Eco-Vintage Weddings

Showcase Wednesday: Design – Our Thank-You Notes!

Designing our thank-you notes turned out to be one of the most simple DIY stationery projects yet.

Thanks to Luzel at iDIY, J and I found this lovely silhouette font (and yes, it’s seriously a font!) and the idea for our design sprung from there.

While I loved how elegant the bride looked, Jordan wasn’t so psyched about the size of the groom’s nose. So, with a few quick PhotoShop tricks, we took the dashing silhouette of a different man and positioned him right next to the bride.

Here’s the final result (imagine a 5×3.5 white card with the silhouettes at the top):

Happy Wednesday!

Our Wedding: Make-Up Trial!

Me, all beautified

My future sister-in-law Larissa is one gorgeous girl. She has a knack for styling her hair just right, and for making her face look so flawless after applying make-up.

Therefore, it wasn’t difficult at all for me to select someone to help me with my make-up on my wedding day. So, a few weeks ago, I spent a few hours over at Larissa’s home working on the perfect wedding day beauty plan.

While many of my friends have used (and fallen in love with) Bare Minerals make-up, after trying it for the first time a few months ago at an area salon and spa, I wasn’t impressed. However, after one make-up trial with Larissa, I was officially a Bare Minerals convert.

Here’s a breakdown of the Bare Minerals products that Larissa used to achieve my bridal look:

-Skin Rever-Upper (moisturizer)
-Get Started Kit in Fair (foundation)
-”A Little Sun” (bronzer)
-”First Class” (blush), found in the Get Started: Eyes, Cheeks & Lips Kit
-Lip gloss, found in Get Started: Eyes, Cheeks & Lips Kit
-Eye Highlight, found in Get Started: Eyes, Cheeks & Lips Kit
-”Smoked Clay” eye color, found in smoky eye kit

Happy Tuesday!

Green Monday: Wildflower Wedding!

In an effort to be budget-friendly, my mother and I plan to grow a good-sized wildflower garden in our backyard this summer. We hope to put these wildflowers in mason jars and use these arrangements as part of our centerpieces.

While my mother and I don’t claim to be accomplished gardeners, we hope that with a lot of advice from a local greenhouse, we can honor our budget and the environment by growing our own flowers.

Do you have any green gardening tips?

[Photo: The Flower Expert]

Green Friday: Eco-Friendly Garters!

Are you still looking for a garter to wear on your wedding day? Well look no further than Julianne Smith, who’s crafting garters out of (get ready for this) 100% post consumer polyester that comes entirely from recycled plastic bottles.

Seriously, that’s eco-friendly.

Access Julianne Smith’s shop here! Have a great weekend!

[Photo: Courtesy of Julianne Smith's site]

Our Wedding: Hair Style Inspiration!

I officially made hair appointments for my bridesmaids and I this week, so I’ve started to think about my hairstyle a little more. I know that I want something low and off to the side, yet the top two photos leave me feeling weak in the knees…what a perfectly beautiful vintage style!

How are YOU wearing your hair on your wedding day?

Showcase Wednesday: Guest Post – “Yes, Dear”

Hello readers! Yet another witty and smart guest post from my guy, Jordan. Take it away, honey!

What’s the magical phrase that keeps marriages going across America and also was the title of a hit-and-miss sitcom on television? Of course I’m speaking of “Yes, Dear,” and while Sara and I are just under four months away from makings things official, I have had my fair shots for practicing this great phrase.

I don’t mean to throw the phrase under the bus, or make Sara to look like a monster; both are far from true. In fact, wedding planning has been a learning experience of another level. Along the way, Sara has brainstormed all of these money-saving, do-it-yourself wedding ideas, and initially, I was all for it. Saving money is saving money.

Sara knows of my (likely) above-average skills in graphic design in particular, so my first assignment was designing our Save the Date cards. A note here: I am entirely self-taught, incapable of reading computer/graphic design books, and have very little understanding of what “vintage” really means. Sara gave me some simple instruction on what she was looking for, and I went to town on designing the cards.

When I was done with work (a card that I actually was pretty proud of), Sara had several critiques (constructive of course) with tiny details, but overall, her main critique was that the card “didn’t look vintage.”

I accept criticism like the best of them, so that was not the issue here. On the contrary, I had realized that I had just entered the “Sara EM” zone. Sara was an English Major (EM!) at Augustana, and she was more than a student, she was the real deal in the class room. “Good enough” doesn’t exist, completion work is a curse phrase, and projects happen in “drafts.” When I think of “drafts,” I think of fantasy sports, not redoing the same work over and over again.

Initially, I was very scared. However, this do-it-yourself wedding has been something that has really brought Sara and I closer in our relationship. With each project we get to throw ideas on the table, and we have learned several things:

1. We are not afraid to say no, or “I don’t like it” to each other. Our opinions are known.

2. We are both great at accepting #1, even if it takes a few tries.

3. At the end of the day, the project gets done, it is (in our opinion) amazing work, and we’re both proud of it.

4. We don’t usually notice this, but we really communicate with each other very well during these times.

One thing: before being engaged, communication was never our strong point. I suppose that’s normal (my psychology background tells me that most young adults have issues communicating and compromising), but these DIY projects are proof of our teamwork and our improved communication. It’s never easy, but since we can both say “Yes, dear” to each other, we’re well on our way to building a foundation for a successful long marriage.

How are you handling the added stress of DIY projects?

Time Off

I have a few big days at the office this week, so check back for new posts on Wednesday!

Green Friday: Etsy Seller Lovliday

J and I had a difficult time determining what type of guestbook we wanted at our wedding. With the multitude of creative ideas available in the blogosphere, we were often torn between a traditional guestbook scroll, this tree stump idea from Etsy seller The Wedding Perch, and utilizing a vintage typewriter for our guests to type out their well-wishes for us.

However, when we stumbled upon Etsy seller Lovliday and her large tree guestbook, we knew that we finally found our guestbook!

Take a look:

To us, the tree fits so well within our theme of nature-inspired beauty! The concept behind the guestbook is this: we make stamp pads available for our guests, and they press their thumb into the ink and then place it firmly upon the 18×24 canvas print of the tree. Guests then simply sign their name underneath their thumbprint, and they’ve officially signed our guestbook!

We had Jessie over at Lovliday customize the coloring of the tree file for us according to our wedding colors, and it turned out wonderfully! Plus, she offered this custom colorization service at no extra charge.

This tree guestbook is also perfect for the DIY bride on a budget; Jessie offers her unique guestbook both in printed form and as a PDF file, so for a meager charge, you can send the file to your local printer to be printed on 18×24 canvas!

We plan to frame our guestbook after the wedding and hang it on our wall as a constant reminder of our wedding day and all of the people that took part in our special day. Big thanks to Lovliday for providing such a unique and beautiful guestbook!

Our Wedding: Must-Read Blogs for a Sanity Check

As we all know, wedding planning can get tough sometimes. With beautiful, expensive weddings blanketing the blogosphere these days, it’s often difficult to keep perspective.

So today, I’m bringing you a list of the blogs I read each day that help to keep me sane:

1. A Practical Wedding. A must-read for any bride, ever. How’s that for an endorsement?

2. A Cupcake Wedding. Totally and completely honest account of what it’s like to plan a wedding. Writing your own wedding ceremony? Go here, like now.

3. A Los Angeles Love. I can’t verbalize the reasons why I love this blog, except to turn you toward this post. I’m the fly on the wall watching you read it, and smiling as you just. get. it.

4. Wedding For Two. Because weddings are about TWO people, Ellie & Mark write their blog TOGETHER. ‘Nuff said.

5. A Desert Fete. Read the archives of her wedding posts, and be prepared to think seriously about a short, non-wedding dress for your wedding. I sure did.

6. Project Subrosa. From her this-is-what-weddings-are-all-about wedding to her tales of being a mommy (and a feminist!), the fabulous Cate is just that: fabulous.

Go forth and read…like now.

[Photo credit: Image via Google Images]

Showcase Wednesday: My First Gown Fitting!

This past weekend, I trekked south to Sioux City, IA, with my maid of honor Kristen, my Aunt Kathy, my Grandma Helen and my Mom for my first wedding gown fitting! I was SO excited to see my dress for the first time, and to share in the experience with my family members who came along for the ride.

As you recall, we purchased my wedding gown right before the Thanksgiving holiday, so it had been nearly five months since I had seen my wedding gown. We arrived at Happily Ever After, the bridal salon at which we purchased my gown, and I followed the alterations specialist, Amy, into a fitting room. There on a hanger, dear readers, was my wedding gown, wrapped in plastic for protection.

Truthfully, I was excited immediately, mostly because my dress looked significantly different than the sample gown I had tried on so many months ago. Without giving too much away, I ordered my dress with a few customizations that the sample dress didn’t have, which made me all the more anxious to see my gown.

Readers, the gown looked so, so perfect; it was even better than I envisioned. As I slipped out of my street clothes and pulled the dress on, I was beaming a huge, huge smile. I stepped out of the fitting room and found my relatives, and all of them were very excited to finally see the gown.

The alterations specialist began fiddling with the top of the gown (which needs to be taken in slightly) and making notes. Overall, the dress fit so well that very few alterations are needed; just a few tweaks to the overall cut of the dress, as well as a few slight design tweaks.

The actual fitting part of the appointment was over in about 15 minutes. The rest of the time was spent trying on a variety of veils. While I had always pictured myself in a birdcage veil, Kristen and I made a trip to a local bridal shop about one month ago that had me thinking of other options. While I won’t reveal exactly what type of veil I’ve chosen until after our wedding day, I will say that I absolutely LOVE it, and I feel that it will look AMAZING with my gown.

After I had decided what veil I wanted to go along with my gown, it was time to get back into my street clothes. Readers, I didn’t want to take the gown off! I loved how comfortable it was, and it made me feel so, so beautiful – I can’t wait to wear it on our wedding day, and I can’t wait for Jordan to see me in it!