Friday, July 30, 2010

Keeping it Woodsy, No Matter What


Man, I have been the worst about keeping up with the blog posts, but I'm happy to report that this crazy-planning train in back on track, and BIG thanks too all the lovelies who've stumbled across my blog and shown a little love by way of comments or re-tweets.

This week's goal was to accomplish at least two wedding-related tasks and I'm happy to report that I actually did three. Hoping to maybe even round out a few more as soon as JCakes is off work and can meet me at Knockbox Cafe (by the way, Knockbox is Humboldt Park/Logan Square-local, wi-fi ready and has incredibly friendly people working there).

Anyways, the wedding is something like seventy days away, so no time like the present and with all the crazy that's been going on, figuring out centerpieces have sort of been wayyyy down on the priority list. Largely because I've been having some trouble figuring out how we are going to make the new wedding location fit with our theme:

Theme: Woodsy, whimsical, nature-lovin'
Old Location: Humboldt Park
New Location: Knollwood Country Club in Granger, IN.

Note: We're not hating on Knollwood. While it's true that there's nothing about me or Johnny that really screams country club; the location is great, the coordinator is very professional, the chef flexible and the space is big enough to handle our big ol' guest list.

Anyways, my aunt has been gracious enough to help out with centerpieces and lean some of her keen decor skills to our reception space, so I should probably knock something out idea-wise since we'll have to come up with enough to cover 25+ tables.

Idea #1: Manzanita branches
Originally, I had some pretty kick-ass plans involving Manzanita branches, moss, wooden boxes, fabric fall leaves and ever-popular tea-lights. Sort of like these (Photo Source: The Knot)...


...but turns out Manzanita branches are pretty pricey. Wedding idea, expensive? Go figure.

Seems a little crazy to pay that much for branches, with so many readily available and ripe for the pickup outside, so we thought about going a different route...


Idea #2: Hurricane-jar-filled with acorns + tea-lights.
Turns out, there has been a shortage of acorns for the last two years. Even if we could locate enough to fill all those jars, I couldn't bear the thought of stealing food from squirrels and the other little guys who rely on acorns as a food source.


Luckily, my friend Laura Rupp, event planner at Classic Party Rentals and all around bad-ass, found a couple cool ones and shared them with me today...

[Photo Source: Totally Tabletops/The Invisible Hostess - http://totallytabletops.blogspot.com/2009/05/thursday-thievery-jill-thomas.html]


This one I had actually started playing around with on my own. You can score a wood burning tool and the smoothed out wood slices at Jo-Ann's on the cheap (or free wood slices if you know anyone cutting down a dead tree). Alternatively, if you fear the wood burner part of this craft you can pick it up online from Etsy seller BraggingBags:

[Photo Source: Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/listing/51190049/personalized-wood-tree-slice-wedding?ref=sr_list_8&ga_search_query=wood+centerpieces&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page&order&includes]


Kinda liked the idea of poppin' a few tea lights and planting these guys around the reception space...

[Photo Source: Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/listing/52334132/19-birch-bark-tubescandle-sleevesvase?ref=sr_list_10&ga_search_query=wood+centerpieces&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=2&order&includes]


And then adding a few carved ones here and there...

[Photo Source: http://www.etsy.com/listing/51829528/set-of-3-personized-birch-bark-vases?ref=sr_list_39&ga_search_query=wood+centerpieces&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=3&order&includes%5B0%5D=tags&includes%5B1%5D=title]

What do you think? Too much wood? Is that even possible?


Thursday, July 1, 2010

100 Days Away!

Um, I haven't been a really good blogger lately, but I have been kicking ass with bartending and my daytime freelance work.

There will be more posts. I just have to get a few minutes to make it happen!