I had the pleasure of doing a bouquet and boutonniere for our friends Genevieve and Will on their big day. You might recall that Genevieve baked our wedding cake, hand pies, and brought serving dishes for our wedding dinner, and helped us out with some of the catering service as well. So naturally it was a gimmee that I wanted to gift them wedding flowers!
She told me she wanted purple with some white and green and that gave me free range to style up something lovely. I went to a local market the day before and picked out all the flowers, came home, prepped them and started building the arrangements. Drop off the next morning, and it was fun to see all together at the reception. The lovely bride told me she had so many compliments on them which was fantastic!
Here’s what I did! Flowers: dark purple statice, purple freesia, white roses, white snapdragons, lavender tulips, mini hydrangeas, leather leaf fern. I wrapped the stems of the bouquet in green ribbon and then a sweet vintage hankie. 3 shades of purple along with the white, dark green, and the limey green of the mini hydrangeas really made the monochromatic purples work! I just love how it turned out and was so happy to be working with flowers again!
WEDDING Food and Drink and more Decor!
And now for wedding food and drink and a bit more decor! We wanted to have high quality delicious nourishments for friends and family. We like good food, local food, and handcrafted food. So, in honor of falling in love over tacos we had Donkey Taqueria here in Grand Rapids bring in the good stuff! It’s a favorite place of ours, if you haven’t been there you should go! We had 2 types of tacos, the potato for our veggie friends and pork carnitas for the carnivores, plus salad, rice, vegan beans, and let’s not forget the chips and guacamole for cocktail hour. SO good! The great thing about all this deliciousness is that you could make them up just the way you wanted so it really catered to all the friends and family, from vegan to vegetarian, to gluten free, everyone was super happy and thrilled when they discovered the menu. We’re talking seconds and people admitting to going up for thirds, ha.
And for drink we had a couple of amazing beers from Greyline Brewery. One of the smallest yet really the best brewery in all of Grand Rapids, or Michigan for that matter. It’s run by our talented friends, there’s no one that knows beer better, a la Nate Walser, supreme beer master. If you know anything about beer you just had an exclamation point go off inside your head. Go visit Greyline and you’ll find a cool old mid century style building on the NW side with sophisticated chill decor, great food, and lots of brew to choose from! And needless to say, our beer loving friends were QUITE pleased with the drink option. We also had some wine at the wedding, and coffee served up in my grandma’s 40 cup percolator and in vintage cups and saucers. I had a pic of the little kegs inside of the vintage laundry tubs but I can’t find it! They fit quite nicely and right into our decor!
Now, let’s talk cake! Our talented friend Genevieve made a darling little carrot cake for us, yummy! I purchased some orange doilies made of sugar for some simple decor on the outside and used a little handmade ceramic cake topper I purchased years and years ago in the early Etsy days from a store called Melabo. Simple and sweet! In addition, Genevieve made some hand pies, oh my, SO good! They flew off the table as I knew they would! I loved having little pies at the wedding. As you may know I find pie quite sentimental, as I’ve posted before, I used to make pies with my grandma growing up and her rolling pin and pastry cutter are among my prize possessions. We also had more of those delicious apple fritter holes we had at the brunch, heaven. You should also take this opportunity to check out Genevieve’s CSA here in GR, Save the Season. AND she’s the chef at Life Fuel, a healthy meal service here. She’s one smart talented lady!
Now here’s a little takeaway we made. My mom and I and then my mom and dad canned delicious little jars of homemade marmalade using my grandma’s recipe. Another little way to bring her into my day. I then cut little pieces of vintage fabric for inside the lids.
And here’s a shot of our head table. I wanted something different and a little special of course. We were seated in front of the gorgeous stone fire place, bunting and a paper flower accented it while a sweet framed vintage print of 2 orioles sat on the fireplace. I styled 2 vintage fiberglass Herman Miller chairs from home into the mix, just the right color! We had a small table we could easily get in and out of, a feature floral arrangement, and a thrifted orange sheet worked perfectly under the vintage doily plastic lace tablecloth we got together at an estate sale. Lovely delicate features setting our table off from the rest. I also styled a small table for family with a vintage tablecloth and special floral arrangements.
All in all it was the most beautiful relaxed day filled with great food, drink, dear friends, and family, and most of all love.
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.
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!
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!
Accessories:
Cute shoe pic, yep.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
Stay tuned, more wedding details coming soon! 🙂
Valentine’s Buying Guide
January can feel a little bleak so let’s jet forward to the next holiday while I’m working on new designs (stay tuned!) In the meantime, here’s artgoodies Valentine’s buying guide. If you’re looking for a way to give a sweet treat to anyone you care about, artgoodies can help, because everyone deserves a little love. Nab a sweetie pie towel set and SAVE or help someone celebrate a new engagement with a blingy ringy towel, tis the season. Whoever it is, remind someone you care, a friend, a neighbor, a loved one, be nice, that’s all.