More Wedding Ideas

This is another wedding post.  So many of you were so excited for us the last time I wrote about our upcoming wedding, that I decided we would be sharing most of the details with you on our blog.  Even my mother visits the blog to catch up on our wedding plans, so we hope you enjoy the full disclosure. 

Also, a few of you asked if you could "copy" ideas.  Please rest assured, that most of these ideas are borrowed from others and I am not possessive of any of my own wedding ideas, so please feel free to take what you like! :)

It's been another busy week, which has left us very little time to work on our bathroom renovation.  It seems like we've been playing catch-up with our sleep and Corey and I have been working opposite hours.  It's seriously been one of those weeks where you basically collapse in bed at the end of the day without an ounce of energy to spare.  I honestly don't know how people with kids manage... I think parents must be superheroes!  The good news is that Monty has gone to his forever home and our house is back to normal again!

We have been devoting a little time to planning our wedding, since it is something we can do for a few minutes before bed.  Last time I posted about our wedding, we mentioned our colour palette of emerald and jade, and we found a couple of great inspiration photos on Martha Stewart Weddings (photos above and below)... As usual, Martha knows best!

I came across this pretty inspiration board for emerald weddings online, and while we probably won't use any of these ideas, it reassured me that this is a good choice for us!  I've posted some other ideas below.

I just love this simple DIY photo backdrop from Style Me Pretty.

 

In case you missed our glass cutting post, we're making individual glasses from wine bottles for our guests.

 

 

 

 

I adore this idea from Wedding Window and think we'll definitely have shot glasses of milk and mini cookies passed around to our guests at the end of the night.  What's better before bed than milk and cookies?

 

 

Since our ceremony and venue will be a few kilometers apart, we were thinking of printing cute maps to include in the invitations or to post on our wedding website.  I really liked the fun style of the maps by Merry Maps!  We could add personal landmarks and set a fun tone for the wedding!

 

 

 

I will never tire of beautiful vintage milk glass centrepieces planted with succulents.  I think they're so pretty and simple.  This photo is from Pinterest.

 

 

... And these are from Green Wedding Shoes.

 

 

This table from Silver and Jewelry is a little too rustic for our taste, but I love the eclectic style!

 

 

Do you like the idea of a providing a large frame as a photo prop for wedding guests?  I think we would choose something a little more ornate... and perhaps hang it from a tree so it's more stationary.  This inspiration photo is from Pinterest.

 

 

I doubt I'll have the time, but these fabric flowers from My Hand Made It are really sweet.  There's a tutorial for brides who are even more DIY ambitious than I am. 

 

We have known from the beginning that our camp themed wedding would have a candy buffet.  We're planning on calling it the "Tuck Shop" and including some of our favourite candies for our guests to help themselves.  This photo serves as our inspiration and we're already collecting large apothecary jars from thrift stores.

 

  

We're thinking of providing these sweet boxes to our guests so that they can take their candy home. 

 

 

 



 We're hoping to have our ceremony outdoors, and these personalized water bottle labels, featured on Wedding Window would make a nice touch.

 

 

I'm not sure if we'll need these, but I thought this printed itinerary from Etsy would be a cute way of helping people to understand our timeline.  It would probably be appreciated by our friends who have children and will want to know when we eat, how long the ceremony is, etc.

 

 

And on the paper front, we think we'll probably be printing our own invitations.  These pocket envelopes from Paper and More would allow us to neatly include RSVP cards, maps etc.

While we still have some oodles of planning to do, you may have noticed that I'm sounding more excited about it!  Now that we know how much we're going to need to spend, I have relaxed and now feel motivated to make our wedding as nice as possible on our budget.  I think this will be almost as fun as renovating our house... ALMOST!





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• Glass Cutting DIY

Glass Cutting DIY

You guys all know how much Corey and I love a good ol' practical DIY project, right?  Well, years ago, we ordered glasses made from wine bottles from Etsy.   Unlike the picture, each glass in our set is a different shade of green and we love that they are so unique.

When I posted ideas for our wedding recently, I loved the picture below.  This idea is brilliant!  Guests can just rinse out their glasses if they want to change drinks, but it saves us from having our catering staff run the dishwasher at our venue constantly just to keep up with demand.  It also saves us from renting a gazillion glasses and then paying for all the broken ones after the wedding.

It wasn't long before I combined the ideas in my mind and thought: Wouldn't it be even better if our guests could each take home their own glass?  Then, our theory came into play:  Why rent or buy something when you can just make it.  Seriously!  We could just collect bottles and make these cute little glasses that each person could take home! 

But how would we ever collect so many bottles?  Luckily, our friends are coming through for us... in a BIG way!  We mentioned the idea at a dinner party on the weekend and we left with boxes of bottles.  We also have a few other friends collecting bottles for us... We're probably already up to 75!

Of course, my mom had a practical thought.  She was concerned that people would put down their bottle glasses to dance and wouldn't be able to figure out which one was theirs...

Enter Martha Stewart craft supplies!  We found an acid that etches the glass for us.  You just paint it on and wash it off after fifteen minutes.  We thought we'd etch each glass with a guest's name.  Here's our test version:

 

Not bad, right?  We ordered a glass cutting kit from Amazon and tested it last night.  It was one of those rare evenings where neither of us had to work... so we thought we'd take advantage.

 

You begin by adjusting the bottles cutter to the height we wanted.  Then we scored each bottle, making sure to press firmly and evenly on the blade.

 

To actually break the bottles, we alternated pouring cold and boiling water along the seam.  We broke a few as we figured out the best technique but it actually made for a pretty fun evening and by the end, we were flying through them!

 

We still need to sand the edges and we'll etch the names closer to our event date.

We managed a big batch and even tested the etching again with our own names.


This is a large project... so for the next several months, if we're not working at our actual jobs or tackling a project around the house, we're going to try to squeeze in a few glasses every couple of weeks!  I also have a couple of girlfriends who have promised to help me with wedding DIY in December, which is when I'll probably do the bulk of our craft projects.  I'm sure they'll also help me empty some more bottles for this particular project. ;)

We love the idea of recycling and we think it's a fun take-home for our guests!  What do you think?





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Wedding Update

 

Some of you guys have been asking for a wedding post and I'm not sure why it has taken me so long... Oh wait, yes I do... I just don't love wedding planning.  I know that's a crazy thing to say and Pinterest tells me I'm supposed to love planning the cute little details... like mason jars which can be used both for drinks and for my guests to take home young saplings which will grow with the date of our wedding etched into the trunk.  Okay fine, I made that part up.  You get the picture though.

 

I think if I had more time and we hadn't filled our lives with so many other things, including busy jobs, I would take a little more pleasure in the planning process.  Unfortunately, we both work long hours and spend our time on other things.  Many people have suggested a wedding planner and even told us that they basically pay for their own salary in vendor discounts...  Which would be fine... If we had an "average" wedding budget... but we're trying to keep things modest (Which, FYI is still an INSANE amount of money to spend on a party!) and even though I don't really take an interest in planning our wedding, I am too Type A to let a stranger do it.

 

Perhaps the largest reason I haven't jumped on board the wedding train is that I'm just not sentimental about it and it just really isn't a priority.  That being said, in the past week I have come to the decision that I am going to embrace this wedding.  We have already decided to spend this money so I need to stop resenting that it is not going towards the house and start getting excited and planning to make it a great day for our family and friends.

 

We had actually roughly planned almost all the big details at the end of the summer and then we didn't think much about our wedding for a month.  Now we're actually signing contracts and paying deposits, seeing the money leave our accounts motivates me to focus on the fun aspects of the day!

 

Which brings us to this post.  I still don't have Pinterest boards filled with wedding inspiration but I do gather photos sometimes to remind me of things I like.  I guess it's my modern version of hoarding magazine clippings.  Today, I'm going to share some of them with you.

 

I can't take credit for the inspiration board above.  I found it through a Google image search and Wedding Window popped up.  I have yet to read a bridal magazine or wedding blog... but I may come back to this one if I have time!

 

I had initially thought of a jewel toned colour palette but, now that we've secured our venue (photo below) I think an "Emerald and Jade" colour scheme would look great against the solarium in the ballroom.  It's an old heritage house which is around the corner from the house I grew up in.  I think I was sold when I saw the solarium and the large dressing rooms for the bridal party and learned the house is haunted.  Corey, on the other hand, loved the herringbone wood floors and exposed beams.

 

 

Indian Wedding Site also posted this inspiration board (below) in a similar colour scheme.

 

 I also found this ultra blurry photo, which I kept because I liked the coordinating bridesmaid dresses.

 

 

Remember when Corey proposed?  It was outdoors at the summer camp where we first met.  Since then, we've chosen two venues (one for the ceremony and one for the reception), a photographer, caterer, interfaith officiant and one of our friends was generous enough to gift us a DJ!  We also have a rough playlist and timeline and have made many of the logistical decisions, which will make the day run smoothly.

 

We, like many modern couples, struggled with the registry dilemma.  I was torn because we don't really need a bunch of small things but I also wasn't comfortable with an all cash registry.  I think I found a good compromise in the end, which mixes elements of a more traditional registry with our more modern take.  We've included some traditional items like new bedding and towels but also given our guests the option to help us with larger purchases like our honeymoon or kitchen remodel.  For the large items, I broke them down into smaller "pieces" which people can purchase if they want.  It was hard for me to wrap my head around doing it this way... 20 years ago, it would have seemed so tacky.  Still, it's undeniably practical so my sense of reason won out!

 



While we don't want a kitchy themed wedding, we are trying to incorporate some camp-based elements into our wedding day as a nod to where it all began!  Below I'll post some inspiration photos that we've collected from Pinterest.  Unfortunately most were pinned without the original source.

I guess I'll be stocking up on fairy lights after Christmas this year because if Pinterest has told me anything it's that I'm a failure as a bride if I don't have fairy lights everywhere.  I really loved the mix of lights and lanterns in the photo below.

I also love the idea of walking through a tunnel of sparklers.  It would be great for pictures and it could mean that Corey and I get to exit a little early... because we'll be pooped!

Seriously, it's so dramatic and pretty, right?  Just cross your fingers that my trademark clumsiness doesn't rear it's ugly head because I don't really want to end up in the burn unit on my wedding night.

I love this idea for the ceremony.  I've always thought it was a little awkward that people have to choose sides... It's especially hard for mutual friends.

Something like this may also work for our cocktail reception:

I sort of love the environmentally friendly idea of buying glasses instead of renting them and asking our guests to just keep their glass for the night.  I'm not sure what kind of feedback I'll get on this one though...

Basically, I like cute things written on shabby chic chalkboards.  Which is ironic since I absolutely despise chalk and touching it or even hearing someone writing with it gives me goosebumps!

I also liked this love timeline idea, but I already jokingly asked Corey if we could fudge it a bit so people wouldn't notice that we totally kissed on our first date.

We both have family members and friends who are no longer with us.  We're thinking of ways to honour them and remember them on our wedding day.  This is just one idea.

With an "Emerald and Jade" palette, I would love little succulent centrepieces.

Succulents also look surprisingly great with crystal!

Our ceremony will be mostly non-religious but we want to incorporate elements from both of our religions.  We liked this rustic chuppah.

And here's a wedding DIY that I actually love.  Wouldn't these lace orbs be pretty if hung from the ceiling?

 
There are so many random small things you're supposed to spend money on.  I had thought of buying a vintage birdcage and spray painting it gold to hold cards that people bring to the wedding.  The photo below reminded me that I can also just wrap some boxes!

With our ceremony and reception in different places, I'm definitely including a little map in our invitations.

This just makes me laugh.

I don't LOVE this kissing menu... but it has given me some other ideas that will replace the traditional clinking of glasses.

We totally want to include a little candy and snack table.  Ours will probably be less nutty (due to allergies) but we liked this idea!

I adore this idea for my wedding party.  We could also include funny (truthful) explanations for how we met like "She had a crush on my boyfriend in high school." or "Our moms forced us to be friends when we were little."  Cute, right?  Although I'm now realizing that there seems to be quite a bit of chalk in my fantasy wedding... which is weird for someone who hates chalk.  Perhaps dry erase boards would be better.

I already have tons for flower girl inspiration but I loved these adorable little ring bearer ideas.  By the way, we have the cutest ring bearer lined up so either of these looks will be major crowd pleasers!

What do you guys think?  Are any of you doing a little wedding planning of your own?

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