Magic and Grace

Mara Casey Photography

I'm speechless.

It's a rarity.

I can normally blog-babble for paragraphs, but I'm still so completely overwhelmed by all of the love that Adam and I received Saturday night.  It was magical.  It was graceful.  There were hearts in our eyes all night, and somehow, days later, I still have the warm-fuzzies inside.  

My goal was to have a wedding that was as environmentally friendly as possible, while staying within a  $5,000 budget.  In the end, I managed to land pretty close to that number, by spending roughly $5,600, all things considered.  Not too shabby for a wedding planner first-timer.  

Each of the following photos appear courtesy of the very talented (and highly recommended) photographer, Mara Casey.  Find Mara Casey on Facebook or at her site Mara Casey Shoots!

Instead of printing ceremony programs, I used chalkboard paint and chalk to announce the evening.  The wood was "reclaimed" from a street corner in Atwater Village where a family had left a pile in front of their house because they were remodeling their kitchen.  Thanks random family! Cost: $.50.

This is an example of one of the many ideas I stole from the internet.  A place where photos of the married couples in our families could be honored.  Folks sent me pics before the big day.  Cost: FREE!

I made the "Just Married" sign with ribbon, note cards and fabric scraps from the napkins I made. Cost: $2.00

RSVP Shoes: @$70, Zappos
I'm not gonna lie, they hurt... but they're purple!

My generous Aunt Julie baked miniature versions of her famous Sock-It-To-Me-Cake to be given to the guests as favors. Thanks, Aunt Julie! Cost: FREE/Donated.

The "Thank You" sign wood was collected from the same free pile o' wood that the "Ceremony" sign was from.  I also painted a sign that said "Wedding", "His" and "Hers".  Cost: $3.00.

The theme was Rustic. Rented ivory table cloths paired with burlap, homemade napkins and old spaghetti sauce jars filled with flowers from the Flower Mart fit the theme nicely.  I rented the tablecloths, along with the plates, chairs and glassware from AV Party Rentals.  The silverware came from IKEA ($1.00 per setting!). Cost (per setting): $7.62

Flag garlands were created with napkin fabric scraps and gingham trim that I got from my late Aunt Diane before she passed.  Rustic? Check. Affordable? Check. Green? Well, I used recycled materials and I'll reuse them for parties in the future, so, yeah.  Check.  Cost: $8.00

Our guest book: another idea shamelessly stolen from the internet.  I painted a canvas with a tree and a sky, and my guests did the rest.
Cost: $30.00

At each table, atop each napkin was a small bag of colorful candy-coated sunflower seeds with a song lyric attached to the bag.  The lyric above says "Darling, you send me.  Honest you do, honest you do, honest you do" (Sam Cooke).  Some of my favorites included "When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me" (Led Zeppelin) and "When he's gone, me and those lonesome blues collide.  The bed's too big, the frying pan's too wide." (Joni Mitchell)

My dashing groom rocking the boutonniere I made for him.
I also made his groomsmen boutonnieres as well as my bouquet and my bridesmaid bouquets.  The boutonnieres cost about $2.50 each, took about four minutes to make, and are one of my favorite pieces of the DIY portion of the evening.

The world's greatest flower girl, Hollis.

The world's greatest flower girl, Hollis, attentively watching the ceremony.  

Adam and his parents, Carol and Walt.

The bride and groom with the bride's mom, Janine, and the bride's brother, Ashton.

A pic so nice, I posted it twice.

The wedding party: Kirstin, Shelayna, Taylor, Adam, Travis and Weston.

Our first dance to Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet".

A wedding ain't a wedding 'til the guests are doing the electric slide.

Cake Cutting!  I tried to use a bevy of sparklers, which ended up being a lot more difficult and dangerous than I expected.
We decided to go with a variety of cakes, pies and tarts for dessert, rather than have one traditional wedding cake.  Our cakes came from Susie Cakes in Brentwood and our dinner was from Clementine's in Westwood.  The guests raved about both, especially the grilled steak and salads from Clementine's.  We fed 60 guests that evening and had PLENTY of food left over.  Total Cost (Dinner and Dessert) Per Person: $17.00

Popichaks, Danehys, Bradshaws, Hoffmans, Campbells, Katims, Jones' and many others danced the night away.

Thank you so much to all those who came, helped, supported, loved, hugged, danced and gave that night.  We'll never forget it!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

~ the green/green bride

September 17, 2011

Best day ever.

Mara Casey Photography

~ the green/green bride

T-Minus 6 Days

I'm not going to waste anytime apologizing for allowing this blog to fall by the wayside.  I'm getting married in six days, I don't have time for that.  I have seating charts to hover over, burlap to cut, skin to exfoliate, etc.  Instead, I'll allow a series of photos to explain where my time has been spent the last few weeks, and save the apologies for after the wedding.

There was a bridal shower... and for the record, I kicked ass at all those "how-well-do-you-know-your-fiance?" questions.

I've been making garlands and collecting photos of all of the married folks in the family for the reception.

My floor has been consistently sprinkled with paper scraps or fabric scraps... or both.

The last of the napkins are finally done! Hip-hip...

Milo hasn't been much help.

I printed our menu and placed the titles on blank greeting cards I found at JoAnn's.  I'm obsessed with these cards made by DCWV: beautifully patterned and sold with envelopes in boxes of 40 for only $9.99 - on sale now at JoAnn's for $7.99.  Cheap and recyclable.  

Curious? You'll find out post wedding.

I'm excited to be married, but I'm equally excited to get the boxes of DIY crap out of the corners every room in our apartment.  We want our house back!

Lola hasn't been much help, either.

It might take a few days post September 17th, but you can expect a gi-normous post about the big day, including financial details and behind the scenes particulars.  It'll be awesome.  Promise.
~ the green/green bride