"My rule is, if it's not moving, monogram it." - Reese Witherspoon

Before I started planning my wedding, I didn't really understand the appeal of monograms. Why put your name on everything you own? Isn't that something you do when you go to summer camp to avoid losing your socks and underwear? It all seemed a little too pretentious for me.

My opinion of monograms has certainly changed as the wedding planning experience has progressed. In a never-ending attempt to make my wedding scream me, I've realized that monograms are pretty awesome. In fact, I have realized I want (no, need) to make a monogram to adorn items such as our programs, OOT bags, menus, pumpkins and table runners...you know, pretty much everything that doesn't move (oh Reese, how right you are).

Once I decided I wanted a monogram, it was to the interweb for inspiration. Some of my favourite designs follow.

I like this one a lot (it's simple, yet elegant), full names in the foreground and the last initial in the background.

Image via Pink Frosting

Or, to go with our damask theme, what about this beauty:

Image via Pink Design Events

We could also go with just the letter of our new last name (and some very ornate borders):

Image via Documents and Designs

Or our full first names and no last initial:

Image via With This Ring Weddings

Or finally, we could opt for the most traditional monogram, the 3-letter design:

Image via Jennifer Alison Studios

Yeeee! I love monograms. My FH and I couldn't afford to have one commissioned, so we opted to create one ourselves using free fonts from dafont.com and good ol' Microsoft Word. You'll have to wait to see the finished product, but I assure you it's fabulous.

Is it weird that my views on many wedding related ideas (i.e. monograms) are changing as the planning process goes on?

What do you get when you drop a pumpkin?

Squash.

I think I mentioned my wedding date in my first post, but for those who missed it, I'm getting married on October 30, 2010 (aka Devil's Night).This wasn't completely intentional, but I'll get into that later. Anyway, since we'll be wed on Devil's night and party into Halloween, it was important for us to have some inspired decor.

It's fairly difficult to do a Halloween inspired wedding without entering into gaudy territory, but I think one of the easiest ways to do this is to use natural decor elements, such as pumpkins, flowers and branches (i.e. manzanita).

Pumpkins will be a very important part of our wedding decor. But can you do jack-o-lanterns without being tacky? I give you my inspiration.

How about some monogrammed pumpkins? My FH loves carving (he usually carves 2-4 pumpkins each Halloween) so this would be do-able.

Image via Better Home and Gardens

Image via Marry Monograms

Image via Domestic Fashionista

We'll definitely have more than one monogrammed pumpkin; probably a few at the entrance of the ceremony/reception hall and then one up at the front of the ceremony room. In addition to the monogrammed pumpkins, I'd also like some 'mini' pumpkins.

Image via Good Houskeeping

Image via Laura Novak

I'd also like to do some white and black painted pumpkins to go with our white and black colour scheme. I am in love with the damask pumpkin!

Image via Home Made Simple

Image via Country Living

And finally, I'll have to cover the mantle (and perhaps the hearth) of the fireplace in our reception hall with pumpkins. Though I'd probably change the "RIP" banner and the "BOO" pumpkin message to something a little more wedding-y, like I DO.

Image via Poetic Home

Image via Good Housekeeping

Image via Good Housekeeping

So what do you think? Too much pumpkin, or just enough?

Costumes strongly discouraged.

My wedding is set to happen on October 30, 2010. Some people have assumed that this means my wedding is halloween-themed. This is certainly not the case. A wedding is a wedding, and a halloween party, a halloween party. However, that's not to say that my wedding will not take inspiration from the time of year.

Here's my inspiration board: