Flower Girl's Dresses

I found 'Pegeen' who is a designer based out of Florida, and because she is an online based business (no formal store front just a factory) she has good prices and endless ways to customize!! She sent we all of the colour swatch samples that I asked for and there are some great options! I love this style of flower girl dresses and I love that all of the girls are in a different shade or colour within the same 'tone family' (in our case it would be golds and browns - maybe burnt oranges!) - So I think this is what I want to do for the 4 flowers girls (Exchange rate pending hehe)! I also love the three tier ribbing on the sash - it gives it a more old fashioned look!

I Also Love there old fashioned Ring Bearer outfits! and specifically the little vest she makes in gingham pattern! So adorable and less formal than a full our suit!

Personalized Postage Stamps!

So excited, I just discovered that you can personalize postage stamps! So with the money I save on making my own simple invitations, and probably doing online rsvp, I can get these awesome stamps. I'll just have to make sure the logo doesn't get cut off - But it kinda looks nice just like that (if that is the logo we use).

Aisle Decor

I just came across this picture of mini lanterns hanging all the way up the aisle and I thought it would go great with our 'lantern theme'

I was already planning on hanging tin cans, that would be painted white, full of flowers hanging on the pews, but I this it would also look really pretty to have lanterns on every other pew.

Here are some nice painted tin cans holding flowers, and I planned to attach a wire handle through two holes in the top to place over the edge of the pew.

If you get a chance - let me know if you think a combination of the two (White lanters and white tin cans holding flowers) on every other pew would look nice.

Personalized Envelop Stickers!

I saw this image in Martha Stewart's Magazine and thought it would be a great way to add a personal touch to the outside of our wedding invitations!




Then while visiting http://www.moo.com/ I found that they also had great eco friendly bussiness cards, and that's how I got my business cards!


Its a great company! I also love their 'mini cards' and may use them as favour tags!

After Ceremony Refreshments

After the ceremony I want our guests to be able to come to the reception venue (Balls Falls) right away, so that they don't need to find something to do in town to kill time, and so that they can walk around and enjoy the venue's nature and heritage buildings while we are getting photos taken.

I want to have refreshments outside of the barn for guests who arrive early. I already wanted to do heart shaped watermelon slices (We shall see what my caterer thinks about that hehe) and I just came across these cute little bags of cherries, which I thought might be a cute touch to add to the berry theme!

I also really want to have beverages for the guests - and in order to keep the flies away I would love to get a couple of these beverage dispensers, which would be great to have for use after the wedding as well!

Our Silhouettes!

I saw this image in Martha's magazine and Karl Johnson actually cuts out people's silhouettes by hand at events such as weddings.

I love how old fashioned and timeless silhouettes are and I have decided to attempt to make my own silhouettes of Ben and I for the wedding! I'm sure we have all made them as a child in school, but I'm going to attempt to make them in a bit more of a modern (and easy) way. I will simply take a profile photo of us in front of a plain background and then in Photoshop I will select only our faces turning them black and the rest of the background white! Hopefully it will work and we can either hang or frame them for at the wedding, or just use them in the slide show or on invitations or thank you cards or something like that.

Ring Bearer Pillow!

I just came across these Embroidered Hoop Rings on a blog and they were to be used as a gift for a newly engaged couple BUT they also suggested that it would make an adorable ring bearer pillow!! I LOVED this idea. We could cross stitch our names and the date of our wedding on it and simply thread ribbon through the loop at the top of the ring to tie the wedding rings to!
It would go great with the old fashioned theme - and we could even hang it on our wall later next to our wedding photo!

Of course it would not say 'Helen and Lito" although that may add some mystery to the wedding :D !!

Flowers I Want in My Bouquet!

These are all flowers, colours and tones I would like in my Bouquet! I even like the idea of having each one of the girls hold a different type of sunflower along with another small matching flower and some greenery and matching ribbon so that there is still a bit of consistency from one girl to the next, and then also having all of the guys wear a different type of sunflower on their lapel.

Brown Cosmos.

Bright Lights Cosmos.

David Austin Rose.

Black Eyed Susan.

Velvet Queen Sunflowers.

Autumn Beauty Sunflower.

Ring of Fire Sunflower.

Joker Sunflower.

Circus Roses and Hypericum Berries.

White Hypericum Berries.

Lavender.

An example Bouquet I like:

Sunflowers, Circus Roses, Green Hypericum Berries, Green buttons, and Rafia.
Yellow Sunflower, Orange Gerbera, Seasonal Flower Fillers & Other Greeneries.

Wedding Favours!

Since I want to do berry themed deserts (Berries on the wedding cake, berry pies and fresh mixed berries) I thought that making a nice homemade berry jam for the favours might be a nice idea.

When looking for glass favour jars, to see if there was a way to purchase small glass bottles in bulk, I found this jam favour that a woman had made and she got her glass bottles at http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp

I like these tall thin jars as they are a bit different than the normal mason jar. I thought it would be nicer to make the jam than to buy these small jam favours that come pre-packaged.

I want to write "Spread The Love" on the labels of the jar, which is a slogan I saw on a little wedding favour knife set - And just now while searching fir it on jam labels I found a great photo of how I want our jam bottles to look - with the gingham pattern cloth on top and the rough rope or hemp string holding it on.

I also wanted to write on a tag attached to the jar "With Thanks from the Berry Happy Couple"!

Overall I think these jam jars should be cute - and something that will be very usable and yummy for the guests to take home with them! They also fit in great to the old fashioned theme as well as with the berry themed deserts!

Lanterns and Candles - Wedding Decor

I stopped by Ikea the other day, as I was close by, not expecting to get anything in particular, but I found awesome lanterns for both the reception and the ceremony! I also got a whole bunch of matching off white candles (some very large) so that everything coordinates!

I have two of these for the ceremony:




And they will sit on these stands on either side of the stage:


And they will have 2 large candles beside them (like 2.5ft candles!!) - and then I got this multi pack of different sizes for on the registry table as well as the three pack of almond scented brown candles to match our colours and to make the sanctuary smell lovely!And then I got these lanterns in 3 different sizes (in just the black - shown here is the medium size) to hang in the barn at the reception over the head table!

So overall I was pretty pleased with my stop at Ikea as I think this stuff will look great and really goes with the theme!

Table Number Photo Cards Vs. Year Dated Photo Cards

So my original plan was to have table number signs 1-20 (or however many tables we have) and I saw in a magazine somewhere a couple who had put an image for example of both of themselves when they were 7 years old on 'table card 7' - Like this:

But Then just recently I came across another cute idea! Where instead of the age as corresponding with the table number - you make the table number the year i.e. 1987 and then you put a photo of both of you that year! I like this idea as it emphasizes the DATE/YEAR theme (and the 1989 etc. sounds neat and unique and goes along with the 'old fashioned' / 'past' theme of the wedding).

However the downfall is that Ben and I are not the same age - So we would have to start with 1987 (and would miss having photos of Ben at 1 and 2) AND since he's two years older than me we would also always be a different age in each photo!

So I need advice on what you think! Stick with the Age as corresponding with the table number OR take the more unique route and make the table # ayear's date with a photo of us in that year? Here is an example and these two people don't look to be the same age either?!? So do you think it would work? - Please leave a comment on this post if you have any insight!! :D Thanks

Cake Topper!

These custom made cake toppers are adorable! You can choose the hair colour, flower colour, tie colour, base colour and ribbon colour! And they are made out of old fashioned clothes pins! And, like my idea for the 'hole punched tin cans' (posted on next page of blog) that were inspired by a craft I did at Battle Field Square when I was little, believe it or not I also made a 'Peg Doll' that day too that I called 'This Miss Peggy Doll' and sang a song about it all the way home!

"This Miss Peggy Doll, This Miss Peggy Doll, rolling down the streeeeett" haha that's how it went!

Once I figure out my wedding colours and details I look forward to looking more into ordering one of these toppers! It will be a keepsake that we have forever!

Here is a link to view more of these great toppers!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesmallobject/sets/72157606478635653/

Lace Bolero

I LOVE the look of lace boleros and I found this one made by a Ukrainian women who now lives in Israel. I love how old fashioned it looks, and how it will add personality to any dress I get. Plus she said that she would give me a deal on this one if I was to order lace boleros for my bridesmaids from her as well (which would be a great option - especially if we end up getting strapless dresses for the girls!) I'm just waiting to see what shade my dress is so we can match it to the bolero!

Our Wedding Map!

Jill Mitchell was in a class of mine (Arts Management) this past semester at school, and I found that she had quite the neat artistic aesthetic! SO, since I have always wanted a neat map for in my wedding invitations I have asked her to help create an interesting 'picture map' that lays out the wedding day events and details!

Here is the map I put together - that will be part of the picture map!

And here is a mock up of the 'idea' I sent her! I'm sure she will do a much better job of making it look nice!



I think it will be neat to have such a custom piece as a memento from our wedding day - and something neat for guests to have as well!

Table Runner Vs. Table Cloth

The tables at Balls Falls are nice real wood table and are varnished so I thought table runners may be a nice option instead of table cloths so that the natural wood becomes part of the decor enhancing the old fashioned rustic theme.

I found these really nice table runners from an online store called 'Piper Classics' the only thing is its in the states, so with the exchange and shipping they may be a bit too costly (as apposed to renting table cloths from some place locally). However, because our centre pieces are going to be antique tins the guests will not be able to them home (as is usually customary that one table member 'wins' the centre piece). So I thought that instead they could take the nice table runner home. Any thoughts?

Our Wedding 'Crest'

I have created several different wedding crests and haven't fully decided which one I want to use yet. Right now I think I will use the 'R' flower one, but I do like that the bandanna one is casual and country themed... Maybe I can use that one for our 'Jack and Jill' invites and do a 'country fall fair' theme or something and then use the flower one for the wedding as it is more formal!
Any thoughts? Let me know :D

Meg's Pergola

I have always wanted a pergola to get married under like Meg had in her wedding (seen at the beggining of this clip). I also love the hymn 'For the Beauty of the Earth' and might get Ben's Cousins to sing it at the wedding during the signing of the registry.

The Getaway!

I have always wanted to make a 'Getaway' after the ceremony and Mr. Minor has generously allowed us to use his 1940s I believe?!? Red Pick Up Truck!! So (dress willing) we will climb in the back and sit on hay bails and pull away!

(Not the Exact Truck)

I have also always wanted to have guests throw bird seed! And ever since the February addition of Martha Stewart Living where she had this photo of sewn wax paper bags I have wanted to package the bird seed like this:

I also wanted to sew on a little note to the birdseed explaining the significance of showering the bride and groom SO to my SURPRISE - when searching for a photo of 'wedding birdseed' tonight I found this photo:

I Love it, it's exactly what I wanted to do - But it kind of makes me feel ripped of! I just can't believe its already been done exactly how I pictured it! Oh well! I guess that just means its a good idea! :D

Inspirational Photos

Inspiring Photos!