Our One Year Anniversary is TODAY! WHOA - I've been a married lady for a YEAR?!? Doesn't feel real. Our first year of marriage has been a whirlwind, which I'm sure I'll go more into later, so when I finally had time to post our wedding photos it was about 8 months after the fact. I decided if I've waited this long - I might as well wait until our ONE YEAR!!! Which is today. Bonkers.
Instead of unleashing it all at once, I'm going to post sections of the day and the planning that lead up to it, including any tips and stories that fed into the details of the big day. I have to admit, I had most of the say - after-all, this is what I LOVE doing. Carl was very supportive along the planning journey, but when it came to the design details he mostly just gave his approval and let me have the reigns. He's awesome.
The Theme
I want to preface this by saying that I was not one of those girls that dreamed about her wedding. Ever. It wasn't until college when I started considering it - and then when Carl and I began dating, it didn't take long for me to know he was who I had been waiting for. At some point along the way, I knew I wanted it to be Alice in Wonderland themed. For as long as I can remember, I've had a love for the story - it's curious whimsy. Maybe it was my Great Aunt Alice that solidified my obsession. She was a spectacular woman - and she had the most specific things she adored. She loved roses and bleeding hearts and she used to make the best cherry jubilee desert! I didn't know much about her life when she was young, but I always imagined her living an adventurous one. After she passed, my mom and I moved into her house and my mom still lives there to this day. I have a few of her things, including some jewelry. As my "Something Old" I wore my very favorite pair of earrings she gave me in her honor.
The theme being Alice in Wonderland wasn't quite right. I didn't want to leave it there. I was left wondering, how do I combine Alice in Wonderland, Vintage, Fall and Hippie elements? Thus the birth of Alice In Autumnland.
Once the theme was established it was off to the races from there - idea overload. I can't wait to share more soon, but for now I'll leave you with a few Alice touches and some tips on coming up with your own wedding "theme."
Roses. The Queen of [Bleeding] Hearts / Painting The Roses Red Table. Tastes like...cherry [pie.]
How To Pick a "Theme"
Maybe you've been dreaming of this day all of your life, or maybe you have absolutely NO clue where to start. Either way, coming up with an overall vision for your Big Day can be overwhelming. Our wedding definitely had a distinctive theme, but not every wedding needs that. Creating the vision for your wedding could be as simple as focusing on one or two things that brought you together. Below are some tips and questions to ask yourselves when trying to clarify your vision.
1. Think about how you met.
This one seems fairly obvious, and as such can be overlooked as a viable option. Maybe you met at a concert, or you kept seeing each other at the same shows of your favorite musician. Your wedding could be musically "themed." You could take your engagement pictures at the music venue, or even get married there. [A friend of mine did this - she and her husband met at a concert and years later, that was the very place where they exchanged their vows. It was gorgeous!] For decor, you could take some of your favorite lyrics that mean the most to both of you and incorporate them in the centerpieces or backdrop displays throughout the ceremony and reception.
2. What are some of your very favorite things?
Some of my very favorite weddings I've seen have involved combining a few of the bride and groom's obsessions. My hands-down favorite one of these was unicorn, rainbow & cowboy themed done by Hey Gorgeous Events. Everything about this wedding is amazing! At first, hearing those things together might not sound possible, but the bright colors incorporated with little Western touches really pulls it together and makes for one of the most unique weddings I think there's ever been. If you couldn't tell - I think this is the most fun out of all of the methods. Having a Bride and Groom with such SPECIFIC obsessions is the ultimate challenge. I'm a super nerd when it comes to learning and I LOVE diving into the knitty gritty details of a subject to find how to incorporate as many details as possible. This is the dream job.
3. What do you have in common?
Again - we're not recreating the wheel here. Thinking about what the two of you have in common and using it as the focus of the design really tells a story about the two of you. One of my favorite examples of this was from our friends' wedding last year. We all went to school for architecture together and they used their love of architecture as a theme throughout the decor. For the escort cards, they used little elongated houses made out of wood and painted black with each guest's name and table written on it in white. They also named each table after a famous architect and used little houses for the table names and little red houses as the cake toppers. It was adorable, clean, and elegant.
Whichever direction you take, or maybe you take all three, all that matters is that the day is a reflection of you and the love you share together. Brides often get caught up in comparing their days to other weddings they've been to, or seen online. Don't get me wrong, pinterest is a helpful tool, but it should end there. The best and most beautiful weddings are the ones that tell a story, not ones simply pulled from a magazine. I loved planning our wedding SO much because it was dripping with little details from our lives. Sure, few people knew - but we knew. Being able to incorporate the two of you into your day is the absolute BEST part of the design process - it's what makes me LOVE what I do.
Wishing you the best & Happy Planning!
Love & Blessings, Genevieve
All Professional Photography was taken by the beautifully talented and lovely Lindsey Plevyak. I can't give her enough praise. All other vendors will be listed at the end of all the wedding posts to keep them in one place.
