Since this is my first entry, I thought I'd give a little information on our little family since we've lived together for almost 4 years now (can't believe that!).

We have two *babies* who are absolutely gorgeous! Our first baby is Zoey who is a spunky little rat terrier and our second is Sieko who is a gigantic sweetheart. They're probably the most spoiled dogs in the world haha. Don't know what we would do without them. :) Just gotta show them off a bit!

I LOVE our wedding venue! It's the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia in Virginia Beach and I highly recommend it. I want an "enchanted forest" vibe for the wedding, so the trees growing out of the floor and the whole wall of windows are just perfect. Ideally I'd have liked the ceremony outside, but Virginia in July is NOT outdoor friendly...hot, humid, and sticky. Definitely not happening. So this is the next best thing. Cocktail hour is in the adjoining Rodriguez Pavilion while the ceremony room is switched over to the reception. Can't wait!

Check out the Rodriguez Pavilion! The blown glass Dale Chihuly chandelier is so different. Perfect for the cocktail hour.

Just add some lighting and the atrium turns into a starry-night wonderland. We're going with purple uplighting like in the first picture.

After 5 stores, many miles and probably trying on over 30 dresses, I FINALLY found the one (to the relief of my poor mom, who was mostly very patient). I knew exactly what I wanted but I just couldn't seem to find it. I wanted something slim-fitting and streamlined with no big poofing or tulle. Most girls always dream of looking like a princess...but that was just never quite me. I've always drempt of looking like a goddess. With the long wavy hair, dramatically natural makeup, and that whole ethereal feel. And yes I am a HUGE fan of fantasy and sci-fi haha. So that's my dream, and here's my dream dress to go with it! It's shown in ivory but I ordered it in white. And luckily my Maid of Honor and cousin is lending me her veil for my "something borrowed" which goes perfectly.

James Clifford j1825 from Jingles Bridal Salon in Richmond, VA.

If it's possible, I was even more picky picking out my engagement ring than my dress. What can I say? I know what I like! And my FI was so incredibly patient going to about 6 different jewelry stores, even I wanted to smack myself for being so indecisive.

So we ended up going all the way to Quest Jewelers in Fairfax, VA. They apparantly are the only carriers of Calla by Nelson in the surrounding area. I was really interested in a certain setting, but I wanted it tweaked a bit to include some surprise diamonds and have a tad bit bigger center stone. So they were kind enough to draw me up a custom design and it's just what I was looking for.

The wedding band is going to be a micropave band of the tiniest diamonds and sit flush up next to the engagement ring (kind of like in the pic). Goodman and Sons Jewelers in Hampton, VA is doing both me and my FI's bands. His should be coming in soon...it's a white gold and sterling mokume gane band with 3 sapphires. It looks like this picture except the mokume gane goes all the way around. It's so unique. I'll update as soon as the final ones are done!

So after many different mock-ups and experiments I decided on my first centerpiece. Yay! This will go on half the tables. The ghostwood is from Blooms and Branches and it was the most reasonable place I could find online to order from. At $15.00 for an 18" branch it's really not bad. My plum purple tablecloths are from www.cvlinens.com, and ironically it was actually cheaper for me to buy them instead of renting. I think it turned out really well!

Not too shabby, right?

The bridesmaid dresses were actually more difficult to decide on. Given the many different body types, I was really trying to find something that everyone would be happy with. After debating about short vs. long for months I finally settled on long to keep up the whimsical feel and to make all the girls comfortable. The dress is from Maya Couture in Norfolk, VA and the dress is Impression Bridals style 1775 in eggplant (the middle one).

I'd like to give a HUGE shoutout to my fantastic photographer, Mrs. Andi Grant (www.andigrantphotography.com). I've always wanted to do a whimsical "fairy-ish" theme for photos, so here they are! I think they turned out great. We're also going to do a more traditional and casual shoot to keep my mom happy, which I totally don't mind. More pictures :) For our guest book we're doing a coffee table book of our pictures with space for the guests to sign, so the more different types of pictures we have the better.

I also want to thank the fabulous Lindsey Hocker at Simply Perfect Events for helping with the design and hair/makeup for the woodsy ones.

So I've narrowed it down to three cakes that I LOVE. There are things I like about each one but I just don't know which direction to go. Do I go more abstract and artsy to complement the art museum venue? Or do I go more earthy and natural to complement my overall theme? Here are my three choices. The FI likes the first one so we'll probably go that route so he has some input.

Some of the pictures that I look at quite often for my inspiration...if only there were an unlimited budget!

Colors: Eggplant purple, silver, white and bringing in green only with the natural elements

I'm so excited about the flowers, they're exactly what I want! I wanted all different mixes of purple flowers for mine, so it will look like these...

.

And I want this exact bouquet for the bridesmaids: mini white calla lillies surrounded by small purple filler flowers. The ones we get will be more of a deep purple though. The bridesmaids dresses are about the same color shown in the picture.

For the guys we debated about even doing boutonnieres since I think pocket squares look so much cleaner. But my mom informed me we had to have them so we picked something contemporary and small. These orchids are super tiny so it's just a little something. I actually really love this.