Although my family assured me that nobody would notice all my hard work and effort I didn't care! I wanted special cocktail napkins and a signature drink anyway! Personalized photos of my future hubby and I in a digital frame on the bar? Check! Wedding shoes dyed to match the exact color of my purple flower girl dresses? Check! Customized cookies shaped like wedding cakes in a special basket at the church as a favor for my third grade students attending the ceremony? Check! To me, these little details mattered. And people did notice! My students were beyond thrilled with the cookies, which made them feel special even though they could't attend the reception. My flower girls were thrilled with their special gift of American Girl Doll dresses to match their flower girl dresses! And that signature drink? A pineapple mojito perfect for summer that had my guests raving!
And I wanted everything to flow and be part of my purple and crystal theme. I quickly realized that while you can buy many things to make your special day amazing, not everything you envision is for sale... or at a reasonable price! Here's where my crafty side came into play and where I learned that I could MAKE anything I couldn't buy. Case in point: my cupcake stand. I wanted a gorgeous crystal cupcake tower that would go perfectly with my theme and really make a statement. These did exist but cost a fortune! I began brainstorming and was able to make my own cupcake tower by tying crystals purchased on a wholesale craft website onto an acrylic cupcake tower. The result was stunning!
I also created baskets to put my ceremony programs & those special cookies in at the church because I wanted them to have purple flowers. I quickly learned it truly IS all about the little details to make up the bigger picture: a beautiful wedding and reception!
Also, let me add that I learned the DIY lesson when planning my bridal shower favors as well. I loved those chocolate covered strawberries that look like a wedding gown and tuxedo but when I priced them they were ridiculously expensive. I found a YouTube video for DIY versions and the result was awesome and so much more affordable. I bagged and bowed them and included a cute thank you tag and people thought we had ordered them.
And although I got extremely sick right as the reception was starting and missed most of my own wedding party, I will always have the planning and the gorgeous pictures taken from that day. And to hear people talking about what a stunning day it was takes the sting out of missing most of it.
Take a look at the pictures below to see some of the special details from my wedding.
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| Basket I embellished to hold the cookies for my students at the church |
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| Basked I embellished to hold my wedding programs |
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| My gorgeous bouquet done by Sharon Elizabeth's |
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| With some of my third grade students |
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| A close up of the cupcake stand I made |
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| Wedding Favors: Alternating bookmarks & fridge magnets to put photo booth pictures in. I wanted useful! |
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| Escort Cards |
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| Ring Bearer Pillow: This was my idea & it turned out amazing! |
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| Tall Centerpiece |
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| Yes, I even bought a purple umbrella to match in case of rain & it did rain! |
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| Table Number Cards... I wanted them to be pretty because ugly table cards can be an eye sore on a gorgeous table! |
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| Cake Servers in keeping with the crystal theme |
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| My Sottero & Midgley Gown and dyed to match the flower girl dress shoes :) |
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| Custom tanks made getting ready fun! |
