Help -I don't know if I am going to pull of the colors in my wedding

[Montecore]

I can't believe someone else is in my world!  I'm the girl with the peacock wedding (I think you posted).  I thought everything would be so easy--pick a color, a motif, and put them on everything.  However, I found these cute victorian invitations that I loved and they simply do not go with my peacock idea.  How would I combine the colors?  How would I connect the motifs?

Then I realized that I don't really like the jewel tones in peacocks.  Then I thought, why am I dragging around this peacock ball and chain.  I've decided to forget the stupid themes which are SUPPOSED to make things easier, and just choose things and colors I like.

I can't believe that I (who would have been happy eloping) got caught up in the racket that is the bridal industry.  It happens to the best of us, my dear.  I LOVE your invitations.  If anyone thinks that your beautiful invitations don't match your beautiful dress they are silly and not worth thinking about on your wedding day.  Good luck!

[skyra]

I can't believe that I (who would have been happy eloping) got caught up in the racket that is the bridal industry.

OMG!  Ain't this the truth!!!

Seriously, we were going to take a simple trip down to vegas to get hitched.  Now...WTF have I gotten myself into? 

Get this...so, my dress arrived yesterday.  It fits beautifully in my bodice, and not so much in my hips.  No problem right?  I mean, I have quit curves, and have joined a gym with a trainer and where I can get more cardio...so I know that I can kill a lot of my weight before then.  But then, OMG, my dress isn't going to fit then!  Holy hell.  So then what?  I have based my colors around my dress.  What a FOOLISH thing to do!

It is totally a racket...and it is SO easy to get sucked in.  I think that it is so ingrained (engrained?  *shrug*) in us from little girls...subliminall y and right in your face...to be that beautiful bride that walks down that aisle.  So we think we are ok with just eloping or doing something simple and it turns into that $25,000 wedding we always swore we wouldn't have.

Ok, so mine is budgetted at around 5000, but lord knows that I will go over (but not by much if I can help it.  That is still a HUGE chunk of cash.

Anyhow...I have divorced myself from the color issue right now.  I mean, there is no reason to get myself all twisted over it.  Fact is, it is going to be prom time right around when I get married, so I will be able to find another dress in my size if I have to...and if I get a dress in red or white (or whatever) I will be just fine so long as we don't go overboard fucking around with colors for my MOH and the boys.

[Jenyrebel]

HEY THERE!
I am getting married this Friday and I can DEFINITELY sympathize around the color issue. My husband to be is Scottish so you know what that means-KILTS. Ever try to match flowers to anything plaid? And of course, only his family will be wearing THEIR tartan-everybody else has to wear a standard.....
Know what? SCREW IT AND TO HECK WITH ANYONE WHO SAYS ANYTHING TO YOU. The day is for you and your husband to be united in front of the people who love you. Weddings are an industry and you can get sucked in and do exactly what you didnt want-just because it's the thing to do.
I'm sure you will look gorgeous-any color of anything else will pale compared to you, so dont let it stress you. Wishing you the best day!
Su

[JaneJane]

Your dress is absolutely gorgeous!  If you end up with a few too many curves of the lesser side you will be fine; it's a little harder to hide the unzipped zipper unless it's under the arm or you have a serious veil! (I knew a bride who left her underarm zipper undone, opened up the other side seam, and basted in a triangle of fabric on each side the day of the wedding!  Even so, many didn't seem to notice.  If they do and say anything, they are just plain rude guests at your wedding and at your party.) Seriously, a couple of days before the wedding try that dress on again.  If the bodice deosn't fit like a glove, see if the drape still works.  Your design looks like it is most giving and although the flow may be a little different than originally intended, it could look even more luxureous:  If you have more flow, your hem lines may be a little different or lower - take care when you walk becuase toppling end over teakettle down the aisle WILL be much more embarrassing than a little extra drape, flow, or hem!

If you change proportions too much, remember that many a bride has ended up sewn into their gown.  Make sure that you have some time, a few very fine silk pins, and some white basting thread.  Pinch "in" on those seams and baste yourself in if you have to; just don't breathe too hard or you really will burst a seam! Take even amounts from the same but symetrically opposite seams (i.e. if the side seam on one side, then the side seam from the other; if the back a-line seam on one side in the back, then the back a-line seam on the other side.) You can take up material from along the zipper, thus making the zipper seam into a curved seam as well.  Remember, that if there is a "bunch" or a sewn in fold at the top of the underarm seam, most people won't see it unless you raise your arm high enough that your guests will be looking into your arm pits.  Often, you can do this with the dress put on inside out.

Are your attendants and groomsmen picking up the colors from the bodice in their attire?  If so, then they are blending in.  The more alive (hot) colors of your flowers will simply add slpashes of color.  Use them sparingly (which is all the easier to do if you're on a budget.)  Think of your basic wedding colors as the greenery in a garden (where ideally, there is a varriance of value, shade, color, and texture) and your flowers as slpashes of color spots.  If you end up with too many hot, bright, or strong colors, they will all compete with each other for the eye's attention and turn into a sea of polk-a-dots.  This type of color blending is often discussed well in some flower arranging books and many different garden design/landscaping books. 

What flowers and plants are available to you from the indoor garden plant section, from prunings available in friends' and families' yards, and the local outdoor plant store?  If you are worried about gerbera daisies wilting, can you work "color spots" as whole plants from your local box garden store into your decor?  I have seen great things done with ivy and laurel bush/tree prunings in more than one wedding.  (One wedding that I went to had a lilac flower theme and there were lilacs of every color and type all over the place; the day before the wedding, the bride, her attendants, and her mother traveled from yard to yard of everyone they knew gathring lilac cuttings.  The guests were happy to help, pointing out "their" lilacs through out the event, and in the end the place was not for those with allergies.)   What else may be available to you from outside the bridal world during the season of your wedding?  (Last November I went to a very pleasant wedding at which much of the decoration was from the gourd/squash/pumpkin section of the produce department and colorful cuttings of maple branches with brilliant leaves.)  Unless you're going to drape yourself in flowers, greenery, and plants -  use them as a splashes of color.

[Radegund]

When my friend got married, she and her hubby decided they'd each dress themselves and their attendants however they wanted.  So she and her bridesmaids (I was one) had long Renaissance-type dresses, while the guys wore slacks, jackets, and Jerry Garcia themed ties.   

[hercuteness]

little word of advice on flowers.  i had tons of gerbs at my november wedding, and they were all in the vibrant orangey-reds. . . i spent a lot of time looking for something that didn't exist. . .PURPLE gerberas.  you probably figured that out already.  there are no varieties in the blue/purple range.  irises are your best bet (there are blue poppies, but they aren't available in the fall).

also, a word on hydrangeas.  they are really beautiful in pictures, but they are SO delicate.  my grandmother was a florist for twenty years and she warned me when it came time for my own wedding.  hydrangeas require constant misting in order to keep their blossoms from wilting.  the stems need to be seared, too, but this won't keep them from fading fast.

i was recently a BM in my friend's wedding and the hydrangeas in our bouquets were wilted before we even walked down the aisle.

don't worry about continuity at your wedding.  my invites didn't match my wedding day details, but no one even noticed.

)

[booglass]

Word of advice............. don't pressure yourself with rules.  If you and the hubby to be like it......then everyone else be damned! 

I wore an ivory wedding dress b/c my Mom and MIL to be cried and pitched fits over the black dress Mr. Boo and I picked out.  I was young but smart enough to pick Vegas since our moms were a little too involved in the planning process.  It worked out great but I still wish I had stuck to my guns and worn the dress I loved. 

So don'rt hem youself in with too many rules.  If you like it, it is a keeper!

And mazel tov/congrats to all you almost weds.  Enjoy the day. 

[skyra]

Thanks ladies!  I have finally mellowed about the colors and I am just going for it!  Frankly, I love the colors of my invites.

Thank so much hercuteness I had no idea hydrangeas were so delicate...those are OUT!  I have no time or patience for stuff that is going to wilt that fast! 

I am planting my garden here after the next frost, and it will be full of tonnes of different wildflowers etc.  My MOH is going to have lots of stuff in her garden as well.  Rather than being freaked about matching all of the colors, we are going to stick with one color of gerb, then the tables will have different greenery from our gardens and the forest.  It will suit us much better than any "matched" affair.

Also, we have decided not to do boutennieres and corsages...so taht saves a lot of grief as well!  *whew*

There are sure a lot of us getting married here aren't there?  Glad I am not alone in this hellish planning!  LOL