Mining For Gold: How To Handpick the Best Elements of Your Wedding Theme

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When April was newly engaged and starting to think about the kind of wedding she wanted to have, she had a point of reference at the ready: Tim Burton's "The Corpse Bride" a movie that she loved.

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Now, keeping in mind that when I got married, it was a looooooow-key event; it was a Friday at City Hall with a small group of family members and a few close friends followed by a relaxed dinner at a steakhouse. This time around, our mother had a few ideas about April's upcoming nuptials and she very quickly put the kibosh on the Tim Burton influence by not-so-subtly and colourfully advising (telling?) her, 'Oh no, none of this Corpse Bride crap for the wedding!!'   What she didn't realize or stop to consider was that April wasn't looking to recreate the sunken cheeks and non-living pallour -

Fierce and furious. NOT the bridal expression conducive to a fun day!
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or (literal) bony fingers

Model pose, not-so-model-like hands
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or eerie Underworld party styles

The undead version of Uptown Funk?
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-but loved the Victorian aesthetic and the evocative, brooding colour palette (shades of blue and gray with flourishes from the purple family) that she found dreamy and romantic.  She and her then-fiancé wouldn't have used the movie as a template, but as a buffet of ideas, picking and choosing the elements that spoke to them.  Sometimes though, when we're in the early planning stages, it can be hard to figure out how your inspirations can translate to real-life flourishes on your big day. This week, Brides.com featured a timely piece on finding your wedding style and staying on-track, so without further ado, here's the 411!

*~Staying above-ground: How NOT to fall down the wedding planning rabbit-hole!~*

It's so easy to follow tangents during those early planning days but it's nice to know that sometimes a little can go a long way and there can be huge fireworks from little sparks of creativity. And that beauty can be found in the most unexpected places (like a stop-go animation film about a living groom and his living dead-girl bride!)

Wishing you a day as limitless as you are~
Lisa and April

PS - On an unrelated note, please excuse the quiet week in the blog BUT I have a good reason; last week was our couples soak and I kid you not, I've been so amazingly, ridiculously chill ever since. I won't say needing-a-mirror-under-my-nose-to-see-if-I'm-still-breathing, but calm yet buoyant? I mean sure, we were pretty buoyant in the Epsom salt pool, but we walked/floated out of the spa feeling lighter and less-stressed and almost joyous? I'm putting float spas on blast in the best possible way, everyone: if you ever have an opportunity to do a float, pleasepleaseplease take the plunge! Even if youre claustrophobic, you can do a open float. And if you DO give it a shot, let us know what you thought of it!