We are having a VERY CASUAL beach wedding.  I know he is definitely going to wear flip flops. I am now trying to figure out what my groom should wear…what do you think?

Choice 1- White short sleeved button downs with khakis

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I just got back to NYC from a weekend of wedding planning in Delray Beach, FL with my mom. It was…. stressful…and COLD. I had been looking for a short break from the winter chill, but got 35 degree temps down south. Thankfully, the afternoon of my arrival was beautiful and I got to visit again with the 2 giant palm tress under which we will say our vows (still left to be written).

My mission down in Delray was to find a rehearsal dinner location, and to meet with all the vendors I have selected from afar. Mostly, I am happy to report, I feel like I got a lot done on my 3-day trip. But there are still lingering questions that are obstacles in our planning (such as still no clarity about the rehearsal).

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Ok….so after hours of deliberation (I mean seriously, it shouldn’t be that hard) I have chosen our colors! I took into account all the great advice I got from all of you.  Unfortunately, Dogwood Dude’s only advice was “Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy”… I resisted the urge to tell him that he wasn’t making me happy at that moment!  I decided to do some research into local flowers to see what we could get for a good price and what colors I had to choose from for those flowers.

So, here were the three choices I was looking at….and click through to see what we picked!

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Crisis #1…I can’t make up my mind on our colors!  With all the beautiful colors to choose from when planning a beach wedding it really makes it hard to decide. I could go with sky, water or earth on this one!

My first inclination was to go with the colors of the sunset since our wedding will take place at that beautiful time.  I was imagining amazing hues of canary, peach, coral and tangerine much like this image from Martha Stewart.

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I am happy to report that Dogwood Dude and I found every single one of our parameters when searching for our destination wedding! The Key Largo Grande Resort & Beach Club is an hour from Miami Airport, budget friendly for us and our guests (especially for those Hilton Rewards Members), has two amazing 3^rd floor rooms overlooking the ocean in case of rain, has a beach covered in arching hammock trees….and PLENTY to do! The funny thing is that so many people ask me how we chose Key Largo, which seems so remote to most, and I always tell them…we just had five parameters!

Here are some pics!

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I am going to be honest with you from the beginning… we spent A LOT of time figuring out where we wanted to get married! The good news, Dogwood Dude and I did it all from the comfort of our own couch! All we needed was Google Maps and a bunch of browser windows.  We started in North Carolina and went all the way down the east coast of Florida and back up to the panhandle to find the perfect location.  I know that seems a little daunting, but you just have to set parameters and I suggest tackling one city a night.

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Hi Y’all I’m Dogwood Bud! I am so happy to join the BridalBuds team and can’t wait to share my thoughts and hear yours as we take this wild ride together.

Dogwood Dude and I met 2 ½ years ago through mutual friends.  I am blessed to have such a wonderful fiancé that makes me laugh all the time, supports me through every situation and loves me more than I could have ever imagined.

I am one of the last of my friends to get married so I have seen it all! I have been to more than 20 weddings in the past three years, and I was a bridesmaid in six of those.  All that time I watched as each of my friends married the man of their dreams , spent countless hours planning huge weddings and ultimately having the wedding of their dreams.  That’s when I realized that the wedding of my dreams was small and on a beach at sunset.

The planning should be interesting as we live in Washington, D.C., my family and friends are in Atlanta and we are getting married in Key Largo, Florida.  The big day is July 9, 2010 and am excited to share what I find, what I love and anything that can help y’all out!

Nothing makes me happier than ticking things off my to-do list! I get giddy when I take that pen to the paper and check off that little box. Done! What a sense of satisfaction with every accomplished task.

I love love love checking things off my list!

Now, if it didn’t take me so long to complete each item, I would really be in heaven.

For those of you keeping score, I have picked our ceremony & reception location, sent my save the dates,  found my dress (yay!) and picked an amazing photographer. Next on the list are the DJ, rehearsal dinner/activity and flowers, in that order. 7 Months to go… still plenty of time, right?

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When you have an abundance of out of town (OOT) guests, a wonderful and thoughtful way to welcome them is to leave OOT bags/gifts in their hotel rooms. Yes, this can get costly, depending on your number of guests, or you can wholesale shop and keep it affordable. Just what do you include in these baskets? They can be as easy or as elaborate as you wish!

Kate Parker Weddings

Some suggestions:

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Courtesy F22 Studio

Once I had the dress on, it was time to go outside and shoot some bridal portraits. Plumeria Dude and I decided to do all of our photographs before the ceremony so that we could spend more time with our guests during the reception. Neither of us are particularly superstitious, and it was really nice to hang out with him. I still had butterflies before the ceremony itself!

Courtesy F22 Studio

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