Wedding Wednesday - Style Me Pretty

Photo by Kelly Sweet

I meant to post this last week, but life caught up with me. Our wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty! This was a huge "pinch me!" moment. I read Style Me Pretty almost every day when I was engaged, and even found our photographer through their site.

I was so excited when the post went up! But for now, I promise this will be the last wedding post for a while. At least until my sister in law and/or one of my good friends gets married next year,  them I'm sure I'll have more to say on the topic!

Wedding Wednesday - DIY Vintage Book Table Numbers

Photo by Kelly Sweet

Many aspects of our wedding were DIY, but one of my favorite projects was our table numbers. We wanted a vintage, slightly rustic look for our tables but we didn't want to lose the element of class and elegance. We are both avid readers, so I loved the idea of using vintage books as a part of the table numbers. 

DIY Vintage Book Table Numbers:

Hardcover books - 1 per table

Rustic looking fabric such as burlap or a rough linen

Twine

Large stamp with whatever design fits the look & ink

Painter's Tape

Unfinished wooden numbers (mine were 4"tall and 1/2" thick bought from sjawood on ebay)

Spray paint (I used metallic silver)

Hot glue gun and glue sticks 

Start with a hard cover book, at least an inch or two thick. Cut the fabric to fit around the front and back of the book with an inch excess (like you did with book covers back in elementary school). Secure the fabric on the insides of the book - we used painter's tape to save the inside covers.

We then used a large stamp which we bought at Michaels, covered in a black ink. The fabric took the ink differently on each book, which gave a fun eclectic look. 

After stamping the books, we added a pink ribbon as a bookmark, and used twine to wrap the book shut.

I bought the wood from sjawood on ebay. They offer many styles and sizes of unfinished wood numbers, these were 4" tall wooden MDF numbers in the Arial font. I then spray painted the numbers silver. 

Once the numbers were dry, I hot glued them directly to the books. For double digit numbers I first glued the two pieces together before adhering them to the book. Let the hot glue fully dry before attempting to move the books anywhere, lest the numbers fall over. 

Photo by Kelly Sweet

And that's it! Simple table numbers for a rustic, vintage feel. We mixed the rustic feel of burlap squares and blue vintage ball jars with silver mercury glass and strings of beads for that hint of elegance. Mixed white and blush flowers completed our look and I think pulled it all together quite nicely! 

***The first and final photo are from our photographer, Kelly Sweet. All other photos were taken by me (some on my older iphone, so I apologize for the difference in photo quality). 

Wedding Wednesday - My Wedding Part 2

Proof that a little rain doesn't wreck a wedding day! 

Time for part 2! And man, was it hard to choose photos, when all I want to do is share them all. After the ceremony we headed to downtown Milwaukee where our reception was being held at Cuvee, a champagne lounge in the Third Ward. We took group photos in the area and then started celebrating the night away!

My lovely ladies

The dashing gents

One thing Kacey insisted on was pine cones in his boutonniere. I want to thank Deb at The Flower Lady for somehow incorporating them into a June wedding and not making it look too Christmasy. They looked fantastic and the guys loved them. 

Cuvee is in this old cream city brick building with exposed ceilings and pillars, so I wanted to go with a rustic, vintage look to fit in with the design of the building. We didn't use a wedding planner or designer - everything was planned and made by my mom, mother in law, aunts, friends, and myself. 

I collected blue mason jars for about a year from various antique shops and flea markets and I love how they added a pop of color to the table. We went with a light palette of creams, blush, and peach for the flowers and wanted a loose, natural, garden feel for the tables. I made the table numbers (DIY to come!) and found mercury glass candle holders for a bit of shine on the tables. I ended up designing the menu cards on Illustrator to tie in with the vintage theme of the invitations. 

I'll be honest, the dessert table was probably one of my favorite things :-) That was one detail that I knew I wanted from the beginning. Simma's bakery did an amazing job on the cake and all the mini desserts, and I think it was the hit of the party! I was so busy talking and dancing that night that I didn't even get a chance to try anything - but luckily we took the extras home and froze them so I can eat the left over pastries whenever I want to remember the wedding! 

One last fun detail - the beaded butterfly on my bouquet was given to me by my grandma. It was part of her mother's wedding dress from 1918 that she kept all these years! I really wanted to find a way to use it in my wedding, I loved that it was a part of my history and it fit perfectly into the look of the wedding. I kept it a surprise, and right before I walked down the aisle I showed my grandma the bouquet with the butterfly attached. She was so excited that she ended up crying! I was so happy that I was able to use so many personal items from my mom and grandmas for the wedding. 

So that's my wedding! There are about a thousand other photos I wish I could share, but you've probably had enough. The entire day just flew past and was absolutely amazing. I wish I could go back and relive it all again, but so far married life has been just as great! 

Wedding Wednesday - My Wedding Part 1

All images by Kelly Sweet Photography 

We finally got our wedding photos back and I luuuuuv them! Our photographer was Kelly Sweet and she was incredible. I want to post all of them, but there are over one thousand photos, so I'll just stick to two posts - one of getting ready and ceremony and the second of the reception and all the details (many were DIY, I'll be posting tutorials later as well!).

The photographer was a huge decision for Kacey and me. We knew that we wanted someone who would shoot all the little details of the day that we worked so hard on, but also capture the real moments of the wedding itself and the people involved. Kelly came all the way over from Michigan and was absolutely phenomenal. The entire day flew by, but every time I look at these pictures I remember what a perfect day it was (and then I start freaking out, this is my wedding?? These beautiful shots are my wedding??) It turned out more beautiful than I could have imagined, and it was all thanks to my family, my new in-laws, and my friends who helped do so much of the work to make everything perfect.

My mom helping me get ready

The girls got ready at my parents' house, while the guys got ready at the hotel. Kacey and I went back and forth on whether or not to see each other before the ceremony, but ultimately we decided to do a first look so we could do all the family photos before the ceremony. It was definitely the right decision, and we wouldn't have been able to fit it all in between the ceremony and reception. We were married at the church we went to in college. It's this beautiful old stone church that was built in the 1800s, and there really isn't much else like it around where we are. I always told myself in college that if I ever got married, it would take place there. And it did! 

My dad and I, waiting to walk down the aisle

We got married at the church we went to in college

We were married by a close friend of Kacey's family

Immediately after the ceremony :-)

The weather that day was crazy. It was raining in the morning, became sunny, hot, and incredibly humid, started downpouring right before the reception, and ended up as practically a hurricane by the time we left at midnight. Even so, we ended up with some great pictures!

A few notes: My wedding dress was Robert Bullock and I am absolutely in love with it. This was the dress I compared every other dress to and it took forever to find. The veil was my mom's and I was so honored that she let me hack it up and wear it. I really wanted a long veil with lace edging, but the pricing at the bridal shops was ridiculous - $300+ for a piece of tulle and some lace?! No thank you.  I was getting ready to take the plunge and try to make my own, when my mom stepped in and offered her veil. The main layer was exactly what I wanted, long and had a lace edge. She graciously let me detach the layer from the blusher and awesome 70s headpiece and sew it onto a comb. It was the absolute perfect finishing touch. I have so many more things to say about that day, but this is already getting long.

Stay tuned for Part 2 next week!

Dress: Robert Bullock
Shoes: Rampage via DSW
Necklace: Bloomingdales
Bracelet: JCrew
Hair: Impressions Salon in Mequon 
Flowers: The Flower Lady in Wauwatosa 
Church: St. John's Ev. Lutheran Church 

I'm Married!!!

After almost a full year of planning and organizing, Kacey and I were married on Saturday! I'm a Mrs.! We're in Hawaii for 2 weeks on our honeymoon but I wanted to post the one photo I have from the wedding. One of our groomsmen snapped this and was nice enough to pass it along. I can't wait to see al the photos from the wedding! It went by way too fast, but the day was perfect!

Wedding Madness

This is what I've been doing all week and weekend: 

Cleaning old keys for the escort cards

Hot gluing table numbers for the centerpieces 

Filling the favors

Boxing up candles and menus for the tables

5 days to go! This weekend was spent doing all the last minute wedding details as well as unpacking and organizing the new casa.  I can't believe there's only 5 days left of being a single lady. I can't wait to have all the hard work pay off and have a great wedding - but much more importantly, I can't wait to be married to my best friend and start our new life together! 

Wedding Wednesday - Honeymoon Packing

I have to stay, one of the things I'm most looking forward to about my wedding is Hawaii! Ok, so technically that's the honeymoon, but I'm in desperate need of a vacation and I can't wait to sit on a beach under a palm tree and have a daiquiri. Or three. I've never been to Hawaii before, so I've been putting some serious thought into what to pack:

Cute sandals. I love these with the pops of color, but they're all sold out online :-(

Aldo

 Colored shorts. I like these from Urban Outfitters for a fun take on chinos.

Urban Outfitters

Sunglasses (of course). I love the classic Ray Ban wayfarers.

Sunglass Hut

 Fun colored swim suits. Brightly patterned ones are also acceptable.

Victoria's Secret

 A fun maxi dress/cover up. I think these stripes are adorable, though I've also had my eye on tribal prints.

Piperlime

Has anyone been to Hawaii before and have tips on what to pack? I hear it's pretty casual and swim suits and flip flops are pretty much a uniform. Can't say there's anything wrong with that!

Bridal Shower

This past Sunday my wonderful aunts thew me a bridal shower full of tea, tasty food, and lots of pretties! They held it at the Washington House Inn, which is a bed and breakfast in Cedarburg, this quaint little town just north of Milwaukee. The kind of town where main street is all 19th/early 20th century buildings, ice cream shoppes, antique stores and an old mill. 

Some of my lovely bridesmaids  (sorry for the bad picture, it's from a phone!)

Me with my grandma and my mom

The shower was amazing, my aunts pulled out all the stops - even making the floral centerpieces by hand! It was so wonderful and I think fun was had by all. I don't think any of them read this, but if you do, thank you so much!!!

Wedding Wednesday - Enjoying it all

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I'm naturally a planner and a worrier, and this wedding is no exception. It's so easy to get caught up in all the little details that I forget to enjoy this time in my life. I'm engaged, and that will soon be gone. As Kacey reminded me this weekend, we need to focus on the now and take in every moment to truly enjoy our engagement. Hard for me to do since I can't wait to be married! But here's to stepping back and trying to let go of the little things.

Wedding Wednesday - Mixing Styles

Let's talk about mixing decorating styles. Kacey and I got the townhouse we applied for! We don't currently live together, I know it's pretty rare these days but what can I say - we're old school. I absolutely can't wait to move out of an apartment (and away from my stupid downstairs neighbors) and into our new place, but we have a slight problem. See my decorating style is like this:

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And Kacey's style is this:

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So, uh what do we do? I don't fancy living in a log cabin (unless it was an actual cabin up north in the woods, but our town house is in the middle of a suburb) and Kacey doesn't want to live in a world of pastels. So for those of you who live with husbands/boyfriends/fiances how do you balance masculine and feminine decorating styles? I don't mind having rustic bones of a room, as long as all the cushions/blankets/textiles are pretty and fluffy and cozy. I've been looking at Scandinavian interiors, I feel like they have a nice minimalistic masculine vibe with some quirky and feminine touches without being overly girly. Any advice on how to make sure we don't end up in either a bachelor pad or a pretty pretty princess palace? 

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