Homegrown Wedding

Roll & Tumble Press

{Images via Roll & Tumble Press} 

Every time Christie & Caleb of Roll & Tumble Press come out with a new letterpress poster, I want it!  Each of their posters feature original, hand-carved illustrations with hand-set type & are letterpress printed by hand.  I recently purchased the Smile &  Kissing Booth prints to hang at our wedding.  We are going to have a photo booth & both of those prints will work perfectly near the booth.  There are a few blank walls that will need some filling, so I got this idea of an art gallery {of sorts} in my head.  I have so many prints, many of which are up in our house, but some lie in wait in a folder in my studio.  Most of them have to do with birds & since that is the underlying theme of our wedding, it makes sense!  So of course I am going to need the Love Nest print, & the Gig-Love poster...just because it is awesome.  

Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog

{Images by Snapshots by Clare}

Even though it is tradition for the Best Man to give the toast, I like the idea of the Maid of Honor speaking as well {provided she wants to}.  The Best Man for our wedding is one of Rich's oldest friends from High School & my Maid of Honor is my sister, Jess.  Deb, Rich's sister, is essentially the "Best Woman" so we hope all three will want to give a toast at our wedding.  My sister & her husband, Jay, had two Best Men & I was the Maid of Honor.  Each of us spoke before dinner.  I read the poem, Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog, by Taylor Mali at their wedding.  I kept my introduction brief & on the silly side {I am not one for sap}. We are a family of dog-lovers, having three different golden retrievers growing up.  My sister now has two dogs, & my parents & I each have one.  I found this poem & knew it was perfect.

Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog, by Taylor Mali

First of all, it's a big responsibility,
especially in a city like New York {note: I changed this to Portland}.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you're walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain't no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn't like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.

Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise.
It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.
It pulls you in several different directions at once,
or winds around and around you
until you're all wound up and can't move.

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.
Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.

A Wedding Candy Buffet

{Images by Snapshots By Clare}

Oh the sweetness that was Jess & Jay's candy buffet.  Jess spent months finding the perfect apothecary jars & glass vessels to hold all of the candy.  She found this article very helpful in creating her candy buffet & sourcing bulk candy.  She purchased all of the candy during the winter & early spring to avoid shipping candy in the warmer weather.  The chocolate lighthouses & chocolate covered pretzels were homemade by my sister, mom, & aunt.  Jess did the entire set-up herself the day before their wedding {like I have said before, the girl has a knack for working with all things sweet}. 

I design the candy labels to coordinate with their invitations & coasters.  We attached the labels with some cute pink & green grosgrain ribbon.  I also designed a little sign that invited people to enjoy the candy buffet.  I created a PDF template of each that is free for you to download!  Just click the links below.

- Candy Labels with Text
- Blank Candy Labels
- Candy Buffet Sign {this is 5 x 7 with crop marks to help you cut}

As you might imagine, the candy buffet was a huge hit!  By the end of the night everyone was carrying around their own pink or green takeout container filled to the brim with sweet treats. 

Ice cream! Ice cream!

  
{photo: Southern New England Weddings}

How many of you know someone whose father was an ice cream man?  A true-blue, truck-driving around the city, London Bridge is Falling Down & Pop! Goes the Weasel-playing ice cream man?  Who also served soft-serve ice cream?  They are few & far between. 

If it is not Rich or my pup I love the most, then it is ice cream.  I blame my parents because they potty trained me with ice cream sandwiches {secret's out!}.  When Rich told me that not only his father, but his uncle, & great uncle were all ice cream men, & he himself drove a novelty ice cream truck during the summers in college, you can only guess how excited I was: 

"Your father was an ice cream man?  ..... that is the BEST thing EVER!"

So, when going through our lists of "I want's" for the wedding, which are also meaningful - not just 'cause they are cool - an ice cream truck rollin' up at the reception is now on our list - specifically Rich's list {which now includes music & ice cream}.  It may not have Tastee Freeze ice cream, like Rich's father's truck, but it will have some of our favorite novelties like the Strawberry Shortcake Bar, Drumsticks, & of course, the ice cream sandwich.  A bit of Rich's history combined with our mutual love for ice cream - sounds sweet to me!