Wedding Decor; Shabby Chic Do-It-Yourself

The months leading up to my daughter's October wedding

were filled with preparations. My biggest challenge was

the arrangement of flowers for the wedding party.

Above, an antique brooch that belonged to 

the bride's great-grandmother, clipped to the
wrapping of the bridal bouquet.

Silk bouquet in cream, burgundy, mauve,
 soft yellow and sage green.

I had only done flowers for one other wedding, so I was 

nervous about getting the bouquets just right.

The beautiful bridesmaids with their bouquets.

The ring-bearer carried the rings on a bible that the

bride's grandmother carried at her wedding 60 years ago!

L to R: my daughter, my mom, and I.

I think we all look like my mom...

Decorations on the Escort card table:

A crate that the groom made himself,

thrifted vase, doily, antique bottle,

old books belonging to the bride,

and a pillow that I cross-stitched 

with the bride and groom's initials.

Hand-crocheted lace trims the pillow.

The escort cards were clipped with tiny clothespins to 

a jute string and tacked to a chippy old window.

Silk greenery and votive candles were placed

on the table covered in burlap. Chippy white chairs and

pillows sat at each end of the table.

Alas, I don't have a close-up of this...

There were also shabby wooden crates stacked up

near the guest book, with flowers and a silver tray.

Such beautiful girls!

The bride with the adorable flower girls...

I think the burlap bags for the flower petals

looked lovely with their white dresses.

Close-ups of the pillows...

Wreath with shabby roses...

The newlyweds

A day of joy...

Journal Pages: Shabby Chic Wedding & Collage

Art journal collages

created from assorted fabric and

ephemera -- some gifted by friends.

In my larger mixed media journal...

only a few pages left in it!

Lists and quotes, above.

In my Smash journal...

The apple tree is my drawing, as well as

the frog. The planets are a magazine clipping...

bits of doodles and a scrap of painted paper

complete the page.

'Shabby Chic' wedding decor photos.

These were taken on my dining room table in order

to plan the reception table arrangements. Each table

had a different assortment. I took a photo of each

arrangement and taped it to the box which contained

the items for that arrangement. A lot of work, but it

enabled people to set them up at the reception venue

without me having to do each one myself.

(An idea from Pinterest!) It did make the 

reception decorating go smoothly!

The reception decor included:

Vintage bottles and vases decorated with

burlap, lace and muslin roses; silk flowers,

aluminum trays and bowls, vintage books,

wooden crates, doilies, and canning jars with

candles inside.  Various decorations

on bottles also included fabric tags,

keys, buttons, old earrings or pins,

and vintage paper from dictionaries 

or music sheets.

One lesson learned:  use votive candles that are

in a small glass container, then put that in the mason jar.

Our votive candles melted into little puddles very

quickly and didn't last the 3-5 hrs. advertised on 

the package, because the container wasn't 

the right size. All in all, though, the bride was 

very happy with the effect of the table decor.

I just wish I had better photos. The wedding photographer

didn't take many photos of the table decor, so

if you want the photographer to do so, be sure to

specifically ask for that!

These photos are included in my Smash book,

which is just an assortment of collages that

I create with scraps I have on hand--whatever

seems right at the moment.

Wedding Decor Sketch

A sketch of head table decor for the

upcoming wedding.  Sharpie pen

and watercolor in my art journal.

In case I am at the rehearsal when the

reception tables are decorated, someone

will be able to use this sketch (along with

a photo of the set up) to decorate the 

table for the bride and groom.

Black metal lantern from Hobby Lobby.

Assorted ivy and grapevine for greenery.

Stone doves from a home decor party.

'Love' plaque by Carruth. Silk flowers 

from Michael's and Hobby Lobby.

We used primarily burgundy gladiolas,

 white daisies and white roses, 

with assorted other flowers in the

mix. The bride really likes the 'messy'

wildflower look.

'Vintage Wedding' Sketches

I've been busily making silk flower
bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres
for my daughter's wedding.  I originally was
going to post some photos, but then realized
the bride might not appreciate my revealing
them prior to the wedding...

so here are some sketches of some of the accumulated
items for wedding flowers and reception decorations.
(It's beginning to feel like a bridal warehouse around here)
Assorted vintage glass jars and vases will decorate
the reception tables. (I love these,
once I started buying them,it is really
hard to stop!)  A few will be altered
with burlap, lace, buttons, flowers
and whatever embellishments I can devise.
Pinterest is full of amazing inspiration...

We'll use canning jars for votive candles on
the reception tables.
So far I've made a lot of flower items:
6 Bouquets
7 Corsages
9 Boutonniers
1 Cake Topper
Assorted altered jars~
and that's for a bridal party of 4 bridesmaids and groomsmen,
which is not as large as some weddings are!
Flowers still to go:
8 Pew Wreaths, decorations for
Gift table, Head table, Candy buffet,
Wishing well for cards, Guest book,
and whatever else comes up!
It's going to be a busy month.
Counting down to October 6th....
So far, I'm enjoying the process.
We'll see how it goes the closer
we get to the event...!

The Art of Sewing

An upcoming wedding is scheduled for October,

and the rush of preparation has begun.

There will be two flower girls for 

strewing petals from these little bags.

I made two lined bags from burlap and white muslin.

They are adorned with a white muslin rose

and vintage pearl beads. (click on the
image to see enlargement) The pearl beads

came from my grandmother's stash from
 Lee Wards, so they certainly should qualify as

'something old!'  I also added a cross-stitch

label inside with the girls' names, so they 

know which bag is theirs. (which for some reason

is important to 3-6 year old girls)

I found the idea for this bag on Pinterest.

But beware. It is extremely addicting!

So many entrancing images...so it can

really be a swallower of large chunks of time.

Whatever your art is, make sure you make the

time for it. Mine will be sewing, decorating, and

arranging flowers in the weeks to come...