I have talked before about how my wedding is a little modern with a little rustic. One of my "rustic" elements is wooden table runners. I saw a tutorial, on Pinterest of course, on how to age wood using apple cider vinegar and steel wool. I was thinking that I was going to stain the wood, but thought I would try this out. So I started with this:

Just a regular board and some steel wool and apple cider vinegar. And ended with this:

When you see the before and after, it is definitely different. However, to me, it is just more brown, not necessarily aged. The tutorial said that it ended like this:

source

This is aged and grey and nice. Mine... not so much. However, I did learn a lot!

1. I am having long tables, so I wasn't sure how many vases I would need on each table. I decided on four, with candles. There are also going to be table numbers, so I don't want it too crowded.

2. How many vases I need! My floor plan is below, so if I have 4 vases per table, I need 80 vases (plus or minus a few in case they break or want to be used else where!) Like the vases? They are $0.79 cents from Ikea! Can't beat that! I also like them all the same- I was thinking of having different heights, but I like the simplicity of them all the same.

3. I wasn't really sure how long 8 feet was. Nice to know. Also, being able to visualize it, I have decided I need about 2 paper lanterns over each table. They are going to be linear over the long tables, and then a big conglomeration over the dance floor.

4. Carnations are under rated! I bought these because they were cheap and to see the vases with flowers in them, and I really like them! The texture is awesome, they are hardy, and they are inexpensive. I will most likely supplement with some garden roses and ranunculus as well, but I really like the carnations! On that note, I need about 3 blooms per vase, so now I know how many flowers I need as well!

Overall, it was a great learning experience. If anyone is thinking of doing anything with tables themselves, you should definitely do a mock up!