Bloggers beware!

...if you write about your venues, there is a chance that someone who works for the venue may see it.

This could be a good thing or a bad thing. In one of my most recent blogs (found here: The Situation) I wrote about how our reception location was perfect upon first glance but once we went back I found a few things that I didn't see at first - and they weren't pretty things.

The on site coordinator saw my blog at some point and offered to do some draping for our site to take care of the merman that hangs from the ceiling, for no charge! (Isn't that so sweet and kind?!?!) I was blogging about it though not to take a jab at our venue but more as lead-in to our amazing florist/event designer (who has some beautiful solutions to hide the stuff that I'm not to keen on, ie: Mr. P. (More to come on that in the future.)



The moral of the story: be careful about what you say on your blog if it's publicly available to all. Blogs, like email, are open to interpretation because you're missing key communication elements such as body language, tone, inflection, etc.

Now, a little bit more about our florist/event designer. I initially had received a quote from the same florist that Mrs. Lemon (over at weddingbee.com) had used for her wedding in Monterey (about 5 miles north of Carmel). And she gave me a quote that was around $4,500. Just for flowers. It was expensive. I looked around a little bit more and found another company in the area who does flowers as well as rentals and designing of event spaces. I had a phone conference with the owner and she just got me and really understood my vision. When you find THE vendor, you just know. And I knew that she was the one.

The best part - instead of pomanders for our pews, we'll be doing some possie pockets for the ceremony decor. I found a picture showed it to her and she knew what they were called and just had amazing ideas to dress them up.



I'm so excited.

And now, a sneak peak at my bouquet (via Martha. I'm. In. Love. Best part is that they're gardenias so it will smell incredible!! I can't wait to hold my Martha inspired bouquet in my hands!!):



Have you accidentally offended someone on you blog?

Oh Pomander, Oh Pomander

I love me some pomanders. Something about a giant ball of flowers just makes me smile. I would love to incorporate some pomanders into our wedding day decor, however, they are mighty expensive. So I've been doing some research on alternatives.

Here's what I love:






Here are some of the DIY (read: budget friendly) and non-floral pomanders that I've discovered:





They look pretty awesome, don't they? I particularly like the tulle pomanders. Our florist originally quoted me at $100 for each hydrangea pomander (I would want at least 6 of them, three for each side). I've purchased some ivory tulle from Michael's and plan on doing a tester tulle pomander this weekend to see if I like these in real life and then I'll hit up a fabric store for more supplies to make enough of these guys for our ceremony venue.

Have you found some items to be more expensive than anticipated?

I guess that sounds good...

I'm having a truly difficult time with our flowers and space decor/design for our cocktail and reception areas. The great thing about getting married in the Mission is that it's breathtaking all on its own.







With the exception of some pretty ribbon blocking off the excess pews (we want all of our guests to sit together in the front pews), pomanders (either tissue or real, I haven't decided yet), and 2 arrangements at the altar I'm not really doing much with our ceremony site. It's sooo beautiful naturally.

Our cocktail and reception sites are also beautiful, but they do need a little pizazz to make them evoke the right mood.







Our cocktails are being held in the gazebo area - but I have no idea where the bar will go or what I want the space to look like. Same with our reception room. Our site fees cover white linens and all of the usual items, but I know that the room as is will feel too cold and boring, not warm and decadent like our theme. I need to go looking for ideas, and I'm not sure how I want flowers in all of that. Flowers at the cocktail tables? I don't know. Flowers on the escort card table? I don't know. Floral centerpieces? I don't know. Lighting? I don't know. Sigh, should I already know all of this, should it be easier to make these decisions?? Seems like it...

How were you inspired or where did you find the inspiration for your reception decor/design?