This was tough, because there are thousands of ideas for centerpieces floating around online and in magazines. At various stages in my planning I thought about doing an all-candle tablescape, but I didn't think that would fly with a bunch of kids running around. Then I wanted to use flowers from all shades of my color scheme -- but teal flowers don't exactly exist in nature. When flower fatigue set in and I felt completely overwhelmed by all of my options, I thought mini-wedding cakes in the center of each table would be perfect. (I still love this idea actually, but it just didn't fit in my budget).
Photo 8/16
Centerpieces: My Version
One of my wedding pet peeves is a too-tall centerpiece. I hate it when I'm at a reception and can't make eye contact with the people sitting across from me. So I kept mine low and used two types of yellow flowers: sunflowers and tulips. Sunflowers because I really like them and they worked with the yellow in my color scheme; I chose the tulips as a small homage to my fiancé's family's Dutch heritage.
The chalkboards were my brief foray into the crafty wedding world, and thankfully they were actually pretty easy to pull off. First, I went to the dollar store and picked up about 20 plain wood photo frames. Then I bought teal and light blue paint and chalkboard spray paint from Michaels. I separated the glass from the wood frames, then my sisters and I painted all the plain wood teal and blue.
I then enlisted my future-mother-in-law to help me douse all the glass with chalkboard spray paint. I'll admit, it took awhile -- you have to let the chalkboard paint dry between coats, and we ended up doing about three or four coats -- but I was pleased with the final results. Once everything was dry I bought chalkboard pens and had my bridesmaid Catie (who had the best handwriting of any of us) write the table names.
Photo 9/16
Bouquets: The Inspiration
The last time I was a bridesmaid the flowers were beautiful ... but crazy heavy. I literally could not hold the bouquet with one hand, which made walking in a floor-length gown downright dangerous. So I was looking out for bouquets that were on the smaller side, but would still have some drama and make a statement.
My advice: Think about the overall look for you and your bridesmaids when you head to the florist. I brought pictures of everyone's dresses and the venue so she could see what the rest of the wedding would look like. Also, do a little research on flower pricing. Some, like peonies, are ridiculously expensive most of the year and can jack up the price of an otherwise-reasonable bouquet. But there's almost always a cheaper alternative that's just as pretty.
Photo 10/16
Bouquets: My Version
Sunflowers were an obvious choice for my bridesmaids. They worked with the color scheme and matched their black dresses. Bonus: sunflowers are one of the cheapest flowers you can buy, which was great for my budget. For my bouquet, I wanted something a little softer, so I used pale yellow lilies and a few gardenias (pricey, but they're my other favorite flower and were also in my mom's wedding bouquet, so they were important to me).
Photo 11/16
Cupcakes: The Inspiration
This may have been the only aspect of my wedding I had thought about pre-engagement, purely because of my sweet tooth snobbery. At every wedding I've been to I've eagerly waited for dessert -- and far too often I'm bummed out by the same old sheet cake. Initially, I wanted a full-on dessert bar with every type of pastry imaginable, but then reality (otherwise known as our budget) kicked in and I knew I'd have to scale back.
So I went with my current favorite treat: cupcakes. I liked the idea because they still felt wedding-y, since they are technically cake, but they're easier to eat while standing than your typical slice and I could get them in a few different flavors.
Some women dream about their weddings, gather inspiring wedding pics, and practically plan out every detail of their big days from the time they are little girls.
I was not one of those women.
It wasn't that I was anti-marriage or anything, but outside a fleeting desire to end up with Leonardo DiCaprio after I saw "Romeo + Juliet" in junior high, I just never daydreamed much about weddings -- and I certainly didn't spend my downtime dog-earing photos in bridal magazines.
This wasn't really an issue, until, eventually, I got engaged. Suddenly, everyone from my future mother-in-law to strangers at the grocery store were asking about the minute details of my pending wedding. And I had no idea what to say.
To the rescue: The Internet and all its wedding blog glory. I gorged myself on beautiful inspiration pics of every type of wedding imaginable until I gained some sense of what I liked -- and more importantly, what I hated.
Once I had gathered my own arsenal of wedding inspiration, I had a tougher task in front of me. Most of the photos I loved came from weddings or wedding photo shoots that were professionally done -- or done by amazingly crafty people who had (I'm assuming) far more money and free time than I did. How was I going to make this wedding a reality?
Keep reading to see how I pulled it off -- and get some useful tips for planning your own wedding without losing too much of your sanity.
