We're getting married March 19, 2011. I am trying to find any interesting ways to create a rustic but elegant atmosphere all DIY. Our theme is Rustic Elegance, our colors are Sapphire Blue, Chocolate Brown and Ivory, and we of course want our personalities to be throughout our entire wedding.

I got alot of my inspiration from other brides/project wedding or the knot. Please forgive me if I don't give credit when needed. If you use any of my pictures, please return the favor and give me credit as well. Thanks :D

You will notice some of my categories are private. Request to be my friend if you'd like to know more.

I just created a group called "Wedding Hairstyles" to help us brides to be to gain inspiration from one another. Click here to join: http://www.projectwedding.com/groups/boards/wedding-hairstyles

We met in August 2006 at the college we were both attending, when we took Earth Space Science together. This was the first time he had been home long enough to be in school steadily (because he's in the Airforce and he had been deployed regularly). The only reason we ended up sitting at the same lab table together is that he was supposed to meet a friend of his, who was supposed to be taking the same class. At the time we met, he was dating someone and I was seeing someone… but we became fast friends. I always thought he was extremely attractive, in fact to my friends I called him “hottie mc-hotterson!” 
 
Our class ended, and we started hanging out. At first we just hung out maybe once a week, but soon it grew to at least 3 or 4 times a week and we were always talking on the phone (which is hilarious, because we both hate the phone). As I got to know him more, I grew to fall for him even more. There were a few stumbling blocks along the way that caused me not to know if he felt the same. After about four months of hanging out, I decided I couldn’t handle it anymore and had to find out if he felt the same as I did.  We would talk practically every night over Myspace IM, and this particular night I had discussed with friends from church that I wanted/needed to know how he felt. They all encouraged me to just let the cat of the bag, and talk to him about my feelings. So I IMed him told him how I felt, and asked him how he felt about me. After he called me, so we could talk more freely, we discussed that both of us weren’t looking for a relationship or justdating but we wanted something that was going to lead to marriage. As a result, we both decided to remain friends and that we would see what happened.
 
A couple weeks later, we started dating. Almost three years in the future… after falling in love, growing together in our faith and walk with God, and becoming best friends… he proposed on January 16, 2010!!

I have to say, that this proposal was 3 years in the making... We've been through thick and thin together over those years. We've been through sickness and healing, loss and happiness, and a deployment for 6 months in Afghanistan (Sean's in the Airforce National Guard). The deployment was probably one of the hardest things we have had to go through together. But we grew so much as a couple, and it was what God used to draw us together.

Evidently months before, Sean had asked my parents for my hand in marriage. In the midst of planning to propose, I kept picking up on his scent. As a result my mom, dad and Sean prayed together that I wouldn’t be able to see what was going on and that I would be surprised when he proposed. And boy was I surprised!!! God kept my eyes shut up until the very last minute before he proposed!!!  
 
 My sister took me out for a "sister day" of practicing, lunch and walking around St. Armands Circle. She came to my house all dressed up (which I attributed to the fact, that she just wanted to look cute that day). When she was living at our house (before she got married) we as sisters always used to get dressed up and go out. We are big girly girls and enjoy dressing up for the day. So I decided to get dressed up too. For some reason, my mom and sister were fixing my hair, makeup and letting me take my sweet time in getting ready (even though it was already 2 PM and we hadn’t eaten lunch yet). After primping me, we went to lunch and then St. Armands Circle. Finally, she said she wanted to stop by the beach because she missed it lately (considering it was January and that is one of our colder months in Florida). 

We went to the beach and as we walked along the sand, I noticed some guy in a suit and noticed a violinst in the background... being the protective person that I am (remember it was 6 PM also), I thought "huh, there is a strange guy in a suit on the beach looking at me. Stay away from him!" So I started to pull my sister in the opposite direction of this strange man. Meanwhile, my sister’s trying to pull me to walk towards him. I decided we could compromise and walk in the same direction as this guy but as far away as possible. Brie kept trying to get me focus and pay attention to who this man was. Finally I noticed that it was Sean who was that guy in a suit on the beach!

I ran up to him and said, "What are you doing here?!" That's when he looked at me and said, "You know how much I love you ... and I want to spend the rest of my life with you... (which he said in the midst of him shaking from excitement and nervousness, gets down on one knee and pulls out a ring box) Will you marry me?!"

It honestly took me a second to respond, considering I was in shock. After those few long seconds passed, of course I said yes! Then I noticed Sean’s best friend pop-up from behind him with a video camera, noticed that my sister was taking photos and my Fiancee's sister was the one playing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on the violin!

Here are a few of our Engagement photos from our session with CSE Photography! Evan and Caroline are such wonderful people, and great photographers! We love our photos and the way they turned out!! :)

The first part of the session we were going for a 1920's or 40's vintage vibe and took photos downtown... Sean is a good ol' boy, and I love the 20s and 40s...

The second part we took photos in a park nearby...

I know this is a little blurry. I have been having issues with posting pictures on here :). If anyone has any ideas on how to post things better, please let me know!

I finally figured out how to post clear pictures! Yay...

<-- we plan to use a parasol as our thank you sign... since we'll have a few left over after giving them to the bridesmaids.

As I mentioned earlier, our theme is rustic. It's carried through pretty much everything... from having our church decorated in candles, browns, and shepherds hooks... to the reception site which is in an Orange Grove. I really would love to have wood signs throughout the Wedding directing people. I think that this is a really neat idea!

 I've been in love with the chalkboard idea, and just found this great DIY post:

 http://www.mydiyweddingday.com/2010/07/a-new-diy-use-for-chalkboards.html

Hair

I'm thinking of a free flowing, romantic, vintage half-updo... this is what I had in mind:

New Faves--> (I wish I could find more of these, especially since I love her makeup, but the PWer that I found these pics from had not posted where she got these)

<-- I'd like it if they could pin back my bangs like this though.

(Source)

  <-- I also love the way this bride's bangs are put back. I would want this do, half up/half down though. 

<-- I love these, they remind me of Mamma Mia bridal hair :) The only problem is I don't remember which PWers page I saw them on...

NEWEST Hair Inspiration

Source

I love the front, but the hair would be down in the back:

Source

Accessories

I just bought these adorable ivory rose pins to go in my hair:

It should go perfectly with the romantic style I'm trying to create.

MY HAIR/MU TRIAL!!!

<-- My makeup...

& the hair! <- blusher/cathedral length veil

<-- and my earrings and necklace :)

My Hair/Make Up trial are coming up this month, and I know what I want for more hair style... but I'm just now figuring out what I want for my makeup

I do know that I want my makeup:

• To look like me, and how I normally wear it
• But to be different enough that it stands out
• To look more natural
• To fit with my personality/theme
• To play up on my skin tone and my blue eyes

Here are a few pics of makeup I like:

Thanks xxashleyxx007 for finding this one-> (very neat!)

Ceremony Ideas

 Reception Decoration Ideas

<-- I like the hanging flowers in this picture.<-- this is more centerpiece decorations we're thinking for the sweet heart table.

  <-- This is the type of look for centerpeices on the guest tables except the vases will be old wine bottles. We're doing 2 single red roses in the wine bottles now as centerpieces

--> we've been collecting corks to be able to have seating assignments with this cute rustic feel.

For the sweetheart table I'm thinking of having it mostly candlelit:

Several pictures were found here.

Some of our inspiration.

Our colors are Sapphire Blue & Chocolate Brown with an accent of Ivory. So for my bouquet I am planning on having dark blue delphinium flowers with white accent orchids and roses. The girls are going to have ivory parasols.

Ex of flowers that I like for me:

For our centerpieces we plan to have brown curly branches, sapphire blue flowers, and white accent flowers (all fake) in old wine bottles that we collected. We also plan to have candles and blue petals surrounding the bottles, with real white flowers surrounding dispersed around it.

UPDATE: We are actually having 2 single red roses in clear wine bottles as the centerpieces for the guest tables, surrounded by roses petals and candles, all on a octagon mirror (to reflect light). The sweetheart table, though, will have cobalt blue wine bottles with the red roses), and floating candles in other vases surrounding it.

My FI and I are in the process of making our invitations for our Wedding. What we're finding is that it has been really hard to find proper etiquette for how to word the enclosure cards (ie. Reception, Directions, Registry and RSVP). However there seems to be wording for the invite itself all over the place. I figure there are many other brides out there trying to find the same thing for DIY invitations... so I thought I could help out by posting what I found:

• Enclosure Card Wording - http://www.invitationconsultants.com/sw-enclosures.aspx 
• Types of Enclosure Cards - http://www.foreverwed.com/Invitations/invitation%20enclosures.htm
• Wording for wedding website RSVP - http://www.betsywhite.com/WebpageWS.aspx?WebpageId=46 (in order to save money as part of the wedding website we created, our friends/family will RSVP by phone or the website).
• Helpful invitation wording - http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-invitations/articles/standard-wedding-invitation-wording-examples.aspx 

I'll post the end result of the invitations we created to give other brides ideas, when we're finished! :)

If it helps we purchased several of the DIY materials such as the pockets and invitation mounts from http://www.cardsandpockets.com/ 

WE FINISHED IT A FEW MONTHS AGO AND SENT THEM OUT, here they are:

• Find the man of my dreams! - Done 3 years & 2 months ago
  
• Dress & shoes- 1 week after he proposed
  
• Bridal jewelry
  
• Wedding band -picked out, not purchased yet purchased it! It just needs to be resized
  
• Groom's wedding band-
• BM dresses - Picked out, not ordered UPDATE: All HAVE ORDERED!
  
• Tux - All groomsmen, and FI have Tux
  
• Groomsmen tie/shirt/vest - Purhcased ohh yeah
  
• Flower girl dress - ordered
  
• Ceremony site - Our Church
  
• Officiant - Our Pastor
  
• Send order of service to officiant -
• Reception venue - Picked out in February, We're having it in an Orange Grove
  
• Rent linens - Comes with the caterer we picked
  
• Buy candles & votives - Need to paint them though
  
• Buy mirrors for centerpieces
• Buy flowers/Order from Florist -
• Caterer - Put down deposit
  
• Finalize menu and # of plates - doing it this weekend
  
• Photographer - Put down deposit
  
• Videographer -
• DJ -
• Create Wedding Website - In process
  
• Send music list to DJ - Few weeks before the wedding
  
• Finialize guest list- at least done for first wave/STD's
  
• Book room for wedding night- DONE
  
• Book Honeymoon to Tahiti - DONE :)
• BM's Parasols
• Cake - ordered :)
  
• Registry -
• Buy cheap ring bearer pillow to decorate, and flower girl basket
• Buy Cake serving set - found it at Goodwill
  
• Hair trial- SCHEDULED
  
• Order invitations & envelopes-
• Send out STD's - DONE
• Address invitations- working on it this weekend
  
• Garter- Purchased, not decorate yet
  
• BM gifts- Mostly done, still need to buy monogrammed clutches though
  
• GM gifts-
• Marriage license-
• FI gift
• Get apartment/condo (a month or so before wedding)
• Start moving things into new place

     {PAY BALANCE}

• Caterer-
• Cake-
• Florist-
• DJ-
• Photographer-
• Videographer-
• Reception venue- October (half due), December/January remainder due... final headcount 2 weeks prior.
• Ceremony musicians (pianist, violinst)
• Pastor -
• Honeymoon- Check on
  

     {DIY}

• Save the dates- DONE!
• Design/print Save the Dates
• Parents gifts-
• Bridesmaid's earrings-
• Monogram
• Centerpieces- cleaning wine bottles, making roses
  
• Monogram runner-
• Reserved signs-
• Seating Chart
• Seating cards/corks
• Thank you Parasol
• Ring bearer pillow decorations - Did just a simple Monogrammed A on top, as well as dying the pillow off-white
  
• Card basket and program basket
  
• Wooden sign for ceremony & reception, guest book, and hor de eurves - COMPLETE :)
  
• Design wedding invitations-
• Design/print rehearsal invitations- Designed not printed yet
  
• Design/print shower invitations- (mom and sister will plan/do)
  
• Programs-
• Bride & groom sweetheart table decos
  

I found this list on xxashleyxx007's biography page... it was helpful to me, so I thought it'd be helpful to everyone else.

I made edits based on what I want though:

GETTING READY

• Bride's dress on the hanger or over a chair
• Bride's dress hanging outside on a trellis or open area
• Close-up of bride's shoes
• Close-up of bride's bouquet
• Bride in curlers/getting hair done or having makeup applied
• Bridesmaids applying their makeup
• Bride putting on garter
• Mom and/or bridesmaids helping the bride arrange her dress, bustle the train, etc.
• Close-up of dress details
• Bride together with bridesmaids
• Bride hugging mom
• Bride hugging dad
• Flower girl(s) ready to go
• Mom or bridesmaids putting finishing touches on bride, adding the veil, etc.
• Bride spending moment alone, praying
  
• Bride with family
• Bride with Bridal party
• Full-length shot of bride all dressed and ready to go
• Groom
  
• Groom putting on tie
• Groom with Groomsmen
• Ring bearer ready to go
• Groom with dad, hugging
• Groom with mom
• Groom with his family
• Groom with Grooms party
• Bride and groom separately getting in the car or limo
• Bride and bridesmaids getting into limo

CEREMONY

• Groom looking ahead, waiting for the bride to arrive
• Wide shot of ceremony space from the back
• Guests arriving 
• Ushers helping grandparents and special guests to their seats
• Front and back shots of flower girl/ring bearer walking down the aisle
• Close up of details (guest book, pew decorations, etc.)
• Groom and groomsmen waiting nervously for bride to walk down aisle
• Guests sitting down, waiting for ceremony to start
• Musicians about to play and/or playing
• Bridesmaids walking down the aisle
• Wedding party standing at the altar
• Bride just before walking down the aisle
• Back shot of bride (and escort) beginning to walk down the aisle
• Full-frontal shot of bride (and escort) walking down the aisle
• Close-up of Bride's face when she sees groom for the first time
  
• Close-up of groom's face when he sees bride for the first time
• Back shot of bride and groom together at the altar with officiant between them
• Shot focusing on bridesmaids' parasols, lined up as they hold them at the altar
• Close-up of each hand as the rings are exchanged
• Close-up of bride's face, as seen over the groom's shoulder
• Close-up of groom's face, as seen over the bride's shoulder
• Shot of both sets of parents' faces as they witness ceremony
• The kiss
• Happy couple walking back down the aisle together, as married couple
• Bride and groom walking out of ceremony space, hand-in-hand
• Everyone hiding out (of fam and bridal party) waiting to take pictures
• Bride and groom & witnesses signing the marriage license

BEFORE THE RECEPTION, During the cocktail hour

At the Church

• Bride with her parents (unless done earlier)
• Bride with her entire family
• Groom with his parents (unless done earlier)
• Groom with his entire family
• Bride with groom's parents
• Groom with bride's parents
• All bridal party in church shots (with Bride and Groom)
• Formal bridal party shots
• Formal Bride & Groom shots?

Around town &/or at Mixon's

• Full shot of bride and groom together, smiling
• Full shot of bride and groom hugging
• Full shot of bride and groom kissing
• Bride being lifted or carried by groom or sitting on groom's lap
• Close-up of faces as bride is lifted, carried or sitting on groom's lap
• Bride with bridesmaids (unless done earlier)
• Groom with groomsmen (unless done earlier)
• Bride with groomsmen
• Group shot of bride, groom, and wedding party
• Groom leaning up against a wall with bride in front of him, kissing
• Bride and groom walking toward the camera, holding hands
• Bride and groom walking away from camera, holding hands
• Bride and groom looking off in the same direction together
• Bridal party jumping in the air, for joy
• Bridal party serious shots
• Bridal party funny shots
• Bride & Groom in Orange Grove
• Bride & Groom in garden
• Bride with parasol alone
• A few bridal portraits

RECEPTION

• Close-up of details (place settings, name cards, gift table, sweetheart table, cake etc.)
• Close-up of centerpieces
• Everyone coming in
• Bride and groom's first dance
• Crowd's reaction to dance
• Groom dipping bride
• Bride dancing with her dad -- close-up of her face & then his face as seen over their shoulders
• Groom dancing with his mom
• Bridal party dance
• Crowds reaction to dance
• Bride and groom hugging guests, close-ups of faces
• Best man, MOH, Best friend making a toast to the couple
• Bride and groom's faces as they listen to the toast(s)
• Guests smiling and clapping
• Guests dancing and cutting loose on the dance floor. (Tip: Ask for a slow shutter speed to get a blurry/focused effect)
• Wide shot of entire room after guests arrive, even better if taken from above
• Close-ups of guests' faces, laughing and having a great time -- lots of these
• Groups of friends sitting together at their table or dancing
• Bride and groom whispering to each other
• Parents (or even better, grandparents) dancing
• Close-up of DJ
• Bride and groom cutting the cake
• Bride and groom feeding each other
• Bride as she goes in suite to change into get-away dress
• Bride as she comes out in other dress
• close-up of new dress
• close-up of grooms face with new dress
• Recessional line as Bride & Groom leave
• Bride and groom in back seat of getaway car
• Back of car as it drives away

~ Must Have Shots! ~

Courtesy of mkuen

Courtesy of Every Last Detail

Courtesy of Lalubell

Courtesy of GoingtobeGoff

Courtesy of maymayinlove and Ken Kato

Courtesy of AnnaBannana

My FI has made no decisions of what exactly he wants his groomsmen to wear, or himself for that matter. But each of the groomsmen and my FI already own their tuxes (all of his friends just got married or are engaged, so they thought it'd be cheaper that way). So at least we have that done.

Since our colors are Sapphire Blue, Chocolate Brown, and Ivory i tried various different combos. The Ivory shirt, Ivory vest, and Ivory tie would be for my FI (his idea)... he wants to look set apart too!

The brown vest & tie is my fave for the groomsmen and ring bearer...

My Bmaids and MOH are in the process of ordering their dresses. I have 3 bmaids and 1 MOH.

I never was one for doing different dresses for the girls. I like things to match... but I fell in love with the idea of my MOH (older sister) wearing a different dress than the rest of the girls.

Both dresses are being ordered tea-length, since our wedding is in the middle of March in our hometown of Florida.

MOH dress in Cobalt Blue:

My sister/Matron of Honor in her dress (keep in mind it hasn't been altered yet)

Bmaids dresses:

One of my Bmaids in her dress (keep in mind it hasn't been altered yet):

BMAID Presents: I'm making earring for the girls that are off-white and chocolate brown. I'm thinking of getting them long off-white pearl necklaces too.

I'm loving this cake, it has similar colors and theme to ours, thanks hurleygrl35:

I also love these ideas:

This is an actual sketch of what our cake is supposed to look like:

And this for the Cake table, or just rose petals sprinkled around it:

My engagement ring Sean designed based off of a Celtic design he saw in Ireland. My Irish heritage is very important to me, so he tried to tie that in. Notice the setting, and the Celtic knots?:

We just bought our wedding bands this past weekend, here they are:

<-- Mine AND  His -->

So I'm finally uploading pictures from my second to last fitting of my Wedding Dress!!!

I got it a week after we were engaged, and knew as soon as I put it on that it was the dress for me!

The front of the dress:

The back of the dress with it bustled:

My dress from the back with my train down, and cathedral length veil:

From the front, with the veils... don't know what I'm doing with my hands ha:

Here are some pics from my Bachelorette Party!! Oh and yes, I do have a boy at my Bachelorette party! He's one of my best friends... so I had to. :D

My wedding day was better than I could've ever imagined! It was all I hoped it would be and more. I have never felt so happy and in love as that moment in my life. All my husband's and my praying came through to make a magnificent wedding day and honeymoon. I am so thankful for all I have been blessed with.

Here are some photos from our wedding day! 

Note: If you use any of my wedding photos, please include a link and give me credit as well as our photographers (CSE Photography).

Here are a few getting ready shots:

 <-- my mom and sister helping get ready

 <-- My dad and mom

Ceremony

 <-- signs my mom and I handmade <-- My husand and his family.

 <-- pillow I jazzed up from goodwill

 <-- parasols I bought from oriental trade post online, and attached lace to every one.

 <-- my DH face as I walk down the aisle. He was crying!!

Reception