A Turquoise & Red Wedding in Destin

I was recently looking at my bridal salon's blog and saw a few photos of a recent wedding that had a turquoise & red scheme. I looked a little closer at the bride and realized I knew her. She is a friend of one of my bridesmaids. I did some searching to find more photos from the wedding because I enjoy looking at photos from other weddings with similar color schemes. I found them on the blog of Pure 7 Studios.

I like the use of the paper lanterns at the end of each aisle below. {This wedding was in Destin.}

A Sneak Peek at the Bridesmaid Dresses

Picking out bridesmaid dresses turned out to be harder than I expected. Deciding on the color, aqua, was fairly easy; it was the style that I wasn't sure about. I had several people try on potential bridesmaid dresses: my bridal consultant, a bridesmaid, and even me! The biggest problem seemed to be that I would find a dress I liked, but it would come in the shade of blue I wanted. I had this color in my mind that I wanted, but it was hard to express or describe it. As my mom would say, growing up I would create something in my mind and ask her to find it. I wouldn't be able to explain it, but I would expect her to find it. (Sorry, Mom!) So needless to say, this perfect shade of aqua became rather elusive. The ladies at Solutions Bridal, specifically Tali, were amazing during all of this!

Another constraint was price. I couldn't in good faith ask my bridesmaids to spend $250 or $300 on a dress. So I decided to hit the Internet, as I often do, when I'm looking for something specific. It's just easier than physically going to a bunch of stores. I started searching J.Crew's Web site and ... voila! I some amazing dresses at a better price point and in a very neat shade of aqua. It's actually called "tropical aqua." (J.Crew has an amazing selection of wedding attire, by the way.)

My girls (five, possibly six) got to choose between two dress: a strapless and a halter. The idea was to hopefully have a few in each style, though. Thankfully, that's how it turned out! As of now, three are wearing the halter and two are wearing the strapless.

Here they are!







I am very happy with these dresses and can't wait to see them on everyone! If any of my bridesmaids want to agree to let me put the photos of them trying on their dresses on the blog, I would love to. But I won't do it without your permission. :)

The next decision that needs to be made is the shoe color. What do you think of silver? Or would a nude color be better?

A Winning Shoe?

After more searching for a cute aqua shoe, I came across a pair on Nine West's Web site. They are under $50, so I ordered them! If they don't work, I can return them; if they do work, they are much cheaper than all of the other shoes I have been considering. My main concerns, though, are whether the shoe is the right color and whether the heel is too high. If I get them and like the color, my plan is to take them to Solutions Bridal and try them on with my dress. More to come when I receive them!

Father-of-the-Bride

Jordan of Green Flamingo Photography was kind enough to send me the pictures she took of me at Solutions Bridal recently. I'm only going to post one now, but more will follow soon. This one is just too cute!

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!