The final product

Here are a couple shots of how the decorations turned out

Reuse & Recycle

It's time to pass my stuff on to another happy bride (and groom).

Please take a look at the items & how I used them below. If you're interested, get in touch and we can negotiate. The more you take, the sweeter the deal!

lanterns used in centerpieces.

Apothecary jars & inspiration. We served Lynchberg Lemonade out of them at the wedding. Laddles included!

Bucket with floating apple votives. Vintage bucket for sale.

84 Mason Jars available. Use to serve drinks in for extra "rustic" touch.

Fall leaf "foliage" garlands. Used to wrap around gazebo.

Triptych frame from Urban Outfitters.

Invitations

Since I am a graphic designer, I find there is so much (self imposed) pressure to create FABULOUS invitations. Well, here's the thing... I went fairly fancy with my STDs (I will post photos later) and I just don't have much energy left. Therefore, I'm going to keep them simple, clean & functional.

I found a company in the States that sells pocket-folder envelopes. They are very helpful and their prices are great. http://www.cardsandpocketsstore.com/

I've quickly mocked up what I plan to do here:




and am posting some inspiration (below) as well.

Centre pieces

Last weekend I was in Victoria and went over some of the plans for the centrepieces with my Dad & his girlfriend. He's a handy kind of guy and has agreed to build all of the boxes (see his first prototype below)


His girlfriend is taking care of the flowers (or greenery more-like). So we went to check out some plant choices at the local nursery also.

I'm very excited about this project & know that they will do an excellent job!

See the original inspiration below.

Updates

Okay, it's true, it's been much too long. I confess, I've taken a bit of a vacation from my planning. My hope was, if I got enough done in advance, I could relax and have fun for the Summer.

Recently I've gotten back on track. Reconnected with my venue - there's some updates to do on the wedding site this weekend. Booked my rental company (and linens with a separate company). The last couple of days I've been working out the invitations.

To do this weekend: buy rings (maybe), make decisions on honeymoon and book registry, order envelopes & design wedding invites, update website.

Also, need to get back on track with the workouts.

The dresses

Originally I found the "perfect" dress - eyelet lace, very flattering (similar to picture on right) but I could quite get over the fact that it was so casual. Which is when I found dress #2 (pictured left) by Nicole Miller. It's gorgeous but still not "bridal" - classy.


Now I just have to sort out the alterations, spot cleaning & under garments.

Our wedding bands

My engagement ring is an antique and would be quite hard to match so we're going to the other extreme!

These rings are super modern and designed by a Canadian designer

Mr. Wu's has concrete in it and mine has an accent colour on the inside.

I figure I'll just wear my engagement ring on the other hand.

Shoe options

I'm having some difficulty choosing shoes. This is because I have 2 very different dresses. Originally I had wanted something really chunky, like the Michael Kors huarache sandal to go with my reception dress. They are gorgeous but have high heels & are quite pricey (see right)

I figure I might need to buy 2 different pairs and am leaning towards pewter / muted metallic low heels for the ceremony & white espadrilles for the reception (see below)

Hair Inspiration for Koto

I'm lucky enough to have a good friend be my hairstylist! It'll be great to have her looking after me on the special day and I already trust her so I don't have to worry about having someone new do my hair on the day of.

Here is the inspiration:


I'm loving the loose curls. Koto's talking about giving my hair a boost with some extensions. I'm unsure of what kind of jewelry or clips to use if any. We'll have to do some trials and figure it out.

Flowers - DIY

I plan to use rustic pails holding local blooms throughout the reception area. Depending on the cost to having a wreath created (seen in Ceremony / other decor), I might attempt one myself like the one pictured top right. In the centre is the centre piece my Dad and his girlfriend are creating for us. The right middle photo shows a ring pillow made out of button chrysanthemums. I think I'll attempt this myself - it'll give me something to do the night before the wedding!

Flowers - pt 2

These are the inspiration for my boutinneires - no idea what to do for the ladies corsages (what are these exactly???) Do women really want to wear things around their wrists?

Flower Inspiration

These are for my bouquet. My main inspiration is the upper left corner; Colour inspiration is in the centre; I like the looseness of the lower left corner.

Ceremony (other decor)

To support the rustic feel & create warmth and atmosphere we'll add candles & details around the site.

Some inspiration:

Ceremony (aisle & chairs)

We're renting plain wooden chairs & we have cream coloured mats for aisle runners. We might scatter dried leaves along the edges of the aisle. We'd like to decorate the chairs on the inside row (maybe every other one) with flowers or wheat bundles.

Ceremony (gazebo)

There is an extremely rustic gazebo that is available for the ceremonies right next to the lake at the "resort".


I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to decorate it. I bought some autumn leaf garlands that I might warp around the railings. Not sure whether to have flower arrangements or to just drape the whole thing in ivy & greenery.

Words of inspiration & venue

The words to inspire me are:

"rustic"
"intimate"
"island"
"homemade"

Part of this is due to a very limited budget but mostly Saltspring Groom & I want to keep it real. He had an image in his mind of a downhome party, near to water. We were so lucky to find a venue that fit the bill (not to mention our pocketbooks), who were flexible will let us bring our own vendors in and that is on Salt Spring Island which is also where Mr. Wu was born!



I recently revamped their site: Cedar Beach Resort

It needs a ton of decorating help but is beautiful, surrounded by forrest and perfect for our intimate, island affair!

My wedding palette

Colors are Teal, Chartreuse & Brown (woods, natural textures)

Inspiration for green comes from Dupioni Silk Ribbon by Midori in Harvest Gold.

Punky & I

First post

This will be a spot where I can collect my thoughts. Hopefully seeing it all online will make it a bit more cohesive.

I get ideas everyday and my favorite lists are filling up. Will be so nice to have it all in one place and start including friends in the process.