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Spanish Alcazar Inspiration

We do not want a “theme.” We don’t want people to walk into our reception and say “Oh, look, their theme is Spain” or “I wonder if they are going to have tacos?” but we still want to incorporate some *subtle* elements of southern Spain into our “wedding style.” So, in search of some Spanish inspiration, I went to Flickr and did a search for “reales alcazares”, the royal gardens in Sevilla where Mr. proposed. I made an inspiration board with the photos that I found:

alcazarinspiration
{ all images via Flickr – row 1: iron detail by joaoleitao; tiles by kirsti_sf; garden view by pietcur; orange blossoms by González-Alba; hallway by fede_gen88. row 2: tiles by Melinda van den Brink; terra cotta pot by Annie Honey; painted pot by joaoleitao; bougainvillea balcony by Baccarita; hallway by doenjo. row 3: doorway by AnnieHoney; bougainvillea by Melinda van den Brink; courtyard details by joaoleitao. bottom row: tiles by kirsti_sf; tiled garden seat by Melinda van den Brink; indoor courtyard by joaoleitao.}

So, what sticks out the most to me?

orange trees – can I find orange blossoms around here anywhere though?
ironwork – that picture in the top left sort of reminds me of the monogram I want to use…perhaps we can meld those two together either as an image to use on our invitation suite? Or maybe some pretty cast iron swirly candle holders.

transparentmonogram3color
{ image taken from Alphabet of Monograms by Henry Lillie }

bougainvillea – see my earlier post on this lovely magenta flowering plant.
tiles – still don’t know where to use these…invitations? Menus?
planters – I love the painted planters that were everywhere (like the blue and yellow one in the center)…maybe instead I could use stone planters for the centerpieces? Or use weathered terra cotta ones? Or even DIMyself Mosaic Pots.
stuff growing up walls – maybe include ivy in my centerpieces/flowers?

Now we’re gettin somewhere!! Excited about these :) Anyone have any other ideas that would be subtly Spanish? Or where I could get orange blossoms next July in eastern PA? Same thing with bougainvillea? OR, anyone struggling with keeping their wedding “themeless” but still trying to keep all their ideas tied together somehow?