It's looking up

As you may remember I have a teeny little problem with the ceilings at our venue - I hate them.

I mean, I don't just hate these particular ceilings, I hate drop ceilings in general. I am not discriminating against our specific venue's ceilings.

Anywho, I have been thinking and thinking and thinking about what to do to create these panels to hang from the ceiling.

Professional ceiling drapery? checked it - over 2 grand just to come out to our venue. Nope.

Gossamer? checked it - possible option, but we used it during sorority recruitment so much and I always said there would be no tulle or gossamer at my wedding, lest my guests or I think they were about to be serenaded and dirty rushed.

Raw fabric? checked it - heavy, lots of sewing, and effort and expensive and effort. I mean, I am trying to graduate here and that = papers galore.

What was I going to do?

A fortunate phone call from my mother came that day;

Mom: "I was thinking," she said, "Why don't we just buy curtains?"

Me: "Curtains, you say? hmmm. Wait! I JUST saw some awesome white curtains on a blog I stalk This Young House!!!!! Mom, you are a genius!"

Mom: "Blog? what is a blog? ohhhhh like that thingie you write...wah wah wah wah wah..."

Yes ladies and gentlemen {ha, jk, no guys read this blog}, we will be using these lovely curtains from Ikea.

 

At $9.99 for a pair of panels - 98.5" x 57" each.

Considering the size of each panel, and that a spot for a dowel is already sewn in on one end, and that Ikea is so awesome that they include iron-on hemming strips in all of their curtain packages for the other end, they are the answer of my dreams.

 

Ok, maybe not my dreams, but they are pretty darn close.

Whew. One ceiling issue solved. Now for the other.

Our Venue is laid out in 6 almost equal sections. Kind of like this:

 

Each section is divided out by a soffit and tables will be placed in the side sections, the bar has a lovely ceiling above it that doesn't call for any decorating.

 

Based on the design that the Women of the Moose {for serious} decorated with at Christmas time, each of these sections will be adorned with panels in a pattern much like this {I think}:

Of course the panels are white, not blue.

But, we don't know what to put in the center! I have thought about tons of those strands of flowers that you saw everywhere in weddings last year, or clusters of paper lanterns, or both, or even doing something only over the dance floor.

Le sigh. What to do, what to do. Any grand ideas out there?

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I have been productive...

...and doing my part to stimulate the economy.

Saturday I bought:

20 of these

 

50 of these

  

{to be sprayed copper, of course}

and today I bought:

these

  

and these

   

and this

  

{possible Rehearsal dress!}

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Purchase(s)!

Since the semester is winding down I have TONS of work to do for school, as well as the wedding, so naturally I am going to take some of my precious time to blog. (procrastinator? who, me?)

In any case, we have made a couple wedding related purchases lately and got some GREAT deals! Woo! I couldn't wait to share.

First, this little lovely birdcage, from Hobby Lobby, bought at 50% off. This will be our card box at the wedding.

It is a sort of antiqued copper in the sense that it looks like it was copper but aged to green...naturally this is all faux, so I bought some copper acrylic paint to add to it and make it a little less aged...I will be sure to get you an after picture when I have had some time to actually do the project. {Ha!}

The next two purchases come from a relatively unexpected place - the Dollar Tree. Seriously.

I got these great Shepherd Hooks, which will be used to hang lanterns in a path down to the dock at the reception.

and - remember this picture?

from this post?

Well, ever since I saw this, I have been looking for candle holders like these ones, and guess what I found at the Dollar Tree?

Woo! They are not as wide as the ones from that picture, but still wide enough to hold some pearls and a white tea light candle, rather than a floating candle size like in the inspiration picture.

I was able to pick up a couple in the store here to make sure that I liked them, and then my mom walked into her DT and they had 100 available for purchase right then and there...so we (she) bought them! I am pretty excited, though not really looking forward to peeling all those stickers off of the bottoms.

I am getting so excited!

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A little tin...

Between this lovely photo from the talented Rebecca Thuss...

and this lovely photo from Martha Stewart...

...I have been pretty much obsessed with incorporating galvanized vases into the decor of our wedding, but of course instead of bright and shiny silver, in our fabulous accent color of copper!

Turns out finding copper vases for a semi-affordable price has been a pretty big challenge. My quest, however, has finally been fruitful!

I came across the lovely site www.galvanizedpail.com {why it took me so long to find such an obviously named website I will never understand}

In any case, there are a few different options, for affordable sizes, but my mom is super concerned about high centerpieces interrupting the flow of conversations, as have many brides before me.

There is the 5.5" diameter opening vase, which is actually 8.5" high.

These are $2.89 for any less than 48 vases, 48+ are $2.59 each.

{I am not really sure how I feel about the long handle. Meh.}

Then we have the 6.5" diameter opening vase, which is actually 11" high.

These are $3.79 for 1-59 vases, and $3.29 each for 60+ vases.

{I like these handles better, and I am thinking that I could order a large amount and use them both for aisles at the ceremony, and then transport them to the centerpieces for the reception? Maybe? Too much work?}

Lastly there are these 8" diameter opening vases, which are actually 15" high. Super tall.

1-35 of these vases are $6.59 each, and more than 35 are $5.89 each.

{While these are super tall, I secretly yearn for tall centerpieces...}

Clearly I would need to spray all of these copper...but with my trusty spray paint this is no issue.

They would of course be filled with white flowers, and though I have always loved the look of hydrangeas, I am currently in love with each of these options shown by Style Me Pretty earlier today.

{especially those tulips in the top right! Swoon!}

How do you all feel about centerpiece heights? Do high centerpieces annoy you at weddings?

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Up Above

Anyone else have those little things that just annoy them at the back of their mind and they try to avoid at all costs?

One of the things that I always wanted to avoid in our wedding reception venue was a drop ceiling. I have spent the majority of my life in classrooms {19 of 24 years} and drop ceilings just makes me think of the kids in the back launching pencils to see if they would stick.

But, I digress. Main point: I do not like drop ceilings. Moving on.

Every reception location that I visited in Chippewa Falls had drop ceilings, minus the one place that would have been ridiculously expensive and really wasn't that great.

I was still trying to figure out what to do with the ceilings when we went to visit at Christmas and saw this

and this

While clearly these decorations are for Christmas, they gave me and my mom an idea. We could easily make white fabric panels to drape in the same way! We of course, would make more of them (for the whole room, not just over the dance floor). I think navy blue panels might be a bit much, so am leaning towards white.

The FH had an idea for doing a very large white paper lantern in the center where that green thing is, which I think would be ok, but am not really sold, so we will explore some other options.

The good thing is that Lake Wissota will let us do pretty much whatever we want in terms of decorating. AND if there is no event before ours that week {the likelihood of which is low} then we can get in to decorate as early as Monday! I would like to be able to get in there and get done asap so I can enjoy my week.

How have you all covered not-so-cute ceilings? Have you seen any great ideas out there?

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Guest Book Ideas

Like many other brides before me, I have never been particularly attached to the idea of a traditional guestbook at our wedding. There are plenty of alternative ideas out there, but the one that I am most attached to is the idea of a photo book, much like this example from Blurb:

Of course, ours would be primarily engagement and a few favorite photos instead of wedding ones, as we will be at the wedding. People could then sign in the white spaces...or there are a few options with lines for people to write on next to the photos that could be a good mix of traditional elements with the twist that I like.

I love that there are so many options out there for making your own professional looking photo book online! Here are a few of the sites that I have come across:

• Snapfish Photobooks: The first one I stumbled across via friend and bridesmaid. There are a few different options for covers and sizes, but the choice of layouts is not that great. Upside, you do all of the work online, so no software to download and take up precious hard drive space.
• Inkubooks: This is a fairly new company and site. Again, lots of options for sizes of books, but for this site you need to download the software to create your book. I found the software a little frustrating, but I tried it when the site was brand spanking new, so things may have improved. Prices are right, though, and you can make a book with as few as 20 pages.
• Blurb: This site is the newest one that I have found...and I may be in love. In order to continue the pretense that I am actually studying for my comprehensive exams, I have yet to download the software to play around. But the big plus for me is that this site is all about making books - many different kinds of books - and seems really versatile from the examples posted on the site.

I love the internet! Personalization of wedding elements is so fun, especially publishing books. I love books. Imagine the possibilities...cookbooks, personalized story books for the {faraway} kids, all sorts of things.

Are there any other good publishing sites out there?

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Just a Little Spray

As I have previously mentioned, I adore these initial letters

{via Martha}

Now, other brides have done DIY moss covered letters, such as Mrs. Lemon of Weddingbee fame:

{these lovelies are via SMP}

And still other brides have done DIY flower covered letters, such as Mrs. Ladybug, again from Weddingbee fame:

{actually Mrs. Ladybug's creations}

While I loved each of these ideas, I was not in love with moss for our setting {and I assumed that our dog would probably eat the moss before I could get it glued on letters} and I couldn't reconcile myself to what color flowers to go with...I decided to go easy.

Today I made these little $5 lovelies thanks to Hobby Lobby and a bottle of Krylon Copper Spray Paint:

{via me}

They took about 10 minutes max.

Simplicity at it's best!

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Purchase!

I bought this lantern today at TJ Maxx for a whopping $20!

{It's pretty big. That is the largest candle that I had in the house!}

Right now I am planning on using it as decor on the Escort Card table...our guest list just passed 250 {out.of.control.i.know.believe.me.i.know.} so there won't be much room for anything besides cards, but I think this might do nicely with a bigger candle and maybe some greenery at the base?

The table itself will be sitting inside the entry, in front of this fireplace {sans furniture, of course}

{sorry for the blurriness...taken on the run}

I hate to block the pretty fireplace, but what you see off to either side is the entry into the main room, so there aren't many other options. I am planning on throwing some other things up on the mantle, possibly some initial letters reminiscent of these lovelies by Martha...

Once the escort cards have all been taken, this same table will become the favor display for departing guests...more on our super fun favors later, but in the mean time...what do y'all think of the ideas so far for escort card display? Any awesome ideas for a mantle/entryway/escort card table out there?

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...and I have a problem making decisions.

After perusing the lover-ly photo blog of one Leigh Miller, of Leigh Miller Photography, I am currently in love with:

These table numbers,

these low arrangements

{maybe with those fantastic pearl candles from before...}

and tall {and cost effective} arrangements like these:

Our tablecloths will be navy, so I think fresh, white arrangements with little pops of green would look so crisp and clean. How did y'all figure out your flower ideas, when there are so many fabulous ones out there?

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How Pretty

 

 And when grouped with a centerpiece:

 

{from here}

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Hydrange loveliness...

I love hydrangeas. I know that they are the "typical" wedding flower maybe, but I have always loved them {well, at least ever since my mom put 4 arrangements of silk hydrangeas in the room my sister and I shared}

You may remember how in love I was/am with this photo:

{from here}

But lately I have been thinking about a more 'clean' look, if you will. Maybe something like this:

{from here}

BUT I still love hydrangeas...

I found this photo on my "someday" jump drive and am thinking I kind of love it:

{not sure where I got this...}

Am I crazy? I don't feel like I have seen many loose arrangements of hydrangeas...but I am kind of in love with it. Can you imagine this, in a tall clear vase?

Maybe like this, but with hydrangeas?

{from here}

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I love a lantern...

Ok, remember this picture from our venue?

Well, this furniture is staying and I have been having happy visions of white tablecloths swaying in the breeze on top of them with a fabulous copper lantern as a centerpiece on each one with a candle glimmering inside...

But which fabulous lantern?

I have come across some really great deals at White Barn Gifts:

Lantern #1

 

Approx. 9" tall and on sale for $4.13 a piece, wow. On the plus side, already copper. Negative side, I don't know how I feel about those stars...

Lantern #2 

  

Approximately 7" tall, on sale for $3.31, another wow. Clearly I would have to spray paint these copper, and I have no idea how hard the glass would be to get out, or if it would be a a painting tape nightmare...but come on, $3.13?

Lantern #3

 

Approx. 13" tall on sale for $8.31. These clearly have a fabulous presence, but I am not sure if I would really want to spray them...maybe just spray the metal parts copper? Tacky?

Lantern #4

Approx. 5" tall (not including the handle) and on sale for $5.38. I would spray these copper and not hang them, so would they look as fun?

Lantern #5

 

 Ahhh, this lantern is from Yankee Candle, of course, and is the most expensive of the bunch. At approx. 11" it comes in on sale for $12.50. It is already copper of course and would make a nice little statement.
 

What do you guys think? Which ones do you like? Or, should I scrap the whole idea and go with some other fabulous centerpiece for the tables outside?

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Purchase!

 

 I found two of these fab copper tubs at Walmart, of all places, for 6 bucks a piece. Rock on.

Now, what to use them for? Programs? Ice cold bottled Cokes? 

YAY! I love making actual, tangible, progress on things.

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Color Scheme?

As I have a huge research methods test tomorrow, I decided instead of studying terms and explanations that make little sense to me, to instead do some viable research of my own...into color schemes.

When I first started thinking about the setting of Lake Wissota Golf and of myself one color popped into my head: Navy Blue.

It is just so me! As is evidenced by the overwhelming amount of Navy Blue choices in my wardrobe. So Navy and white/ivory. Simple, chic, classic. Love it.

Plus, I am still in love with that Thuss photo down below...(Navy tablecloth, whoo!)

So, after careful consideration into what could be a really unique and fun accent color I have come up with this:

Copper!

Yay! I think it will look so great and classic, with just little copper elements thrown in here and there. Bonus - I have never seen this combo before.

Can you imagine the large galvanized tin in the Thuss photo that I l-o-v-e but in a bright and shiny copper? Verdict?

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In Love with Thuss

...but who isn't? I LOVE this:

If you haven't checked out Rebecca Thuss' AMAZING designs, the drooling starts here: http://www.rebeccathuss.com/

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