Beautiful wedding flowers… a must have!   I whole-heartedly believe in using professionals to create the most gorgeous bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages for you, your attendants and your family members.   The decorations and centerpieces… another story.  With a little creativity and research, I believe you can be quite thrifty and save a great deal of money on your decorations and centerpieces.  How, you ask?

• Use a venue that will already be decorated because of a special holiday or a major holiday.  Of course, inquire into if the venue’s colors and decorations will coordinate with your colors.  Some holidays are easier than others i.e. Christmas where you can anticipate the color scheme.
• Use SEASONAL, LOCAL flowers available in your region.   This site has a floral generator where you can search for flowers available in your region.
• Prepare your own arrangements based on flowers you purchase from a wholesaler.  Here are a few wholesalers to check out.
• Use the natural surroundings: I was married outside in the spring with gorgeous spring blooms all around.  I picked (yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking… delegate, delegate) the most beautiful lilacs the morning of my wedding for the reception table centerpieces.  So fragrant. So beautiful.  So FREE!
  • gardens, arboretums, city parks, farms… are naturally decorated and just need a few finishing touches.
  • Flowers for thought: In the new Brides magazine there is picture on p. 397 of a church entrance that is strewn with Cherry blossom petals.  Soft and delicate and so inspiring.  If this idea is appealing, think about what will be blooming in your area when you get married.

Check out the beautiful flower galleries at Brides.com and Project Wedding for additional ideas.

A Special Thank You

to Dallas Wedding Planner for featuring our Pink Inspiration Board!

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Great photography is a joy and a treasure!  Enjoy a little eye candy this Tuesday!

An amazing photo from Cathy and David Photography

Kissing in the dark…

So totally fun… via Craig from Luster Studios

Great shots from Heidi over at Chocolate Sushi Photography

Sure is tempting isn’t it?  I wonder… did she eventually dip?

A totally fun, Trash the Dress series from Corinna Hoffman Photography

Not wedding so much but absolutely beautiful nonetheless!  …from Jacqueline Veissid Photography

And, finally a beautiful black and white shot from: BallGame68 photostream

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A world-wide congratulations goes out to MagnetStreet Weddings, Customer Care Specialist~ Julie (you too Nick!)  It’s final.  Although they haven’t settled on their Save the Date yet, the news is out.  Julie and Nick are joining the ranks of the betrothed!

I’m just projecting here, but my guess is that Julie will soon be able to relate to her brides that respond to her emails for proofs at 2:00 a.m.  Yep, the uber-busy working bride-to-be that needs to use all of her spare moments to finalize wedding details!  Are you working with Julie on your Save the Dates, Invitations… tell her Congrats and give her a cyber sign that translates… I’m with ya sista!

The Proposal Story…

“We went downtown to Chicago to the planetarium for the afternoon and then out to dinner.  After dinner we walked through Millennium Park. Neither of us had walked through it before so I didn’t think anything of it.

Nick kept saying lets just keep walking. Ok fine, not a problem but I’m thinking my feet hurt so bad … can we just go sit down? So, we did keep walking and at the last minute, right before we were about to cross the street to go to Buckingham Fountain, Nick turned and said wait, what is over there?

We walked over to this little bridge-type sidewalk and there were trees lit up… and lights… and the city buildings were behind us… It was awesome! All of a sudden he just started talking to me and the next thing I know… he dropped down to one knee and opened up a ring box.  I was in shock and had no clue until the ring was in front of my face. It was very cool. I am still a bit in shock.

Aww. How fun! CONGRATULATIONS YOU GUYS!

I love proposal stories, don’t you? Any guys reading want to give their perspective?  Maybe we can get Nick to share sometime.

If you have any advice for Julie and Nick for the beginning stages of wedding planning, please share in the comments!

Related Posts:

Cool, Romantic Proposal

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Ah, sweet romantic pink!  Some say it’s the most feminine color on the wheel, conjuring up images of pure romance and playful love while whispering secrets of virtuous mischief.  And, depending on what this finely spun color is combined with, it expresses amazingly diverse styles and tastes.  It was no mistake that pink was chosen as the color of the Breast Cancer Awareness ribbon, universally understood to represent the sisterhood that helps women survive and conquer this disease.

To honor and celebrate the lives that have been touched by breast cancer, I lift the pink banner today.  We salute all who have fought so bravely for a cure, all the precious lives that have been affected, and  all the men and women who come alongside their sisters, daughters, mothers and grandmothers with support and hope.  Honorable mention goes to Brides Against Breast Cancer, the Pink Envelope Project, and the I Do Foundation along with many other organizations for their excellent and effective work every single day.

You probably aren’t expecting a history lesson on the color pink, but I just can’t resist!  Did you know that in Western culture between the 1920s and the 1940s, the color pink (considered a pastel version of red) was actually assigned to boys because it signified masculinity?  Equally as interesting, blue was most appropriate for girls because of its delicate and dainty hue, reminiscent of the Virgin Mary, stability and trustworthiness!  All that changed in the 40’s, but nobody really knows exactly why.  If you know of a legendary story that explains this flip-flop, do tell about it in the comments!

Here in the 21st century, pink ~ all shades and hues ~ is unquestionably in vogue.  Emerging as the new neutral, it coyly nestles up next to all kinds of colors revealing multiple personalities.  From brown and black to bright green, and of course the classic pink on pink or white, you can achieve a look all your own that declares your personality and tells your unique love story.   It’s quite amazing what this decidedly feminine color can do ~ kind of like us women, right?

What pink combination are you going with for your wedding?  Vote in our poll in the sidebar below and please, please share all the delicious details in the comments!  And, most of all, if you have been touched by breast cancer, we’re listening.

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