Category: DIY Wedding Blog
Chelsea Fuss has a lovely centerpiece tutorial over on Snippet & Ink today. What a wonderful way to start a chilly Monday morning…
There has been some amazing couples sessions around the blogsphere this past week and I couldn’t resist featuring a few of my favs on this chilly Friday. Yellow is such a fun color and this adorable couple shot by Sloan Photographers caught my eye…
I just stumbled upon Josh Goleman’s work this morning and am so glad I did. His work stands out as different and unique from mainstream wedding photography, but is still amazingly beautiful. Like the engagement session below…unbelievable…
[Images c/o Sloan Photographers and Josh Goleman via Black Eiffel]
Oh my…how fun would it be to have feathers thrown as you walk away for the first time as husband and wife. Not a big fan of feathers? You could substitue them for paper mache confetti, pom poms, or the traditional rice option. I love the little quote Laurie came up with to accompany your pillow boxes….
When the newly weds, walk your way – Toss the feathers, and shout "HOORAY".
your decorative paper and trace around it using a pencil. Trace two
for every pillow box you will be covering. (see figure 1)
adhere one of your papers. Repeat this step on the opposite side of
the box.
couple of times and tie it off with a knot, and then a small bow. (see
figure 4)
box with instructions for your guests. For my tags I wrote "When the
newly weds walk your way, toss these feathers and shout ‘HOORAY".
Cut out your tags and stick them on using a dot of glue. (or you
can print on label sheets and stick them on your boxes) (see figure 5)
your guests to take. Have your guests shower you with feathers as
march back down the aisle as newly weds, or as you depart at the end of
the evening. (see figure 7)
Laurie, your the best! Thanks for sharing another wondeful project with Once Wed!
This was post was supposed to go up yesterday, but for some reason the admin part of my site didn’t put it up. So here we go…I was so intrigued by Jen’s new paper company and all the extra services she offers, I asked if she wouldn’t mind sharing a little bit more about her business with us…
I’ve spent the past 8 years as an Art Director in advertising, and while this has been a successful venture for me, it didn’t always provide the creative satisfaction I felt was important for me. I’ve always been drawn to design and have been doing design projects on the side for years. I finally made my “side work” and love of design official this past summer and launched my fine paper goods business – Miss Pickles Press. I’m happy to say it’s been very successful and has kept me on my toes! Isn’t there something really nice about a beautifully printed and designed card, invitation, etc, in an increasingly digital world? Miss Pickles Press is all about vintage elements, bold typography and luscious color, and offers ready-to-buy and custom design for weddings, personal social correspondence, business ID, greeting cards and other paper ephemera.
I’m also excited to announce Miss Pickles Weddings – a sister to Miss Pickles Press that specializes just in wedding design. After doing all of the design work for my own wedding, I realized there are so many brides like myself that want something unique in a sea of wedding sameness. Miss Pickles Weddings offers everything from wedding paper suites to place cards to guest favors. Weddings should feel intimate and special no matter the size and should be a reflection of a couple’s life together and their individual personalities. Nothing should feel mass produced. Every bride deserves a fabulous wedding, right?
Jen really went all out with the details, but as you will read below didn’t go overboard when it came to her budget. She prioritzed what was important to her and took care of everything else by making it or sourcing items herself. I adore the s’mores packets she passed out to guests at the end of the evening…what a fun idea!
As I mentioned earlier, I go crazy for the smaller creative details. Brides think they have to spend outrageous cash on huge things that guests ultimately hardly notice. My philosophy is to pick a few big things, if you like, and then add lots of smaller, well-designed and well-thought out details to add a big overall visual punch.
For our wedding, I created pretty much everything from the wedding paper suite (save-the-date, invitation, RSVP, programs), cupcake flags, our wedding cake topper, to the kids’ activity basket (which proved to be a terrific idea for the little ones). I also created individual guest s’mores packets (we had a fireplace and a bonfire, so cozy), custom labels with gingham and twine for pumpkin butter favors (delish), custom cutlery envelopes with phrases like “good grub” and “chow down”, and a grapevine wreath with an “M” in the center (our last name) to hang over the fireplace. For the ceremony readings and for our service, I created custom kraft paper books tied with orange ribbon – we now have a beautiful keepsake book with our wedding vows. Lovely.
We wanted everyone to sit together family style for the BBQ, so we chose not to have place cards or a formal seating plan. I cannot tell you how easy this was! We had about 75 guests so it was very manageable. I had brown and white gingham runners sewn for the long tables and accented with pumpkins of varying sizes and colors, and antique mason jars I scoured from antique stores filled with orange, pink and ivory roses from…are you ready? COSTCO! (By the way, for brides on a budget, I think saving money on reception floral is a no-brainer place to trim costs.)
I also sourced rustic metal and glass hurricane lanterns from an online wholesaler for CHEAP; we filled them with ivory pillar candles for the tables. Especially gratifying since I saw the same style at Pottery Barn for mucho bucks. The coolest part about this? My bridesmaids’ got to take them home at the end of the night! For the bridesmaids’ gifts, I designed custom glass paperweights and placed them in silk Indian pouches in shades of pink and orange. Here’s another money saver – instead of having the girls’ buy expensive matching dresses, I asked each of them to wear whatever dress they liked as long as it was brown, and they accented their dresses with matching pink or orange pashminas we ordered online. It was easy, gorgeous, and no one had to buy a dress they will never wear again or secretly loathe. Hooray.
I essentially either hand-made or sourced all of the décor for the reception. It was a big task, but one idea led to another and I really wanted everything to hang together from a visual perspective.
Pretty much everything was DIY with the exception of the lanterns and
pumpkins! One easy DIY project that I loved was our cupcake flags. They
can be anything – a picture, a graphic, a phrase – whatever follows the
theme of your wedding. I made little 2” designed circles with
horseshoe, a hitched horse and tandem bicycle images with phrases like
“lucky in love”, “gettin’ hitched” and “bicycle built for two”. All you
need is thick paper, a circle cutter, white lollipop sticks from the
craft store, and some clear strong glue. Voila!
The s’mores packets were also a big hit. This is so easy for an
outdoor Fall wedding with a fire. All you need is two graham crackers,
a jumbo marshmallow, and miniature Hershey’s bar and a clear cello bag.
Tie it all up with some cute ribbon and a custom label and you are all
set. Low cost but big impact.
Vendors:
Ceremony and reception – The Inn at Serenbe
Ceremony flowers (all bouquets and boutonnieres) – Gloriosa
Catering and wedding cake – Gloriosa
Jen, thanks so much for sharing your awesome wedding with us today! Stay tuned for a little bit more about her adorable paper goods company, Miss Pickles Press…
[Image c/o Martha Manning for Missy Mclamb Photographers and Ashely Blencoe of Studio Blencoe]
