This may have been the only aspect of my wedding I had thought about pre-engagement, purely because of my sweet tooth snobbery. At every wedding I've been to I've eagerly waited for dessert -- and far too often I'm bummed out by the same old sheet cake. Initially, I wanted a full-on dessert bar with every type of pastry imaginable, but then reality (otherwise known as our budget) kicked in and I knew I'd have to scale back.
So I went with my current favorite treat: cupcakes. I liked the idea because they still felt wedding-y, since they are technically cake, but they're easier to eat while standing than your typical slice and I could get them in a few different flavors.
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Cupcakes: My Version
My tower looked a little different than my inspiration pic -- I ended up going with the sunflower decorations over the beachy theme -- but it's a similar idea. I also chose three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and hazelnut. The first two because they're crowd-pleasers and the hazelnut because it was by far the best thing I tried throughout my super-fun cake-tasting process.
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Hair: The Inspiration
I rarely wear my hair up, so a structured updo wasn't an option for my wedding day. Instead I looked for pictures with soft waves and curls that felt more "me." But I had been told by a recently married friend that after hours of photos, dancing, and hugging aunt Muriel, the last thing I'd want is a bunch of hair in my face. So I also started looking for pretty headbands that would help with this.
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Hair: My Version
I ended up with my hair mostly down and pulled back a bit with a beaded headband. My hair holds a curl well so it lasted through most of the night (although by the end I really couldn't have cared if it was stick straight I was having so much fun). If your hair doesn't hold a curl well, I would steer clear of this look and try an updo or straight hairstyle. Whatever you choose, make it something that'll likely last at least through the bouquet toss.
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Bridesmaids: The Inspiration
Every bride says it: "You'll totally be able to wear this dress again after the wedding!" And 99 percent of the time, they're wrong. But I wanted to at least try and beat those odds by finding a simple dress that could feasibly work after the wedding as a cocktail or party dress.
I also loved the idea of throwing a cardigan over a simple dress. It's a nice pop of color, and since our wedding was near the beach, where it gets chilly once the sun goes down, it seemed practical as well.
Some women dream about their weddings, gather inspiring wedding pics, and practically plan out every detail of their big days from the time they are little girls.
I was not one of those women.
It wasn't that I was anti-marriage or anything, but outside a fleeting desire to end up with Leonardo DiCaprio after I saw "Romeo + Juliet" in junior high, I just never daydreamed much about weddings -- and I certainly didn't spend my downtime dog-earing photos in bridal magazines.
This wasn't really an issue, until, eventually, I got engaged. Suddenly, everyone from my future mother-in-law to strangers at the grocery store were asking about the minute details of my pending wedding. And I had no idea what to say.
To the rescue: The Internet and all its wedding blog glory. I gorged myself on beautiful inspiration pics of every type of wedding imaginable until I gained some sense of what I liked -- and more importantly, what I hated.
Once I had gathered my own arsenal of wedding inspiration, I had a tougher task in front of me. Most of the photos I loved came from weddings or wedding photo shoots that were professionally done -- or done by amazingly crafty people who had (I'm assuming) far more money and free time than I did. How was I going to make this wedding a reality?
Keep reading to see how I pulled it off -- and get some useful tips for planning your own wedding without losing too much of your sanity.
