DIY Wedding...elegant touches make all the difference!

I hope to finish with wedding blogs soon (well, the ones about my wedding anyway)...just a few more details!  SO much goes into the decor details of a wedding.  I didn't want anything over-the-top elaborate.  It didn't fit our taste.  Good thing, since I didn't have the budget for over-the-top!!  I knew I wanted my bouquet to be calla lilies, and that I wanted everything black and cream, with touches of bling and lots of candles for mood.  I created a sketch of a general idea of what I wanted the front of the church to look like:

I originally thought we'd do something with curly willow or manzanita branches, and what was used at the front of the church for the altar would then be moved to be centerpieces for the tables at the reception.  (we were using the same venue for both.)  For the smaller square glass vases, the idea was to fill them with cream roses.

Then, I made a million trips to Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and JoAnn's to explore items they might have.  I knew I would need to purchase some glass cylinder vases, but I also had a friend (who was incredibly organized and a tremendous help as my wedding planner) who already owned many of the glass vase cylinders and the square low vases that we would use for centerpieces for the tables.  I also did online research for the hanging votives.  There were so many great ones, but the cost began to add up.  This is the basic idea:


These were $6.99 and $4.99 each, which is pretty much an average for what you can purchase online (new)...

However, the need for a bargain drove me to explore.  Michael's was the winner in this category.  I bought "fishbowl" glassware for $.99/each. (Remember to use your store coupons for craft store purchases--they add up at Michael's as each receipt gives you a discount on your next purchase, and they regularly release coupons in the sale papers!) 

After the glass was purchased, we had to figure out how to create the hangers for them.  I married the handiest man ever, so he figured it all out and made them all--using a 16 gauge black coated wire from the automotive department at Wal-Mart.  CHEAP!  Then I bought ribbon at Hobby Lobby when it was on sale (best ribbon prices I've found when they run the 50% off sales).  These are pics of my wedding votive holders, courtesy of Amber Beckham photography:

This was the front of the church, altar decor:

We rented candelabras from this place in Nashville, along with the cake stand.  The centerpiece was made with the calla lilies that were shipped in from here.  WARNING: there was drama with this shipment.  Apparently flowers can get delayed in customs...just sitting at an airport somewhere wilting away in a box.  I got an email notification the day before I was expecting my flowers (Thursday prior to the wedding) that they were scheduled to arrive several days AFTER my wedding.  We went through hours of phone calls, speaking very calmly but sternly to people in Ecuador who couldn't understand what we were saying, and put the heat on for them to get my flowers to me!  My fiance drove to the shipping place to pick them up when they finally arrived locally on Friday.  

Since we didn't know whether these calla lilies would actually arrive, we quickly reserved some for my bouquet (so we would AT LEAST have enough for that) from Import Flowers, which is also where all of the roses (for centerpieces, corsages and bridesmaids bouquets) were ordered from, and the mini-callas to use for Jonathan's boutonniere.  We went back there to get the filler touches for the corsages and boutonnieres, as well as some of the centerpieces.  I loved Import and would highly recommend them.  The callas for my bouquet were stunning!  They also have great prices for the roses (almost the same price as Fresh Market) and the quality is great.  With Fresh Market they wouldn't guarantee the color of the roses...they might be cream, they might come in red.  Excuse me???  Ummm, no.  It's worth just a little bit more to know I'm getting the color I want.  

We did use the squares with roses for some of the tables, and the round cylinders with tall roses and curly willow for the remainder of the tables.  (We ordered curly willow online for the table centerpieces because it was much less expensive, but it came in not-so-curly...you win some, you don't win some. :)


For the front of the church we ended up deciding to go with one dramatic floral centerpiece on the table, surrounded by great mixed-height candles as opposed to a line of the centerpieces.  The tall glass cylinder was encircled with black satin ribbon and rhinestone cording from Hobby Lobby. 


We then moved that centerpiece to the food table for the reception.  (Reception food consisted of heavy hors d'oeuvres from Mad Platter catering--they were great and did the catering for the rehearsal dinner as well.)  The rehearsal dinner was hosted by Jonathan's parents, but was held at Bryan & Erika White's home in Brentwood--their back patio was covered with a white tent and we had a great time enjoying the fellowship and dinner!!  


Note:  Since we were using the same venue (major cost-cutter!) we reserved a beautiful white tent for outside the church (in case of rain) that the guests were invited to move to while the room was converted from rows of chairs and a center aisle to staggered round tables with chairs, some bistro tables, a buffet table, the cake table, and a center dance floor.  The tent had hot apple cider, coffee and water, and a great music playlist.  Guests mingled while the room was converted very (amazingly) quickly.    


We ordered all of the black table linens for the reception from this place.  Even with the shipping, it was surprisingly more cost efficient than the local options.  

Reception shots:

The cake table was placed in the center of the stage at the front of the venue where we had the altar for the ceremony.  This way, we took advantage of the hanging votives as a beautiful backdrop for the cake.

Keep in mind that candlelight is incredible for lighting on photos, and it's very budget-friendly.  When diffused in the background, it makes for gorgeous images! 

  

DIY Programs -- find a beautiful special font you love online...we did, and made our monogram from it.  The monogram was also projected onto the wall on both sides of the front of the church.  (If you have venue challenges, make it work for YOU.  One of ours was the two large white squares on the walls used for projecting the song lyrics and scriptures during the sermon on Sunday mornings.  We couldn't "hide" them, so we put our monogram up there.) 

The programs are two 8.5x11 pieces of paper, folded lengthwise.  The outside "cover" was light cardstock, and the insert was matching "regular" (but nice weight) paper.  The DIY programs were definitely the cheaper way to go, but they were fairly tedious.  We only achieved the layout we wanted by using a graphics program (Corel Draw or Gimp, but any number of programs would work).   It is better not to leave this to the last minute so you have the mental energy to make it perfect!

You want to set up the insert page to print like a book or a magazine.  You can print both sides of your paper to give yourself 4 "pages" to fill with your program details once the paper is folded.  Ours were folded lengthwise, and small black satin ribbon was tied to create the "spine" of the book and hold everything together.  A scripture was on the front with the monogram.  Page one was a welcome with the wedding date & time/location, and our names...page 2 was the order and content of the ceremony, page three the bridal party and page 4 contained the names of our vocalists, musicians, hostesses, and thank you's.  

The cake was phenomenal!!  We used a local cake baker who did weddings on the side.  I know, sounds risky...but we did a tasting with her and told her what we wanted and it was SO much more budget friendly than some of the popular places around town.  It was also DELICIOUS.  The cake flavor was butter pecan, with swiss buttercream icing.  Mmmmm!!  She took my design ideas and made it work beautifully.  We used real satin ribbon and real antique-look brooches (ordered from here for dirt cheap).  You won't BELIEVE the cost.  I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the brooches.  (Another bright side is that I get to keep them and wear them occasionally...I did for a dressy Christmas party this year.)  

For a guest book, we ordered a photo book from Apple through my iPhoto utilizing our engagement session photos (by Amber Beckham, of course!) and leaving occasional blank pages.  Our guests wrote messages to us...and we can keep it on the coffee table or on a shelf for years to come.  It worked out great!

The bridesmaid bouquets were a bunch of cream roses with black satin wrapped around.  Midway down the "stem" of each bouquet, I wanted some bling.  For the bridal bouquet, we used the rhinestone cording.  For the bridesmiads, I ran across a clearance item at JoAnn's that worked perfectly.  It was actually a decorative rhinestone strap for a dress that I found in the fabric section of the store.  Marked at around 80% off, it was a steal.   Here are some pics (all in this post are by the freakishly talented Amber Beckham):

The picture on the left above shows the monogram projected on the wall as discussed.  We had matching chest-height iron candle holders borrowed from Erika White that were on either side of the entrance to the church with H monograms on the "candles" (flameless from Hobby Lobby). 

This picture (when you click and open it) will show you some of the crystal detail in the bouquet.  There were hair "picks" from Hobby Lobby in the wedding section (bought when running the 50% off sale) and inserted in between the flowers.

I just posted this one because it's a beautiful example of Amber's detail work.  This was before the stems were cut for me to carry the bouquet.  

This one shows the detail of the dress strap used as decor around the bouquets.  There were different designs...most were rhinestone flowers as pictured above.  

For two of my sisters, I used stars.  "Superstars." You can see them in this pic:

Biggest budget advice for a DIY wedding (or any wedding) -- PRIORITIZE.  Pick the most important thing to you and your fiance that is worth spending money on...... 


In my opinion, what lasts and will be something to always remind you of the beauty of your day are the PHOTOS.  Hire a great photographer and understand the value of spending on it.  Hiring Amber Beckham was probably the best decision I made in regards to my wedding budget.  When you hire a gifted photographer who captures your wedding day and the moments between you and your friends and family in a beautiful way, you will always have those memories to display as art in your home.  Food and flowers and elaborate decorations are noticed in moment and then forgotten......


Amber featured some photos from our wedding on her blog.  Check out her post here.


Most of all, ENJOY your day and the love that it celebrates.  Weddings are about you and your spouse and the life you're building together, not an "event" that is over the next day. 

Veiled blessing...

Continuing with the bridal accessories, this is about my veil.  The veil I tried on with the dress was beautiful...very sheer and long with tiny little crystals randomly dispersed throughout that caught the light.  It was $300.  I figured that is the one I would end up getting, but I was already over budget for my bridal trousseau due to the custom alterations on my dress (beaded sleeves) that required extensive hand-detailing.  

I decided to think about it a little bit and tossed around ideas in my head.  I looked at some other stores, and looked at Textile Fabrics in Nashville to see if there was a way to make it myself.  Nothing compared to the beautiful veils that Arzelle's carries.  So I eventually determined I would have to bite the bullet, order the $300 veil and cut my budget in another area, and made my way to Arzelle's.  It was the last day of their sample sale.  I pulled into the parking lot and sat in my car and prayed.  (I'm not trying to make it all super-spiritual, but God knows what I need and what I desire, and I just took a few minutes to give thanks for everything He had provided thus far, and ask for favor.)  

I walked in and noticed the sample sale included a rack of sample veils.  I browsed through them and didn't think there was anything left that would work...then I noticed one that was wrapped up.  I spread it out to see what it was.  It was cathedral length (too long for my dress), but had the tiny crystals on it just like the other one I had tried on.  It also had some beautiful hand-stitched embroidery along the bottom edge.  The comb was gorgeous--it was a metal comb with crystals on it.  The original price?  $700.  Sale price for the sample?  $50.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Unfortunately, it also had (on closer inspection) many tears and holes in the delicate material, and was especially bad around the bottom.  I was standing there wondering if it was beyond hope when I spoke to Bonnie (Arzelle's owner) about whether she thought it could be repaired.  She said she didn't realize there was that much damage to it and she wouldn't have had it on the floor if she had known.  As I contemplated it and she reviewed the damage, she said "Just take it.  You might be able to fix it, you might not, but I can't charge $50 for something that damaged.  If you can't fix it come back and order the other one."  She stuffed it in a bag and I was out the door and to my car, where I immediately broke down and cried.  The blessing was UNREAL.  She had no idea how much I needed a financial miracle for a beautiful veil, but God did and used her to provide it.  And provide He did!!  A $700 veil for FREE?!?

Practical moral of the story for brides on a tight budget?  LOOK THROUGH SAMPLE SALES and explore.  You never know what you'll find!!  

How did my veil end up?  Well, my friend (who is also my pastor's wife) was SO excited about how God had provided the veil that she wanted to gift me with the alterations as my wedding gift.  She referred me to an amazing seamstress.  Lynn Headley took a look and got to work.  The end result was unbelievably gorgeous.  She took the length that I didn't need off, and cut around all of the embroidery detail, then reattached the embroidery by hand to the "new" bottom of the veil.  There was one tear that was in the middle of the veil that she had to repair by hand and the stitching for the repair was visible to me because I knew, but if you didn't know it was there it wasn't obvious.  Her work was stellar!!  

The veil was more than what I had dreamed to have and was a perfect compliment to my dress. 

 (p.s Arzelle's also has a blog.  It's full of delicious photos and fashion ideas--not just bridal!  I'd say they are the best bridal shop in Nashville, and I would highly recommend it.)  

Photos courtesy of Amber Beckham Photography

Something old, something new...

We've already established I didn't have a something blue.  But my something old was a pair of earrings I've had for years.

I bought these earrings a long time ago, and they were just what I needed (a little big) since I elected not to wear a necklace, and stick with the bling on me as opposed to pearls.

My earrings next to the bracelets I wore are pictured here.
I got the bracelets for next to nothing a month before the wedding.

To blue or not to blue...and bling instead!?

Bridal accessories...

I've seen SO many beautiful ones!  There are so many options: wearing a necklace or not, wearing pearls or diamonds, wearing a bracelet or not, tiny delicate earrings or not, any kind of hair accessory or plain?  

I wasn't totally conventional and I admit I didn't have a something blue...or something borrowed, for that matter.  For this blog I'm going to focus on fabulous heels.  I wanted blue shoes--I'm talking bold blue with bling.

Something like this:

The dreamy Manolo's featured in Sex and the City Movie...

Or these lighter blue Manolo's...

I thought about creating my own bling for a shoe.  Maybe getting a glittery or blue shoe and doing crystals and perhaps even peacock feathers on it.  Here's an image of a similar idea but it's not quite "there" yet:

I also fell in like with ruffles and other dramatic elements of heels:

I got over the blue shoe idea (because A. the affordable versions were not as delicious as the very expensive ones, and B. I decided going with bling fit my wedding vibe better.  Also--remember this girl is on a DIY tight budget!).  Then I tried on a pair of Betsey Johnson heels at her store in Green Hills Mall.  She has a line of shoes that are made by a ballroom dance shoe company (something like that).  They were glittery fabulous and were actually completely comfortable.  They were also $225.00.  *sigh* 

So, I left without buying them but knew I'd likely be back.  On a whim, I looked on the internet......

Thanks to Overstock.com, I bought the SAME Betsey Johnson "Glitter Polly" shoe, brand new for $89.00, with FREE shipping.  

LOVE it.  

For those of you not into the silver, they also make them in white (great for bridal) and other colors:

On that same trip at Betsey Johnson, I tried on the Starburst Upper design (also $225.00) but all they had in store was turquoise.  I was walking through TJ Maxx at 100 Oaks in Nashville one day (after one of my MANY trips to Michael's for various wedding DIY supplies) and couldn't believe my eyes.  For $69.00 in black--the Starburst Upper.  I wore these heels for my bridal shower and my rehearsal dinner (they're much prettier and more sparkly in person than what they photograph):

I love pretty, sparkly heels...and anything with interesting design details.  

Here are my shoes on the wedding day:

Photo by Amber Beckham Photography

Bridesmaid fashion...it's all in the details!

I wanted the bridesmaids in black...and I wanted them to feel comfortable in a style that fit each of their personalities.  So I decided to go with David's Bridal separates & dresses.  Each gorgeous woman could pick their own look and style, all in black satin.  Since they aren't in matching dresses, that's already got some original flair, but I wanted to take it a step further.  Martha Stewart Weddings issue from Summer 2009 featured patterns for creating dahlia,  peony, and rose templates.  I went to Hobby Lobby and bought different fabrics (I wanted textures that were different--some stiff, some more delicate) and some feathers, and took the templates and supplies to my super-creative seamstress friend.  She created AMAZING fabric flowers that were perfect.  The ladies wore different flowers...some small, some large...some in their hair, some on their dress.  


Martha Stewart magazine pic:

Same template, on my matron of honor 

(all photos by SUPER talented Amber Beckham Photography):

In my sister's hair...

Pinned to the waist of one of the dresses...

This one was used as a hair pin.  

It was made from a sheer fabric and feathers with a rhinestone clip in the center...

The bridesmaids together...

We used small ones in the flower girl's hair...

 Lovely friends!  For my attendants and honorary bridesmaids, I chose jewelry as their gift and bought items specific to their personalities and their dresses.  It was so fun! 

My gorgeous sisters and honorary bridesmaids!!  

 Each woman also picked her own style of shoe:

I love heels and bling! 

Say YES to the dress... (I GOT MARRIED!!!)

The most incredible and exciting event of 2009 was MY WEDDING!!!!!!  I can't believe I met THE man who is literally the answer to every prayer I've ever prayed and all of the ones I couldn't even verbalize.  Jonathan Hunkin is the perfect man for me and is the love of my life.  He loves the Lord, is strong, secure in who he is, adventurous and funny, and the way he loves me still blows me away. Even right now, I'm listening to him sit at his keyboard playing worship songs and hymns while he sings and it makes my heart SO happy! 


But this is a blog about style (! :-)), so I wanted to start blogging about some of the style elements of my wedding.  Although I did book some style/make-up jobs last year, most of my summer and fall was consumed with decisions that would make my wedding day exactly as I dreamed it would be!  I was very hands-on in the design process...out of necessity and budgetary concerns, but also because I wanted to be.  I love all of the elements of wedding planning (MINUS the stress!) so I had fun with it.  I knew I wanted black bridesmaid dresses, bling, and calla lilies...and a beautifully elegant (but definitely not over-the-top or fussy!) dress for me!!!  There will be several blogs about my wedding design, so I will start with my very own SAY YES TO THE DRESS moment.  


Every wedding magazine and planner (and episode of TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress") will tell you the dress sets the tone for the entire event.  I knew I didn't want a prolonged search, but you hear so many stories of months of searching and hundreds of dresses.  I really hoped my dress search would not be drawn out or include travel to other cities.  I also knew I was on a tighter time frame.  Most people have a year to plan a wedding (at least)...and Jonathan knew and told me he wanted to marry me in early summer and we picked November 7th as our wedding date.  I had a relatively short amount of time to plan, but it was an adventure and I knew we didn't "need" that much time to plan!  We were more focused on preparing for marriage, not a wedding day. 


One summer Saturday I decided to just at least go look with a couple of friends...just "see" what's out there but insisted I was not going to try anything on--just look.  The first place we went was a stuffy and impersonal boutique in Green Hills.  I won't name them, but it wasn't anywhere I'd recommend...not welcoming or helpful, and the selection wasn't "wow."  


Next, we went to Arzelle's on West End.  I had been there as a little girl when my aunt Lisa got married.  Of course, my friends found a couple of dresses for me to try on...and I agreed.  I didn't have any real set ideas of what I wanted but I knew what I didn't like.  I had seen a Badgley Mischka bridal gown that I LOVED but it was $5,000.  TOTALLY unnecessary to spend that kind of money on a dress, and way outside my budget.  This is that dreamy dress:

I tried a few and wasn't feeling it...until the last one.  I loved it, but when Bonnie (owner of Arzelle's & fabulous seamstress) told me she could create custom beaded sleeves to resemble my dreamy dress, I was SOLD and placed my order!  I admit it, tears filled my eyes, and my sweet friends were crying.  Here's a couple of pictures from my fitting (Bonnie is holding up scrap material to get an idea of what we wanted to create):

I love my dress...and this is the finished product:  

click on the image to enlarge...

Photos courtesy of Amber Beckham Photography, used by permission. 

Next blog will be about the shoes, veil and jewelry...all miracle blessings for a girl on a DIY wedding budget!!