Eco-Vintage Weddings

Our Wedding: Enjoying the Engagement

Last September, J’s brother gifted us a long-weekend getaway to Ft. Myers Beach, Florida, to celebrate our engagement. It was such a wonderful, relaxing weekend spent sunbathing and feeling the warmth of the water of the Gulf of Mexico.

Since we’ve returned from Florida, we’ve hit the wedding planning hard. Because we’re so busy, J asks me at least one time per month, usually when we’re in the throes of wedding DIY projects, “When are we going to stop being busy and enjoy being engaged?”

It’s not as though J doesn’t enjoy crafting our own wedding stationery; it’s more that since our time together is so precious and limited, he’d rather eat dinner together or spend time out with our friends instead of design thank-you notes that we won’t need until August.

While I can totally understand where he’s coming from, I find myself unable to “enjoy being engaged” until most, if not all, of the wedding preparations are complete. Why, you ask? I’ve based my actions for many, many years according to a list of to-do items (beginning with homework and, most recently, DIY projects for our wedding). I’m also a typical type-A personality, in the respect that I often complete each item on my to-do list to the fullest of my ability before moving on to the next task at hand. Despite my best efforts to enjoy the moment, I struggle daily to set aside preparing for our wedding day.

That being said, however, I love being engaged. Each morning I wake up, I am anxious to talk to Jordan, just as I was prior to being engaged. I am so, so grateful for his place in my life, just as I was before. So while I love being engaged, I’m not sure I know what it actually means to “enjoy being engaged.”

How do you enjoy being engaged without entirely abandoning your wedding preparations?

[Photo: Taken by a lovely woman on the pier in Ft. Myers, FL]

Green Monday: Our Green Wedding Pledge, Part II

Hi readers! As you recall, J and I have made a commitment to ensuring that we make choices for our wedding with the environment in mind. I thought it might be wise to take another look at what we’ve pledged to do, and see how we’re doing (as we’re about four months out from our wedding day!).

1. We will inquire about and utilize recycled paper materials as much as we are able. I have already contacted a graphic designer at my father’s company (where our stationery will be printed) to investigate what our options are for recycled paper. Update: ALL of the paper products we’ve used thus far have been made of at least partially recycled materials!

2. We will inquire about and utilize locally grown or organic food as much as our budget allows. I have already contacted our event coordinator at the Washington Pavilion, where our wedding reception will be held, about our caterers using locally grown or organic food. While we are on a very strict budget for our entire wedding planning, I am hopeful that our caterers will come back with a competitive quote. Update: We inquired, and we’ve realized that unfortunately, given the extremely low demand for organic and/or local food in our area, we won’t be able to provide organic or locally grown food for our guests. We do feel excited that we asked, because maybe our asking will help another couple in the future!

3. We will incorporate plantable paper in at least one way throughout our wedding stationery. I love the symbolism behind the paper (just like our love is blooming, so will our guests’ flowers!), and it reinforces the purpose of renewable goods. Update: We’re thinking about utilizing this paper for our ceremony programs!

4. We will incorporate locally grown flowers as much as possible. My Mom and I have discussed the possibility of planting a wildflower garden in our backyard this summer from which we would take flowers for our reception decor. We also have beautiful peonies that bloom in our yard that we’re going to attempt to keep alive through the heat of summer. Last, as one of my dear friends mentioned to me in the past few weeks, sunflowers grow wild EVERYWHERE in South Dakota, and it wouldn’t be difficult at all to pick some, dress them up with ribbon and give them to my bridesmaids to carry. Update: See this post for some exciting news on locally grown, organic flowers!

5. While at this point I don’t believe we’ll be incorporating wedding favors, if we do decide to give our guests favors, they will be locally grown or locally handmade. I firmly believe in investing in the local economy! Update: We are offering our guests favors of sorts, and we used recycled paper for them! Click here to see our cootie catcher trivia favors!

6. We are utilizing my mother’s birdhouse collection as our reception decor, and are therefore eliminating extraneous waste or costs associated with renting/purchasing and then inevitably disposing of centerpieces. Update: We still plan to use my mother’s birdhouse collection; we’re so excited!

7. We are supporting handmade goods by purchasing wedding accessories from Etsy. Update: Thus far, we’ve purchased my hair fascinator, gifts for my bridesmaids, our flower girl dresses, our guestbook, a prop for our photobooth, a stamp for our wedding stationery needs from Etsy. Whew!

8. My Mom and I plan to make handmade napkins and handmade bout’s for our wedding day. By sewing our own napkins we A) cut down on rental costs at our reception venue, and B) eliminate waste that would be created by using paper napkins. By making bout’s for our guys out of fabric and/or non-floral material, we will again cut down on waste and will utilize renewable goods to accomplish the same effect as floral bout’s. Update: We still plan to do this, and have begun purchasing supplies for both the napkins and the bout’s!

9. Jordan and I plan to build a photobooth to provide our guests with endless merriment at our wedding reception. I originally hoped to build our photobooth using found materials, and while that might still be possible, I am thinking of other ways to make our photobooth project green. As a start, we will be reusing our engagement session props for our photobooth (2 hearts on sticks, 2 mustaches on sticks, chalkboard + chalk). We also will be using a digital camera and tripod that Jordan’s family already owns, therefore cutting down on the waste that would be created if we utilized disposable cameras! Update: We’re still planning to do this, and can’t wait to get going on this project once the weather is warmer!

10. Last, I have a dream of being married by candlelight. I’m dreaming of an evening wedding (maybe 6:00 or 7:00), and being surrounded by candles. However, the candles we will utilize will be either soy or beeswax (lead-free, long-burning, made from renewable resources, not petroleum/paraffin). Update: While we’ve since decided not to get married by candlelight, due to the sheer number of candles we’d need to make this possible, we have purchased 7 eco-friendly candles to use as a tribute to our grandparents that have passed away.

So, as you can see, we’re doing rather well with our commitment to having an eco-friendly wedding!

How are you making your wedding green?

Green Friday: Farmers Market Florals!

Happy Friday, readers! Last week I posted this inspiration board that I plan to bring to florists around Sioux Falls to serve as fodder for discussion on my dream wedding bouquet. As I mentioned at the end of this post, making this inspiration board got me thinking about flowers for my girls.

Each time I go to Hobby Lobby or Michaels, I find myself staring at each store’s selection of silk flowers … and feeling disappointed. I know that there are lovely, lovely silk flowers available to budget-conscious brides, but either I can’t seem to find these flowers in yellow, or I’m feeling sad that even the loveliest of silk flowers will never compare to the real thing.

So … I’m determined to find real floral alternatives for my girls! After a little digging online, I happened to find a vendor listing for the Sioux Falls Farmers Market. I hastily wrote a few emails to flower vendors who had contact information available online, and I quickly heard back from Seedtime & Harvest, located in Hull, IA.

I heard from Seedtime & Harvest staffer Alissa on the possibility of me (and my girls, or my Mom) making a trip to Hull, IA, a few days prior to the wedding to purchase flowers from them to utilize for my girls’ bouquets. Great news:  not only are they willing to let us visit them on their farm to pick our flowers ourselves, they have MANY varieties of yellow flowers to accommodate us! The best part? Seedtime & Harvest’s flowers are certified organic, which fits in perfectly with our commitment to being as eco-friendly as possible!

[Photo: Taken by me of flowers purchased at the Minneapolis Farmers Market in the summer of 2008]

Our Wedding: DIY Progress Update

Remember my never-ending list of DIY projects? With just over four months to go until our wedding day, I figured that it was time to streamline my DIY projects list, leaving only the projects that A) really contribute to my overall vision for our wedding (eco-friendly, vintage-inspired, nature-inspired, rustic motif, aviary motif) and B) are relatively easy to complete.

After editing our list (bye-bye paper pom-pom vines & bunting galore), here’s the projects that Jordan and I have since tackled:

- Save the Date cards. Designed, printed, compiled and mailed!
- Designed and printed Cootie Catcher favors featuring trivia about Jordan and I, each of which will be placed at each place setting at the reception.
- Ordered two custom stamps, one from a local stampmaker (a stamp for our wishing tree cards; woo for investing in our local economy and small business!) and one from an artist on Etsy (featuring our address).
- Wedding invitations. Designed once, hated it, designed again, LOVE IT! Now all we need to do is pick a time for the festivities to begin…
- Wedding RSVP cards = DONE! I can’t wait to show you all a sneak peek after they’re mailed in May!
- “In Memory” candles – PURCHASED! I happened to stumble upon candles made from palm oil (read: more eco-friendly than paraffin candles). These candles will be placed on a silver charger plate on the altar, and will be lit in memory of our families.
- Cake topper = PURCHASED! After drooling over many options on Etsy, I found the perfect cake topper at Hobby Lobby for the perfect price: $5.00 total!
- Negotiated a price for customized shoes from an Etsy seller; can’t wait to continue with this process!
- Designed thank-you notes to send from us as a married couple post-wedding! They’re very simple, but I just love the vintage touches we added. I’ll be showcasing these soon!
- Fabric for napkins = PURCHASED! I can’t wait to help my Mom with this project, and learn some sewing skills!

Up next: crafting my throw-away garter, finishing up little surprises for my girls, signage, bout’s for my guy’s buddies and other wedding helpers, and crafting photobooth tickets, our ceremony programs and rehearsal dinner invitations!

What projects are you crafting for your wedding?

Showcase Wednesday: Guest Post – Wedding Party Shake-up!

Hello readers! I’ve asked my dear friend Luke (film blogger extraordinaire) to write a post about his upcoming nuptials, and how uniformity within a wedding party is seriously overrated. Enjoy!

Luke here from Journalistic Skepticism. The lovely Sara asked me to write a little bit about my own tumultuous wedding planning experience. But I exaggerate – it’s actually been a relatively eye-opening learning experience. And before you become too confuddled, let me clear things up – yes, it is possible for a male to plan a wedding.  (Well, just barely at least.)

We’ve set a date for August 14, 2010 (based almost entirely on the economic sensibility of a late-summer wedding), and it will take place in Minneapolis, so hopefully the snow will have disappeared by then.  Though we’re currently living in Sioux Falls and plan to move out to the East Coast in June, we chose a location like Minneapolis to centralize our guests, who range from mostly Midwesterners to some out-of-staters.  Though neither of us are originally from Minneapolis, it’s a major city with more options in terms of site choices, and it’s a familiar, easy-to-get-to locale for our guests in neighboring states.

For our wedding my fiancé and I found ourselves in a predicament.  Though we were ready to name several people to be a part of our wedding party, when it came to traditionalism we faced a problem – our subset of friends included far more females than males.  In fact, our final tally of attendants includes two men and – count ‘em – 10 women.  When choosing our party, we opted for a mix of mostly college friends, siblings, and high school friends.  And with such a large core wedding party, it became easy to bestow some of the other ceremony functions on others, though we haven’t entirely filled every other role.  One of our as-yet-undecided bits is whether or not to have ushers.  Our ceremony count is around 100, so I ask you: are ushers really necessary?

But I digress. In lieu of the boy-girl pairs of the typical wedding, we opted for mix-and-match gender aisle-walking companions.  This shake-up also involved coining some new terms for our crew – groomsmaids and best women, since our best men ended up being some lady friends of ours.  And in order to break up the uniformity of having the many groomsmaids dressing identically, we opted for a single color scheme with three different dress options, a feature that I know many of the wedding party members greatly appreciated.  Because, let’s face it – everyone is built differently, so not every design is going to be suitable.  So to come to terms with the fact that these ladies were buying the dresses for keeps, why not opt for something they actually enjoy?

Our chosen groomsmaid attire

When planning a wedding, perhaps seamless traditionalism is your number-one concern.  But for the sake of picking the best possible wedding party, there’s something to be said for being a little gender-blind and breaking just a couple rules.

A big thank you to Luke for shedding some insight on how to beautifully break down the Wedding Industrial Complex’s so-called “rules.” I can’t wait to see the fruits of your efforts, Luke!

[Image credit: David's Bridal]

Our Wedding: Wedding Shoes – Part II!

Remember my lamentations about wedding shoes? Well, I think I’ve found a swoon-worthy alternative for trendy sky-high shoes:  Etsy seller OxfordHeaven!

OxfordHeaven crafts fun refashioned & vintage shoes & accessories for your closet. From Rachael, the brains behind OxfordHeaven:  I always think it is unfair that little girls have amazingly fun little shoes, so grown-up girls need something pretty in their lives, too.

I’ve already requested my custom pair of shoes – low heels/wedges in a sunshine yellow color! I can’t wait to work with Rachael on customizing my wedding shoes.

Check out more delightful beauties on OxfordHeaven’s Flickr page!

[All photos courtesy of OxfordHeaven on Etsy]

Guest Post Monday: Music & My Sweetheart

Hello readers! Last week, my sweetie emailed me this story, and I just had to share it with you. Enjoy!

Jordan here. For my second guest post, I’m going to talk about music. I love music, Sara enjoys music, and music is pretty powerful. I got the idea for this post when I was listening to the radio in my car on the way to work. A song came on, and it instantly made me think of when Sara and I were first dating.

My reaction to this song was a mixture of confusion and humor. I was confused because I did not know why, of all the songs Sara and I listened to together, this one sparked memories.

The song was “Ridin’” by Chamillionaire. The song was new and popular when we both started working at Wells Fargo (where we met). Sara expressed to me that she really liked the song, which was probably a good thing, because if I had learned about her Backstreet Boys (BACKSTREETS BACK ALRIGHT!) obsession I probably would have developed a poor judgment of her. No disrespect to the BSBs (I WAAAANNNTT IT, THAAATT WAYYYY).

Anyway, the trip down memory lane is where I’m going with all of this. My memory flashbacks started with recalling when Sara would beg me to call in sick to work, so that we could hang out. She was a poor influence on me (in fact, she had me skip work or school to be with her, but never did the same for me…she was always more studious than me). Anyway, I picked her up at her school after calling in sick to work, and she got into my Jeep Wrangler and enjoyed the ride. Which, mind you, was probably not the safest ride ever, but she enjoyed it (she obviously fooled me, because if I don’t drive like a grandpa now she gets after me…)

The trip down memory lane then scrolled through moments of flirtation at Wells Fargo, and then quickly skipped along to the time a friend and I called her at 3 AM after a day of fun at the University of South Dakota (that probably deserves its own post). But, this memory montage ended with one of things I love most about Sara. Around me, she has never been afraid to just be goofy, so while listening to the song in my car on that morning, I could imagine her in the passenger seat dancing to the song.

Sara dancing in the car is quite the sight. She’s bouncing around with rhythm, throwing her hands all over the place, with a rotation of facial expressions, all without stopping before she prods me on to join her (which typically, I do). It was surprising and wonderful how one song brought back several good memories and reminded me about one of the best things about Sara, which is that she can be herself around me … and I love her goofy nature.

Green Friday: Eco-Friendly Shoes!

While searching Etsy for shoes to wear for our wedding, I came across Hydra Heart, which offers handmade vegan eco-friendly shoes for brides and consumers alike! These shoes are intended for both indoor and outdoor use, and are 100% vegan and organic.

Hydra Heart uses exclusive original designs taken from hand-drafted patterns. From redefined Mary Janes to custom bridal flats, Hydra Heart has something for everyone!

Check out Hydra Heart on Etsy here.

Our Wedding: Bouquet Inspiration!

I’ve started to focus a little more on wedding flowers within the past week, and I’ve decided that I would like to use real flowers for my bouquet. After making this inspiration board (below), I’m even more excited about my bouquet!

Aren’t these flowers beautiful?! But with no flower market in sight here in Sioux Falls (apart from the farmer’s market, where we might try to get flowers for my bridesmaids), I think it might be best if I bring this inspiration board to a local florist to explain what I’m looking for in my bouquet. Maybe it will be possible for us to pick up loose flowers a day or so before our wedding, and for me and my mother to try to arrange them ourselves?

I am looking forward to starting this process!

[Inspiration board made via Style Me Pretty's Style Circle]

Showcase Wednesday: Wedding & Love Advice from my Mom!

Happy Wednesday, readers! Two weeks ago, my parents unearthed from storage their wedding photos from 30 years ago (!!). While I’ve seen these photos a few times in my life before recently, this was the first time I saw these photos since embarking on my own wedding planning.

My mother looked beautiful in her long organza gown, complete with a full circle skirt and a stand-up split neckline. The whole gown was trimmed with Chantilly lace. The dress was only the second gown that she tried on! Instead of a veil, my mother wore instead a lace-embellished hat with a wide brim. My father wore a white tuxedo – he looked sharp (and he looked SO MUCH like my brother!).

Along with the wedding pictures was a memory book that my mother kept while planning their wedding. Covering everything from bridal showers to their first home, each page is bursting with memories. I had never seen this book until recently, so it was such a treat for me to read through and imagine how excited my parents must have been to marry each other.

While the memory book is full of gift lists and guest book signatures, I took away a few life lessons that I thought I’d share with all of you:

-          Remember that the wedding is only one day in your lives, and act accordingly. My parents were high school sweethearts that married at 19 and 21 years old, so they had a modest wedding. My mother found her wedding dress at a local department store, and she split the cost of it with her father, my grandfather. My father, who was leaving for basic training for the Army, proposed to my mother with a diamond less than one month before he left. Throughout the memory book, I could feel my mother’s excitement – “Went to the church around 5:00 p.m. to get dressed. Forgot everything – my tote bag and my clothes for the next day! Where was my mind?!” Just before the wedding, my mother wrote this: “Time for the wedding; pretty soon my dream would come true!!” My parents served their guests cake, roast buns, mints, nuts, coffee and punch. Instead of embarking on a honeymoon cruise or a week-long vacation to Mexico, my parents moved to Colorado, where my father was stationed with the Army.

In reading her memory book, my mother has reminded me time and time again that all that matters is that Jordan and I end up married at the end of the day. The details of the day (like the wedding dress, the food, and the decorations) are literally just icing on the cake.

-          The wedding day may feel like living a dream, but day-to-day marriage is real life. One of my favorite parts of this memory book is the space where my mother wrote a letter to my father. While she admits that she should have written this letter shortly after their wedding, my mother instead wrote it two weeks before their 4^th wedding anniversary. In her letter, my mother talked about moving to Colorado and what an adventure their first year of marriage was (“the first year was so terrific – but more of a dream than reality”). My mother then talked about how difficult the second and third years of their marriage were, since my father was stationed in Germany during that time. My mother wrote, “We lived through it – and the meaning of trust and faithfulness took on a new light for us.”

Reading these words, and hearing my father tell stories of his life in Germany and my mother’s memories of her life in Colorado, only further illustrates the struggles that come along with marriage. But instead of lamenting that life wasn’t like their wedding day, my mother wrote about how their struggles made their marriage stronger. I can only hope that when I think back to the struggles that Jordan and I will encounter in our marriage that I have that outlook five, ten, twenty years from now.

Happy Wednesday!