French touch

Our wedding will and should be the blend of two different cultures: American and French.
I'll have to develop this in an other posts, but my husband has among other things Scottish-Irish heritage (way way back) from his Dad and a Mom who lives in Hawaii. He has some plans to incorporate both.
On my side I've been thinking and hard on how to incorporate some French things. Not only do I want both our cultures to be visible, but I also want to honor my family. Well those who can make it anyway.

One of the first things that came to my mind is the vows. We want to write our own vows, and if I was originally thinking to each have our own version, I cam to think otherwise.
The biggest issue is: my mother and my grandmother barely understand a thing in English. So if there is no way to avoid that most of the ceremony will be in English, I would like them to understand a few things without having to hire a translator.
I plan to have their version of the program with a translation of the ceremony, but that is not enough. So what I'm thinking is: he reads his vows in English and I read the same thing but in French.
So that's the first step.

Now besides that it's hard to think of very specific things. French and American weddings are extremely similar, and I haven't been to enough weddings to think of things that would be specifically French.
I don't see my bridesmaids wear a beret not a baguette under their arm no matter how cliche that is. If my dad and great-grand-father used to own one and even wear(worn) it at times, it just doesn't fit with the vision I have of our wedding.

The question is pretty much: what makes France: France? What will be seen as a special touch by my French guests?
Well, I had one surprise last night, my husband's uncle announced that he was going to do two big dishes of Cassoulet. I could have cried when he announced that.
You may not know what cassoulet is, but I do. It's the regional dish of where I grew up, it's definitely not a light, nor sexy nor summery dish. It's a rich dish, slow cooked full of beans and several types of beans. And I have not had any in years.
I am so excited at this wonderful and generous offer andd I simply cannot wait to see my parent's face when they will see a Cassoulet made by a local.

The there will be a touch of French with the food. Great.
Now what else?

Well, while singing in the shower, I realized that one very easy way to add more Frenchness was simply music.
I am now thinking to have either our first dance or the father-daughter song be a French song, and more.
I am also thinking of involving somehow during the event the song Se Canto. It's a song in Occitan, the old language of my region that means a lot to some of my guests. It's like a local national anthem.

I will need to think of more ways to incorporate and celebrate the French side of our marriage, but I think this is a good start.

What did you do to incorporate an other culture in your wedding? If you were French, what would you do to celebrate it?

[image source: http://www.souvenirsofparis.com/]

Inviations: DIY or buy ready made?

I started looking for wedding dresses back in the summer of 2007. One of the results was to get uninvited advertisement in our mailbox regarding wedding invitations, tacky favors and suits rental.
As I glanced through the thick invitation booklet, it quickly became obvious to me that this was not what we wanted. It just didn't match us.
Therefore after talking with Hubby we decided to go the DIY way. We still needed some inspiration.

My first inspiration came from the little package a photograph gave me at a local Wedding Show. It was simple, square and brown with a little ribbon and a star sticker:
It open up as one of those pocket folders which looks great but seemed too complicated for me. However I liked the idea of the shape and the color matching my color theme.
With bit of paper left over available I drafter a first idea:My though was to use a card stock brown paper in place of the back one, have a copper colored ribbon in place of the raffia, and use a fake oak leaf in the middle to decorate. The outside two flaps would open up to a simple ivory square on which the invitation would be printed.

So I started looking around for paper I could use for our invitations. My first visits at Michael's and A.C. Moore were close to fruitless. They had a few things, but the price and size of the paper sheets would have made our invitations completely out of budget. I knew there were many more places to look at so I put the project aside and worked on other things. As time went buy I reviewed my ideas on the invitation and decided to turn it 90 degrees so the ribbon would actually keep the flaps closed. I couldn't seem to find the leaves I wanted and pretty much gave up on that too. All my ideas seemed more and more impossible, I couldn't find anywhere a chocolate colored paper that would be warm enough to say: party!
I even considered buying ready made invitations to print at home at that point, because I knew that if I couldn't find the right paper then it was worthless to take the time to work on a DIY project, however much Hubby loved my ideas.

I didn't think again about our invitations for a while and focused on other parts of the wedding planning instead. When I went back to it, I needed fresh inspirations, so I looked around the web for ready made products, which is how I came upon: www.invitesite.com/
I fell in love with their style, the natural looking invitation that fitted our theme so perfectly, the papers they used had texture and I was inspired again.
Not only that, but they had a link to a couple's FlickR album with what they made out of their Carmine product.
It was so beautiful. Had it not been for our budget I think I would have bought either the Beatrice or the Carmine invitations. However we could not afford it.
It did help though because not only did I found inspiration, but I also had names of papers to look for and knew that I wanted something with more texture than a simple cardstock. I was back on the DIY project.

Dressing my girls

On most wedding pictures, you see a bride in white and an army of bridesmaid in identical dresses. This might not be our case.

You see, given our budget I know I can not buy bridesmaid dresses for my bridesmaid. That means that on top of having to come here they will have to pay for their outfit.
I do not wish them to have a dress that they will hate and will not be able to wear again.
I want my bridesmaid to feel comfortable and happy that day and after.
So even if the wedding etiquette seems to say: don't let them choose their dress, you will regret it, you want everyone to match. Well I decided that it was not the most important thing for me.
Not to mention that one of my bridesmaid is in France and will only come 15 days before the wedding, there is therefore no way for her to try things in advance and get them fitted.
So I decide not to follow traditions and to let my bridesmaids pick their dresses. Unconventional and a bit risky, but also most likely to let them have something worth it for their money.

I did have one little rule that came from my color inspiration, and that was a chocolate dress. Call it brown or expresso, any shade and shape would work for me.
Now because my cousin decide to buy something in the US, I went on a search to find affordable dresses that she could be interested in. J.Crew; Wtoo, Nordstrom, David's Bridal. I looked and looked and looked. Nothing overly exciting even though there were a few finds that could work out.

Then I came across a post about Victoria's Secret having bridesmaid dress. Not one to pass an option I went and looked into it.
I came across a very affordable dress at $95 on sale, with a chocolate color option, but best of all, it could be worn 7 different ways.
I decided right away to email my find to my matron of honor to see her reaction.

The next time I checked my email, I had two from her, the first started with "Oh my goodness!!! That is awesome. I will wear that if everyone else wants to. I'll even wear it if I'm the only one!"
The second was telling me that she ordered two, one for her and one of my godsister/bridesmaid.
So now I have to see what my cousin/maid of honor thinks. If she likes it I would end up with bridesmaids wearing the same dress after all.
I do look forward to see pictures of them wearing it to see if it's a go or not.

Here is the dress


Are you selecting the dress for your bridesmaids or are you leaving them options?

Finding colors on the hanger

When we decided to have a traditional wedding, I had no idea of what is involved in the process, venue, color scheme and cake tasting where not even part of my vocabulary.
So I guess I was lucky that I found inspiration even before I started looking for it.
It was the day I set foot with a friend in the local David's Bridal. There under my eyes was a bridesmaid dress with its sash on display. While it wasn't exactly on a clothe hanger, it was on display on a mannequin.
The colors were chocolate and copper and they just struck my eye.

We were in the middle of summer and fall colors were far from my mind, and yes as soon as I saw those colors together I had to ask my friend to try that outfit.
I had to know what it could look like on my bridesmaids. Well the only dress available had to much going on to look pretty but non the less, the inspiration was there and from then on I knew my bridesmaids would have to be in chocolate.

I remember showing the pictures to my husband and he thought it looked great and decided with me that they would be great colors for our fall wedding.
We decided to add some ivory to lighten it up and lately I've also been thinking of a few green accents to stay out of a monochromatic theme.

Where did you found your color inspiration?

Warm me up darling

The first bridal magazine I bought was the 2007 Fall issue of Martha Stewart Weddings.
I've got to say the lady amazes me and her magazines are probably the most useful ones in the wedding market. She doesn't just talk about hiring everyone to do the job. No, the famous American lady gives recipes and plenty of do it yourself ideas. And thanks to her, I found inspiration for the cocktail hour.

How much as I know we will need to have beer and probably wine as well for our guests at the cocktail hour, I'd also like to have a special drink to share with them. And my idea came straight from the issue mentioned above.
At the end of the magazine my eyes fell upon this very appetizing signature cocktail:

Brandy Cider for a fall evening

2 1/4 cups apple cider
1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh ginger
2 whole allspice
3 ounces brandy
Candied ginger chunks, cut into cubes, rolled in superfine sugar (optional)

1. Bring cider, fresh ginger, and allspice to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat, and cover. Let stand 10 minutes. Skim foam and strain, discarding solids.
2. Ladle 1/2 cup hot cider into each mug, and add 3/4 ounce brandy. Add ginger cube to each mug, if desired. (Makes 4)

(source: Martha Stewart Blog)

I love the simplicity of the recipe, it doesn't require many ingredients, it's very seasonal, nothing too expensive and just the little kick of the candied ginger to add a special touch to it.
Add to it that if the weather is a bit chilly it would probably be very welcomed by our guests, and a version without the brandy can easily be given to the children.

Or I could do a Mulled Cranberry Cider

* 9 1/2 cups cranberry juice
* 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
* 6 cinnamon sticks, plus 12 more for garnish
* 8 star anise
* 6 whole allspice berries
* 3 ounces fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced (about 18 slices)
* 1/2 cup water
* 4 tablespoons sugar
* One 375-milliliter bottle port
* 12 thinly sliced kumquat rounds, 6 to 8 kumquats for garnish optional

1. In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients except port and kumquats. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat. Cover, and let steep until ready to serve, up to 1 day.
2. Just before serving, add port to mixture in saucepan, and bring to a simmer; do not boil. Keep warm over low heat while serving. Strain and divide among glasses, and garnish each with a cinnamon stick and kumquat slice, if desired.


A bit more ingredients, but it also has such a great feel and color to it. Not to mention that in either case I absolutely adore anything with spices.

(source: www.marthastewart.com)

Are you having a seasonal signature drink or just your favorite cocktail for the cocktail hour?

Finding the officiant

Our civil wedding was well... what you should expect of a civil wedding in a Courthouse with a magistrate who doesn't really care. Because we have it on tape I know that it took him exactly 40 seconds. Yes only 40 seconds to marry us. It took longer for our witnesses to sign the papers.
Obviously since we are having a family wedding we want to have a special ceremony, with an officiant who takes the time to articulate. I'm still not 100% sure what I said "I do" to last year.

Neither one of us are part of a Church. I was raised Catholic, he was raised Baptist, but we don't feel like we belong to any specific branch of the Christian Church.
We believe in God non the less and if we do not want a religious ceremony we would love to have a spiritual one.
That's why our eyes turned toward the Unity Church.

I was introduce to the Unity Church by his mother. In Hawaii that's where his mom and step-father go to. They have subscribed us to the Daily Word, a Unity Church monthly magazine with some good words and things to think about and to thank God for. I don't necessarily put into practice everything but I find it a good read every morning.
Because we are also mingling two different cultures/nations, we want to have something that would please everyone and mostly us.

So I have to say I was pretty excited when Hubby's aunt told us she new Unity Church Ministers and that they are good friends with them.
It took a while to call. She gave us the number months ago and well we kept on putting it off and waiting for a good time to call and whatnot.
Then two weeks or so ago I called and found myself with the husband on the phone. He told me they are retired ministers but that he still does funerals and her weddings. She wasn't there so he took or phone number to have her call us back.
They lost our phone number and had to ask the aunt for it, called us back and left us a message about 10 days ago.
I talked with Hubby and he wanted to be with me when I called, so again I put it off But with our hectic schedules, it quickly become obvious that I was better off calling on my own, which is what I did tonight.

Well the first contact was full of promises. Fran seems like an open and fun person, she let me know what when we meet she'll have a copy of what she usually does for the ceremony and that we can add or take what we want and we can even write our own ceremony, so that's very promising since we were thinking of having our own vows.
She asked if our family knew we are already married, cute and important question, but yes they do know so nothing to worry about with that part.
She asked if we would exchange rings, which we will as we decided to keep that for the family wedding.
She mentioned a candle ceremony, but said that it could be an issue outside.
She is a liberal person and I am happy about that because for a wedding it means openness.

Now all we have to do is schedule an evening to meet her and see if it does work out or not and what ideas we can both bring into it. I plan to ask her about how much she asks then.

I am very excited about this.
Now on to the next tasks: printing the invitations and contacting photographers.

Light and bright

Well, I looked around last night and I also got Hubby involved because his opinion really matters to me.
He was a bit bothered by the starts on the lantern I showed him because it reminded him of the Star of David and he thought some of his family members wouldn't understand.
So I looked around on E-bay some more and found some white lanterns. They have a very pretty glass that has a vine designed in it.
They were smaller than what I was thinking about: only 4"75 so 12cm when I was looking into 7-8" (18-20cm). But he voted for them, so I got ahead and ordered them on Ebay.
We will have to put something in the middle of the box to get the candle high enough.

The fun thing is: I didn't tell him at all what I was thinking about putting in the boxes besides grass and yet he said right away that we should put mini pumpkins, bittersweet and also mini gourds. So I'm glad our ideas are the same.

Here is the candles we are getting, 13 of them "a baker's dozen", enough to do all the tables and probably add some around to decorate.
The good part is I know I will have no problem reusing those later on, or we can always use them as gifts for some people.

Rustic Centerpiece

I've been thinking a lot about our centerpieces, the little decorations that will go on the tables.
Given that we are going to have a fall wedding, both Hubby and I want something that fits with the natural theme.
Friends of ours were going to let us have the vases they are using for their wedding, but then again I want to keep our options open.

We were thinking of having pumpkins on the tables at first. Well I can't imagine full size pumpkins there, not only it is a waste, but on top of it people wouldn't be able to see each other since we will have some round tables.
So my though would be to use some mini pumpkins and work things around with beans, corns and other things in the vases that our friends would let us use after their wedding.

Well that was until I came across a post in the weddingbee.com boards about a centerpiece from a member of The Knot.
Here is a picture:

I just find it so cute and romantic.

I probably wouldn't have some herbs in them because you don't want fragrances to affect your guests meal, but some type or plant like some of the ground fast growing plants or moss, a lantern and a mini pumpkin, maybe even some pine cone or bittersweet branches with berries to add some color. I just think it would look fantastic.
I would love a rusty or copper looking lantern to match the wedding colors, but if not Ikea has some at a very affordable price in a dark color: $4.99 a piece (Rotera) that would work with a classy touch.

Even better, after a bit more search, I found some brass candle lantern with the same pattern as Ikea, which are exactly what I would like:
Now all I need is to find the place selling them at the best price. E-bay here I come!


We could probably ask a friend of Hubby who does wood working to make us some woodboxes, or just find wood an make them ourselves.

Yes, my godmother did matchmaking

I am French, and my husband and I met on my 3rd trip to the US while I was visiting my godfather's family leaving in Georgia. My "godmother" (godfather's wife) had decided that we really had to meet, to the point that a bit before I met him she said that I would "meet her cousin, fall in love, get married, have children and stay in the United States with them".
No pressure at all to me someone right? Thankfully someone told met that match making never works so I wasn't as freaked out about it as I could have been.

Well we met when we visited the family in North Carolina. If it was a bit awkward at first, not to mention that I was a ball of nerves, we had a good time talking and enjoying the outdoors in the beautiful mountains. We spent two afternoon together and before we left he gave me a note: "Hope to see you again soon. Call me. Much Love. Colt".
The next morning I made him a note that I put with a shirt he had left at the house.

We didn't see each other for an other 10 days or so, when he stopped in GA, on his way to his sister in Florida. Well... so much for Florida, because he stayed with us for 6 days until I had to go back to France. Two very smitten people, very much in love and heartbroken to be separated.
The rest is a lot of long distance, several trips back and forth for me until I decided to stay for good in June 2007.
We got married at the courthouse with some of his family around as well as my little brother that my family sent over. Then applying for the immigration papers to be able to legally stay over. It was that or going back to France and waiting for a fiance visa to come.

We are getting married again, in a more traditional way because we want to share the joy of our relationship with our family, not to mention it's about time my parents meet him.

Be a savy bride

One of the first things we knew when we started to plan this wedding is that we were not going to be in the average wedding budget.
30K for one day? I don't think so. I would much rather buy a house.
My husband's idea of a wedding budget was probably 1000$...
I'm thinking more $5000 at the maximum.
Our wedding list has about 80 people in it and I doubt our budget can be as small as he dreams because of that.
I've been working my ass off to not only save extra money for the wedding but also to have some bits lefts afterward for a down payment.

Thankfully for us, our friends came once again to the rescue, well and Daddy and the current exchange rate...
My dad put some money in my bank account and let me tell you: Euro to Dollar = happy bride. What he gave us should cover a big part of the wedding expenses.

Now onto the friends. J. Didn't give us money, nope, they need it as much as we do. What she gave me was the link to a fantastic website called: Fire your wedding planner.
Fun name don't you think?
While the site doesn't promote firing anyone, it does have a bunch of great tips to save money.
You can do two things there, the first one is:
1)Suscribe to the newsletter. It's free and every so often you will get some mails with many informations, tips and real stories that you can learn from.
2)If you think those information are what you are looking for, then download the e-book. There is a free trial for 30 days or so, after that you pay something around $30 which is well worth the money.

Tips given go from: negotiating everything, it can result in a free (yes free) honeymoon suite in the place your guests are staying, to little extras or simply better prices.
Keep in mind that the wedding tag leads to price increase, etc.
Lots of good information and something basic things a bride should think about when working on a budget.

I printed out the all book so i can have an easy access to it and highlight as much as I want. I've enjoyed the tips I get by mail as well and passed on some to other brides. It is definitely a good thing to do and know about, whether you are on a tight budget or not.

Let's have a fall camp!

Two of Hubby's co-worker got married in the area and this is how we heard about a summer camp in Swannanoa.
D.& J who will get married in Ohio this summer actually looked all around Ohio for a location like that summer camp because they love it so much. J talked about how they had candles all over the place and that it was really beautiful. That was all I needed to get excited.

With a little bit of search over the Internet, I came accross a few pictures whose result was to increase my interest.
Hubby had a connection to this location through his work so he was the one in charge of getting us an appointment there, especially since I wanted to see it with the few fall leaves left on the trees.
Well trust a man to forget anything that has to do with a wedding.
The first time we went there ended up being for his work's Christmas Party. It was a rainy evening and pitch dark. But what I saw of the main room got me really excited. The wall were made of a dark wood and on each side many windows opened up to the outside with enough room in from of the glass to have candles. The ceiling and the beams were wight. The room was large with a fireplace in the left well that had several people gathered around it.
Even though it was mainly used for a summer camp, a heating system was in place and the few people who were there (definitely not enough to make a temperature difference) never got cold.
The main room has a direct access to a full kitchen as well as a patio. The patio is covered with rocks, has its own fireplace (sharing the chimney of the one inside), you can see a staircase from there and the forest behind, a great spot for the ceremony.
There is also a room attached to the main one that can easily be turned into a bar for the cocktail hour.
I loved the rustic feel of it and we decided to come back and make a full visit by day light to see more.

It wouldn't be until January, so much for fall leaves left on the trees... Oh well, even bare as it was I could see the place had some potential.

Here are some pictures of the site.

The entrance porchThe back court where we would have the ceremony

The back court seen from the top of the stairs, plenty of room to sit down everyone without having the chairs digging in the mud

Inside at night

Main room for the reception, fireplace to the left

Access to the kitchen from the main room

The bar

Outdoor views from the field

We can ring the bell to announce the reception :)

The great part about it is that it would be perfectly within budget: $500 with full use of the kitchen.
The only issue I have with it is that there seems to be only one bathroom...
This is definitely not your classic wedding location, but we both love the outdoors and it fits with who we are.

How about you? Is your wedding location different from the classic ones?

Going outdoors

As most of those who plan a wedding know, having the date is one thing but you also need to have a venue available at the date of your choice which is why it's always best to be flexible.

Well, we both knew we wanted to have an outdoor ceremony. I was ready to have it somewhere on top of a mountain, that I have to admit would have made me very happy.
We are after all having a fall wedding and even though it will be late fall we hope and cross our fingers that there will still be some colors in the trees. How could we pass on having such a beautiful and natural background?

Our search started back in the summer of 2007. Every hike we went on became a possible site.
We though about Dupont State Forest, Craggy Gardens and many other places whose name now skips my mind. There was a problem however: one of our guests, Hubby's grandmother has difficulties moving because of Parkinson. She is not on a wheelchair but she has to use a wheeled walker. So as much as we love the outdoors, there was no way we could have a ceremony in a remote location because we wanted to include her.
We though about some of the overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but the traffic there isn't the most motivating site.

Of course there are a lot of beautiful venues in our area such as Biltmore Estate, the Grove Park Inn, Chimney Rock Park, Grandfather Mountain, the Crest Center and Pavilion, Claxton Farm or Hidden River Events. But we are after all on a small budget and had to play around that.
So as much as we kept looking around we could not find the perfect location for what we had in mind.

We needed something with a beautiful background, outdoors, with an easy access, not too far from Asheville to avoid extra driving and with an easy access for the elderly.
Thankfully we have many friends who are or just got married and therefore a lot of inspiration to work from...

(to be continued...)

Where at?

Our civil ceremony took place in Western North Carolina. We wanted to get married quickly so we could send the Green Card application that would allow us not to be separated again and for the same reason I simply couldn't leave the country without the risk of not being able to come back unless under a special visa.

So when we announced around us that we would be having a family wedding I should not have been surprised that most people said: "So it will be in France right?".

Well no. It shocked people and I even had some rude comments when I said so, but still: NO!

Sure it would have been great to have a wedding in my home country, to make sure that the 30+ members of my family plus the friends could be there, I would have loved that.
Americans have such a romantic idea of France too. Not to mention that I would have had plenty of people more than willing to help and probably cook the food.
And yes I could have finally shared with my husband the place where I grew up.

But there are also many thing that told me not to do that. The first one being that I am not sure when I will get my green card. At the time we took the decision I though it would take maybe 6 months to get an interview, with the risk of the FBI namecheck still pending until???. You cannot make plans for the time when you will have your green card. Without it, if I can leave the country, I can't some back without a spouse visa, and re-starting and paying again for the AOS. So no way it is too big of a risk.

But if I had had the card in my hands, would it have changed anything? Well maybe not.
I wanted to have a full wedding in the US so it would be close to us and easy to organize. I didn't want to find the place online and have my parents do all the work.
I have also dreamed for many years to be married outside, something that is very rare in France.
Not to mention that it is a wonderful opportunity to share the place where we live with my family, my parents and those who can make it.

So even if some people though that our decision was not appropriate, not respectful to my family, I say too bad. We made our choice and I am happy with it. Not to mention that even though we are having this wedding ceremony so we can share it with more people this time, it is still OUR wedding, and I find it very normal that we make it what we want.

Edit (June 6th): I finally received our interview notice, the Green Card is a bit closer. But I am still happy we made the decision to have the wedding here, I can't imagine the stress it would have been to wait for it and not be sure if I could make it to my own wedding.

Save the date

One of the first step in our wedding planning was to select a date.

Right after our civil wedding, family started asking when we would have the wedding ceremony with everyone. Hubby always told them: fall of 2008. We didn't really discussed it. We knew we wanted a full year to be able to plan our wedding and that summer time was out of the question because it was
1)too hot
2)my mom has too much work with her bees and berries to be able to come.

Hubby's best friend works in the fall, it is with summer time his biggest season, especially October. So although that is a beautiful month we decided to postpone our ceremony to the second week of November to make sure that "would be Best Man" would be of the party.

Because my family would be coming from overseas and some of Hubby's family are pretty far away as well it was of the most importance to share the date with them as soon as possible. So as soon it was set, I made some save the date cards armed with Photoshop and emailed them.
Yes you heard me, I emailed them. I wanted something that would be fast and wouldn't use any unnecessary paper, yet something cute that would give an idea of our theme.
As it turned out our wedding would not be in the city of Asheville itself, but it was enough to give an idea of the location to our families.
We are on a small budget and I didn't see the point of spending money in making fridge magnet, stickers of fancy cards with photographies.

I am quite happy of how it came out and I made both an English and a French version to send out.

Did you make save the dates? Did you do anything special for them?

An other blog

I'm creating an other blog and in English, why? Because I'm planning a fall wedding in the beautiful Mountain of Western North Carolina and I want to keep track of it.
There is so much more I have to talk about besides our wedding on my main blog that there is not enough room for all the planning going around right now.

We are planning a wedding that will involve two cultures: mine a French one and his an american one with some Irish-Scottish-Portugese-Japanese heritage and a mom who lives in Hawaii. It is also our second wedding. Or as his sister said: we had a marriage now we're having a wedding.
We want to have a special ceremony to share our love to each other with our families and be able to tell each other what we really want and not just the fast forwarded words of a magistrate.

This blog is to help me keep track of my inspirations and to share with those who are interested in the subject.
English might not be my mother tongue, but since most of this wedding is being planned in English it makes more sense for me to use it.