La Meridionale Ballerina

I read somewhere that brides who choose pink as a wedding color are stuck trying to emulate Julia Robert’s character in Steel Magnolias, who chose "blush" and "bashful" to be her wedding colors.

In other words, "that sanctuary looks like it’s been hosed down with Pepto-Bismol."  Not the best look.

(I somehow missed that line in the movie, probably because I was bawling my eyes out).

(Incidently, this movie also permanently turned me off from groom’s cakes, proving I’m both no fun and a Northern girl at heart).

So now I feel a little guity for admitting that I love pink.  Love, love, love pink.  And I definitely want pink in my wedding.

Case in point: I’m now wearing a workout outfit that consists of a black shirt with pink trim, a pink sports bra, black shorts with pink trim, white socks with pink trim, and a pink sweatshirt.  Not usually this color-coordinated, but hey, yesterday was laundry day.

I realize a lot of brides now are mixing pink with dark neutrals, like chocolate or black.  This to me seems like it gives pink a preppy, playful edge.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Cute, yes.  But I don’t think I want to do that.  I think that’s a little too cute prepster for me and I want something a little more…romantic, I suppose.  I suppose this means my wedding will perpetuate the fact that I am not, nor will I ever be, hip.

I also love french blue - a deep blue, almost navy but with a touch of tourquise (now that’s a girly description). 

Like this:

I’d like to do something with a pale, pale pink and this deep blue.  I imagine my bouquet, for example, would be the palest pink roses with tiny drops of bluebells, or something.  And if the pink had a hint of peach to it, it would artistically work because the colors would be nearly complimentary.  Which is what good design is all about, right?

Like this color:

(Say it with me now - aww.)

Is this combination too sickeningly sweet?  Am I edging into blush and bashville territory?  With this color combination make every male participant groan?

You know what, I’m tempted to say I don’t care.   

Since we can’t afford real estate, let’s apply the principle to what we can (?) afford: a wedding!

I’m indecisive; always have been, always will be.  Mom used to say I would agonize about what candy bar to choose in the checkout line.  While this may be true ("3 Muskateers has fewer calories, but I love the caramel in Milky Ways…hmmm…."), it is a useful atribute in some situations.  Like, I don’t know, playing chess.

Wedding planning is not one of those situations.

We’ve done three major scouting trips to find our venue site.  The original plan was to have the ceremony at the University of Maryland chapel, where we met.  It’s sentimental and sweet and we’d get our rainproof church wedding.

(Stealth picture taken from the car so as not to interrupt the wedding taking place inside.)

Sounds great, right?  Except there are a few issues.  It costs $800 (yes, even for two alumni), no throwing of anything allowed (no rice, no birdseed, no flower petals when the flower girl walks down the aisle, nothing), no candles (none), and you must be in and out within your time slot or they’ll kick you out (i.e., no receiving line and don’t you dare be late).

As for the reception site, first we looked at something that made logical sense: a venue on campus.

Here are our options:

Massive ballroom that would dwarf our guest list of 120.

Dark green ballroom that makes me sad (and certainly doesn’t scream "June wedding").

The ballroom of the alumni center (granted, it looks a little better dressed up.).  Includes the most hideous chairs I’ve ever seen - red plastic tailgating ones.

Here’s the kicker: sure, these places are affordable, but they certainly don’t say "wedding" to me.  They say corporate workshop on synergy.  Not exactly the look I’m going for. 

I want people to be able to wander around the reception and step outside and smell the beautiful spring air and admire flowers in the surrounding garden before they refill their glass of mint iced tea. 

So at least with this first trip I realized something: I wanted something more fun, more original, more "pretty," more "me" than a ballroom that would be converted into seating for a lecture on globalization come Monday morning. 

Hey, deciding what you don’t want is half the battle, right?  After all, I always end up deciding I don’t want a Milky Way.

(Sidenote: I also decided the alumni center is absolutely out of the question when we exited and found it sits right next to the football stadium.  While this is a major highlight for my fiance, I think my body language in this picture says everything about my opinion of that feature:

(Can’t you just hear me saying "over my dead body!?")