Plum Bridesmaids Dresses {with pockets!}

I would have given my left arm to have seen these bridesmaids dresses before our wedding. I would have swiftly zipped each one of my bridesmaids into one of them. I love the flattering shape of the dress as well as the neckline options. Not to mention the stunning color!
And did I mention/did you see...the dress has pockets!!! My best friends wedding was last weekend. Our bridesmaids dresses {cobalt blue & seen here} had pockets and I couldn't keep my hands out of them. Not to mention they come in handy to hold lip gloss and kleenex.

All pictures courtesy of jessica strickland from the wedding of kristi and matt

Goof

There's always that one groomsmen that's a little bit of a goof...

...hopefully your photographer can get him to behave for at least one shot.

photos by megan w

Time for the Boys

On your wedding day, don't forget that your groom and his groomsmen deserve a couple minutes of camera time too!

I love this relaxed shot of the groom and groomsmen {by Kimberly Jarman} at the ceremony site smoking a couple of cigars and rockin' out their stylish shoes. Allow the guys some time together in front of the camera to hang out and smile pretty. Our groomsmen had about 25 minutes to "do their thang" and we loved the results.

photo by: Nicole Green

Tying the Knot: The Bridal Party

What I love about these photos is that they showcase almost all of our closest friends that had gathered together to stand by us on our big day. I remember looking around when we were taking these pictures and feeling so loved and so blessed to have such great friends around us.
The girls had fun with this picture, but boys will be boys....they just kind of looked at eachother.

Love this one.
One last traditional photo...
And then things got a little crazy....

previously in the series "tying the knot": we did it, a preview, our honeymoon, our candy bar, lifesaver, getting ready, our first look, the bride and groom, bouquets and boutonnieres, the shoes, the bridesmaids, the groomsmen
all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.

Tying the Knot: The Groomsmen

Growing up as an only child, I never had sisters {until these girls came along} and I never had any brothers. But over the years, most of Chris' groomsmen have become like brothers to me. They are quite the group of guys when you get them all together and we were so happy to have them stand by our side on our wedding day.

If I do say so myself, this could be a contender for a banana republic ad since, after all, that's where we got the socks for the Groomsmen. One of my favorites, for no particular reason. And now, a picture that really displays their true identities.

Per request of the Groom, this picture made it's way into this blog post. No one knows why or how this shot came about, but here it is. Thanks so much, guys, for sharing in our special day.

previously in the series "tying the knot": we did it, a preview, our honeymoon, our candy bar, lifesaver, getting ready, our first look, the bride and groom, bouquets and boutonnieres, the shoes, the bridesmaids

all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.

Tying the Knot: The Bridesmaids

College was the best experience of my life. It's where I spread my wings, it's where I had the time of my life, it's where I met my bridesmaids. These are the girls that mean everything to me. One I met the first day of college. One I became close with when we decided to skip a summer micro econ night class and have a few delicious cocktails instead. And the rest of my bridesmaids are my sorority sisters that mean more to me than they know. I saw a picture a long time ago with a group of friends with their arms around eachother, just like this one. For some reason it stuck with me. For some reason it seemed to portray the bonds of friendship. And thus, I had to have it. And it is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding day.
My Delta Gamma sisters. These are the girls (along with Smitty and JGavs) that have shown me what true friendship is all about. To them, I am forever grateful. They have embodied everything about this quote, which we first learned of on a cold January night in 2003 (or 2004), "They are the family we choose to surround us, the sisters bound by love instead of blood. they know when we are lonely and appear without being called. when we are lost they provide a living map to what comes next; when we doubt everything about ourselves they remind us who we are." This picture was taken in homage to the sorority that has bound us together, forever.

previously in the series "tying the knot": we did it, a preview, our honeymoon, our candy bar, lifesaver, getting ready, our first look, the bride and groom, bouquets and boutonnieres, the shoes
all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.

Tying the Knot: Bouquets and Boutonnieres

If you can recall from this post and this post, I had been trying to decide, for the longest time if I wanted my bouquet to be a beautiful white bride-y bouquet or if I wanted a bouquet that would pop out from my dress with its vibrant colors. I think deep down, I always wanted a white bouquet. I already knew that the BM's would be carrying dahlias so having white dahlias in my bouquet was only natural. But the spider mums, oh the spider mums. Mommy and I have always loved them and I must say that they really gave my bouquet the perfect fluffiness. The bouquet was finished off with white button mums and I loved the end result.

Chris wore a white dahlia for his boutonniere. Confession: From day one I was attracted to Chris' jawline. I love everything about it.

The groomsmen each had a raspberry aster as their boutonniere. The plum ties were a gift from the Groom.

The bridesmaids bouquets were plum dahlias and raspberry asters. This was our inspiration for the bridesmaids bouquets. They turned out plum-ish enough for my matchy-matchy obsessive compulsiveness with just the right amount of a raspberry "pop". My beautiful bridesmaids and I, all lined up in a row with our pretty little bouquets.
Sidenote: This is the picture you will get if you force the guys to pose with the bouquets. They thought they were hilarious.

previously in the series "tying the knot": we did it, a preview, our honeymoon, our candy bar, lifesaver, getting ready, our first look, the bride and groom
all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.

Beware

Nicole , beware. I can see the Groom and groomsmen partaking in some shenanigans such as the following during their photo session with you on the big day:

(photos via: christine farah and melissa koehler)

Sorry for the short post. It's Sunday night and my bachelorette party was yesterday up in Chicago. I am still recovering. However, it was more than fabulous and a post on it will follow in a couple days, once I have all incriminating pictures in my possession.

It Will Be Okay

Dear Bloggity Friends,

We all know one. The ultra-traditionalist.
The woman, normally over the age of 35, known for her jaw dropping to the floor in an instant when you attempt to explain the teeny tiny way you might possibly be venturing off the beaten path regarding something wedding related.

Examples:
"You're not going to wear white bridal shoes? Really?....Interesting."
"You're really going to see eachother before the ceremony?"
"No receiving line!? Well that's...difffferent."

This, my friends, is where blogs come in handy...assuming that you have internet access. You can show her pictures like these to assure her it will be ok....

It will be ok if all of the bridesmaids don't carry the EXACT same bouquet. (photo via amy carroll )

It will be ok if all of the bridesmaids don't wear the exact same dresses. (photo via ann hamilton) Check out this post on non matchy-matchy bridesmaid dresses.

And, finally, it will be ok if the bridesmaids do not wear the traditional bridesmaid dress and matching shoes. Polka dot dresses are allowed to be worn by bridesmaids. Colored shoes that are not necessarily the same color as the dress will not cause the organ to burst into flames while the bridesmaids are making their way down the aisle. This one will clearly be the hardest for her to grasp. (photo by jasmine star)

What is one to do upon an encounter with said ultra-traditionalist if a blog is not readily available? Take a deep breath and a sip of the wine that you hopefully already poured for yourself, and start by attempting to tell her... "it will be okay...."

Bouquets for the Maids

My stunning bridesmaids will be wearing these beautiful black dresses. Naturally, I want their bouquets to contain flowers that will "pop" against their dresses...but also be one with our color scheme.

I love this bouquet featured on Alison Events via the brides cafe. The raspberry color is just divine, isn't it?!


But these bouquets have always been the front runners. photo by (jessamyn harris). I love the plums and would add a little deeper raspberry (like the bouquet above) in there in place of the pink. The splotches of marigold just make these bouquets irresistible.

So what do you think?! A bouquet of raspberry dahlias or a mix of plum, raspberry, and perhaps marigold dahlias? Input is very much appreciated!

For The Love of Kids

Casey Templeton via The Little White Book

On our wedding day, not only will Chris gain a beautiful wife...but I will gain three nieces and three nephews!

We thought that having all six children in the wedding would be a beautiful way to honor and involve Chris' family.

The three girls will be adorable flower girls, each carrying a pomander.
The three boys will be ushering the flower girls down the aisle.
Chris and I will be praying that they all make it down the aisle.

Are any of you incorporating kids into the wedding?! Are any of your incorporating SIX kids into the wedding?!

image via Blue Orchid Designs

{One of} My Best Friends Wedding{s}

If this doesn't give you an idea of how great of a time Chris and I had being in our friends wedding this weekend, I don't know what will....

It was fabulous. More details to come.

My Letterpop: Issues 1 and 2

If you haven't heard about letterpop, you are missing out my friends. For a bride-to-be this is a great way to send out information to your bridesmaids without using the traditional "plain and boring" e-mail. For wedding planners think of it as a way to communicate with your brides-to-be in the months before their weddings. Send out tips and tricks, info on upcoming bridal shows, and exciting news about your business.

Here are front page screen shots of the first two "issues" of the newsletter to our bridesmaids:

Raspberry Shoes?!

If you have not yet added Molly's blog These Little Moments to your daily blog reading material...you are missing out.
Today, her fabulous post was all about her BM dresses, BM shoes, and socks for the GM. I was smitten. A girl after my own heart.
(You can see my posts on socks for the GM here and here, BM shoes here , and BM dresses here).
Molly's post reminded me of this picture that I still love. Colored BM shoes.

Her BM's will be wearing red dresses and plum shoes. My BM's will be wearing black dresses and although plum shoes would be beautiful...I feel as though the plum would be too dark with my black dresses. Imagine my delight when Molly showed me that the shoes that her BM's will be wearing come in fuchsia a.k.a. RASPBERRY!

I had all but purchased 7 of them (they were IN my on-line shopping cart) before I took a deep breath and told myself that I miiiight want to hold off on ordering them. All along I just assumed that I would let my BM's wear any black "strappy" shoe. I kept telling myself that I was ok with that. But I looooooove that picture above. And I looooooooove the detail it would add! There is a little voice inside my head saying, "oh, just ask your BM to buy them. your BM dresses were only $130...another $40 brings the grand total up to what BM dresses normally cost! And you're the BRIDE! It's your day!" But the voice of resason kept saying, "it's an unnecessary cost for shoes that some of the girls might not ever wear again...don't make them do it."

So I leave it open to all of you. I even created another poll. Should I ask the BM's to fork over the $40 for the breathtakingly beautiful and perfect-in-everyway raspberry shoes that would complement our color scheme? Or should I let them wear their own cute black shoes? Vote. Comment. Do something!

{Update: 51 total votes. Yes: 31, No: 20}

The Bridesmaid Dresses

Subtract the chocolate brown and substitute the ever classy black and I am pretty sure this is what my girls will be wearing on the big day:

(Mori Lee Affairs BM dress 735 in Chiffon)

You likey!? We likey.

Poll: The Head/ Sweetheart Table

The size of our bridal party, 16 including Chris and I, has caused us some logistics problems. Getting to and from the hotel, church, and reception has provided to be a reoccurring nightmare consuming my thoughts at least twice a day. Not to mention that our church has an extra-long aisle and it will take the 7 BM's at least 5 minutes to walk from the back of the church to the front. By the time they make it to the front, the guests will be ready to go home. However, the larger logistical problem at hand is dealing with the seating for ourselves and our large bridal party at the reception.
Here are our options:
1. A Sweetheart table for the two of us. Allow our bridal party to sit with their dates at two tables. (photo below via Jessica Claire)
2. Lining up the bridal party 7 on each side in a row almost the length of a football field. It's traditional and it works. (photo via Knottie Mrs. Pootiekins)

3. Split up the bridal party between two (oval) tables of 8 that are placed side by side next to eachother at the front of the room. This is our venue's preference. But how do we decide which members of the party sit with us and which are exiled to the other table!?

Thoughts!? How are you handling your head table?
{Results: 39 votes!! sweetheart: 22, one long table: 12, two tables: 5}

Ordering the BMs

In my opinion, there is this sort-of unspoken understanding between BMs that where you stand in line has a direct correlation with how close you are to the bride. Right?! I feel as though its almost a competition to see who is standing closest to the bride on the big day. Let's face it, no one wants to pay upwards of $200 on a BM dress to stand at the end of the line in all of the pictures and at the bottom of the steps at the church and watch from afar.

(both photos from the fabulous portfolio of bobbi + mike)

"Ordering" the BMs is no fun or easy task...especially when family members (and future in-laws) are thrown into the line-up alongside a mix of old and new friends. Some brides solve this dilemma by simply ordering their wedding party by height. But, that simple solution doesn't work for everyone. And I mean come on...it can't be THAT easy can it?! How did you or how will you order your bridal party?

I asked Chris the other day if, being the groom, he felt any pressures to line-up his groomsmen in any particular way. And he gave me one of those weird looks like I was speaking in bride gibberish. Does your/did your groom have any particular reason behind how his boys will be/were lined up?