Well, there's nothing like wedding planning to make a Mouse search her thesaurus for synonyms for "quandary." Apparently, a wedding is the culmination of (frequently arbitrary) decisions that resolve hundreds of thousands of dilemmas, deadlocks, halts, impasses, standoffs, stalemates, pickles, problems, predicaments, fixes, and jams. My favorite quandary synonym? Knot. Gives a new and entirely appropriate meaning to TheKnot.com, right?Anyway, I usually post real weddings on Mondays, but I'm putting that on hold because I have yet another quandary in need of speedy resolution.* Which is: ceremony decorations. I think this feels so urgent to me because I haven't spent much time yet thinking about the ceremony. He-Mouse and I have been focused on throwing an awesome party, and on making family and friends feel included, and all we've decided yet about the ceremony is that my Uncle Hank will officiate.
Okay, so. Our ceremony will be on that lovely patch of green green grass in the photo above, with those pretty white chairs. I so love the chairs, in fact, that I'm not feeling moved to decorate them with anything. I think we should just ride with the chairs and the green grass and the big ol' cottonwood trees. (You can't see it, but there's also a very charming corral full of horsies just to the right.)
Also in that photo, and in the heinously blurry photo here, are the arch and little fake tree (x 2) provided by the venue. We also get rose petals, in the color of our choice, as part of our site fee.
First of all, I think I hate those little fake trees.** If they were real trees, or if my wedding had any sort of European vibe, I might feel differently. The wedding lady REEAAALLY wants us to have them, because she says we need to frame the space. She seems concerned that, without the trees, the bridal party won't know where to stand and then everything will be off-center. I sort of think that if we put space-conscious people on the end of each row of bridesmaids/groomsmen, they can figure this out. What do you think?Second, the arch itself. I don't particularly like this arch, although it's nicer when it's standing up and not blurry. But I do like the idea of a big splash of color behind me and He-Mouse and Uncle Hank. (For reference, there is also a beautiful, twisty old cottonwood tree behind that. We could also hang pom-poms from the tree.) Here are my two ideas:
1. Cover it (and I mean COVER EVERY INCH OF IT) with bright orange and a few yellow paper dahlias from OctoberHill. (You can win some of these dahlias here, until Wednesday!)
2. Hang tissue paper pom-poms from it, in varying lengths and sizes, in orange and mostly yellow.
What do you think? Other ideas? I think I'm going to use the rose petals to line the aisle on each side, up the rows of chairs...
* No big surprise here, right? Real weddings will be back next week. If you need a little inspiration to soften your Monday, you can click here and look at old ones.
** Which is just my personal opinion.
22 comments:
If you don't want the fake trees, I say lose them. I don't think they'll have a big effect in framing the "altar". Like you said, I'm sure your bridal party can figure out where to stand and even if they're a little slow, you'll have the rehearsal to practice. I like the idea of hanging pom poms behind you. We're doing something similar, only with paper lanterns. Like you said, the splash of color in the background would look great and give some nice contrast to the beautiful greens/browns going on around you.
It is a very pretty space. I think you could do anything (meaning: nothing) and it would look great.
What about losing the fake trees, and purchasing two real trees. Then you and Monseigneur Mouse can plant the trees together in a park, school or your yard afterwords, and it will be symbolic of your life growing together. Or two gorgeous white vintage planters filled with branches with the paper flowers intertwined? As for the arch, it is mui mucho uggo. I agree, it needs to be completely re-done, if you are doing all that work, why not make your own? You could collect some weathered branches or drift wood, and make a beautiful arch more reminiscent of the landscape, you can then decorate it with more of the paper flowers.
I definitely think that most of your decorating should focus on where you will be getting married and leave the chairs alone - they are all gonna be looking up there and not caring what their butt is on.
I think all ideas are nice. The arch could be made to be fun and spunky and has a nice frame to start with, but I'm in love with hanging things from trees. We are getting married under a big oak and plan to do some sort of pom pom, lantern, garland hanging business with the tree.
As far as getting the bridal party centered, you could always put a marker on the ground for them....like a little rose petal spot or something - if they are really spacially special. Or just trust them to do ok.
Good luck!
Ha knot! Although I do adore the word quandary.
Lose the trees. I love the idea of
the the poms hanging from the trees.
Oh my god, things may be asymmetrical?! Big whoop.
Love the petals down the aisle.
Just do what you want my darling!
I am in agreement with Cupcake Wedding — I don't think you need to do anything to the space unless you WANT to. The beauty of the outdoors is enough for me.
Don't use the little trees. I don't like them either. Some pom poms hanging from the cotton wood tree would be very lovely and asymetrical (I love me some good asymetry). I personally wouldn't use the arch — not my style — but do what suits you.
And in regards to your bridal party, put down some kind of marker in the grass where the first person should stand and everyone else will fall into place. If you have a quick rehearsal, they'll be fine.
Love the space as is!
If you're really wanting to do something, I like the idea of stuff hanging in the tree, if that's easy to accomplish. The arch is pretty, too, but maybe more expected (nothin' wrong w/that of course). I vote for nixing the fake trees, too.
Personal opinions here. Agree that chairs are lovely. No hanging pom poms. Need too many to matter and they are prone to blowing around and looking random. Cover arch with dahlias. It will resemble a pinata. This will be a good thing. Finally, do as suggested and replace fake trees with two real ones in terracotta. This is a staged ritual, after all, and a few focal points to surround you is a good idea. Personal opinion only.
The space is gorgeous. Forget the fake trees, no matter what wedding lady says. If you're super concerned about spacing, couldn't you just stick a couple brightly colored golf tees in a couple places? Inconspicuous enough that they won't be super obvious, but good enough to mark placements.
Although I'm sure there are many lovely ways to frame the space, please also consider your sanity and the ultimate importance of the effort and cost. Personally, I think it's a gorgeous outdoor location already and you don't need to mess with that. I also personally like the arch, particularly if it were covered in paper dahlias that link in with your SW decor (or not. It's actually okay as is, to my mind). After that... what more do you need for framing? You'll have a central arch, and people are probably smart enough to recognize that you'll stand at the center of that and the bridal party radiates outward. People get married all the time without fake-tree (or real tree or other decor machinations) framing the space.
And yes, ditch the fake trees.
oh i seem to have a lot to say here.
let me preface it all with this. these days i am more and more likely to embrace the fact that you don't NEED anything. (obv.) and to be less literal, what i needed is very diff from what you need. that said, i will proceed with *my* opinion and what *I* would do.
a)ditch those fucking fake trees
b)yes about leaving the chairs and everything plain and as they are
c)the people *can* figure it out BUT
d)i am a fan of good composition. i struggled with whether or not to buy that backdrop we used, see here
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_MzfFSWdsiP0/SSOd8x02QuI/AAAAAAAAAEY/dbTono5eYmE/s1600-h/c3.JPG
it was not in the budget and it was kinda pricey. but man am i glad we did. everyone commented, it felt special, it drew attention, it was pretty much the only decoration but it was all we needed. and, how pretty in the pictures?
I think covering every inch of it with bright flowers would be PERFECT.
but also, covering every inch of that thing might be a pain in the ass.
would they let you stake two big stakes into the ground like we did? then you could still have a focal point (hang flowers from something running between the 2)
cause i am a little worried about how many flowers/how much time it would take to cover that thing.
ps rachel, always so smart! golf tees!
@Rachel--GOLF TEES! You have an awesome answer to every quandary in the land.
Everybody: did I mention that the site fee includes THEM covering the arch with paper dahlias, and all I have to do is give them the paper dahlias? Does that change anybody's mind?
xo
oh that is a HUGE help. if the cost to buy the dahlias is reasonable to you then fuck yeah!
Follow your heart and tell that wedding lady no. It's your day! The space is gorgeous.
If it involves the venue covering the arch, then HELL YEAH, Do it up!
I don't think you need anything at all, but using the tree behind the "altar" is a good idea. Why mess with such a beautiful space?
Do you need ceremony decorations?? The chairs themselves make a natural aisle, if you're using an aisle.
I would let the chairs be. The problem with pom poms might be wind.
OK, here was my thought process reading this entry and the comments. "Hmm, the arch would look so great covered in orange paper dahlias, but that sounds like so much work. ... wait, the venue will do it for you?! Do that! Do that!"
So I vote for the paper dahlias, if they're not too expensive :-)
Thanks, everybody! You all have some important points. LPC: I had forgotten about wind. Sideways pompoms are much less cute.
I'm leaning towards covering the arch with paper dahlias, but I'll keep you posted! xo
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