Wedding Wednesday: Real Weddings and Planning via Bloggers II

I am actually getting excited about planning our wedding again!  This puts Bear in a good mood, or as he says, "oh, good, you want to marry me again?!"  For the record, I never wanted to NOT marry him, but I would like to avoid some of the pressure of planning a wedding.  I have a lot of strong-willed individuals in my life who all are giving a lot of input about what our focus should be, the venue, the food, the music, the attire, everything.  I am a people pleaser, so it's difficult for me to just say HERE, THIS IS WHAT I WANT!  The only upside to that is I am fairly certain I won't become a bridezilla.  At least, I hope not.

Anyway, I am back to the three most influential weddings for me in the blogiverse.  I am such a sucker for the bright colors, whimsical feel and handmade elements!

First up is Elsie of A Beautiful Mess and her lovely wedding!  I love the jewel tones, which I also plan to use (hey, jewel tones look lovely on pale people and my party, groom, and self are all pretty pale).  She even used the straws I am looking into, library cards, a candy bar... and everything is so whimsical and handmade without looking non-cohesive.  LOVE IT.  It makes me happy to see so many elements I've wanted to incorporate look so good in a wedding context!

credit: arrow & apple

Second up is the wonderful Elycia of <3elycia!  I love the few sneak peeks she has shared so far!  I also recommend if anyone is looking to get married soon, check out her Wedding Guests feature.  So many wonderful DIY ideas and some just plain fun and quirky guest posts!

credit: kara lodder photography; elycia

Last up is Emily of Emily Porter Photography.  She recently experienced the wedding as a bride instead of a wedding photographer!  I found her post on that extremely helpful for me... I am often wondering what settings people who are photographing me have their equipment set at; are they aware that the sun is going to create a light flare, or do they want that effect?!?!  I am definitely nervous that I will just want to photo geek talk with my Aunt who will be our photog all night!  I love the sweet decor and the personality in their wedding day... hello, Angry Birds lollipops!  haha

credit: ken kienow

I am currently uploading my future sister and brother-in-law's wedding photos for them to share with friends and family and spent almost all last night working on their album!  I still have to meet with her and get her approval before I send it to press, but I am feeling really accomplished.  Part of the reason I haven't done more on our wedding is because I've been dragging out theirs with the post-processing.  Getting all this done makes me feel finally ready to get things going for ours!  Eeep!

What are the things you look for most in a wedding?

Oh, and one more question... do you feel it is necessary to have a big sit down dinner at a wedding, or something more casual?  I personally like the casual take, but I've had lots of nay-sayers.  What say ye?!?