I have completed the most difficult and daunting task on my wedding planning list, thus far. We have officially locked down our venue! HOORAY! Vinnie and I will be getting hitched on November 4, 2012 at the Hotel Maya in Long Beach, California. Originally, we wanted our date to be October 20th, which is a Saturday, however, that changed when we saw the premium places charged for a Saturday evening wedding. (FYI, for those of you brides out there scouting out venues, you can save close to $10,000 just by switching your celebration to a Friday or Sunday.) We opted for a Sunday and pushed back our date to the first weekend in November, which gave us an additional 15% off... Score! Now that we have our venue, I've realized that my color scheme may have to be tweaked a little bit. What I know for sure is that I LOVE succulent plants, so my palette should complement that cool sage green. I also want to have some bright colors to add to our killer outdoor ambiance at the Maya. The decor and vibe there is " Mayan Mystique meets Urban Chic.... alluring fusion of Latin American and Southern Californian style."

You might be reading this thinking, 'wait a minute, didn't Taya say her dream wedding would be in Palm Springs?' Yes, you're right. In my last post I wrote about how I fell in love with the Colony Palms Hotel in the desert. Well, when I got back to Los Angeles I decided to reach out to a friend of mine, Laura, who also happens to be a wedding planner. She and I met for a glass of wine and french fries (that's how I roll) to brainstorm other locations that had a vibe I wanted, and were more affordable and easier for people to travel to. I told her how I loved the old Spanish charm of the Colony Palms, along with its cool mid-century chic vibe, and that I envisioned getting married somewhere unique... somewhere with palm trees that felt like an escape. She recommended the Hotel Maya.

Long story short: I went on my own to tour the grounds. Later that week Vinnie, his parents, my MOH and I enjoyed Sunday brunch there, and that pretty much sealed the deal. (PS, the food is AMAZING!) The hotel is owned by Hilton and they recently had a $10mil renovation. The secret is slowly getting out on what a fabulous location it is for an event. In 2009 they had about 45 weddings, last year almost 100, and in 2012 even more!

Side note: When Vinnie's parents got married in San Pedro 30+ years ago, his mom wanted to spend their wedding night at this hotel!! Even though they ended up staying somewhere else, she always remembered how special the location was. It was cool to hear them reminisce about it ;-)

Now that we have our venue it's time to send out save the dates, design invites, etc.

So, what's my new challenge? Setting the tone and vibe of our wedding through COLORS. It's likely that our save the dates will be similar in design to our invitations. I've let my creative juices start flowing over the holiday weekend and this is what I've been inspired by so far. I want something modern with a hint of Spanish/Latin American influence.

As previously mentioned, I LOVE succulents! They will definitely be in my floral arrangements and table centerpieces. I'm also really digging the grey and yellow. What do you think?

I feel like picking your colors is the last big step in getting the ball rolling. Am I right? I'd love to hear how this part of the planning is going for you! Do your save the dates look like your invites? Once you picked your paper goods, did you feel pigeonholed into a certain color scheme? Have any advice or words of wisdom for me?