Our Wedding Inspiration + Mood Board | Part 1 of Our Wedding Planning Journey
Part 1 | Our Wedding Planning Journey
Our Inspiration + Mood Board
I have been helping my photography clients plan for their big day for the last 3 years, and when I got engaged in June 2017 my goal was to have a stress-free planning experience! For the most part, I think our planning has been amazing and so so exciting. . . but it didn't feel that way at the start!
Due to the fact that my busy season is during the summer and fall months, and that's also when we'd like to host our wedding, that only left us with so much availability for our wedding day to happen. Scott and I also have a very specific vision in mind for our venue; a lakefront ceremony, al fresco dining by the water for the reception, and a venue that can keep a good majority of our guests overnight!
- How We Envision Our Day -
We want to throw a wedding that feels like us! A simple, elegant, & approachable event held in a meaningful location. I love pretty details and style elements, but I love Scott more than any beautiful detail that I could ever have! We picture a day full of joy, romance, and thankfulness for the fact that it is finally our turn (we've been together for almost 7 years)!⠀
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Our closest friends and family (about 85 guests) will be encouraged to come as they are, stay as long as they can, share laughter, tears, and barefoot walks on the beach. We want our wedding day/weekend to feel more like a retreat that is built on the things that really matter to us; family, friends, food, and faith!
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The most tangible memories I have are those of summer time at the lake with family. My sister, cousins, and I would spend hours fishing for dinner with Grandpa, collecting wild blueberries for pancakes, taking afternoon naps in the warm shade after a day full of swimming and water skiing, and our only clock was how ever long the sun was awake! We would also dine al fresco on the deck (another inspiration for our wedding!), eating fresh watermelon and warm, gooey s'mores as we listened for the singing song of loons on the lake. The sunset boat rides, bright stars, & crackling fire surrounded by laughter and heart-to-hearts was magic every time! ⠀
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For our wedding, we are taking a leaf out of my late Grandma Jean's book because she had a gift for making simple occasions feel like true luxury; a once in a lifetime event. The memory of those days, & a lifetime more, are what inspired mine and Scott's idea of an approachable, meaningful, & elegant wedding day!
- Our Wedding Venue -
The Bay Pointe Inn, Shelbyville, Michigan
As our venue search began (after only being engaged a week), we already had a lot of factors and a lot of really specific wants for where we wanted to get married which made our list kind of small. This made it even harder when all the venues that we loved told us they were already booked for all our available Saturday and Sunday dates. . . It was so deflating that even though we were looking in June 2017 venues were already booked for our ideal timeframe of August 2018 - over a year out!!
I understand now MORE THAN EVER BEFORE how brides feel when they inquire with me for wedding photography services and I'm already booked. Our whole journey is helping me relate on new levels with all of my CCP couples!
I spent hours (many into the wee hours of 3 am) online, on Google Maps, and theKnot searching around the beautiful state of Michigan for a venue, for some hidden gem. . . People suggested we wait 1-2 years and then book the exact venue we wanted. . . But Scott and I didn't want to wait more than a year (almost 7 years here people!). . . That's when I had the (brilliant) idea of having our wedding on a Thursday vs. on the weekend!!
Suddenly our top venue (the Bay Pointe Inn) was now available and some of our other must-have vendors were too!
** Cue the Party Music + Pop the Confetti!! ***
As all the details came together for our date and venue, I definitely felt like Kevin Bacon, here, from Footloose! A weight of stress and anxiety was removed from my shoulders and I was so excited to start planning all the fun little details for our wedding day! For me, having an aesthetic and color scheme for the big picture really helps me pull everything together and after several rounds of revisions, here is the color palette that Scott and I will be incorporating into our wedding!
Scott and I are both Scottish, and Scott's family tartan (see pattern in mood board below) was a great source of inspiration for our color palette! The predominate colors will be the dusty sage (green), champagne gold (but not too sparkly - more muted), the charcoal grey, and the silver sage (which is more of a blue-ish grey), and then the cranberry red will be the pop of color since it is a very "loud" color.
The aesthetic for our wedding day is showcased in the mood board below! More than anything we want our wedding day and any details we bring in to feel classic and timeless. I am also such a romantic and love incorporating vintage, whimsical, and personal touches to our day! I don't want our day to really be one "theme" or another but describing it as Romantic, Vintage, and Classic seemed right.
Click to Enlarge
I hope you enjoyed getting an inside look at our wedding plans and our inspiration! I want to continue to share helpful information and resources with brides planning for their wedding because I know sometimes it's hard to know where to start and creating a design plan can be overwhelming!
*** Want to know how I was able to create a custom color palette and mood board?? ***
Aisleplanner.com is an amazing planning site that is keeping all my wedding plans organized, including future RSVPs, seating chart, budgeting, and so much more along with a design section that allows you to import images. From there a color picker will show you all the colors in that photo and you can pick and chose which colors to save to your overall color palette! Lifesaver!!
Wanna catch up on our wedding planning journey?!
I’ve got all the details right here!
Part 1: Our Wedding Inspiration & Mood Board
Part 2: Our Wedding Photographer & Our Engagement Photos
Part 3: My 3-Day Las Vegas Bachelorette Trip
Part 4: Our Wedding Day at the Bay Pointe Inn
Part 5: Our Honeymoon at Walt Disney World (1/2)
Last Segment Coming Soon! . . . Part 5: Our Honeymoon at Universal Studios & Wizarding World of Harry Potter (2/2)
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