Table linens: a trial

In my last table linen installment, I broke the amazing news that my amazing Grandma was kind enough to offer her services in creating my pintuck tablecloths!

Well, after I confirmed the dimensions of our reception tables, she whipped up a few samples and sent them to us to test out at Carlouel! They happened to arrive on a Saturday when Justin and my mom were holding a garage sale at our house. They opened up the box, and a few customers happened to notice the tablecloths. We had a few offers to purchase them right then and there! I wasn't there, but I was glad that my mom was not tempted to sell them on the spot...they ARE really pretty! I digress...

So, a few days later, my mom and I made the trek to Carlouel to test the linens out! I have to admit that I was extremely worried; what if they looked awful? What if the fabric was a terrible color in the room? Well, clearly I was crazy for worrying, because they looked absolutely fantastic!

(please ignore the wrinkles in the cloths; the linens will be steamed on the day of the wedding!)

The soft sage green of the linens blends perfectly with the wood beams, green carpet, and white stone fireplaces. They add a pop of color on the table (albeit a soft pop), and soften the ambience of the room (in comparison to all white table linens). Keep in mind with these photos that on the day of the wedding the tables will be covered first with floor length white linens, with our overlay on top (they weren't set with floor length ones on that day).

We even brought a few vases and birds along with us to test out the complete look. On the table as it is, they appear to be very small, but the reception table will be set with silverware, butter plate, napkins, and water glasses at each place setting, which will fill up a lot of the table space that is currently empty in the photos!

Putting together a sample table was such a great experience for me; for the first time I was able to visualize what our reception space would look like on the day of the wedding! Now I am even MORE excited (if that is even possible...)!

Did you set up a sample table at your venue to test out your vision?

Light it Up!

If you’re not already following along with the creation of my centerpieces…first I accumulated my vases, then I went through a trial run with the baby’s breath.

Next, I assembled a few samples!

In addition to my vase-purchasing frenzy, I also cleared TJ Maxx and Marshalls on any and all of these adorable little bird figurines. I now have a rather sizeable flock!

I wanted to create the ambiance/arrangement that we will have the evening of the wedding. Ideally, the lighting will be low and the reception tables will be illuminated with votives. Perhaps like this?

Aren’t the little birds adorable?

I plan to use one tall vase and one short vase in the arrangement. I’ll add a bird on one side, and the table number/letter on the other. Votives will be scattered around the table.

So…what do you think? Did you have an easy time turning your visions into reality for your reception tables?

Creating the Centerpieces

So, if you’ve been following along, you know that I decided on using baby’s breath for my DIY centerpieces, and that I scoured the stores to find a plethora of vintage-y vases.

Now, it is time to take them on a test run (please try to ignore my end-of-day nasty hair-do if you can)!

I purchased 3 small bunches of baby’s breath from Publix (they sell 3 bunches for $10). Each bunch included 3 stems. First, I cut the stems down (each stem has a number of smaller “branches” splitting off on each side), and then simply placed them in a vase until I achieved something that looked like this:

So simple, yet so pretty! Each vase requires an average of about 3 stems of baby’s breath. I was pleasantly surprised to see how full the vases looked with what seemed like 3 measly stems when I started!

But, we decided that we needed to make the process even easier, since we will have to assemble them ourselves on the day of the wedding. We tried out the method of securing the stems with a twist tie. Easy! We arranged the stems into a “pouf,” wrapped them with a twist tie, and then dropped them into the vase. This will work out well we hope! The plan is to assemble the poufs the night before/the morning of the wedding. We are starting to collect wine cases; each pouf (and its matching vase) will be placed in a slot for easy travel.

Source

Then, we will simply have to place each pouf into its vase when we arrive at the venue. Hopefully, this will save us time, as we won’t have to hang around the venue to assemble flowers the entire morning!

Did you take on a DIY with flowers? How did you go about transporting/arranging them on the day of the wedding?

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Vintage-y Vases

So, if you recall, I somewhat recently decided to make a switcheroo in regards to my reception flowers. Bye bye hydrangeas, hello baby’s breath!

Next up on the to-do list was to figure out what to display the beautiful poufs of baby’s breath in!

My mom and I began by scouring JoAnn Fabrics, Michaels, and the like. We saw a lot of the same thing; clear glass vases in different shapes/heights. It could work, but I wasn’t in love.

Then, we decided to try our luck elsewhere by visiting our all-time favorite stores; TJ Maxx and Marshalls. My mom mentioned that she had seen some pretty vintage-looking vases there previously. We walked down the aisles in anticipation…

And…boy was I glad we went there! Vases in various shapes, sizes, and patterns galore! And they were a very reasonable price, ranging from $3.99 for the smaller pieces to $7.99 for the larger ones! We quickly gathered every single vase we could see into the shopping cart…and then proceeded to visit every TJ Maxx and Marshalls in the Tampa/Clearwater area to clean them out!

Here is our stash…I am just loving them!

I plan to combine at least one taller vase with a shorter one, and add some “extra” items on the table (such as bird figurines, vintage books, and tea cups)…I’ll show you some of my first trials shortly! And my favorite aspect of these vases is that we will DEFINITELY re-use them after the wedding! My mom is fond of them, and they match the décor in the house…and I know that I will want to keep a handful for Justin and I to decorate our new home! Sure, there will most likely be some leftovers, but I am loving the fact that I don’t have to rent them for $15 a vase (since that is what we were previously quoted by a florist for similar containers…yikes!)!

Are you planning on DIY’ing your centerpieces? What did you do/are you planning to do with the containers after the day is done?