hello again from Stagnant Lake

I'm at such a standstill on my wedding planning...because I have so much else going on! This week I'm at the A Bryan Photo workshop here in Birmingham and Lara Casey from Southern Weddings was here to speak yesterday! Since I just moved from Chapel Hill and that's where the magazine is based, I was so sad to leave right before their first issue. But I am so glad I've met all the A Bryan guys and Lara, the bride in me is going crazy. I dreamt that I picked up my dress yesterday and it didn't need any hemming. So anyway, I am feeling so inspired right now and you'll have to keep me on my A-game as far as meeting new people and taking more pictures! I promise to post so much more about the workshop but for now ask me questions or...design my STDs! You know, whichever.

Go and be inspired!

I don't do this too often and I think it's probably good for people who don't subscribe to every single wedding blog in their google reader. That being said, if you don't have googlereader, a tumblr, and subscriptions to a few good sites you should! That is, if you want to be visually overloaded like I am all the time. And since I'm a photographer I love it. Although I should be shooting more with all of this inspiration I have. And that being said, if you want to model for my crazy shoot ideas and live in the BHM or want to sign up for my next NC trip, let me know. Okay, on with the pictures!


from ritzy bee...why I need an umbrella and really cute shrug.


Really great lingerie shower present idea from Jo on Smitten

Having a potluck reception (I wish I was)


Ellie from mint's gorgeous wedding guestbook. I'm thinking of having people sign cardstock that I make into a book later (so I can add images in) and I like the idea of binding it in a handmade book. very nice.

What do you love online? Anyone else have tumblrs?

I found this through a fellow blogger, it's an artist that has a selection of rings someone could buy on an average 2 months salary for their profession. I picked this one because the top right one reminds me of my ring! There isn't a huge difference between one to another, the A list actor and the fry cook are noticeable but none are really shockers. And I actually have no idea why they have a 2 month salary rule in the first place. What do you think about the rule?

Tradition...tradition!

The title comes from the phrase my dad used to sing at us all the time.

Incorporating traditions is obviously a big part of weddings, otherwise we wouldn't have the "I do"s and the white dress; something old, something new, borrowed, blue; the cake; bouquet tosses. Of course, not everyone does follow these traditions, and while most everyone wears some shade of white nowadays many choose to alter the standard flowy number for something more fun, there are cupcakes and pies instead of cake, people can be ordained online to perform your ceremony, and bouquets can be made of felt and buttons! I feel a need to decide which traditions I include based on my personal taste and aesthetic. I'm not crazy about the garter toss. Or the bouquet toss really. Because I'll just toss the bouquet straight at my sister's face any way. Okay, not true, but I really do feel that I don't have to include anything that I'm not crazy about, the wedding is for us, and anything that isn't us shouldn't be!


from weddingbee Mrs. Cherry Pie by Piknik Studios

While trying to justify my desires I found a site about the tossing of the bouquet and garter, and it mentioned the tradition stemming from people grabbing for the bride's clothing because she was considered lucky. So they would toss things to them to prevent the dress from being destroyed. And then there's the whole people party crashing the bridal suite. Not so much. I like the Finland custom of the bride being blindfolded and spinning around to pick the next to be married more than throwing a bouquet or garter. I'm not sure if it's because I go to so many weddings now as a photographer or because I know the person to catch it will not be the next to be married (I caught it twice under the age of 10), but I'm just bored with it. Maybe I'll change my mind.

Dollar dances. I wish this were okay here! It seems like it would be a lot of fun to have people pay to dance with me or Garrett, but I don't think it would fly here or with our people who would probably think it's in poor taste. That being said, I salute all of you who can and will have this tradition at your wedding.



A symbol of unity. Unity candles, not so crazy about. Tying hands together? Pretty cool. Maybe Garrett and I can be handcuffed together. I really liked what a 2000 dollar budget wedding blogger Sara did for her wedding, they made a quilt and were wrapped in it. Garrett doesn't want to be wrapped in a quilt but if I can get task oriented enough I'll have a quilt by October to somehow incorporate.


Decorating the getaway car. If anyone gets near our car with any sort of car chalk and draws anything phallic or clever we'll have a meltdown. Tin cans? Okay. I know some people would appreciate it or think it's funny, but we don't. The pic above? Actually pretty cute. Will probably only work if Martha Stewart comes to my wedding though.

Here's a pretty humorous CNN article on wedding traditions. Here's my favorite part: "And that veil she's wearing? Yeah, that was so the groom wouldn't know if he was stuck with an uggo until it was time to kiss the bride and too late to back out on the transaction. (There is also some superstitious B.S. about warding off evil spirits, but we think you'll agree that hiding a busted grill from the husband-to-be is a more practical purpose.)" I especially like the use of "uggo."

Big News!

Okay, I know you are wondering why I've been so lame and haven't posted... But there's a good reason! I've been too excited about being a weekly blogger on http://www.elizabethannedesigns.com/blog/ It's a wedding inspiration blog (they have a living portion of their site as well), and I'll be sharing my ideas there! I'll still post here, and you might get some duplicates, but this blog will stay directed towards people I know and bridesmaids while my posts there are for the wedding world at large!

But I promise to post here again soon.
Oh, and if you have twitter you can follow me @kellymerrill

Alright bridesmaids... and anyone else that is wise, jobless, good at searching the intenet, an art history major... I need/want to find some art deco and art nouveau art for inspiration for my save the dates & invitations! I'll probably end up buying a book but I thought I'd try this first.

I'm thinking more borders and decorative swirls and such versus naked women. Garrett really likes Klimt (you know him from The Kiss painting) and illuminated painting. so maybe gold on navy for the stds? Or navy on white. Or Navy on white with gold accents. No idea but I need a wedding website and STDs stat.

Quilt?

So, what if, instead of one fabric for a backdrop, I make a quilt between now and the wedding and that gets hung up as our backdrop? Ok, we have some options here. (And one option is that the idea sucks and I should just do a plain fabric background and make the quilt something separate). I can either purchase fabric in my wedding colors or with things that relate to me and Garrett (hedgehogs, archaeology [indians, arrowheads, trowels?], hares, puppies?, headphones (him), jellyfish) but I think the animals would be better for a kids quilt maybe for our kids one day. I do want the fabric, but not necessarily for this project. Or I can ask people to submit fabric that they have lying around or that means something to them. Then at the reception they could see how a part of them became us. Or, I could make the finished product into a pic for our thank yous if it takes me forever to finish. I don't know. But I am obsessed with etsy now and it could be so cute. Picture it...

(all images via etsy)

more yellow shoes

to answer linden, I'm going for a darker yellow, a golden sunflower yellow I guess? Goldenrod is what I think I decided on. But, let me post some other options (some contributed by my bridesmaids) and see what you think.




shoes are: top row ltr: Jessica Simpson's "Brenda", Charles by Charles David "Pompadour Pump" $124.95, Delman's "Beverly P D'orsay"; bottom row: Luichiny's "Diedre" Pump, Vintage Cleo-Bottier Snake Skin heels

you snooze, no shoes

I saw a pair of shoes on etsy that were just lovely, exactly what I wanted. vintage, yellow, closed toe, heels (I'm 5'2"). I waited to order them because I wasn't 100% sure and I couldn't try them on first, etc. And they disappeared maybe two days before I logged in to order them. They were from Spain and a size 8 and hopefully they would be too big for my feet anyway. Here they are (weep!):


Yesterday I did some more searching and found another shoe that could work, though it's significantly more...$178



What do you think? Should I hope for another yellow shoe on etsy? go vintage store hunting? or, you have a pair to sell me? really? sweet!

Bridesmaid dresses!

Garrett and I went to the coast last weekend (where we went to a crawfish boil, pics of that are up on facebook and http://spindlephotography.blogspot.com). There was an outlet center nearby and his cousin needed a dress so we went shopping. I unexpectedly found my bridesmaid dresses at Banana Republic. I knew I wanted navy dresses and I wanted a print instead of a solid (I don't like solid navy very much and I think the print actually does add to the wearability. It's a silky short sleeved wrap dress (wrap dress=adjustable=no alterations necessary) with cream colored polka dots. If I could justify spending the money I'd get it for myself. Not that the money was bad, $90 regular price and some of my girls found it on clearance (by calling a store) for $60! Now I just need to decide if I'll force a particular shoe on them (I'm wearing yellow and yellow would be fun but it'd also be a lot of work. But we have 6 months, so we'll see). Since everyone has ordered them and I no longer worry that they'll run out, here is a pic of me and my bridesmaid linden in the dress!