Breathing a sigh of re"wreath"...

Sorry about the lame title. Mr. Lab came up with it because I couldn't think of one. :P

Anyhoo, I'm breathing a sigh of relief (if you couldn't decipher the title) because I've finished all my ceremony decor! After I completed the hanging magnolia mason jars, I got to work on a way to dress up our gazebo "altar":

Ignore the weird yellowing. It doesn't exist in real life, just wacky camera stuff.

I really wanted to keep the ceremony decor simple as not to distract from the natural beauty of Savannah's Whitfield square. When I saw Mrs. Yorkie's DIY monogram wreaths, I knew I had just found my gazebo decor. A mossy wreath is PERFECT in a square surrounded by mossy oak trees! Thank goodness for all the Bees who have done the legwork with their comprehensive tutorials! Making my own wreath was a snap! :D

Following Mrs. Yorkie's instructions, I gathered all my supplies. I started by adding glitter to my soon-to-be new last name initial. I want to add our first name initials using smaller letters, but Michael's was all out of the "L"s and "C"s when I went! But it'll be easy to add those later. Also, don't worry about buying a "flat" round wreath. Once it's covered in moss, it'll look just as round and full as the extruded ones!

Because this project is best done outdoors, make sure to have a can of "Off" nearby to ward off hungry mosquitoes!

I added one step. Instead of just pinning my moss to the foam wreath, I sprayed it (and the wreath) with the same spray adhesive I used to coat my letter. I also used an 18" wreath instead of a 12" one since it's going to be hanging on the gazebo and not being carried by little ones.

I used the cheap Walmart moss. It is a bit harder to work with than sheet moss, but it did the trick and saved me a bunch of money at the same time!


After the wreath was completely covered in moss, I pinned it in places I felt it needed extra support. I had one spot where the moss didn't match in color, but I decided I'd just use that area as the place for the flowers, so no worries!


I tried using the twisted wire for my "stakes" but they kept bending when I tried to push it into the wreath. I had left over stems from all my flower projects, so I just used them as sturdier stakes. I trimmed them so the wire was exposed and then hot glued them in place of the floral wire (after clipping off that wire).


Then came the really fun part: adding the flowers and initial! I used the same glitter as Mrs. Yorkie and opted for ivory hydrangea and a pink hollyhock as the accents.



This lovely wreath will hang on the gazebo above us as we recite our vows! I'm taking it on my next trip to Savannah to make sure we can secure it on the gazebo ahead of time, so I may add a bow later using leftover satin ribbon. Thanks Mrs. Yorkie for the inspiration and tutorial!


Cost Breakdown:

18 inch styrofoam wreath: $9.99
1 hydrangea stem: $5.99
1 hollyhock stem: $8.49 (on sale from $16.49)
4 packs of Walmart moss: $1.97 each
Floral wire (barely used): $1.99
4 x 6 wooden letter: $2.49
Spray adhesive: $6.49
Martha Stewart glitter (only used a fraction of the container): $4.99

Grand total including tax: $51.69

The price was a little more than I expected to spend, but at least it'll hang on our front door for years to come after the wedding!

Now all of my ceremony decor is finished! Can't you just picture this setting with a simple mossy wreath on the gazebo and an aisle lined with magnolias in hanging mason jars? *Swoon*

All that's left ceremony set up-wise is choosing the chairs for the guests and a table for the refreshments and program basket to sit on. I already know that I'm doing a wooden chair to blend in as much as possible with the scenery. It's going to be one of these two options depending solely on budget:

Sources

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:

Source

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"!

'Twas The Night Before My Wedding...

I just found out that my FMIL is giving me a special wedding gift: a room at the absolutely stunning Mansion on Forsyth Park the night before the wedding!


She caught wind of the fact that I was scouting out a pretty place for my "getting ready" shots from FSIL. The two then began scheming behind my back and after some research chose the iconic Savannah hotel. When they told me of their plan, I was beyond ecstatic! There would be no way I could afford a night at the hotel, so I was extremely grateful. Just look at how gorgeous this place is!





I'm sure I'll have some amazing shots that day! It'll also be just a stone's throw away from the most famous park in Savannah and where the mansion gets its namesake:

All photos from the Mansion's website.

Are you planning to stay somewhere nicer the night before your wedding just for amazing backgrounds in your "getting ready" shots?

"To Have & To Hold": For The Ring Bearer

I never really gave much thought as to what my ring bearer would carry down the aisle when I began planning this wedding. FSIL Lab got married in December of 2007 and said I could use any of her ceremony accessories. I figured I could borrow her ring bearer pillow and that was that.

Until I found these little jewels from Paloma's Nest:



As gorgeous as these creations are, I just couldn't justify the price tags with my budget. So my brain began thinking of ways I could get one on the cheap. Of course, I entered the current contest right here on Weddingbee for a free ring bowl, but I know my chances of winning are VERY slim.* That's when I decided to just make one for myself! How hard could it be?

Actually, it wasn't that hard at all! I hit the neighborhood craft store (they're probably sick of me by now) and purchased the following items:

3 packs of oven bake clay (in pearl), a spool of twine, metallic gold paint, needle tool, and a paint brush (leftover from previous project).

I ended up only using two of the clay packs. I started off my kneading the clay to make it softer and easier to work with. You can't tell it in this picture, but the pearl clay has a pretty shimmer to it. Just one way of making it more custom for me!

To make the bowl shape, I just put the clay in a bowl! Ha ha, imagine that! ;)


Then I had to get really creative with a way to smooth it out. I ended up finding a bulb that had blown out, and gently smoothed the clay using it. I know there's plenty of clay supplies at the craft store to do this for me, but if I spent a small fortune of the supplies, what's the point of a DIY project to save money?


After I was happy with the smoothing (it wasn't perfect, but good enough), I began etching a quote of my liking. I ended up using the ball tip of a bobby pin instead of the needle tool I bought. I returned the tool along with my extra pack of clay. Remember, the point is to save money!

If you don't think you could trust your hand writing, you could always use letter stamps to write out your message.


Any guesses to what quote this is and what made it famous?


It's Beethoven's except from "Letters to the Immortal Beloved" made famous by the Sex and the City Movie! I've been in love with that quote ever since the movie and knew I had to incorporate it into our wedding somehow. I think it's very fitting for his ring, my ring, our rings. :) I also included our wedding date to make it extra special.

(You'll have to forgive me for the following photos. My camera died and I had to take the rest with FSIL Lab's Crackberry.)


I made the holes for the twine using another creative method: an eyeliner cap! Aren't I resourceful?

Because the bowl I was using had a very shallow bottom, I used tin foil to shape a deeper dish for the clay to bake in and give the bowl higher sides.



When I was sure I was happy with my bowl, I popped it into the oven for about 20 minutes at 275 degrees to harden. Make sure to check your clay packaging for specific baking instructions!


After it finished baking, I let it cool for about 10 minutes. Then I painted the outside trim and the entire backside gold (I wanted it to be a little different from the Paloma signature bowls).

And here's the final product with my e-ring taking a test run in place of my wedding band!

Argh! I wish my camera were working so you could see more of the detail!

It's not nearly as drool-worthy as Paloma's creations, but I kinda like the "homemade"-ness of it. I can't wait to see my nephew hand us our rings on this pretty platter! :D

Cost Breakdown:

2 packs of oven bake clay: $3.58
Metallic gold paint: $1.59
Spool of twine: $2.19 (smallest spool they had which was still way too much)

Grand Total Including Tax: $7.88

That's a savings of $46 over the custom gold leaf edge ring bowl! I say if you can afford Paloma, go for it! But if not, it's super easy to make a ring bowl yourself!

*If I should happen to win (again, very unlikely), I will graciously hand over the prize to a random commenter on this post!

DIY Bouquets Part 2: For The Little Ones

Way back in the early stages of my wedding planning, I ran across this image of an adorable flower girl carrying a ball of flowers:

Source

I have since learned that the ball of flowers I'm referring to is called a pomander or a kissing ball. But I really didn't care what they were called as long as I knew I would have them for our wedding. :)

When I first decided on the pomanders, I also planned to make them using tissue and line the aisle with them.

Source

I realized pretty quickly that tissue pomanders + outdoors = just asking for bad weather. I changed my mind and decided to go with mason jars on shepherd's hooks for the aisle but stuck with my plan for the flower girl pomanders. As I've begun learning how to work with fake flowers, I knew that a fake floral pomander would be relatively easy to do and actually take less time than a tissue paper one.

So once again, during my DIY/Heroes weekend marathon, I set to work on making my little ones something to carry down the aisle.

First off, you'll need your supplies: a Styrofoam ball (sold at your neighborhood craft stores & Walmart-make sure not to get the squishy foam one like I did on accident!), a hot glue gun, flowers of your choice (round & fluffy flowers like a carnation work best), wire cutters, and ribbon.

I started by poking a hole all the way through the ball for the ribbon. I just used a stem from a fake magnolia bush I had sitting around because I didn't have anything on hand to make the hole. It worked pretty well!


Feed your ribbon through the hole and tie off a knot at the end to secure it. You can see all the green fuzzy stuff from the foam ball on the ribbon in this picture. That's why you should make sure to buy a styrofoam ball! You could also let the ribbon hang out the bottom like in the first photo or Miss Cloud's pomanders. It's up to you! On the other end, loop the ribbon and hot glue it together to make the handle.


Now the easy part! Clip off the flower stems (leave about 1-2 inches of stem) and start poking them into the ball. You can make the hole and then put hot glue into it before reattaching the stem to make them stay secure. I only did this for a few because it was a trial run and I didn't want to waste all my stems. It turns out that I could still pull hard and get them to come out, so the glue is more about sturdiness than permanence. Don't worry about the knot at the bottom of the ball. It'll be completely covered by the flowers!


Wah-lah! Here's the final product!



It's a bit bigger than I wanted. I grabbed the 5 inch ball thinking it would be the right size but not factoring in the extra size created by the carnation heads. This was just a trial, so I went back to purchase Styrofoam balls in the smaller 4 inch size now that I knew what I was doing.


Want to make your own pomander but you're using real flowers? Here's a great DIY link for you!

Cost Breakdown for 3 Carnation Pomanders

Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks: FREE (already in my crafting repetoire, but you can find them as low as $2.50 at Walmart)
Chocolate Satin Ribbon: FREE (left over from previous projects)
Wire Cutters: FREE (bought during previous project for only $3)
Carnations: 40 stems at $.59 each = $23.60 (roughly 13 stems each)
3 four-inch Styrofoam balls: $4.50

Grand Total with Tax: $30 OR $10 each

Keeping It Real.

Ever since Miss Cowboy Boot wrote about the "love letter box", I knew I had to have one at my wedding. Mr. Lab and I both think it is important to recognize the fact that there WILL be hard times in our marriage; that it's not a matter of "if", but "when".

In this day and age where something like 40% of marriages end every year, it's important not to be so naive to think that it could never happen to you. In my family alone, my mother, two older brothers, and older sister have all gone through a divorce. I know of several people my age that have already been married and divorced. During the engagement and wedding planning process, the possibility of divorce can be the furthest thing from somebody's mind. But I feel it's necessary to talk now with your soon to be husband (or wife!) about how you plan to handle the difficult moments in your marriage. It's all about keeping it real.

No, this realization doesn't mean I'll become a super pessimist thinking about divorce all the time. Rather, it means that Mr. Lab and I have made a promise do everything in our power to overcome whatever obstacles that come our way which may potentially lead to divorce. We know many traditional wedding vows imply this promise, but we wanted something that more clearly expresses to our guests that we recognize marriage is hard work and we won't be taking it lightly. That's why the love letter box spoke to us.

So this weekend during a DIY project marathon, I got to work on making our very own love letter box. I found this little gem at the same A.C. Moore where I found my bridesmaids' flowers:


It was absolutely perfect for our love letter box! At only $10.99, it was also a good deal. But when I got to the register, a customer who had just checked out handed me her unused 40% off any one item coupon, so it only ended up costing me $6.59!

Once I was home, I began working on a way to customize it. I decided to use brown paint to tie into our wedding colors and started painting away. I had an episode of Heroes on the computer and a glass of wine (it's only fitting while working on a box that will house some wine!) while I transformed the box from this:


Into this:


I'm really happen with the way it turned out! We'll use the thin wood nails to hammer the sliding door shut during the ceremony. I'm going to add our wedding date on it somewhere, but I feel like it still needs a little something else. Maybe a quote on marriage that seems fitting for what the box is for?

Anyone have any suggestions on a short and sweet quote that encompasses the meaning of the box? And any suggestions on a relatively inexpensive bottle of wine that will (hopefully) last for many many years?