One of the things we like most about our wedding venue is its location…tucked into the corner of a lake in the North Georgia Mountains, it is sure to offer a picturesque backdrop for our fall wedding.  

It is also pretty hard to find.

We knew right away that we would need to create a map and give clear directions to our guests, so they’d actually be able to find us! Since so many of the roads surrounding the lake are small and winding, we also thought it would be a good idea to have directional signs posted along the way to keep everyone heading in the right direction.  

Luckily, we knew we could call on our good buddy, Hoke, for help with the process. Not only are he and his wife, Katie, some of our most beloved friends, he’s also an extremely talented craftsman. Using reclaimed wood from 19^th century barns on his family’s land in South Georgia, he builds tables, desks and other pieces of accent furniture.

a Hoke Howard original

When we told him that we were thinking about making signs for the wedding, he offered to help…and he offered to let us use some of his lumber.

To us, this was the coolest thing ever. Being able to work with such old wood (circa 1840!) with such a rich history meant a lot to us. And, of course, being able to reuse antique heart of pine versus taking a trip to the lumber yard was pretty awesome, too.

The wood needed a good sanding and was then cut into 11×17 sized pieces. The signs were spray painted using stencils that we printed and cut out of cardstock. We’ll attach them to wooden stakes and will have them posted from the main highway all the way to the front gate.

stencils

ready for a paint job

this way to the photo booth!

our signs!

Aren't they awesome?

I am beyond thrilled with how they turned out! They are rustic and charming and I absolutely love them. Now, I need to find a way to justify using them for other things…I wonder how our neighbors would feel if we posted one at the entrance of our neighborhood…

As a way to be ‘green’ during the wedding festivities (while saving some ‘green’), we’re trying to limit the amount of flowers we order. We’ll have flowers, of course; for bouquets, centerpieces, etc. but I’m hoping to be as conservative as possible with the order. Since we’re having the rehearsal dinner and the reception at the same place, I thought about using the same flowers all weekend long, but that won’t work because we’re ordering the flowers early and they’ll need some time to open up so they’ll be pretty on the big day.

I was debating what I could do to dress up the rehearsal dinner a bit, without having to order more flowers, when I discovered Paper Platypus. Karen Block at Paper Platypus creates the most beautiful paper flowers and sells them in her Etsy store. You can buy assembled bouquets as well as DIY kits in a rainbow of colors and an assortment of styles. I stumbled upon her work via Everything Etsy – a really fun blog that I visit practically every day. Paper Platypus was one of the featured Etsy sellers and was offering a giveaway for a DIY Mum kit. I entered the giveaway and lo and behold, I won!

Some floral décor for the rehearsal dinner…for free?? What a deal!

The DIY kits come with step-by-step instructions, so assembly was really easy. And the flowers look great! I’ve actually had them in a vase on the coffee table and they are a really cute addition to the room. And, since they’ll never die, I won’t have the sad task of throwing them out. Genius! 

I haven’t yet decided if I want to keep them in a vase or remove the stem and have them scattered along the tables like in the photo below. What do you think?

hunting and gathering

I won't lie, this made me extremely nervous.

pedestal tops

pedestal trunks

some sand paper, a good coat of Gorilla glue and, voila!

of course, I HAD to buy a cake to display the final product...hello dessert!

While we were at it, we made three extras that will be used to hold our large beverage dispensers (which will contain my cousin’s amazing rum punch – yum!)

Tonight I participated in my very first sewing circle with my neighbor and friend, Kathy. She’s extremely talented and has a line of aprons that she sells in boutiques around Atlanta.

stitching with a friend

I wanted to spend some time with Kathy and I also wanted to keep the sewing momentum going. No real projects in mind, just wanted to break out the machine and work on something. So, I grabbed a bolt of fabric that Eric’s mom had given me and decided to make some party flags for the wedding and/or reception. I’m not sure if we’ll use them, but they could hang in the boathouse at the rehearsal dinner, or by the guest book area, or by the cake, anywhere, really… So, we’ll take them to the lake and see if we can find a use for them.  

In the meantime, it was fun to have a project to work on. And, I will say that having no real end result in mind surely takes the pressure off the sewing process.

I simply measured and cut 6” by 8” triangles from the fabric and roughly hemmed the edges (so they wouldn’t fray). Then I sewed them to some bias tape (that I chose to buy instead of make, thankyouverymuch…) and just like that, I had strands of party flags! 

cut triangles from reversible fabric

using a wide zigzag stitch, roughly hem edges

hemmed flags and bias tape

measuring 12" from the end, pin flags 2" apart

pin twelve flags to the bias tape leaving 12" from end

sew flags where pinned

party flags!!

They are really adorable and I don’t want to wait until October to use them…so, who wants to have a party??

One of the hidden costs in planning a wedding is gifts for attendants. The editors at WeddingChannel.com estimate that the average bride spends approximately $70 on each gift. Considering the fact that the average wedding has 5 bridesmaids/groomsmen, it can be a significant expense…and one that few brides factor into their budget. 

Many decide to give accessories (jewelry for ‘maids and ties for groomsmen) that they’ll wear at the wedding, while others choose a more personalized gift. I’ve decided to indulge in creativity and make personalized gift baskets for each of my ‘maids. While I can’t go into complete detail (because they are loyal followers of this little blog of mine – and I love them for that) I can show a few of the goodies that I plan to include in the gift baskets. You can bet they’ll utilize my newly obtained sewing skills and will reflect my unique friendship with each girl. 

Realizing how simple it was to make bath salts for my Mother’s Day craft project I thought I’d give the gift baskets a ‘spa element’ and was excited to find a recipe online for a Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub. 

I grabbed some clean, glass jars from the recycling bin, decoupaged the lids, mixed a few simple ingredients and, voila! They will each enjoy a manicure in a jar!

pretty lids

simple ingredients; lemon, sugar and olive oil

mix ingredients until well blended

the finished products!

I plan on packing these gift baskets to the brim, so stayed tuned for more inspiration and sneak peeks into my DIY bridesmaid’s baskets!

I have found that planning a wedding at the same time as a friend is really fun…and quite helpful. I am thrilled to share the wedding planning experience with my good friend, Michelle. 

She will get married just a month after I do and I can’t wait to watch her walk down the aisle!  She will be a stunningly beautiful bride.  I also can’t wait to attend her wedding because it is going to be absolutely fabulous. It will be a black tie affair at a beachside hotel in South Florida. Although we are planning completely different styles of weddings, I know they will both be breathtaking and I can’t wait to see how they turn out!

Throughout the planning process, we have enjoyed bouncing ideas off each other and sending over photos of inspiration (bridesmaid’s dresses, flowers, cakes, etc) that we think the other might like. It’s been really special to share this process with a sweet friend.

Michelle recently approached me about contributing to a story for the Wedding Channel. She had heard they were doing a feature on DIY weddings and she thought of me. The storyline was certainly right up my alley, so I eagerly accepted!

Initially, when I spoke with the producer, I told her about all the ways we’re saving money on the wedding; from choosing the venue, designing and printing our invitations, and making much of the décor.  When I mentioned that I had a friend planning a wedding also, and how fun it had been sharing the process, she had an idea for a new storyline; two friends planning two completely different weddings. Within a week, the camera crew was scheduled for the shoot.

quite the set-up!

focusing in...

getting mic'd

reviewing my notes

smile big for the camera!

it's a wrap!

The story will be broadcasted all across the country, so if you happen to see it, let me know!!

My favorite wedding projects (so far) have been the Mason Jar centerpieces (because I had so much fun working on them with my girlfriends), the dress (I bought it from a friend for $100 and Eric’s mom is altering it to fit me…kind of like a custom made dress…ooh la la!!), and the music (we have some surprises in store for our guests. I can’t wait for the big reveal!)

All of our DIY efforts are really having an affect on the bottom line and the more we save, the more we decide to do ourselves.

Which brings me to our most recent endeavor…the wedding invitations. We chose to send out our save-the-dates electronically, both to save money and to save trees. We knew we wanted actual printed invitations, but felt the need to be as eco-friendly as possible since we’d be printing so many. After pricing some recycled paper options online and seeing how expensive they were going to be, we decided to try to make them ourselves.

We took a little trip to our local art supply store and totally scored! We found amazing paper from Khadi (www.khadi.com) made entirely out of cotton rags and envelopes made out of recycled butcher paper.

Eric put his design skills to use and created the most beautiful invitations. They are simple, classic and fit perfectly with our rustic theme. I absolutely adore them.  And, we were even able to print them on our simple printer at home!

Now, I’m no expert on all the bells and whistles of Photoshop like he is, but I think creating invitations in MS Word could totally be doable. With the amount of money you can save, it’s certainly worth trying!!

thumb print guest book via Project 10K Wedding

"recycled yarn/fabric bouquet" via Yarny Couture on www.ruffledblog.com

"recycled wine bottle hanging vases" via www.100layercake.com

"burlap napkin rings" via www.theletteredcottage.net

"faux porcelain vases from old bottles and cans" via p.s. I Made This

Now, with a (somewhat) shorter list of DIY projects and crafty to-dos, I’m feeling like a have a more realistic vision for the big day….and for the 5 months leading up to it. And, don’t worry…there are still projects a ‘plenty that I’m working on and I’ll share them all with you!

An extremely productive weekend, a little help from my beloved friends, and I am happy to say that all of the centerpieces for the wedding reception have been made. Whew!

I’ve been collecting Mason Jars for a few months. We wrapped them in burlap, secured them with organic cotton ribbon, tied a little bow and voila! Instant centerpieces. They will each hold a mix of assorted white flowers and will add a little bit of rustic charm to the tables.

Another craft project for this wedding is now complete…and only about a dozen more to go!  

I am fortunate to have some creative and helpful friends. Last week, several of my girls came over and helped me with some wedding projects. I may have been a bit aggressive with all of the DIY projects that I committed to for this wedding, but when I have a project stuck in my head; it’s really hard to let it go, so I was lucky that I was able to enlist the help of my girls. And, all I had to do was provide wine and pizza. Score!

With the help of my very best friend, Amy, and her little man, Jace, I’ve been collecting baby food jars for several months now. Making them into lanterns couldn’t be easier. Simply wrap the lip of the jar with thin wire of different lengths (so they can hang from different parts of the tree) and drop a tea-light candle in each one. Done. It’s a fantastic way to recycle and add some sparkle to your backyard, deck, party, or in my case,  wedding reception!