Centerpiece

Here is a centerpiece from my vault of inspiration pictures and ideas. It's simple but still cute and chic. I love all the layers of raununculus.

Ta Da!

So I finally found it, the purple paper I am going to use for all our paper products. It's perfect! Yep that's right I am enamored with a piece of paper, my brain has officially been kidnapped by the wedding bug. After weeks of searching online, ordering samples, and scouring small scrap book stores I found it at the nearby Hobby Lobby. I am excited because it is very vibrant and unmistakably purple.

Another Display

To piggyback on yesterday's post here is another "chart" of escort cards. This time instead of using push pins the cards are placed on ribbon that is strung across the board.

Escort Card Display

I stumbled across this escort card display idea on the Vintage Glam blog. Recently I have been trying to decide between doing a seating chart or escort cards. I like that escort cards can be taken by the person to their table with them. However I am not sure if we are going to have a place for a large table filled with cards. A seating chart would take up less room and be easier to display. This idea combines the two together to get the best of both worlds.

Since we aren't have a vintage inspired wedding the board would be designed to go with our decor but either way it's a great idea. Now I am going to be on the search for cute push pins.

Southern Weddings

I have known about Southern Weddings for awhile and even have browsed through it now and then. Only recently have I really started paying attention and appreciating it. Lately I been obsessed with perusing their blog looking at all the gorgeous pictures and creative ideas from other weddings. You should check it out too!

Addressing Invitations

Through the wedding planning experience I have learned that I am more of a feminist than I realized. If you haven't realized this check out the posts about my inner dilemma over my name change.

One current concern was how to address invitations while staying true to my feminism but also following proper ettiquette. I am so excited to have found a post over on A Practical Wedding about this exact topic! They actually just laid it out for and gave examples of each scenario. You can find the post here.

Black Envelopes

As part of the invitation process I also have to pick out envelopes. Depending on the paper I could get an envelope that matches the invitation perfectly but I'm not sure if that would be too much purple or too matchy matchy. Also I'm not sure what cream or white envelopes would look like with a true deep purple. I never even considered black until someone I know posted her black envelopes with white calligraphy and I thought it was fabulous! Using a black envelope might be in my favor if I have to use a really deep purple so that next to the black envelope it won't look as dark.

Photo taken from hrparker

Belly Bands

To close the gatefold and hold everything together we are going to use a ribbon belly band. It took some trial and error but finally figured out how I wanted them made. Originally I started with a thinner ribbon and all the pieces were orange. I like the thicker ribbon better, it seems more balance. The thicker ribbon was also easier to fold to create the luxe taper look. I followed directions from thecheshirekat on how to fold the ribbon. The graphic on the inside is orange but decided that it would be best to switch it to purple for the outside. Two of the mock ups are below, keep in mind these are ROUGH mock ups just to give ideas and help us figure out the final product. We are going to go with the one on the bottom. I think I need to make the cream square with graphic larger and I'm not completely sold on the shimmer orange paper since the rest of the invitation is matte cardstock.

Purple Paper Problems

The samples that I ordered last week came in on Friday. Over the weekend I made a few rough mock ups. Needless to say I wasn't thrilled with any of the purple paper selections. The shimmer papers were just too light, especially since I have made a conscious choice not to include anything lilac colored. Orange also doesn't go well with lilac it goes well with a true purple. The other paper selection was just too dark and in certain lights looked almost black.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think finding paper would be a difficult task. I have found many purple colors that I like but each side of the paper is the same one side is rough and one side is smooth, the front is matte and the back is shimmery, or one is lighter and the other darker. Because we are using a gate fold both sides need to be the same which has been the biggest problem. I really wanted to use a shimmer paper but none of the selections are darker than a lilac.

So the hunt is back on. I found a paper at Paper Source that I ordered a sample of and might be a viable option. Additionally we went to Archivers to check out a few things and I found a purple paper that I had somehow missed every other time I had been there. If the paper source sample proves to be a failure then I will go with the paper from Archivers.

Paper Source Cardstock in the color Beet

Paper from Archivers that is a purple in between the two mock ups.

Flower Inspiration

I recently realized that I have so many pictures saved on my computer that were used to as inspiration to generate my own ideas of what I want and don't want in terms of our wedding. I have shared a good portion of them but still have many more I can share. Here is one of them. This pictures helped me to determine that I prefer tight, lush, short centerpieces over large centerpieces.

Photo taken from theknot.com

NonTraditional Quote

I wanted to share the quote I used as part of my toast for Lauren's wedding. There aren't many good quotes out there. By good I mean not trite, not over used and not overly sappy. Call me a cynic but that's just my opinion. I found this quote originally on A Practical Wedding, she was doing a series of possible wedding readings.

excerpt from Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
The bottom line is that (a) people are never perfect, but love can be, (b) that is the one and only way that the mediocre and the vile can be transformed, and (c) doing that makes it that. Loving makes love. Loving makes itself. We waste time looking for the perfect lover instead of creating the perfect love. Wouldn't that be the way to make love stay?

I love it because people can be crappy. We don't mean to be but at times we are. Love is the redeeming part, the part that corrects all the wrongs. I wanted to pass it on for those of you who might not of otherwise find it.

HURRY!

Over on American Bridal tote bags are $5 each. Some of these bags are normally $40 so this is a great deal! Unfortunately to personalize them costs extra but you definitely could spring for it with the savings on the bags. To get the bags go to www.americanbridal.com, you can get this deal for just a few more days until the 16th.

Carnations: Filler or Fabulous?

The question is out and the debate is ongoing. Some people stick up their noses at carnations thinking of them as a cheap filler that has been long outdated. Others enjoy their feminine ruffled edges and frugal power. I have decided to weigh in on this debate. I would have to agree with the later when they are tightly grouped together monochromatically or in other arrangements. Here is the proof:

Paper, paper and more paper

My current hunt is for the perfect paper, purple paper to be exact. I haven't had any trouble finding good cream or white cardstock for the invite card to mounted inside the gatefold. But finding the purple paper to make the gatefold has turned into my new obsession. I never thought that choosing my main color to be purple would send me in constant searches for the right shade in bridesmaid dresses, now paper, and who knows tomorrow maybe pew bows.

Today I made some headway and went downtown to Xpedx a paper store to be able to look at specific paper shades and feel their weight/texture. It definitely helped me cross out some options and narrow down my choices. They let me take home some samples and those I couldn't get samples from I ordered off of anchor paper online. Once they come in I am just going to have to settle and make a choice because deciding between a lighter metallic paper or a darker matte paper is beginning to make my head spin.

DIY Crystal Bouquet

While Lauren wasn't into all the details of a wedding one thing she did really want was a crystal bouquet. After searching out people who sold them and finding out how much they cost she decided to take the plunge and do it herself. The end result was gorgeous, better than I imagined!

THE PROCESS

Lauren followed directions she found that are very similar to the ones that you can download off of DIY Bride online. She did however make her stems a bit different than the online directions. Instead of placing the beads in the drill she attached a hook in the drill bit because not all the beads would fit in. Instead she placed the hook at the base of the bead around the wire and then spun away.

In the beginning it takes some practice to get down how fast you have to spin the drill and where to hold the wire in order to get it to twist properly. I attempted to help make these straight stems but I was crap at it. Lauren had played around enough that she was a pro.

Lauren did not make stems that looked exactly the same. She used may different sizes and shapes of crystal beads. She also varied the amount and types of beads she put together. Some stems had only one bead and others had varying combinations. For some of the very large beads she had to string multiple strand of wire to support their weight.

Instead I helped out by using some of my jewelery making experience to make tear drop stems that she placed along the outside edges of her bouquet. To make these I took one of the pieces of wire and strung on a tear drop bead leaving it about an inch from the end of the wire and then folding the wire up.

I then strung another bead on from the other end making sure that it went over the folded piece of wire. Next I strung on a crimp bead the same way making sure it was flush with the last bead and using flat nose pliers flatten the crimp bead to secure the two beads and wire in place.

Then I strung another crimp bead on but secured it a little bit higher on the wire leaving a bit of room followed by another crystal bead and crimp bead. This process secures another bead a bit higher on the wire so that it looks like it's floating. I repeated this process one more time. On each stem I varied how many beads and the position of the beads, sometimes putting a couple beads together. I finished the stem by bending the end with the beads to make a candy cane shape.

Once all the stems were made Lauren used a vase to arrange them the way she wanted. At the top of the vase she used scotch tape to make a grid to place the stems in so that they would stay and not fall to the side. When all the stems had been placed she used floral and duct tape to hold them all together. Finished off by satin ribbon, rhinestones, and a brooch. Here is the finished product:

Lauren bought some pre-made stems for floral arrangements and made a few extra stems to make a similar but different bouquet for me.

Lauren's Wedding

Lauren's wedding went off without a hitch yesterday! It was a beautiful winter day with snow on the ground, seasonable weather, and the sun finally decided to come out after a week and a half of arctic weather. The day went by so fast. Everything went so smoothly mostly due to the fact that they had simplified everything. One person on each side of the bridal party, no seating of the mothers, no programs, no exit of the church, no bouquet toss or garter toss, no DJ, no reception entrance, no pomp and circumstance. There was lots of love, laughter, friends, family, and celebrating. It was one of the most enjoyable weddings I have ever been to. Congratulations Lauren and Lance!

Have you ever wondered what the bridal party is doing back in one of the rooms while waiting for the ceremony to start? Here you go.

Lauren is Getting Married Today!

The day has finally arrived and my best friend is getting married this evening at 5pm. I woke up with a feeling of excitement that it's all come together and her wedding day is actually here. I am off to perform all my maid of honor duties. It is going to be a great day!

Us last night at the rehearsal dinner.

Simple Cardbox

Lauren is getting married on Friday and it didn't even cross her mind to make a card box. So when the reception venue coordinator mentioned it she already had enough last minute details to attend to that she asked me to take on the task. She didn't really care what she ended up with as long as it could hold cards. Since the wedding was less than a week away I figured simpler was better.

So I scrounged the house for boxes ending up with a sweater box left over from Christmas and a shoe box. I bought one roll of wedding wrapping paper for $2.49 + tax and 30-60 minutes later viola:

It really was quite simple and here is what I did. First I cut the hole in the bottom of the shoe box. Then I placed that in the middle of the sweater box lid and traced the hole I had just cut. Next I cut the same the same hole in the top of the sweater box. I wrapped the sweater box just like a present and then cut the paper over the whole and taped it inside. Next I wrapped only the shoe box bottom the same way. Lastly I cut a slit in the top of the shoe box lid, wrapped it and placed it on the top. You could glue the lid down so that no one can get into the box until after the wedding, but I did not so that they could just take the lid off to get inside.

More Coming Soon

My sister has been pointing out that lately I have been slacking with my posting. I have a bunch of things that I am working on and will be posting more soon. Lately life has been busier and I have been helping my best friend get ready with a last few minute details for her wedding this Friday.