branding the wedding

We’re several good months away from worrying about invitations, but i’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to “brand” the wedding. Not in the for-sale-to-the-highest-bidder sense; i’m thinking more about how to pull together all these fabulous but not so interrelated ideas for the ceremony and reception. How to make the day cohesive without making it a cookie-cutter theme extravaganza.

Etsy to the rescue!

Randomly poking around on everyone’s favorite indie crafting site, i had the genius idea to search ‘wedding logos.’ And, lo and behold, so many options to choose from! I’ve narrowed it down to my favorite four, but believe that there are plenty more out there, from inexpensive text-based options where you specify font and color to pie-in-the-sky $200 custom jobs. But i know what you want — pictures!

Motifdesigns via Etsy. I particularly like the {block} option here. It’s text-based, rather than graphic, which isn’t what i had originally envisioned, but it’s kind of quirky and i dig it. Plus, the listing notes that these are merely examples; motifdesigns will create a logo based on pictures you send in, ideas for decor, themes, you name it. And the custom logo, sent to you as a .jpeg, is only $20!

Black Sheep Designs gets love from me simply from its name. (I had a black sheep as a pet when i was a child … but that’s a story for another post. Or another blog.) Anyway, this custom logo work is a little more pricey, at $45, but as you can see, this option leans more heavily on graphics than text to create a mood. I like how clean and simple these designs are, and i think logos in this style would transfer well to save-the-dates, invitations, etc. without being too over-the-top coordinated.

unlessomeonelikeyou is a bit of an Etsy allstar, and with good reason. I adore these designs — i love how the text is incorporated without being overly fussy, and i adore how clean the designs are while managing to convey a very clear idea or feeling. Here’s a little more from unlessomeonelikeyou’s custom logo work:

So pretty, right? Unique and just a little bit offbeat, but with a strong identity. I love these!

And finally; cupcake logo!!

If i weren’t worried that my balloons and other decoration ideas (i’ll get to them soon, i promise) aren’t already walking the line of terribly twee, i would have ordered this logo the minute i laid eyes on it. And, to be honest, i still may! It’s sickeningly cute — which is something i said i wanted to avoid on my wedding day. But! It’s cupcakes!!

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putting the “tea-length” in tulle

Thus began my exhaustive (and exhausting!) online hunt for inspirational pictures. I’m not gonna lie — the idea of a tea-length dress did not immediately occur to me. I hunted high; i hunted low. The Dress escaped me. In need of inspiration, i branched out in my searches, and then — courtesy of onesmallstar at etsy wedding, i found this:

If you haven’t heard of Joan Shum, i highly recommend you dash directly over to her Etsy site and commence with the swooning. Each of her designs is utterly genius, and the construction is a work of art.

After i had fanned myself at the gorgeousness for a while, i happened to notice the price tag. Aaaand Mademoiselle came right back off the list. But! She gave me a starting point for a whole new direction of dreaming. Poofy! Tulle! And tea-length!! Genius. I began having visions of 1950s prom dresses, Audrey Hepburn, champagne, balloons, and shoes that i could show off.

And then, suddenly, tea-length inspiration was everywhere! Here’s a gorgeous Priscilla of Boston number:

With bonus tulle border!

I also stumbled upon the brilliant women of the indiebride forums, who turned me on to this masterpiece of bridal finery:

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Maya.

*swoon*

This dress has launched a thousand brides’ dreams. Seriously. Although she’s not tulle, she is certainly poofy, and quirky, and simply breathtaking. Believe me when i say that her fans are legion and true. (She’s also no longer available. Sorry to break your hearts like that! But isn’t she dreamy?!)

Stay tuned — i’ve got lots more tea-length inspiration for you, as well as fabulous, extensive resources for online drooling and shopping. And soon — i’ll reveal The Dress!

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what’s even more fun than picking out a venue?

Picking out a DRESS!!

As you may have gathered from the very name of my blog, i dreamed a dream of tulle long before i ever got engaged. A lot of the preconceptions i had about what i’d want as a bride — developed, some of them, as long as 25 years ago (hi, i’m old!) — have happily been jettisoned in favor of more practical, simple, inexpensive, and quirky alternatives. However, i have always known bone-deep that i wanted a big, poofy, giant tulle ballgown when i got married.

When i first started poking around online, i was knocked off my feet by Allie J Designs, an Etsy designer who makes insanely affordable and ridiculously poofy tulle skirts. Witness the awesomeness:

So poofy! So tulle-tastic! So quirky and unexpected and awesome, yet still (in a twisty kind of way) traditional! I mean, she’s wearing it with a plain white tank, and look how wedding-y and special she looks! And it’s only $190!! Seriously, i saved this link under the heading “I HAVE FOUND MY WEDDING DRESS.” All-caps and everything. Even now, i am smitten by its simplicity and gorgeousness.

However, my mom — who graciously volunteered to buy my wedding dress — was not so much feeling the “i bought it off the Internets” vibe. I’m an only child, and she and i have long talked about my wedding, and she wanted the whole bridal-store experience. And, you know, who am i to argue against getting to try on rooms full of poofy white dresses and veils? I figured i’d have the Allie J option in my back pocket should we not find anything we both loved.

So began the hunt for inspiration — i searched high and low for ideas i could take to bridal salons to convey my visions, or even pictures of dresses available for perusal at actual physical stores. And let me just tell you — tulle? Not such a popular option these days. I found beautiful structural satin, slinky Grecian goddess dresses of silk and lace, mermaid silhouettes, sheaths, and everything else you can dream of. But i despaired of tulle. And then! Maggie Sottero inspired me with this:

Gorgeous, right? It’s not quite as poofy as i had pictured, but the tulle is frothy and unusual and cascading and love. (To be fair, i’d snatch that flowery-brooch-looking thing right off her hip, but otherwise, it’s dreamy.) And tulle! I was inspired; i had hope. And i wanted to check out what Maggie could do for me. In the meantime, though, i kept hunting and searching and googling and bookmarking. I wanted to know exactly what my options were.

Stay tuned: the search continues!

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before i get to venues…

I have to tell you about the first favorite thing i found on the Interwebs for our wedding. I know these have been all over the place and back again, but i am completely, utterly in love with Paloma’s Nest ring bowls.

I mean, so pretty, right? You can custom-order the text you want, anything from your names, wedding date, favorite quote, random series of letters meaningful to you as a couple… the possibilities are (nearly) endless. And THEY ARE ONLY $25. Ridiculous. And so, so beautiful. The only reason i haven’t ordered one yet is because i can’t decide what i want it to say!

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