Wedding Blog - it’s a bride’s life - real brides blogging ’til “I do!”

This summer there is another future bride in my fiancé’s family. David’s cousin, Sarah, is marrying Kevin the month after us. It has been a wonderful year full of family celebrations and we had one last soiree this past weekend, but it was girls only! We gathered at a country club just outside of NYC and showered Sarah with gifts for her and her future hubby’s home in Chicago. There was good food, great company, fun activities, touching details, and a few original ideas. The bridesmaids along with the MOB, Kim, did an amazing job putting it all together.

Each tables’ centerpiece was a cluster of mini floral arrangements that later doubled as keepsakes for all the guests. I really appreciate wedding details that have multiple functions. The vases were the perfect size to fit into any car’s cup holders!

The cake was very sentimental to the women of David’s family. In her younger years, David and Sarah’s Grandma specialized in making doll cakes for her daughters and granddaughters. The bride was a bit of a tomboy growing up so this was her first doll cake!

Since the bride was visiting from Chicago I was curious to see how it would work out with the gifts. While there were many gifts to open at the shower, Kim came up with a very clever way to display the gifts that were sent directly to the couple’s home in Chicago. Whenever wedding gifts were delivered to their place, Kevin found a way to intercept each one, unwrap them, and send a picture to Kim. Kevin’s job was not complete until he hid each gift so that the first time Sarah would see them would be at her wedding shower. For the shower, Kim put together a flip chart that presented each gift along with the name of the person who gave the gift. What a great idea, I love how the gifts are “wrapped” too!

I had a great time at Sarah’s shower and I am really looking forward to more celebrations with David’s family this summer. The next one will be our wedding!

Ok, well not really- the hard part is pretty much done for you! Christina, a writer for Intimateweddings.com has “hunted” down these fabulous wedding print outs. My two favorites, are the Mad Libs…

and the vintage apothecary labels for a Victorian flare!

There’s so much more on their website, I’d have you here for hours but it’s everything from printable labels for favors, table numbers, and even thank you cards.

During one of my trips to Michael’s, I came across unfinished wood frames for $1 each. A light bulb went on and I filled my basket with these, then I picked up some ivory spray paint, chalkboard spray paint and a chalk marker.

On a lovely spring day Shaun and I took the frames apart and laid them out, spraying the outer part with off white paint and the center with chalkboard paint.

Once they were dry I went to work with the chalk marker, writing all of our table numbers.  I love the final product and think it will be the perfect handmade addition to our reception!

I was pretty sure that I want to take our wedding day photos with our bridal party at The Philadelphia Art Museum. However, I was recently cutting through City Hall and saw something that may be a game changer. The courtyard is gorgeous and no longer hidden by ugly wooden barriers as it was when they were doing renovations. Since Dave and I took our engagement photos outside City Hall we did not want to repeat the same location for our wedding day. But after seeing this photo I just have to stop and dream about the beautiful wedding photo potential.

So I have featured a number of ‘painted” projects on my blog already.

I can’t help it, I love them! I have a bit of a love affair with paint.

It transforms something in an instant and is fairly easy and quick to do.

One thing I never thought to spray paint… silverware!

Yep!

This is not new in the blogosphere by any means, but it’s brand new to me and I love it! I first saw it here, on a popular party blog that I follow.

Then yesterday, I was watching Martha Stewart’s Spring Weddings Show, and sure enough, there they were again!

I wondered about their upkeep, and how practical they really were. They are definitely a “fun” addition to your tablescape but that might be just what you need!

Here’s a few more photos:

Top Left
Top Right
Bottom Left
Bottom Right

And who says you can’t spray paint with say, an antique bronze, or a mint color to “vintage” out your wedding decor a bit. I love this idea to pieces!

A Quick Photo DIY Tutorial:

Spray paint…..

And…

Full tutorial can be found here courtesy of Creatively Christy.