Wedding attire and accessories!

Wedding attire… Well, here’s what we did. We established our color scheme, girls in navy and guys in navy with touches of brown, orange, etc. We then gave our party free range on their attire with those simple instructions. We certainly wanted to feel like ourselves and we also wanted our wedding party to be comfortable and reflect their own style. Everyone looked amazing! It was super fun to see all of our favorite people looking so gorgeous and awesome! Some of us did have a little help with hair and makeup from the amazing, talented, and awesome Rebecca Gohl. We got engaged and I quite immediately messaged her to see if she was available on our date! She was, I’m not even kidding when I say I would have changed to the date if she was not, that is how good she is. I had also previously hired her for Naomi when my brother Stephen and her got married.
_dsc1606

Here we are with our wedding party on a gorgeous and warm late September day. And yes, I had a bro-maid in my bridal party. Forget the traditional rules, we did what we wanted and it was great!

Now let’s talk about our attire. Stephan and I both felt like shopping for a suit and traditional wedding dress didn’t quite feel right. SO here’s what we did, we added wedding attire to the list of our usual thrift store runs and we picked up a nice menagerie of mix and match pieces for him. We ended up spending a whopping $15 on his outfit, and another $35 on some sweet shoes on clearance. He looked great, like himself, and I think honestly like he fell out of a late 70’s JCPenney catalog in this pic, perfection! lisa-wedding-26 Now onto me, a much more difficult case. I’m not a fan of clothes shopping. I never like anything, it’s too expensive, it doesn’t fit right, never fits my bust, annoying, ick ick ick. I knew I needed to start right away. I scoured the mall looking at formal dresses, more casual white dresses with a 60s vibe, hit a couple of big bridal boutiques, thrifts of course, and I was coming up short. I didn’t really like anything or what I kinda liked was of course waaay too expensive and also not available in time, I was also re-confirming I didn’t like all white. I then purchased a dress on clearance that was way too big and was going to have it remade, but couldn’t find a place I was comfortable with. Then, a friend of ours told us about a lady opening up a new shop in South Bend, Indiana. It’s called Hourglass Bridal. She specializes in custom and sample gowns, works with all sizes, and everything in the shop was under $700. I immediately scheduled an appointment and my mom, our friend Judy, and I had all the time we needed as Angie schedules individually. I liked 2 gowns, the fit of one was perfect but too traditional and also white, the other had the elements and color I was looking for, so I ended up ordering a custom gown combining the two, and the kicker is it came in in less than 2 months, and was $470!!! Yes, a custom wedding dress under $500 in less than 2 months, worth saying again. I’m telling you the price because it’s insane as far as wedding dresses go, especially custom. Anything even close to this already in the store would seriously be at least $1200. Angie also has an amazing seamstress she works with, Diane, of Diane’s Sewing in Osceola, IN. Amazing work, amazing price! These 2 ladies are gems and really really know what they are doing! Go see them if you’re in the market for a wedding dress, formal dress, or need alterations. It’s worth the drive, trust me. And another great perk, I was able to support 2 awesome small independent businesses as well!
master-1

Here I am super happy and excited! I love how the dress turned out.

Accessories: Cute shoe pic, yep. _dsc1979 I grabbed these sorta late 60s early 70s looking shoes at Nordstrom rack, and then I nabbed a vintage gold clutch at the thrift store. I made a hair comb for myself with some family items. Grandma’s comb, a blue leaf from her hat, a button of her’s, and a handmade doily from the Price side. I purchased a small off white silk rose and sewed it all together. I wore a string of pearls that was an add a pearl necklace given to me by my cousin. I entwined it with a set of my grandma Price’s baby rings that were made into a necklace and given to me long ago. master-4 And I also sewed a ring bearer pillow out of some fabric from my grandma’s, and the fake rings were from my parents wedding pillow. img_20160918_114731 And by now you may know I’m a sentimental sap. I adore meaningful things, things with stories, and items with family history. So, when we got engaged I had an idea about my ring, and since I’m not much of a jewelry person it was extra important to me to have something very special and sentimental to wear forever. My grandma Price had her wedding and engagement ring made into another ring after my grandfather passed away. I’ve had her ring for sometime and have worn it on a couple of very special occasions. I wanted to have it remade into something that felt more like me, and I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Over the years I’ve seen the work that’s come out of Metal Art Studio here in Grand Rapids. I knew they would do a great job and create something I would love and treasure forever. So I had my grandma’s ring lovingly remade. Before on the left, after on the right. I need a better camera with a micro lense, I can’t do this ring justice. It’s way more beautiful in person! They created a modern twig engagement ring with offset large diamond and 6 tiny diamonds on the band, and then my wedding band in the same pattern with small diamonds is attached to the diamond creating the illusion that it goes through. I wanted a modern looking bezel set ring, with a natural element, with the diamond lowered so I wouldn’t catch on things with my busy hands! I just love it! ring And finally here we are together! Taking a little walk in the wildflowers. What’s so sweet about this pic is that Stephan had leaned down and picked a little dried flower pod and is holding it in his hand. It was such a beautiful happy loving day in so many ways! _dsc1919  
(2)

WEDDING FLOWERS!

Turns out I was super optimistic about all the things I could get done while recovering from a major surgery, like blogging, or thank you cards. Stephan and I just happily celebrated 1 month of married life while I’ve been on the mend! I’ve decided the best way to talk wedding details is in segments. SO, let’s talk one of my faves, wedding flowers! What does a lady do when she’s the one who usually designs the flowers?!? There’s no time to do them all, well maybe I could have squeezed that in magically but there were plenty of other things to do and enjoy like rehearsals, hair and makeup, and time with out of town family and friends, and then the relaxing. I picked the flowers out, ordered them up, and wrote recipes for the bouquets. Then, my trusty and super amazing friend Michele stepped up and did an outstanding job!  We went and picked them up together, spent a little time prepping, and she took the reigns. I knew I was in great hands so it was easy to relax! Besides being an awesome friend, Michele is a talented artist and curator, check some of her work out here and while yer at it, check out the shows she curates at Kendall College of Art and Design if you’re in GR! Thanks to Michele and Cat for capturing a lot of these pics too!
img_20161007_191921

Here’s what I did for some simple, colorful, and affordable decor. These tissue paper flowers, I LOVE them! They come in a bunch of different sizes and colors. I had a great time putting them together with part of my wedding party! I also selected orange tissue paper scalloped bunting, I do have a thing for scallops. It was a great way to pack a lot of color and punch to the walls, entrances, and our door backdrop!

master-2

Detail of our door backdrop. The doors are rentable from Gypsy Soul Antiques. I love the addition of the orange scalloped bunting and the 2 colors of flowers, so pretty! And I love that you can see through the doors to the the park and pathway, a lovely setting. And there’s our little love tree for our unity ceremony. I slip covered the bottom in some vintage fabric, we used vintage glassware to hold the dirt, and it sat atop a little vintage folding tray.

img_20161010_142645

Let’s talk centerpieces! I gathered up about 45 vintage milk glass vases from thrift stores abound. Each table got 3 vases, a few other arrangements were strategically placed, and the head table had larger milk glass vases waiting for the bridesmaids bouquets. Now, I often advise not growing your own flowers because well they can be temperamental as far as growing season, you need to pick the freshest of the fresh, etc. BUT we grew 95 feet of gorgeous zinnias from seed at a friend of ours place! They were stunning all lined up and blooming. They actually started blooming several weeks early, but we were in great shape for picking, AND we had a back up plan with a local farm so we knew we were all good. We picked up seed packets in all the appropriate colors and they were just the pop of color I had imagined! Plus we had fun planting and pre wedding harvesting together! After the rehearsal brunch a couple of my bridesmaids assisted me with the centerpieces and BAM they were done! A big thanks Mary and Toby for being the best flower growers in the land! xo

img_20161005_174504

The bouquets! Orange, yellow, and green was the theme to repeat the wall decor and pop with the ladies navy dresses. I couldn’t actually get the green eyed yellow roses I really wanted from my wholesaler, but I replaced with yellow roses saving a little loot in the end. SO, yellow roses, orange roses, orange spray roses, kermit pomps, trick dianthus, ferns leaves, fennel from our yard (another win and money saver) PLUS yellow freesia, kangaroo paw, and hosta leaves for my bouquet and the special boutonnieres and corsages. I loved the punch of color the flowers gave and it was a great early fall color combo.

master-6

Michele’s busy feet taking a rest as we look down on the ladies bouquets. So pretty!

img_20161005_050458

And here’s what it looks like when you put 15 gigantic ferns and 20 mums in a mini van. My best pal Cat and I had some fun in greenhouse land.

master-1

Here’s where the mums went. I used them to perfectly mark the aisle! I loved the little daisy style in white with just a subtle yellow center. A sweet and perfect path for our early fall wedding. We had a short ceremony so we chose to forgo chair rental and anchored the front with 2 vintage benches for family and special guests.

master-3

FERNS! I could NOT wait to see this vision in real life! A dozen giant ferns were hung from the beams of the venue. We also used fern leaves as table runners. What a lovely lodge building with giant wrap around porch, beautiful natural park setting, wildflowers, and all the things you need at a crazy good price might I add! Johnson Park is really a great spot! I just love these ferns and what they did to the room, some orange lanterns hung in between, some lights, and voila, magical! AND super thanks to amazing and awesome friends for doing a slam dunk job at setting up our wedding. It was hard to not be a part of the setup as I’m just so used to dreaming up the vision and then physically making or setting it up. I did do plan-o-grams to make it as easy and clear as possible and they really knocked it out of the park! Thank you friends!

master-4

Another view looking up, so pretty! I just can’t live without color, plants, and green, these FERNS! More on the blog soon- we’ve got more decor, food, details, and the dress to cover still!

(Commenting: OFF)

Color of the Month October 2016 and Rehearsal Brunch!

It’s mid month and yep, late on the color of the month post. BUT, for good reasons like getting married!!! And for not the best reasons like recovering from surgery. So, this month I give you color of the month in aqua blue along with rehearsal brunch bits too! I have been saving up aqua vintage because, well I love it…and I always imagined using it for a wedding shower or party of the sort. SO, when it came down to our rehearsal wedding brunch I knew exactly which direction I was headed! Color of the month, here we go!
img_20161008_151958

! Fave vintage: speckled melmac bowl, flowered mugs, McCoy bowl, bird glasses, melmac cup n saucer, n plaid napkin.

img_20161008_152342

Again using pieces from our aqua vintage wedding rehearsal brunch. Fave vintage: melmac of course, tablecloth, plaid napkins, Pyrex bowl, artgoodies ring towel, and ship glasses we picked up on our honeymoon.

img_20160918_125700-1

Just a part of my vintage aqua collection. Yep, plenty of melmac plates, cups, glasses, mugs, and serving pieces, add in a few vintage tablecloths and this was no problem at all!

wedpics_1476492744223

This is my grandma’s punch bowl. A perfect occasion to break it out and make some mimosas to go along with our late breakfast themed brunch. We also set up crock pots with potatoes, sausages, eggs n spinach, with fruit, coffee, apple fritter holes-homemade from a little place down in Vandalia, MI, they are crazy delicious…Back on track, the punch bowl! Long ago before I was born my grandma gave this to my mom telling her that someday she was going to have a daughter who loved beautiful things and this would be for her. Yep, that would be me and my grandma was a very very wise woman, how I miss her but she was a part of our day in many ways, starting with the celebration here. Oh and I bought these little metal signs awhile back, put chalkboard stickers on them to mark the food items for the day! I used her 40 cup coffee percolator too!

wedpics_1476492793932

My parents rented a beautiful cottage I found on VRBO for the wedding weekend. An awesome way for family near and far to relax together and have some quality time. Stephan and I popped in and out for dinner through the end of the week too. Plus it was a perfect relaxing rehearsal location! Check the listing out here if you’re looking for a fabulous retreat near Grand Rapids! NOW let’s talk about this awesome guy here! The one and only Danny Godinez! You guys, this friend is an amazing musician! I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him play out in Seattle at several venues, around the house, and here around the lake. He can PLAY, it’s amazing, beautiful, inspiring, exciting, and if you ever get a chance to see him play a show near or far, GO! Plus you can also hire him to play events, weddings, etc, and he travels too. Dude, he’s played with Santana among other famed folks, I don’t know what else to say but Check out his website here!

img_20161010_195143

Some shots from the day, there are just so many I could go on and on. I’m still trying to figure out how to blog about all the wedding details too! See those little swan cupcake pics, I bought those years ago and they were just waiting for this occasion! Another vintage swan themed item, a planter holding some cute mums. Friends and family hanging around visiting. It was so amazing to have so many of our faves together, meeting each other for the first time in some instances and seeming to become fast friends. This was SO awesome! There were also kayaks, a sandy beach, paddle boat, omg so nice and so relaxing and we lucked out with beautiful weather for the weekend too! We loved it! What a great way to start off our wedding celebration weekend! 

Stay tuned, more wedding details coming soon! 🙂  
(Commenting: OFF)

Color of the Month September 2016!

September! I’m a bit behind on the post but it’s Wedding Month! SO, lots to do at home and out and about, thinking, planning, doing, figuring out, gathering. So, back to color of the month…tomorrow is Stephan’s birthday and so this month he requested orange!
sept-2016-vignette-copy

Fave vintage: plaid napkin, striped plastic mugs, awesome Florida juice glass. orange Florida salt and p’s, plastic juice cups, old kentucky home song mug, and key car!

 
sept-2016-table-setting-copy

Fave vintage: an absolute fave tablecloth of mine, divided plates, striped cups, dandelion pitcher, plaid napkins, and tea towel.

 
(Commenting: OFF)

Color of the Month August 2016!

Woah, hello August! I’m a few days delayed with my color of the month. Distracted by wedding planning and adjusting to my new awesome life with Stephan. 51 days to go as he informed me today! SO, this month I incorporated a few of his pewter pieces in giving a gray and pink theme. Kinda fun to have a little twist on my usual setup!
aug 2016

Fave vintage: pink n gray melmac, small McCoy bowl, souvenir glass, roly poly glasses, gray file box, aluminum pitcher, and forbidden fruit liquor bottle.

aug 2016 table

Fave vintage: great tablecloth, napkin under flowers, awesome black and white plates, pink melmac bowls, silver rim roly poly glasses, pewter drink ware and little pitcher.

(Commenting: OFF)

Magazine Press!

Hooray! More magazine press! This time see my organic strawberry tea towel in Romantic Homes July issue on page 10! Thanks so much Romantic Homes Magazine for featuring my towel! _20160615_172853  
(Commenting: OFF)

July 2016 Color of the Month!

July, bam, here it is. Let’s celebrate sunshine and warmth with yellow! I find this time of year super dreamy with all the plants and flowers and gardening that’s abound. The cottage garden is looking great and producing delicious pea pods, onions, radishes, lettuce, and herbs. Here at home we’ve been doing a major overhaul on the yard. It hasn’t looked like this since I put the gardens in about 10 years ago! Turns out my fiance is an amazing yard machine digging up the bamboo grass that wandered all over the zen side. Let me just say I could barely even get the shovel in the ground and he was digging trenches. The man is utterly amazing in all ways. Friends who have so far seen the yard in progress are speechless. I’ll post some pics when it gets all mulched up. So back to cheery color of the month! Three cheers for being able to enjoy the outdoors, nature, cottage time, picking fresh food and flowers from the garden, and being with people you love.
july 2016 vignette blog

July 2016 Color of the Month VIgnette! all available in the vintage shop! Fave items: awesome glass striped salt and p’s, plastic toy car, spice shaker set, recipe box, and glass mugs, anchored by a napkin.

july 2016 table setting blog

July 2016 Color of the Month Table setting! Fave vintage items: tablecloth, plaid napkins, melmac plates n bowls, love the striped glasses, little doily, and fresh flowers from the garden.

 
(Commenting: OFF)

Color of the Month June 2016

June, full garden revamp is in effect! Plants, plants, and more plants, digging, moving, removing. The cottage garden is in, my veggie gardens are in and my backyard is in the midst of a mini makeover so color of the month is GREEN all the way! On a more serious note, I’m dedicating this color of the month post to our family friend Jim. He passed away Memorial Day and will be greatly missed by my family. His inquisitive mind, quarky sense of humor, and kindness will not be forgotten. I could never thank him enough for how much he believed in me and my business. Always following what I was doing, buying pieces, even though I would be just as happy to give him whatever he wanted. Jim, maybe you’re still reading these from a new place of comfort, peace, and rest-we love you and will miss you, and thank you.
colof of the month june 2016 vignette

Fave vintage: melmac cups n saucers, striped glasses (I have a bunch in shop!) Tiki mug, mom n pop mugs, a striped vintage runner.

blog color of the month June 2016

Fave vintage: tablecloth, napkins, melmac, and flowers from my garden. Melmac available now in my vintage shop! I’m using 2 different vintage napkins here, one as a place mat and one to use.

 
(Commenting: OFF)

Color of the Month May 2016!

Hey MAY! Wow! I’d say I’ve had a pretty stellar start to this year so I’m going with COOL blue this month. Feeling a little bit behind here with all the busyness and travel as of late, but oh well, loving it! I’ll be doing a post soon on my trip to Nashville to the Country Living Fair which was at the end of April in case you missed my social media posts. Be sure to follow along if you aren’t already, links at the bottom of the page. I’m keeping it short here as I try to play catch up with work and general life responsibilities, enjoy the May color of the month! Also garden season is here! Prepped my veggie gardens last night! YAY!
_20160503_165635 - Copy

Fave vintage items: awesome juice glasses-love these! Vintage great lakes blueberry mug, cute little ceramic elephant, flower mugs, blue ceramic mugs, cornflower napkin holder, birdie planter, floral napkin, and polka dot glass canister.

_20160503_165725 - Copy

Fave vintage: tablecloth, funny flower lady potholder, patterned napkins, ceramic cup n saucers, juice glasses, woven plastic basket, and napkin as a centerpiece.

(Commenting: OFF)

APRIL color of the month!

Yes! April! Spring is now official! The cottage is back open, I haven’t been yet but soon, soon! I can’t wait for some quiet island time, bird watching, and starting the garden there, and the garden here at home for that matter. Plenty to do in the meantime. April is a busy month traditionally with family activity, work, and the commencement of rummage sale season. Spring is a great time to dig deep as we renew and refresh from the winter. With my upcoming birthday, giving me my last year before I hit the next decade, and going into my 10th year in business I’m digging extra deep these days. SO, I give you red this month, an emotionally intense charged color.
BLOG APRIL COLOR OF MONTH 2016

Fave Vintage: the kitschy wood salt and pepper bird saying salt and p’s, add-a-matic, tiny play cups, red honey jar, Hazel Atlas shot glasses, juice glasses, Welsh candy tin, plaid thermos, wind up ducky-too cute when he spins his cane! cast iron initials- bought them at a flea last summer, looked down there were my initials, it was a sign from the flea gods. All anchored by a sweet vintage tea towel. Head over to the vintage shop as usual to find most of these treasures!

BLOG APRIL COLOR TABLE SETTING 2016

Fave Vintage: Let’s start with linens! This new to me vintage tablecloth is going into my personal collection for now with its cool plant motif, the red star napkins MINE, and the napkin in the middle, yep keepin it! Now for you: vintage glasses, I love this shape for wine, and these Fire King primrose pieces are in shop ready for your collection or own setting! Proving once again a few colorful pieces make a great table setting! BOOM!

(Commenting: OFF)