Fantastical Carnival-like Wedding. I Wish Eunice Was My Friend

Eunice and Daniel's wedding. So many lovely things about this wedding, found at Martha Stewart via Hello!Lucky , but I think this idea of having a procession/parade leading from the ceremony to the reception with the wedding guests carrying these giant shadow puppets is just a magical idea.

Other ideas that are lovely?
Parasols for the sun
Eco Confetti
Signature Cocktails (I have my own pomegranate punch that I created many years ago)
Coffee Filter Poofs and crepe paper flowers
Dessert Bar
Treats and Candies in little bags
The vaguely vintage carnival atmosphere with lots of fun things for kids or kids of all ages
Her gorgeous handmade dress
The striped sailor shirts for the waiters
Paper crowns

Lovely all around.

Casual Garden Wedding Ideas

I know I haven't posted lately. With the upheaval of nap time and the new projects and the reduced computer time and some other big stressors, I have neglected this blog sadly. The new stress is a moving plan. Nothing is one hundred percent right now, but we're pretty sure that we'll be moving to Northern California by Autumn.

So such a big shift in location has my whole brain turning around. I haven't been thinking about weddings... but I saw this wedding on Once Wed and thought I couldn't lose this bit of inspiration. I love the casual feel of this seating arrangement. The intimate party. Relaxation. String of lights. Mismatched garden furniture.
I also love this table arrangement. Mason jars and candles and herb pots and garden/wildflowers. Yeah, baby. I've actually thought about collecting mason jars and vintage jars and jelly glasses for drinking. I mean, what's more down to earth, insouciant and romantic than drinking sangria out of a mason jar? Cava out of a jelly glass?

Found via Paper n Stitch

Such pretty details found on Offbeat Bride. I love the wheat grass crates and the mason jars and the long family style tables draped with white fabric. And I would add martha stewart tissue poofs and pretty triangle banners and polka dot streamers and balloons, all in shades of rose and apricot and yellow.

uh oh.

Looks like someone's getting a little detail happy.

Must be like Coco Chanel, who said something along the lines of get yourself all dressed up and then take three things off.

I think it's a good practice in all things... fashion, decorating, makeup, scheduling, writing... do what you want, but learn to edit, and get back down to the simpler version, which might actually be truer to your vision.

Lena Corwin Wedding

I love this wedding here. It looks so laid back and casual. And yet, the style is evident. That's really what I'm looking for. Despite already having kids and having been together for about 5 years--- actually, not despite, BECAUSE of this, I want to have a wedding that really reflects us and our lives. I am too old and have already been through too much to want that princess thing, or even that "best" day of your life that is "all about you."

In this picture, I think her dress is adorable. I like that he's just in a suit that shows his character. I like the little banners fluttering in the breeze and the backyard setting.
Look here. Some rented tables and linens. A refreshment table in the background that looks like it holds a bowl of punch or sangria? I like. Fairy lights in the trees. Maybe some people think fairy lights are corny, but I don't care, I still like them. I would keep a Christmas tree up year round for the lights if they didn't drop needles everywhere and take up half the room.I like the lounge chairs here, and the blankets set out for picnic resting. There's nothing more casual than really getting close to the ground. And laying in the grass, staring at the sky and the trees waving in the breeze is one of those experiences that serves to renew me.
This is a cute idea, too... to set up a little photo shoot for everyone. Fine, it's not the tres cool photo booth, but I don't think one of those is in my budget. I like the patterned background though. And you could have different backgrounds, too. Plus, I always carry my little Casio Exilim camera with me wherever I go, so the snappity snap of a point and shoot is part of who I am. Have I mentioned that I plan to take pictures throughout my whole wedding? Bad idea? I may not want to take pictured, may be too busy, but I do love to take pictures.

Other elements that would need to be there? Things to entertain kids... I'm thinking bubbles, crayons, balloons. Some good jazz music. Easy to eat foods... I'm thinking Spanish tapas, sangria, paella.

Sometimes I don't like to talk about my wedding plans, because it's kind of far down on our list of priorities, but when we do decide on a day/place/time, I have a feeling it's going to happen pretty quickly. I'm not really interested in a long drawn out planning process. I am certainly not interested in the wedding industry. So I might as well think about it, plan it in my head, decide what I'd like, and then, all those decisions will be made when it's time to actually go about it. This isn't a situation that would work for your traditional bride, I think. But I'm not traditional, so... lucky for me.

And it's no coincidence that this wedding belongs to the super talented, uber stylish Lena Corwin. Found via Smitten, by Joanna Goddard.

Pink and Orange Celebration

How adorable is this birthday party that I found over at Inchmark? I love these colors and the polka dot theme is simple and festive. This party is for a three year old girl, but I think it could be adapted for any celebration, from a baby shower to a casual, fun wedding. Fine, a wedding might be a bit more elaborate, but it's all about the ideas.

And frankly, I think contemporary weddings are way too big and over processed. A nice little home made wedding like you might have seen a couple of centuries ago... a celebration and acknowledgment of the union of two people in a community... that's a wedding, not some princess fantasy. Okay, enough of my philosopoophizing. :)

Stop the Presses! Cake Madness!

Over a year ago, I discovered this cake made by Molly on orangette. I think it might have been the beginning of my long, slow, hidden wedding planning. Briliant, I thought. Homemade. Not fussy. Lookin' like one delicious dessert. Unique. I said to myself, "self, you could do that, and freeze it and voila." Love the idea of skipping the big weddingnessfroth cake, which often isn't that great tasting.

And I have just discovered THIS post by Faith over on Kitchn, in which she took orangette's idea of a simple almost flourless chocolate cake and took it, like 65 steps into fabulousness with this table of amazing godlike ambrosia/cakes. No seriously, are you kidding me? That looks like an old master's painting. And I think it's the same cake, tiered with a whipcream/creamcheese frosting. Plus, excuse me, what is that olive oil lemon cake thing? Holy cow. Wouldn't that go with the whole Spanish food thing, olives and lemons both being very Spanish. At least in my mind. I wouldn't do the figs and grapes, but I might do raspberries, strawberries, kumquats, even.

If Faith can do it, I think I can. But don't worry, I am not crazy enough to try to make my own ice cream.

I didn't even make the connection that this was Kitchn, which is Apartmenttherapy, which I have been in love with for years and years. You see what I'm saying about avoiding the huge wedding sites and all their madness? Who needs that tangle?

This whole wedding thing is starting to come together in my mind. Now if only I can find the place and the money to get it done. Then I can instruct S that he may initiate proceedings on the official "asking" part.

Oh well, I guess we still have to find a place to move first.

One good thing about waiting so long is that the kids are getting older and are not so high maintenance anymore. So it will be less stressful for me and S.

To top off all the cake wonderfulness, I love what this couple did with cake serving. No smooshing in the face. The couple cut the cake and then proceeded to SERVE all of their guests. To me, that is not only community oriented and DIY, but also very symbolic. Lovely touch.

Now I have to leave this party world and go back to my normal blog and do my work and clean up the house that has been torn apart by small little beings. They look like elves, but they make puddles on the floor and throw tantrums when they don't get more goldfish crackers.

Quaker Words and Paper Poofs

Interestingly, just after writing about having a friend officiate, I found this post on a backyard wedding. Not only did she have a friend officiate (they got married at city hall previously, so no worries or pressures on friend to be "legal") but she also had this beautiful, community ceremony. Out under the trees. With paper tissue poofs and pretty paper pennants, both of which I had thought of for my wedding. See. It can work!

Hmm. I think I like this idea of just writing a bunch of posts when I am researching. My mind is fresh and I am in the wedding mood, which is not actually where most of my attention goes.

Another thing I like? Never touching or looking at any of those wedding magazines that seem to multiply like big poofy tulle fungi. I swear, I start to get sick when I look through those things, and everything looks alike. I'd rather get ideas from the internet and various party hosting articles in various lifestyle magazines.

A wedding is just a party to celebrate someone's marriage. It is not an industry. Okay, well, it is. But mine won't be.

DIY Dreams

This is a lovely diy wedding, found on stylemepretty. I love the setting. If only I could find a grove of aspens. I love the informal feel of people just wandering along the path, gathering around in a meadow. Very pretty and touching. I also love that it is so family and child oriented. Games! How clever and important for a party with many children. Great idea.

And to go along with the family focus, the clothes line with all the photos. Old and new family photos. I really like that for myself, particularly since this wedding that is yet to be planned or have a date set is, in part, for our children and our families. I guess all weddings are, but our wedding would have actual little people running about, not the abstract concept of future children. And no one will then feel compelled to ask us, "so, when you having kids?" heheh.

I plan on doing a LOT of my wedding DIY. This is one of the reasons I started this to plan and research ideas and maybe even use to keep track of projects. Because I don't want to have crazy stressed out time before this wedding, whenever it happens. And that's pretty hard to do if you're DIY everything.

Witness my current plans of DIY, and my rationalization on why I can do it (or can find a family member and/or friend to do it for me.)

Invites. I am an artist and writer and setting up a whole system for printing currently.

Vows. Both S and I are poets (shhh, don't tell anyone.)

Table settings. I have read Martha Stewart for 20 years, and besides, I will simplify the whole thing because I like simple. and small. and heartfelt.

Favors. I am an artist and would probably do something to reflect that.

Flowers. I've done wedding bouquets before, and because I would go for something kind of wildflowery/handtied looking. And because my mom is a horticulturist and I could pass this off to her to do.

Music. I do not have the skills for this, but S's best friend is a musician and DJ, and my sister and her fiancee are musicians, and I would probably like an Ipod playlist, although we don't have an Ipod yet. This will take some work. I might put S in charge. He might be able to find friends to play for free, actually. Hmm.

Photography. My dad and my uncle are both professional photographers and I am an avid amateur. Would it be weird if the bride ran around snapping digital shots during the wedding?

Decor. Artist, amateur decorator, wannabe stylist and martha afficionado, that's me.

Guest book. So many options for creativity here, I can think this up. I can do most anything on paper, owing to my lifetime of arts and crafts and writing.

Hair and makeup. I would do my own hair and makeup because I like a natural look, but my sister is also a professional hair stylist and makeup artist. I'm not talking to her right now, but I have plenty of time to work on that. ;)

Officiant. My bestfriend and I both registered to be officiants at the same time. I haven't finished the process, but I think she has. And if she hasn't there's plenty of time for that.

Bar. I, S and my sister are or have been professional bartenders over the course of the past 20 or so years. I think we got this... although we wouldn't work during it, obviously. Thinking more we stock our own bar, create a specialty punch/drink, and then hire a friend to tend bar.

And my possible DIY plans

Dinner. I have dreams of having a Spanish style fiesta with Paella and tapas and simple good food that I could plan all myself with my mom... but I am not that crazy and will probably have to hire someone to do this (or whatever we plan).

Cake/cupcakes. I still think about doing this. Plain cupcakes aren't as difficult as a big white tiered wedding cake which I think is unnecessary, or I have a flourless chocolate cake recipe that can be made ahead and frozen, and served with whipped cream and icecream and berries. Yumm. I want that now.

Apps. See "Dinner." How hard would it be to set out olives and manchego and nice crusty bread? Or make some tortas and slice up some chorizo. Doesn't that sound like a good pre party snack?

Glasses This is probably dreaming, but I'd like to scour yardsales and fleamarkets or even Ikea and pick up plain glass tumblers and vintage juice glasses and use those for everything from water to wine to whiskey.

Plates and Utensils. Also probably dreaming. Same yardsale/thrifting and using mismatched vintage place settings. The biggest problem with this would be cleanup and storage.


The things I wouldn't do myself?

Dress. Seamstress, I am not, but I will get a simple, inexpensive dress and possibly add some embellishments like a ribbon or a shrug. I'm not a princess and don't want to pretend that I am.

Tables and chairs are looking pretty much NOT diy Unless we do a picnic on the beach or in a field, in which case I would like to thrift up some blankets for "seating"

Venue. I just don't know where it will be and we first have to move, which will probably define the location. And the date, actually. I could find a park somewhere, but it would take much research, especially since we still have a move to make, and that will define location. Without knowing the location, it's kind of hard to define most of the plans. Hence perhaps my longing for a grove of aspens.

Bartending This could just be self serve, but a nice touch would be someone behind a bar.

Food serving Well, there probably won't be formal servers, but someone to set things out and care for the dishes. Probably the same person as set up and clean up, actually.

Set up and Clean up the day of. I don't want to do this. But if pressed, I'll probably make my mom do this. Sorry mom. :)

Possibly day of coordinator. This is a new thought. If I do everything myself, why not hire someone to organize and set up everything for the big day so I can actually have a party rather than HOST. Seriously, I don't want to do anything the day of.

Am I crazy? Just a little? Remember also that we're talking TINY wedding here. Not big. Luckily, we have small families, spread far and many of them won't or can't travel much. It does depend on where it is, though. If we do it in NY that's a different guest list than if we do it in Florida which is a different guest list than if we do it goodness knows where we end up moving.

Thinkin' Off the Beaten Path

I found this lovely wedding on Offbeat Bride. None of the fancy stuff. Not even a party with this one, just a ceremony and what seemed to be a wandering about exotic scenery.

I don't know if this is what I would want to do, because, well, we've been together so long, and had kids and everything, I think it would be kind of important to our families to see us get married, so i don't really want to elope. I still like the ideas here. And I like the way it reminds you to think outside of the box. Strip away all the orthodoxy, the idea a "wedding", the matching candle sticks and napkins, and there you have something important to them.

So pretty.


On a side note, or really not that side-ish at all, I want to post about the cake that I have thought about for quote some time. I found this recipe for a dark chocolate, nearly flourless cake at orangette, oh, I don't know... a year ago, and thought it looked so tasty and unexpected. My first idea had been a bunch of cupcakes. Cupcakes are nice and tasty and festive without being a big crazy deal. I might still go with cupcakes, but nice to know there's an option here. I also like that you can make this gateau ahead of time and freeze it. No need for last minute stuff, if you're diy.

Shhh

Don't tell anyone. I'm starting a wedding blog.

It's just to keep track of the beautiful ideas I've been finding lately. I'm not even technically engaged... or rather, I've been "engaged" for the last five years without the slightest step towards setting a date or making any plans or wearing a ring or actually even calling myself engaged. I suppose we might be considered common law, anyway.

Things are different when you have been living together and have kids together. Especially when you aren't interested in the regular old rigamarole of conventional weddings that cost a bazilliongillion dollars. I'm sorry, even if I had the money, I don't know how I would feel RIGHT spending it all on all the little things that just don't matter.

So I'm going to start planning and sorting through the options before I even get a ring. By the way, I'm thinking of telling him to get me a nice fake. I don't want him to spend our money on a real diamond. He said it's coming, and I'm afraid he's going to waste it on that, instead of getting me a new computer set up. Shows where my priorities lie.

So here I am, starting this little secret blog. Cheap wedding. DIY. Toss out the conventions (or at least those I don't care about) Think Small. Think celebration. What makes a wedding touching for me? These are the things I will be looking at, at least until I start making my decisions on what, where, when, how. I suppose I've already got the who and why.

So in my first post, I'd like to show this wedding. A couple with kids, like me and S. A couple not interested in the fancy stuff, but a lovely, touching wedding all the same. They did it in two parts. The actual ceremony which was tiny, and a "wedding walk" the next day with a few more people. Hmmm. Ideas. And how about that kick ass photography?
And while I'm at it... a PICNIC wedding! Outstanding.