Crafting a DIY Rustic Chic Wedding.

PSSSST...I'm no longer blogging here!

You can now find me at

www.acottagegirl.com

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Today, I spent the better part of the day organizing and photographing all the wedding cra(p)ft stuff

we hope to resell to some other rustic chic fall/winter bride. 

This post, my friends, is eternally long, but filled with all the cra(p)fty stuff that kept me pulling my hair out busy these last few months. 

 (btw, see my first wedding post HERE)

 In the meantime...(drumroll) 

A Tour of the Decor!

(with some cheater photos I took today while organizing)

The Entry Welcome Table

(regulars to my blog will recognize a plethora of items from my home)

My daughter originally told me she wanted a vintage-y, rustic-like, barn-ish wedding.  

Armed with that info, I shopped my house, and started pinning all things 'rustic wedding' like a madwoman.

Absolutely COULDN'T have done this without Pinterest!

If you click that link, you'll see shadows of everything you're about to see.

I also linked to any specific pins I used thru-out this epic posting.

Anyway......

At the Welcome Table, I tried to give hints of what would be seen 

upstairs in the main ceremony/reception room.

Not that most folks got it.....smh.

I made the ivory burlap pennant banners, table cloth, and wreath, and painted the wood letters.

 (I made up the rhyme above using some other catchy phrases I found on pinterest)

Had fun with some scrapbook paper, a rustic frame, a cool font, and Jane Austen.

I had hung this painted, burlap-backed frame in the hall with another lovely quote:

(isn't that romantic?)

Found the burlap mini-canvases on clearance at Michaels and used a fabric paint marker to make the 'K+K'.  

Hung it on braided twine.

It was right above them for the receiving line.

The venue didn't have a place to run a video collage, and my daughter REALLY wanted one since she's a camera hog major fan of cameras (and has been since she was little.)

We solved this problem in two ways, the first being an old screen door, 

some twine and a butt-load of mini clothes-pins:

We clipped on pics of the two kids together and just leaned it up against a wall leading 

to the buffet line so folks would have something to laugh look at while they waited.

The second fix was to make mini photo albums with the kid's baby/child pictures for the tables. 

Just a piece of cardstock folded down the middle with a pic on the front and back 

and a couple stuck in the middle.

Each table had a different little album, and my DJ/MC son encouraged guests 

to meander around to see each of them.  

Ok back to the tour...

Heading upstairs, you were immediately met with the 

The Cake Table

(cake is overexposed due to a spotlight, and a novice understanding of my new camera)

You can see the cake a bit better in this shot.

We wanted a very simple, rustic icing treatment, and our baker (Kelly's dad's girlfriend) delivered in a most excellent way.  (Thank you Teresa!!!)

Here's one of the mini side cakes, with the bitty banner I made for the main cake, 

which was currently being sliced for guests.

Wrapped the bases in burlap and added a halo of live baby's breath and tiny pinecones.

Alrighty, moving right along....

The Gift Table

which was situated next to the Cake Table.

Again, lots of stuff from my own house used as props.

Recognize those windows?

I printed more quotes with quirky fonts and stuck 'em on.

"I never wish to be parted from you from this day on" (Pride and Prejudice)

"You have bewitched me body and soul." (Pride and Prejudice)

"I loved you the moment I laid eyes on you.  What would be more reasonable than to marry you?" 

(Little Women)

The wedding gave me lots of opportunities to try out some crafting techniques I'd pinned.

One was the crackle painted letters below.

Here's how it looked at the wedding:

And I stenciled one of  SEVEN (whew!) 25 ft burlap pennant banners I made to hang over the stairwell.

(There was a banner in each corner of the room, as well as behind and on the Head Table)

 Speaking of which....

The Head Table

More burlap pennants and table cloths.

What, you thought I was kidding when I said I was 

buried in pinecones and burlap for the last 3 months?

The ginormous chipboard 'C' and two 'K's were painted, and I modpodged ivory burlap over them.

I also learned to print on burlap and made these 'Bride' and 'Groom' signs.

Embellished a couple Dollar Store toasting glasses with scrapbook letters, 

twine, and velvet ribbon to match the bouts.

The pinecone candle holder was one of several I picked up at Hobby Lobby.
The tall ones were used with the Unity Candle, which you can kinda see below.

Set up at home:

As the ceremony was set up on what would become the dancefloor, we didn't have a ton of decoration for the 'altar' other than a 30 ft burlap runner and 4 large candle sconces we made from old banister rails up front.

(again, no pics from that night, so here's one set up at home for the 'for sale' album)

The jute ribbon garland is one of three I did up and draped along the stairway, tied off with pinecone swags.

(horrible pic, but you get the idea)

I also didn't get any pictures at the wedding of the pinecone bouquets and bouts we made, 

so here's some pics of those from home:

Matron of Honor had a grey cameo to match her grey slouchy boots.

I just picked up the vases at Dollar Tree and added some jute twine.

I can do a tutorial for these for anyone's interested.

The fake baby's breath bout at the top was a backup in case the live baby's breath one for the groom wilted.

I used this tutorial to make them.

Some other details:

Centerpieces.  Didn't get a photo at the ceremony, but here's what they look like.

If you want to see the Darth Vader silhouettes we used on them for table numbers, 

you'll have to click HERE.

                                          We had three different types of votives on each table.
                Deep brown burlap wrapped candles, twine wrapped votives, and mini jam jar holders.

I spraypainted the outer lid of the jam jars with ORB.

(all the decent pictures are from my brother, who definitely knows how to use his camera)

The twine wrapped votives, with birdseed favors from this etsy shop.

(though I have tons left over to sell.  Just tear off the paper heart and add your own name and date).

My daughter Maddie of Breakfast at Tiffany's Bridal Shower fame, designed the program pack,

which included the order of events, 

a wedding lore fact sheet (behind program), a mad lib guest card, 

personalized cup sleeve for the cocoa bar downstairs, and the birdseed favors.

 These matched the invites she designed.  I'll show you a pic of one of those in another post.

Mad Lib, tweaked from HERE.

Wedding lore we gathered and edited from different online sources. Maddie added the graphics.

Close up of the program, (using inspiration from THIS), so's you can read it :)

Next up, our wee Bridal Herald carrying the burlap sign I made for her:

Here's a picture of her outfit.

(pic by gramma of the groom)

She wore a handmade chocolate brown tutu with a neutral cardigan that I embellished with a similar brooch of handmade flowers like the bride's waistband.

She was bookin' down that aisle!

Here's how I made the Bridal Herald sign:

I got some thin foamboard, painted then hot glued some dowels to the back, used some spray adhesive to adhere the burlap, and pulled threads for the fringe.  Then I tied bits of ribbon, torn muslin strips (used on the corners of the ivory burlap pennant banners as well), and lace hem tape to embellish the top.

Lastly, I traced chipboard letters onto cereal boxes, painted them with acrylic craft paint, then hot glued them onto the burlap.

My daughter-in-law and bridesmaid made this super cute banner out of fabric 

we bleached, tea-dyed, then stencilled:

Then there was the banner I made for outside, using the dark brown burlap and using the same technique I used for the bridal herald signage...tracing, painting and hotgluing the letters on:

(I showed you this pic before, but it's the only shot I have with the banner in the background)

Says "Kelly and Kristen"

And the photo booth!  What fun was had at the photo booth!
Painted a formica desk top with chalkboard paint, then wrote on it with chalkboard marker.

All the costumes and props we had available.

And here's me! 

Showing off the fabric flower corsage I made with a brooch containing Kristen's baby pic. 

 I made a similar one for the groom's mama with Kelly's baby pic.

We made all the bridesmaids/bride herald bouquets and hair pieces, men's bouts and ladies corsages, and Kristen's birdcage veil/fascinator and waistband by hand.  

The only live flowers we used were bunches of baby's breath circling the cakes, for the bride's bouquet/tossing bouquet, and the grooms bout. 

(I LOVE this picture my brother caught as Kristen and Hubs made their way down the aisle)

We also put some on the burlap and pinecone chair sashes lining the aisle.

Because I ordered so darn much (who knew 10 bunches would fill a palace???)
I filled two big brown-painted terra cotta pots with the remaining ginormous tufts of baby's breath on either side of the entrance to the aisle.

And hey, guess what I was doing minutes before the ceremony began?

Wielding the trusty hot glue gun, fixing the pin on the back of  Kelly's flower.

Eegads, it never ends....

Lastly, a pic from Kelly's aunt taken of the couple's first dance, so you can see a bit what the whole room looked like.  The hanging centerpiece was lighted organza with swathes of burlap underneath.

I was pretty stoked with how everything looked, and am kicking myself for not taking more pictures....

Again, if you want to see the REAL DEAL,visit our photographer's page:

Christen Wedding

They captured the mood of the celebration perfectly, 

as well as lots of the stuff I showed you above 'in action'.

If you made it to the end of this tome, kuddos to you!

I'll be back with a few more wedding shots in the next day or so (can't help myself), 

then it's on to other stuff.

For Reals.

Linked to the parties listed in my sidebar.
Edited to add:  linked to Donna's Party Ideas Sat. Nite Special