The 1829 Farmhouse: July 2011

i've been quite busy this past month with preparations for a very special wedding we celebrated last saturday for this couple. there were so many great ideas that the bride wanted, to add that special touch to their theme which was beachy vintage.

i thought i'd share a few projects i worked on for the wedding. most of the pics are staged on our property, both before & after. i was so preoccupied that i didn't take pics prior to the wedding...ugh. however, i did hand my camera to a groomsmen's wife and she included some of the decor in her picture taking (thanks erin!)

this wedding was done on a very low cost budget. i am very proud of these two for committing to start their lives without any wedding debt. most everything used to decorate was either a bargain, low cost, re-used, borrowed or already owned. (my kind of decorating!)

first on the list was the table numbers that you may remember from this wedding. some of them came up missing afterward so i had the task of remaking 3 of the numbers. not much of an issue except that i couldn't find the file on either my desktop or laptop computer AND i couldn't for the life of me find the font that was used on them. no problem, i would just use a similar font (as suggested by bride) as they would be on separate tables anyway. but lo and behold, for some reason i had made a copy of some of the numbers and tucked it in with the iron-on transfer sheets. the remarkable thing about this is that the exact three numbers i needed were the ones on this copy! now if that isn't a God thing!
the vintage canning jars were filled with sand and a handful of sparklers for an evening send off for the bride and groom. the centerpieces were layers circles of seafoam green, sand, seashells and candles. several hand printed box of matches were on the table as well.

next was a bunting banner made out of burlap left over from the above mentioned wedding. the bride wanted one for the gift table and one for the head table. she chose "just married" and of course "gifts". black lettering was the choice of color and looked great against the burlap texture.

the bride wanted to use vintage items in the decor. canning jars with wire bales in both aqua & clear were used for centerpieces & to hold the bouquets, various galvanized tubs held water bottles & ice, and a retro suitcase was used for holding cards.

a mini banner with the word "cards" was a later addition but was simple & made from items on hand. i had a strand of chipboard letters on jute spelling out "christmas" that i took apart. i made a "d" from a thin heavy cardboard and then glued vintage dictionary pages to the fronts. i personalized them by using pages with words related to a wedding: love, vow, marriage, kiss, and wed. i restrung them on black & white bakers twine with added mini clothespins to clip the banner to inside the suitcase lid. a small vintage embroidered round tablecloth and an authentic fishnet was added to the inside to add some pop & texture to the plain lining. (see above pic)

another decorative element that was on the "to do" list was a picture board made from a large empty frame (in my stash but purchased from hobby lobby clearance aisle). i drilled holes on each side of the frame and wove vintage sissal rope through and across the opening. to add some seaside touches to the frame, starfish were tied on the corners. upon placing pics on the board, it was decided that a backing be added to direct the eye to the pics and not the easel or background behind. i found some linen-like textured fabric in my stash and stapled it to the back of the frame. you could also use burlap or coffee bags for another look.

a few signs were made to direct guests to their seats and to the wedding which were made from leftover fence pickets. the word, "wedding" was stenciled onto the pickets (thanks to my cricut) and then a font from the computer was traced onto the wood for "reserved" and handpainted. the wedding signs were cemented into empty paint cans placed inside sap buckets and then covered with sand.

the most important project that the couple wanted, to exude some beachy-ness was a trellis. after seeing a pic of the "look" to achieve, i set out to do my homework. lowes had rustic poles for less than $7 each. we needed 8 along with 8-inch carriage bolts/nuts. once i sketched a pic for the mr., he and one of the groomsmen got to work building the trellis. it took about 4 hours spread out over a few days to get the project to completion. once they were done, the bride and i took a trip to jo annes to find ivory tulle and ivory fabric for the backdrop.

measure twice, cut once

it's helpful to have good tools,
extra batteries on hand, along with some
kickin' socks & workboots

mr.1829 and a groomsman checking out their project

the completed trellis waiting for the bride and groom

if you have any questions as to the making of any of this decor, just send me an email and i'd be happy to help out. these decor items are not our original designs but gleaned from many ideas & pics found on this wonderful world of blogs that we all share delight in. we, of course, added our own personal touches to make them unique & personalized for our son's wedding.

thanks for stopping by,