I happen to like a mixture of old and new, re-purposed and renewed, all of it flanked with GLASS of some sort. Burlap, glass, pearls, and a color - those were the starts of all my inspiration.
I found this ladder on one of those local facebook pages where people sell random things. I find all sorts of treasures that way, and it's become a replacement for garage-sale-ing. I used to decorate my house in Early Garage Sale style, but now I often get a kick out of trolling through fb sale pages for random decorating finds. The ladder was draped with a sheer organza that had a lovely pattern on it. It flowed nicely in the wind. At the base was a simple cardboard box that was covered in burlap, housing five mason jars which held pink and coral flowers that I already had. Mason jars rock!
This 8 foot ladder is the real deal. Vintage and all. Just know when you go to move it, you're going to get a few determined splinters. I found this useful because I was planning not only an indoor reception/party, but an outdoor one as well. Being able to hang things inside and out was a top priority. Around here, you just can't count on the weather being predictable! And our family's track record for good weather on a wedding day is 0 for 4. We've learned our lesson! Outdoor receptions/parties are highly over-rated, in my book.
Also hanging from the ladder was this large poster. I had envisioned it being a place to get pictures, you know, like you see in so many wedding photos. Nice idea, but it turned into a fairly useless accessory. And for the time required, not that good of an investment. I'm not disappointed, however; I've always wanted to try to make something like this.
Though you couldn't tell from the picture, some of these fans were made from two scrapbook pages and others were made from three. I think I prefer the ones made from two, which were the bottom left and the bottom right. The only difference you could see, upon extremely close examination, was the number of folds. NBD.
Running down the center was a gathered piece of burlap and the seam was covered with a length of pearls. Rather than buying burlap pre-cut ribbon, I highly recommend just buying a yard of burlap and cutting it to the size you need. It's an economical way to go and the fabric store can show you how to make an even, straight cut.
After this weekend, this poster design will have been used three times this summer. I'd call that a success! Speaking of success, my trip to Hobby Lobby was an extraordinary experience. Their wedding section saved my bacon!
I needed to be able to make a majority of my wedding preparations far in advance and by myself. This pre-made bouquet only needed a few touches - a little color and a few pearls. I love that I can keep this to treasure for years. Fresh flowers have their place, but I sure appreciate and love good silk flowers.
Oftentimes at parties, weddings, or receptions, kids are expected to act like adults and are rarely considered. Since I'm a Grandma, I consider them always!
I found this wall hanging chalkboard, quickly marked out the board with Washi tape, used some flat glass marbles I already had, and it was ready-set-play! These boards were a hit. A little different color of tape, and they'll fit any gathering in the future. They just looked so pretty to me, I hope you'll try them as well.
Lest you think all my fun projects were a hit, I do have to mention one. The tissue paper flowers that I thought I could incorporate, turned into a bust. They'll work fine for some other event, I suspect, just not for this one. I ended up using a rose that I already had, which was in a soft blush color, as the center for this tissue flower. The picture doesn't show a big difference in color simply because there wasn't a big difference. They colors flowed together nicely. Mint, tan, brown, and white. It was so fresh and so fun!
So that's my style - making it myself, making it simple, and making it somewhat elegant, but not stuffy. I hope these pictures give you some inspiration. I know I was in crafty-heaven as I planned this event. I was too busy greeting guests and didn't get actual photos during the event - epic fail, but that's life. It doesn't always go as planned.
I hope you enjoyed this post - I know I was dying to put in print all the things that made me smile these past few months. Drop me a line if you have any questions on materials or on sources for buying some of these things. Remember, burlap, glass, pearls, and a color - that's the beginning of a beautiful event!
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