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The joining of two flames

December 6th, 2009

Gt and I wanted to incorporate an unity candle ceremony within our wedding as a symbol of love and union. For those who never witnessed a unity candle ceremony, here is a brief description. In the ceremony, close family members (for our wedding, it was GT’s and my mother) will light two taper candles, which represents the bride and groom as individuals. The couple will then each take a taper candle and light the larger candle together to symbolize the love and loyalty to one another created by the union of two hearts. The gesture of this ceremony is very sweet.

Our Unity Candle Ceremony

Our Unity Candle Ceremony

After a bit of shopping around, we realized that these candles were quite an expense for such a short ceremony. Also the majority of candle sets out there were white or ivory. I really wanted a unity candle that matched our color theme and flowers, which was green. So, I decided that I’ll just put together our own set. At the time (about February or March) Crate and Barrel was having a clearance of all their holiday goodies. On the website, I was able to find the tall center candle, which has a texture etched into the pillar with some glitter.

Flicker Pillar Candle from Crate and Barrel

Flicker Pillar Candle from Crate and Barrel

The rest of the supplies (plain ivory taper candles and glass candle holders) I bought from Michael’s. (Tip: most bridal magazines have a 20% off coupon for Michaels with their advertisement). I decorated the candles by tying some bows with ribbon on each. Unfortunately, I don’t have a photograph of the candle set close up. I spent about $15 for everything including the ribbon, which I also used for other things.

In addition, we had bought a few more of the green pillars in different sizes to put on the place-card table. After the ceremony, the unity candle was moved to the place-card table along with the other pillars. It was to reflect the light of love that will continue to glow throughout our lives.

At the place card table

At the place card table

Are you thinking about having an unity candle ceremony? Or if you’re married, did you have one?

by Mel | posted in Budget, Ceremony | 1 Comment »

I’m an avid collector of wedding programs.  And I’m anal about them.  So many couples just do a folded sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper (A4), but I’m a unique sort of person and love programs that think outside the square.

Since I collect wedding programs, I used what I had as a starting point for inspiration.  Then I took to looking online (there are some amazing program designs on Flickr).

The problem with programs is that often the program isn’t completely finalized until a week before the wedding.  If you want to DIY your programs, try and do as much as you can before the ceremony is finalized (e.g., cover page), or you know, be organized and have your ceremony set in stone three weeks before your big day!

When creating programs, I aim to make them as easy to assemble as possible.  Easy, for me, means no ribbon, embossing, or fiddly cutting.  Sometimes though, it’s inevitable.  Here’s some examples of programs I’ve DIY’d over the last few years:

Jenn's Programs

1) Jenn's Programs

2) Steph's programs

2) Steph's programs

3) My Programs

3) My Programs

Inside program

Inside program

Jen's Programs

4) Jen's Programs

Of these, the simplest to put together was #1.  I printed directly onto off-white cardstock for the cover (2 on each 8 1/2 x 11 page), and white cardstock for the inside page.  The pages were cut to size with a paper trimmer, folded, and stapled once with a booklet stapler.  The finished size is 4 1/4 x 4 1/4.

#2 replicated the style of Steph’s wedding invitation.  In this one, I used blue carstock for the cover, attached the ribbon with tape, and covered it with a square of printed linen paper.  To save money, the inside was printed in black and white on linen paper.  The finished size is 4 x 4.

My programs (#3) were fairly simple to put together.  I cut the brown paper a few weeks before the wedding, attaching the photo and band in the same way as my invitations.  I used chunky Fastenater staples in lime green (almost impossible to find!), but then found that they wouldn’t go through all the sheets of paper. In the end, I faked it.  I stapled the front cover only, then used regular staples to staple the back section, then taped the two sections together with double sided tape.  No one noticed :-) .  I didn’t want to use regular wedding terms, so wrote “who’s who” (instead of participants/bridal party/helpers) and “amazing friends” (instead of “thank you”).  I printed the pages on 11 x 17 sheets of metallic champaign colored paper (I think I got 3 to a page). We included engagement pictures of us on some of the pages, and the metallic paper made the images really pop!  We had 100 guests, so I made about 75 programs.

Jen’s programs (#4) were a little last minute.  She already had some marquee cut cardstock (white) that she wanted me to use for them.  I used the cardstock for the back cover and printed the program onto leftover linen paper from Steph’s programs!  I used a small hole punch to make the holes for the ribbon, which I tied into a knot.

Later this week, I’ll share with you some programs that I’ve receieved (and love!).  I’d love to see some of your favorites!

by auschick | posted in Ceremony, Design Ideas | 1 Comment »

In the last three weeks, I have been a guest at three different weddings (today being the third).  Each wedding has been quite different from each other, and with a completely different circle of friends.  Two of the weddings have had outdoor ceremonies, and if there’s one thing that I’ve learned from these, it’s this:

Grass + Stilettos = bad idea

I’d never really considered grass + stilettos as a problem, since the only other outdoor weddings I’d been to had me in flip flops for one, and wide heels in the other.

Jen & Ka-Wah's outdoor wedding

Jen & Ka-Wah's outdoor wedding

When my brother in law (Ka-Wah) and sister in law (Jen) got married a couple of weeks ago,  most of the bridesmaids and me were all wearing stilettos (or similar).  It had recently rained, so the soil was even more soggy than ever, and every time we stepped, our shoes got stuck in the ground.  We had to try and walk on our toes, putting no weight on our heels, but with the sloped hill, this was a little tricky.

I think I suggested putting some kind of platform down where all the bridesmaids would be standing so that they didn’t sink.  Someone found some square sheets of Styrofoam and put those down where the bridesmaids were to stand, and then put a white aisle runner (pictured above) over the whole thing.  If you’re familiar with Styrofoam, you may realize that it’s not all that strong, and breaks easily.  And when it breaks, it makes noise.

During the whole ceremony, the guests continually heard this random, loud popcorn popping sound (followed by bridesmaids and bride giggling).  This usually happened at the most inopportune times – like during the vows.

So, how do you have an outdoor ceremony without this shoe sinking issue? Well, you have a couple of options.  1. You can wear flats; 2. You can wear shoes with a wider heel; or 3. You can wear a Sole Mates High Heeler on your shoes!  These little puppies fit right over your stiletto heel, increasing its width so you’re less likely aerate the whole lawn (and potentially have a dangerous tripping accident). Now, I do have to say that I’ve not *actually* worn any of these myself, but I’m planning on buying some very soon.  Have you tried them yet?

Sole Mates High Heeler

Sole Mates High Heeler

by auschick | posted in Accessories, Ceremony, Wedding Watching | 3 Comments »

With Spring well upon us, I can’t help but notice the sudden burst of color with flowers blooming everywhere.  I love love LOVE flowers and experimenting with arrangements – I like to try pairing unexpected varieties and colors to make a statement.  Like everything else about your wedding, the flowers you choose for your bouquet reflect you and your personality.

There are a few points to consider before deciding on your flowers: Will you make you decision based on the flower variety or colors? How many colors/types of flowers will be in the bouquet? Which season will you get married in?  What shape do you envision your bouquet will be? Also, remember – flowers can be one of the priciest parts of a wedding, depending on the time of year and how exotic your tastes are.

When my younger sister got married, I picked out all of the flowers and was most in love with the bouquets.  She was married in our family church, a beautiful building made of stone and with stunning stained glass windows – the venue was already fairly grand.  It was a winter wedding (December 1, 2007) and the season played a big part in her (well, my) choices.  She’s not a fussy person and I knew she didn’t want anything overly complicated, so I erred on the side of simplicity and chose for her bouquet white lilies, white freesia, white (with a greenish hue) hydrangea, cream and white roses and green hypericum berries.

My sister's wedding bouquet

My sister's wedding bouquet

Despite the relatively monochromatic color scheme, there was a lot of variation among the different shades of white, cream and green.  Also, my sister’s dress was not stark white – she walked down the aisle in an ivory gown with champagne detailing, so all of the colors worked very well together.

The bridesmaids bouquets were a great contrast to the bridal bouquet.  For those, I chose red roses, white freesia and green hypericum berries – they echoed my sister’s flowers, but didn’t overshadow them.

Bridesmiad Bouquets

Bridesmaid Bouquets

I think my favorite element of all the bouquets were the hypericum berries.  They’re incredibly versatile and come in a variety of colors, including green, red, orange and yellow – they will definitely add an unexpected element to any arrangement.  I see them as fitting better into Fall/Winter weddings, but I would like to see them incorporated into Spring/Summer events.

What flowers would you put in a bouquet? Do you have any photos to share of arrangements you love? What non-traditional element(s) would you add to your bouquet?

by Anna G | posted in Ceremony, General Planning, Miscellaneous | 2 Comments »