a few details

if you've spent any time perusing the wedding blogosphere you may be familiar with snippet and ink and kathryn's lovely inspirations boards. seriously i could spend all day dreaming up different weddings for us to have....swanky city bash, modern loft, traditional ballroom...the possibilities are endless! we have chosen may 1 as THE DAY for a few reasons but the main one is because i love the kentucky derby! we didn't want to do a full on theme wedding but i hope to have some subtle bluegrass influences on the day.

our reception is being held in renovated barn. it was donated to the township where we live by a generous family. they disassembled the barn piece by piece and reassembled it. since it's so close to our house we got to watch it being rebuilt from the ground up.

our menu has been a bit of a challenge. i wanted really good food from day one. i also wanted a sit down dinner. the budget is tight and i had to give up my dream of sit down meal but the food is awesome! some of treats we'll offer the guests-shrimp and grits and sweet potato fries with aoili dipping sauce for cocktail hour-chicken with bourbon bbq glaze, biscuits and honey for dinner and my favorites-chocolate chip pecan cookies(a twist on derby pie)with a shot glass of milk during the dance party, vodka spiked lemonade(since mint juleps are an acquired taste) and red velvet donuts as our favors. i'm hungry just thinking about it:D

these three boards are the ones i've been carrying around with me. i want to feel like a cross between a jazzy/bluesey al fresco dinner party and a backyard barbeque. does that make sense? hydrangea are my favorite flowers so we decided to go with pale blue, creamy white, linen and a touch of black as an accent for the colors. i've been second guessing them but since his mom bought a blue dress to wear i think it may too late to change my mind. style wise we are going for modern country with a dash of anthropologie. if we get anywhere close to that i'll be a happy bride!

and now THE DRESS....i really thought i wanted more of a ballgown or a somewhat of an a-line dress. something floaty and airy and sweet. then i worried that an over 30 bride with her kids in the wedding party my look absurd in a s*&t load of tulle. then i said to hell with it wear what you want. i finally realized that feeling(a little bit sweet and romantic) i wanted didn't necessarily mean ball gown. i tried on a lace dress that i thought might be the one but i felt like a tablecloth. i tried on dresses my friends said were sexy. i don't really consider myself a "sexy" girl and i'm not sure how i feel about being described as "sexy" on my wedding day. and then i saw this. fit my description as modern with a little bit vintage. i'm in love! i can't wait to wear it!!

above images taken from snippet and ink: dress picture taken from the alvina valenta website