Desire to Inspire

"Just don't give up on trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong."
- Ella Fitzgerald

{Source: Mario Testino, Vogue}

Hey bees! Let's look at some pretty pictures and get inspired today :) Are you ready?

I thought it would help if I shared a little bit about how our little beach wedding inspiration came to be. And while sifting through thousands of photos and pages of magazines and blogs is easy, piecing together an inspiration board for our wedding can be a bit trickier.

On the heels of the proposal, I did what any other blissful bride-to-be does the day after they are engaged.

I went to the bookstore and bought every wedding magazine in existence.

My thought was that these mags were brimming with pretty things, stunning photography and oodles of ideas for any wedding. I would pull out my favorite pages, tack them on a large poster board...and viola! inspiration board :)

But after shuffling through all of those bridal mags, I quickly realized that these mags were full of advertisements! And in the end, I came up with maybe 8 pages of inspiration {thank goodness for the Martha Stewart Destination Weddings issue! love!}.

{all photos via Martha Stewart}

And one year later, I still adore these first inspiration images as much as I did the moment I laid eyes on them. The sea urchin vases, bouganvillia, coral peonies, vintage votives, oyster linen tablecloths and pale pink shells take my breath away!

But I needed more than 8 pages of inspiration. So, I did the next best thing - I visited the wedding blog universe and gasp! There they were - a sea of marvelous photos and collages at my fingertips!

{via snippet & ink}

{snippet and ink via here}

{via Elizabeth Messina}

{via Elizabeth Messina}

{source}

As you can see, Mr. Ostrich and I have dreams of a cool, beach chic wedding - a bit of the sea, a dash of vintage, a pinch of whimsy and a whole lot of romance!

And after filling my virtual wedding folder full of pretty photos, we put together our very own inspiration collage, which has been incredibly helpful for our vendors and wedding planner as they begin to help us design our wedding. We have a a page for every major piece of our day - the flowers, the ceremony, the cocktail hour, and the reception. And today, I wanted to start off by sharing with you our 1st page, which represents the look and feel of our day.  I hope you like it!  :)

{sources: Max Wanger, Martha Stewart, Our Labor of Love, Etsy, Elizabeth Messina}

So there you have it! Part 1 of our beach wedding...with many more to come.  :)

How about you, dreamy bees? Where did you find your wedding inspiration? And what style wedding are you designing for your big day?