Bells a Ringin'

I had made out a list of things that we needed to order before the wedding and have been order a few things each month to help with budgeting for this "royal day". In my last purchase I ordered bells from hobby lobby. But before I got down with my purchase I had a thought that a cow bell would be really good to have at the wedding. I went back and forth between ditching the traditional little bells and getting all cow bells but didn't want to waste the money.
So I ordered the traditional small bells for the tables and one large black cow bell. When I got it I took black chalkboard paint and painted one side of it. After it had all dried I took a chalk marker and wrote on the front "for a really big kiss". I'll put this bell up towards the front of the reception hall near the entrance just for fun.

Cake Serving Set

So I have been hunting for a cake serving set that I like that didn't cost a fortune.... no such luck. So I decided to make my own! I ordered the serving set online from HobbyLobby because our local store didn't have this set (of course). Then went to JoAnns and found two different sized packages of pearl beads and silver wire. This too was another project I completed while watching TV, just be careful those little beads will end up everywhere if the dog jumps up with you.

I took about a 3 in. piece of wire and strung four small beads on it and wrapped it around the top, holding the pearls in place where I wanted them and tightening the wire with needle-nose pliers. The next section has two small beads on each side and a large bead in the middle. The last section of the set is one big piece of wire ( I cut about 6 inches just to make sure I had plenty to work with). I made the top row with two small beads and one large bead. I then wrapped the wire around the knife and tightened it with the pliers just like I did with the other sections of beads; however, this time I had this really long end of wire left. I did this because it tightens the wire enough to stay in place but still allows you to make the section as one piece. After that I just wrapped the wire around put the beads on and wrapped the wire around again for the next row. For the very last row after I put the beads on I took the wire and did an extra wrap around the knife with the wire to keep the beads for slipping off. The wire is so thin you can wrap it between the rows of beads and it blends right in. Then I tightened the wire in the back and secured with a dot of hot glue!

Burlap Curtains

At the reception we are going to have a mantel behind the cake table and I have been thinking/looking for ideas to deck the mantel up and make it look gorgeous for the evening. I saw a picture of burlap curtains hanging over a mantel and thought it was just what I needed for our big day. Now these curtains were absolutely SIMPLE to make!! If you are thinking I broke out the sewing machine for this then you're thinking wrong!
I went to JoAnn's and got two pieces of 2 1/2 yards of burlap. When I got home I unfolded each and laid them down on the kitchen floor so I could work with them easily. I had a roll of no-sew, iron on tape that I used (brilliant invention by the way) to make these. I took one end and folded it about four inches down, tucking in the no-sew tape and pinning it all together. If you do it in sections instead of all at once it'll work out better and pin where you want it.
Once I had both sections of the burlap pinned then I ironed the tape down. Be careful if you use the pins with the colored plastic tips on them, I forgot and melted one down on accident!

Coffee Filter Wreaths

So I saw on Pinterest where a woman had made a white coffee filter wreath. At the reception I want to have old wooden doors stood up behind the wedding party table and thought making the wreaths would be perfect to have hanging over some of the doors; so I made two. Here is the blog I found for the directions- very easy steps to follow. Only difference for mine is I used the recycled brown coffee filters from the store because I thought they looked more "rustic". I completed both while watching Bates Motel :)

Burlap Banner

A Thank  You banner is the perfect thing to take a picture with and send to all your guests and this one was soo easy to make! Hobby Lobby has pre-cut triangles in their burlap craft section so all I had to do was paint the letters on (of course I used stencils). My plan was to hot glue twine to the back of each triangle to make the banner but as the glue gun was heating up Josh walked by and suggested that I use a big needle and string it through instead. It worked out so much easier! I had a big needle in my sewing box and just thread the twine through. I sewed through the front of the right side of the triangle and came up the back of the left side. Of course make sure that you put your letters on starting with the last letter or your message will be backwards. Sewing it together took about 5-10 minutes, the hardest part (in my opinion) is painting and waiting for them to try.

"I Fall to Pieces"

"I found this darling cake stand online at Save on Crafts. They are a wonderful website with TONS of decorations to order for your wedding or other events. The cake stand went perfect with our rustic-country theme we're having and was good quality for the price.
I was also able to find pearl corsages on their site which worked out perfect for mother's corsages. Keep an eye on their site if you're interested in purchasing because they are always having sales, so don't think you have to pay the full price for anything!

"Shake the Sugar Tree"

My DIY Wishing Tree

"I Will Always Love You"

 

 

 

 

 

There is an APP you can download where you scan your fingerprints and it tells you how "fit" you are with your mate. Worked out in our favor but I wouldn't rely on it as a make-or-break for your relationship!

"My Last Name"

When adventuring with a friend this fall at the annual Apple & Pork festival I saw a lady selling wine bottle lamps. Although I wasn't interested in the lamp what quickly caught my eye was the name of the "wine". It was called Meier (my future last name) and not only that, it was actually spelt the exact same way!! I was so excited I quickly snapped a picture and made it my goal to find this to have at our wedding.
Hell, it might be the wine that we drink for our toasting since neither of us are wine fans, haha.

"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue"

After a few months of searching around in all the local towns we chose Decatur Masonic Temple as the place for our reception hall. Out of all of the facilities we checked out, the Masonic Temple was the only place that 1) fit in our budget 2) allowed us to provide our own alcohol 3) could bring our own caterer and 4) hang things on the wall. If you look at the pictures above you can see that there is plenty of room, a raised stage for the wedding party, a bar, and also a separate large kitchen/dinning area (not pictured). Highly recommend for anyone looking for a spot to rent.

"Cowboy Take Me Away"

I give Pinterest a lot of credit for the things that I come up with for the wedding, but this one was totally my idea and I'm proud to share! I wanted a card box that was different than all the rest but was something that was useful not only for the wedding, but later to have as decoration or something. SO I contacted a local couple and showed them some ideas that I had and what I wanted and they build this BARN CARD BOX for me! I will confess it was much bigger than I intended (incase you didn't notice my dog is inside of it!) but it turned out wonderfully! Incase people were confused for what the barn was for I went ahead and created the "cards" sign just incase.

 

"Nuthin But Cowboy Boots"

Enough Said

"This Ones for the Girls"

All of my bridesmaids were able to choose their own style of dress. They were all made by the same designer and from the same material but I wanted them all to feel comfortable in what they were wearing so naturally it turned out that everyone chose a different dress. Only one of my bridesmaids isn't pictured because the only picture I had was with me in my dress and I'm not ready to reveal that yet :) The picture of the dress on the bottom right is the color of teal that we chose for the dresses. In addition too, I also added a picture of how I want the girls to wear their hair the day of. Most things I'm pretty lenient about but having everyone's hair looking the same is a big deal to me.

"Outside My Window"

In a previous post I was talking about how I wanted the door that I had decorated up standing behind us when we get married, along with two windows (one on each side of the door). Well I found some battery operated candle sticks and JoAnn's and took some old lace to create these picture windows for the wedding. May change my mind about how I feel about them, but for now their good!

"Pretty Good at Drinking Beer"

 

I hand painted these wine glasses for our toasting ceremony and cake cutting. I did go with the typical mason jars for the reception; however, I wanted something a little more formal for our iconic events in the wedding.

So the wine glasses are from the dollar tree (can't beat $1) and I painted the "Mr. & Mrs." on using paint markers. Not perfect but turned out good enough for us!

"Spilled Perfume"

My friend sent me this great Pinterest idea where you should buy and wear a different perfume for your wedding day. The smell will be all new and every time you smell the perfume you'll have a sensual memory of the perfect day.

I thought it would be perfect to wear every anniversary and for special events.

After many sniffs of shelves and shelves of perfumes I found one that I absolutely loved! If you're looking for a new scent, check it out!

"Flowers on the Wall"

Found an alternative flower girl dress at TJ Maxx in clearance section (of course). The one I had previously got she literally freaked out when we put it on and it kind of scared me that she'd do that in a couple of months too. This dress is still rustic and champaign colored and will be a lot cooler for her to wear in August. I can just picture her now in this dress and cowgirl boots!

"Somebody Like You"

All of my bridesmaids were able to pick different dresses based on how they fit their body shapes and personalities. Unfortunately, before we ordered them my maid of honors dress was discontinued so she had to order the same dress that another girl had. I wanted to find a way where she could stand out because she was my maid of honor and like a sister to me. Again I turned to etsy and found this awesome bridal belt that can be added to the dress to give her own "bling" and get her recognition she deserves.

"Hello Darlin"

This is a small sample of all of the mason jars that we got done during our wedding decorating party. Everyone was very creative in using lace, twine, burlap, pictures, pearls, etc to create our centerpieces for the wedding. I love them all and can't wait to do some more!

"Stand By Your Man"

My mother-in-law found a wedding count down for us on Amazon and I was able to program it to count the days until our wedding day. Also pictured is our wedding cake topper. I collect willow tree angels and this is a angel set that I got for Christmas from my fiancé two years ago. I thought it was perfect because it was something that we're both connected to and just happens to be a cake topper!

"Crash My Party"

I found all of this in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby. Napkins for 75 cents and plates $1. Then of course the invitations they were a little more, $3 but hey that's still cheap!!
Ready for my black and pink bridal shower!

"Gentle on My Mind"

I spent months looking for what I wanted to have for the guest gifts. I really was set on the fact that I would have koozies for the guests that said "to have and to hold and to keep your beer cold" However after months of searching I couldn't find a company that would make what I wanted for under $200. So I decided to go a cheaper route and still give our guests a cute gift to take home.
I ordered 200 small coin bags off of Etsy for $14 with shipping and found a stamp at Hobby Lobby that said "wishing you a love that continues to bloom". I thought it was perfect for what I wanting! I had some trouble getting the stamp ink to stay on the enveloped and not smearing off since they were made of a material similar to parchment paper. But don't fret, I found a solution! Hobby Lobby sells clear embossing ink and you can get an heat gun with a 40% coupon for $15. With the embossing ink and some heat it keeps the stamp ink from smearing off the envelopes. We filled up the envelopes with wild flower seeds bought at the dollar store (an entire box for $1) and all done! Perfect and simple!

"Paper Roses"

I am really bad about changing my mind which when I do projects for the wedding then change my mind I am constantly making and remaking things. So I have yet again remade bridesmaids bouquets and all the boutonnieres. The boutonnieres were simple, I bought some dried up babys breath from Hobby Lobby and just cut up pieces off the bundle, glued them together, and wrapped them in twine. Simple yet rustic and perfect for our wedding.
The bouquets on the other hand, took a little more time but were certainly easy as well. I found a YouTube Link on how to make paper flowers and believe it or not.. these bouquets are made out of COFFEE FILTERS!! Isn't that unbelievable? Click on the link to find out how to make your own

"Get Your Shine On"

For the guests I'm going to have a couple different options for drinks. I plan on having a bar and some old wash tubs holding water bottles and pop.
In addition too, I have bought three different mason jar drink dispensers for tea, sweet tea, and lemonade. So during my wedding decorating party we got these beautiful glasses done! I took the canning lids and painted them in black chalk paint then we punched holes through the lids using nails and a hammer, looped some twine through and attached them to the jars. Aren't they darling?

"You Look So Good in Love"

I found this antique lunch box at the antique store and had to have it. I wasn't sure why but it was something I absolutely had to have! After some brainstorming I have figured out why. I put a little burlap at the top of the lid because it was rusty, added three mason jars inside and it has become a perfect silverware container for the wedding!
Isn't it awesome?

"What Do You Think About That"





Some of you might look at this and just see a dusty barn... and a horse of course =)

But I can see my wedding here!

"Tonight I Wanna Cry"

Now I know that my wedding is six months away but I haven't wasted a day being engaged not planning for our wedding. The things that I had been wanting to get down were starting to pile up so I created a wedding making party (with some bribing of food and alcohol) and got friends and family in to help me get things done. AND man did we get things done! I was so blessed that all these women came and help me, we got more down in a few hours then I could get done in days!!

"The More I Drink"

I have been searching Etsy and browsing Pinterest for ideas of gifts to get my bridesmaids. I finally found these mini flasks that I could get personalized for only $5! They're perfect size because they'll fit right into the little purses I also got them for the wedding.

I plan on ordering larger ones for the groomsmen in a few months. Here is the link to the Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/AwardSourceLLC?ref=ss_profile


Meanwhile, one of my bridesmaids is my 13 year old sister, so obviously getting her a mini flask wouldn't have been very appropriate. So instead of a flask to put in her purse, I got her a customized pocket mirror. Here's the link to what I got for her: Etsy Personalized Mirrors

"Lost in This Moment"

I saw a lot of pictures on pinterest where the ring bears carry a sign down the aisle telling the groom that she's coming.

I wanted to do something similar and was trying to find a way to get our brothers involved in the wedding also. We each have two brothers and I came up with the idea that they will each walk down before me holding signs and they will basically spell out "Here She Comes Bro".

I found the boards at hobby lobby in the wooden craft section. I think they were about $2-3 bucks a piece, so not bad at all. Then I took teal craft paint and painted all around the trim of the boards. When that dried, I took brown stain and several times painted on stain and wiped it off with a paper towel. It really gave the teal a rustic look and made it match my bridesmaids dresses. After that dried, then I took chalkboard paint and painted the top of the boards.

Here are pictures of the boards as they're drying. I plan on writing on them with chalk markers!

"On the Other Hand"

 

I found this Pin http://www.pinterest.com/pin/92675704804077868/ when I was browsing around one night. What I really like about this idea is this is a great way to collect money for honeymoon paying off expenses in a fun way for the guests. While I hope and pray that my soon to be husband ends up with more money in his jar, I'm willing to take some cake in the face for some cash!

"Me & You"

Just something fun that I did this summer. These are the dates that we started dating, got engaged, and will be married.