Drinks on us! Part 1: An infusion of pretty and yummy.

Beverages will be a big part of our wedding. Because our ceremony will be outside in the Georgia heat (but hopefully not scorching heat come November), we are setting up a refreshment table with drinks for our guests to enjoy before the ceremony begins. This will also come in handy while they are waiting on the trolley to take them back to the reception.

So I've been collecting ideas on how to present the drinks and quickly fell in love with infusion jars.

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Aren't these super cute? I love the way they add so much "punch" (*chuckle*) to any table. So I began keeping an eye out for deals on infusion jars.

Last week, while casually perusing Bed Bath & Beyond on FMIL's first ever visit to the awesome-est store in the world (I mean really, who hasn't ever been to BB&B!), I ran into one of those deals.

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They had gorgeous infusion jars with iron stands for only $20. But wait, there's more! We (FSIL and I) had our trusty $5 off BB&B coupons in tow. So we snatched up 3 of these cuties for $15 a piece. FSIL and FMIL both wanted one for themselves, so they offered to each buy one and let me borrow them for the wedding. So I'm getting 3 jars for only $15 for the wedding! Afterwards, I'm going to have a super cute way to display drinks during get-togethers. Double score!

We want the drinks to be not only southern staples, but also in our wedding colors. So we decided on sweet tea and pink lemonade for the infusion jars. They will be joined with water for anyone who doesn't want sugary drinks (although I'll probably make them with Splenda since Mr. Lab and I are very health conscious). We're also serving up bottled Coca-Cola like Mrs. Cherry Pie did for her wedding:

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My oldest brother has an entire guest house/barn decorated in nothing but vintage Coca-Cola items (he's a bit obsessed with the drink), so he'll be loaning some signage for the set up.

I found our jars in action with the colors we're going for:

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We're going to infuse the tea with mint and the pink lemonade with peaches. Yummy-ness! Now I just have to find a way to label the jars with what's in them. Hmmm, chalkboards, tags, or ribbon labels?

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Whatever drinks are left over at the ceremony will be transported to the reception site to be enjoyed there by our non-drinking guests.

And just because this is Weddingbee, I HAD to include this adorable beehive infusion jar:

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DIY Bridal Bouquet Part 1: The Mock Trial

I received my Fiori Belli silk peony stems earlier this week and finally had a chance to play around with them today!

My first impression of them was slight disappointment. I made a trip to Michael's to scope their floral section before deciding on fakes. The ones at Michael's felt more "velvety", like a real flower. But they didn't have cream-colored peonies (neither did Hobby Lobby) so I decided to go ahead with the online order. After awhile, the stems began to grow on me. They look real but are just missing that velvet feel. But I knew I had to sacrifice something when going with fake flowers. Now that I've done the trial, I'm in LOVE. Here's the result of my first trial with my bridal bouquet:

But let's take a moment to rewind and start from the beginning. The process of assembling the bouquet was ridiculously easy. Here's how it all went down!

First, I made a quick trip over to Michael's (with my 40% off any item coupon in hand) and purchased my supplies for less than $10:

Don't forget the most important supply!

The first step was removing the leaves. This was simple because they slide right out of the stem (upside of fake florals!). If you're using real flowers, you'll have to trim the leaves and thorns off (if applicable).

Next up was the assembling. I followed this video tutorial and wrapped the floral tape tightly around 3 stems at a time starting with the fullest blooms. Keep repeating the process by filling in the holes with more stems until you reach your desired bouquet size.

Before I knew it, the assembling portion was finished! I then moved on to covering the floral tape with my champagne-colored satin ribbon. I inserted the pins at an upward angle. Thankfully, this is a trial DIY, so no need to worry about the pins not being perfectly lined up...or the fact that I forgot to tuck under the raw edge of the ribbon...or how I didn't pay attention to wrapping the ribbon evenly...or, well, I think you get the picture. Lessons learned. Btw, 1 yard of ribbon is probably all you'll need. I purchased 3 yards not knowing how much it would take but ended up almost double-wrapping my handle with just 1 yard.

I could have paid more attention to keeping the head of the bouquet more "round & balanced". Again, lesson learned on that one. Plus, I had to keep the stems long because I didn't think ahead about how I was going to deal with the thick wire inside of them (downfall of fake florals!). FMIL's beau is bringing some wire clippers over tomorrow for me! :)

Being proud of my creation, I took Myspace-like photos of me & my bouquet in the mirror. I think it's just the right size and combo of cupped and fully blossomed stems!

The only thing I'm longing for now is the scent of fresh flowers. But FMIL suggested just buying a peony-scented perfume to spray on them the day of the wedding so I wouldn't be missing out completely.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the DIY fake flower bouquet and am pretty much convinced that I will do the same for my bridesmaids' bouquets. Now that the trial is complete, I can focus on perfecting the bouquet by fixing my mistakes, finding a way to beef up the handle size, and adding details to the handle. So stay tuned! And since you've stayed with me up to this point, here's a sneak peek at my inspiration for the handle:

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