, I think that''s about it. Okay, feel free to call me an attention whore now

Oh, yeah. For music we''re having a violin/cello duo for the ceremony. And we''ll probably do pretty classic tunes. For the cocktail hour and dinner, I want to do sort of jazz/bing band/swing to tie in with the 20''s vibe. And then for dancing I want really fun 1960''s sort of pop...think "Twist and Shout", cause I think people of all ages can relate to that.

For our entrance, we''re having the theme song from Superman (fiance loves superman the way some men love sports). For our first dance, we''re having the theme song from "Scrubs" - refrain is "I''m no superman" and we''re both residents, so it''s kind of silly/ironic, and I think people will laugh. For my dad and I, we''re dancing to an obscure Maine folksinger''s song "Turning towards the Morning" by Gordon Bok. No one will know it, but it''s my dad''s most favorite song ever and the love of obscure Maine folk music is something that my dad and I share.

 

[basil]

Oh yeah, I forgot this part. We might do sparklers as a send-off, like in this picture:

Our getaway car will be my uncle''s Model T Ford convertible.

 

[basil]

Pandora - that''s a great idea about printing the illustration in pale green with the text on top. My mom''s invitation was a folded card, which is why the illustration is the way that it is, but I really want a plain card. Though I''m not sure why I''m so attached to that idea.

 

[basil]

Finally found the placecard picture:

 

[zoebartlett]

Wow Basil! It really looks as if everything is coming together. I love all of your ideas! The venue is amazing -- the carriage house look so beautiful!

 

[basil]

To answer the questions:

Misysu - The shoes are Kenzie, from Zappos. http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7301064/c/91539.html I got them cause I absolutely need an ankle strap, and I wanted a peep toe and a thick heel cause my ceremony is outdoors. I also think they look a little vintage-y, which I think (hope?) fits with my venue and dress.

Pandora - my sash will be sort of a champagne color. The dress is ivory lace with a lighter champagne charmeuse underlay. Mom and I are toying with the idea of a green ribbon sash with beading to change into for the reception.

My flowers will all be based on the one photo. I really hope they turn out OK! The florist has quoted me for burgundy roses, but I''m wondering if true vermillion red would be better? The apples/pears in the arrangements might actually be a cool idea. I would imagine that wouldn''t be too pricey either. Little crab apples might be cute.

Zoe - thanks! I''m anxiously awaiting your thread

Do you guys think that I have too many "themes" going at once? I think I have a fair amount of sort of vintagey roaring 20''s items - venue, car, photbooth, maybe dress, music. Then I have a few asian elements - chopsticks, favor boxes. And some garden ones (flowers, urns, stationery). And then the subtle Superman references. Is it too busy?