Seriously, I can so see myself as the bride in this wedding.  The dress, the hair, the makeup.  Heck, standing in a field of lavendar like some fairy princess in a flowing garment of whispy fabric!  It's still traditional, it's still incredibly elegant, and it's so me.  Modern and ethereal at the same time.  I'd say I covet this wedding except that, you know, I much prefer my groom.  And I like the fact that I'm going to be in a church that I actually spent most of my childhood Sundays attending.  And I like the fact that--although Alissa and Ryan's wedding is respresentative of the predominate style of visions I've seen dancing in my head when I used to think "Marianne's Wedding"--my wedding has been carefully considered and constructed to mean something special to me and W.  So, maybe red isn't my favorite color, but it's a nod to the heritages of both me and my wonderful groom, and that's so much more important to me than whimsically draping blue and green ribbons over all the chairs.

...though, you know, "whimsical" is truly one of those words that I really hope gets applied to my wedding when all is said and done--otherwise I might end up feeling like I wasn't part of it at all.  I like that word: whimsy.  Fun to say.  And so perfectly descriptive of me.