Homegrown Wedding

Paper Details

Hello!  Today I am sharing more paper details from our wedding on my studio blog.  Last week completely escaped me, but this week = photos!  Promise.

{Image by Fat Orange Cat Studio}

16 more days + Dessert!

{Photo by emilie inc. with desserts by Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott}

I am not sure how this happened, but....16 more days!?!  Wow.  I have a lot to do....You would think with almost 2 years to plan I should be relaxing in the sunshine just waiting for the time to come.  But that is not my style.  Today I am finalizing lists:  guest list, dinner list, dessert list, etc.  I am going to try to post something everyday until the big day, revealing tiny little details as I go!  Today....dessert!

My sister Jessica of Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott is baking all of our desserts & designing our dessert table.  Our desserts will include:

- Croquembouche - a nod to our French heritage & our engagement in Paris
- Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting - this is the groom's cake
- Spiced Orange Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting - the cake we cut
- Mini cupcakes which include:
    - Spice Orange Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
    - Lemon-Raspberry Swirl with Lemon Buttercream
    - Fleur de Sel with Chocolate Ganache
    - Coconut with Coconut Buttercream
- Pizzels & Italian Anise Cookies - a nod to Rich's Italian heritage
- Janet's Famous Toffee - my mom makes the best toffee.  Ever!
- Nutella Cheesecake Brownies - because they are delicious & I have a mild obsession with Nutella
- Classic Maine Whoopie Pies - because we are in Maine on a Farm, of course!
- Sugar Cookies - because they are cookies & delicious

So, as you can see we {er, mostly me...} are a bit dessert obsessed.  Our dessert table is going to be bigger than our dinner buffet, I am fairly certain of it.  Not only do we love dessert, but we are not having a specific favor, so I purchased a lot of kraft boxes so our guests will be able to take desserts home with them at the end of the evening {hence desserts that travel well like cookies, brownies, whoopie pies, & toffee}.

Decor Inspiration

 {Images via Merci New York}

Recently I have been feeling really overwhelmed with too many inspiring ideas, but no decisions on what I truly want to do for certain aspects of our wedding reception decor.  This, along with what to use to decorate the ceiling, are my last two big decisions & I could not make them! 

I stopped looking at photos & put that decision on the back burner, choosing to {finally!} focus on our wedding invitations.  After I pushed through the design decisions, our invitations are currently in the hands of my very talented future-sister-in-law, Deb, who is working on various custom illustrations.  Phew!  Let's give that task a semi-check mark.

Back to the reception decor.  Whilst perusing Merci New York I came across the New York Magazine Weddings Event recap & saw these two photos & was like, "That's it!  I'm done.  There it is!"  The top photo's tablescape was done by Hatch Creative Studio & was just the inspiration I needed for our escort card display/table.  The bottom photos's display was by Jillian Events & Lovely Bridal.   So gorgeous!  It got my wheels turning for the dessert table display as well! 

To see more of the New York Magazine Weddings Event, check out Sofia Negron's extensive post with tons of photos!

Festive DIY Garland

{Image via the Purl Bee}

The Purl Bee dubs this the New Year's Garland, but I like to call it the festive-fun-party-time garland.  The combination of bright colors, felt, & circles caught my eye immediately.  Thetutorial is super simple & it would easy to mix in a few different shapes, say a flower.  Wool felt comes in an array of colors so the garland could easily match any wedding or event color palette.  The Purl Bee is a great resource & Giant Dwarf's Fancy Felt is so pretty!

Doily Table Runner

{Image by Ashley Ann Photography via The Sweetest Occasion}

How gorgeous is the DIY table runner made with vintage doilies?  You may check out the complete tutorial here {super easy & it involvs thrift shopping, fun!}.  We are going to have cream tablecloths, with a burlap square on top, but I am thinking I would like to add another layer over the burlap & this runner would be perfect.  One more thing to add to my ever-growing list of things to look for while searching the thrift shops/flea/ebay/craigslist/our parent's houses...!

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.  

Ribbon Walls

{Images: top by Amy Squires via My Sweet & Saucy; bottom via Once Wed}

I am loving the walls of ribbon in these photos.  This may be my answer to an easy to move, set-up, & take down display.  I would need to build a simple frame that could stand by itself, that is slightly longer than the table, & I could easily hang ribbons from.  Perhaps this is how I will incorporate some birch bark details.  How cute are the couples' names hanging in front of the wall too?  Such a great detail.

Displays + Backdrops

{Images via Carter & Cook Event Co.}
  
There are two things I have on my brain with regards to our wedding {well two out of hundred or so...}: The escort card display & the dessert table backdrop.  Our reception venue is just waiting to be customized.  It has a soft, neutral color palette with little, to no decor so I cannot wait to make it "us."  However, to make it "us" is going to require some work & a few props {so happy Rich, my father, & brother-in-law are all very handy men}.  These props are going to have to travel well, be quick to put up, & even quicker to take down  because we have to have everything out right after our reception. 

In these two photos I love the re-use of old household items - doors & shutters.  The doors may present a challenge, but the shutters are small & easy to take down.  I also like the candles & up-lighting, which may be necessary as we are told it can get quite dark in the room {third thing on my brain - what to hang from ceiling that is not a lantern but still has lights...that is a later post}.   Well, at least I know the desserts that are going on the actual table.  That is a start!

Menu Planning = Tasty!

Last we left off on the menu planning, I was a bit scared!  This was due to our pescatarian diet & the fear that people may not accept our meat-free menu.  However...we had our tasting on Friday & it was approved by my mom, dad, & sister.  Yay!  It was so delicious!  Looking at these photos makes me wish I had that cheese platter in front of me right about now.  So here is the breakdown as it stands:

Hors d’oeuvres
Pineland Farms Creamery Cheese {yes, our wedding location makes their own!}
Chicken kabobs with peanut dipping sauce
Crab meat & risotto-stuffed mushrooms

Main Course
Clam chowder
Mini Barbeque Tempeh Sandwiches
Butternut squash ravioli with grilled asparagus in an asiago & sun-dried tomato cream sauce
Baked haddock {traditional New England-style, lightly breaded with butter & lemon}
Vegetable Ratatouille {our vegan option}
Spinach & roasted garlic risotto {this was one of the best risottos I have ever had & it was vegan}
Pull-Apart Cheesy Onion Bread

Late-Night
French fries with horseradish, caper, & aioli mayo

Dessert
Croquembouche, cupcakes, & desserts galore by my sister, Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott.   

We are really happy to have seriously yummy pescatarian, vegetarian, & vegan options that will most certainly please the meat-loving palates! 

Find Your Seat

 
{Images by Orchard Cove Photography via Ruffled}

Once we decided on using record album covers as our table numbers, I began to wonder how we would convey this simply & creatively on the escort cards.  We could just write the name of the album along with the guests' names, but some albums may be less obvious than others.  We will be selecting albums that are familiar to {most} guests & trying to sit guests at an album they will recognize {aunts at Johnny Cash, cousins at Michael Jackson, friends at Bob Marley, & so on...}.  But then I saw these perfectly perfect escort cards today & I think this is it!  I love tags & twine!  Combined with photos of the album covers & pretty calligraphy, guests will surely find their way to their tables.