The Brooches Debate Chiavari vs. Banquet Chairs

We're trying to think outside of the box when it comes to our wedding...

Not necessarily in terms of creativity, but in terms of the "box," many brides and grooms (especially brides) get into when it comes to their must haves. Most of us want the best of the best. The best caterer, the best DJ, the best photographer, and there's nothing wrong with that, except for that most of us can't afford the best of everything. In our case, we're splurging on the venue and photography. We feel like these are lasting investments (if you will), or really (that's just a fancy way of saying) the things we can justify spending thousands of dollars on.

When it comes to the trendy extras like a candy bar or photobooth, we're really having to restrain ourselves. We want it, but our budget simply doesn't have room for it all. For instance, I LOVED the smilebooth. We discovered it during our trip to New York at the Wedding Party, and it was my "must have," item for months. Seriously. Months. I told Aaron I didn't care how much it cost, and when we found it was approximately $1500 somehow (lol) I convinced myself that was reasonable.

Did I mention that was on top of our wedding costs? Yeah. Mr. B wasn't buying it.
Then I got on this kick about having a wedding planner. Mr. B wasn't convinced we needed one until we met with a few, and all the sudden he was all, "we can't do this without one!" Despite his lenancy on the issue, I knew our budget wasn't going to handle a smithbooth AND a planner. So I had to chose.

Of course, the planner was more jusifiable.We'd be utilizing the money we spent throughout the year and not just on one day (we wanted a full-time planner). Not only that, we definitely felt the planner would earn their fee by saving us money on the caterer, flortist, and other wedding-related expenses.

So alas, I had to say goodbye to my beloved smilebooth. 

Smooth. I gave in on the smilebooth. Mr. B and I got the planner we felt we needed. Easy peasy. Then, something came up I wasn't so quick to overlook, which bring me to our current debate: chiavari versus banquet chairs.

Even though the cost isn't as high as the cost of a planner and smilebooth, a few hundred dollars goes a long way in the wedding-budget world. You don't want to throw away $200 or $500 on just anything, because there are a lot of good uses for that money (like contributing to more expensive items).

I'm not a fan of banquet chairs (no offense to brides out there that are planning to use them or that did). I think chiavari chairs are so much more beautiful! In the words of our planner, "They significantly upscale the design of the room!" AMEN!

But, I have to ask. Is this minor? Am I being a spoiled bride? Should I be more lax about this kind of thing? Who is going to notice the chairs?

Well, I will. I just think chiavari chairs takes a dining room from "all that's nice," to "wow, that's sophisticated!"
What's really the difference these two types of chairs, you ask?

 

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Are chiavari chairs worth the splurge?

Were banquet chairs included at your venue? Did you use them?

Must Haves: Vintage Furniture

I'm the daughter of trash pickers and proud!

Yeah, I said it. So what.

I pride myself on my ability to find goodies at low costs, bought second hand, or found for free. That's right, found for free! You might have guessed this from my bio - lover of all things vintage/antique/thrift/or homemade. You'll find I'm a sucker for a deal. I thrive on a good bargain!

Remember my seating inspiration? Many of you were concerned about the cost and rightfully so. Renting lounge furntiure, especially the expensive kind can get really expensive and fast! My solution is to go second hand. Seriously. Mama brooch and I have found some pretty amazing furniture curbside.

The thing is, our venue is perfect for this aesthetic because it's historic and has a very antique charm, and I want to keep that consistant throughout our wedding.

Take this couch for instance.

I HEART THIS COUCH!

I'll admit, I love it because it's green. It's olive green (my favorite color), but don't you think we could find this somewhere cheap (hello craigslist) and sell it later? I sold all of my furniture when I graduated from college (I sold furniture, some pretty nice stuff too, throughout college). I know firsthand what BO means. And it just might be the only way I'll get the seating I desire.

My thought: why rent overpriced lounge furniture that you'll never get to use again, instead of bringing in your own pieces that can be less expensive and recycled.

Elizabeth Anne Designs 

On a recent trip to our venue, which I'll talk more about in another post, Mr. B and I took some time to brainstorm the decoration and use of this huge patio behind the manor. It's next to the garden and behind the dining area. We really want the space to be utilized, but we don't want to put a tent up, because we think it will obstruct the amazing view.

My vote is to put lounge furniture in this area. Let me re-phrase: vintage lounge furniture. Let's stage it people! Let's pull together some really cool vintage pieces and mix them with a few modern touches. Add a table with our guest book and put a drink station nearby.

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We need something that is going to draw people out here. Something that will get people utilizing this space. More importantly... let's get some awesome pictures! Can anyone else see the bridal party taking this space over and getting some um.az.ing photo ops!! 

Here is the space I'm talking about:

OK SO.

You see my vision, but you're not sure we're going to find the vintage furniture seen on Style Me Pretty and in the pages of Martha Stewart Weddings mag? Think again! How about this charming vintage vanity for sale locally! I love it. It's exactly the type of furniture I'm talking about in this post. Check out the black dresser below. Both for sale on craigslist!

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Still can't see my vision? Then take a look at these photos from a few real weddings, where the brides apparently had the same vision as me.

I'm so in love with this look:

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What are you using to spruce up your wedding venue?

Do you like vintage furniture? Will you use it at your wedding?

Signature Drinks

It's officially summer and the hot weather has me thinking about what we're going to have to keep our guests cool. Let's try on these aweomse bevies to keep our guests hydrated!

I love these containers. What are they called? Where do we get them?

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Regular and Raspberry Mojitos!

Yum!

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Root beer floats. One of Aaron's favs!

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Ice teas!

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What types of drinks are you going to (or did you) have?

Must Haves: Bright Colors and Pom Poms!

Yay for three day weekends!

Aaron and I are headed to his hometown of Williamsburg, VA, for some fun in the sun at Busch Gardens and Water Country! I'm super excited to spend some quality time with my babe! We've both been busy at work and at home, and haven't had much to hang out! We'll probably spend about 4 hours in traffic tonight (boo), but I think we'll get a chance to talk about a lot of these, including our wedding plans! I'm going to propose a few new ideas, one being our color scheme!

I found this picture about a week ago while I was surfing the web for images of living rooms -- daydreaming about our place -- and I absolutely love it! Of course, the various shades of green caught  my eye and I love the bright pink rug! I'm not sure how Aaron will feel about it since we had discussed a darker color scheme (see here and here), but since our wedding is right at the start of spring and no long in the fall, he might go for it! My fingers are crossed.

Isn't this room great?

I've been really drawn to yellow lately. I'm not sure why, but it's definitely a spring color and would be perfect for my week-after-easter wedding. I thought I wanted my girls to wear green (olive) because it's my favorite color, but I think yellow will stand out more and it will look beautiful on them (anything would really)! I especially like the yellow with grey, which is my men's suit color of choice.

What do you think?

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The other idea I want to share with Aaron is to use Martha Stewart Pom Poms to decorate various areas at our wedding! There are a few super bare trees at Oxon Hill in early spring (you can see some photos of this here and below) and I needed a way to liven them up!

My picture

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I also wanted something fun to decorate and set our dance floor (see my post about this here), as well as a funky twist to the traditional fauxphotobooth. Here's a few pictures to give you an idea of what I have in mind:

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What are your plans for the long weekend?

Have you come up with any new wedding day details? Share!

Seating Inspiration

Here's a few great images that are making this tired Monday a bit more cheery for me! I really want to have lounge furniture scattered throughout our venue. Through Wedding Chicks right here I found the company found, which specializes in supplying event planners and brides with vintage rentals. There is a ton of great workable pieces on their web site here!

I also discovered another rental service called Party Rental Ltd, which serves the Washington DC area and has lots and lots of great items to fill your venue with style. They have a great inspiration gallery called, "Looks We Love," that will excite the bride in you! Believe me! I'd totally snag this Pear Green and White Stripe look for my wedding and the best part is, they provide you with all these pieces to make it a reality!

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I'm going to talk to a planner about bringing in furniture we own to save on money, but the problem with that is the setup and breakdown of course. There's obviously a lot of figure out before my vision of great furniture all over our venue comes to life, but we'll get there!

Luckily for us, a few folks have had their weddings at Oxon Hill before us! Here's an image I found on Event Accomplished Blog of a wedding at our venue that had lounge furniture! This is a picture of the actual foyer of our venue and I must admit, the furniture looks fabulous! It makes the room more inviting and way more upscale and modern. They got this awesome lounge furniture from Da Vinci's Florist!

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We really like the all white furniture, but there's no telling what we'll go with. We need to visit one of these rental warehouses and see for ourselves the options. Here's a few images I've collected from around the web that inspire this idea...

Lindsey Belle via Style Me Pretty

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Elizabeth Anne Designs

 

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Bride's Guide: Martha Stewart

Docuvitae via Style Me Pretty

Help Design My Dancefloor

I need your help. I want something fun like this at our wedding:

Tanja Lippert via Style Me Pretty

I love these pictures and I love these lanterns. I like how the lanterns give the room a jolt of color and how they really make this seating area stand out. I'd love to have lanterns or something similiar hanging from the ceiling in our dance room. Something like this would be perfect:

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The problem is that we're getting married during the day and I don't think it will be dark outside for much of our wedding. Plus, I'm not sure we can hang anything from the walls or ceiling. It'd be really cool if we could hang drapes like these:  

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Do any of you have a design suggestion for this area of our venue?

I want something that sets our dancefloor apart. Something that is going to define that space. Something that is going to bring color and life to the drab room. I like this a lot too. Love this I should say. Probably because of all the green:

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The picture below is the room where our dancefloor will be. I took it back in when we found our venue. The DJ (or iPod station) will be set against the back wall of this room. From what we've seen of other weddings at this venue, the dancefloor will be directly in front of the DJ area and adjacent to the fireplace.

*my photo*

See that boring white ceiling: what is something creative I can hang from there?

How would you decorate this space?

Butterfly Ribbons as Escort Cards

I talked a little in my intro about my love for butterflies. Everyone knows me for loving butterflies and people always give me butterfly stuff: stationary, artwork, jewlery, and just about anything with butterflies on it.

At first, I didn't want to submit to a butterfly theme for our wedding, because it was too themey, but t it kept coming up - my love for butterflies that is - and if you remember, Mr. B proposed at the butterfly cottage.

So finally one day my co-bride (a coworker who's engaged), suggested I go ahead and submit to my original idea of having a butterfly theme. She said, "You're getting married in a garden, so it can be garden-chic... with butterflies!"

I love it!

We could totally pull off garden chic and I would love to see hints of butterflies everywhere.

Of course with any new wedding revelation comes with it a search through the blog and google images; and I have to admit garden-chic with butterflies has faired well thus far because the inspiration is flowing abundantly.

Take this amazing escort card display:

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Tell me you aren't loving this idea! I am so, so, so excited about this! It could really work for us being that our guests will enter the reception from the patio area outside. Do you think we could pull this off? I can just see the pretty ribbons swinging in the wind!
Tell me about your theme!

Tell me about your escort cards too!

Our Colors Revisited (again)

Spring Colors are...

Pink.

Green.

Orange and yellow, right?

Well, we definitely love green and pink. We're going to have a lot of green and pink, but I think we need more than that. At first we were going to have green, pink, and burgundy, which you see a little of in the pictures below, but that was before we decided to have a spring wedding.

What are good spring wedding colors?

 

  

  

  

{Photo credit: Caroline Tran via Junebug Weddings}

Loving Gray and Pink

Some of the Cutest Wedding Details...

Love her shoes. Love the sweetheart neckline. Love his gray suit.

 

Love the cupcakes, especially the sprinkles. Love the stand.

Love the "I love you like a fat kid loves cake" sign.

  

Love the lights. Love the mini cake. Love the vases. Love the single stems.

  

Love the gray and pink. Love the tulip.

 

{Photo credit: Caroline Tran}