Decor Galore

I know that food, photography, and music all play a big part in making a wedding a success but there is no doubt that my wedding forte is decor.  I want my wedding decor to be unique with a shabby chic twist.  

Our ceremony is going to take place at my church, First Evan.  The sanctuary is perfectly beautiful in my eyes.  It is not over the top ornate or fancy, but it has a clean and traditional beauty to it that I absolutely love for a wedding.  In my quest to have some different decor than the usual, I have decided to use a collection of lanterns perched on the stage's half-walls to bring a unique flair to the ceremony.  I plan to fill these lanterns with tall white pillar candles and have some type of small flower arrangements placed between groupings of lanterns to add color to the backdrop.

What do you think of my collection so far? Lucky for me I spotted these beauties just about everywhere I have chosen to shop lately.  I got most of them for a GREAT deal at my local Marshalls and TJ Maxx.  Two were purchased from Target on clearance, and my mom and I splurged on a couple beautiful ones at Sheffield's antique mall that we will take home to our own homes after the wedding! I am super pleased with my finds and can't wait to see how it will come together! (hopefully it will turn out how I envision it in my head)

I'm still contemplating ideas for the decor that we will stand in front of on the stage. I have considered getting two small trees to flank on either side of us and hang small glass votives with candles from the branches.  I think it adds a little bit of rusticness and the outdoors to the ceremony.  If that idea fails I have also seen beautiful large iron fixtures that could flank us with a large array of beautiful flowers cascading over the sides.  I wish I had a picture to describe this idea but I don't.  I just don't really like the idea of a flower arbor.  I know they can be pretty but it's not my exact style and I feel like it would cost way to much and go to waste.  At least the trees and standing iron fixtures could be used at our house right?! haha too many decisions.

I have also started purchasing glass bottles of all different shapes and sizes.  Some old, some new, but all are so uniquely beautiful and I can put them to good use in my home after the wedding.  Why do I need glass bottles and vases? Well...I want to use these for centerpieces at the reception! During my nightly overview of wedding blogs, I have been so inspired by crafty and shabby chic weddings.  I am not particularly impressed by large, fancy flower arrangements.  Instead, I love the simpleness of a few pretty flowers arranged in unique bottles.  

 

Aren't these so cute?! I love this inspirational picture!

Here is part of my collection so far! What do you think? See what I mean about how each one is unique in its own?  I have some old milk bottles, a few beautiful ones with lots of details, and the two small glasses on the left are made of recycled glass. (I'm even being "green") I have a set of 8 of them that I purchased super cheap at TJ Maxx.  Some people are intimidated by these stores and think they have nothing but crap but trust me, if you are patient and enjoy searching, you can find some GREAT deals! 

I originally thought of asking a good friend of mine who sews to help me make some table runners for the reception tables.  I envisioned pale pink and seafoam fabric running down the middle of the round tables then on the ends that hung off, I wanted to try adding a ruffled edge made out of a fun printed fabric.  Sounds cute and girly right? But the more I got to thinking about it, it was going to be more of a hassle than anything and end up costing more than I want to spend just on some table runners.  Now I'm turning to ever-so-reliable burlap to do the trick.  I love burlap.  If you can't tell from the picture we already have burlap running the length of our kitchen table and our dinning room table is also covered by it.  I love the rustic, casual, and homey (sp) feel it adds to any decor.  Thus I plan to either cut burlap runners or use large burlap squares to place under my flower arrangements.  This way, the bright flowers will stand out as well and won't be competing against the colored runners.  Not to mention, it will be a cheaper and easier alternative as no sewing is required :)

For now I will leave you with that.  I can't wait to post about my project I am starting tonight. 

Hint: it involves ribbon...my favorite!

Piece by Piece

Things are slowly starting to come together...piece by piece. We do have a long road ahead. We hit the "one year 'til" mark last week and are sitting at 355 days until our wedding! Yay! I can't wait to watch that number get smaller and smaller.

Church and reception are booked. Decorating plans are floating around in my head like crazy. Some decoration pieces have already been purchased (pictures and update on that to come). The guest list is being constructed. It is all starting to feel so real. Wedding planning is definitely a process.  I'm glad that I have plenty of time to enjoy and not stress.  I'm also glad that I have a good idea of what I want...it's just a matter of execution, which I learned how to do well back in high school (cheerleading days). 

I honestly just can't wait to see how it all comes together! I'm so very excited and can't wait to put all the special little touches on my big day.  I believe it's the little details that make the biggest difference and I'm really looking forward to crafting my way through the process. 

I love that Michael actually likes to listen to my ideas for our day.  Even if he doesn't care, the simple fact that he will listen to me go on and on about it helps me enjoy each minute even more.  Though he gave me the reigns on this event, I want him to be a part of it and enjoy it just as much as I am. 

In other news, I started my wedding workout today.  Back to P90X.  I'm ashamed to say I haven't worked out in months...yet thankful I haven't gained any weight.  I'm just WAY out of shape.  I can already tell I'm going to be a sore mess.  Another goal of mine is to cut back on my major Diet Coke addiction...it's bad. I'm a visual person and love check lists, so I'm currently considering making a cute checklist to ensure I drink "x" amount of water bottles per day.  At my current state I'm lucky to get one bottle in.  Yet, I manage to drink 3 or more diet cokes a day.  Oops...

I keep a couple special verses written on notes in my momAgenda and today I will leave you with this simple but sweet one...

"I found the one my heart loves." Song of Solomon 3:4

I definitely found the one my heart loves and can't wait to spend my life loving him. 

Inspiration

Being newly engaged, I've had fun searching all kinds of help sites and finding inspiration from various pictures on the internet.  I made an inspiration board through The Knot's website that houses a few pictures that give somewhat of a feel as to what I want my wedding to be like. 

As you can somewhat tell, I have decided on seafoam green and pale pink as my color scheme.  I want people to walk into my wedding and immediately think "this is soo Candace."  I am a very creative and crafty individual and I want that to show in all the details of my wedding day. 

Another big thing happened today! I'm almost 99% positive that I have decided on a reception site.  I visited one venue this morning that I loved in pictures but seeing it in real life I realized that it was just not big enough for all of the guests.  I left the facility bummed out and clueless as to where in town I could find a site that had the feel that I wanted for my wedding.  I proceeded to just walk through another place that I have heard houses pretty receptions and chanced upon talking to someone about using the facility for the event.  Walking through, it hit me that this place was unknowingly what I was searching for.  It has charm, beauty, and rustic uniqueness that will complement the evening perfectly.

With that said I hope to book Memphis Waterworks soon for my wedding reception next June! I feel so relieved that I am so happy with the site and things are finally starting to really come together.  I'm starting to envision exactly how my wedding day will be and I absolutely love it! I'm continually seeking inspiration and can't wait for all the little details to shine through on the big day!

I said "YES"

I have wanted to start a blog for some time now.  Yet, I was hesitant because sadly enough, I couldn't come up with an acceptable title.  Silly I know, but then one day it came to me...Becoming Mrs.  But, I still couldn't start the blog because I wasn't quite at a milestone to becoming an actual Mrs.  I have always dreamed of the day I will become a Mrs.  As a little girl I was fascinated by the fact that God already had my future husband picked out and that he was molding and growing him into the man I would fall in love with.  I guess I was somewhat of a deep thinker and an innocent dreamer at my young age.  I can remember going to bed at nights and praying to God to keep my boy (whoever he may be) safe and to help him grow to love the Lord. 

A little over two years ago I met that boy that I had prayed for all my life. 

My Michael (as I love to call him) has shown me that true love really does exist.  Our paths crossed at a time in our lives when neither one of us was looking for love, yet it found us.  I knew early on that something was different with Michael.  We really seemed to fit together.  Based on first perceptions, friends would say that we were nothing alike and probably wouldn't last.  Little did they know that me and Michael shared more commonalities than anyone could imagine.  Over the past two years our relationship has really taken on roots and grown into something beautiful. 

I'm happy to announce that on May 7, 2011 my Michael got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!! Of course I said YES! I'm officially on the road to becoming the Mrs. I have always dreamed about so I find it acceptable that I can now officially start my blog.  I hope to use this as a place to document my venture into wedding planning, marriage, and my future with the one God has given me to love. 

I can't wait to become Michael's Mrs.