four hundred fifty nine

okay bear with me, certain things about this wedding planning make me extremely excited, but i realize that sometimes to you, they are the most boring thing ever. well today's post might just put you in a stupor, realizing that, i apologize up front and ask you to again, bear with me.

centerpieces....duhn duhn duhhhhhhhn (i warned you), i have officially chosen four centerpieces to alternate between the many tables at the reception. one of which will be your home base for the evening. not wanting to spoil the surprise completely i have sketched them out for you.

one will be a lantern, another will be an iron work scroll thing that holds votives, the third one will be this charming little reminds-me-of-a-milk-jug vase that will hold roses, and the last one will be a tall elegant vase that holds some sort of amazing flower....yep this is what i am so very excited about. but the thing that makes me even more stoked about these centerpieces, is the most wonderful deal i got at joanne's fabric for votive holders and candles. seriously i ended up walking out of there with 72 glass votive holders and 96 candles! this probably doesn't get a hallelujah chorus but it still made my day.

four hundred seventy three

well we are a step closer to the church, we have at least set our goal on one church in particular...drum roll please...............and the winner is............bonhomme presbyterian church! this past sunday we went to the 8:00 service and just felt at home. this coming sunday we are planning to attend again but go the the 'contemporary' service to try it out as well. in order to have a wedding at bonhomme you must be a member, which is fine with me because this seems like an amazing church.

after visiting i did some more research on bonhomme and here are some fun facts:
bonhomme presbyterian church was founded in 1816 and is the second oldest presbyterian church east of the mississippi river.
it has a gorgeous old stone church that was built in 1941 and is currently planning on undergoing renovations
they are located on conway road in chesterfield just off hwy 40
they are actively involved in mission trips from just around st louis all the way to russia

four hundred eighty four

color inspiration....here is the first color, the main color. i want a sage green. this would possibly be used for the bridesmaid's dresses, flowers, decorations...etc. this first swatch is the closest color, then different shades will be mixed with the white/ivory.

i am in love with this cake/candy table. the green is used sparingly with white as the predominant shade. the balloons and the overall washed out picture give this table a light, airy feeling. perfect for a wedding setting. stunning!

i've also found that this green and ivory combination is natural enough to blend with the rich wood at the reception. i just wish i could mimic this table setting and have these amazing chairs. however the hall comes with some nice black folding chairs, which will work just fine.

after seeing this cup and the pearl/jade jewelry, i wonder if this color is budding from my ceramic work... this cup is glazed in a celedon hue. now granted 'celedon' can refer to a color that is green to a color that is more blue as seen below...

four hundred ninety eight

hooray we are now officially in the four-hundreds! goodbye gloomy old five-hundreds, four is the new top number for the next ninety nine days.

so as of today i have a few major things checked off the semi-imposing list. lets see... photographer, reception site, d.j., caterer, dress, shoes...we still need one of the most important things. a ceremony site. yes yes i know we have over a year left, but there are a lot of tiny problems, and usually money is at the root. for those of you who don't know... churches are freaking expensive. seriously, i am looking in the range of $700-$1700. currently i have four churches in mind.

option 1: bonhomme presbyterian... gorgeous, classic, big. absolutely stunning. however they only cater to their members (another process that would take minimum six weeks) they are also semi-expensive. in the middle upper range.

option 2: dardenne presbyterian... the church i grew up in, gorgeous, beautiful, big, light, airy, low end of the price range. however it is a different church now compared to what it was when i grew up in it.

option 3: peace chapel... adorable, historic, quaint, beautiful...it is seriously my dream place however it is in the middle upper price and it is tiny. max people is 130. (150 if people stand in back...) so that would cut down our ceremony guest list.

option 4: second presbyterian church... on taylor ave (jordan says thats a sign) beautiful, tiffany glass windows, historic, huge, classic, stone. this is definitely one of the pricy ones... but reasonable if i become a member.. so who knows. another downfall is that it is farthest away from the reception site... 40 min. so i don't know if that is a huge 'no' for guests.

anyhoo. im still thinking and weighing the options, its definitely going to be a topic of conversation between jordan and me this weekend.

tell me which you like best!

five hundred one

my mom was searching around for interesting candles and found these 'catskill mountain crystal' oil candles. they are made from blown glass and vary in size. they are so gorgeous with their glass drips down the side. i absolutely love candles and you will be sure to find a ton on our day.

fivehundred ten

sweets. definitely a highlight for me and luckily i will have plenty come the wedding day. from delicious cookies to a wonderfully yummy cake, believe me, there is plenty of sugar to go around. seriously we will have two separate 'bars' of goods, in addition to the alcohol of course. there will be a candy bar (which will have after-dinner-mints if i have any say). then there will be a delicious cookie bar made by the best cookieteer ever, colleens cookies. last but not least is the cake which for a few weeks i had the crazy idea that i could make it myself...ha, that's all i have to say.here are some inspirational, get-the-feel kind of pictures i came across. enjoy!

five hundred fourteen

more ideas...looking at these photos it seems that i am drawn to natural elements and textures. more specifically, styles with a slight sophisticated/rustic feel. i absolutely love the burlap runners on one of the tables below with the square candles. moss is such a soft touch, and the rose bucket is fabulous. hmmm expect to see some of these elements in five hundred and fourteen days.