July 7, 2012

I have had previous blogs about our wedding before, but I just got the CD of our wedding pictures in the mail from my amazing photographers.  I am motivated to gush more about our big day.  I cannot believe how quickly time flies!!!

We used Pinterest to get a lot of our ideas, so I will try my best to credit what I can...

Our venue was the YWCA in downtown Fort Worth.  They have a nice price and an open vendor policy, which we really appreciated.  It is a historic building, so it has a lot of details that make decorating easy.  The ceremony space is downstairs with the nice big fire place, and upstairs is a ballroom.  (I was torn about whether or not to spend the money on chair covers, but ultimately I didn't.  I don't regret not covering them because I don't think my guests really noticed or cared, but it does stand out a bit in pictures.)  The tables and chairs are provided by the facility, so you cannot bring anything else in.

Our table decor was the Pinterest inspired mason jars and bandanas.  We also used smaller mason jars with holes punched in the tops for salt and pepper shakers.  The centerpieces were simple mason jars filled with white flowers.  My stepmom did the flowers for the wedding because for me they were the least important piece, and I didn't see any reason to spend the money on a florist.  I made the little cards next to the mason jars to communicate to guests that they should write their name on the tag and use it for a drinking glass.

The I Spy cards were also Pinterest inspired.  We used Martha Stewart's page to get our idea. It really did start a conversation between the guests, and in some cases even inspired a competition.  We hid the camera (which was green and did not match) behind the cardstock cards. I made a spot for guests to return the cameras, so that the cleanup folks weren't finding them all over at the end of the night. 

 We opted not to do a traditional wedding cake, but instead I wanted cake balls (or politely called cake truffles.) I had mine made at Sugar Bee Sweets in Arlington.  They were delicious, and my guests loved them.  My husband loved shoving a whole one in my mouth during the cake eating pictures also! :)My husband didn't want a traditional grooms cake either, so we made an Oreo tower.  He loves Oreos more than most things on earth, so this was perfect.  We had the glass beverage dispenser filled with milk once "cake" was served.

After lots and lots of searching, I couldn't find a guestbook that I liked.  I knew we would never use it again, but I didn't want to do the mat on the picture because there's nothing worse than looking back in five years and not remembering who someone is (I've had friends that this has happened to) or you have a falling out with and there is their name on your wall.... what a waste.  I came up with a funky idea that my guests would sign a penny for good luck.  They put their penny inside the chalkboard piggy bank.  (I got him at Target.)  It was fun and different.  People even managed to draw little pictures on their pennies, so it was neat to go through them all.

 My grandparents vintage suitcase filled with stock became a place for guests to place their cards.

This whole piece of decor was the most special and probably my favorite thing we had at our wedding.  My husband has lost both his parents, and I wanted to honor them at our wedding.  Sam's dad made jewelry out of rock (you can see it in the first picture above).  I took many different pieces of that and put the pendants on fishing wire and hung it on a small tree.  I made the tree out of branches in our backyard.  Several other pendants were in a small mason jar that you can see in the last picture.  I typed up the story of his mom and dad's jewelry business (that came from an unsuccessful gold mine) and framed it to match the rest of our wedding signs.  I also put their wedding picture on the table.  I had already taken some bridal pictures wearing several of the pieces, and I surprised my husband with those pictures later too. 

 The vendor we used for our invitations was incredible!!! Due to some health concerns in our family, we were unable to confirm our wedding until the last minute (about five weeks before), but Gina of Ginger P Designs was incredible! She made this custom design for us, and this was not the first or second or third design she made for me.  She also doesn't charge for shipping and these invites are high quality and well-priced!! I loved them and my guests knew exactly what to expect at our BBQ chic wedding. 

We had such a wonderful day! All these beautiful pictures are credited to my incredible team of photographers.  Camille and Sara of Pureography are amazing photographers.  I am also fortunate enough that they are friends of mine.  I think my wedding made our sixth photoshoot together, so we were a well-oiled machine.  I cannot wait to pick out my pictures and get my flush mount album from them!!

I loved the way our colors turned out, and the way it all came together!  I have so many other incredible pictures to share that this may not be my last wedding post yet :)

Thanks y'all!