Collecting ALL THE THINGS!!!

Ellie and I created a schedule (will need to post about that) of when things NEED to be bought/made by, and I think we're doing a pretty good job. We've been trying to collect up wedding ceremony and reception items whenever we're out shopping & see something that works, and have specific dates for making the big purchases (like centerpieces). Here's the haul so far: We were at a craft store a few weeks ago (damned if I remember which one) to buy supplies for starting our program prototypes and I saw this beauty that I knew HAD to be our card box--with Peacock as our color theme and Faerietale Forrest as our decor theme, it was perfect:

 

These next two pictures aren't great, but together give a decent visual. My brother passed back in 2007, my mom passed back in July, and Ellie's father will likely not be alive by the time the wedding happens in September (and even if he is, he will neither be there in person or spirit). This is in addition to the grandparents, great aunts & uncles, etc. Having some kind of memorial is important to both of us, especially as honoring the ancestors is very important within Greek Polytheism, my religion. Wandering around Christmas Tree Shops one evening, I spied this gem:

 

Ellie has a small obsession with pictures, I have a small obsession with trees, and this will be easy to display after the fact, without taking up table space or anything like a candle or something might. On the same outing to Christmas Tree Shops, we found the lanterns our girls will carry down the aisle. In ancient Greek marriages, the bride's mother would bring an ember from their hearth & combine it into the groom's family hearth, symbolizing the bride entering her new family. I want to incorporate this tradition, and thought the best way was to have each of our girls (one for each of us, childhood friends) carry a candle & light a single candle or something that we'd keep as the symbol of our Hearth, which was the center of the ancient Greek home/family. The girls can choose to keep the lanterns or not--we like lanterns!



And finally, our centerpieces, which we ordered a week ago. We're still trying to figure out the best way of dressing them up--we definitely want to raise them about 4" and my Lady of Honor thinks they might be a little too small for the tables, so we may look into something that will widen them without overpowering their simplicity.