Here’s a guest post courtesy of the folks (specifically Ms. Porshe!) Essence.com about the strictly fab wedding of one of my favorite actresses, Malinda Williams (written by Ms. Williams herself). She will be writing about her joys and trials while planning a wedding, so you can follow along her blissful journey with her. Enjoy!
July 07, 2008
He proposed to me, I said yes, now what? Do we hold hands and skip on over to the justice of the peace, sneak off to a private island with 25 of our closest friends and family, or do we go all out and have an opulent, fit for a duke and duchess-type affair? Believe it or not, this was a really tough decision. We knew we would get married but we knew not how. I will say this; we are quite happy with our decision but it is certainly not without it’s drama. Turns out saying “yes” was the easy part.
We knew immediately, that we had to have a semi-lavish affair. We had to have all the family and friends there to celebrate with us. Good food, great music and more love and inspiration than we could ever ask for. Much easier said than done. I guess the first thing I would do is find someone to help me pull this thing together. Someone who understands that a classy, chic, fun affair doesn’t mean we have to spend our entire life savings. We aren’t a couple of 23 year-olds just getting our lives started. Regarding throwing a big wedding, Suze Orman would probably tell us “you are not approved”. Well, as much as I value Suze’s advice, I was determined to make it all work without going into debt, so I set a budget and everyday I fight to stick to it. I’m sure people would love to imagine that for a hollywood actress, money is no object. Please! In these times, no matter how much money is available, we’ve gotta be smart.
I also had to find inspiration for the overall design. Like most girls, I had a pretty clear vision of the tone of the event. I just needed a clear way to convey that to the team of people who would be executing. There is so much to consider, but if I want this to work, I really have to get people to understand what the dream looks like. The photo below is a design board I found. I thought it reflected some of the ideas of what I was going for. I want the wedding to feel classic and timeless. In a word, Vintage-Mod. What do you think?…
Have a strictly stylish day!
