A handmade wedding - some decor

As a lot of you know, Adam and I got married six months ago. We received a disc of the wedding photos from our lovely photographer, Erin, on Friday. Since then I have been anxious to make a post about the handmade elements of our wedding and a few tips for those of you doing the same. So! Let's do this!

Like I already mentioned, all photos were taken by Erin of a love supreme. If you need photos for your special day, engagement, portraits, whatever - I super mega totally recommend her! I'm lucky to be currently working with her on a project and she is just the greatest! She is based in Maine but is looking to travel.

The first thing I have to say about having a lot of handmade things in your wedding is: enlist as much help as possible. It's really easy to think that you can do it all yourself, but trust me, you probably can't without losing your mind. Plus your friends and family will most likely be excited that you've asked them to help with such a special day.



The little birds in the glasses were all sewn by me using this pattern from Spool. I designed the fabric and had it printed on a cotton/linen blend through Spoonflower . The patterns matched the patterns used on our save the dates and invites. The birds were wedding favors and had little tags around their necks to let people know where to sit.



The napkins, oooh the napkins! My mom sewed all of them! After months of sending me swatches of fabrics she was collecting I picked three that I really liked and she got to work. I'm not sure how many she ended up making, but I think she is going to make Adam and I a quilt with them.

We spent months collecting pieces of milk glass and other glass pieces in the wedding colors for the tables. Big discovery - milk glass vases cost about $2-$3 less at Goodwill/Salvation Army per vase here in Eugene than they did in Maine. Weird, huh?

The lanterns were purchased from Luna Bazaar. Some of the colors were kind of off from what they were supposed to be, but in the end, it really didn't matter at all. My brothers hung all of them and they did such an amazing and creative job. I think I suggested how they hang one set of them and the rest was all them and perfect! Thing I have to say #2: you don't need to be in control of everything. Trust your helpers and remember, if something doesn't get done - your guests totally aren't going to notice unless you tell them!



Remember all those crochet pieces I was making in the spring? I crocheted about 100 pieces in different shapes and sizes. That is, and isn't a lot of pieces. This brings me to the third thing I have to say: be flexible with your design ideas. You'll more than likely have to change or completely throw out some of your ideas. And I promise you, it won't ruin your day! My initial idea for the crochet pieces was completely different than what we used them for but in the end, I think they looked great and some people even took some home with them.




These garlands were my mom's idea and what a great one! She sneakily started collecting paint swatches in the wedding colors, which is really not hard for her. The woman L-O-V-E-S paint chips. We sat my dad down with a glass of wine and some paper punches and set him to work punching out shapes. Then my mom, dad and brothers took turns sewing the pieces together and creating the garlands.



My brothers also made these tissue paper garlands. (I can't remember the site we got the pattern from right now!) They hung them from the trees outside of the hall where we had the reception. They looked so pretty! They also made flowers for the tables and my friend and bridesmaid DeAnne and I made some fabric ones.



The last thing I am going to share in this post is the drink stirrers that we enlisted my dad to put together. I don't think he hated this project, but I'm also not sure he loved it. We made them from crepe streamers, bamboo skewers and floral tape. Oh, and we also made the delicious sangria!

I'm going to do another post after the holiday about a few more wedding things. I hope that for those of you planning your own wedding my little suggestions are helpful. I know it can be stressful! And if anyone needs any ideas, I still have SO many!

Oh, and I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Wedding bird mobile

I was supposed to be setting up my side of Adam and I's workroom (and I did, a little bit!) but instead I made this!

My mom sent me the left over birds I made as favors for the wedding and I'd been trying to think of what to do with them. This was a nice quick way for me to have some out as a memory. The bird pattern is free, from the Spool website and the fabric was designed by me and printed through Spoonflower. 

Crazy weeks

Wow, what a nutty couple of weeks it's been. I know I already mentioned it but Adam and I got married on May 15th. The pic below is from the preview pics our photographer, Erin Wallace, posted on her blog a few weeks ago. You should totally check out her photography blog as well as her personal one.

Adam looked oh so handsome! It really was such a perfect day and everything went so smoothly. Everyone was so happy and I think they all had lots of fun. I didn't get to take as many pics of the decor as I would have liked but luckily other people did! My pal Casie, who was one of my bridesmaids, has some great posts over at her blog about the wedding weekend and set up and hang outs and all that good stuff  here, here and here! (It's a three-parter!) When I have more pictures of decor collected I'll make a post about all the stuff my family and I made. As it turns out, big brothers are excellent at making paper flowers and putting up decorations.

Oh and here is one pic from honeymoonin'. We drove all over the place but here is a pic from the top of Cadillac Mountian looking down on Bar Harbor.

Ok, I'll be back with another post about a new project I started a little later!

Perfect!

Most perfect weekend ever. The wedding was perfect, the weather was perfect. Everyone was so happy and we got to see so many of the faces that we miss. Here we are with some of our friends who came/ were in the wedding when we walked to the beach yesterday.



I'll post some wedding pics when I get some!

I heart Bailey Island

I'll be heading back to Maine next week and I'm so excited. I know I've probably said it a bunch of times already but I can't believe it's almost wedding time! For those of you that don't know, the wedding will be taking place on Bailey Island. It's a special place for us and sometimes Adam and I daydream about living there someday and Adam taking a boat to work in Portland every day. (Even though you drive to the island, whateves!) So I wanted to take a moment to share, with those who have never been there, some beautiful photos around the island from Flickr.

1. Fishing Shack, 2. Granite Cribbing, 3. Untitled, 4. cribstone, 5. Mackerel Cove, 6. boat fog 2, 7. Maine harbor, 8. Winter Sunrise, Lands End, Bailey Island, Harpswell, Maine, 9. maine

I'm so excited that Adam and I have some friends coming to the wedding from Oregon. I think maybe only one of them has been to Maine (maybe Tim?) so it's going to be awesome showing them around!  37 days til I'm a Mrs!

Fabric and stuff

I'm heading home to Maine in a few weeks for an insane marathon of wedding decoration and favor making with my Mom. Although I've been keeping busy with some wedding projects there is still so much to be done!

Last week I got my  fabric from Spoonflower in the patterns I designed for our save the dates and invitations. I'm not going to tell you what the fabric is going to be used for but it's going to be cute! I got a yard of each pattern on a cotton/linen blend canvas and I absolutely love how they came out! 

The colors look much richer in person but it's not the nicest day here and I snapped a pic during the only few minutes of sunshine so far today. I changed the fuchsia pattern up and I like it lots.


I helped out my friend Kristin yesterday and I got to see the plates for our invitations. I kept taking them out and looking at them and I can't wait until we can start printing. Even though there is still much to do for the wedding it's so cool to see things coming together.


Only 50 more days!

And it continues..

Back to wedding crocheting!

Austin half watching over and half staring me down.

Sometimes in the right (or wrong?) light he kind of looks like he only has one eye.

So I'm up to 87 pieces and counting. I feel like I could have so many more done but I'm trying really hard to make sure I take a day or two in between crochet-a-thons so I don't end up hurting my wrists.

Yesterday I went over to talk final details about our invitations with Kristin of Twin Ravens Press. I am so excited that we are getting to work with her and I can't wait to help out once we can get started with printing.

It feels so good to get stuff like that checked of the wedding to do list. Most of the time is spent feeling kind of like things might not ever come together and then before you know it there's only a few things left to do! Well, only a few more things to do if you aren't my mom or I because we still need to make a thousand things.

Sometimes I'm helpful!

Today was great! Austin and I went for a nice walk this morning. It was nice and dry out and even sunny. Adam and I had lunch together and then we went to see Kristin from Twin Ravens Press to talk about our wedding invitations. We went over not really having any idea of what we wanted to do. Kristin showed us so much beautiful and creative work  and gave us so many new ideas of what we could do that I think she got us both pretty excited. Earlier in the day she mentioned that she needed some help in the studio (She broke her leg about 4 weeks ago! Ouch!) so after our meeting I brought Adam back to work and went right back to help out.


Kristin printin'!

I had SO much fun. I mostly just carried stuff around for her and passed her stuff but it was so awesome to see all the steps that go into a letterpress project. I kind of felt like I was amazed by everything. Even cutting the paper! Even the little ticking counter on the letterpress! Even all the boxes of envelopes and all the paper samples. I think you are getting the point that I think what Kristin does is pretty awesome.

I can't wait to work on invitations now!

48 and counting.

That's how many pieces I have crocheted so far. It feels like a lot and so very little all at the same time.

I'm still on a hunt for the right blue colored yarn. I need to check some actual yarn shops and hopefully I can find something not too expensive. My friend Casie is coming over later so I can teach her to crochet and hopefully she can help me knock out some more of these bad boys.

My dress is supposed to be here tomorrow. Fingers crossed it works out well!

tr5tog, tr6tog, tr4tog. W.T.F.

If you know a lot about crocheting then this won't be a big deal, BUT I am excited. I have a really hard time reading patterns and directions. I usually have to read them at least 10 times and then maybe another 5 times out loud and then maybe think about what I just read or said for a couple hours before it even starts to seep into my brain. Have someone teach me one on one or show me a video and I'll pick it up pretty quick.  Stick words in front of me and, well, you get the idea.

So here is what I am so excited about. Turns out that it's actually ridiculously simple to make, it's just that pesky wording! Why must there be so many parenthesis, brackets and asterisks in crocheting!

Oh and I made this because I'm practicing the different elements in this:

I want to make it in our colors for the head table at the wedding. It's so pretty and the pattern is here!

It's the sound of my shoes.

First off - this video/song has been stuck in my head ever since my friend Ashley posted it on my wall on facebook a few weeks ago.



It's pretty ridiculous/awesome and Adam and I can't stop making jokes about it. I'm also in love with the hairpiece that the girl is wearing in the video. Especially the pom poms! I want to glue some on my face right now!

Things are moving forward wedding wise. I finally popped the save the dates in the mail and made a special little card for two super cute little ladies asking them to be our flower girls.


I realized last night how little I have thought about my dress. I've probably thought about it the least out of everything! At this point I have spent way waaaaay more time hunting down possible bridesmaid dresses. I even ordered one last night to see how it looks in person (thanks, Ma!) and I'm really hoping it's super cute!

In other news last night I made a Sim who has kelptomaniac as one of her traits. She stole someone's bathroom sink. I think her compulsion is out of control!

Yay!

Our save the dates came today! I get really excited/impatient about deliveries and kept peeking out the window on our door every time I heard a truck. (Which, by the way, when you live next door to a busy restaurant, is A LOT.) Oddly enough, the blue color that I was making such a fuss over before came out great and they gold color ended up a little strange but still looks a-ok!


I spent most of the evening working on envelopes, cutting the save the dates down to the right size and punching the corners. Also carving some stamps and working on an illustration. I haven't spent that much time hunched over the table in my craft room in a while. It felt great and also reminded me that I need a new, comfortable chair in there sooner than I thought. Also my thumb hurts from punching the stupid corners.



So excited! Just need a few more addresses and then we can send them out!

Stop it, rain!

Last week Adam mentioned that there only six months left until the wedding. Six months has never sounded like such a short amount of time before. We ordered our save the date cards on Sunday even though we had been meaning to order them since I got back in September. I drove myself crazy with the colors of a print preview not matching up to what I have in real life. Then Adam reminded me (about 100 times) that they are just the save the dates and we can worry about that for the actual invitations.

 I don't want to share the design yet but here are the patterns I used on it!
 

I cannot wait to get them and then start stuffing some envelopes!

My mom's parents and weddin' stuff!

Ok, ok. So I have been trying not to talk much about wedding stuff on here but man, it's getting really hard!


Now that I have started to do some wedding planning I have been thinking about my mom's parents a lot. Although my grandfather died before I was born and I never got to see them together I was always aware of how much they loved each other. I found this picture today and it makes me feel so happy!

Adam and I have figured out where we are going to have our ceremony and reception. My mom and I went to Bailey Island yesterday. We met with my old co-worker, Laura, who is basically an encyclopedia of all things Bailey Island related. She was a HUGE help and showed us places and gave us so much info. Here's a lil' sneak peek of the outside of the building we will have the reception in:


Just trust me when I say that this picture does not even a little bit convey the charm of this building. And the inside! Oh man, perfect! I can't wait to get all the info from Laura so we can book this sucker!

:)

Well, well. I've had a busy couple of days.

I totally missed out on Halloween. I woke up feeling sick as a dog on Friday and I was so bummed out. I kept hoping that I'd feel better by the night time but, no dice! So Adam and I watched Ghost Hunters Live and ate cookies.

Saturday totally made up for it though...because Adam asked me to marry him!! We picked out a ring together on Wednesday, but it had to get sized, etc, so I didn't know for sure when it would be ready. So it was still kind of a surprise!! We are both so happy! Umm, here is my ring!!

Picking out a ring was one of the more stressful things I've done in my life. I'm pretty sure I looked terrified the entire time and my heart was beating about 8 billion time a minute.

I've started doing some stitching on paper again. I really like what has been coming out. I need more patterned papers or magazines or whatever to cut up. Or I just need to make some.








I know I have said it a million times, but I really need to see if our scanner works. I think I want to get some frames for these and put them in the shop.

I hope you all voted today!!