Eco-Vintage Weddings

Green Friday: Sandmaiden on Etsy

Looking to re-stock your closet with more eco-friendly clothing? Look no further than Sandmaiden on Etsy!

From organic cotton lovelies for you to adorable teeny coats for your little one, Sandmaiden has a wide variety of looks for all!

Click here to visit Sandmaiden’s shop.

Happy weekend!

[This is not a sponsored post. Photo via Sandmaiden on Etsy.]

Our Wedding: Ceremony Readings

This past weekend, Jordan and I began designing programs for our wedding ceremony. We’re embracing the booklet style of DIY wedding programs, and we spent countless hours this weekend designing each page (while simultaneously watching The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy…which was rather fun!).

While we’re not yet ready to show you all the design of our programs, I can tell you that one page features printed versions of the readings we’ve chosen for our wedding ceremony. We haven’t yet discussed these with my uncle, a retired Methodist pastor who will be officiating our ceremony, but I’m excited to share our chosen readings with you all!

First, Jordan and I wanted to include a Bible verse to reflect our Christian faith. One of my favorite verses is Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, which reads: Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. Again, if two lie together, they are warm; but how can one be warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him. We’re hoping this verse will be the basis of my uncle’s ceremony message to us as newlyweds.

I graduated from college with a bachelor of arts degree in English and journalism and a minor in philosophy. I love to read and to write, and I firmly believe that the power of the written word lies in helping us to understand life’s complexities through story. Therefore, it was important to me to select two secular texts to also include in our wedding ceremony.

The second reading is an excerpt from Margery Williams’ The Velveteen Rabbit, and I owe many, many thanks to Ami Elizabeth from the lovely Elizabeth Anne Designs for this particular variation:

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a person* loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.” “Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit. “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.” “Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?” “It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” **

The third and final reading that we’ve chosen to include comes from the wonderfully creative e.e. cummings – “i carry your heart with me”:

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it (anywhere i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet) i want no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true) and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

What readings have you chosen for your wedding ceremony?

**wording slightly modified from the original version

[Photo: www.weddinganswers.co.uk]

Showcase Wednesday: Our Photobooth Tickets!

A few weeks ago, J and I spent a lazy afternoon together working on DIY “tickets” of sorts for our DIY wedding photobooth. While we plan to make our photobooth together in May/June, we knew that it would help us in the long run if we had our other DIY projects (that went along with the photobooth) done in advance.

I wanted to make sure that guests knew that we had a photobooth available for use at the wedding reception, so I wanted to make little “tickets” to set at each place setting inside the fold of our DIY napkins.

I took the general idea of a carnival ticket (“Admit One,” fun fonts, etc.), and here’s what Jordan and I came up with:

We’re very proud of the design, and we are so excited to share it with you! As you can see, the ticket reads “Admit One” around the four corners of the ticket, with these phrases in the middle of the ticket: “This ticket secures you five minutes in the photobooth. Props are provided. Smiles are required.” We also used images of a vintage camera to decorate the main body of the ticket.

The right side of the ticket reads “Tear Me!” at the top; the card also informs guests where they can A) view the photobooth pictures from the night, and B) add pictures of their own from the wedding. We plan to perforate these tickets along the “Admit One” edge on the right side, so that after the guests turn in their photobooth tickets upon entrance into the photobooth, they can have the little “Tear Me!” card as a take-away.

This was such a fun DIY project for Jordan and I, and we’re thrilled with the resulting design! I can’t wait until these are printed and perforated.

What’s your favorite DIY project?

[Photo via In A Frame]

Our Wedding: Registry Redux!

The day before Easter, J and I headed out in the wee morning hours (well, around 8:30 AM) to register for our wedding. We went first to Target on the east side of the city, which ended up being a wonderful choice, as we were there early enough to avoid the (seemingly inevitable) large crowds of people frequenting Target on a Saturday!

After entering our information into one of Target’s lovely consumer computer stations, we were handed a bag full of “gifts” (i.e. coupons) from Target and…the scanner gun. YES. Needless to say, I handled the operation of that bad boy. We then finished our (long and rather exhausting!) day at Macy’s.

J and I quickly learned that the most difficult part of the registering process comes down to actually making decisions about what you want for a given room WITHOUT YET OWNING A HOME. J and I are in a transitional period in our engagement (as most couples are), and we do not yet own (nor plan to purchase in the near future) a home.

So, here’s what we decided:  yellow in the kitchen, with accents of black; chocolate brown and aqua in the bathroom (and the living room, too, sort of); and a soothing light blue color in the bedroom with accents of white and brown, probably.

A few of my favorite items that we registered for:

At Macy’s, our comforter set (by Martha, nonetheless) is a lovely damask pattern – and I really, really love the calming blue color:

At Target, a lovely yellow Kitchenaid mixer – I seriously would bake more if I owned this:

Also from Target, this lovely easel-style mirror – it would be PERFECT in our bedroom:

What are your must-register-for items?

[Top image from Weddingbee; middle image from Macy's; bottom images from Target]

Green Monday: Earth Day Wedding Favors Giveaway!

Heather from the always lovely Dream Green Weddings sent me a note on a special giveaway she is running in honor of Earth Day.

The Dream Green Weddings team is adding a new eco-friendly wedding favor to their online store every day from now through Earth Day (April 22). Plus, Dream Green Weddings is giving away 40 eco-friendly favors in honor of Earth Day!

To visit the Dream Green Weddings online store, click here.

Happy Monday!

Green Friday: Twisted Limb Paperworks

I was introduced to Twisted Limb Paperworks (TLP) by another blogger, and I have to say, I was stunned to read just how environmentally-conscious TLP is! Here’s a few quick facts from their web site:

- No additional dyes are used to tint the paper. Colors are obtained directly from the materials being recycled.

- Our paper is embellished with ferns, flowers, and raffia flecks. We organically grow and ethically harvest from our woods a portion of the ferns going into our papers. We will begin organically growing at least a portion of the flowers going into our papers in 2009.

- Stems from the dried flowers that go into your paper are either used to bind our twig guest books or they are composted.

- Water used in the paper making process is recycled from the studio’s dehumidifiers and air conditioner whenever possible to conserve this essential resource. We recycle approximately 2700 gallons of water each year.

- Envelopes, reply cards, and cardstock invitations are 100% recycled.

- Envelopes, reply cards, cardstock invitations and 70%cellulose/30%PCW recycled vellum are all processed without chlorine. Some are also manufactured carbon neutral.

- We print out invitation drafts, e-mail requests, etc. on scrap paper, using both sides to a piece of paper (This conserves approximately 290 pounds of paper every year.) before recycling it back into your invitations and stationery. Any paper that we can’t recycle into new products gets recycled with Monroe County Solid Waste Management District. We recycle approximately 1250 pounds of paper this way annually.

- 100% of the cardboard, glass, aluminum, and plastic used at our facility is also recycled with Monroe County Solid Waste Management District.

- Our catalogs, business cards, and customer thank you notes are stitched with organic cotton thread.

- We pack your order with recycled shredded paper.

Click here to access Twisted Limb Paperworks’ web site!

[Note: This is NOT a sponsored post.]

Our Wedding: Invitations Preview – Envelopes!

When crafting our Save the Date cards, I fell in love with envelope liners. I love the fun surprise of opening an envelope to find a little loveliness hidden inside the envelope flap, so I knew that I would try to execute this technique for the majority of our wedding-related envelopes. So, this past weekend, I spent A LOT of time working on the packaging for our wedding invitations.

I’m a HUGE fan of Holly, blogger and DIY craft extraordinaire, so when I saw her AH-MAZ-ING wedding invitations (and her seriously lovely doily-lined envelopes!), I knew that doilies were in my future.

So, I bought out my local grocery store’s selection in glue sticks, hit up Michael’s for doilies (in the cake-baking aisle), and set to work.

Our lovely 6.5 square inch envelopes (purchased from the WONDERFUL Cards & Pockets) look so dressed up with the doilies!

Here’s a close-up:

Total price for this project: $0.17 cents per envelope (I ordered 90 envelopes); $20.00 for glue sticks; $2.99 per pack of doilies (24 in 1 pack) = $47.26!

Happy Thursday!

[Photos by me]

Showcase Wednesday: DIY Bunting!

I jumped on the bunting bandwagon and crafted up my own bunting to dress up our wedding cake table.

I probably should have taken pictures along the way to dress up this post, but alas, I have only a picture of the finished product (above).

Steps:

1. Gather/purchase fabric. I purchased 2 yards of yellow gingham fabric and 2 yards of charcoal grey polka-dot fabric from Hancock Fabrics in Sioux Falls.

2. Find/draw a triangle shape and print on cardstock. This will be your pattern for the triangles. (I’m a fan of larger triangles, but I’ve seen many a cute bunting with little triangles or squares.)

3. Take a pen/pencil and trace along the outside of the triangle on the BACK side of the fabric.

4. Take (sharpened!) pinking shears and cut alongside the outside of your tracing marks. (I made about 30 triangles.)

5. After all of your triangles are cut, fold over the top of the triangle approximately 1 inch, and use a hot iron (with steam!) to make a crease in the triangle, similar to when you’re hemming pants. The purpose is to create a fold where the string can fit in.

6. When all of your triangles are ironed, grab your string, a pair of scissors and a ruler. (I used twine, but you could use ribbon, ric rac, or any other type of string, depending upon your project!) Determine the spacing between each flag (I had approximately 2 inches between triangles).

7. Plug in your hot glue gun, and once it’s warm, insert the string into the fold of the triangle (created with the iron) and place a line of hot glue in the fold as well. Press lightly to secure. Continue on until you’ve used all of your triangles.

8. Take a look at all of your triangles, and trim as necessary.

And you’re done!

While there are various tutorials online that offer ways to make your own bunting, I definitely prefer the no-sew type.

Enjoy!

[Photo by me]

Our Wedding: Our Budget Strategy

When J and I first discussed marriage, we both agreed that we didn’t want to go into debt to afford a wedding. So, from the moment I accepted his marriage proposal, we knew that we’d only enjoy our wedding day if we stuck to a strict budget that didn’t involve credit card debt.

I’m very proud to say that Jordan and I haven’t relied on credit cards to fund our wedding. However, this commitment is not without sacrifice:

- Jordan and I both contribute a significant portion of our monthly income toward the wedding, which means that we sacrifice dinners and lunches with friends, nights out on the town, and even dates with each other!

-  In December 2009, Jordan moved approximately 90 minutes away from me and from his friends and family to take a job in Lake Preston, SD. Every day, Jordan sacrifices time with me, with our dog Wyatt, and with our families and our friends to bring in a stable income. While being apart is extremely difficult for us, we’ve made it work!

- When Jordan accepted his job in Lake Preston, I moved back home with my parents. While living rent free is certainly helping our wedding budget, at times, living at home is rather difficult (especially when I’m missing Jordan!). But Jordan and I both feel incredibly grateful to my parents for allowing me to live at home, and for allowing him to come and stay with us each weekend he’s in town.

Our overall budget strategy has been to open a savings account (which I manage) and to funnel money into the account as often as possible. We also have made the commitment to paying ahead for all-things wedding (as much as we can). This is an extremely helpful strategy for us, as we make monthly “payments” of sorts to our reception venue, our photographer, and other things.

I also am an incessant list-maker and an avid user of Google Calendar, which allows me to set reminders for myself each pay period of what we want to accomplish with the money that Jordan and I are able to set aside after paying bills. We begin each month sending a payment to our reception venue, and we try to separate the other expenses (i.e. decor items, gifts for our honor attendants, etc.) between our pay periods.

While our budget strategy has been wonderful for us, we recognize that our strategy may not work for every couple.

What’s YOUR budget strategy?

Checking in: 101 in 1001 Goals Project

Hi readers! Here’s what I set out to accomplish in March, and how I did:

Relationships

-          Write and mail at least ten handwritten letters. [I mailed one letter (well, a card) to my pal Jessica in March.]

-          Send a care package to one of my dear friends at school. [Sent a package to Jessica!]

-          Talk with Jordan about changing my name, about his feelings regarding divorce, and about his feelings regarding adoption. [Talked with J about all of these things. Can't say that each talk was a good talk, but at least we discussed all of these things.]

Necessities

-          Write down and store end-of-life wishes. [Done, although J sure thought it was morbid to get this email from me...]

-          Get an eye exam & glasses. [DONE! And man, was my vision TERRIBLE.]

Physical Changes

-          Keep a food journal every day for one month. [Done! And seriously, it was HARD. I am not really taking away anything enlightening from it, other than the fact that when I eat out, I eat WAY more than when I'm eating at home. Just a note to self.]

*I also accomplished a handful of goals without even trying!*

Relationships

- Write gift ideas for family and friends down as ideas arise, and keep this list in a safe place. [Started this list in March 2010.]

Necessities

- Get a passport. [Check - March 2010.]

Spiritual/Emotional Growth

- Investigate international adoption.[I checked out two adoption web sites, and all I can say is YES. I feel my heart pulling me in this direction. If only I could get J to sign on...]

Miscellaneous

Complete at least six creative projects per year. [With all of the wedding planning hoopla, I hit my mark already for 2010! We did our invitations, RSVP cards, rehearsal dinner invitations, Save the Date cards, a surprise for my bridesmaids, and our cake toppers, among other projects!]

Here’s what I hope to tackle in April:

- Send my brother Brian at least one care package at college.

- Take a trip with my best gal pals.

- Send flowers randomly to someone I care about.

- Buy a pair of wellies.

Happy Monday!