Creative Ideas to incorporate your personalities into your wedding day

I want to share with you something that is extremely important to me.  Making your wedding your own and not a cookie cutter wedding that doesn't reflect you as a couple. 

Lego Unity Ceremony- Picture by Natalie Arabadzhi Photography

When I was planning my own wedding, there were two questions that I kept asking myself:  "Have I seen this before?" and "Does this reflect us and our personalities?".   If you're asking yourself the same questions, than this is the blog post for you.

How can I personalize my Ceremony?

One of the most common ways to personalize your ceremony is to write your own vows, which of course, we did.  Don't be afraid to think outside of the box when it comes to your vows and what you want to say to one another.

Another way to make sure that your ceremony is about you as a couple is to look at different options for a unity ceremony if you want one.  Lots of couples do candles or sand.  I've even seen cocktails (which is awesome!).  But I've never seen a Lego ceremony until our wedding.

Our son was 7 when my husband and I got married.  Legos were (and still are) HUGELY popular in our house.  While planning the wedding, I literally had a dream about creating a Lego heart with 3 missing pieces, a different color for each one of us.  I woke up the next morning and decided that that would be the perfect unity ceremony to represent our family.  It's now in a shadow box in our living room and we've added two more blocks of different colors for our two youngest children.

But there's only so many ideas that you can do for decor...

Centerpiece from the Sweetheart Table-notice the title of the books?   Picture by Natalie Arabadzhi Photography

Close up of my husband's grandparent's wedding picture.  And the "groom" drinking glass.  Notice the cow in the background?  That's an inside joke from my maid of honor.  Picture by Natalie Arabadzhi Photography

Is there?  Let's look at centerpieces...vases, candles, wood rounds, books, table runners...they're all awesome.  They can all be absolutely gorgeous.  AND they can all also be personalized in some way.  For my wedding, I had books, assorted milk glass, assorted Pearl China, some candles, and pictures of our family members and ancestors on their wedding days and other great family pictures.  I would encourage you to look for 2-3 things that show your personalities or that are important to you and incorporate them into your decor.  Even with our books, I had Star Wars books and theatre books as an added detail to reflect my husband and me.

What else can I do to make my wedding unique?

So here's the deal, I could probably write a book about all the different ways that you can make your special day all about you as a couple.  But if I give you all the ideas, then it won't reflect you.  What I do recommend is that you don't rule anything out as too "weird" or out of the ordinary.  From brewing your own beer, light saber hilts, a cardboard cutout of Chewbacca and the groom entering to Star Wars music to antique window panes as a guest "book" and stuffed memory teddy bears to honor lost loved ones, there are so many different ideas out there to make your wedding day something that definitely breaks the mold. 

If you'd love some guidance on ideas, please don't hesitate to contact us for a consultation.  It's what we love to do.  I'll leave you with a picture of our favor-a Swedish Love Knot- that was a nod to my heritage.

Miniature Swedish Love Knot- Picture by Natalie Arabadzhi Photography

A "life-saving" wedding planning tip!

What's with the ribbon and fabric?!

Time spent planning a wedding is exciting and exhausting all at the same time.  With so many details to keep track of, we thought it would be nice to share a hint that we found to be helpful in wedding planning we’ve done.

Whether you know right from the beginning exactly what colors you want for your wedding, or if you are still going through a zillion color combinations to come up with the exact one, it’s soon apparent that there are more shades of that favorite color than you ever thought possible. 

HERE'S THE TIP!!!!!!!!!

When you do find the perfect colors, cut a strip of ribbon or fabric swatch of each color in your palette.  Keep those ribbons or swatches with you at all times (I kept mine in a ziploc baggie).  You never know when you might run across something and need to make sure the color will work in your scheme.  Share your ribbons or swatches with others who are helping with the planning.  Don’t rely on taking pictures to compare colors, as they rarely show the true colors.  

You might notice that the colors that I have don't match perfectly and that the patterns really just don't go well together.  For my wedding, it worked totally fine because I was working with shades of greens, some yellows and white.  The green floral ribbon was used on my bouquet and on the favors.  Just little accents around the event to bring in that gorgeous pattern.  The swatch of lighter green fabric with the different shades of green and yellow flowers was actually the fabric that we used to make the sundresses for my flower girls.  So don't be afraid to mix and match colors and patterns.  Just use conflicting patterns and designs in moderation as pops of interest and color throughout your day.

Wedding Planning Timeline

Beauty and the Beast Inspired Shoot - Photo by Lauren Rebar

It's been six years since I planned my own wedding.  But I'm currently helping my sister plan her wedding.  If only I had known then what I know now, my own planning would have been just a wee bit less stressful (or, you know...if someone had done the planning for me!)

So, dear readers (however many there are of you), you'll find some planning tips in this blog, along with other fun stuff like interviews with other wedding pros, inspiration galleries, quizzes, and more.

This week, I want to talk about what you should be looking at after you figure out your budget.  Do your budget first!  Believe me.  It'll make everything that much easier.  Plus it'll save time because you won't waste hours looking at venues, dresses and vendors that are out of your budget.

1) Determine what feel/theme/look that you're going for.  Are there specific colors that you want to incorporate?

2) What time of year?  If you're dreaming of an outdoor wedding and you're in the Pacific Northwest, plan on looking at June-September.  But also keep in mind that this is also prime "wedding season" so venues often have higher prices in that time frame.  Do you dream of a ballroom wedding?  You can do anytime of year, which is definitely more flexible with pricing options.

3) Now that you've figured out time of year, that will help you determine what kind of venue you need.  Once you know what kind of venue you're looking for, the location is the first thing that you need to book.  The location determines everything else, from what date is available to vendor limitations.  After your venue is booked, then you can start your search for your vendors.  Ask friends and family who they would recommend.  Google your vendors before you book them, and make sure to meet with them in person at least once prior to your wedding.

PS-There are a TON of wedding planning timelines out there on different websites. www.theknot.com was the one that I used.  It helps to find a timeline that you can personalize for your needs.  Hiring a planner is also a huge help.  If you can swing it in your budget, I definitely recommend it!