{Real Brides} Taylor :: The Backyard Bride

Name:  Taylor Chatfield (will be Taylor Martin)
 Location:  Fort Worth, Texas
 Age:  21 years old
 Occupation:  I work at Texas Christian University as the Assistant Director of E-Stewardship in the Office of Donor Relations.
 Wedding Date:  June 16, 2012
 Venue:  My parents beautiful home in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb right between Dallas and Fort Worth)
 Planner: My parents, myself, JB (my fiancé) and all my wonderful friends
 Photographer:  Braeden Rogers at Ambient 11 (he's pretty amazing)

Connect with Taylor: Twitter ::  Pinterest 

About Me: JB and I began dating after a lengthy AIM courtship during our sophomore year of high school. From riding in the backseat of our parents' cars (we were only 15), to high school graduation, two trips to Guatemala, college life at TCU and six months apart while I studied in Spain and he studied in New Zealand, to finally being able to call each other fiancé, we can't wait to be married (and I can't wait to throw this massive shindig).

Wedding Style: I've always had a slightly quirky sense of style, I love things that are handmade, unique and in every sense of the word, flawed. I'm very decisive about what I like and dislike (or should I say adore and despise...my opinions are pretty strong), even if my decisiveness seems to be without rhyme or reason. I want our wedding to not take itself too seriously (eek..I hope by giving it a persona it didn't just take itself too seriously). It's a party...a BIG party and I don't want to play it off as something it's not, which is why I plan to intersperse relaxed and fun classic party decor done in a modern way throughout the event. For example, I'm planning on having people throw confetti...true paper confetti as we recess back down the aisle, however I want it to be GIANT, chic, slightly ridiculous confetti. I am very excited about all of the handmade details that I get to add to the event  and I am ready to do as much by myself (and by that I mean with the help of my family and friends) as I can. I simply want people to leave our wedding with a renewed, dreamy, whimsical love for each other...the kind JB and I share.

Clockwise from top left: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight

Check you next Monday!

P.S. I love talking weddings, so feel free to email me with ideas, questions, inspiration, or if you just want to chat. If you're in DFW, maybe we could even grab some chips and salsa (I'm not a coffee girl).

{Our Wedding} Inspiration Take 3

Week 3 and I still seem to be able to come up with inspiration boards t reflect my wedding. This is totally a good thing because it means I am making progress and making decisions. First off, just curious if anyone else fall asleep to color palettes and tablescapes? I do and it pretty much keeps me up for a long time! You all would be incredibly proud of my progress yesterday! I went to anthropologie and got the centerpiece and bud vases. And I got the cutest little hangers that I am using for the armoire. It's going to look so incredible. Then I headed over to Michael's and picked up everything I need to create an epic ceremony sign. Oh and I found little tiny 1 inch wood letters to create the table numbers. Today I am heading over to Home Depot to get some wood and some chicken wire. (somewhere in the process I took up the trade of a woodsman. Well, I call it a woodsman at least)

I finally figured out how to keep everything of mine totally organized. It's this site called Backpack which I never thought to use for wedding stuff, but it is so simple and now all my lists are super organized. I needed that!

Ok, onto my inspiration for the week!

Birdcages: I'm feeling these out but I want something that hangs above so birdcages are definitely in the running. I have to research where to find them, how much they are, etc first but I think these would look great hanging in front of the tree.

Cotton: Yep, I'm doing cotton. I'm thinking of having these hanging strands go behind the head table or maybe in a few other places. They are pretty awesome.

Signs: The signs behind us will be something like this all cute and spelled out!

Windows: OMG, these old windows are making several guest appearances in the wedding. They won't be the escort cards (though that would have been far simpler) but they will be our sign in.

Drawers: I plan on using drawers to hold the favors for the guests. It will be a cute way to display all the jam jars. Luckily, I already have the drawers.

Ok, 4 weeks to get everything done. My backpack to-do list has about 60 items to get done, so wish me luck! Oh and for those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, I was saying yesterday that no one will even make the two tiered mini cakes that I want for the wedding......so it looks as if I will be making those myself. Craftsman and Baker...it has a good ring to it, don't you think??

Check out Inspiration Board Number 1 and Number 2 to get the whole concept of the wedding thus far!

{Inspired Style} Vintage Romance

Here we go for day 2 of "Inspired Style" week. Inspired Style is a week long inspiration-fest displaying styles of inspiration. Engaged & Inspired offers "The Inspired Board" to give brides a bit of clarity on their exact wedding vision by combining each style perfectly allowing the overall product of the wedding to be seamlessly cohesive. Looking at all the amazing things the wedding industry offers can leave you majorly inspired, yet totally overwhelmed by all the new ideas you want at your wedding. The Inspired Board gives a sense of clarity and focus to your vision no matter how many different styles you want to add into your special day. Vintage Romance is such a fun style to create through a wedding. There is nothing more whimsical and beautiful as a light and fresh color palette filled with romantic details. Single peonies out of milk jars add an elegance that I totally appreciate in a wedding. Oh and those benches, talk about amazing (and really similar to what I am doing for my wedding!). This color palette inspires love, passion and simplistic romance. Amazing.

Source: Tablescape, Jars, Shoes, Dress, Centerpieces, Vanity

Anyone doing a vintage romantic styled wedding?? Leave a comment and let me know what style wedding you are working with!

Pink and Gray

I don't happen to be a fan of pink weddings. I later realized that any color wedding, if done right, can be gorgeous. As with any color it is important not to over saturated the area with your color. Spread it out a little bit by adding neutral colors in between. So here we go with a gorgeous pink and gray inspiration board set out to make those haters of pink weddings realize that it can be done right! Pops of color, pretty much my all time favorite wedding term, are far better than a color or theme which takes over.

Do you have a pink and gray inspiration board?? If these are your colors I would love to see what you are working with!

Source: Elizabeth Anne, Amsale, Erica O'Brian, Lotus Haus,  Orange Beautiful, Pretty Cheeky