weddings on the brain

After attending my friend Alex's wedding this past weekend, I got to thinking about my own wedding (anticipated to take place quite a few years into the future...of course...a girl needs to get proposed to first!). I started spinning ideas in my head about the flowers and the dress, the cake and the reception, and just the overall feeling of things. I want it to be a warm, carefree day where people come in their sunday best with a casual flare, ready to eat, dance and have a wonderful time celebrating.

The happy, gorgeous couple! All smiles.

It would take place on a sprawling farm in Florence (or just outside in my parent's backyard...it's so cozy and beautiful there! Tons of colorful flowers and deer running through on a daily basis) with wild flowers and lavender in all of the arrangements. The ceremony itself would be small, with only close family and friends invited. The reception would be a huge family-style last supper-style wooden table and everyone from the town would be invited to take part in the post-wedding festivities. All the food would be grown/made locally with my foody taste in mind! The cake would be spilling over with sprigs of lavender and honeysuckle flowers. And of course, there would have to be an enormous dessert bar, filled with cupcakes and traditional Italian cookies, with sides of gourmet coffees/espresso (an ode to my other love).

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There would be dancing well into the night, with a live band playing Corrine Bailey Rae-esque music, speckled with oldies but goodies songs, as well. In between band breaks, an old record player would croon to songs from our parents' era.

And the dress? Well, what would a wedding be without a phenomenal dress? Of course, I don't know what dress I would possibly be able to choose for my wedding as of yet. However, I did come across this GORGEOUS "oysters and pearls" dress on Etsy this morning, and I could not bring myself to delete the link from my desktop all day today. How wonderful would that be to wear to your wedding reception? I find it extremely whimsical and carefree looking. Maybe someday...

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