Let's Hear it for the Boys...er...Men!

I pretty much knew all along that I didn't want the groom and groomsmen to be in black. I had a vision of khaki or taupe suits, so I went searching. The other decision that needed to be made was whether to have the guys buy the suits or rent them. Both decisions were made at Tuxedo Junction in my local mall. I went with one of my bridesmaids and found a great khaki suit with subtle khaki stripes there and was happy with it. They quoted me for a decent price per guy, which includes pants, jacket, shirt & shoes. So I figured it would be best to go with renting as opposed to buying, especially because buying takes a little more effort on the guys' parts!

As for the tie (regular, not bow), I wanted aqua. They had two different shades, but I found one to be a bit too blue (not enough green) and the other to be too dark. Plus they were rather flat with no dimension. I took Robbie back another day to see the suit & tie, and he didn't like either of the ties. So, this led me to plan B, which was to find and buy ties elsewhere.

We ventured to J.C. Penney to check out ties. And there, I found an awesome Stafford tie, so grabbed all of the ones they had (four) and bought them! I figured if the color didn't work, I would just return them. They were buy one, get one half off too. Robbie & I went back to Tuxedo Junction and held it up to the suit, and it was a winner! (Thank goodness.) The tie has a neat sheen to it, which I think will be perfect with the bridesmaid dresses.

So here's the mens' wardrobe!

The swatch next to the tie is that of my bridesmaid's dresses. They aren't exactly the same shade, but I am confident they will "go." I will save that for another post along with info about the little ring bearer & flower girl attire!

So what do you think?

What Color is Coral Anyway?

When I first started thinking about a theme for the wedding & reception, I knew I wanted something beachy. Blue (specifically aqua) instantly popped into my mind along with shells and sand. The original color scheme was to be aqua and chartreuse. So I went to town (not literally) thinking about those colors. Right after I chose them, guess what popped up on The Knot's hot wedding color combos? AQUA & CHARTREUSE! Go figure.

Then one day, something just hit me. I wanted to stick with aqua, but what about incorporating actual coral pieces and designs into the them? Thus the aqua & red/coral scheme was born. The next weekend I went to visit my parents and find out that my mom has all these cool decorations with coral on them. Again, go figure!

Then the discussion of what shade of coral/red began. Do we want to use red? Or orange-red? Or pink-red? What color is coral anyway?! The reason behind the discussion was that I wanted to go with more of a true red and my mom wanted more of an orange red. So we've decided to go with something in between the two, but we have no idea what it's called! As you can imagine, this made for some interesting conversation with the florist when we were trying to describe what color flowers I want. More info on that in another post!

I also found other fun stuff at my parents' house that I might have to steal for the reception! Or at least incorporate the ideas. :)

And before I go any further with this blog, I want to give a shout out to my wedding planner, Angela, with A'vie Weddings & Events, and also to my friend & sorority sister Brittany, of Tickled Pink Brides, who helped me get my thoughts together after the engagement!

Why I Can't Wear Shoes With A Heel

While my dress may be finalized, my shoes for the big day certainly aren't. The problem is that I would love to wear some cool ones that have a tall heel, but I can't do that unless I want to be an amazon, sink into the grass and be taller than Robbie. So that leaves me with wearing a flat or a kitten heel. I tried some pretty cute ones by Grace Footwear on at Solutions, and I think they look good with my dress. They are also comfortable. What do you think? (Don't look at the terrible toenail polish!)

Other options are non-bridal shoes that I find on the Internet or somewhere else, but my dress is ivory, so I would need ivory shoes. I've also played with the idea of aqua shoes, since my bridesmaids' dresses are aqua, but mom isn't too keen on that. It's still a possibility though.

JCrew Avignon silk peep toes

JCrew Liza satin strappy heels

I thought it would be nice to get a pair of shoes that I would actually wear again. So if you see any shoes that are aqua or ivory and have a low heel, send 'em my way!

THE Dress

Perhaps the biggest part of a wedding is the dress. Girls dream about what their dress will look like from the time they are young, right? I don't really remember thinking about my wedding dress when I was 8, but some girls do.

I was lucky to go to ONE bridal shop and find my dress. I got engaged on Dec. 24 and went to Solutions Bridal the next week. I tried on probably 15 dresses and by the end of my time there had narrowed it down to two. I went back on Jan. 4 with my mom and dad and tried on the two finalists. I think we were all in agreement as to which one was THE DRESS. So I ordered it that day. I got a call later and found out my dress would be in the store in mid-May.

Much to my surprise, I got another call from Solutions in early April telling me my dress was in! How exciting! So I waited to go this past weekend, April 25, to try it on when they were having hair and make-up trials in the store.

The most awesome part is that it's not going to need much altering. Translation: less money to shell out! Jordan of Green Flamingo Photography was at the shop taking complimentary photos of everyone. Here's a photo she took of me. Thankfully it's from the back, so it doesn't give away my dress ... in the very slight chance that Robbie was to find this blog!

I will say that the dress is WTOO, the more affordable line of Watters & Watters ... and I love it!

So now I wait until a few months before the wedding to get it altered. Thankfully it's living at Solutions for the time being in a nice garment bag!

And so it begins!

I decided that the best way to journal my wedding planning process might just be a blog. It also makes it easy for my friends and family to stay in the loop, especially the ones that are far away. So my hope is that I will update frequently and make this a fun place to see what's going on in my wedding-planning world!

We are currently a little less than 10 months out from the wedding, which is February 2010. Many things have already fallen (or been put) into place, considering that the engagement occured on Dec. 24, 2008. By Jan. 4, 2009, I chose my dress!

Now, these things have been taken care of, albeit some details aren't completely set in stone:

-Florist

-Photographer

-Dress

-Bridesmaid dresses

-Suits for groom & groomsmen

-Cake

-Venue

-Officiant

-Theme

This photo is my color inspiration: aqua & red. More details to come!