Adventures in Wilder Park

The beauty of getting married 10 minutes from where I work is that I can steal away on my lunch hour to complete wedding-related tasks.

Yesterday, I met with my lovely florist, Kristen from Kio Kreations, to view the ceremony site in full bloom and decide if we need to add any more arrangements. We decided that we really need nothing besides petals, and a piece of fabric for the arch. I'll explain that once we hit the right photo...

The entrance to the park, with the ceremony tent peeking out:



This looks like the same shot, but I really just walked to the other side of the garden (so the tent is at my back, and took a picture of the entrance.

The tent! Straight ahead is where we'll be standing, with chairs filling up the grassy area...

This is where we'll be standing in less than 8 weeks!

The black arch you see has been primed for clematis growth, but it doesn't look like it will fill up completely in time for the wedding, so we're going to secure green sheer fabric (that will match the sashes on the chairs) and stretch that across the top of the arch. It won't be draped, as Kristen thinks that will take away from the simplicity of the garden itself.

There will be large amounts of petals, however. They will line the aisle, outline the circle, and then fill it to create the "pillow carpet" that I had talked about previously.

Magic, I tell ya.

Oh, and the flowers planted behind the "altar" are white lilies, and there's a very good chance that they'll be in bloom just in time for the ceremony!

We'll just have to wait and see!

I absolutely LOVE this space!! Now, if only I can figure out the processional...

Some DIY Details...

So unfortunately, this is the best picture I have of our ceremony site. Once the weather warms up, I plan on taking a run over there with my florist, so I'll be able to report back with better pictures.

Until then, bear with me and use your imagination...



So the paver walkway extends past the staircase, and then splits around a small flower bed, then meets again. The path continues for a distance to the parking lot, I believe. The garden is actually tucked behind a building, so it is not visible from the parking lot.

As a dual-purpose project, I'm thinking of creating some path markers. I saw this featured on OnceWed:

Ribbon wands:

Pinwheels and ribbon wands:

Now picture these ribbon wands, with a bit thicker stem and thicker ribbons, spaced every two feet or so, lining the path to the tent. As a project that will cost less than $20, I think this is something that would make a big impact with little effort (similar to the sheer sashes being tied to the chairs!).

Ribbon is on sale at a few craft stores right now, so maybe I'll talk a gander at the selection, calculate it, and make a final decision tonight...

Ceremony Details and Whatnot...

Update: Totally bought the coat yesterday! Thanks for the advice!

So below is a picture of the setup of the ceremony site. My apologies for the pixelation and blurriness --- it was originally a small 75x75 size shot, so I enlarged it...

As you can see, this setup has an aisle runner (which we're foregoing) and subsequent petals on the aisle (which we're also thinking of nixing).

Our florist, creative genius that she is, has tons of suggestions and ideas for me! Her first thought was to line just the sides of the aisle in white petals. It's a little different than the traditional scatter, but for some reason, I'm just not in love with the idea.

Then I found this picture:

(Via StyleMePretty)

As Kristen (the florist) put it, it's like petal carpet! I just think it lends a very ethereal, romantic look to it...

Then, she had another brilliant idea: adding chair sashes to the unfortunately ugly chairs we'll be working with. Like this:

(From the archives of Kio Kreations)

Our sashes are being custom-matched to our "apple green," by the fabulous Czarina at The Chair Couture. Coincidentally, this is the same fabulous linen place I referred to for the '10 wedding plans. To cover all of our chairs, it will cost about $100! Plus, we're not even being charged for the custom color!

So, with all that in mind, does anything strike you in terms of petal decor or the arch (in the top picture)?

PS - Here's a picture of the conservatory at Wilder Park. Talk about fabulous picture opportunities!!

I'm Back! (Sorta!)

So I know I said I was taking a quick break, and I still am, sorta. Instead of taking a complete hiatus, I'll just layoff talking about some of our specific details/arrangements until everything is a bit more refocused.

Enough about that --- on to the pretty things!

How sweet is this??


(via StyleMePretty)

Plus, if you removed the ribbon, you could always use those as centerpieces at the reception. This way, you won't have to sacrifice fresh flowers for the sake of the budget! :)

DIY Craziness.

So anyone who knows me understands that DIY projects are pretty much my forte. You also know that I tend to take on huge projects, convince myself that they're super easy and inexpensive, then leave them half-finished (the plaques sitting in the computer room, Mom?).

So when I start thinking about the DIY wedding projects, my natural tendency is to go pretty crazy. And by crazy, I mean I've pondered actually doing the catering myself (and yes, I talked myself out of that pretty stinking quickly!). So here's the list of projects I'm definitely going to do myself:

• Invites
• Programs
• Favors
• Table menus
• Seating chart
• Veil
• Wreaths for the doors (Stupid project, but I'm finished already)

Here's a list of projects I'd like to do myself, but would be okay outsourcing:

• Ceremony arch/chuppah knock-off
• Misc. ceremony decor (chair/aisle decorations)
• Reception centerpieces
• Flower girl wands (the wand part, not the actual flowers...)

Hmm...I can't seem to think of any more out there. Anybody else??