Initials Overhead

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I have asked my dad to cut our initials out of wood in this 'Pointedly Mad' font style. They will be hung on the barn door that the head table will be sitting in front of at the reception! it should look pretty neat and it is a simple way to add detail and decoration to the barn! A Big impact for little cost and work. Not your standard twinkle lights and crinoline (taking hours of work and effort and then throwing it all out afterward). We can even hang this on the side of our garage after the wedding!

Our New Home!

Go to our 'new home blog' at http://www.bkhousesearch.blogspot.com/ for more images and details!

So happy to have found the perfect place for us to start our new lives in together!

Photos Of Our Save The Dates

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Ben's Suit

I was sending in information about Ben's Suit and my attire to the girl who will be making our cake topper!

While I was putting together the 'page of photos' for her - I ended up piecing together the vest, tie and suit Ben will be wearing and even added a Wheat and Sunflower boutonniere! It's neat to be able to see the whole suit/accessories come together on the screen (as we were not able to at the store!)

Here it is - I think it looks great!

New Wedding 'Crest'

So I created yet another 'Crest'!! It might be a nice one to use on the tags of the honey jars!

Here it is:

Bee Hive Cakes

I just found these adorable 'Bee Hive Cakes' that you can make from a cake mold!

I think they would be really cute to have on little stands on the cake table - they could be served for desert along with the cake and pie!

Groom & Groomsmen's Style!

Ben and I went to Moores this Saturday to choose the Tuxes/Vests etc. for the boys for the wedding! Here is what we choose!

Suit - Chocolate Two button notch lapel tuxedo

Shirt - Ivory Microfibre

Ben's Vest - Diamond Pattern - Champagne and Ivory

Close Up - Look like 'honeycomb'

Ben's Tie - We decided to buy Ben a nice gold tie to match the grooms plain silk ties - the nice soft plain look of these ties will 'tie' them all together!

Groomsmen Vests - Synergy Gold Vest

Close Up

Groomsmen Ties - We decided to buy them nice plain ties to keep as a gift for being in our wedding, as the ties that came with the vests would have caused too much patterns to be going on, and we thought that the brown and gold complimented each other nicely and would match the colours of the sunflower boutonniere they will be wearing.

Shoes - Chocolate Patent-Leather Oxford Shoe

Cuff Links - White Gold Stud and Cuff link Set

Bandana Napkins!

I saw this idea on the 'Country Living' website, to use bandannas as napkins and to tie up the cutlery inside of them, and I loved it.

THEN when my dad found out our reception would be in the barn he suggested using bandannas and napkins! So I guess my dad could work for Country Living!

So I just ordered and received the bandannas. I got a light Beige colour and a Light brown colour so that we can rotate each colour on the table.

We will either use 'rope/hemp' like string to tie them up - or raffia. Then I would love to stick a sprig of herbs (possibly rosemary or dill) in under the rope for a bit of scent and a nice presentation.

Here are the two 14x14 inch bandannas I chose:

This light brown colour is a much nicer in person!

Here is the initial 'example' I saw on Country Living:

Favour Honey Jars!

I Finally found a company that would sell Honey Jars to Canada! They are perfect for what I wanted and they are 80z, so while a bit larger than I anticipated, they will be great to go one per couple!

Ricker and Angela Vandenhurk (Ben's Cousins) have graciously said they would donate as their gift to us for the wedding their own honey! They have recently purchased and started their of bee hive and it has been producing lots of delicious honey! So it's so exciting to have the honey be 'homemade' and from our family! Thanks so much!!

I'm so happy that our favours won't just be purchased from the store - but also 'handmade!'

Table Numbers!

I finally had a chance to import all of our 'Baby / Childhood' photos to make the 'table numbers' for at the reception!

I am very please about how they turned out and here is a sneak peak at a few of my favourites! :D









Etc... I don't want to give too many away! :D


Mom and I found really nice 5x7 'barn board' looking picture frames at a Dollar Store and so I will print these as 5x7s and simply insert them into the frames for on the tables at the reception!


I think it will be a good way for tables to 'mingle' too - as people from table one for instance might want to go around to tables two and three to see what the photos look like!


I will probably also use them on the 'photo scavenger hunt' lists to promote table mingling too - So for example on table seven's scavenger hunt list it might say "Take a photo of Table three's table number photo!"

Fans for my Gals!

I was in Stratford this past weekend doing an engagement session and we stopped into one of my old favourite stores there called 'The Wanderer'. I had actually bought beads for a necklace that I made Ben there, which was the first Birthday present I ever gave him (other than signing my name on his presents when I was a kid I guess). But in this store I found cute little fans in brown, gold and rust colours and thought they would be perfect for pictures with the bridesmaids on the day of the wedding. They looked a bit too Asian for our theme, so I glued on some 'lace/ribbon' along with some ribbon hanging down off the handle to make them look a little more victorian!

Wedding Slide Show Preview!

My friend Jenn did some additional engagement photos for us at Balls Falls - and I asked her to take these photos of us running / dancing etc. specifically to use for our wedding slide show to make it look like an old fashioned 'stop motion' movie!! I'm really happy with how it came out! So this is a little preview of a portion of our wedding slide show!! Thanks for watching! Enjoy! (Make sure your sound is turned up to hear the song! :D)

Guest Seating Tree

So far for the guest seating tree I have spray painted two branches gold (I actually did them about a year ago as a 'test' to see how they looked and ended up keeping them in my garage this whole time) - AND at Dollarama the other day mom and I found really cute little lanterns (much cheaper than the ones at Michales) and they are pink, but they come all apart so we can spray paint them, probably ivory or maybe a nice dark brown.

We also got little fake tea lights, as they are easy, and a lot safer as this guest tree will probably be sitting on a table made of hay bails and old barn boards!

I also did a VERY rough mock up of one of the table lists to show what they will look like hanging all around the tree. In the photo I used raffia, but i might also use ribbon so that they can hang down lower. And I just used computer paper but for the real thing i will use a nice metallic card stock or maybe a textured type paper!

Here are some photos - Picture the Lanterns in Ivory or Chocolate! (the lipsitck colour pink does not go with the theme!)

Hand Drawn Wedding Map!

I had a class with Jill Mitchell this past year at Brock and evidently added her on facebook to discover she had a really neat artistic aesthetic when I came across her blog!


SO I commissioned her (hopefully not forcefully) to create a personalize 'Wedding Map' that displayed all of the important elements of our wedding day such as the date, the times, the locations, a map to the reception, and some of the features of the day such as the truck and our attire etc.

She has mocked up a couple of sketch's (below) and so far they are looking great! Its going to be such a neat element to add into our invitation and a keepsake for years to come!

Thanks so much Jill!! I told her that though this is her first real commissioned artistic piece it will probably be one of the most challenging and confusing!! BUT I can't wait to see her illustrations in a children's book some day!! And I will probably get her to draw photos for my nursery one day - or even a family portrait once I have one hehe!! I definitely reccomend her to any one looking for custom portraits etc.!!



This is a 'Mock Up' i did of what the map will eventually look like - using Some of Jill's drawings and some random clip art! Should be pretty neat!

Tin Punch Candles

Last weekend I was working on the tin punch candles that will be for the tables at the reception! Dad helped me drill holes in the sides of the cans so that I could attach the handles. I decided to make the handles out of brass coloured floral wire so that I could make them twisty. Then I attempted to spray paint the ones we have punched so far with copper spray paint, but Dad had to take over as I was making them drippy. I'm happy with how they turned out and we have about 20 more to punch and spray paint!

In this photo you can also see the 'Card Holder' mailbox that we spray painted a 'mocha' colour. It turned out really good and Dad will be painting 'The Rickers' on it in brown and white maybe, and then I will tie a ribbon around it. AND I had an idea this weekend to drill the mail box into a long tree log and then place the log in a metal pail with rocks around it to hold it upright - and then I could decorate the top of the rocks with moss or something.

That way the mailbox actually looks like a mail box, as apposed to just sitting on the table.

It would then be something that we could actually use, or at least place in the garden as decoration!

Road Map AND Word Map!

I know that I HAVE to give both options - as ONE is never enough in a car with a man and woman!! In my experience the Man needs to "look" at the road map - while the women reads and points out all of the REAL turns they must make to arrive in one piece on time! :D


So here they are....Your welcome ~ hehe:

GONE Fishing! Cast A Wish to the Bride and Groom

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So I will be heading up to the cottage this week, and it reminded me of something I haven't posted on yet!

Awhile ago, when I saw this 'Gone Fishing' Cake Topper ' sold through 'Wedding Star' and I thought it was adorable and that it would be cute to have at the wedding as I love to fish and I kind of got Ben 'Hooked' into it as well!

I knew that I didn't want it on the top of my cake though, but then I thought it would be really cute to find an old antique fishing basket, and to place it beside this 'Fishing Cake Topper' and write on a little sign that said: "Cast Your Wish To The Bride and Groom", and then to provide little colourful papers for guests to write their wishes on, and place them in the fishing basket. Then later I can use the 'wishes' in my wedding scrapbook!

So here is the antique fishing basket I found on E-bay. It was only $9.00 and it came from Lakeland Florida (where Jordan is from) so that was neat!

I think this will be a really cute 'Guest Wishes' idea and it really suits our personality!

Martha's Got Nothin On Me!

So these 'body mists' were inspired by an idea from Martha Stewart Living. 'She' had sliced cucumbers and Lavender and placed them in mist bottles with water! I thought it was a very simple but nice idea and that it would be nice to have these at the wedding in the bathrooms for people to use to 'refresh' and cool down with!

And today I was at my friend Carlene's house (a faithful reader od this blog I might add :D), and she happens to have an adorable garden with herbs in the back yard of her adorable little house, and she let me take home a bag of 'Lemon Balm Herbs' that smell delicious! So we decided to stop at the dollar store and pick up some 'mist bottles' for me to test out this idea!

We found two packs the included a 'mist bottle' and a 'cap bottle' so this gave me the idea to also create a 'body oil' by filling the cap bottles with baby oil, as well as the lemon herbs.
So when I got home I made them (as I didn't want the leaves of the herbs to wilt) - & I remembered that I had fresh lemon and lime, so I sliced that up as well for extra scent and I placed it, along with cold water and the herbs, into the mist bottles!

I then thought it would be cute to include little clear and yellow glass beads/marbles that I already had to jazz up the 'body oil' bottles, since they did not have lemon and lime slices in them!

Then on Adobe I wrote 'Refresh' for the mist bottles of 'Herbal Lemon Balm and Fresh Lime Body Mist' and 'Relax' for the 'Herbal Lemon Balm Body Oil' - I also found an old fashion depiction of a lemon and thought it would add an extra flare to the bottles! I printed this sheet, making the text the right size to be cut out with my 'tag punch' that I got from 'Stampin Up!'

I purchased yellow ribbon to hold the tags in place so I simply uased a regular whole punch to create a place to hold the tags onto the ribbon, and then I simply tied the ribbon to the bottles and 'Wala'!

I think they turned out really neat and they make a quick and easy gift idea - or would be great as a favour or a prize at a wedding or baby shower. Or it would also be nice to make to place in your own bathroom when you have a BBQ or guests over!


Here are my photos! Like I said, Martha's Got Nothin On Me! :D

Old Fashioned Soda Pop!

I would really love to have old fashioned soda pop for when guests arrive to the reception!


I was in the new Squires restaurant in my home town this weekend and they had 'Boylan Sodas' which are made with pure Sugar Cane and are sooo tasty! They have also been established since 1891, so they look great and go great with the old fashioned theme!!


I have found a 'whole sale' website that sells them in variety packs or in bulk, so its looking like a good option for our refreshment table!!


I would love to place them in my mom's old 'wash tub' with ice!! I found this photo of a wedding that did something similar, and it looks like the kids loved it!

I know a lot of people that like the Boylan brand, so buying a few cases of these to sell at the Jack and Jill might not be a bad idea either! :D

It would also be awesome to get some of these retro 'paper straws' to go with the pop! Only $3.00 for 50!

DIY Project: Antique Scrap Book Cover Turned Guest Book

Yesterday while looking for bridesmaid dresses we also did a bit of 'Antiquing'!!

At an old bookstore I found an adorable old 'Scrap Album' cover for 50 cents!! Its SOO Me with the birds of the front cover, and the green and gold colours!!

I thought it would be great to re-use as a 'guest signing book' for at the reception!

I will simply reinforce the spine to make it strong again and add in scrapbook pages with photos of Ben and I for people to sign around!

Fabric Samples / Bridesmaid Dress Shopping

We went shopping to loom at bridesmaids dresses, and as I suspected I was not super enthusiastic about many of the choices. To me a lot of them were just too generic, plain, cliche or too expensive for what they were!!

SO after doing so antiquing we decided to stop at 'Fabricland' to look at what material options they had, to see if making skirts (like the ones in the 'inspirational photos' below) was a feasible idea!

And we found some GREAT colour and fabric options! Below are photos of both silk and satin options that we think would look great as skirts and sashes. We would probably use the 4 first shades of the silk for the Bridesmaid's skirts (as they are a nice range of similar tones) and then possibly the burnt orange coloured silk for the Junior Bridesmaids!

Then we would use the satins for sashes to go between the skirt and the girls ivory shirts!!

Aunt Ali has agreed to make the skirts for us, which is totally awesome!! So it looks like this might be a good option to get something a little more unique for the girls to wear!

Silk:

Satin:

Blouse Examples - each girl will either be in the same blouse - or we will pick all different ones that make each girl just a little bit different (like the colours of their skirts)