Palette Decisions

For some time now, before I even got engaged (one of the few things I'd thought about), I knew I wanted green as one of my wedding colors. A nice, dusty, sage green. Not Forrest or Kelly. However, choosing complementary tones to go with it has been more challenging then I originally anticipated.

I found a wonderful site, Colour Lovers, that allows you to use Hex code to create a pretty much infinite array of color combination. You can also source your palettes from photos or just about any image on the net, so if you really want the color of that flower in the photo, or the exact tone of the bay of that tropical island, it will match the tones more or less perfectly.

I had been playing with things, and not taking anything too terribly seriously, but now I am in the process of trying to make mock ups of invitations. Which means that I have to make a decision!!

Luke and I originally decided on the green, with pink and brown (and white/ivory of course) accents, for the simple reason that pink flowers are abundant and easy to find. But my dad, who is a very fashionable, artistic man with an eye for color, suggested we consider maroon or burgundy. So of course I went back to Colour Lovers and made yet another palette. So without further ado, here are a few of the things I've been looking at. Any opinions? Mix and match?


Color by COLOURlovers
This palette is based on the colors from David's Bridal's bridesmaids dresses.

Color by COLOURlovers
This is a little more intense with the pigment

Color by COLOURlovers
My first go using Maroon instead of pink. Though whoever 'created' this maroon called it tropical fuchsia.

Color by COLOURlovers
A second try, more of a Burgundy perhaps?

Which do you think looks best for a July wedding, amongst fir trees?
Coming soon, invitations and location news!

Jewelry

As of yet I haven't thought to much about jewelry for the wedding. My friend Hillary, who works at a bead shop has offered to make jewelry for me at cost, and I hadn't thought more about it except that I think I want pearls.

I love my engagement ring.

Simple and a bit unusual. The stone is nearly flush in the setting.
We planned on getting bands, but I hadn't really thought about it until I came across this site. www.greenkarat.com

They provide ecologically and socially responsible jewelry using recycled metals, they are a Fair Trade company, are opposed to diamond mining and in general focus on business that is good for the whole world. So in addition to being an awesome company, they have these lovely, simple band, for only $200 (compared to the $800 bands we looked at when I got my engagement ring).

Definitely a good decision, economically and socially!

Flowers, alternatives?

Wedding flowers totally kill me. I have the hardest time understanding why they are so expensive. I mean nearly $200 for a bridal bouquet? It is definitely an aspect that's price is inflated because of the societal insistence and emphasis on them. I've looked into alternatives a little bit. But alternatives either don't speak to me very much, or are just as expensive. Ribbon,Crochet,Glass,Buttons.

So I was pretty excited when I came across this idea over on Cup Of Joe. Buying supermarket bouquets, but then taking them apart and putting them back together in a more aesthetic and careful manner. I love it. Now I might opt for farmers market, rather then supermarket, but either way, I should be able to do all the flowers for less then $100!

I should have know the original article is from Real Simple, pretty much my new favorite magazine.

A wedding (and life) of our very own.

I am one almost one month out from my engagement, and 621 days from our July 31, 2010 wedding. As the details come crashing down, and since the actual date is so far out, I need a place to organize my thoughts, without burdening all my friends with endless wedding blathering. So I created this blog in which to do it.

We're on a small budget, less the $10,000, though nothing is set in stone. We have a huge guest list (over 200 right now). We're DIY type of people, and since we have so much time to plan, we hope to do a lot of stuff ourselves. Well, here goes.