These are a few of my favorite things...

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens....

video via youtube.com

I'll be honest I prefer the original, Julie Andrews version of this song...but I couldn't find it. So Lea Michele will do.

In the quest for planning the perfect wedding, there are things I come across that I just LOVE and drool over. Most of them I can't use for my own wedding, but still they have become some of my favorite things...

A guest book poster where people sign their name on "books". So cute.

 Image via Etsy.com, seller ssanchez

Or a puzzle guest book. If I was having a small wedding I would totally do this...

Image via Etsy.com seller BellaPuzzlesToo

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but I love turtles! I have been collecting them since I was about 8 and it has become the kind of thing where people say, I saw this turtle (pillow, doll, earnings, salt and pepper shaker, etc) and I thought of you. So a turtle cake topper could be really cute.

Image via Etsy.com, seller  Garden4Arts

But I like the idea of incorporating our kitties into our wedding as well! How cute would a little mini us with our kitties be topping our cake!

Image via Etsy.com, seller urastarhouse

I love cute signs like this for the sweetheart table

 Image via Etsy.com, seller sweetestmoments

And of course the "I do" stickers for the bottom of the shoes.  I love it!

Image via Etsy.com seller yourhappilyeverafter

As the song says, "these are a few of my favorite things..." I could make a 100 part post about my favorite things, but I chose these select few because these were the things that I found early in my wedding planning that stuck with me. 

What are some of your favorite things? 

Does a wedding need a "theme?"

So with our venue booked it was time to start thinking about the overall vision for our big day. I never really thought we would chose a "theme" for our wedding. I've watched a lot of David Tutera's, My Fair Wedding, and I didn't foresee a "Phantom of the Opera" or "Alice in Wonderland" wedding in store for us. Not that there is anything wrong with choosing a theme. I think in some ways having a theme makes the decision process much easier.

Sometimes the venue you chose helps you make a decision. For example, we couldn't have a carnival themed wedding at our theater venue. The reason we chose our venue, other than our emotional reaction to the place, was the fact that it was a theater. Since musical theater is such a huge part of our lives we thought why not run with that "theme."

But what we don't want is for our wedding to become a "show." It's a wedding not a Broadway musical. We want to incorporate elements of the theater but not go to far as to make it cheesy. We also love the fact that our venue is a historical landmark from the 1920s. Mr. Castle loves antiques and anything vintage so we would love to throw some elements of that into the mix.

So what did we came up with? A vintage theater inspired wedding. Kind of vague, I know, but it makes sense in our minds. Here are some idea's of how we will incorporate our "theme" into our big day

Playbill wedding programs

Image via gourmetinvitations.com

Image via projectwedding.com

Image via http://bogart-tribute.net/broadway.shtml

"Ticket" escort cards

Imagie via Etsy / Seller theoriginalpear

Image via weddingchicks.com / Photography by SheWanders 

Image via specialevents.com / Photography by Aaron Delesie

Musical Table numbers
We will be naming our tables after some of our favorite classic musicals.

Image via Tonyawards.com

 Image via moviegoods.com

Image via tonyawards.com

Hopefully our visions for these ideas will become a reality. We will be doing all of these projects ourselves so wish us luck!

What about you, do you have a theme for your wedding? Has it worked out the way you planned?

How the Castles met

Why don't we start at the very beginning (a very good place to start).

Image via Seattletimes.nwsource.com/ Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music

FYI, I'm a big musical theater nerd and I'm going to throw that in whenever I can :)

Being the huge musical theater fan that I am combined with the fact that I grew up singing, dancing, and performing, I decided to get my degree in it! I attended Cal State Fullerton which has a great musical theater program. I got there and spent four years meeting people who would change my life forever, including Mr. Castle.

During my junior year we were invited to watch the sophomore musical theater class perform some group numbers. I remember most of them being not so great and rather boring. But then a group of guys got up and performed "There is Nothing Like a Dame," from South Pacific, and they were pretty good! I was thinking, finally some talented guys! And then one of them sang a solo line and I thought, "Wow he has an amazing voice, and he's really cute. He's going to go far." That boy was Mr. Castle, and little did I know how special he was.

Fast forward to my final semester of my senior year. Mr. Castle and I were cast opposite each other in the musical, Baby. We played a college couple who finds out they're pregnant. We spent a lot of time together rehearsing, getting to know each other and engaging in some harmless flirting. The only problem was at the time I had a boyfriend... But during the production said bf and I broke up. As soon as Mr. Castle found out he started acting really weird around me... I started to think maybe he didn't really like me all that much and I had over thought all that flirting in my mind. We ended up performing in a benefit show together about a month after Baby had ended. After the show, (and a few drinks)... Mr. Castle finally got up the nerve to ask to talk to me alone. He adorably said, as if he had been dying to tell me this his whole life, "Miss Castle I have the biggest crush on you. I have for a while." And I very sly, keeping my cool and all, replied, "I have a crush on you too..." Yeah, not so cool or sly...pretty junior high actually. But it was enough to get us started.

Personal Photo / Mr. Castle and I performing during Baby

The coolest part is that we are getting married on the 5 year anniversary of when this happened. We consider it our anniversary since we were pretty much inseparable from that moment on, and we lucked out that our venue was available on that date!

As I said before this is just the beginning. There is a whole lot more story to tell from then to the time of our engagement. But the beginning, after all, is a very good place to start.

Personal Photo / Mr. Castle and I backstage during Baby