Giovanni's Lobster Pate

All due to this picture via The Wedding Chicks and Paper & Thread Studio (who is doing our save the dates, by the way, and they are FABULOUS), I have been dying to get my hands on these little lobster tins. I finally found them here through a random website, but now that I found them I have no idea what to do with them.

At first, I thought they were empty tins, but apparently they actually have lobster pate in them.. I never even knew lobster pate existed until now. Do I just sit some around for added interest? They are just too perfect for me to forget. Lobster pate anyone?

Straw Hand Fans

I'm loving these natural-looking hand fans from Shore Chic! For those color craving individuals, you can customize the fans with pretty ribbon handles too.

Engagement Pictures Part 2

My excitement for our engagement pictures still hasn't calmed down! So glad we finally have some decent pictures together.

Engagement Pictures!

So it only took us a solid year to get our engagement pictures taken. Totally normal. The incredible, amazing, wonderful ladies of the VUE did a fantastic job! We are so pumped that they shot our engagement session! Thank you so much Genya & Wesleyann!

Here are a couple of my faves..

Inspiration Board Evolution

While organizing all of my wedding files, I came across my first two inspiration boards that I made over a year ago. It all started with peacocks, extravagant decor and typical beach inspiration...



While I still love these inspiration boards, they just aren't our style. Now, a year later, we are here...



Vintage, eclectic, romantic, nautical. What a difference a year makes!

Terra Cotta + Blue

I'm really loving terra cotta & blue combos right now. Probably because it reminds me of our wedding designs. I never thought of the accent color as "terra cotta", but it's not orange and it's not tan.. it's in between. Really it's terra cotta.




And the terra cotta + navy combos I found on coco+kelley are really just spot on perect. Absolutely perfect.

1. Desert Beads 2. Vintage Table 3. Real Simple Magazine

Signed, Sealed, Delivered!

The votes have been tallied and all factors have been considered. The decision was certainly not easy and was the cause of many emotional break-downs in the past month. We are so very excited to announce that we will be getting married at.... CARILLON! On what date? Oh yeah, 5-7-11! Whoop! Whoop! What's that you say? Yes. That IS the exact same location and date as before. After a month of panic and stress, we have come full circle in our search and landed right back at the original venue of our dreams, Carillon Beach.











We are so excited for this special day and look forward to sharing it with family and close friends. So mark your calendars for 5-7-11 and grab a seat because the real work is just beginning!

Venue Two: Rosemary Beach

The next stop on our venue journey took us to the beautiful Rosemary Beach.

The West Green with a glimpse of downtown Rosemary.

The West Green.

Beach Access area with Bath houses.

Town Hall - LOVE this.

Inside of the Town Hall.

The little green next to the Town Hall.

Entrance to the Barbados Pool.

The Coquina Pool.

The low-down on Rosemary Beach:
Rosemary is gorgeous. Let's just cut to the chase. Everywhere you look families are laughing, riding bikes and just loving life. You can't help but feel like you have magically appeared in an Italian beach town once you step foot in Rosemary. From the architecture to the town square areas, this little beach haven will steal your heart. The West & East (not pictured) Greens are perfect for an outdoor tented wedding. And I LOVE the Town Hall. It is stunning inside and out and can hold around 250 people. Their a 4 pools, 2 of which are pictured. Each one is unique and all can serve as wonderful rehearsal dinner areas. The downfall to Rosemary is the cost and the hoops you must jump through to have your wedding there. Requirements include 3 house rentals for 4 days each, security guards, and following the alternating green policy. What? That's what I said. Chances are there will be another wedding happening at the same time as yours on a different part of the property. For vacations, Rosemary can make you feel like a very special guest, but when it comes to weddings, you feel more like a number.

Venue One: Carillon Beach

We will start with the original, the first venue that stole my heart: Carillon Beach.

The chapel. How you speak to me. If only you held more than 90 people.

The garden surrounding the chapel. The trees are strung with lights. Mmmmm I love you.

The Village Green, a popular reception area.

Market Street! The strung lights are fabulous at night.

Market Street from the other direction with the chapel in the background. Pretty. Pretty.

The low-down on Carillon:
Quaint beach town feel with gorgeous homes and a little downtown area. Carillon's beachfront and walkways to the beach are the prettiest along the Emerald Coast in my opinion. They have an in-house wedding coordinator, Carillon Weddings by Victoria, which is run by Victoria Volpone and her assistant Avis. They are WONDERFUL. (And Avis is a UGA graduate. GO DAWGS!) Coordination fees are included in the venue fees, which is rare and a wonderful service. They require that you use vendors from their preferred vendor list, but the vendors they have selected are all top notch. Though we love all of the selected vendors, there is not much wiggle room to minimize costs by using friends or other connections.