Wedding Ideas for Girls Like Me.

In case you were confused, it is Mary (me) writing all of our blogs, social networking tidbits and such.

On that note, I got engaged this summer and thought I would share the progress and process of elimination for planning everything from stationery to venues for girls like me.

Who are girls like me?

Well, you're probably creative and very hands on- you like to do projects and make things feel personal and special, but maybe don't have the time to do it. Maybe you feel disconnected from the whole "bridal experience" and don't really like the fluff, fanciness, or formalities of so many weddings. Perhaps you actually put a lot of stock into the actual marriage instead of the wedding/ party aspect of it. The party is the bonus, not the focus.

If you're SO not into banquet halls, linen covered chairs, DJs with awful music, ladies we have a lot to talk about. I hope to offer you some ideas to ponder and organizational solutions.


...Just a little background info:

Long before there was an Eclectic Design Source to speak of, my mother (Margaret) was a floral designer with her own business. From a super young age, I would help prep flowers, wash buckets, haul boxes, and just be an assistant to her weddings. Over the course of 15 years, I saw A LOT of weddings. They were all beautiful in their own right, but none of them ever resonated with me.

I've always been a free spirited tom-boyish type and never ever dreamed of my wedding, there were far more important things for me to be concerned with, such as building a teepee from branches and bark, obviously. As I got older, it became apparent that "girls are supposed to dream of their wedding and feeling like a princess", a sentiment I never shared. For me, it felt like one of those odd adult fibs like "High school is the BEST time of your life!". Not true. Not true at all.

I started reading all of the wedding magazines and it really solidified the fact I wasn't into what I was seeing. It all felt really commercial, bridal, and not something I would do myself.

Then, I started combing blogs to gather some inspirational pictures. I really like these, particularly Design Sponge, even though its not a "wedding" blog. It always has really fantastic projects and interesting ideas:





A great way to keep track of ideas you like is using . Its an online inspiration board that grabs the photos you want to load onto your board, allowing you to comment, tag, and post to Twitter or Facebook. You can take a look at mine here: . I also use it quite a bit for designing for our clients, it allows them to see what we've proposed as often as they need to see it. Very helpful.

More to come, so stay tuned!!