At first, I called it a Winter Wonderland. But the only Wintery decor was the bag of pine cones I had in mind for the centerpieces. When I opened my June issue of Martha Stewart and saw the above page of nail polishes, I said, "this is it, this is the color palette!" You can imagine the looks I got from basing our colors on nail polishes in a magazine. However, Mike was on board (if we replaced a shade with grey and added a 'greenish'), so neutrals were a go.
From then on out, I started pinning photos on Pinterest like a mad woman. I wanted mix-matched centerpieces. I wanted wood slabs. I wanted candles, jars, bottles and vases. Short flowers, tall flowers - all felt flowers, with perhaps pink carnations and air plants. I wanted milk glass and vintage findings. I loved the dramatic garlands and swags with the overstated blooms. I have to admit, I keep saying "I", but in reality every image had to pass the groom-to-be (GTB) test ... and there were several ideas that were nixed!
Since the reception hall needed a little help, we wanted to really Wow guests when they walked in with a unique setup. I couldn't let go of the above image, until we realized we just had too many guests attending. We also liked the idea of doing a more simple alter backdrop, and let the flowers - and us - shine.
I started to get really overwhelmed with all the potential ideas. Are there too many directions? Is it too whimsical for a house full of antiques? Where are we going to get all these decorations and how are we going to make it look like these amazing photos. I quickly learned that Pinterest was my friend and worst enemy throughout this planning process. So many of these images are lifted straight from magazine shoots and probably not a reality, for even the most seasoned wedding planner. After gathering all of these images, I had to take a step back and figure out what was completely necessary and actually doable ... which I was still doing three weeks before the wedding!
