Sunday found me at the Monogram Shoppe having a meet and greet with the brides of Fort Wayne, IN. It was a delight to be able to talk to these woman one on one and dig a bit into where they were having difficulty planning.

I had noticed at my seminar on Saturday at the bridal show that one of the biggest things standing in the way of many brides getting from vision to completion was a theme. I have talked about it here and here and even here so it came as no big surprise.

On Sunday I had a chance to take one particular couple by the hand so to speak and walk them through the process.

Lisa and Nick are planning a summer wedding on an unbelievably tight budget. When I asked them what their theme was Lisa pulled two skeins of embroidery floss from her purse and said “Well these are our colors.” Argh.

Digging deeper I found that they wanted a casual garden feel to their day, very summery and natural. Looking at the colors and hearing what they said I immediately thought of Provence. That lends itself well to the rustic outdoor feel they were going for and the colors just scream France. They had already settled on French blue linens and 16’ long banquet tables. Next they said they were thinking of using floating candles in yellow! My mind flooded with images of too many poorly done church basements, so I started offering alternate ideas.

Thinking “Provence”, I suggested that they hit Target or World Bazaar and get a handful of inexpensive square white plates in a variety of sizes. Next, it’s off to the local produce broker or warehouse club to buy a bunch of lemons and blueberries. Mound the fruit on the white plates with a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary tucked in as the main centerpiece elements, maybe 3 per table. Add some white baskets of rustic artisan breads, small bottles of olive oil, little dishes of imported black olives and simple white pillar candles to form a runner down these long tables.

Once Lisa and Nick got the idea the whole event began to come into focus for them. What might have been the same old worship hall reception just lept into fabulous with out much more effort or expense; all because they focused on a theme instead of just colors. Oh, I hope they think to serve tall slender glasses of lemonade with blueberries in it. How cute.