Remembrance

This will be our wedding theme for several reasons. The first, obviously, is that Mr. Shirlington and I have experienced so many amazing things together, from traveling abroad to buying our first place together. We also want to remember some of the challenges we've been through and how our love has become so strong. One of those hard times was in April of this year when my mom passed away. I know it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and though my mom didn't suffer from breast cancer, it was bladder cancer that took her life.

I always dreamed of planning my wedding with my mom and fulfilling her dream of becoming a grandmother. So in remembrance of her, we have chosen purple as the main color in our palette because it was her absolute favorite. My heightened awareness for the color makes me notice it always, and reminds me that she is always near. For example, I lamented over my problems finding the dress of my dreams in a previous post, and it just so happened that when I arrived at the ONE place that could get me the dress, the door was bright lavender. Most women don't go to try on wedding dresses alone, much less purchase one without the opinion of someone else, but that's exactly what I did because that door made me feel like I was in the right place for the right dress. It made me feel like I wasn't alone and that she was there with me, telling me it was the one. Superstitious, I know, but it's comforting.

Well now to the purple palette issues. I've chosen aubergine lamour table cloths from The Cloth Connection, which I saw in Bride & Bloom Magazine. I originally wanted to compliment the color with ivories, golds and champagne/tan. That was until I walked into Z Gallerie on Saturday and saw a table decked out in silver, black and purple. It's not what I originally would have envisioned but when I saw it I immediately fell in love with the overall design, clean lines and contemporary elements. It's so different from the traditional weddings I've been to and makes such a bold statement. However, I'm a traditional kind of girl. So now I'm torn.

I just put together this mood board to show my original palette. I did this one in Microsoft Publisher. I had to take several steps to change it from a mdi to a tif to a JPEG file, but that was only so I could post it here. Other than that, it was extremely easy. You just need a blank publisher document, then you insert your photos, resize them, and arrange! I scanned tons of pictures from magazines, so here's what I've come up with. Click for a larger view.