Wedding Inspiration!

Every time I tell someone that we are planning on having the wedding in July, they always get this shocked expression on their face - almost as though I had just told them we were having the wedding this weekend. They say, "Oh, that's so soon! We've got to start planning right now!" I've never planned a wedding before, so maybe ten months really isn't that much time to get everything together. Either way I'm not stressing out about it yet. Especially because we're (so far) planning on having the wedding and reception at my house, so it's not like I have to scramble to book a place.

I have been looking at websites and magazines to try and get some inspiration and so far this is what I've come up with.

In order to keep costs for everyone low and because I don't think the wedding will really be that formal, I was thinking about having the bridesmaids choose their own dresses, as long as they were all shades of the same color and cut around the same length like this picture. I haven't really decided yet if that's a bad idea or not...

I also really liked some pictures that I saw of receptions that we outside in the evening with lanterns and fairy lights and candles. Derek suggested that we get some chandeliers and hang them from the trees. I think that would be really beautiful.


I found some pictures of weddings that were inspired by Alice in Wonderland - decadent tea parties with lots of ornamental details and small lights.






I really like the lights in this picture, and how the reception looks against the evening sky.




I thought it would be a cute idea to string up notes from the guests like this. They could write down their pieces of advice and congratulations and then string them up as decoration so everyone can enjoy them. I also thought it might be fun to string up photos of Matt and me this way.