Inspiration

How fantastic is this wedding featured at Offbeat Bride? Julie and Jonny asked their guests to attend in period costumes. Fun! Josh and I have been toying with the idea of a costume-party wedding and I am completely, utterly whelmed to see a costume wedding pulled off so beautifully.

A wedding truly is a unique expression of who a couple is. Julie and Jonny reflected their personalities so well. Check out their Flickr set!

Wedding Hair

I have been scouring teh internets for wedding hairstyles. The forums at Nappturality have been fantastic for finding beautiful styles for natural (unprocessed) Black hair. I especially love these styles:I think they would look fantastic with this crystal tiara from Tigerlily:
At $350 it's a little out of my budget, but these tiaras from Etsy are just as beautiful:
From JMG JewelDesign's Etsy Store:


From Butterfly Enchantress' Etsy store:

W.I.L. loves invitations

We would like to stay within budget, reduce waste, and honor the fact that not everyone has the same level of internest. We are looking at online invitation sites like Evite, Pingg, and Sendomatic for a paper-free save-the-date option that ties in to our wedding website.
However, we would also like to take all our loved ones' situations into account.

Here's the Paper Wedding Porn!

In.vita.Paper.Studio (on Etsy):


Oblation Papers & Press:



Crane:

Invite Site:

Wedding Dress Blues

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am still on the hunt for a unique, practical (and stylin'!) wedding dress. The seamstress I had hoped would make me a one of a kind dress was a scam artist! Meh.
I fell in love with this Jim Hjelm dress:

Jessica McClintock:

Eden Bridals:



And these two dresses from Conscious Couture are made from hemp silk:

pull shapes

Dance moves anyone can do!

I fully expect you all to break these out at our reception!
Dance like a Pipette!

Thanksgiving photos

Josh's ridiculously tasty turkey!


Colleen's ridiculously pretty table setting!


this year

last year.

Plus Size Bridesmaids Dresses

Practicality, value, and kindness were at the front of my mind when I decided to let my bridesmaids choose their own dress. I gave them a few guidelines:

• It should be teal
• It should be cocktail or tea length
• They should be able to wear it again!

One of my main wedding colors is Indian teal, a universally flattering color, and one that just rocks my socks !

www.zaftique.com and www.igigi.com have some great evening dresses for the girls who are not size 0. I especially love these teal dresses:



All of the above are from Zaftique, but Igigi has fantastic dresses too! They also have a guide next to each dress to show what body type (apple, square, pear, hourglass) it would flatter best.

Pretty cool.

This place looks fantastic! The farm is 5 minutes from Deep Creek Resort, and has a 2 story barn that can easily accommodate up to 175 people on the upper level alone. It seems like a beautiful, relaxed setting. Check out these beams:



Thanks Rachel and Josh!

Two receptions (TBD)

I had thought the Nuptial Gods were smiling at me when I found out I was living in a state where Josh and I could be married by anyone, anytime, (even ourselves!) for less than the cost of a six pack of beer.

It's pretty involved to plan a wedding one town over, let alone another one across the country. I have found weddings.about.com extremely helpful in my wedding planning.

Josh and I have been considering having two small wedding receptions: one somewhere on the East Coast (we have family and friends in New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania-- and Sydney!), and another reception in Colorado. We are hoping the two receptions will better accommodate family and friends who are not able to travel long distances.

So we are considering an East Coast wedding during our Spring Break (March 14-22), which would either be the 14th or the 21st. The Colorado wedding would be September 26th, as planned.

Love Poems that don't suck

syntax
by Maureen N. McLane
and if I were to say I love you and I do love you and I say it now and again and again would you say parataxis would you see the world revolves anew its axis you

I Heart Thead

Nice! The Scarlett dress is only $545 at Thread.

Wedding Songs

Josh and I are compiling a reception "do not play" list. It is pretty easy to eliminate such perennial DJ classics as Macarena, Electric Slide, and Baby got Back.

While the Cha Cha Slide is a definite floor-clearer, what we really want to know is: what are the songs that get you on the dance floor?

A Hinson-Leopold Thanksgiving (or Hurray for Leftovers!)

We beat our breasts. We tore our hair. We constantly checked Sidestep.com. Finally Josh and I decided we'd both stay in Colorado this weekend. Here we are, demonstrating the true spirit of Thanksgiving!:Josh is making the turkey(since he has the musket) and stuffing. I'm making butternut squash soup, pumpkin cheesecake, and sweet potatoes. We'll be taking some wine and mead to our friend, Pilgrim Colleen's, house.

Hurray for leftovers!