Photo Dump

Our theme is vintage adventure. We were originally inspired by the movie Up! (which is where John's proposal idea came from). From there, we decided that maps and other fun adventurey things would be incorporated into the theme/decor. Somehow, vintage keys got involved (think "unlocking" the adventure) and also tea cups, tea pots, and old books. I don't know if they all go together yet, but just think old trinkets and I think they'll some how work out. 

So now, I'm just going to dump a bunch of photos on you guys to give you an idea of some wedding details (stolen from other weddings) that give us inspiration for our theme and feel of the day. 

It all started here, with some vintagey Up! inspirations. 

How can you have Up! without the grape soda bottle caps? They sell these on etsy.com.

I love the colors here, and the adorable clutches that each girl is holding.

Beautiful green & white flowers

Close up of green & white flowers. Also, the green of the dress is one of our colors.

Another flower shot

This is a different type of bouquet, still incorporating the green & white.

I love the green bottles here. We probably won't end up using them at our wedding, but I love the colors anyway.

The candles lining the head table are so much fun. And I love the idea of turning the b-maids' bouquets into vases of flowers. They quickly become a decoration at the reception and stay hydrated at the same time! How practical!!

Not in our colors, but still... I love the look of vintage books. And think about it - novels are totally ADVENTURES! Perfect for the theme :) 

Not sure what our save-the-date or invites will look like yet, but I love the map and color scheme here.

I am SO in love with this cake. I love how simple it is, yet it still has some sass & fun with the different textures. I think it would look amazing with this cake-topper...

I originally fell in love with this when I found it on etsy. Since then, Kate Niemer (co-worker and dress shopping buddy extraordinaire) has volunteered to make it for us! I think it has a trinket-y, old fashioned feel to it.

We really want skeleton keys to be a part of our big day in a big way. Just love the look of 'em.

Skeleton key escort cards on a door? Yep. Consider it done. And how vintagey, right?! We found these wooden skeleton keys on etsy.com to help make this happen...

Don't you love these save-the-dates?! They're a little out of our price range, but I figured I'd include a pic as another visual for the escort card idea.

I just love succulents. Not sure if we'll be able to incorporate much of them, but love them just the same.

My mom is getting old tea cups and tea pots to pot flowers in. They'll be used as part of the centerpieces on the tables. Again, think trinkets.  

Here's another ADORABLE idea. Instead of a guestbook, have guests put their thumbprints (in our colors) on this precious tree, then sign underneath. Voila! Instant piece of artwork for future home. And if we had an older looking frame, it'd totally fit in with the theme.

Another idea is to have guests put a thumbtack in a vintage map to signify where they came from or where their "adventure" began. We could use this as the guest book, then when the wedding is over, we can hang it in our house and have guests continue to put thumb tacks in it for years to come!

Dressing the Schwedding Party

So, I have my dress. It's gorg. That detail is out of the way. Now it's time to deal with the rest of the wedding crew. What's on my mind, you ask? Well, here we go.

The bridesmaids will be in an elegant, chic, and simple dress in navy blue:

Would you believe I found it on target.com? Did you even know Target (pronounced Tar-jay) made bridesmaids dresses? I was having so much trouble finding something simple, navy blue, with straps, and affordable. On a whim I checked out target.com and voila! I find this gem. The ladies all seemed happy with it, so it's been ordered and will hopefully be a hit down the aisle on July 16th! And here's a secret: you can see me wearing it in the pictures from the engagement party post. I bought the dress for myself to try it out and wore it to the engagement party. So, obviously that means it can TOTALLY be worn again... I know, I'm such a nice bride!

The girls will all hopefully be wearing these cute flowers in their hair (to mimic the white flower that'll be in mine):

I'm also thinking that a shoe with some glitter would look amazing on the girls and be so flirtatious/fun for the big day. What do you think of these?

I love the first pair because they're so sexy and shiny. And the second pair is great too... they'd be comfy AND sparkly. Stylish AND practical. I have another secret: I own the second pair of shoes and I feel like a princess every time I slip them on. They're amazing! Basically, I'm open to any glittery shoe that the ladies find... and the shine on the shoes will compliment the shine of my bling ring. Just sayin'...

You're probably wondering about the boys now. John and I have chatted and we're leaning towards gray suits. We know it's not as dressy as black tuxes, but gray suits just look more vintagey and more stylish (in my opinion) in general. So, as John and I were sitting down to enjoy our delish Panera lunch yesterday, I have this vision of the wedding party. As you already know, the ladies will be in navy blue. I'm thinking, boys in their gray suits with navy blue ties (to matchy match the ladies). I should admit now that I've always thought the groom should have something different about his wedding suit that makes him stand out from the rest of the men in the party (as the bride definitely stands out from her bridesmaids). Then it hits me... have him wear a green tie instead of the blue. This way, we're incorporating the forgotten green into the bridal party's attire for the day and it's on my favorite person :) But it doesn't just stop right there... then I think, wait a second... I'll have my shoes dyed green to match his green tie! The bride and groom will match in their own special way, just as the bridesmaids and groomsmen will match. AMAZING. Here are some pictures I found that help the inspiration:

 

 

Except that's not my shoe. I bought these beauties last week (to wear to my first fitting this weekend!!): 

 

Now I just need to have them dyed. Let's hope they're comfy shoes, as I didn't get to try them on and they're not returnable. They'll be arriving in the mail hopefully by tomorrow. 

And to tie it all together, how fun would it be for the groomsmen and my handsome groom to be wearing these saucy socks:

Ahhh! I'm so in love with all these ideas. I'm so thankful that they came to me over Panera lunch yesterday. It took me a few minutes to convince John that it was going to be a delicious combo of greens, blues, gray suits, and sparkly shoes, but I think he's on board now. 

So the wedding-day attire is basically decided. Now I just have to figure out jewelry for the ladies and myself, flowers (probably just green and white), make-up, and the hundreds of other details that play into the big day. Any suggestions for jewelry, flowers, etc. are more than welcome!

Schwengagement party

The week before Christmas, John and I flew to Johnson City, TN to visit John's family for the holiday. John wasn't going to be able to be home for Christmas (he was working in the ER... eek!), so his parents decided to throw us an engagement party the weekend before Christmas! This gave us the chance to meet a lot of their close coworkers and friends while we were in town only for a short while.

What made the party even better, you ask? Well, my parents flew in from RI to go to the party as well! So obvi our parents met for the first time. All you Nervous Nancys out there are probably wondering how it went - let's just say it was WONDERFUL! From what John and I could tell, the parentals had a grand ol' time getting to know each other in the great state of Tennessee.

Here are some pictures of the engagement party and weekend in TN for your viewing pleasure:

Me, John, my dad & mom at the engagement party. Open your eyes, momma!

John and I cheesing for the camera, our parents making chit-chats in the background

John's parents, his brother, and my parents... all dressed to impress!

Toasting the engaged couple

Enjoying the toast

John and his bro Eric

Kissy pic!

Visiting the Bristol Motor Speedway for my mom, the NASCAR fan 

The whole gang enjoying pizza at the Mellow Mushroom

My mom and John's dad just so happen to both own windvail blue Mustangs

Enjoying our flowers from John's Aunt Mary and Uncle Tom

They found a toy version of their Mustang at a local candy shop

Now, doesn't it look like we all had a great time! We certainly did, and we are all so grateful to the Schweitzers for showing us a fab time in Tennessee. They are always wonderful hosts and blew us away with a spectacular engagement party. Couldn't have asked for more!