I am not a wedding planner...

But I am planning our wedding. To be fair, I'm getting a great deal of help from Jimmy and my family (particularly my mother—bless you Mamacita!), but in terms of general mood/aesthetic, I'm hoping to have an event that is, from start to finish, 100% us. Not someone else's translation of what Jimmy and I might want, but what we want. We're visual people; why wouldn't we design our own wedding day?

Since we have the venue set for early next summer and I'm very close to buying a wedding dress, I'm moving on to some of the other major details of the wedding: the cake, color schemes, flowers, and bridal party dresses. I had a bit of fun putting together a couple of inspiration boards to help me keep track of my thoughts about two of those details:

All images are from www.jcrew.com

Don't laugh at me, but I'm going to have six bridesmaids. I know that is a very high number, but hey—I have three older sisters, and there was no way that I was going to snub either them or my very closest friends, because I want all of them up there with me that day. So yes, six different personalities, body types, and personal styles to dress! I've always felt so opposed to the idea of having an army of bridesmaids, all wearing the same style dress in the same color, but unity is sort of important when it comes to dressing a bridal party. I've chosen a few grays to choose from, since gray is such a flexible and dynamic color, and with all of its various tones/values, it can complement so many different skin tones. I also think that having a variety of dress styles is important, to not only provide the freedom of choice, but also to ensure that every girl has a dress that she feels comfortable and hopefully even a bit unique in wearing. J. Crew has some really great options for those who favor a fresh, modern aesthetic, and the above options are what I'm really leaning towards: figure flattering and simple, with slight variations.

Floral images were plucked from Google, and the bouquet sample photo is from www.magnoliamarketonline.com

The floral selections were really fun to brainstorm. Now, because I haven't yet contacted a florist, I'm not  quite sure what will be available in June, but my ideal bouquet would pretty much be what is pictured above. It includes peonies, which are just nature's most deliciously robust blossoms, peach stock, Queen Anne's lace, those funny little yellow lollipop flowers are called craspedia. The mixture of peachy salmon and golden yellow are so yummy against white and the bright, glossy green of early summer, and I think that they capture the right amount of freshness: perfect for our outdoor country wedding.

Thanks for bearing with me! This definitely won't be my last wedding inspiration post, I have to warn... This whole 'getting married' business is more or less consuming a portion of my life at the moment, and I'm rather enjoying it.