Feeling a bit lost

[House Cat]

Everything I read about wedding planning states that you should allow your and your FI''s personality to shine through in your wedding. The problem is that none of this wedding "stuff" feels like us. How does prancing around in a big white dress, while FI wears a tux, being the center of attention, having photographers snap photos of us all day, equates to being ourselves? I have to be honest here, I''m feeling lost, almost swallowed up in a sea of expectations of what I should be and what my wedding should be. I really have no idea of how to personalize the day.

Please don''t be offended...but I see so many weddings and the only thing that seems to change are the flowers, the linen colors, and the favors. The other little details? I think only other brides notice these things. Am I wrong? Or have I read too many blogs?

I''m really not articulating this well and I''ve been trying to write this for a week. I''m really just a down to earth, jeans and a t-shirt kind of girl. FI, really a jeans and a t-shirt kinda guy. I don''t want to spend the day pretending we''re something we''re not. I do understand we should dress up for the day, don''t get me wrong, I just don''t know how to make this day say "Mr. and Mrs. House cat."

I feel like this is a very deep and meaningful day that I have waited for 34 years to happen. I want to proclaim that in some way. I just don''t know how to get that across yet.

Does anyone feel this way? Am I overthinking things? How are you personalizing your day?

Thanks for listening...

 

[neatfreak]

So why the need to have a big traditional wedding? Have a BBQ or get married at a beautiful barn and have a square dance! No one says that you have to have a big white dress in a hotel ballroom with roses on the tables and chicken for dinner ya know?

We got married in a park, followed by a delicious lunch with a beautiful view of the golden gate bridge and then took all our guests (we had around 30) for a ride over the GG bridge and around SF in a cable car we had rented. It was a blast and we don't regret it for a second that we didn't have a "traditional" wedding.

 

[packrat]

Ditto Neatfreak! There''s no laws stating how a wedding *has* to be! You can absolutely do what Neat suggested-that''s *how* you let your personality shine thru! We are not a family that is really formal, by any means-we''re super laid back jeans and flip flops kinda people. Think about what''s important to you, and go from there..maybe elope, get married on the beach? In a park? I bet if you step back and take a breather, when you come back and start thinking what makes you, you, you''ll come up w/some great ideas!

 

[Smurfysmiles]

Ditto to what neatfreak said!

and neat- what a cool wedding, did you ever post pictures?

 

[CNOS128]

Absolutely do what you want.

There was even an article in the NYTimes yesterday about how all the cool kids are having more casual, "down-home" weddings. Link!

Chances are, if you plan something that in keeping with your personalities that you''ll love, your guests will be more happy and comfortable as well -- eve (or especially) if it''s not the most formal affair.

Good luck!!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I hear you, I''m not hugely into traditional, ballroom weddings either.

My FI and I started with what traditions we cared about. He is Catholic, and so wanted a catholic mass wedding in his childhood church, so the ceremony was basically settled. And I wanted a small wedding to keep thing cozy and intimate, and we agreed on that early on as well.

I had my dress made, the design was inspired by stories my dad used to tell me as a kid to make me feel pretty. It''s a really old style of chinese gown. I decided to have the reception in a chinese restaurant because 1) I love chinese food (and a 9 course banquet sounded awesomely fun) 2)it''s easier because I don''t need to decorate/rent anything. And we''re not having any first dances, but we are going to have karaoke because we both love singing and being silly. I also have a short reception dress and flip flops to wear because I don''t want to be in a long dress all day.

And it was a lot of fun personalizing the little things. I painted caketoppers of us dressed in our martial arts uniforms because it''s how we met, I got poker keychains for the guys as favors because my guy loves to play poker, etc.

It can be fun. Just sit down with the fiance, have some wine, and think about what your ideal wedding would be. Big or small? Formal or casual? Your hometown or elsewhere? No rules, anything goes!

 

[House Cat]

Date: 6/17/2009 7:47:52 PM
Author: neatfreak
So why the need to have a big traditional wedding? Have a BBQ or get married at a beautiful barn and have a square dance! No one says that you have to have a big white dress in a hotel ballroom with roses on the tables and chicken for dinner ya know?

We got married in a park, followed by a delicious lunch with a beautiful view of the golden gate bridge and then took all our guests (we had around 30) for a ride over the GG bridge and around SF in a cable car we had rented. It was a blast and we don't regret it for a second that we didn't have a 'traditional' wedding.

Neatfreak,

I really love the photos of your wedding. It's one of my fav. PS weddings of all time.

I'm kind of stuck with the venue at this point because the deposit has been paid. It isn't a fancy ballroom, just an old victorian. I love all things vintage, so that's one thing.

I guess it's where to go from here..this is what I'm trying to figure out. The venue is all inclusive and that makes things easy, but it also makes things sort of cookie cutter. This is, maybe, where I went all wrong, in the way of individuality.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 6/17/2009 8:28:11 PM
Author: House Cat

Date: 6/17/2009 7:47:52 PM

Author: neatfreak

So why the need to have a big traditional wedding? Have a BBQ or get married at a beautiful barn and have a square dance! No one says that you have to have a big white dress in a hotel ballroom with roses on the tables and chicken for dinner ya know?


We got married in a park, followed by a delicious lunch with a beautiful view of the golden gate bridge and then took all our guests (we had around 30) for a ride over the GG bridge and around SF in a cable car we had rented. It was a blast and we don''t regret it for a second that we didn''t have a ''traditional'' wedding.

Neatfreak,


I really love the photos of your wedding. It''s one of my fav. PS weddings of all time.


I''m kind of stuck with the venue at this point because the deposit has been paid. It isn''t a fancy ballroom, just an old victorian. I love all things vintage, so that''s one thing.


I guess it''s where to go from here..this is what I''m trying to figure out. The venue is all inclusive and that makes things easy, but it also makes things sort of cookie cutter. This is, maybe, where I went all wrong, in the way of individuality.

Well thanks HC. I do highly recommend the route we took to anyone who is interested!

Anyway-I think a vintage house sounds gorgeous. There are many things you can do to personalize a wedding. What types of things WOULD people say "Oh that is SO House Cat and Mr. House Cat!!!"? Are there special drinks? Activities? Types of music? Games to play?

Sit down and write down in an ideal world what you would want for your wedding. Then go from there and see which of those things you can make happen with the constraints you have now.

 

[galvana]

i dont think you are rethinking things at all. i think you should do exactly what makes you and FI comfortable.
you dont need to prance around in a white dress and he in a tux if that isn''t you. Its YOUR day, do what you both want.

If wearing nice jeans and a cute tee are what you both want, then do it. You definitly dont want to look back on the day and see two people that aren''t who you 2 really are.

you can make it whatever you want..............enjoy and be yourselves.

 

[Squirrly]

i''m a jeans and t girl too, and M dresses nicer than me sometimes, but he loves his jeans and flip flops. i really didn''t care much for the idea of wearing a big white dress, much less being the center of attention, but then i found a dress i loved online, and ended up finding something similar here, and i felt pretty which isn''t something i feel all too often. the ceremony will be formal (Catholic) but the reception will just seem like a big party with all of our friends, sort of our last hurrah with everyone before we all scatter all over the country again.
there are so many dress options with so many levels of formality, i''m sure you''ll find something that fits your personality. and although depending on what style of ceremony you end up with, it might not be the most customizable, the music certainly is. the when and where are very personal as well. something that helps me out, both financially and mentally, is that my friends are gifted in varying ways and they are helping with different aspects of the whole ordeal which makes everything more special to me.

one of my friends really loves disney princesses, so she arrived to their outdoor ceremony in a horse drawn carriage that was a version of cinderella''s carriage (even the guys recognized it, though they wouldn''t admit it later).

another friend had her wedding party enter the reception wearing sunglasses and just generally acting silly (the maid of honor was carried piggy back by the best man)

at my aunt mickey''s wedding all of us in the bridal party got mickey mouse ears for the reception and rode there in a trolley.

two of my friends entered their reception to the theme from star wars. and we had light-saber duels using the butter knives.

if you can dream it up, it can be done.

 

[packrat]

Squirrly, your friends w/the Star Wars theme..that makes me giggle! I have the music in my head now tho.

 

[cocolaw]

old victorian house and you love all things vintage!? sounds perfect! you should head over to stylemepretty for some amazing ideas! they have an entire thread on vintage weddings http://www.stylemepretty.com/category/real-weddings/vintage-chic/

but so many of the pages have ideas and designs that could go with a vintage theme. you can def. make this wedding you..it does not have to be a big generic wedding.

 

[cocolaw]

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/04/03/real-wedding-angie-and-brett-vi/

just look at how beautiful a long sit down table can be in an old home! gorgeous!

 

[jstarfireb]

I didn''t want a big/fancy wedding either, but my parents were paying, and my mom always gets what she wants. So instead of my nice little 50-75 guest wedding, I had 125. I wanted a sleek sheath/trumpet dress and ended up with a full A-line because of my mom''s influence. And instead of a unique, swanky urban venue like I wanted (either that or a beach wedding), I had to have it in my hometown...the venue was beautiful, but a little generic.

My point here is to say that sometimes family issues and other things force you to include some aspects that aren''t really "you." So it''s not always easy to follow some of the suggestions in this thread. But you can still personalize it and make it your own. Despite the fact that some parts of my wedding weren''t what I would have chosen, I managed to personalize a lot of what was important to me:

-Ceremony: I wrote the entire ceremony, chose the musical playlist (completely hammered dulcimer, an instrument I play), and had my friends be the officiant, readers, and soloist. This was important especially because I wanted a secular, multicultural ceremony. I used readings and a song from an ancient Chinese text, a Lebanese poet, a Hebrew folk song, and an Irish playwright. We used wedding vows that I pieced together from suggestions I found online (neither of us wanted to write our own, but we didn''t want to say traditional vows either, so I made ones that worked for us). Upon exchanging rings (after we said the made-up vows), we used the Unitarian wedding vow: "With this ring, I wed you, and pledge you my love, now and forever." I''m a proud Unitarian Universalist, so that was important to me.

-Decorations: I wanted minimal flowers (limited to bouquets and corsages/bouts only - no floral centerpieces), and I picked out beautifully simple candle centerpieces. The bouquets were very simple but really unique.

-Cake topper: I found figurines of Mario and Princess Peach on ebay and used them as our cake topper. The cake itself can be a great form of self-expression too - I matched it to the theme of the wedding, but you can do whatever you want!

-Dress: I had my dress altered into a halter top, which changed the whole look of the dress. It went from a generic David''s Bridal dress that anyone could buy to a one-of-a-kind "Jstar Design."

-Stationery: I designed the programs myself and used a DIY kit for the invitations. It was really nice to be able to use the exact wording I wanted.

Anyway, these are just a few examples of how I made the wedding reflect who I am, despite having a lot of constraints on what I could plan. The little things count a lot. It''s not just other brides who notice...many people commented on the beauty of my ceremony, decorations, and dress, as well as the fun cake toppers. Good luck!

 

[CNYHopeful]

House Cat, you are certainly not alone in this regard. Until recently, I felt a certain fear of "a cookie cutter wedding" and struggled with how to personalize it. A couple of thoughts:

1) Ultimately, it''s the people who really make a wedding. It''s the interaction, conversations, and quiet memorable moments that people will remember most. Simply by sharing the day with those nearest and dearest to both of you will make it YOU!

2) FI and I decided last night that we''d incorporate 2 things important to us into the reception: music & travel. We are using lyrics from our favorite love songs with the favor tags and places we hope to travel together will be written on the Table Cards. So instead of just having table "1", it''ll be table "New Mexico" and "Rome, Italy", etc. Also, we''re asking FFIL, who''s an amazing artist, to design a monogram for our place cards, invites, so it''s more personal etc.

3) Our Catholic wedding is especially important to both of us so we plan on being very involved in the planning process (readings, music, extra rites, etc.). Our friends are doing the music so it will be extra special. The priest presiding is a good friend of ours so that eases some of that concern.

 

[katamari]

I totally hear you, House Cat! The wedding industry has a strongly vested interest in making things as cookie cutter as possible, and it does make personalizing your wedding difficult. Some PPs have some cool examples, but even some of the weddings so heralded as personalized on other blogs, to me, also just look like the same ''ole run-of-the-mill wedding. I am hoping that is just because I wasn''t there to "feel" how it was different.

As one recent horror story, I went to a wedding last month were there were multiple reception sites in the same venue. I had agreed to help carry the gifts from the gift table to the groom''s parents'' room and, in the path, walked past the two other reception sites with the other helpers. The DJs were literally playing the same song at one point at ALL THREE WEDDINGS (3 different DJs), and we heard them all play one song, but at different times on top of this, in the, like, 15 minutes it took us to walk the gifts through the hotel. Yikes!

We are trying to fight it as much as possible. We are giving beer as our favor (FI is from a family of brewers), we are having a pub quiz and a ton of games (including a Wii station, but this was inspired by Violet02), our invites are completely un-wedding-y, we are DIYing almost everything, NO flowers (not one) and I think it will be the little things like this that satisfy us. Will our guests notice? Probably not. But it will make us feel better.

Hopefully you and Mr. House Cat will find something! I encourage you to fight the wedding complex as much as possible!

 

[merrymunky]

I understand exactly how you feel. Both my fiance and I live in jeans, t shirts, skate shoes...alternative stylings too. So a white wedding seemed rather daunting. To the point we were going to plan something completely unique and I was going to wear red and black etc.

However, we are having a proper wedding. Not a huge one...it is a registry office (albeit a beautiful big room in a beautiful and historic building), followed by a reception in an intimate pub function room. There willl be no more than 50 people at the ceremony and reception, with about 40 more people hopefully attending the evening celebration.

We are making siure we feel as comfortable as possible. I am adding my red and black touches in my flowers, shoes, decor etc. He is going to be wearing skate shoes with a funkier take on a suit. Slim fit pinstripe trousers, cream shirt, red tie and fitted waistcoat, with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up. No stiffness or pomp for him.

We are creating our own playlist for the evening to refelct our tastes. Every wedding we have been to has been full of cheese. Since we are into rock/alternative/indie music, those sgenres will feature heavily in our music for the night. We will provide cheese for people too though as we do not wish to alienate anyone.

There are ways around it.

Or like others said, why not just have a very small intimate wedding with a barbeque, picnic or something for the celebration?

 

[honey22]

Ditto the ever eloquent Neat!

This day is about the two of you, you don''t have to wear a big white dress, your FI a tux and having a photog follow you around all day! Not at all!

How about eloping? A quite destination wedding on the beach? At the snowfields? On a boat? The list is endless. Find something you and your FI love and work from there.

Don''t get pushed into having a wedding that just isn''t you! My FI and I are having our dream wedding - a romantic, intimate wedding in the tropics with only 16 guests. We could not imagine anything more perfect. You guys will find something that feels right, don''t worry!

Let us know what you decide! We are always here to help!!!

 

[Patchee]

Dear House Cat:

You and I are one in the same

and with that, I totally understand how you and your FI feel towards all the "unnatural" wedding hoopla when it just does not fit into your normal self being/lifestyle.

Your wedding is your wedding to make what you want out of. You do not have to get all crazy snazzed up for the event, you do not have to have the conveyor belt line of the photographer, DJ etc. pushing you through your wedding - afterall, you want to remember it, remember how your FI looked in his tux but you want to remember the laid back, ultimate FUN of it all too.

Here is what I did for my wedding.

It is at my house, outside under tents. I have a DJ who is ONLY playing a huge song list we gave him. There will be no introductions (everyone knows us anyway) the DJ will not be pushing along with dancing or cake cutting - he is just playing music we want!!

I am having a caterer with no waitstaff or bartender, simple cut and dry with good food. I went and bought a ton of liquor (my grandmother is excited to be my bartender)

My photographer is a close friend on mine. She knows who is who and what pics of what people to take so we won't have that 'stand here/move there/who is that person - this person" crazy stuff!

I am wearing a beautiful wedding dress, however, it was a long dress with "too much" to it. So I made it T- Length and for shoes I got a pair of sworvski crystal flip flops! My hair is getting done (funny story: I went for a pre-up do the other day, it was all curls and back in twists, when I got home FI says - you cannot wear your hair like that, you look like Princess Laya, I want to marry you, not Princess Laya)

Yes, I did a cake - with a humorus Ball n' Chain cake topper!

I did the favor thing and decorations etc. but no crazy fancy invitations, or seating chart, out of town guest bags, ring pillow, garter - this stuff is just NOT me or my FI so even tho we are wearing a dress and a tux we contoured the reception it self to shine though with our personalities and kept our attire simple, which represents who we are.

I had the same issue early on and then I said Heck, we can make OUR wedding truly ours by doing things out of the ordinary, usual, typical wedding ettiquet and that's what it will be - "Different - but that's Us"

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 6/17/2009 8:28:11 PM
Author: House Cat

Date: 6/17/2009 7:47:52 PM

Author: neatfreak

So why the need to have a big traditional wedding? Have a BBQ or get married at a beautiful barn and have a square dance! No one says that you have to have a big white dress in a hotel ballroom with roses on the tables and chicken for dinner ya know?


We got married in a park, followed by a delicious lunch with a beautiful view of the golden gate bridge and then took all our guests (we had around 30) for a ride over the GG bridge and around SF in a cable car we had rented. It was a blast and we don''t regret it for a second that we didn''t have a ''traditional'' wedding.

Neatfreak,


I really love the photos of your wedding. It''s one of my fav. PS weddings of all time.


I''m kind of stuck with the venue at this point because the deposit has been paid. It isn''t a fancy ballroom, just an old victorian. I love all things vintage, so that''s one thing.


I guess it''s where to go from here..this is what I''m trying to figure out. The venue is all inclusive and that makes things easy, but it also makes things sort of cookie cutter. This is, maybe, where I went all wrong, in the way of individuality.

This is a perfect place to inject personality. You love vintage stuff, so add vintage elements to your wedding. You''ve got the venue. Do you have a dress yet (sorry, can''t remember). If not, check out that vintage dress site someone just posted. Take vintage elements and add them into your invtations or go with a color pallete that is a throwback to another era. The one thing I''d caution you on is mixing too many eras! Pick one and stuck with it. I think a casual quasi-victorian (think shabby chic)theme would be lovely. You could use colors like dusty rose, sage, and grey in you flowers/invitations. If you haven''t set a time, what about doing an afternoon wedding? It could be a casual garden party.

FI and I are also jeans and teeshirt kind of people. We love to laugh and have fun. We also love museums and art. We''re having a very small wedding at an antique store/gallery/restaurant. Our menu, while appealing to guests, has some of our favorite foods on it (salmon and steak). We''re leaving the ceremony to the Indiana Jones theme song and my little brother is going to pull my wedding bands out of a box of cracker jacks. These are the ways we''re pulling ourselves into an otherwise standard affair. Oh, the biggest thing for us was giving up on convention. We figured, we''re paying for it ourselves, so who cares about other people''s expectations. We want this to be OUR wedding so we did things our way.

 

[meresal]

nm

 

[Diva0413]

Date: 6/17/2009 8:30:51 PM
Author: neatfreak

Date: 6/17/2009 8:28:11 PM
Author: House Cat

Date: 6/17/2009 7:47:52 PM

Author: neatfreak

So why the need to have a big traditional wedding? Have a BBQ or get married at a beautiful barn and have a square dance! No one says that you have to have a big white dress in a hotel ballroom with roses on the tables and chicken for dinner ya know?


We got married in a park, followed by a delicious lunch with a beautiful view of the golden gate bridge and then took all our guests (we had around 30) for a ride over the GG bridge and around SF in a cable car we had rented. It was a blast and we don''t regret it for a second that we didn''t have a ''traditional'' wedding.

Neatfreak,


I really love the photos of your wedding. It''s one of my fav. PS weddings of all time.


I''m kind of stuck with the venue at this point because the deposit has been paid. It isn''t a fancy ballroom, just an old victorian. I love all things vintage, so that''s one thing.


I guess it''s where to go from here..this is what I''m trying to figure out. The venue is all inclusive and that makes things easy, but it also makes things sort of cookie cutter. This is, maybe, where I went all wrong, in the way of individuality.

Well thanks HC. I do highly recommend the route we took to anyone who is interested!

Anyway-I think a vintage house sounds gorgeous. There are many things you can do to personalize a wedding. What types of things WOULD people say ''Oh that is SO House Cat and Mr. House Cat!!!''? Are there special drinks? Activities? Types of music? Games to play?

Sit down and write down in an ideal world what you would want for your wedding. Then go from there and see which of those things you can make happen with the constraints you have now.

Ditto to what Neatfreak said!

I too picked a venue that''s all inclusive. So I''m adding little things here and there that''ll make it feel special. Like having a caricature artist draw people during the reception or having boobleheads made of me and FI for our cake toppers... And so on and so forth. Don''t let the venue you chose dictate your wedding. Because everything is so prepared, it should give you plenty of time to think up ideas to customize your day.

 

[NakedFinger]

You can do a bunch of little things throughout the wedding to personalize it.

For example:

-for one of my brides we are doing little antique photo albums as her favors (like pocket size). The cover of the album will have a pic of her and her fiance on it. And then inside each favor will be pic of her and/or her fiance with each guest throughout the course of their lives (ie: a pic of bride with her childhood friend in her childhood friend's favor).

-another bride's family owned a paint store. So we took paint samples (like that you see at home depot, with the color range and paint numbers on it) and printed the guest names/table #'s on them and used them as their placecards. With the beautiful range of pinks set out on the placecard table it looked absolutely stunning, and it was unique to her

-a lot of people will do table names instead of table numbers. The table names can be things personal to your and your fiance. IE: places you've visited, something related to where you met, where you live etc. Like if you lived in NYC, different street names/attractions throughout the city.

You are correct when you say flowers/linens/etc arent very personal really, but its the little things like the music, the favors, the kind of food served, etc that make your wedding unique and make it personal to you. I too had a bride recently that liked vintage things (very 1920's themed wedding) and she told me all of her guests came to her and said "this is SO you!". Thats what you like to hear.

 

[Diva0413]

Date: 6/18/2009 10:23:52 AM
Author: NakedFinger
You can do a bunch of little things throughout the wedding to personalize it.

For example:

-for one of my brides we are doing little antique photo albums as her favors (like pocket size). The cover of the album will have a pic of her and her fiance on it. And then inside each favor will be pic of her and/or her fiance with each guest throughout the course of their lives (ie: a pic of bride with her childhood friend in her childhood friend''s favor).

-another bride''s family owned a paint store. So we took paint samples (like that you see at home depot, with the color range and paint numbers on it) and printed the guest names/table #''s on them and used them as their placecards. With the beautiful range of pinks set out on the placecard table it looked absolutely stunning, and it was unique to her

-a lot of people will do table names instead of table numbers. The table names can be things personal to your and your fiance. IE: places you''ve visited, something related to where you met, where you live etc. Like if you lived in NYC, different street names/attractions throughout the city.

You are correct when you say flowers/linens/etc arent very personal really, but its the little things like the music, the favors, the kind of food served, etc that make your wedding unique and make it personal to you. I too had a bride recently that liked vintage things (very 1920''s themed wedding) and she told me all of her guests came to her and said ''this is SO you!''. Thats what you like to hear.

I love this idea! So taking it if you don''t mind!

 

[NakedFinger]

Date: 6/18/2009 10:33:57 AM
Author: Diva0413

Date: 6/18/2009 10:23:52 AM
Author: NakedFinger
You can do a bunch of little things throughout the wedding to personalize it.

For example:

-for one of my brides we are doing little antique photo albums as her favors (like pocket size). The cover of the album will have a pic of her and her fiance on it. And then inside each favor will be pic of her and/or her fiance with each guest throughout the course of their lives (ie: a pic of bride with her childhood friend in her childhood friend''s favor).

-another bride''s family owned a paint store. So we took paint samples (like that you see at home depot, with the color range and paint numbers on it) and printed the guest names/table #''s on them and used them as their placecards. With the beautiful range of pinks set out on the placecard table it looked absolutely stunning, and it was unique to her

-a lot of people will do table names instead of table numbers. The table names can be things personal to your and your fiance. IE: places you''ve visited, something related to where you met, where you live etc. Like if you lived in NYC, different street names/attractions throughout the city.

You are correct when you say flowers/linens/etc arent very personal really, but its the little things like the music, the favors, the kind of food served, etc that make your wedding unique and make it personal to you. I too had a bride recently that liked vintage things (very 1920''s themed wedding) and she told me all of her guests came to her and said ''this is SO you!''. Thats what you like to hear.

I love this idea! So taking it if you don''t mind!

Haha absolutely not. I''m a wedding planner, thats what I am here for! To spill out ideas

 

[House Cat]

Date: 6/17/2009 10:38:45 PM
Author: cocolaw
old victorian house and you love all things vintage!? sounds perfect! you should head over to stylemepretty for some amazing ideas! they have an entire thread on vintage weddings http://www.stylemepretty.com/category/real-weddings/vintage-chic/

but so many of the pages have ideas and designs that could go with a vintage theme. you can def. make this wedding you..it does not have to be a big generic wedding.

Thank you for this! I''ve been looking at this blog for a long time now and had no idea there were categories. (

) Now I have a lot of inspiration for all things vintage!

 

[NakedFinger]

Vintage inspiration board....

 

[House Cat]

I''m so glad that I finally posted my feelings on this subject. Suddenly, I feel a bit more inspired!

Neatfreak: I love the idea of FI and I sitting down and writing what our ideal wedding will have. I already love running with the vintage idea, but that''s all me. For him, I think we''ll have photos he''s shot (he''s a photographer) at each table. We''re going to have to find other ways to inject him into the wedding though. It''s going to be difficult though, he''s an avid hunter/outdoorsman and well, camo and taxidermy just isn''t my bag!

Games sound fun.

iloveprincesscuts: Thanks for the encouragement! We have accepted that we''re getting dressed up. I think I''m just going to try and find a unique way to stylize it all. Might not be traditional, but it will be us.

Squirrly: Music is very important to me too. I guess I just wasn''t seeing this as a way to personalize a wedding. I feel encouraged now! (My teens would love nothing more than to have a Star Wars wedding, btw..)

jstarfireb: I never thought of writing my entire ceremony! It''s incredible that you did so. I haven''t been to enough weddings to know how to do this. Hmm..maybe my officiant can help with this. I love your other touches too! I see now that even with a venue that isn''t totally personalized, you can still work with it!


Will write more, have to drop off the little one to preschool. But I wanted to start my thank yous! I really appreciate all of the help and suggestions given.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I LOVE this board!

 

[Morgie44]

You may want to check out this ceremony for inspiration if you would like to write your own (or even part of your own). This couple, also wanted to something a bit more personal than the cookie cutter ceremony and wrote this beautiful ceremony together and had a close friend officiate. My favorite part, that I have never seen before at a wedding but think is such a cool idea is their Wine and Love Letter ''ceremony''.

http://erinsarris.googlepages.com/ceremonyinfo