Our engagement session with Matt Shumate!

First off, I just want to let everyone know that I plan to post a TON of wedding stuff in the next couple of months. Our wedding is in just a few days, and wedding planning has just been far too insane for me to blog all about it. We have worked so hard to make things come together, and I am so excited to share all of our wedding details with everyone!

Now I want to share our engagement session photos with Matt Shumate!

Our original plan was to have our engagement session done at the county fair. We thought it would be fun, and there would be built-in props and cool background lighting. Unfortunately, my beloved great-grandmother died a few days before the fair. Since the fair only comes once a year, we were going to try to struggle through it, but when Matt heard my voice he told me that I was way too stressed, and that we should wait until I was feeling more up to it. I'm glad that we did, because (as you can see in the photos), it was a lot easier to smile and laugh than it would have been.

Matt is a great guy, a very creative photographer, and about the furthest thing from a diva artiste as you can get. For those of you who know me, or who have been reading my blog long enough, you'll know that I tend to be very sassy. Matt lobbed it right back at me, and we all had a good time. (Except for the weather. It was gray, chilly, windy as all hell, and rained on us for the last little while.)

Please forgive my windblown hair and chubby laughing face, but I still think the pictures came out pretty cute. I especially like the ones of Dylan laughing, and these:







Please think good thoughts for us this week, and keep your fingers crossed for our big day! 10-9-10 here we come!

Many more wedding details to come soon!

Black and Ecru

I think that black and white is really one of the most classic and elegant options for a wedding. Today I'm putting my own spin on that tradition by exchanging the white for a warm cream or ecru color.

Maybe it's the similarity of the colors to sepia photographs, the feather and rhinestone accents, or the vintage 1930's style of the dress, but I find this palette very romantic and sophisticated in a charmingly old-fashioned way.

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The domestic goddess Martha Stewart is responsible for the lovely black and cream tables and the anemone bouquet in the bottom right corner.

The cream colored bouquet on the left was photographed by Victoria Pearson.

The anemone and rose centerpieces are from The Knot.

The white with black peep-toe shoes are by Marc Jacobs.

The adorable sepia toned wedding photos are by Red Photo Co., but I saw them on one of my favorite blogs, Snippet & Ink.

The photo of the smooching couple in the bottom left is by Myrtle & Marjoram.

The ruffled chiffon dress (that I love) is Notte by Marchesa.

The cream and black wedding cake in the top right corner was made by Take the Cake, but I saw it on Hip Hostess.

My Etsy finds:

The feather hair accessories are by YJdesign.

The Fifth Avenue feather and crystal necklace is from sweetgrassmill.

The heart flags garland is from Cori Kindred.

The Thank You envelope seals are from Kisfor Calligraphy.

Warm Whites

Please don't think I've gotten lazy, I've just been spending a tremendous amount of time in the last few days trying to research some local venues. As it turns out, some of my favorite venues right now aren't so local afterall. We're going to make arrangements to go visit some of those venues over the next couple of weeks. Keep your eyes peeled, because as we narrow it down, I plan to show some lovely venues scattered around the Spokane and Seattle areas. Maybe even western Montana!

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Today's palette is all about pure, delicate and lovely white. This board is full of warm white, ivory, cream, and white chocolate.

There's something breezy and effortlessly elegant about white. With this board I emphasized dainty and feminine with bite-sized sweets and floral accents.

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I am in love with well done candy buffets. I think the colorful buffets are a ton of fun, but there's something both bridal and comforting about an all white dessert buffet.

The sweets I'm showcasing here are by two of my favorite event planners: Amy Atlas and Lollipop Events.

The gorgeous ice cylinder full of branches used to chill the bottle was photographed by the insanely talented Kathryn Kleinman.

Martha Stewart provided the delicate pressed sugar boxes and the Mexican wedding cakes.

The featured Etsy crafter of the day is Mandizzle. That's the beautiful girl in the center of the board who makes those gorgeous floral hair accents. She even looks like a blushing bride! The three pieces shown are called The Bloom (on top), The Bliss (bottom left) and one of my personal favorites, The Cora (in the center and on the bottom.)

I also wanted to share these fantastic Badgley Mischka shoes I found on Endless!

Lilac, Bronze and Dark Chocolate Brown

When we got engaged, my first idea for a wedding color palette was lilac and dark chocolate brown. The few people I mentioned this to looked at me like I was crazy. This was before I had discovered the magic of inspiration boards, and I could not find good examples of the color combination I was imagining. I have gradually found a decent assortment of light purple with brown, copper and bronze wedding related pictures. This seems to be a particularly difficult color scheme to find in uniform, matching shades. I've decided to take Martha Stewart's cue and mix and match a bit. In this palette you'll find shades of purple that could be described as lilac, lavender, orchid, light violet, and maybe even periwinkle. I did find a lot of beautiful jewelry on Etsy that did a nice job of highlighting the color palette I was looking for, so I'm using extra Etsy crafts today.

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1. Lilac and brown themed boutonnieres by Martha Stewart. I love fiddlehead ferns!
2. Swiss meringue buttercream flower cupcakes by Martha Stewart.
3. A wedding cake decorated with fresh lilacs, but I can't remember where it came from.
4. Etsy Find: The Airy - double fluff chiffon headband by Mandizzle. Her lovely floral hair accessories are almost as gorgeous as she is!
5. Etsy Find: Lilac Opalescent Earrings by Candies64. I love their luminescent color.
6. Etsy Find: Romance Collection - Marianne Earrings by La Boite a Bijoux. I love the flowers combined with the opalescent gems.
7. Leafy placecards by Martha Stewart.
8. Etsy Find: Amethyst purple faceted glass earrings with copper by ShySiren. These have a pretty copper / bronze element.
9. Lilac, sweetpea, lamb's ear and lisianthus bouquet from Martha Stewart.
10. Etsy Find: Lilac drops by Kneehighs & Pigtails. These make an impact with the clarity of color and sharper facets.
11. Lovely lilac and brown stationery assortment by Martha Stewart.
12. Etsy Find: My Little Acorn earrings by AmberSky. Her jewelry has a beautiful vintage style. I love these -- lilac AND acorns!
13. Etsy Find: The Flora - layers of chiffon petals headband by Mandizzle.
14. Fresh lilacs!
15. Wedding cake with purple flowers (hydrangeas?) by Martha Stewart.
16. Etsy Find: Violet Beauties by bellalu0. I love this color so much!

Bonus Lilac Finds:

Lavender Butterflies Cake Wrap by Paper Orchid Stationery.

They call this Tiered Ruffle Chiffon Dress silver, but it looks pretty purple to me.

This lilac, gray and white seersucker bowtie is from JPress.

Indigo By Clarks Women's Tanzania Pump

Bonus Etsy Finds:

Bella Purple earrings by AmberSky.

Sweet Lilac Breeze earrings by dkjewels.

Vintage Wine Dance earrings by dkjewels.

Catherdral earrings by stregata.

Bijoux Necklace in Alexandrite by Kneehighs & Pigtails.

Modern Romance in Black and White

Today's theme is modern romance with black and white floral details.

{click to enlarge} Some of my favorite elements of this board are the funky and fabulous button and felt flower bouquets by Princess Lasertron. I love the combination of handcrafted and vintage glam!

The white hydrangea bouquet with beaded black butterflies is another Martha Stewart find. The Caroline Herrera blossom gown photo was also from Martha Stewart Weddings. When I first saw it, I couldn't decide if it was a thumbs up or thumbs down for me, but I've decided I'm a fan. The rest of the gown is very understated, so I think that even with the huge bloom it manages to be elegant and lovely.

I love both pairs of shoes. The black pair are black tulle stilettos with organza roses by Badgley Mischka. Unfortunately, I'm not sure who made the other ones, but I love them. If you know, send me a note and I'll update it here! The same goes for that fantastic black lace cake.

The cute little black and white dress from Peach and Plum would be a modern take on a frilly flower girl. And it's even on sale!

Finally, the Damask Pattern Tape is genius. You can use it for packaging favors as shown in the picture, but you can also use it to on clear glass votive candle holders to make these:

Dark Red and Mocha Brown

Today's inspiration board is all about classic romance. I'm helping a friend plan her wedding right now, and I made this board after asking her the way she imagined her wedding. She described red roses combined with rich fabrics and textures. I love the red floral kissing balls with the candles for an instantly romantic atmosphere.

Her fiance is the head chef at one of my favorite restaurants. His specialty is French cuisine, so I thought the wedding cake made by Florian Bellanger called "the charlotte" would be a perfect wedding cake for them. Besides being an impressive French pastry, it's gorgeous!

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The sexy red peep-toe shoes are from Ann Taylor. The red patent leather shoes are from BCBG. The bridesmaid dress on the lower left is by Jasmine Bridal. The other two dresses are by Thread.