thanks everybody!

I just wanted to express my appreciation to Grace for having me these past two weeks, and to all the readers who sent in emails. Also thanks so much to those who contributed articles. It was such a great experience connecting with the D*S audience in this way. I hope the handmade wedding guide has been fun and helpful to read!

more handmade gifts

And continuing the crafty gifts theme, this afternoon's last post starts off with Karen who wrote in about Judy Lee's bookbinding tutorial for making a photo journal on her blog five and a half. Judy's lesson includes loads of pictures and very clear instructions. (So glad to find Judy's great blog!) Karen writes:

"Using a photo of the couple, a sentimental place, or something from the wedding theme would be a great handmade gift; if the wedding is small the bride can even make little notebooks as her wedding favors."


And speaking of photos, here is some beautiful collage work by German artist Sandra Muller posted on her blog. Sandra's work has an heirloom feeling, with all of these pretty vintage family photos. She also has an esty shop if you'd like to collect some collage materials for projects or just inspiration.




And Heather Samples sent in some great photos and links. When she got married in her home state of West Virginia last spring, she received loads of handmade gifts from her loved ones. Heather writes:

"West Virginia has long been the stateside capital of glassmaking. Blenko still handblows their iconic water jug (in continual production since 1938) thirty miles from my hometown.


Although the older generation of quilters is dying out, there are still breathtaking hand-stitched quilts to be had, made on the old stretchers by women who've been doing it all their lives. This one came from a cooperative of elderly home quilters called Cabin Creek Quilts. Cabin Creek announced this month that they can no longer afford to stay in business, but you can find other pieces at www.mountainmade.com


Allegheny Treenware is the best place to find handmade wooden utensils and kitchenwares.


Finally, the bar cutting board was made by woodworker Brenda Good. More of her work (along with that of lots of other West Virginia artisans, including potters, more quilters and glassworkers) can be found at www.tamarackwv.com" Thanks for these great resources, Heather!


And finally today, there are so many talented quilters selling their goods on etsy, including a personal favorite Little Quilts. You can check out etsy's entire roster of quilters, which is - happily - expanding on a daily basis. :)

handmade gifts revisited

Wow, these two weeks flew by. Today is my last day of blogging for the handmade wedding theme, and we'll be wrapping up with a great day of handmade gift ideas.

When Tony Visco and his fiance were planning their wedding, they couldn't find china pattern they liked. So instead they asked artist Yuki Murata of moderngoods to create a special registry of her unique designs for them. This idea allowed them to support an independent artist and get the tableware that suited them perfectly.


I really admire the work Jenni Hopkins, who specializes in painted and embroidered monogram pieces. It's such a perfect wedding gift, but special on any occasion.


These wooden bowls are produced by designer and craftsman Jim Doan. He handcrafts these original pieces in his Chicago studio and each is individually numbered to remind you they are truly one-of-a-kind.



And how wonderful is this line of customized dinnerware featuring the front door and family name of the bride and groom? Artist Jessica Rust can personalize any item on her site.




Katie Covington of k.talis jewelry submitted these beautiful examples of her custom wedding jewelry, that can be highly personalized:

"I use vintage and reclaimed pieces in my line of jewelry that would fit in nicely with a handmade or green wedding. Antique chandelier drops, vintage metal charms and keys are all paired with precious metals. Another idea for wedding jewelry is to make or commission a piece made that incorporates something special to the couple: stones found on the beach, initials of the bride and groom, an important image or motif. To remember family that has passed away I've created jewelry using buttons from a father's Naval uniform. Jewelry is a great to personalize a wedding and keep the people you love close to you during your big day. Almost anything can be made into jewelry with a little DIY know how."




Cindy Johnson wrote in about the R. Wood Ceramics Studio, which features a number of talented artists' work and even has a wedding registry!



And another reader recommended Miranda Thomas Pottery for great prices and exquisite handmade work.


I'll be posting some quilts later today, but I think these wedding samplers by Luci Summers are really lovely on a much smaller scale.



More gifts later, of a more crafty variety!

green weddings finale

Since there were a number of readers who contributed to this topic of environmentally friendly weddings, I wanted to squeeze in one more post. I'm starting with jewelry designer Sally Brock, owner of Fancy in Seattle, who produces a gorgeous variety of reclaimed rings.


Here's Sally:

"More and more I've been getting orders for custom wedding/engagement rings. I've started collecting some vintage (really ugly 80s honking gemstone rings) removing all the stones, and recycling them for a greener alternative to purchasing new stones. Each ring is custom designed, and made entirely by hand in my Seattle studio. I also work in silver, a more affordable alternative to the usual jewelry stores- as well as gold, platinum and the fancy stuff."



Lauren Feeney of Philadelphia had this to share:

"We're having our wedding (April 14th!) at the train station (30th St.
in Philadelphia) so that our guests can ride the train instead of
driving (eco-friendly and safe!). I'd imagine most cities now have
underused train stations that may be willing to rent out space for
events. We're also sourcing foods locally when possible, giving out
tree seedlings as favors, and having Carbon Planet audit and offset the event."



And here are some more readers' tips:

Jessica Timpany, now planning her Sonoma wedding, said the following:

"We opted to use a caterer that specializes in local and organic,
sustainably grown food. The Girl and The Fig Caters is a branch of the Girl &
The Fig restaurant in Sonoma. John, their chef, knows all the local
veggie, meat, cheese people in the Sonoma Valley; and using local food
cuts down on carbon emissions. Organic food obviously reduces the
pesticides workers are exposed to and that seep into the ground.

Other things we are doing:

- Offsetting our carbon "footprint" with carbonfund.org
- Donating to breast cancer research fund in lieu of a gift to our guests.
- Using Cranes Lettra 100% cotton paper for invites, not a tree harmed!
- Organic, local and sustainably farmed flowers.
- Using many living succulents and Tillandsia (living air plants) so that
people can take them home and they can live on!

And Simone Alpen is doing the following for her Stowe, Vermont wedding:

- making our own stationery with recycled content and Gocco
- trying to find a letterpress outfit that will print on recycled content paper
- find salon near the wedding site that uses eco-friendly products (i.e. Aveda)
- we made the decision not to register for any gifts. It was hard (esp. for some
of the traditionalists in our midst!). But we decided that it didn't make sense
for us (we're in our 30's, live in a small Cambridge, MA apartment with limited
space for china settings!). So, for those that are still dying to send along
something--we'll register at a carbon off-setting site (i.e. climatecare.org)
- make our own centerpieces from seasonal and local materials
- when setting our dinner menu we're going to push for a meal that includes as
many local, organic items as possible.

Simone also recommended these resources:

portovert.com
idealbite.com
treehugger.com

Thanks so much for these wonderful contributions!

green weddings - week two

This afternoon we're following up on last week's topic of environmentally responsible weddings. Kara over at Treehugger has contributed a great article, full of useful tips and resources. Treehugger is a fantastic blog on all things "green", so check back with them regularly for environmental news and info well beyond the topic we're covering here today. I'll be back this afternoon with a few more readers' ideas. But now I give you Kara:

"We are seeing 'green weddings' becoming more and more popular as each year passes. Even the New York Times reported that couples are taking a new look at traditional weddings and seeing green. And with that comes many more options and tips to help eco-friendly couples reduce their carbon footprint on the big day.

This past January, we saw the launch of Portovert Magazine, the only magazine dedicated to eco-chic ideas for engagement parties, bridal showers and weddings. It’s the paperless equivalent to Elegant Bride, Martha Stewart Weddings and InStyle Weddings. In February, Portovert launched the first U.S. wedding carbon calculator in partnership with Native Energy. By visiting the Native Energy’s website, visitors can easily calculate the carbon emissions produced by the principal wedding-related carbon sources: guest travel, lodging, and venue power and heat. For as little as $12 per ton of carbon offsets, brides and grooms can make a quick, easy investment in renewable energy by choosing one of three options: helping build new wind power projects, new family farm methane energy projects, or a combination of both

When it comes to planning a wedding, we like Organic Weddings, Ethical Weddings and Green Elegance Weddings. These three websites offer tips for couples looking to throw an eco-friendly wedding. Organic Weddings offers advice on catering, organic wine and beer, ceremony atmosphere notions and even music suggestions. And with the average wedding costing $25,000 today, Green Elegance Weddings makes it easier for couples to find the resources they need to direct more of their dollars towards green products and services.

We’ve written about some of the details on TreeHugger as well, including ethically made wedding dresses like Wholly Jo’s or, if you’re looking for a more sexy style, Faernyn’s Grove. And since you’ll only be wearing the dress once, you can try a
paper dress although it may be a bit far-fetched. Forego the confetti and rice and use flower petals as a beautiful yet sustainable alternative. And check out GreenKarat for ethical wedding rings. They offer a voluntary carbon offset tax, which allows you to buy credits toward neutralizing carbon emissions associated with the energy usage of mining and making jewelry. Look for invitations that are tree-free or recycled like the ones from Invite Site and when registering, look for an online store that offers eco-friendly options.

Lastly, instead of giving wedding favors consider making a donation to one of your favorite causes. With so much time and money spent and many of your closest family and friends joining you for your special day it’s a great time to make it count. After all, they have to listen to you on your day, right?"

article update

And a quick note to mention, check back to yesterday morning's grow your own flowers article to see added photos!

flowers finale

This morning we're finishing up flowers and decorations with lots of additions. Let's get right into it with this great submission from Kat from outside Philadelphia:

"My husband and I had a handmade, Italian garden theme with pop flourishes of a lemon, coral and magenta palette. It was a really strong combination of colors, so we were sure to combine them everywhere. A friend did the flowers - roses and
snapdragons from Costco; lanterns and ribbon hung in the garden."



Cathy Skraba creates these flower arrangement containers specifically designed to hang from chairs. Great idea, and a nice looking touch:



Speaking of flower arrangements for the aisle - Andrea Katz of Bend, Oregon had this gorgeous idea:


Laura Brunow Miner of Lawrence, Kansas hand-picked her lily bouquets and has some great tips for resources:

"I spent a week completely immersed in the concept: visiting florists, buying inexpensive flowers to experiment with arrangements, and scouring the internet.
In the end I decided upon the simple and modern Calla Lily for the bouquets. I chose four stems of stargazer lilies in a bell jar at each table for the table arrangements. The flowers came from growersbox.com and pacificcallas.com. The bell jars were very inexpensive and purchased at a grocery store."



Here is another beautiful homemade chuppah design sumitted by Robin Busch-Wheaton of Berkley, CA:

"My husband, Elliot, and I made our simple but bright chuppah using a piece of fabric from a thrift store and different lengths and widths of red and orange ribbons."


Sarah Drake of Chicago was on a budget when she assembled her flower arrangements. So simple and elegant:

"We spent about $200 at the farmers market and about $100 on vintage
medicine bottles for the reception centerpieces."




And finally a subtle and classic look from Trisha of black white bliss who simply had petals sprinkled down the aisle.


Thanks again to all the readers who wrote in. We'll move on to eco-friendly wedding ideas this afternoon, so check back later!

not for the weak-at-heart

Here are a few larger-scale projects if you want to get really ambitious with your crafting. The first is another great idea from ReadyMade Magazine, a homemade chuppah made of birch tree trunks and flowers. They were even kind enough to create a special link for easy-to-follow directions. My thanks to the folks RM!


Carol Barclay of Rochester, NY sent in these great photos of her daughter's backyard summer wedding, featuring a tree branch arch and driveway stencils. They did a few heavy-duty projects for decorations, and their efforts really paid off:

"The ceremony was under a handmade sycamore arch in the back and the
dinner was under a fluttery tent in the front, so I wanted to make
the path between the areas into a special walkway. I stenciled silver scrolls the whole length of the driveway! It took over 6 hours on my knees... and we had a gathering of neighbors out checking out what I was up to."






Katy Verga of Arizona had loads of great handmade things in her wedding. I particularly liked the way they tackled the issue of baking hot weather at her backyard wedding. It's tough to pull off a weather solution that is functional AND elegant:

"Because our wedding was on a May afternoon in steaming Arizona, & we were inviting our guests to sit out beneath the near scorching sun, we knew we would need to provide some sort of shade. My creative mom came up with the idea of long stretches of sheer white fabric. We hung the strips from our roof & lengthened them to a string of wire hung throughout the trees. They worked! Lots of shade & a nice soft ambience that made the whole afternoon feel more intimate. Tiny bells hanging in the trees made for soft song when the breeze would catch them."





Thanks so much for the submissions. More flowers and decorations coming tomorrow morning...

mum balls - instructions

As promised, here are some more specific details about producing the mum balls featured last week. This link also includes some other DIT projects, so check that out if you're looking for ideas.

I'll be back later today with updates on decorations and flowers. And I've decided to extend that section to tomorrow morning, returning to eco-friendly wedding choices tomorrow afternoon.


You'll need:

Floral Foam (the green stuff)
Mums (any color you like)
Floral Pins
Army Knife
Scissors


- Use your knife to carve the floral foam into 1" - 2" spheres

- Snip off the heads of your mums

- Soak your foam spheres in water one at a time just before you are
ready to assemble each (the foam retains some of the water and will
keep your mums looking fresh)

- begin attaching the mum heads to the foam sphere with your floral
pins. Continue until you have covered all of the green foam with
mums. Now you have a mum ball! Proceed to the next.

Thanks to Maggie at Stems Floral Shop in Red Hook, New York for the instructions.

flowers - week two

Today we have a special treat for the flowers topic! Kathleen Connally of Durham, Pennsylvania (also doing double duty as a photography writer) has put together the definitive 'grow your own flowers' guide.

Thanks for the great info Kathleen! Check back this afternoon when we'll have more great reader feedback about decorations and flowers.

bookbinding - week two

And back to books! Let me start with the gorgeous journals Emily at Orangebeautiful sent over. They specialize in custom binding, stationery and design services. And they just launched a blog, so click here to see what projects they're working on now.





Marieke of Treats and Treasures sent in these handmade notebooks that she designed and printed on her Print Gocco. She wrote:

"Here are some pictures of the cahiers I just send off as gifts to the
female part of my wedding party. In the Netherlands it is tradition
that your wedding party organizes quite a lot of the wedding.
Although I did not want my best friends to work hardest on that
special day, I though I'd make it a bit easier on the few tasks they
do have."





I really love these books made by Kim O’Neill at GOOD STOCK. She specializes in creating heirloom books and family trees.




And now for some tips from readers!

Dianne Vallier had this good suggestion:

"I thought i'd let you know of one other bookbinding resource that i know about, for those people who might not live in a city where classes are offered. I've made several handmade books, and I taught myself from a book called "Handmade Books: A Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting Your Own Books" by Kathy Blake (it is available on amazon.com). It is a great beginner's guide that is pretty easy to follow. There are instructions on how to make your own bookcloth and paste, and it includes several different methods of bookbinding (I got a little creative with some of them and altered the instructions a bit to fit my needs). Overall, I think this is a wonderful resource for those who are interested in learning this craft."

Anabella Wewer added:

"The North Bennet Street School, in the North End of Boston is one of the oldest trade school in the US. It is just two doors down from Old North Church, of Pul Revere fame, in Boston's Freedom Trail. They have some intensive classes, workshops as well as a Master Bookbinder program."

And Michelle Pinkston added this awesome resource:

"Perhaps not entirely "handmade" but i made a book from all of my friends' wedding pictures. (i also did it for my cousin's wedding...) I waited until they got their proofs back (they were all online) contacted the photographer (who graciously let me use all of the photos i wanted - it helped that the couple had purchased a copy of most of them) and then put them into a keepsake "album" using Blurb.com.

This site is great - i use it for my portfolios (i'm an architect) and for many big presentations at work. the page layouts are really basic and can be easily created in a weekend. now they have a "coffee table book" chronicling their wedding. this also works really well if you've got friends with cameras at the wedding - it could be completely candid....i like to group pictures based on different sides of the family, pictures of the couple, pictures of guests, etc. but this is a really creative way to give them a keepsake and it's relatively cheap. the quality of print you get is amazing - it's hardcover with a dust jacket - so it will keep forever! I noticed that they recently put up a section specifically geared towards wedding books - so they may have new, more appropriate templates! the site has a free, downloadable beta program that is really user-friendly...oh, and i don't work for this company, just love the results! it's a really personalized gift that the couple will remember for years!"


And finally, Jessica Lysons of Worker Bee Designs sent over these great photo flip-books that she creates for her custom clients. Jessica writes, "I had an idea of a way to possibly display the idea better in a non-video form, so I put together an image sequence showing the progression of the first kiss." If you want to see one in action, you can find her here.

invitations - week two

And we're back for week two! As promised, this week I will be posting some of the great ideas I received from readers since last Monday. I want to say thanks so much to everyone who shared their photos and stories. Now let's get started with an invitations follow-up!


I really adore this invitation sent in by Audrey Diehl. This was the great work of her sister, designer Marley Diehl of San Antonio, TX:

"My sister did the invitations for my wedding (which is on April 14), and since we're getting married at a small, mid-century hotel near Palm Springs, our reply cards were inspired by the popular mid-century hobby of paint by numbers. She took photographs of our hotel and traced them, scanned them into her computer and then we had them offset printed onto postcards. We ended up using 2 designs (I have attached an image of one of them). We included a small pack of colored pencils with our invitations, and then our guests colored the "paint by number" images before they mailed back the rsvp."




And moving on to another type of printmaking, here is gorgeous silkscreen poster invitation by Erin Jang:

"I designed our invitations like a poster, since we are both huge fans
of rock posters and the silkscreened look. we had them printed at a
silkscreening rock poster printer in seattle (the printer does several
posters for subpop label and for other indie bands). we rolled them up
with a separate information sheet of directions, maps, etc, tied them
with beautiful trimming ribbons and mailed them off in tubes. our
guests loved them, we were ecstatic to hear that many people framed
them and hung them on their walls.




"I also added a couple examples of another handmade invitation I put
together (pic of yellow/orange invites w/polka dots). I created the
illustration of a crab and bear (b/c of nicknames their friends give
them) in love for the rsvp postcard. and the main invitation was
easily printed on a home printer and the corners were rounded with a
corner rounder clipper you can easily buy at any craft store." Check out more of Erin's work here.


Carolyn Burgess Sellers and her husband used the block printing method for this charming design:

"We hand carved linoleum blocks for our reception invites. I wanted them to be like little pieces of art that our guests could keep, even frame if they wanted too. On the backside of the love birds block print, was the invite."


And, after successfully creating her own invitation on her Gocco printer, Heather Toupin now has an etsy store for custom work. The printing quality is lovely and has a beautiful antique look.



Joelle McNichol and her husband of London, UK based their cool wedding programs on a Fanzine design style:

"My invites were... designed to look a bit like a gig flyer. A lot of our ideas came from our shared love of independent music and the style that goes with it. We had them printed on nice textured heavy weight cream paper".






Finally, here is an invitation created by Lisa at Good on Paper. I featured a lot of letterpress last week, but had to include this because of the really unique design.




AND, I'm very pleased to announce that Debbie and Harold at Boxcar Press and
Bella Figura, have greatly expanded the guide to creating artwork for letterpress. Please check it out!

handmade gifts (part two)

We are going to continue today's handmade gift theme with a quick look at "homemade" things. This is a section I would love to expand *greatly* for next Friday, because I know it will be useful to so many readers. So if you have anything to contribute, por favor...

The time we spend making things for other people is time well spent. Period. But it also makes good economical sense in a lot of cases. The costs of pulling off a big event are always higher than we'd like them to be, so why not offset some of that expense by making gifts?


Expert crafter Kirsten Earl is in the process of planning her upcoming wedding. As a staffer over at Martha Stewart TV, Kirsten has many homemade ideas to share. Below are the lovely handbags she is personally making for each of her bridesmaids.

And here's the good news...Kirsten has just opened an etsy shop where she is selling pattern and kits for her creation.



When Breck Hostetter started planning her Massachusettes seaside wedding, she went to eBay to find vintage postcards of the town. She then made enlarged color copies of her favorites and decoupaged trays for the members of her bridal party.


NPR contributor Gretchen Wilson moved to Africa three years ago to pursue her radio journalism dreams. When she came home last summer to attend her best friend's wedding, she brought with her a quilt she made out of local textiles she found in a Johannesburg public market. I love this gift in particular because it really tells a story. :)




Send in your great homemade gift ideas here for next Friday's post!

handmade gifts (part one)

Today we'll take a look at gift options. Making a gift, either for the members of your bridal party or to give to a couple getting married, is an incredibly personal gesture. But let's face it...this is not always an option for all people. If you can't or would rather not make a gift, there are many ways to support independent artists instead.

It would take weeks worth of posts to begin listing all the great artisans out there, so I thought I'd stick to some fabulous independent tablewear designers today. If you'd like to recommend any handmade gift you've given or received (or made!), submit it here!

Before we begin gathering readers' favorites together, here are some places to check out:

Clio Home


Inv/Alt Design




Lille


Papa Stour


Guild.com





Check back later today for crafty DIY ideas!

theme time: country chic

When Brooklyn designers Betsy Nordlander (see yesterday’s article) and Darrick Borowski got engaged, they knew immediately where they wanted to get married. They have often taken roadtrips upstate (where Besty went to college) and feel most at home in a country environment.


When Darrick designed their invitations, he captured the spirit of the great outdoors by using animal graphics and earthtone colors. He submitted complete files to their letterpress printer, and chose clear and brown inks for a warm and subtle feel.

(PS: check back on Monday when the 'guide to submitting artwork for letterpress' section is expanded!)




All of their flowers, including the famous mum ball arrangements, were bought at the nyc flower market and put together by friends and family.

(Next Tuesday will feature more in depth instructions for these and other DIY flower arrangements for those of you with questions)




And the decorations were simply spectacular. Besty used the downstairs workshop at the MADE architecture firm (where she works in Red Hook, Brooklyn) to cut out large plywood animal shapes, and had friends and family help hang as mobiles from the tent ceiling.









They even had their cake-maker reproduce the animal shapes in marzipan.




The lighting inside the tent was mostly christmas lights and candles, so the effect was breathtaking. This is one of those cases in which the wedding really represented the spirit and personalities of the bride and groom. Thanks Darrick and Betsy for sharing!


Readers' Note: Some of the DIY wedding features have been pulling double-duty this week by appearing in more than one section. But rest assured, next week will be greatly expanded as many folks have contributed ideas and photos for each day. Thanks to everyone who has participated, as the original idea was to make this a collection of readers' ideas more than a one-person perspective! If you'd like share your craft tips, send them here!

theme time: city slickers

I thought it would be fun to dedicate today (and next Thursday) to theme ideas. Not only is this a fun collaborative process, but it's also a great way to tell a story about who you are to your family and friends.

Today I'm going to focus on two couples who went this route, but chose very different directions. This morning we'll start with Allisyn Levy and Jason Culler.


The ultimate urban couple, Allisyn and Jason actually met on the New York City subway system when they were both riding the F-train to Coney Island to catch a Bjork concert. Allisyn is a public school teacher here in new york, and the venue they chose for their downtown wedding is called Public. So this theme of "public places and things" really fell into place from the start.


Allisyn's best friend works in the music business and had concert posters made & plastered over the entire wall across from Public. Illegal? Mmmm...perhaps, but an unmistakable part of the typical nyc landscape.


They had these great ticketmaster concert tickets printed as save-the-dates for their upcoming nuptials.


And, as we saw on Monday, they based their invitation design on public library cards.



And a few more great handmade touches to share...

Instead of having guests sign a book for well-wishes, Allisyn and Jason made a "guest tree/mobile" out of contorted willow. After the wedding they hung their tree in their living room so they could enjoy it long after the wedding day had passed.

And Allisyn embroidered their chuppah with their favorite Bjork lyrics. Like I said, the ultimate city kids!




Thanks K+A for sharing these great ideas. I'll be back this afternoon with a country wedding that will knock your socks off. And if you had, or are planning, a theme wedding I'd love to hear from you!

more greenery

One of the great benefits of handmaking your own flower arrangements and decorations is that you have an opportunity to make ethically responsible choices for your wedding. Stay tuned for a guide to growing your own flowers (which will be up soon), but for now Betsy Nordlander has written a great article on keeping your "wedding footprint" small.

I would love to dedicate next Wednesday to eco-friendly wedding ideas, so please send in your ideas!

music making

I'm so excited about this morning's post because I've brought a real expert on board. Most of us have become pretty comfortable composing playlists and navigating iTunes, but today we're taking it to the next level.

Steve Sargent has written a great article about how to plan and play all your own wedding music. So here I give you DJ Steve's guide to wedding playlists.

And if you'd like to take a gander at his playlist, you can find it here.

(PS: thanks to KC for the photo!)

flowers and tables (2)

D*S reader Jennifer Lackey, who is planning a September wedding, was kind enough to forward this great find. These rustic birch wrap vases are great for any season, available from Small Stump.



And the always impressive folks at ReadyMade Magazine did a number of articles on wedding decorations in the Feb/March 2006 issue. I'm going to be featuring some more tips from this issue later, but you can buy a back copy to get the full scoop. Here are some table centerpieces made with blood oranges and canned flowers.



Here is a much-loved heirloom shamrock (oxalis) plant belonging to my family. My great aunt gave it to my grandmother about forty years ago, and we've been making offshoot plants from it ever since.

My cousin John got married a few years ago, so we started a bunch of new shoots nine months in advance. When the wedding day finally rolled around, we were able to use them as lush and charming centerpieces. Guests took them home at the end of the night, which was a special way to share a part of our family history with them. Planting them in teacups adds an extra touch.


Oh, and speaking of giving away centerpieces... One reader was wondering about what happened to the goldfish after this wedding. The couple had loads of neices and nephews, so after clearing it with their parents they gave each of the kids the goldfish of their choice. And if you're thinking of using this idea for your tables, remember to fill the vases with water the night before so it will be room temperature when you put your fish in. And have a plan in mind for the end of the night!


I'm a huge fan of Laurie Cinotto's arrangements. Although some of the more intricate styles are best when left in the hands of the experts, I thought these two simple looks fit nicely into the DIY category. Be sure to start practicing growing your wheatgrass a few months in advance so you have an idea of when it will be at its peak.



Kate Bingaman used bold colors and patterns to decorate her casual outdoor wedding. Here's Kate:

"About the tablecloths: I have an addiction to collecting fabric from thrift stores and for my wedding I asked my mom to sew 18 table cloths made from all of my fabric scraps.

About the dishes: I cleaned out thrift stores in northern mississippi and northern alabama searching for vintage dishes. I almost found 150 settings (I was picky...only floral designs from the 60s and 70s). I ended up supplementing with colorful plastic dishes for the settings that I came up short on."





And speaking of color, Johanna Poole from Grand Rapids, Michigan had a huge raw banquet space for her reception. They used pillow stuffing and blue felt to create homemade clouds and rain drops, and hung them from the ceiling. The guests absolutely loved them.


And along these lines, Sally Struever is now planning her wedding at her grandmother's farm in Blue Hill, Maine. She's having a friend design and knit lacey table coverings with yarn spun from the sheep last year. They're still in the design phase, but I couldn't resist posting a shot of the guys who inspired the whole idea. :)

flowers and tables (part 1)

I was planning on splitting today's posts into separate flower and table decoration categories, but once I started gathering ideas they began to spill into each other. So today will be a mix of both, divided into a few different installments.


Let's get started with Amsterdam's Marieke Berghuis, who created these beautiful felt coverings for her table flower arrangements. Not only are they eye-catching, but they save you the expense of purchasing fancy flower pots. Marieke got her inspiration and pattern instructions from Marianne of the awesome Applehead blog. Check here for detailed instructions, and to find loads of other amazing projects.


And yesterday's Susie Kilshaw shares her lovely table decoration ideas below. Susie and her husband were married in her hometown of Victoria BC, so they chose to go with very simple table decorations and flowers that matched their seaside surroundings.


Instead of large flower centerpieces, they went with glass vases filled with goldfish and underwater plants. A few vibrant gerbera daisies scattered around the perimeter matched the goldfish swimming inside, while small pieces of driftwood and stones decorated the outer edges.

Then for the head tables, they placed engraved silver trays down the center and covered them with moss collected from beach and small grape hyacinths. At the end of the evening, each member of the bridal party went home with one of the centerpiece silver trays. All of these ideas are inexpensive and simple but stunning.


And I'm excited to share these paper flower decoration ideas from Mackenzie Sala, who has provided detailed instructions on how to construct the below arrangements. These work great for table decorations and colorful flower arrangements. Click here for a how-to guide, and find many other great ideas while you're there.






And finally, here is Amy Chin putting the final touches on her friends' table arrangements. A few people have already written about the stunning white "mum balls". It's worth mentioning that these are quite labor intensive, as they require clipping the stems from each flower and securing the head to a styrofoam ball with straight pins.


If you have some friends to help you out, this is a gorgeous and dramatic presentation. The rest is filled in with hanging green amaranthus and moss balls bought from a floral supply store.


Check in later today as the fun continues... And, as usual, please send in your ideas!

bookbinding 101

Here is another great craft to explore for wedding projects. I hope this post is helpful if you want to make your own guest book, or special gifts for your wedding party - or if you want to find an expert binder to work with. Let's start with the experts.

I stopped by Paper Dragon Books recently to watch as bookbinder Gavin Dovey created a custom wedding album. The style was based on the design of the mother of the bride's own wedding album, a lovely vintage white cover with guilded edges. Paper Dragon has a brand new storefront in Manhattan and produces custom book and letterpress projects.





A friend of mine recently went to specialty bookbinder Sara Auster when she wanted to have a book project designed for her husband-to-be. She printed out all the emails she had exchanged with her fiance in making their wedding plans, and had Sara bind them into a hardcover book. Very old meets new, and a great gift idea.


Nancy Loeber is one of my favorite collage artists, and she also creates the most gorgeous book projects. She incorporates collage and hand-stitching into many of her covers, which make each project completely unique. Check out her website and blog to see some previous projects.



Now onto learning how to create your own books. Below is a list of classes to learn the craft of bookbinding. And please email me here if you know any more!

The Paper Studio
The American Academy of Bookbinding
Hyde Park Art Center
Briar Press Classified
Make Workshop
Paper Dragon Books
Center for Book Arts
Minnesota Center for Book Arts
San Francisco Center for the Book
Virginia Arts of the Book Center
Chicago Center for Book & Paper Arts

Finally, there are so many talented book artists to choose from if you're looking to support an independent artist. Here is just some of the great work I found while prowling around Etsy.

Stellaloella

Handstitchery

Littleputbooks


And I'm sounding like a broken record, but please let me know if you'd like to add any tips or suggestions.

you are invited...

Aside from picking a date and venue, the first thing you'll probably need to do in the planning process is work on invitations. The golden rule here is that, more than anything, your invitations should represent you and the tone of your wedding. So while a formal style makes sense for some, more innovative and colorful invitations work better for others. If you have some room for experimentation in this area, why not flex your creative muscles and put yourself into the process?

No matter what your talent, you can always add your unique touch. RISD grad Elise Lescoezec chose a clever way to incorporate her original paintings into her wedding stationery.


She scanned these two botantical paintings at high resolution and printed the first on A7 size squares of vellum, placing one over each invitation. The text was just barely revealed through her brushstrokes, a gorgeous effect. She then printed the other image onto pieces of thick art paper and used them as thank you notes. You can email her if you have questions about the process or would like to see some other work.


Though I'm admittedly partial to the craft of letterpress, there are a number of ways you can use it to showcase your own personal artwork. Choreographer Yanira Castro and fiance Brett Matthew asked his parents, Dennis and Christine Crocitto, to create drawings for their invitation pieces. Once finished they scanned the artwork at high resolution and had them processed into polymer plates for letterpress. The beautiful tree and wild geese themes were captured in chocolate brown and steel gray, fitting nicely with the wedding's autumn theme.




The same goes for this next lovely set of invitations. Graduate student Satya Twena fell in love with the antique lace pattern on her wedding dress, so when it was time to design her invitations she got out her pencil and tracing paper. This did require some time, patience and many drafts on her part, but in the end it was well worth the labor.



If you'd like to use your artwork in letterpress, remember that there are some specific digital file requirements. Click here for some tips and guidelines on collaborating with a letterpress printer. Grace has already compiled a great list of letterpress printers at the Design*Sponge Letterpress Guide, so this is great place to research the right printer in your area. And if you're the gutsy type and would like to learn letterpress in order to print your own invitiations, click here for some resources.

Another popular printing method is silk screening. Etsy whiz kid Matt Stinchcomb and his fiance were planning an overseas wedding in Munich so Save-the-Dates were key. Instead of going the traditional route, they created an announcement poster. After designing and then silk screening each one, they rolled them up and sent to their guests in mailing tubes. Not only was it a fun collaborative project, but they have a nice piece of artwork to show for it.


Here are a few more ways to get creative with your invitation packaging. Carolina Della Valle, the mastermind over at Modern Press sometimes uses 3-D elements in her designs. These two styles use laser cutting technology along side traditional letterpress. They are packages in shallow square boxes within colorful tissue paper. Click here to find some good resources for colorful papers and envelopes, or here to share some of your favorite vendors.



Allisyn Levy and Jason Culler modeled their invitations on the style of old library cards, and had them letterpressed on vintage looking papers. Some of their special guests got an extra treat. A+J when to a used bookstore and chose old books with titles matching each of their "a-list" guests of family and friends. They then placed the invitations in the back cover library card slots of each. Breck and Matt over at Sesame Letterpress were so touched when they received an old book on typefaces from A+J as a thank you for printing their cards.



If you'd like to share some ideas you had about handmade wedding invitations, send them here. Next Monday we'll revisit this topic and hopefully have lots of fresh ideas. And check back later today when I'll be discussing various ideas for bookbinding!