Eco-Vintage Weddings

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]

Green Friday: Feature & The DIY Bridal Files

Hello readers! Thank you all for your wonderful comments about our DIY Bingo Card Save the Dates; we’re so proud of them, and we’re so excited that you all love them just as much as we do!

Today isn’t so much a “Green Friday;” it’s more like a “Budget-Friendly Friday!” The girls over at DIY Bridal Files were kind enough to feature our Save the Date cards on their blog, so I wanted to show them a little love by introducing my readers to the sheer loveliness over at DIY Bridal Files.

Look for these girls to post twice per day on DIY goodness found all over the blogosphere! From Daily DIY projects to free printables, DIY Bridal Files is a one-stop shop for any DIY, budget-conscious bride.

Big thanks to the girls over at DIY Bridal Files for their feature! Go show them some love, readers – check out DIY Bridal Files here!

Have a blissful weekend!

Showcase Wednesday: Our (Finished) Save the Dates!

Happy Wednesday, readers! I always love it when the middle of the week arrives … it means we’re all closer to the weekend, which means that I’m closer to seeing Jordan! We’re living and working in separate cities right now, so I’m always grateful whenever Jordan comes home on the weekend.

Today I am pleased to bring you the fruits of our labor – our DIY bingo-inspired Save the Date cards!

Aren’t they cute!?

Jordan and I worked closely together on these cards, which proved to be a valuable lesson in Marriage 101: Patience is an absolutely necessary part of taking on any project, from DIY stationery to life itself.

As you may recall from this post, crafting the bingo card design came easily. It was the steps thereafter that proved to be more of a challenge.

First was the question of how to design the wrap-around vellum band. Jordan and I began concepting an asymmetrical design, but we quickly decided that we wanted to mirror the symmetry of the bingo card design on the vellum band. So, after a few long hours full of meticulous edits, we finally came to a consensus – we loved the design featuring our engagement pictures, courtesy of Creative Kindling!

After finalizing the design, I set out to find yellow vellum paper. Well, yellow vellum paper wasn’t in my future, I soon found out, which actually ended up for the better; my resourceful mother took a yellow crayon and colored on top of the clear vellum paper we found, and when she placed the vellum over the bingo card, it looked HIDEOUS! I feel very fortunate that I didn’t waste any money on yellow vellum paper.

Once the bingo cards and the vellum wraps were printed and trimmed, I spent one evening seated at my kitchen table with my Mom and two of my best gal pals (my maid of honor Kristen and my bridesmaid Serena), and we folded and glued, folded and glued. Kristen, whose super-fun handwriting is making its debut on the envelopes holding these Save the Date lovelies, spent a good portion of the evening addressing envelopes for us.

Here’s a glimpse of the front of the card:

There were two final parts to the design, the first of which is one of my favorites. The vellum paper wrapped around the back of the bingo card design, and where the two edges of the vellum paper met, my bridesmaid and gluer-extraordinaire Serena attached a button.

One note about the buttons, however:  I didn’t know this prior to crafting our Save the Date cards, but the buttons cost us an extra $0.20 cents each in postage, since they needed to be hand-stamped instead of running through a postage machine. I’m sure glad that none of our other stationery projects will utilize buttons, but at the same time, I love this feature on our Save the Date cards.

The second (and final) design element involved stamping a circle shape around the “July 17″ square on the front of the bingo card. While this should have been one of the easiest parts of the entire process, the company from which we ordered the stamp happened to be experiencing a high order volume, which therefore delayed the order significantly. However, all was well in the end, as the stamp arrived just in the knick of time!

Overall, I’m more than satisfied with our Save the Date cards. I would like to make one recommendation for you readers:  when Jordan and I were stuffing and sealing the envelopes that I had lined with decorative paper, we had trouble securing a proper seal, due to the fact that the decorative paper had covered up the waxy seal (the part of an envelope that you lick to seal it shut). So, we stuck a piece of double-stick tape to secure the envelope shut, and added a sticker seal on top of that. In the future, I will try to be more creative when lining envelopes, so that I don’t cover up the waxy seal.

I estimate the total cost of this project, including postage, to be right around $60.00. Most of the cost stems from purchasing the vellum paper.

What do you think of our Save the Date cards?

Showcase Wednesday: Bachelorette Party Invites!

Happy Wednesday, readers! It’s finally the middle of the week. I’ve been battling sickness early this week, but am feeling a bit better today.

I wanted to share with you the invitations I created for my bachelorette party that’s coming up this June. I know, I know, it’s usually the job of the women throwing the party to make the invitations, but A) I know how absolutely busy my girls are, and B) I love being crafty! Planning this wedding has done wonders for me in terms of providing a creative outlet, so I couldn’t resist just one more project.

My ideal bachelorette party is a good old-fashioned slumber party! I want to play Mall Madness, test my luck with a Ouija board, and put on make-up, paint my nails and style my hair. I want to play Truth or Dare, talk about boys, eat pizza and drink wine. Sounds fun, doesn’t it!?

So, in the spirit of all things slumber party, I crafted these little “sleeping bags” out of double-sided decorative paper and glue.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Double-sided paper (I used paper that I purchased from Hobby Lobby)
Cardboard for a pattern (I again used the back of a notebook)
A6 envelopes (or any size)
Glue sticks
Bone folder (optional)

Steps:

1. Cut a pattern that is twice the width of your desired width. It’s important to approximate two times the width you need, because to achieve the sleeping bag look, you’ll later fold the paper in half. To identify the size, I measured the width of the A6 envelope and decided on an approximate size to fit inside the envelope. I cut my pattern to 8.25 inches long by 7 inches wide.

2. Hold the pattern up to one sheet of decorative paper and cut around it with scissors.

3. Fold the decorative paper in half.

4. To make the sleeping bag appear “folded down,” fold a crease into one of the edges. A bone tool works very well to accomplish a crisp fold.

5. Using a glue stick, glue along the bottom edge of the sleeping bag (opposite the folded flap). Also, glue along the unfolded edge of the bag (opposite the fold).

6. Glue under the flap to secure the bottom of the flap to the body of the sleeping bag. Let dry overnight.

7. Stick the pull-0ut invite inside the sleeping bag, and you’re ready to mail your invitations! If you’re using A6 envelopes with the above measurements, the final size of your pull-out invite should be 4.5 inches long by 3 inches wide.

[Photos: All taken by me]

Our Wedding: DIY Projects Update!

Happy Tuesday, readers! I hope today is happy for you – Tuesdays are usually happy for me: any day is better than Monday in my book!

With approximately five months until the wedding, I wanted to give you all a glimpse into what I’ve accomplished these past few weeks. I’ve hit the wedding planning hard, and I’m very proud of what projects I’ve started and finished! Many thanks to my wonderful friends and family for their help, as well as my future husband – I couldn’t do any of this without you!

- I’ve lined envelopes for our Save the Date cards and for the invitations for my bachelorette party (which will most likely be in June).
- I’ve made invitations for my bachelorette party, which I’ll be showcasing for you all tomorrow!
- Our Save the Date cards are nearly complete; I am VERY happy with the finished product, and I can’t wait to show the fruits of our efforts to you all next week!
- We’ve downloaded templates for our rehearsal dinner invitations and for our gift opening invitations; all we need are the details, and they’ll be ready to print!
- I’ve made little “favors” of sorts for our wedding; I’m anxious to show these to you near the end of February!
- We’ve taken profile photos of our entire wedding party, and I’m almost ready to talk with Jordan about what I’m concepting for our wedding ceremony programs.
- I’ve purchased large rectangles of styrofoam, which I will adorn with moss and turn into monograms that will hang by ribbon on the church doors!
- I’ve purchased two large bags of fabric pom poms; I am currently researching making DIY paper cones full of pom poms that our ushers will pass out to guests after our ceremony. I love these little pom poms!
- I purchased my flower fascinator from Etsy, and I can’t wait until it arrives!
- I purchased lace trim to use when making my throw-away garter.
- I’m in the beginning stages of making a few special items for my bridesmaids, including a very exciting purchase of gifts from Etsy! No more for now, can’t take the chance that I’d ruin the surprise!
- I’m in talks with a wonderful Etsy artist about making dresses for our flower girls; I’m a few decisions away from nailing down exactly what we’re looking for!
- My mother and I made a trip to a few area fabric stores last week, and I think we’ve found the fabric that we’ll use to make napkins for our wedding reception. I can’t wait to get this fabric purchased and get started on making these eco-friendly goodies!
- I have added a base coat of cream paint to 15 wooden letter “G’s” (these will be part of our centerpieces); they look great, and I can’t wait to add more treatments to these letters!
- J and I have FINALLY nailed down a design for our wedding invitations; now, all we need to do is add the text to the invitation, and then we can begin working on the supplemental materials for our invitations!

Whew! Looking at this list, I feel SO proud of all of the work we’ve started and finished.

What projects are YOU currently working on for your wedding?

Our Wedding: DIY Paper-Lined Envelopes

Good morning, readers! I’m excited to share Eco-Vintage Weddings‘ FIRST-ever DIY project tutorial with you!

Over the weekend, I finally had a chance to get started on preparing our Save the Date cards for their voyage into the mailboxes of our families and friends.

Ever since I saw this great Martha idea, I knew that I wanted to line the inside flaps of our envelopes. I plan to do this in some form for every piece of stationery we send out (from Save the Date cards to thank-you notes), so it was GREAT to get started!

I needed to make approximately 60 envelopes, and it took me roughly 3 hours to complete this craft.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

-A6 size envelopes (mine had a rectangle flap, not a diamond like European-style envelopes)
-Decorative paper (I used a 48-sheet collection of one-sided papers entitled “Paris Nights” by GCD Studios; purchased from Hobby Lobby)
-Glue stick
-Scratch piece of paper
-Scissors
-To make the pattern: Heavy cardstock or a lightweight piece of cardboard (I used the back of an old notebook)
-Bone folder (optional)

STEPS:

1. Cut your scratch piece of paper down to the approximate size of the envelope. Stick the paper inside the envelope, and adjust the size of the paper as necessary with your scissors. The paper should fit inside the envelope so that it stretches from the top of the flap (when the envelope is open) to past the opening of the envelope.

2. Place the paper atop your cardboard, and cut around the paper to make a cardboard pattern.

3. Place the cardboard pattern atop one sheet of decorative paper. Cut around the pattern with your scissors.

4. With the envelope flap open, stick the piece of decorative paper inside the envelope, making sure that the paper stretches from the top of the flap past the opening of the envelope (see picture below). Trim the edges of the paper as necessary; the pattern is meant to be a guideline and does not guarantee a perfect cut.

5. With the decorative paper lined up inside the envelope, lift up the top of the paper (where the seal of the envelope is), and use your glue stick to liberally add glue ONLY to the inside flap of the envelope. Do NOT glue the decorative paper; this will bend the paper and make it difficult to stick to the flap of the envelope.

6. Flip the envelope over like the picture above. Look for and trim any overlapping edges with your scissors.

7. Flip the envelope back over, and with your fingers at the bottom of the inside flap, bend the flap of the envelope, as if you are ready to seal it. Press firmly across the crease where the flap and the body of the envelope meet. You could also use a bone folder to help make a crisp crease.

8. You’re done! Here’s the finished product (above) and my collection of envelopes (below):

What DIY projects are YOU doing for your wedding?

Do you have a tutorial to share?

Send me photos and step-by-step instructions at sara.eiesland@gmail.com, and I may feature it
on Eco-Vintage Weddings!

Green Monday: Mason Jar Love

Happy Monday, readers! I was gifted the entire weekend off from my part-time job at Gymboree, and I got a few wedding-related crafts done! I can’t wait to share them with you soon.

A few weeks ago on Twitter, I stumbled upon a post from Intimate Weddings that literally made me stop in my tracks. Besides boasting a comprehensive venue search for intimate weddings on her site, Christina of Intimate Weddings has also collected tutorials and inspiration for some of the best DIY projects out there, making Intimate Weddings a literal hub of DIY goodness.

Because J and I plan to incorporate mason jars into our wedding decor, Christina’s post on these multi-purpose lovelies caught my eye recently. Before seeing this post, J and I figured that we would utilize mason jars as vases to hold flowers on on our reception tables. But after seeing this picture (at left), I now am on the hunt for more mason jars to achieve this affect!

I’ve always wanted to be married by candlelight, and this picture literally is just oozing with romance. Can you imagine collections of these mason jars lining the aisle?! How amazing.

The best part about mason jars is that they can be reused post-wedding for canning, storing foods like salsa, or utilized for gifts, such as hot chocolate mix, hard ingredients for cookie dough and more. Plus,mason jars are an easy, always available vase for your favorite garden flowers! Therefore, making an investment in mason jars is an eco-friendly, budget-friendly decor idea.

[Photo credit: Intimate Weddings]

Our Wedding: Ipod Playlist Update!

Good Thursday morning, readers!

Thank you to those of you who left comments on what songs you love to dance to; we’re always excited to hear from our readers!

Here’s where we are in compiling our wedding playlists:

• Jordan and I both have raided our ipods for music that we each have and would like played at our wedding reception.
• I also have started a list of songs to download, the list of which is mostly an ode to Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald (with a little Goo Goo Dolls and The White Stripes mixed in for good measure).

It’s now time, however, to figure out what special songs we want to use for our special dances!

One of my favorite musical duos right now is Everly, fronted by the amazingly talented Bethany Joy Galeotti of One Tree Hill fame. I am in love with the folksy sounds of Everly’s first LP, but the song “Scheming Star” really tugs at my heartstrings. It’s a jazzy tune that’s short enough to use for Jordan and my first dance, but showcases sweet, meaningful lyrics and beautiful swells of music that will be perfect to sway to. At this point, Jordan’s not too crazy about using this song for our first dance as husband and wife, but I’m hoping to work on him!

For my dance with my father, I definitely want to dance to “My Girl” – love that song! We’re not sure what we’d like played for the Mother-Son dance, but I’m sure Jordan’s Mom Nachole (a musical fiend!) will have some great ideas.

Also, Jordan is a huge fan of Blink-182, and I am a gigantic fan of the Backstreet Boys. The question is this: how many songs can we get away with playing at our wedding reception!?

For those of you who are embarking on compiling your own wedding playlist, be sure to check out A $2000 Wedding’s Sara & Matt’s forthcoming posts on the ipod playlist they compiled for their wedding!

How are you compiling your wedding day playlist?

What songs are must-haves?

Green Friday: Our Green Wedding Pledge

Happy Friday, readers! I am SO anxious for the weekend, even if I still have two shifts of work left. I may not have told you all that in December, I began working at Gymboree, the kids’ clothing store, here in our local mall. It’s a fun job, and is especially a nice break from the day-to-day office setting of my full-time job!

As I mentioned last week, today I’m ready to share with you all what Jordan and I are committed to doing to ensure that our wedding is “greener” than the average wedding affair. While I realize that we could be making more sacrifices that we are, Jordan and I feel comfortable with the choices we’re making thus far in our planning.

So, here’s our green wedding pledge:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

7. We are supporting handmade goods by purchasing wedding accessories from Etsy. In the coming months, my veil and fascinator will be purchased via Tessa Kim’s shop on Etsy. In addition to those accessories, I also hope to purchase our guest book (remember this stump-inspired beauty?), jewelry for my bridesmaids, our cake topper, tutus for our flower girls, and monogrammed cuff links for our groomsmen from Etsy.

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.

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!

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).

How are YOU making your wedding green?

I’d love to hear from you!

[Photo via Dream Green Weddings by Caroline Ghetes]

Our Wedding: Ceremony Inspiration

Good Thursday morning, readers! Today I wanted to share with you a few ideas I’m tossing around to make our ceremony reflect our personalities, love, and commitment to each other.

Have I sung my praises for Sara of A $2000 Wedding yet? She is unbelievably inspirational, and I seriously feel the positive vibes oozing from her blog each time I read a new post. On her blog, Sara has posted a variety of ceremony scripts, making her blog the only (as far as I know) resource for such goodness. You MUST check these scripts (and her blog!) out – her and her partner’s experience in wedding planning will fundamentally change the way you view your wedding.

Now that my praises have been made known, on to a wonderful idea that Sara and her partner Matt utilized in their ceremony in place of a unity candle:  they planted a tree, and also were wrapped in a unity quilt!

Jordan and I loved these ideas, but since we don’t have a house yet, we felt that we couldn’t plant a tree. So, we decided to incorporate the idea of a unity quilt into our ceremony. We also wanted to involve our family members and friends, and so we planned to ask them on our save-the-date cards to mail us pieces of fabric to us so that we could make the quilt.

However, Jordan and I are not sure that our family members and our friends will participate in helping us to put together our unity quilt; while we love our families and friends dearly, they’re traditional folk, and we’re not sure they’ll embrace the non-traditional aspects of our wedding. So, we’re in the process of reevaluating how we can express our unity at our wedding.

The always-lovely Dana from The Broke-Ass Bride and her fresh hubby, Hunter, incorporated a Box Ceremony into their wedding ceremony. To explain, I’ll borrow some text from The Wedding Bee’s Miss Cowboy Boot:

“The tradition goes something like this: The couple writes love letters to each other. In their letters, they detail why they fell in love with each other and what they really, truly admire about the other person. The letters get sealed up before they are read by the person they are intended for.

The sealed letters are brought out at the end of the ceremony. They are put into a wooden box that the couple supplies. Along with their letters, they put a nice bottle of wine into the box with two glasses. Once all is in the box, the wedding party hammers nails into the box to close it.

The point of all this? If, at any point, the marriage is in serious jeopardy, the couple is to open the box, read the letters about why they fell in love with each other in the first place, and drink the wine together before making any irrational decisions.”

I’m a big believer in protecting important things like marriage with your life, and this ceremony seems like an incredibly sufficient (and romantic) way to protect your marriage in its 11th hour of need.

Last, the Offbeat Bride (among others) has discussed including the ritual of a Ring-Warming in your wedding ceremony. I’m absolutely in love with this concept, which involves the passing of the wedding rings amongst the guests for their blessing.

What do you think, readers?

How will your wedding ceremony reflect who you are as individuals, and who you are as a couple?

[Photo Credit: Prime Number]