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.

A "Jarring" Experience

I've been on a roll lately with my DIY projects. And with the passing of our 3-month-out mark, I don't see any sign of it letting up in the near future.

I finished my internships and moved back home this weekend. I have one week left of free time before the new semester begins and my life gets way too busy to focus on tasks like these anymore. I decided to spend my first night back working on our aisle decor: hanging mason jars with magnolia flowers!


If you want to try out this project, you'll need the following supplies:

• mason jars (any size)
• your choice of any flower, real or fake (I chose magnolias for their southern reputation and the way they'll blend in with our ceremony site's gazebo)
  
• acrylic water kit (optional for fake flowers)
• twine or raffia
• wire cutters

I just had to share how my lovely home office looks like a florist's shop at the moment!

I followed Mrs. Cherry Pie's detailed instructions on how to rig up my hanging jars. I won't repeat the main process, but here's some helpful tips to supplement her post!

Make measuring out your twine easier on yourself by doing one jar first, then using that jar's twine as a guide to how long all your other pieces need to be. Go ahead and cut off all your pieces before you start.

Before tying off the other side of the twine, judge your handle knot height against a completed jar. If you tie off both sides before making your middle knot, you could end up with varying heights.


You can adjust the knot you just tied by "sliding" it along the the rim of the jar until both knots are directly across from each other. Then tighten the knot once you've done that.


Watch out for nosy dogs!

My black Labrador, Madie, is more curious than a cat! We consider her the "thinker" of our 3 Labs!

My finished lot! I only needed 8 jars because I'm doing 1 for every other row, 4 on each side.

From here on, it's all optional stuff. If you're using real flowers, just add water to the jars and fill them with your flower choice. Since I'm doing fake flowers, I wanted to add a special touch to make them more "deceiving". So I bought some acrylic water kits from Wally World!

Acrylic water is used in a lot of fake floral centerpieces like this one:

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Mixing the acrylic water is super easy! First, pour both bottles of the solution into the provided disposable pan.

Then stir the mixture until....


...it's completely clear.


Now you're ready to pour the mixture into your jars!


I love the look of the fake water, but I severely underestimated how much it would take to fill the 8 mason jars to a decent level.


1 water kit barely fills 1 jar. I originally bought only 2 kits, but I will have to go back for more. Bare minimum, you'd need 1 kit for every 2 jars. This raises the price of this project quickly (it's the most expensive supply). But it's worth it if you want "real"-looking fake flowers. It's also good to have the fake water to set your arrangement in. You won't have to worry about your perfectly arranged flowers being "jarred" in transportation or set up!


The water needs to set over a 24-48 hour period to harden. Then you're all ready to hang your jars!

My magnolia mason jars will be doing double duty as rehearsal dinner centerpieces! The Savannah Riverboat event manager gave me permission to bring in my own arrangements. So I'll just tuck in the twine handles between the flowers' leaves and set them on the tables!


Cost Breakdown:

1 case of mason jars (12 total-I only used 8): $6.74
Magnolia stems (4 bushes-about 3 stems a jar): $3.99 each (on sale from $9.99 at Michael's!)
Twine: FREE (leftover from previous project)
Acrylic water kits (5): $5.97 each

Total including tax: $56.23
Total without water kits: $24.29

I have also purchased my shepherd's hooks from this online store and am awaiting their arrival!

8 - 36" shepherd's hooks (includes shipping): $41.75

Grand Total of Entire Project: $97.98

[EDIT:] The cost is lower now (from $104.37) because I only needed 5 instead of 6 water kits!

Stayed tuned to hear about how I'll dress up our gazebo "altar"!

DIY Bridesmaids' Bouquets Part 1: The Transformers

I know I left you hanging with my DIY bridal bouquet mock trial. I abandoned that effort for awhile after changing my color scheme and deciding to go with a new dusty pink bouquet to match my shoes. I still haven't found any fake peonies in that color, but in the meantime I've been on the lookout for my bridesmaids' flowers.

I finally ran into some when I wasn't even looking. I was strolling around the mall looking for a place to get a quick and cheap hair trim when I saw that A.C. Moore was having a huge sale on their florals. As soon as I was finished being groomed, I high-tailed it back over to the store and started on a shopping frenzy.

After the dust settled, I had the following loot:


Enough for 3 bridesmaids' bouquets! After a lot of debate, I decided to go with separate flowers for each girl and then combine all the flowers into one bouquet for not me, but my matron of honor. I'm sticking with my beloved peonies but I wanted a way to have my MOH stand out, and a combo bouquet is just the ticket! My bouquet will still be the largest and most lush, but it's fun knowing my MOH will have a little mark of distinction.

I'm still searching for one more flower in the same pink for the last bouquet (not including the combo MOH bouquet). I really want the ranunculus, but I'm not seeing it anywhere! I may have to go online to find a light pink fake version, so it could be awhile before I complete this little endeavor.

Anyhoo, as soon as I got home, I started work on the task at hand. First up, the hydrangea bouquet. I won't go back through the tutorial since I used the same method in my previous post about DIY fake florals, but I will tell you that these suckers were a lot harder to work with than the peony.

They are a lot more delicate and deceivingly full. I had to constantly rework the shaping to make them round. Once again, I forgot to purchase wire clippers, so I had to cut the coating with scissors then work the wire back and forth until they snapped apart. My first round with the hydrangea looked weak to say the least:


But I kept at it! I finished "beefing" up the handle with a trick a reader gave me in my last post (thanks Andrea!). I did it by adding in the leftover stems while putting together the stems with the blooms. Genius.

After I was done, the bouquet performed a little trick of its own. My little work of art transformed from a regular bouquet into a stunning centerpiece!


While at A.C. Moore, I purchased a couple smooth mason jars and candle rings in our wedding colors to do a trial run our centerpieces. If you can remember, I originally planned to use a combination of mason jars, lanterns, and candelabras for the centerpieces. Well, after attending one of my bridesmaids' wedding last weekend and seeing her clever dual use of the BMs' bouquets as centerpieces, I decided to nix the candelabras and do the same! I'll still have some lanterns, but the mason jars will now be filled with the BMs' bouquets. All I have to do is add some kind of sea glass or something to the jars to keep the bouquets upright and add more detail. Suggestions are very welcome!

Because I'm having a cocktail hour in a separate parlor, my BMs will be able to sneak into the reception hall and place their bouquets into the mason jars before anyone else enters the room. At the end of the night, they can collect their bouquets to keep if they wish. Best part? This saves me money! Boo-yah!

I guess I should show you what I did with the other two flower choices? Well, here's my fave of the three bouquets, the daisies! They were by far the easiest of the bouquets to make. I was done in less than 10 minutes. FSIL already staked a claim on these:



And last but certainly not least are the roses. They even had little "thorns" on them that actually hurt a bit as I was plucking off the leaves. They made the handle really hard to wrap and I had to keep trimming some of them off.



And here's the whole lot together, "transforming" into centerpieces! I'll probably add tea candles around them just to spruce up the tables a bit more. Then all that will be left to do is adding the doggie table numbers (and completing the other 5 centerpieces)!


I can't take the all the credit on these bouquet/centerpieces. FSIL's husband's niece was in town with her mother and helped me snap apart the stems (after I prepped them, unbeknown to her). Who doesn't love a little child labor? :P

I love that she has her sippy cup on hand when the really tough ones come up!

Ah! Success!

So I bet you're wondering how much money all of this trouble actually saved me? Well, see for yourself! Keep in mind, these flowers won't die a few days after the wedding! ;)

Bridesmaids' Bouquets

Daisy Bouquet
10 stems
x $2.09 each
---------------
$20.90

Hydrangea Bouquet
5 stems
x $2.79 each
--------------
$13.95

Rose Bouquet
8 stems
x $1.39 each
--------------
$11.12

Chocolate Satin Ribbon
$4.39 for 1 1/2 yards

Pearl-headed Pins
$0.00 (left over from previous bouquet project)

Grand Total Including Tax
$53.89 OR $17.96 each

Centerpieces

Mason Jars:
$1 each x 3 = $3

Berry Candle Ring:
$2 each x 4 = $8

Grand Total Including Tax
$11.77 OR $3.92 each

Homemade Centerpieces & Lighting

I've decided that I'm going to make my centerpieces a DIY project. I'm just not big on floral arrangements because quite frankly, flowers die. Of course if I had an unlimited budget, I'd be more for elaborate floral arrangements in a heartbeat.

So my idea for the centerpieces is to focus on mood lighting. I want a soft, romantic feel to the reception hall. And since I have a slight love for vintage/antique items, I think I've found my choice as the focal point for the tables. I'll be doing a combination of lanterns, tea lights, floating candles, candelabras, and submerged flowers (preferably orchids).

Here's the overall "feel" I'm going for:



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Every other table will have either a lantern surrounded by tea lights, the floating candles and submerged flowers in mason jars, or a vintage-style candelabra to keep with the southern theme.

One of the clear perks of making my own centerpieces is getting to keep my creations after the wedding. I will be able to use them as home decor, sell what I don't need, or even dress them up as gifts for friends! Not to mention I'll save tons of moolah on the floral bill!

Here's some pictures of the items I have my eye on:

These are the main lanterns I want for the reception site. I can get enough of these to decorate the whole space for less than $50! They'll look super cute after the wedding as indoor and/or outdoor decor for our home.

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I love the "southern" nostalgia of mason jars. And I've found cases of a dozen for only $8.99 online! The submerged flowers will be in mason jars as well as tea lights and/or floating candles. I might do ribbons in my colors like this:



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In a perfect world, I'd be able to catch fireflies to display in some of the jars like this. I also love the tea lights around jar. Simple but enchanting.



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Here's what I'm talking about with the submerged orchids and floating candles. Just imagine these in mason jars.



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I also love candles that float in a sea of water pearls. I want to up the romantic appeal by using vintage inspired candle holders. Is that yard sale/flea market rummaging I see in my future?



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Don't you just LOVE the effect created using floating candles in water pearls?



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I found battery operated LED paper lanterns online for only $5 a piece. I'm going to scatter these along the ceiling of the hall to compliment the mini lights already in the site (click here for pics from Savannah Station). Here's an idea of what it'll look like (but I'll have far fewer lanterns):

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I absolutely LOVE fancy chandeliers. But since it would be outrageously expensive to buy and install some, I'll do the next best option: elaborate candelabras dripping with crystals! This will be a very cheap DIY compared to buying them. I can spray paint the candelabra and attach the crystals (sold a dime a dozen online) myself. Anyone who knows me knows I have to have some "glitter & sparkle" somewhere in the reception, so this will be it!

This one is only $14 on Ebay! I might not have to make them after all! How adorable is this?!?



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Last but not least, I want to incorporate my favorite pattern, damask, on the tables. Instead of doing it in black and white, I'll probably have the pattern in cream tones to go along with our color scheme and add a little class to the otherwise very laid-back decor.

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I know that it seems like a lot, but it'll basically allow for about 3 different table themes (for our 10 tables) throughout the room instead of cookie cutters of one style. I like the idea of mismatched but still complimentary decor for different tables.

Oh, I just filed my taxes today and I'll be using some of that money to put down deposits on vendors (finally!). I'm excited to actually start paying for things instead of just daydreaming about what I want. :)