New Web Address

Hi readers!

I've decided to migrate my blog to Wordpress since I find it easier to use than Blogger. I hope you will continue to check in with my blog over there:

ithinkimightbeagrownup.wordpress.com

See you there!

~Natalie

Wedding Colors

Choosing the wedding colors was initially really tough for me. I knew I wanted a main color that would work well in the fall (i.e. not seem out of season, like a light pink or turquoise might) and then one or two complimentary colors, but it was really hard nailing down a palette that felt right.

First I thought maybe navy and a green color (all images courtesy of snippet & ink, unless otherwise noted):

But something about the green made it feel summery, which I didn't want.

What about white? Very bridal (obviously) and sort of a-seasonal (if that is even a word, probably not).

So wintry, though... and I feel strongly that the word snow is a "bad four-letter word" - so white is a no.

Then I thought maybe brown could be the primary color - very fall:

I stuck with brown for a while until I realized I really didn't the color all that much - the idea of having brown bridesmaid dresses just made me feel blah - nothing about brown makes me light up or feel excited, it's just... brown... and I wanted my wedding color to make me smile.

I kept going back to navy... it would work in the fall, though it's not a typical "fall" color and I get a good feeling when I think of navy (which sounds ridiculous, but you have to take those things into account!). The dilema? Since it's not a standard fall color, how could I make it work without being too summery or too nautical? The accent color would be key, but I couldn't come up with one I liked... When I talked to my all too rational mom about this she said "you just seem to want navy. Why not just have navy be your color and pick the accent color later?" Genius. We went ahead with navy and haven't looked back. Here is the inspiration board I made the night I decided navy was the color:

However, I still haven't found *the* accent color... I did add a taupe color (which you can see on the S/Ds) to the navy (it's actually the color of the sash in my wedding dress - more on that later), but I still think we need a pop of color in places - the bridesmaids shoes, for example - and I can't find a color that feels right. Here are some options:

Navy and yellow or navy and orange (definitely fall colors, though the yellow still feels a little summery, especially with the navy, don't you think?):

I like the orange/marigold color, but Brian told me he's not a fan... Look how pretty those bridesmaids look with those orange bouquets?! I might try to convince him...

There are also some more feminine options using "girlie" colors like pink or purple:

I like the lavender color above better than the pale pink, but both, again, seem like they would work better for a spring of summer wedding or even a fall wedding in a city - not a fall wedding in the mountains. I'm keeping the lavender in mind, though.

A recent find is navy and a deep red (my mom is thinking of deep red or burgundy for her MOB dress, so it's been on my mind lately). I really like the below inspiration board:

And, last, but not least is trusty navy and green, though I like this board better than the ones above - it uses a darker, more olive green as opposed to a summery, grass green (this one is from With This Ring):

Any thoughts on this topic? Brian, I'm talking to you... :)

Vendors VI - Florist

The florist for the wedding was another one of those "you had me at hello" moments - I've really been lucky that the almost all the vendors I have for my wedding have been like that. Stacey from The Bloom Room in Asheville will be doing all the flowers for the ceremony and reception and she'll execute all the design elements the day of the wedding. With Stacey and Caroline, I definitely don't need a wedding planner!

My first meeting with Stacey was great - she listened for a while about what I was envisioning and asked a bunch of questions, then she started spouting off ideas. If I loved one she'd write it down, if I didn't love one she'd go in another direction - no judgement. It was clear to me that she wanted to make sure that on my wedding day I saw exactly what I envisioned.

Along the way, I've been emailing her (at her request!) with images that inspire me in some way. They don't all have to make it into the wedding, but she said it helps her get a better idea about what my aesthetic is. I was going to post some of the images, but I couldn't get blogger to cooperate and so I'm not. Grr.

Brian and I

I was just reviewing my blog and though it really is starting to take shape, I realized there are zero pictures of Brian and I! Here are some of my recent ones along with some oldies (but goodies):

(a friend's wedding in December 2008)

(Connor Formal at Davidson in 2004)

(Thanksgiving 2008)

(at the Biltmore, 2007)

(another friend's wedding in October 2007)

And just because Brian is just so gosh darned cute, here is one of my favorites of just him:

(Brian in his Vero Beach Dodgers uniform, 2006)

And who can resist Brian AND Chambers...

Vendors V - Officiant

I always thought I wanted to get married in a church. When I was little, my mom "dragged me out of bed by the big toe" every Sunday to go to church knowing that somewhere along the way it would become something I did all by myself. I thought she was crazy - who would want to get up that early on a Sunday unprovoked? Then at some point, 10am seemed really late and somehow found myself wanting to go to church on Sunday mornings (more evidence that I might be a grown up...).

So, when I got engaged, getting married in a church seemed like where I was headed. Then we visited High Hampton and right across the street was the cutest little Episcopal church - this had to be a sign, right?

After deciding on High Hampton as our venue, I excitedly called the church. Here comes the bad news: the person I spoke with told me that, despite the fact that I was a practicing Episcopalian in the same diocese, they were unwilling to turn their church into a "Las Vegas-style wedding chapel" by having non-members marry there. After being rebuffed in a very (what I deemed) un-Christian-like manner, I determined that this was the sign. I knew there was something better out there for my wedding.

Enter Sue Kennedy:

(here's Sue with my godfather, Chip, and his wife, Theresa, during their vow renewal)

Sue was a college friend of my dad's and is now a practicing non-denominational reverend in nearby Greensboro. She was not only willing and able to perform our wedding ceremony, but she was excited about it! She told us that she would write a ceremony *just for us* that could be as traditional or non-traditional as we liked. Plus, because she has been a friend of my dad's since college, she's known me my whole life - and the story about how i put my whole body into one of her stockings when I was two just doesn't get old.

We had our first meeting last week to start discussing all the details. Since I had always envisioned a traditional church wedding, it took some time to find a "feel" that would work, but Sue is so gracious and is dedicated to making sure the ceremony is exactly what Brian and I want. It just doesn't get much better than that...

Vendors IV - Musicians

Choosing the musicians was probably the most stressful of all the decisions I have had to make for the wedding so far. And it wasn't like I had the wedding for the ceremony nailed down and was just worried about the reception. No. I was stressed out about all of it.

The music for the reception was the first to be tackled. I knew bands were generally the way to go, but I hadn't seen any bands from the area where I'm getting married and the idea of picking a band sight unseen (or sound unheard) scared me to death. What if I paid all this money for a band that showed up and was terrible?! However, the upside potential for a band is huge - they can really get the crowd going and who doesn't love to get up on stage and sing with the band?

(my friends Meredith and Kristen (the two in dresses) with the band during a girls weekend - doesn't the lead singer look SO happy?!)

Then a friend recommended a DJ from a wedding she had attended, claiming their wedding was one of the more fun she's been to (and she's been to a lot!). That got me thinking - while a DJ doesn't have some of the upside potential a band does (it's not quite a fun to get up and sing from the DJ booth), a DJ doesn't have near the downside of a band you've never heard before. But I have to admit, I was a little nervous about the stigma DJs can carry (think Love Actually). What if he was cheesy? What if he was obsessed with the Macarena?

After some considerable counseling from my very reasonable fiance ("Natalie, you know your friends, they are going to be dancing at your wedding regardless of where the music is coming from."), we decided to go with a DJ. Especially since you can specifically say that you don't want any songs with coordinated dance moves played at your wedding (which we did).

Vendors III - Stationer

When I started looking at what I'd like for wedding invitations, I was astounded by the cost - high into the thousands of dollars, especially if you got more pieces than just the invitations (i.e. reply cards, any informational cards, etc.). I just couldn't justify spending that much on such a small piece of the wedding puzzle, even if it is the first impression your guests have of your wedding.

I considered making my own invitations, but it seems like such a grueling process and only really worth it if you had a Gocco machine, which are now extinct and impossible to find. On one of the many wedding blogs I read, I heard about a bride who found her stationer on Etsy and I thought it was at least worth a shot. What an amazing website! I put a plea out there (also known as an Alchemy request) for a wedding invitation suite within a certain budget and got TONS of responses. It was difficult sifting through all them, but I ended up falling in love with Jennifer Jameson of Feathered Nest Press.

Jennifer is so creative and really understood the tone I wanted for my invitations (and for the wedding as a whole). She went through countless edits for me and "what if we tried this..." adventures and came up with a Save The Date that Brian and I really loved.

I can't wait to work with her on the invitations!

Our House

I know most of the posts have been wedding oriented so far, but that is only one of the reasons I think I might be a grown up. But perhaps the most convincing reason is that I own a home - well, Brian and I own a home.

We sort of stumbled into looking at homes when one of my colleagues bought a house in a nearby development that has (wait for it...) a COVERED BRIDGE. I know.

(the actual bridge leading into the community)

We just couldn't resist looking at the neighborhood. First we just drove through it thinking all the homes would be out of our price range, but then we saw they had townhomes - how cute! The woman in my office is actually married to a real estate agent and he agreed to show us one of the townhomes, just so we could see what they looked like. That was the beginning of the end.

Once we started looking at places we could OWN, we couldn't stop. Our apartment wasn't enough for us anymore and we kept thinking about all the great things we would do if we had our own place. Our fabulous real estate agent, Jim Johnson, patiently showed us countless area homes, but none seemed to be the one. We found one we liked, but the didn't even respond to our (admittedly) low-ball offer. We thought that was the end of the road, for now.

Then Brian found what would become our house. It was in a neighborhood he had driven me through years before when we were fantasizing about "someday" and homes we would be able to afford down the road. In the interim, smaller single family homes had been built that were much closer to what we wanted to pay and as soon as we saw it we knew it was the one. We closed on it on February 9, 2009.

Here are some pictures of our home right after we bought it (please note 1) the lack of furnishings (the only difference now is that we have an actual guest room bed) and 2) that Chambers has managed to sneak into most of the pictures like he was there all along...):

(ours is the light blue one in the middle)

(view from the front door - the living room leads into the dining room and then kitchen)

(the kitchen as seen from the dining room)

(close up view of the kitchen)

(back patio, which is right off the kitchen, there is a yard back here too, but not much of one!)

(master bedroom - this furniture is actually in the guest room now since we got a king bed for the master)

(future guests will appreciate the actual bed in here now, though Chambers thinks the air mattress is just fine)

(bonus room, with a full bathroom, on the third floor)

Vendors II - Baker

I love desserts. It's one of the (few) things Brian didn't really fully understand about me until later in the relationship. Brian is not a dessert person. Every now and then he'll have a bite of whatever I'm having or suggest we go to Ben & Jerry's (he's obsessed with Coffee Heath Bar Crunch), but for the most part he'd rather have more dinner than "save room" for dessert.

Now, I am of the opposite mindset. More often then not I will stop eating dinner so that I can make sure I have enough room for dessert. This perplexed Brian for a long time, and I even remember the first time we were going to me his parents, he warned me that his dad would not be pleased with my not-finishing-dinner-to-save-room-for-dessert habit (his dad is a strict "clean plate club" kind of guy). I, of course, got dessert when we went out with his parents (and I truly think this is one of his mom's favorite things about me).

Over the years, Brian and I have come to accept our opposite opinions about dessert. I even had a revelation about it - I used to question Brian because he didn't like dessert (he particularly detests chocolate (?!) unless is mixed with lots and lots of peanut butter), but then I realized that if he doesn't like it, he won't eat any of mine.

This brings me to the wedding cake. I was really excited about having a whole cake that was made for me with flavors I handpicked and decorations I loved. Brian didn't even want a groom's cake, so all the delectable desserts at the wedding would be mine choose! Then I tried some wedding cake from the "best" cake place in my area and, while it was good, it wasn't the sinful yumminess I had been dreaming about. And to top it off it was ridiculously expensive. It just didn't feel like what I was supposed to have as "the" dessert at my wedding.

Then I remembered this amazing bakery in Charlotte that I constantly try to find reasons to go to - Polka Dot Bakeshop. Cupcakes! How cute! But, I love the tradition of cutting the cake at the reception...could you still do it if you didn't have a cake? Yes! If you get your cupcakes from Polka Dot, they'll make you a 6" cake to cut. It doesn't get more perfect than that.

Don't even get me started on the tasting...

(photo courtesy of Polka Dot Bakeshop)

Vendors I - Photography

Once we had the venue booked, I set about finding all the other vendors. I had this fear that I would find one I loved and they would be unavailable so I made it my mission to figure out the photographer, musician(s), baker, officient, etc. ASAP.

Happily, almost all of my vendors were easy to find and I loved them all immediately (yea!). The first was my photographer, Angela Stott, who is amazing. Not only is her work breathtaking, but as soon as I spoke with her on the phone I knew she was the one. It was like she was inside my head reading my thoughts as she answered all my (millions of) questions. She was so easy to talk to and as soon as we hung up I knew I had to have her shoot my wedding. I, of course, checked with my fiance and my dad to make sure they approved (how could they not?!), and then we made it official. Angela has spent tons of time brainstorming ideas with me and helping me create my wedding "vision" along the way, which has been great. She is even making a site visit to High Hampton this fall to make sure she knows all the great spots to shoot us in as well as when and where we'll have the best light, etc. Yep, she's pretty amazing.

Here are some of my favorites from Angela's portfolio (all, obviously, courtesy of Angela Stott):

High Hampton

After Brian and I got engaged, we started talking about where and when we wanted to get married. I should note here that I moved around a lot growing up and thus don't have a "hometown" where I would want to get married. We knew the wedding had to be in the fall or winter to avoid Brian's season, so we started thinking of places that would be nice that time of year. We initially talked about having the wedding in San Diego at Torrey Pines (my parents live in San Diego) - it's beautiful there and would have been a fun destination for our guests to visit. The one main drawback is that we would have been limited to only 100 guests and ultimately we decided that we'd rather have more of our friends and family there then have it in California.

The other idea we had was sharing the beautiful NC mountains Brian and I both love with our friends and family. One weekend we made a trip up to the mountains in North Carolina to look at some possible locations up there and we fell in love with the High Hampton Inn and Country Club in Cashiers, NC. We went there first and could immediately envision our wedding as we walked around the property (which was gorgeous despite being the middle of winter and the inn being closed for the season), but we knew we should check out some other places just in case - what if there is something even more amazing than this place?! Of course there wasn't and on our drive back home we decided that this was "the" place.

We called both of our parents who were, as always, supportive and we booked it that week. The best part is that it has felt just as perfect as it did that day throughout the planning process. Caroline Meads, who handles all the events at High Hampton, is a godsend. She patiently answers all my questions (which I collect and share with her during our monthly call - yes, she and I schedule a call each month, she's that wonderful), she shares pictures of other HH weddings as they take place and she seems genuinely excited about my wedding. I wish all brides could have a person like Caroline to work with - it really has made everything about my wedding easier because I know she will be there to make everything happen perfectly on November 7.

Ok, enough gushing. Here are some pictures of the beautiful High Hampton Inn and Country Club (all courtesy of High Hampton):

(Set up for a wedding, with the Lodge in the background)

(the back patio of the lodge with the lake and Chimney Top Mountain in the background)

(inside the pavillion, where our reception will be held)

(outside the pavillion, where the dancing will happen!)

The Proposal

Every winter for the past few years, Brian and I take a mini-vacation to the mountains for a long weekend. This all started because Brian is a professional baseball player and it is impossible to shop for a person that lives out of a suitcase for six to eight months of the year. I was worried that whatever I got he would either feel forced to carry around with him or have to leave behind during the season. Thus the tradition of not getting physical presents for each other, but rather doing a shared trip as a present began.

This past winter, we decided to take a long weekend in the Tennessee Smokies. We rented a cabin and decided to bring Chambers along for the trip. I had an inkling that this might be "the" weekend, but once Saturday rolled around, I had completely forgotten about it. Brian suggested we get up early and go on a hike that morning to a waterfall he found through internet research. He said it would be seven miles roundtrip, but after a few hours of hiking uphill on only a powerbar we happened to grab on our way to the trailhead, I was convinced that he had tricked me into hiking back to North Carolina.

We finally reached the waterfall, The Grotto, and it was totally worth all the hard work - it was beautiful. When we got there, I immediately took out my camera and started snapping away, not paying any attention to Brian who had all of a sudden gotten very quiet. I turned around to find him on one knee and the rest I have zero recollection of (except the sheer joy I felt).

Here are some pictures from our trip:

First some waterfall pictures:

(it's called the Grotto because you can walk behind it when the rocks below aren't covered with ice, obviously)

A few other good ones from the trip:

(blurry, but here's the ring the night of the proposal!)