The Kissing Tree

Right after we got engaged we started thinking about what type of wedding we'd like to have, starting with the setting- the venue. I started looking up pictures online for inspiration knowing we wanted an outdoor wedding.  Scott and I love being outdoors on lakes, rivers, oceans and the seas and surrounded by trees. We did look for venues by a lake and even thought about a beach wedding. But it's these pictures below that sealed the deal that I was going to marry my sweetheart Scott under a big old grand tree. Something so symbolic of deep rooted love that grows ~ *heart*

Our wedding venue's heart and soul for us is this grand old oak tree.  Under this tree we will exchange our vows and become man and wife on October 13, 2012. It's our tree of life, our kissing tree...it's this tree, towards which I will make my way down to my groom and my future, waiting for me under the magnificent branches of this beautiful romantic old oak tree.

A lot of thought and planning has gone into, and continues to go into, how I'm going to decorate this important tree, that's a the focal point of our ceremony.

The old oak tree at The Farmhouse Inn @ Hundred Acre Farm

When it comes to decorating wedding ceremony trees my research has made me come across it ALL....pom-poms, flowers, string lights, kissing balls, chandeliers, ribbons, paper lanterns, bird cages and more....all hanging from the branches of these trees.

But I know EXACTLY what I want on my tree...ahem correction, our tree. Lanterns, lots of pretty hanging lanterns with candles! I've visualized it, researched endless pictures, thought about how it's going to look over and over. I've done everything short of actually hanging lanterns in my wedding tree! It's so important because based on what I choose, I'm only going to see the final effect of my hanging lanterns on our wedding rehearsal day, the day before our wedding!

Finding the exactly type of lantern, and deciding between hanging them with white ribbon vs. black ribbon are the decisions I need to make in the next couple of months. This is one decorative task I do not take lightly, after all we chose to get married at The Farmhouse Inn at Hundred Acre Farm in Madison GA because we found our kissing tree here!

~Come meet me under the oak tree
You will be able to find me there
Smelling of jasmine flowers 
As I have weaved them through my hair~

Will work for shoes!

I'm 5ft 3in...and therefore live in my high heels for work, dinners, parties and more. I went from being a tomboy to a heel wearing chica only a couple of years ago. This was in a large part due to influences from my European business school friends, Cristina & Viktoria. They showed me the more you live in your heels the more accustomed you get in them. "No pain, no gain" was Viktoria's favorite line. Now I wear heels to work almost everyday and call them my power heels...it's second nature for me to slip into a pair. Of course the tomboy in me comes out as needed to throw on my hiking shoes, softball cleats, water shoes, flip flops, and running shoes as need be.

So as I approached my 1st wedding gown fitting appointment I panicked! With everything else going on I had not given any thought to, let alone had an idea yet of what type of heel I'd like to wear on my wedding day. At first I'd want to be adventurous and have a pop of color under my gown...a fun hot pink/fuchsia heel maybe? This idea was soon discarded as after two whole days of shoe shopping, and my best friend Kirti doubling up looking for me as well, not a single hot pink pair 'got me'.

I then had the 'comfort vs.couture' debate with myself, and yeah couture a.k.a really pretty heels won! I did give mid-size heels and pretty flats, a.k.a 'not-as-chic-to-wear-on-your-wedding-day-shoes' a good shot, but found nothing that appealed to me. I finally decided on finding really pretty high heels that was more me and would made me feel like a bride. I must admit finding about these little things called sole mates helped seal my decision. They are little clear blocks that you can put over your skinny heels to broaden the base so your heels don't sink into the grass...why didn't I come up with that...it's genius!

But the road to finding my perfect princess-bride-super-chic heels was not an easy road. I trekking through every store in the mall, outdoor boutiques & specialty shoe stores after work, using my summer hours, my weekends too, but to no avail. Now a girl in a mall, or shopping anywhere for that matter, is unlike like a man with a mission....we tend to get side tracked, distracted or easily excited by shiny stuff he he. So as you may have guessed, the road to my delightful bridal heels had a lot of detours along the way :)

Distraction #1...was due to none of the above reasons...this one was brought on more so by curiosity! I've always wondered how those scary looking eye lash curlers worked. Hmm...maybe I'll try them on my droopy non-existent lashes to see if they do some magic. The prospect was scary but while I wandered past the Sephora store curiosity got the better of me, so I paused, turned, and went right in. A guy showed me how the eye-lash curler works and proceeded to tell me how he uses it every morning...."honey it's so easy and pinch-less you'd do it in your sleep"...sold! Tee hee. So I bought one of those scary looking contraptions, tickled to see Scott's reaction...which he did not fail to rise to when he saw this and said, "And that goes where?' Priceless!

Distraction #2...you can blame this purchase on our upcoming nuptials and all the time I spend discussing/ thinking about roses, petals, hearts, cutesey love saying and quotes, romantic songs for our first dance, love letters, wedding vows. My in-the-clouds-of-love-foggy head stirred me towards this book filled with love quotes. After all I could use this as inspiration when it comes time to writing my own vows!

Distraction #3...now this purchase I blame on the euphoria and high I'm on as the count down to our wedding begins. This walking-on-sunshine gal, me, did a double take when I came across this book, a New York Times bestseller - 'The Happiness Project', that sounds like a title of a book I would write. I had to have some light fun reading to decompress from my crazy wedding planning days. I already love this book and reading it make me even happier..as if that was even possible!

And finally back to the mission in hand. All those things I told you that catches a gal's eye got mine...when ahhhhhhhhhh....I saw these rock-star, blinged out, sexy and oh-so-chic heels. They were calling my name and I knew I had found them.....my wedding heels!

With everything I bought in my quest for these beauties (above)...I literally will work for shoes!