You're My Everything: Inspiration Turned Reality

One of my favorite posts on WeddingBee is seeing brides compare the wedding's inspiration board as it stood during the planning phase, and how it compared to the eventual finished product.  Apparently, during planning, I decided that one inspiration board just wasn't enough, so I crafted an original one shortly after we got engaged and needed to pick colors and then updated it to check my progress on how our "updated classics" style was coming together.

Here's inspiration board #1, which helped seal the deal that purple, green, and grey would indeed be our wedding colors.

 

Collage created by me.  Sources, clockwise from top left: (1) Cake via TheKnot / Photo by Look Photography / Cake by Classic Confection Cakes, (2) Pew flowers via TheKnot / Photo by Alliance Photography / Flowers by Indigo Floral, (3) Bridesmaids via TheKnot / Photo by Melissa Jill Photography / Dresses by Priscilla of Boston, (4) Boutonniere via TheKnot / Photo by L Photographie / Boutonniere by Thorn Studio, LLC, (5) Bouquet via TheKnot / Photo by Kay English Photography / Bouquet by Kay Reynolds, Bridal Bouquet Design, (6) Groomsmen via TheKnot / Photo by Elizabeth Messina Photography / Attire by Banana Republic,   (7) Menu via TheKnot / Photo by Marni Rothschild Photos / Menu by Studio R, (8) Shoes via TheKnot / Photo by D. Bryant Photography

Here's inspiration board #2, that I made 100 days before our wedding.  Some of the pictures were representative of choices we'd already made, while others were still details we hoped would come together for us.

Collage created by me.  Sources, clockwise, starting at bottom-left: (1) BM dress via Jasmine Bridal, (2) B&W photo via hive member Lindsay05 on the Weddingbee Boards / Photo by Joi Photography, (3) Shoes via Shopping.com, (4) Letters via Elizabeth Anne Designs / Photo by Jennifer Brum Photography, (5) Jumping via Milla C. Photography, (6) Dudes via Milla C. Photography, (7) Wedding dress via Recycled Bride, (8) Candles via Weddingbee Classifieds, (9) Tie via Overstock.com, (10) Cake via Long Island Weddings, (11) Veil via Wedding Spotter, (12) Bouquet via Holly Chapple Flowers, (13) Hydrangea stamp via Kissin’ Krafts on Etsy, (14) Necklace via Ann Taylor

And, finally, here's our "reality board," complete with images from our very own event.

 Collage created by me, all photos courtesy of Christina Garber

Not too shabby, right?  Overall, I couldn't be happier with the finished look and feel of our wedding.  It was fun, familiar, and traditional, with just a touch of modernity.  I'm obviously biased, but I think we achieved our goal of "updated classic!"

How did you use inspiration boards in your planning?  Any other newlyweds compare planning inspiration versus reality after the wedding?