Wedding: Early Preparations, Hints and Tricks

It's a gorgeous day in Michigan with beautiful sunshine and warm balmy temperatures.  The girls in my family-my mom, sister, niece, daughter and I-are heading off to see Taylor Swift at Ford Field while my son and nephew hang out and play with my brother-in-law.  Hubby is up north at our cottage putting in the dock and boat lift.  Busy weekend all around.

Brandin's wedding continues to dominate my creative thoughts and is truly an amazing experience.  Each week we refine ideas and crystalize plans; I whispered softly to the bride that I am quietly trying to micromanage her wedding and she didn't fire me so I guess I'm good & all is well; I still have a job.

As I mentioned before, I've decided I will not be showing completed projects until after the wedding so that anyone who is attending will be surprised.  In the mean time I can't help but share small details.

 I am turning ugly open-back picture frames and plywood into chalkboards using Ann Sloan Paint and wax.  I will be posting a tutorial.

Brandin intended to have the bridesmaid's skirts made and ordered this beautiful fabric. Unfortunately the skirts didn't look like she wanted so I have all this fabric to work with.  But what to make?
The center pieces will include these gorgeous blue mason jars.  Brandin and I are planning a vintage romantic wedding with lots of pretty details.  The jars will hold peonies-maybe some hydrangea- or candles.  I hope that at twilight, with all the golden candle light flickering, we will have a beautiful, romantic space.  The mason jars will of course be embellished; tags, seam binding bows, crystals, and anything else that catches my eye.

Originally Brandin intended to rent vintage furniture pieces.  The idea was to add to the decor and mood as well as provide relaxed seating for guests outside of the barn, give us a cool space to setup the dessert buffet and use some for photo props.  After we heard about the cost for the pieces, my husband and I immediately decided we would offer to help in the form of looking for furniture pieces and painting anything that needed up dating.  You see, my hubby LOVES the hunt.  He spends hours searching for a new car, house hunting or scoping Craig's List for furniture.  In fact, we furnished our cottage through Craig's list two summers ago.  Rick has been on mission since Brandin showed him some of the furniture pieces we wanted.  Within 24 hours he had found buffets, chairs, sofas, chandeliers, and even more mason jars.  I decided to purchase the mason jars because the price was good- $25 for 18 jars; 10 blue and 8 clear.  I'll keep them after the wedding or if I don't want them sell them on Craig's list.

I've already shared the pictures of the ribbon but thought it needed to be included in this post as well. I purchased the rolls (below) from Zipper Stop.  Zipper Stop sells a huge variety of colors of Snug Hug seam binding for $9.95/100 yards.  Yes, that is 100 yards.  You can't beat the price.  I usually purchase white or cream colors and dye them to match my project but decided that since I need a ton of ribbon -and it comes in gorgeous colors- and it's not worth my time to dye it.

I did however get it wet and let it dry scrunched giving it a  look.

The rosette tutorial will be coming soon.

I am using Tags- and garlands- to decorate and here are 3 backgrounds I will be using throughout the space to decorate and add to the romantic mood.

Poms, Poms everywhere.  I will be posting a tutorial for the poms.  I am making TONS.  Remember the barn is a large space and the more the better.

Imagine what a hundred poms or more will look like floating below the ceiling of this beautiful barn.  The lights that are hanging are permanently hung and run by solar panels- I love this concept.  We will be hanging more lights and tulle "walls" to create the romantic mood that befits Brandin and Bill.

Stacks of poms waiting to be trimmed and opened.  I have sooooooo much more tissue that needs to be folded. 

The poms cannot be opened before we get to the barn because it's impossible to keep them from getting crushed.  That means I have to open them all on site.  I am planning to spend a day early in the week just opening the poms, leaving them neatly on the floor of the barn and letting someone (ahem "Bill") come in and hang them later in the week.

All of these photos were taken in my kitchen/dining room.  It is quickly becoming wedding central as my studio space is full of supplies need to make all the pretty stuff.  I'm hoping I can complete projects, pack them neatly in the totes and pass them off to Brandin and Bill to get to the venue....or we'll be tripping over it until June- let's be real, THAT is more likely to be exactly what happens.  Watch your step.

So, I have lots of work to do and several tutorials to complete for you.  Don't forget you can check out my Pinterest Board for this wedding as well 57 other boards.  I do PIN mostly from blogs rather than Pinterest so you always will find unique and interesting pins and ideas.

Have a great weekend and find something to glitter.