Wedding Inspiration (aka "The Vision")

One of the first things I did after deciding on our venue at the Biltmore in Asheville was to begin to fine tune the vision for the wedding.

I learned by default that I really needed to figure this out asap, as the first question from anyone I worked with after inquiring about location was always...

"So tell me about your 'Vision'...."

(And, Yes, if I must confess, I was stumped the first time I was asked this.... luckily I am pretty good at making stuff up as I go, but I didn't want my answer to come back and haunt me at a later date!)

Since we decided not to have the wedding overseas, I knew I wanted to bring a little bit of Europe to the even and bring in a classic, elegant, formal ambiance.   We had a small guest list, 28 people in total, immediate family members.   I wanted the event to feel like an intimate formal dinner party filled with romance, candlelight, music and a touch of glamour.    

This image was one of the first I found that really captured the essence of the vision.     We decided fairly early on that the dinner would have both an Italian and French feel, places that John and I had visited together and held a special place in our hearts.   (More on the menu later...   Can't wait to share!)

I picked my colors on the day that I first tried on my wedding dress.    Champagne, ivory, blush and gold accents.   I wanted the colors to carry out that romantic, Parisian feel that is so soft and elegant.    I found a number of images early on that helped to provide a more tangible view into our thoughts.

When I was first engaged, I panicked a little bit.   I didn't know where to begin.  One of my friends and former co-workers gave me the best advice, reminding me that a wedding is just one big project.   If you approach it like a project, it becomes manageable and achievable.    So I broke it down into chunks and everything flowed from there.

After we defined the initial requirements (the location, the vision, the inspiration), I knew that the next step was to select the project manager, or in this case the Wedding Planner.    Since John and I were planning from afar, we knew that we seriously needed some help on the ground and it was one of the best decisions we made.

Stay tuned for the next installment of Adventures in Wedding Planning...