daisy days

I found a great (new to me) wedding merchandise resource - Daisy-Days.com.  Take a gander around the shop and be impressed with the selection of wedding accessories like:

DIY program fans (less expensive than the programs I DIYed at the local print shop!)

cute CUTE cute "LOVE" pillowcases...sweet gift for the bride and groom.  I am currently "eyeing" these as a gift for someone....umm...and for myself....thankyouverymuch.

Plantable and recyclable invitations so a long way in my book - love Eco-responsible designs.

There is a super stinkin' cute baby section with gifts for new mommy's and daddy's  (I spent a LOT of time here...lots of little treasures!)

Check it out...they have a sale section with different sales going on all the time...my kinda shop!

diamond rhinestone ribbons

I just got some diamond rhinestone ribbon from Koyal Wholesale, the worlds largest wedding and event supply company.  Let me tell you - it is so outstanding and sparkly!  It's not made out of actual rhinestones, it's multifaceted plastic, so it's very lightweight and pliable....umm...and did I mention it's sparkly?  The summer wedding season is upon us and this has been my secret weapon for wrapping pretty presents.  (AND I'm really stoked about my Christmas wrapping this year...oh man...nothing like a little glitter under the tree!!)  Obviously the ribbon can be be used for all sorts of things...from gift wrapping to decorating vases, candles, and anything else you can think of.  A quick way to dress up almost anything.

Koyal Wholesale has lit-er-ally anything you need for any event...I was checking out their cupcake wrappers and they have every color you can ever imagine - as well as manzanita branches, edible favors and everything in between.  Definitely worthy of a browse if you are in the market for wedding supplies.

champagne and plumes

Oh hello again beautiful wedding design!  My girls, Rachael, of Lace and Likes, and Deb, of BridalHood, collaborated and created a gorgeous wedding design that was featured on Elizabeth Anne Designs.  It's sparkly and soft and dreamy and just divine!  Go check out all the splendor here!

the wedding greenhouse

 
I was recently sent a few sample plants from a company, The Wedding Greenhouse, that specializes in plants as wedding favors.  That concept was something that Tommy and I toyed around with giving as gifts for our own wedding.  This is the post I did on that here.  I love the idea of giving plants as gifts for parties and weddings - it doubles as decor and as the guest gifts!

The plants provided by The Wedding Greenhouse were well packaged in individual cardboard boxes (recyclable!) and were nicely wrapped in different color schemes, with coordinating ribbons.  Not only do they offer wedding colors, but they also have baby shower color options - super cute!  The colors they sent me were light blue, light pink, and white - perfect to decorate my house for Easter (but there are many color options to choose from.) 

These lil plants are low maintenance and is thriving in our apartment despite the cloudy weather outside our window... my kinda plants!

bright and brilliant poms

The more I see pom poms, the MORE I love them.  I have them hanging in my little baby's nursery in different shades of yellow.  My friend Sarah sent me this fantastic link from Martha Stewart: Tissue Paper Pom Pom How To and I had to pass it along - along with some AMAZING pictures of the brilliant pom poms her sister made for a birthday party! 

Oh too fun!!!  Look at those colors!  Thanks so much for sharing Sarah - these are amazing!

lace&likes spotlight

 

My girl Rachael, over at that incredible mind blowing gorgeous blog, LaceAndLikes, has delightfully chosen to pursue her calling as a designer, planner, and wedding lover...yes....she is now a wedding designer!

I am so excited for this talented lady!  She designed the most alluring and lovely details for her own recent wedding (which has been featured up and down the blogosphere by the way...see it here at Style Me Pretty) and has designed gorgeous weddings along the way.  She will create and craft a dreamy day for you too. 

She's based out of Oregon (where so many of my fave designers and artists call home...must be something beautiful in the water out there).  Check out her website:  Lace And Likes, and her blog:  Lace And Likes...and be prepared to just fall in love.

le chic weddings

I wanted a banner like this sooooo bad!!! 

Are you ready for some wedding awesomeness in the form of delicate beauties and unique loveliness?  Le Chic Wedding Boutique has some real gems that are just DIVINE!  (Even for home decor!!  I have a pillow or two on my wish list now!)  They have an incredible collection of rustic chic wedding items that make my inner mountain bride droooooool!!  (Not to mention, their prices are reasonable - some of their pieces remind me sooo much of JCrew or Anthro and their pricetags are a fraction of the price!!)

Seriously - from bridal fashions and groom gear, to beautiful buntings and ceremony decor this shop has it all. 
Go explore - and be inspired!  (I got the link to this shop in my email inbox...and I HAD to share with you!!)

These are perfect for a woodsy celebration - sooo pretty!

I'm loving these vintage-esque garters...they have a great collection!

these porcelain vases/luminaries are so graceful and beautiful - I want one.

They have a GREAT collection of clutches...my personal fave accessory when I get dressed up.

I. Love. Pompoms.

I will probably dream of this pillow tonight.


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the love table

OneLovePhoto

Over the past year I attempted to collect the wedding photos of my aunts and uncles as well as Tommy's  aunts and uncles.  I even have pictures of both of my sets of grandparents, two sets of great grandparents, and one set of great great grandparents wedding pictures. You'd think this would be an easy task - not so!  My mom happened to have wedding pictures of her four brothers and sisters, but my dad didn't have ANY of his five siblings!  I didn't want to harass people for these items, so I would occasionally send emails and such but I honestly didn't have them all until the DAY of the wedding!  Ha!

When it was all said and done, I had all the wedding pictures - quite a lovely collection.  I won a contest that included a bunch of silver frames.  Wouldn't you know that we had almost exactly enough silver frames to include the wedding pictures of each aunt and uncle that would attend our event?  Plus frames from our grandparents and one set of great grandparents.  It was meant to be.

So I printed out their names and displayed these beautiful wedding photos in the foyer between the ceremony site and the reception lodge.  I loved how it turned out.  All of these marriages are unique and strong...and the presence of these relatives at our wedding was a blessing.

Right before my dad and I walked down the aisle, this was the table that we stood in front of.  Those were the smiling faces looking back at me in those final seconds before I became a wife...it was a reflective moment  (no longer than a millisecond to be honest) but it was long enough to see the picture of my Grammie smiling back at me on the day she wed my Grandpa.

our "pay it forward" details

Our wedding assembled so much creative energy from people around us - we didn't have the cash flow to hire people to do stuff for us or to buy lots of "wedding decor."  (I think the only thing we actually bought was the card holder....ummm...with a coupon?)   Anyway...

OneLovePhoto

A HUGE element that helped transform  our wedding tablescapes from ho-hum to bangerange  was the burlap table runners.  Insert my girl, Christy, The Hindsight Bride, who generously graced our wedding with the burlap table runners from her own wedding.  Have you ever heard of such a thing?  It was the sweetest gesture and brought tears to my eyes.  Really.  Not only that...she sent a couple of bags of pinecones that decorated the tables at her wedding as well.  Such LOVE has been bounced around on those table runners and pinecones now!  Thank you thank you thank you Hindsight Bride...you are beautiful.


Another monstrous thank you shout out goes to my bloggy friend at Very Married.  I inherited an array of silver frames that were used in her wedding.  It would have been easier for her to give these away locally, and not dead with shipping and such, except, she did...and she sent them to me.  These enabled us to create the "love table" - one of my favorite things we had at the wedding.  Such a special detail that would not have happened without those frames!  Thank you Very Married!! 

I have to give props to Sera for offering up her incredible seamstress skills when I started freaking out about my "old" dress.  Her kindness made me cry.  As in....I needed Kleenex.  She's a bloggy friend that has seriously turned into a keeper.  Chic 'N Cheap offered to loan me her glorious veil - what a sweetheart.  And one of my fave reader/email pals offered to loan me jewelry from her own personal jewelry collection.  Such kindness was showed to me from these internet kindred spirits...this is why blogging is so addicting to those of us that do it - a real network forms...a community develops of strangers...of people... who actually care about you and your dreams to come true too.  (and why it's so perplexing to those people who don't blog and don't understand what a "blog community" is!)  I've shared my wedding planning journey more intimately with this community of readers than I did with anyone in my "real life."  These connections have changed my life.  They certainly enhanced our wedding! 

One Love Photo

Onwards to our Dessert Table - where everything was a gift from a whole slew of loving hearts.  Our dear friend made our cake and pies...another friend made us two different types of cupcakes...ALL of it was divine.  My sister let us borrow her pretty white wire cupcake tree, my mom let us borrow two of her crystal cake platters, and my aunt let us borrow her adorable serving pieces.  It was a lovely spread...thanks to the generosity of those around us.

Obviously, the wedding was decorated by family and friends who gifted their afternoon on that beautiful Sunday to create a lovely space for our wedding.  They lined the aisle with pinecones, created simple yet glorious tablescapes, made the bouquets, arranged the love table, organized the space, fashioned a delectable dessert table, and handed out programs at the ceremony.  They read poems, and said prayers during our ceremony...one special lady even flew out to Arizona to marry us on that mountain top.  They created an open afternoon for Tommy and I to enjoy each other and to capture some lovely memories.  This community, our little community of family and friends, made us feel solidly supported, so very loved, and blessed beyond words.

I have a lil pay it forward up my sleeve to keep the good vibes flowing.  I'll be announcing it in a few days.

what table are you sitting at?

One Love Photo

Tommy and I have a real love for road trips - and have taken many.  A couple of years ago we started collecting license plates from the places we had traveled....it has grown and grown!  We wanted to incorporate these into our wedding somehow.  So instead of using table numbers, we made them the table identifiers and it was the perfect way to do it.

We had 20ish plates, which would have been just enough with the smaller tables that SnowBowl used to have.  A couple months before our wedding, the SnowBowl got larger tables, so we only needed 12 license plates.  The hardest part was picking which one's to include!!!  We ended up selecting the states that were most precious to us:  Rhode Island, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Louisiana, New York, Hawaii, and Nevada. 

One Love Photo

We had quite a few license plates, and we picked up a few more online (like ebay!)  Then it was time to "make" them.  We made a night out of it!  We soaked and scrubbed the plates as clean as they could get.  Then we took our old Atlas...the one we had used for our countless journeys...and used each states map to cover the backs of the corresponding state's plate.  It was neat because some of the maps had highlighted routes and penciled in notes made by us over the years.

 One Love Photo

Then I took out my boxes of pictures...and Tommy and I went through and picked out our favorite pictures from our adventures to add to the backs of the license plates.  Every plate was decorated with a picture of us IN that state.  It was WONDERFUL to relive those adventures again!   It might sound silly - but this was a memory maker in itself - a night I will surely remember.  Some of the pictures we found were from before we were boyfriend and girlfriend...and in some of the pictures we look so young!  Rehashing adventures is the best.

 that Arizona plate was a popular picture prop with all the out-of-towners! via One Love Photo

After all the work we put into them, I was a little worried that they might look too "crafty" and not really wedding pretty.  But it was one of the Tommy's favorite things for the wedding - and it was one of my favorite nights spent working on wedding stuff.  Thankfully, I realized I was being kinda silly and we ended up using them and I'm so glad that we did!  They were a hit - and were a unique way for us to personalize our wedding and share our journey with our guests.

the plates with the maps and pictures....

I ended up bordering the backs of the plates with black stock 

to make it look more finished.

  a couple of plates hanging in our former bathroom

Now they decorate our hall way!  Best thing ever.

*note:  I've had a few questions from real friends and bloggy friends alike as to where I found this idea.  Truth be told, I've never seen it done before.  Maybe that's another reason I was slightly hesitant to do it.  Thankfully, it turned out bodacious!

full circle streamers

Via here

One of my fave readers, Linda, sends me the greatest lil finds. I LOVE when readers send me ideas and inspiration and stories of their own life. Keep the love coming folks. It makes me day!

I like the idea of incorporating something simple like this to draw attention to different locations in our wedding venue. It has recently turned into a huge square room where our cake table, guest book table, blah blah blah will be located in the periphery. Hanging a few strands of "fun" from above would help draw attention to these attractions. Don't you think? Great idea, and o-so-chic.

decorating with firewood

a backdrop for the wedding ceremony (personally...love this)

a backdrop for the wedding band :-)

If you've got loads of logs at your fingertips...please please rock this look. Wood is so naturally stunning, and these ideas are awesome. Via here.

Thanks for sending this idea Linda!

change in plans

Flagstaff in the fall - oooooooooooooo - I just love it there! Via TwilightEarth

I spoke with the wedding coordinator at our venue last weekend. It was a great conversation, she's a sweetheart, and so many of my questions were answered (ie: how many kegs do you really think we need? how many tables will seat our guests? good DJs in the area? Shuttle services? Yea, I corned her for a good 40 minutes - thank God for cell phones in standstill freeway traffic!)

One item, in particular, caused my head to spin a lil. The facility had some damage this summer and they are needing to remodel. This is probably a great thing for Snow Bowl - it's a little older and could probably benefit from a little tiny bit of work. The bummer comes from the fact that they are permanently removing the HUGE stone fireplace that I loved. I love LOVED it. I've mentioned that fireplace here and here...and have been planning the decor of the event around it. The structure split up the large space so perfectly - creating an intimate dining area on one side, and a dance area on the other...it had such a lovely flow. Also, my mom, my future mother in law, and I, have been scouring antique stores, flea markets, and vintage shops for crystal candlesticks for months now....to decorate the huge 15 foot mantles on either side of the fireplace. You don't even WANT to know the number we have collected. Will be using them for other things now...

Am I devastated? Umm...no, not really. I still love the fact that I'm getting married up there...high on the mountain...surrounded by the most beautiful views and most glorious trees. But the fireplace? It will be missed.

Now. I need to figure out how to decorate a huge huge room, so it doesn't feel like a huge huge room. I'm thinking bunting? garland? pom poms? Any suggestions?

thrifting through the weekends

Better Homes & Gardens

Over the summer I spent a couple of weekends thrifting with my mom at our fave vintage spots. She had a flipping genius idea. But let me lead up to that...

The venue for our event has two HUGE stone fireplaces each with a 15 foot wood mantle. Originally, I wanted to buy a crazy ton of white pillar candles varying in height and dimension and fill the length of each mantle. It would be stunning! I started pricing the pillar candles that I have in mind. Suuuuuper expensive. Well, not individually of course, the smaller ones were around $4 - $10, but the large one's were $15 - $40. $40 for one candle? I think not. Plus, I wanted boatloads of them. Boatloads. To be fair, I could wait for sales after Christmas, and stock pile at that time. But my after Christmas schedule is nutso this year, with another move across the country from Rhode Island to Tucson, two weeks worth of residency interviews (scary!) and my rotation in the emergency department at the Tucson VA. Ahhhh!

Martha

So. My mom's fab solution? Crystal/glass candlesticks! Tapered candles are affordable - we bought a box of 18 for $3.50, and another box of 10 for $1 (thanks to rad coupons from Michael's and JoAnna's) so now we just needed to start collecting candlesticks. We collected about 25 in one weekend, and paid anywhere from $.17 to $.75 each! Oh - and they are so lovely...they sparkle and gleam and will look so pretty up in the lodge!

How come I've never seen this done before? This is such a perfect idea. Good thinking Mom.

*note: I took oodles and oodles of pictures of these prizes on the mantle at my parents house and it looks so great! But my camera busted, again, for the last time, and I am unable to access my pictures. Very unfortunate. I'm buying a new one tonight - as there are sprouts of RED LEAVES on the trees and I have to capture this transformation!