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Monday, September 24, 2018

Wedding Centerpieces



Centerpieces.  This was one of the things that while I knew it was really important to me, it was also clear that it wasn't going to be important to anyone else.  No one was going to remember my wedding centerpieces.  EXCEPT ME.

I knew from the beginning I wanted my favorite flower, white hydrangeas, to be a part of the arrangement.  I had also seen a lot of different Pinterest options involving lanterns, metallic autumnal table scatter, and fancy napkin folding.  I stumbled across a TON of these $5 to $10 lanterns at TJMaxx, Homegoods, and Marshalls.  And thought my vision was complete.




I still remember the lady who stood behind me in line at TJMaxx.  "Someone's getting married!"  She was so excited for me!

My in laws were also CLUTCH, ransacking various local Goodwill's for clear vases in various shapes and sizes.  I wanted each table to look similar but slightly different, and the different lanterns and slightly different vases all spray painted silver did the trick.  I think my mother in law did take a few home, though she was devastated that I spray painted them silver.

One of my first trial arrangements was with a stand in navy pillow cases, the silver vases, and spray painted table scatter.  I though it looked great, but a little too large for the round tables we were going to have.





This dark shot really helped me solidify who the stars of the show were going to be.  Those metallic votive holders were so darn SEXY.  Their reflection off the vases really needed to be amplified as much as possible.  And they were so plentiful and cheap on Amazon.



I then consulted my Wedding Wire forum peeps and was lambasted for my cluttered tablescape.  Some of them really chalked it up for a complete loss.  I took a hit, got back up, and kept editing.  Which brought me to this version:







Many more comments on the clutter, the too obsessive compulsive styling, and the phallic gourds had me stupefied on what to do next.  I did like the menus in the napkins though.  Until one Wedding Wire friend posted suggesting some central to ground the pieces, like a mirror or tree stump.  I am not the rustic one, y'all.

Off to Michael's to get the perfect size circular mirrors.  Which were actually not at Michael's and had to be ordered online at Amazon's to get one's big enough to achieve my goal.  And then...magic:



And we wanted to know what it would look like under the tents with the fairy lights (Amazon super cheap).  So then:



I sent these pictures to my florist and she and Wedding Wire agreed - I was BACK!  The fiancee and I picked out the most beautiful lantern and vase for our sweetheart table and then my friends helped me distribute all of the vases and lanterns across each of the tables in a random haphazard manner.  Paired with our phenomenal table numbers (instructions in an earlier post), it was exactly what I wanted. Thanks Morgan!

Professional photographer shots:

Sweetheart table - I put lace from my mother in laws dress in a hoop that that lantern sat on for her table and ours.



Lanterns for the win.



The entire table, napkins and all


Close ups - we also had alcohol lists on the table along with the menus.


Was it worth all the work, crying, sweat, and tears?  No.  Did my internet friends really cut my heart out?  Yes.  Was the end result even better than what I wanted?  Yes.


Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Pumpkin Card Box


Hi everyone,

I fell for a beautiful card box on Pinterest for the wedding.  It already had a DIY tutorial.

https://somethingturquoise.com/2016/10/24/simple-diy-faux-pumpkin-card-box/
I did try to buy one on Etsy.  With shipping, it was cost prohibitive for me.  I am just mentioning it in case you don't have the time to take this route.

I was able to find this pumpkin at Michaels in late July.

                  
The fiance did some select sawing and sandpapering using a drill and drimmel tool.  I started to draw out the words with a pencil with plans to draw over it with a silver paint pen, but decided to just use glitter stick on letters from Michael's that I already had instead.  I did paint the stem silver with a paint pen.  Very easy! 



It was a great fall themed prop for the wedding.  It was easy to get the cards out once turned upside down.  We still have it at the house - I may change the letters to say welcome guests or put it outside in the fall.