First things first; our invitations. Never a fan of receiving a wedding invitation with 2 or 3 envelopes and more tissue paper than you know what to do with, Bubba and I decided we wanted something simple and to the point, but pretty as well. Thanks to one of the greatest sites ever created, www.etsy.com, we found VO Handmade who had the perfect design for us. With a few minor edits we were ready to roll in no time!
We decided to get a little crafty for some of our décor in order to save money, but also to put a personal touch on the day as well. Ever hear someone say, “what did you grow up in a barn?!” well, my dear husband takes no offense to that, in fact he is proud to say he basically grew up in a barn. Obviously he lived in a house, but growing up on a farm he spent a lot of time outside, and yes, in barns. (Scary, but true fact: as a boy Bubba actually fell out of the top of a barn while helping hang tobacco. Scared out of their minds, they rushed him to the hospital and he walked away only with a sore back and a bruise…lucky boy!!) ANYWAY, we decide to make several different signs out of old barn wood and our colors to place around the reception incase our guests were looking for something and weren’t sure where to go.
Another homemade touch, which I really owe all to my mother, was our card box display. She ordered a specially made chest from some Amish folks in Ohio that would double as a memory box/hope chest after it served its purpose at the wedding. Beautifully crafted, and almost reminiscent of a treasure chest, she topped it off with 2 very unique finds. During her travels to Ross, she found what she likes to call, Mr. and Mrs. Owl. With a little help from my grandfather, they were decked out in black bow-tie and pretty white veil overlooking the beautiful cards our guests brought for us.
A very personal project that I just couldn’t leave out was the inclusion a type of homage to our parents and grandparents, and their love for each other and for us. Inspired by my best friend Amanda who thought of the idea, I decided to get a photo of my parents, both sets of grandparents, and Bubba’s parents and both sets of grandparents on their wedding days. Easier said than done considering weddings weren’t as elaborate or “planned” as they are today, so finding photos of the grandparents was difficult. But we compromised and got some great pictures of them in their younger days, put them around one of our engagement photos, and picked out quotes about love that we felt described the relationship between each couple perfectly. Using my scrapbooking skills I fancied up the quotes and tied them to trimmed down old tobacco sticks that were tied together using the type of twine tobacco farmers used.
On to my next project, which I still get excited about just thinking of it. My coveted “Glittering Oyster Shell Candles”. I’m sure you’re thinking, WTF is that?! But since we were going for the whole Woodsy Bling theme, I had to include something outdoorsy that my family was known for. We had plenty of tobacco representation, and now it was time for the Morris family tradition of working the water to take center stage. Oysters are a neat creature. You can eat them, they sometimes produce pearls, and every now and then you find one that has a deep purple and black pattern on the inside. Ironic our colors were purple and black…So I decided to enhance these everyday oyster shells by adding some purple and black glitter around the inside edge and placing purple and black candles in the center of each one to give the tables to proper lighting needed.
A small, personal detail for three special men in the Hill family was somewhat of a surprise gift from me. Again, thanks to etsy.com my vision was able to become a reality. Avid rabbit hunters and beagle lovers, running dogs is a tradition in the Hill family that doesn’t seem to be dying off anytime soon. So I had three handmade felt beagles made in Lithuania no less, and incorporated into their boutonnieres.
Saving more money, and enjoying doing crafty projects, we also handmade our name cards for each guest. These name cards doubled as part of our wish tree creation we wanted to use instead of a guest book. Hole punchers, sharpie markers, ribbon and glitter paint galore, they may have been the most time consuming project, but they were certainly worth it in the end. Especially once the guests found the wish “tree” that Bubba and my dad created out of some birch tree limbs placed in a lovely and affordable large vase from Ross, fully donned with strands of purple and clear ‘crystals’ and beads.
Nothing is better than having a mother-in-law who is also an extremely talented baker. And she was kind enough to bake not only our main wedding cake, but the groom’s cake AND other additional cakes in case there wasn’t enough. Trust me, there was plenty, but as good as they all were, they didn’t last long! Our wedding cake was actually something we saw online that we felt really fit our wedding perfectly. A traditional, three-tiered cake, but with little forest details all around the edges of it. And the groom’s cake…well it pretty much “took the cake”. Sorry, I know I’m super cheesy. She was able to make a chocolate cake that looked like a tobacco bed, with specially carved little tobacco leaves and everything. She is amazing!
Our favors were very representative of us as well, with small black boxes of homemade trail mix inside and a black and white photograph taken by yours truly on the outside and small little deer trinkets on top of a pretty little marble. Different, but us to a T.
We put a lot of effort into our wedding day to make sure it represented us well, and hopefully if you were there, you will agree that you really got a feel for Bubba and Mindy throughout the day.
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