What They Wore

You've seen what we wore on our big day, but here's just a glance as to what our bridal party and family wore... 

We were so blessed to be surrounded by our friends and family on that special day!!

The Bridal Party

Dresses: David's Bridal

Men's Suits: Halberstadt's

Ties and Vests: JCPenney's

The bridesmaids' bouquets were just smaller versions of mine - complete with lace and ribbon around the stems. The men's boutonnieres were wrapped in a green ribbon - I believe they included the real salal leaves, purple mini carns, green kermit mums and green hypericum with a bit of fake seed bunch that came from the hydrangea stems from JoAnns or Michaels.

I asked my cousin's daughter to be our flower girl. I had searched the internet for flower girl dresses, but most of them were white and satiny - it would not match the soft, flowing nature of my dress or the bridesmaid dresses nor would it match the easy-going style of the wedding. So, I started searching department stores. Lo and behold, this fun purple dresses with some sparkly detail was found at JCPenney's! Luckily the one size left in the store was the size needed for this cute girl! And of course, as with anything at JCP, it was on sale :)

This handsome ring-bearer is our nephew (Grizz's sister's oldest child). He knew all about his job from being a ring-bearer a few months earlier at a cousin's wedding. His perfect outfit came from... Walmart! Or was it Sam's? I don't quite remember. But it was exactly what I was hoping for - and it went so well with the flower girl's dress!

 Aren't they cute together?! I'll share the pillow details later... I made it with an old hankerchief. And yes, they are indeed playing with our rings. In my mind, why have a ring bearer, if he doesn't carry the rings? (Yes, this is a risk. At one point, we didn't know where the pillow went... my brother found it up in the balcony from when the kiddos were playing up there earlier!)

 Our Family

Our Family

I picked out purple and green for our wedding colors - thankfully Grizz agreed! Very early on in the planning process, I decided that I didn't care what shade of purple was included in the wedding. To me, the multi-shaded details of both colors add to the feel of our wedding... I think at one point, I described it as a "vintage cottage garden" - ha!

Also, by not limiting yourself to just one shade of a color, you have access  to so many more opportunities to cut expense! Take the flower girl and ring-bearer outfits as well as the men's ties... these were all purchased at non-wedding retailers which equaled huge savings for us as well as for the kiddos' parents! The fake flowers and the ribbons for were purchased on sale at craft stores - I didn't have to worry about what shade they were, which took a lot of stress off the planning process as well.

I know that my way of thinking may not work for every bride... some weddings are more fancy and need all the colors to match... but I know that I loved having the freedom to mix and match!