All pics unless otherwise stated are credit: Chris Isham Photography
Friday is the perfect day to share a few of my favorite details. Wedding details for anyone new here. And because it's Friday let's go with a list of five.
FYI-it may feel like more than five.
1. The florals. They were, in a word, stunning. Rachel at Bella Blooms did a most spectacular job in making the vision we had for the day a reality. Her bouquets were full and fresh, so lovely and absolutely perfect for what the bride (and her mom too!) wanted in terms of bouquets, table tops, and ceremony and reception decor.
I know I sound like a broken record, but honestly our wedding planner was instrumental in driving the look of the day and we couldn't have done it without her and her team.
Well we could have, but it might not have been quite so perfect.
A good planner knows the venue, and also knows what works best in terms of height, lighting, and texture. She knows the best, most reliable vendors and more importantly, which are less than reliable. She knows how much greenery is going to look like too much and how much will be perfectly understated while still making a statement.
I enjoy planning and I love all the bells and whistles that make a celebration beautiful and special, but I am still going to say I think a professional wedding planner is worth the expense. At the very least you will want to hire someone for the day of so you're free to enjoy the event without a lot of anxiety about set up, vendor arrival, and all sorts of last minute issues that can and do arise.
The groom's mom and I opted for small hand held bouquets to carry down the aisle as opposed to a corsage or wristlet. The wristlets sometimes refuse to stay put, and I didn't want to pin something to my dress. What Bella Blooms created was so delicate and lovely and just right.
2. This seating chart-
There are so many creative ways to let guests know where they will be seated for dinner but I think this is one of the prettiest. Also our wedding planner made it for us, just sayin'.
It's a piece of glass with gold lettering affixed, and best of all she let me make a million changes up until just a couple of days prior to the wedding. Seating is always tricky, and with Corona ever a factor in current events the numbers, hence the seating, changed almost daily.
Also, might as well state for the record...I am a fan of having a seat at a reception. I don't mind if you don't assign me a particular seat, but I want to at least be assigned a table so I have a place to set my purse and my wrap without having to juggle a plate, a drink, and all the rest.
I know it's somewhat trendy to have just a few tables and not necessarily a chair for every guest, and if that's you then you do you, but I like a seat. And I
really love a place card
at my seat so that's what we had for our event. The bride wasn't hung up on that, but she knows I have a love of all things paper as well as pretty fonts and shimmery ink, so we had place cards.
3. The tablescapes. Again a team effort with the bride, the mob, the mog, the wedding planners, and the florist all weighing in on how best to capture the mood and look we were hoping for.
Choosing tablecloths, centerpieces, dishes, soft furnishings, and more can feel a teensy bit overwhelming, and it was wonderful to have our planners steer us in the direction we wanted to go. Hubs mostly scratched his head and asked, "Wait, what? We're renting furniture???"
The answer is yes and I need you to roll with it.
And he does.
The bride and I were over the moon with the end result. Our guests too. Everything was gorgeous right down to these black chargers on green velvet tablecloths-
Statement tablecloths for the cake and entryway-
...and a place to rest your feet after too much dancing-
I wanted to put these green velvet chairs in my car. Swoon!
We had a professional calligrapher address our wedding invitations in the just right shade of emerald green, and she also did the place cards using gold ink on emerald paper.
Our wedding planner found the shade of ink we were looking for, otherwise I might still be trying to decide which one was THE one out of the 850 shades of green available for purchase. For you local peeps madebymaness did the calligraphy and Jackie was a dream to work with.
4. Favors. Not essential but definitely a nicety. Some brides skip the favors and opt instead to put more money into extra fancy bags for their hotel guests. We wanted both and had what I thought was the sweetest little takeaway from the event. Daughter2's father-in-law has bees and offered to put some of his wonderful honey into small jars the bride and groom had scouted on Amazon.
I ordered personalized tags from AListDesignz on Etsy, and found a black tiered tray at HomeGoods for displaying. The honey jars were tied with a narrow black ribbon and these favors were so darling and delicious. I especially love that they were 'home grown'.
5. Gift bags.When I attend an out of town wedding I love to be handed a bag of somethings upon check in. Putting together the bags requires thought and you have to pay attention to the cost as well, because they can get a little pricey. I think they're worth it though, no matter how simple or how elaborate you choose to make them, and I had a lot of fun with ours.
The bags included-
personalized water bottles-I bought the water, peeled off the labels (it's a snap), and replaced with personalized labels from LabelsRus (Etsy)
a personalized beverage coozie the bride and groom had chosen
personalized hand sanitizer because it's 2021 and every wedding needs some-I ordered the gel bottles from Amazon and the labels (spread love not germs) from CustomStickerandTag (Etsy)
one savory and one sweet treat-the savory were pimento cheese chips from Lillie's Q, a company out of Chicago, but the founder and owner grew up in wedding town so a local recipe. The sweet treat was a homemade sugar cookie (Mandy's cookies) in the shape of SC with a heart over the wedding city. She iced the cookies in emerald green and made the tiny heart white. tylenol packs, a couple of chocolates, tic tacs (also personalized with labels from NotedPaperBoutique (Etsy) and an insert about the weekends events and things to do locally (designed and created by the bride's sister aka the matron of honor)
I also had personalized stickers made for the front of the bag from BugandBearDesign (Etsy).
Details help make the day feel extra special and personal and we loved every minute of ours.
Happy weekend everyone!
