{doable} Do It Yourself

This week has been full of crafting for me. Over the past few months I've realized I should outsource some of the projects (thank you etsy!) and other projects were simple enough to do myself. Here are some of the images that have inspired me to get my DIY on, followed by my personal tips to get the jobs done.

Lavender bunches with escort cards

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Menus and a lace runner for the head table:

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Metallic assorted bottles for the welcome party:

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This is how it went for me...

DIY No-Sew Table Runner: SUPPLIES: Lace Fabric | Fabric Scissors | Tape Measure

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I bought the lace fabric at a discount fabric store for $23. I measured the fabric to make sure it would run the length of the table and have enough to hang down on either side. I then cut the fabric to the width I wanted. I realized if I gathered the fabric, as shown, the edges would be hidden and therefore don't need to be finished. I will be using the jute twine from the escort cards to tie each end like in my inspiration image. This project worked well for me because we only have one farm table as our head table. The other tables are round and will just have the standard linens. If you wanted to do this for more tables, you could easily get two runners out of the width - just make sure you get the length you need so you don't have breaks in the fabric.

DIY Stamped & Embossed Menus: SUPPLIES: Stamps | Stamp Pad | Kraft Paper | Embossing Powder | Embossing Tool

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I used stamps and the heat embossing powder and tool for the top oval and 'Menu' part. For the rest, I used the white pen to write it out. It took me a couple tries to get the layout and spacing just right. To help myself from writing at a slant, I used a piece of thicker, contrasting paper and held that under the line I was writing. Then, as I wrote each item, I watched the space between my line and the other piece of paper. Slant avoided! I did enough for two per table.

DIY Metallic Bottles: SUPPLIES: Assorted Bottles | Primer Spray | Metallic Spray

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For my welcome party, I knew I wanted something cost effective and related to wine since it will be held at a Springhouse Cellar - a tasting room in Hood River, OR. I found the images of gold and silver wine and champagne bottles and HAD to give it a try.

I left the labels on and used a primer and then metallic spray bottles - I just went to my local paint store and they helped me figure out what to buy. In addition to the bottles, I also sprayed some corks to sprinkle around the bottles and I called my florist who said she would provide the single stems of white and green flowers. Easy! And all-in it will come to under $90 to decorate about six tables. Not bad, right?! *Hint: take your engagement ring off and don't do this the week before your wedding - or use some gloves!

DIY Lavender Bunch Escort Cards: SUPPLIES: Lavender Sprig | Jute Twine | Cloth Pins | Small Cards (used business card sized paper from Paper Source) | Hole Punch | Pen

I haven't done this project yet, but my florist recommended grouping couples and families onto one card - that way you have less to do and the display at the wedding won't be overwhelming.

Happy crafting and happy Fourth of July to you all!

 

Sweet Succulents

With four months to go until our big day, we have been focusing on locking in rest of our vendors (florist, cake and entertainment). This week flowers have been on my mind and I'm loving a mixture of local wild flowers and succulents. Below is my inspiration for bouquets. I love how the succulents add texture and compliment coral and white flowers.

Boquets

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For boutineers Derek is envisioning a simple succulent with a spring of lavender.

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For our tablescape we plan to fill mismatched vases and planters with local flowers and succulents. To keep our flower costs down we will be planting some of our own succulents to mix in with our florists' creations. We plan to replant these succulents in our garden after out wedding too!

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Sources: 1, 2 & 3

Did you, or are you planning on using succulents for your wedding? Were you able to reuse them?

I have also been contemplating how to highlight our moms on our wedding day. Did you go with a corsage, wrislet, small bouquet or something else for yours? Would love to hear what other brides are doing!

Oregon Showers Bring July Flowers

The countdown is on! My fiance and I are officially getting married in less than a year! So now when I read the wedding check lists I will actually need to pay closer attention to the "12 months before" section. The cool thing about being a year out from our big day is that this is the one time we are in our wedding month - July! Which has me thinking about all things seasonal - weather, food, and flowers, among other things. But right now it's mostly flowers. And even though booking the florist is on the "8 months before" list in my Brides magazine, when it comes to seasonal things, I think the perfect time to think about what you want is during the season your wedding will be in. Last month I posted about my wedding color palette, so this week I want to delve further into the flowers - such a big part of the color scheme. We are doing light neutrals for the bridesmaid dresses, grey for the guys and pops of bright with the flowers. See more on my wedding colors in my post, here.

So, for the flowers...I am liking the bouquets with bright colors, but that are balanced out with some lighter, neutrals.

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I LOVE the look of the single flowers for the bridesmaids (also budget friendly, I would think). Including the peonies in the brides bouquet ties it all together. I think for my color scheme I would do similar to one of the colors below for my bridesmaids.

Source: left, right

My next task on the flower front is contacting some florists in the Columbia Gorge area to see if these flowers are doable in July.

Speaking of beautiful flowers, I want to give a shout out to my dear friends, Lauren and Nick Allen, whose gorgeous wedding was featured on Wedding Chicks last week - click here to see. I'm in the first picture all the way on the right and a couple pictures down with the glowing bride. ;-) Aren't their flowers amazing?!

Follow up from my post last week when I was trying to figure out what to do for our negative one year anniversary. We decided to go get drinks at the neighborhood bar down the street. After some delicious beer we grabbed takeout Ethiopian food, went home, popped a bottle of pink champagne (that we had been given as an engagement gift) and just ate, drank and laughed together. It was my ideal laid-back, negative anniversary celebration!

Contain The Pretty

I have been going back and forth and pretty much in every direction trying to figure out what vases would be the best for the centerpieces. There are so many options that I love, and so many options that would work. I am pretty sure I stress the uber-small details far too much, but on the wedding day, that is what will show though! Here are a few of my favorites looks! I think I am going to do with the simple and not-so-full centerpiece look as I just seem to be so drawn to the simplicity.

Source: Mint Design Blog, EAD, EAD

Florals To Start Your Day Off Right

To start out the day, I will show off a beautiful bouquet! Of course this photo by The Nichols is stunning in itself, but I'd like to focus your attention to that bouquet for just a moment. I want white, and I want pops of color! So doesn't that seem like the perfect balance of both?

However, here is another idea that I love....and it is pretty much the exact opposite! Bright colored bouquets! I think that is going to be my main problem when planning, it's hard to decide on just one theme! Whatever I do, those little yellow balls will be in my bouquets, I'm pretty much obsessed with those!

What are you looking at for your florals??? Anything particular that you are obsessed with??

Source: Wedding Bee

What are you looking at for your florals??? Anything particular that you are obsessed with?? Which should I go with, white with pops or lots of bold colors?

Summer and Boyd Engagement Session

Today we are super excited to show an engagement shoot for Summer and Boyd, a featured vendor of our site. So that you don't become skeptical about what featured vendor means, I will let you in on the story. After looking over their site, I fell in love with Summer and Boyd. I love the soft colors they use and the composition is phenomenal. When you find something as amazing as their photography, you want everyone to know about it. Hence why I created the "featured" vendor because I thought their work was so incredible, it should be shown off!

This engagement shoot is absolutely no exception!

As I said, the composition is just incredible. Check out Summer and Boyd for more eye candy :)