Southern Sweethearts: All the Small Things

"As a journalist, the details always tell the story. "
James McBride

Oh, how I completely understand this quote! (I am a journalist, photographer, and self-proclaimed perfectionist. So details are kinda my thing.) And that's why I had details galore in our wedding! Many of them were DIY details that I'm sure some of you have been waiting a looong time to see in action.

They'll be plenty more details in coming posts, but here's some to get you ready for the main event: our ceremony! :)

First, my lovely DIY flowers!

At first, I wanted an all white peony bouquet. But when our colors changed, I decided on a pink bouquet and I absolutely loved the way my bouquet came out!

My something blue!

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to gather family photos for my special locket. My Mom had recently moved and all of her stuff was in storage, making it extremely difficult to get to the photos in time. :(

I loved ALL of my bouquets (bridesmaids, flower girls, mothers, and toss)...

...but I put a little more effort into the matron of honor bouquet. Hers was a mix of all the flowers used, and it had its own cameo to distinguish it from the others.

Do I spy Loubies?

Why yes I do!

I had the shoe clips custom-made through an Etsy seller using the "alchemy" request. The clips were originally a different design but when she sent them, they were too small! There was some trouble with the redesign, shipping, and communication. But in the end, they turned out fine even if they weren't quite what I wanted and I almost had a heart attack thinking they wouldn't be done in time. And to top it off, I ended up losing one of the clips on the way to our reception site! :(

If you recall, my Louboutins were missing most of the wedding day. Thankfully, they were located before the ceremony. But they still weren't on my feet just yet...

And since I'm showing off the bling, might as well show off the DIY ring dish I made for them to chill in on the way down the aisle.

Remember my DIY wreath and my DIY mason jar/magnolia aisle liners with the "faux" water?

How about my semi-DIY double duty program fans?

And the last little detail wasn't one I had planned on. Best man Don snuck in some mini-liquor bottles for some ceremony "tailgating" if you will.

Just a small indication of what's to come!

What are some little details you're going to include in your wedding? Will any of them be DIY creations?

Previously on Southern Sweethearts:

• Southern Belles Do Tea
• A Rude Vendor Interrupts Our Rehearsal
• We Have Dinner on the Savannah River
• A Spooky Ghost Tour and My Last Fling
• Our Wedding Trailer
• Becoming a Blushing Bride
• I Slip Into My eBay Wedding Dress
• The Fellas Get "Sessay"
• He Got Boudoir, I Got Bling
• An Unplanned First Look
• Our Wedding Party...and Paparazzi

Next Up: We Get Hitched!

*All professional photos by Lindsi Jones Photography. Some images may have been slightly altered by moi.

Double Duty Semi-DIY Programs

I knew early on that I wanted programs that doubled as fans. Although the historical weather for Savannah in November is usually in the high 60's to low 70's, you never really know how hot an outdoor wedding in the South can get. Better safe than sorry!

I originally planned to make my program fans from scratch. I set out to find inspiration and quickly ran across these adorable program fans on Etsy:

Source

I soon realized that finding a die cast or card stock in that shape would either be super exhausting or very expensive (or both!). I'm sure there are ways to get that shape that I never even thought of. But with time running out, I can't be too picky these days.

I finally settled on the fact that my program fans would have to be at least semi-homemade. I kept my inspiration photos and scoured the internet for the closest-looking template. And that's when I found these!

Source

Not only did they still have an interesting shape, they were hella cheap! $30 for 50 fans! Cha-ching! A few clicks later, these babies were on their way to my house.

Once they arrived, I downloaded the accompanying printing template and got to work on a custom design for the fans. Working off my inspiration photo (in Powerpoint), I first created a sort of "crest" with our monogram.

Scroll graphic from istockphoto

I then imported the crest into the Word template and began writing out the front (title) and back (ceremony program outline) sections of the fans. I used "Century Gothic" for the brown text and "Edwardian Script" for the pink text.

I would share the back of the fans with you but I was too lazy and didn't feel like blurring out all of the personal info. I can assure you that it looks very similar to the inspiration photo though. ;) Besides, here's a photo of the front!

I got a little camera happy too early because I ended up going with the brown outlined crest instead of the pink. I was just too darned excited at how great they were coming out! I'm also probably going to switch out this lace ribbon for some that is less stiff (I had this ribbon laying around for, oh, a couple of years). The fans will have a home in a basket just like the one I used for our flip flops next to our ceremony refreshments.

Did any of your semi-DIY projects turn out way better than expected? Better yet, did they save you time, money, and/or unnecessary stress?