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DIY and Thrifty Wedding Ideas: Part One

Okay, I feel a bit naughty right now because I’m stealing someone’s wireless to blog.  But, seriously, after a week of sketchy internet I can’t handle losing my post, mid-post any longer.  An addict  blogger’s gotta do what a blogger’s gotta do, right?  Sorry “NETGEAR” whoever you are, I’ll try and keep this short.

How it all began:  Meg was a follower of my blog and worked at the same college as my husband.  We were acquaintances at best.  She approached me through an email at the very end of August asking if I would be willing to take on her wedding invitations and possibly programs.  She explained that she’d  purchased some blank wedding invites at Ollies and wanted them to be spruced, or blinged, or something.  I returned her email asking all the appropriate questions; what’s the theme? what are your colors? what’s your budget?  what time of day? etc.  Meg knew very few answers to these questions and her wedding was a mere four months away!  Enter me as wedding hijacker, er… I mean, coordinator.  I let Meg know that I would be more than happy to help her cast a vision.

The invitations: When I saw the ivory invite with a watermarked green rose, learned that the bride was wearing ivory, and that the bridesmaids were probably just going to pick out their own little black dresses, I let Meg know that (even if she didn’t realize it yet) she had already chosen her colors!  I quickly whipped up a mock invite for her with a black card-stock sleeve and a green damask ribbon (to hold all of those annoying little cards that inevitably accompany wedding invites) and the black, ivory, and green damask rumpus began!

The plan:  I work best without a defined plan.  That is probably horribly scary for most, but being a follower of my blog helped Meg understand my crazy ways.  I assured Meg that I could create magic with whatever supplies she was able to produce.  The only thing we were sure of was that we would use sheets of scrapbook paper to ground whatever we chose to place on the tables.  Meg made many runs to the Dollar Tree, Joann, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby and if it was green, black, ivory and/or damask, she bought it!  We bought ribbon galore, tons of cheap fabric, and loads of scrapbook paper.  I knew I wanted to use black tulle on the stage with white lights but Meg was a bit hesitant over the black. The ignorant woman counting our yardage at Hob Lob who said, “bride of dracula” didn’t help the situation either.  (For those of you wondering, I told Meg to go stand in line with our other million purchases, and I scolded that woman good for being so insensitive to the bride-to-be. Ah yes, making friends wherever I go . 🙂

The food:  Anyone who has thrown a large party in their HOME can appreciate the cost of feeding a crowd.  Try feeding a meal to 200 people on a dime and the task seems nearly impossible.  Since Meg was going for an early afternoon wedding, I suggested she find a mom & pop catering company to provide soup, salad and bread.  She did just that and it was perfect!  The mother of the bride originally had some reservations of everyone standing in a “soup line”.  It does conjure up images that don’t exactly scream wedding and classy, and yet it was all of those things.  It was perfect, and I’m glad she trusted me enough to take the risk.

The flowers:  Meg was wise in not trying to take everything on herself.  She used a florist for the front of the church, ladies’ bouquets, and gentlemen’s boutonnieres which of course cost way more than it should have, but doesn’t it always?  The bridesmaids carried simple bouquets of green hydrangeas. (Pictured below are two bouquets that some bridesmaids forgot to take home.  Lucky me .:)

Meg carried green hydrangeas interspersed with ivory roses.

The tables:  Remember that we only had four months to plan everything?  Well, our finalized plan didn’t really even happen until after Thanksgiving!  We were going to do green apples at each place-setting with a leaf-card nametag.  The price of apples was becoming cost prohibitive and the green wasn’t quite right anyhow.  I sent Meg over to the Christmas Tree Shop (love!) and she called me inquiring if she should buy some topiaries that were around $3.50/pc.  I told her to buy them all.  But they have gold bases? We’ll paint them black.  Buy. them.  I also encouraged her to buy white hydrangeas in bulk from B.J.’s  This was just a few weeks before the wedding and she was understandably tired.  Meg wasn’t in the mood to hunt down 22 more vases, so I went to the Dollar Tree (double love!) and bought salt & pepper shakers for bud vases.  Hubby drilled holes in each cap and they worked like a charm!
Okay, I think “NETGEAR” is onto me and about to boot me off their wireless.  I’ll write more later when I have my own internet access back!  Verizon told me that I can expect them anytime tomorrow between 8am and 7pm.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Ugh.
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Comments

  1. Beth you are truly amazing! You sure know how to put a beautiful wedding together in record time! God Bless You! You are such a gem!

  2. Wow – so amazing Beth! What a big job and it all turned out so beautifully! I love the color scheme too! Amazing!!!

    OXO
    Jen

  3. This is great, Beth! I can't believe you both pulled everything together in such a short period of time. She looks so happy, too! Obviously, someone needs training in customer service over there at Hob Lob. Some people just don't think before they open their mouth. I think the colors came together really well.

  4. Beth you are amazing! I just wonder how you got them to paint the Gym green for you?

    I am so glad that you put that fabric cutter in her place! You NEVER say anything like that to a bride to be!

    I love hydrangeas! Beautiful!

    I will pray that your internet is up fast! I hate being with out the www!!

  5. it's getter better by the minute. s&p shakers for the flowers????!!!??? what a great idea. i've always been hesitant to run the tables so long, but looked great. did it work well?

    more, we want more!

    should we all call verizon for you?

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