Seasons for Thought

Valerie made a good point... a Fall wedding may clash with people's new life plans... even mine! Where will I be... in med school? If so, where? Or at grad school... or out in the working world? But who is to say that is in Virginia... or even Central Virginia? I am starting to ponder the thought of being a June Bride. Which brings me to a new color combo I have been dreaming up -- Melon and Fig. It's a lot more girlie than the Peacock Theme that Jon liked (although I felt that was limited by one defining image... although the colors were nice). I'm on the apple so I can't crop pics well, an inspiration board is to follow!

Theme

Just when I thought I knew the color and theme I wanted for my wedding, I start getting so many new ideas. I'm going to lay them out, then look at them every once in a while til one stands out more than the others..

THEME 1

• Colors: Mossy Green, Brown, Honey, Copper (um, these blog colors haha)
• Pattern: Honeycomb
• Recurring image: Bumble Bee
• Essence: Meant to "bee"/sweet country

THEME 2

• Colors: Sage Green, Royal Purple, Ivory, Brown
• Pattern: Branches
• Recurring image: birds, pears (one or the other)
• Essence: love bird/country

THEME 3

• Colors: Deep turquoise, Bright Mossy Green, Brown, Black
• Pattern: Peacock
• Recurring image: Peacock feathers
• Essence: Mod nature

THEME 4

• Colors: Red, Black, Gold + Bright Contrast Color (I've seen cyan used...)
• Pattern: Black & White Damask
• Recurring image: Poker (King, Queen of Hearts)/Chess
• Essence: Edgy

Date!!

This is all just me talking with no real breadth, but I am pretty sure the date I want to choose is October 8th, 2011, for a few different reasons:

-Jon and I started dating on the 8th (of January)

-It's in the Fall 

-Mid-October the weather is still pleasant in central VA

-It is the Saturday of Columbus Day Weekend

I feel like picking a Holiday weekend is a good idea, plus if I plan early it shouldn't be too difficult to secure a venue, etc.

I like it. October 8th, 2011. Yes =)

Caroline & Jon First Snow 2009

My Inspiration board!

Maymont Italian Garden

Okay--So Jon has been telling me about this place for ages. Maymont also has a Japanese Garden, which he went to during some promo thing for Nordstroms, and he always wanted to take me on a picnic there. So somehow we got to talking about it being a possible wedding venue and I found out they have an Italian Garden as well (fitting!). This place looks like it has a lot of potential--check out the sweet pics! I am kind of leaning toward this now because then guests won't feel pressured to stay at the pricy hosting hotel (and I have a feeling this is cheaper). Plus the landscape is gorgeous!

wedding inspirations

these are just some every day things that are inspring me.

-bird cages
-rusted keys
-locks
-mason jars
-limes
-postcards
-stamps
-wine labels
-grapes
-pears
-vines
-buttons
-umbrellas
-parisols
-wooden fences
-clothes lines
-suspenders
-potted plants
-wooden plants
-chandeliers
-pine cones
-old fashioned cars
-vintage
-classy
-rustic
-mystic
-etheral
-pearls
-sage
-moss
-aubergine
-plum
-royal purple

When?? Where??

When

So I just wanted to record some of my initial thoughts about this, considering the most frequent question I receive is "when is the big day?!" Well, for now its just an open-ended engagement, but I am guessing that Fall 2011 is the likely time, considering I will be done with undergraduate school then and either off to work or at med school! Ideally, I had wanted to work a year after undergrad and then get married and then go to med school (just so my parents wouldn't have to shell out all the dough for my wedding) but I suppose a loan will be fine.

Where

I have always wanted one of those cute little country style weddings, out on a plantation-like place or something like that. So, surprisingly, that makes Charlottesville a great destination! Plus it's east coast, 2 hours away from my family and 8 hours away from Jon's. So not too too horrible. As for specific destinations, I was thinking along the lines of Boars Head Inn or Keswick.

Boar's Head Inn

Keswick Hall Inn

Step One: Engagement

As of November 26th, 2009 (Thanksgiving), Jon and I are engaged! I knew it was coming, but I had no idea when. Jon has always been a family man though, and both our parents were at my house for Thanksgiving. While I've always dreamt of an illustrious proposal story, I suppose this one is more relevant to Jon and I's relationship. We were walking in the mist with my two dogs, Skip and Baby, when Jon came in close for a hug--forgetting about the box in his pocket (which I obviously felt!). He pulled away and started talking all sappy, unfortunately my mind was a little distracted because I knew what was happening so I don't really remember much. All of a sudden he got down on one knee--and tried to put the ring on my right hand! So unfortunately my immediate reply to "Will you marry me?" was "wrong hand!!" (which was, of course, quickly followed by a "yes!"). I received so many well wishes on facebook, it was so nice. We also took some really cute pictures afterwards, some of which are below. While it is an open engagement, I am thinking Fall 2011. I had originally wanted to work for a year after undergrad and then have my wedding and then start med school (ideally), because I wanted to be able to pay for a really extravagant wedding without having to put it all on my parents. I was watching Brothers and Sisters tonight--they mentioned that the groom's parents are responsible for flowers, photographers, and something else, ah--I just forgot! Anyways, this is all sort of weird... nothing is different about our relationship, but yet everything is different. The inherent property of a title to change outside perception is the main difference, I guess. While Jon and I knew we were going to be together forever, others didn't. I was often approached about my inability to "get out there" and "experience others" but after countless nights of friends coming home crying about that douche-y frat guy, I knew I wasn't interested. What they didn't know was that I picked right the first time.

The ring and the super cute box + pic Jon gave it to me in!