words and photos: homestyle !

i am really, really struggling to make all the elements of this wedding come together.

we want it to feel like home. classy, fancy home. we want it to be the wedding we would have at our own home, if our own home could hold one hundred people (because if our home could hold 100 people, it would be here.)

that said, it is hard when i see a great wedding like this.
hands down the best bouquet i have ever seen.
grey and yellow? wonderful. palm springs pool party?! so fun.
i have weddinglust.

.....

last weekend i did some practice tablescapes and such. i also started a big project: hand making 115 mini chalkboard menus. i actually had to purchase a saw for this project! neat.

we won't be using these colors ( i just happen to only own orange napkins, and found super cheap perfect brown fabric at ikea). our caterer has tablecloths and napkins, but they are purple and brown striped. i want darkdark brown? and burlapy texture? i think...




so far, i think it looks too "glassy." i need more texture in there. but i can't let myself buy anything until i really decide on colors.

i must say i do love the way the chalkboards look (they will eventually be gocco printed with the menu, as soon as we have a final menu). each guest will have a personalized button as a place card.

our caterer uses stemless wine glasses and ball jars as water/tea glasses, so that will change the look a bit as well. there will also be several 7" hurricane vases with candles and full jars of rosemary on each table. along with pitchers of sangria. and bowl of olives. and nuts. and olive oil. and baskets of bread. what started off looking empty is beginning to sound very full.

seriously, blogger friends, how did you pick your colors? help!

project: venue !

(having the day off from work is lovely..!)

for many long months before our actual engagement, B and i talked about marriage. what it means to us, how it would change our relationship, and if it was something we wanted to tackle. obviously we came to a decision on that one. but for all of those days and weeks i had many hours to daydream about OPW, aka OUR PERFECT WEDDING. being a preschool teacher, i have a lot of time to daydream at work while the kids are napping!

early in the fall, my pilates partner mentioned she had been at an amazing wedding in downtown L.A. it was a unique loft space with an indoor/outdoor feel. i looked up the venue, bookmarked it, showed it to B and tried not to think about it too much, as it seemed a tad on the way-too-expensive side.

all this boils down to is that, when the engagement happened, i was prepared. i had read the blogs, the message boards, the journals. and i knew what i wanted. basically: a local venue (very important), that will let me bring in my own food/drinks (not budging on this one), that has space for a ceremony and reception (i don't want to drive in between the two), and that has an indoor space and an outdoor area. as much as i love woodsy places, i really wanted to go as local as possible, and east l.a. isn't exactly known for it's woods (or IS it?).

the marvimon met all of these requirements! and it has a show kitchen! i did spend some time researching other venues, but the places that let you bring your own food didn't have any green things growing, and the pretty hotels downtown made you use their in-house catering (in-house catering never specializes in vegan cuisine..) and i am not a big beach person and i want a late night party so running into the forest is out and whineee whineee whine.

we made an appointment, met with the owners, picked a date and now it's really happening. i feel blessed to be able to work with completely local vendors (all vegan food sourced within 400 miles? score!), and we can have an outdoor ceremony and a rocking party inside.

you can see some lovely photos of the marvimon house here at apartment therapy.

one day i will figure out how to place and source pictures on a blog. until then..

xo
mm