Autumn DIY Wedding at Dutchess Golf and Country Club: Jessica & Christopher
- Parent Category: Wedding Planning 101 09 May 2013
- Published on 09 May 2013
- Jessica Carulli
Christopher and I got married on September 14, 2012.
We got engaged in Walt Disney World. I had no idea he was going to propose. We started planning right away. I knew I wanted a fall wedding; I absolutely love when the leaves change color. As the planning began I started coming up with all of these ideas on my own and a whole rustic fall theme came out of it.
I did a lot of the work on my own; as my mom would say the wedding was all DIY. People say that no one notices all of the little details, but if you do them right, I think they will always be remembered.
Ceremony - Our Lady of the Lake in Carmel, NY
The ceremony was at Our Lady of the Lake in Carmel NY and the reception was at Dutchess Golf and Country Club in Poughkeepsie, NY. Our church matched the reception perfectly, with all stone and wood beams.
Reception – Dutchess Golf and Country Club in Poughkeepsie, NY
It had a beautiful stone fire place and wood beams along the ceiling that gave the room the warm cozy feeling I wanted. They also offered the options of a stations dinner. We just wanted everyone to have a good time and enjoy themselves instead of having many stops throughout the night.
The Details
To start, I made our invitations. I ordered 8 ½” x 11” copper metallic paper, bronze paper, bronze envelopes and 6 yards of burlap. I searched everywhere for the right paper to print on to give the antique look that I wanted, and settled on mulberry paper. First I cut down the copper paper and folded it into a card. Next was to cut down the bronze paper to form the back square and then cut down the mulberry paper we printed on. I used double sided tape to attach it to the bronze paper and adhesive squares to then attach it to the inside of the bronze card. I then ironed and cut down the burlap and wrapped it around the card to form a pocket on the inside for the direction cards. We made RSVP postcards. I hot glued the burlap and brown ribbon to the card, addressed all of the envelopes with a gold paint pen and sealed it with gold wax.
I came up with an idea to collect guests wedding pictures and use them to create their place cards. The place cards also acted as the paper for the guests to write any wishes or advice for the bride and groom and hang on our wishing tree.
For the table numbers I stamped wooden blocks with the word table and the number. These were hung from the place cards for guests to take. The place cards were put into cork holders that we made. We also made the wishing tree from Manzanita branches that I ordered online from Blooms and Branches and we put it together in a vase with foam and moss.
Manzanita Centerpieces
We also made all of our centerpieces out of Manzanita branches we ordered online. Half of the tables had candle centerpieces that my mother made and the other half had branch centerpieces that me and Christopher made.
We put them in a vase that we spray painted gold and attached burlap lace and twine to match the candle centerpieces. We added a few little flowers to the branches and we were good to go! My mother decorated the candles with burlap lace and twine. They were displayed on tree stumps that my father cut for us and we added dry flowers on twigs to the display.
Autumn Inspired Wedding Cake – Pastry Garden
Our awesome fall cake was on a cake stand that my brother-in-law made for us out of a tree stump that he varnished to bring out the grain. It went perfectly with our rustic fall theme! The cake was vanilla with tiramisu mousse and chocolate mousse filling.
Bridesmaids in Autumn’s Splendor
As I said, I LOVE fall colors and when the leaves change color. We had to get an earlier date then we wanted in the fall but I still had all my fall colors with my bridesmaid’s dresses. I had four different colors. Aubergine, cinnamon, avocado and burgundy.
More DIY Wedding Touches
My sister made this Happily Ever After sign.
For the church I made ribbon wands instead of using bubbles. I used the four colors of my bridesmaid’s dresses in varying widths for the ribbon glued ribbon to wooden dowels with a little bell on top.
We hung a decorated grapevine ball on every other pew of the church. I made the ball by pulling apart a grapevine wreath and gluing it to form a ball. My mother-in-law helped to decorate with flowers and raffia.
On the other pews we hung pictures of me and Christopher progressing in age from when we were babies as they ascending to the altar, where would we would meet and become husband and wife and start our own family together. It was a very nice and personal touch that everyone loved.
I made our programs as scrolls. I printed them out on linen paper and glued sticks from outside to them to add to our rustic homemade feel.
Outside of the church we had a sign that said, “As two families become one we ask you find a seat not a side.” We really wanted everyone to just come together, have a good time and share all the love!
My sister made our boutonnieres out of beer hops and wheat stalks tied with twine around burlap. Christopher and I definitely enjoy our good beers and these rustic homemade boutonnieres were perfect.
We made half of our favors, well my sister did! Half were corkscrews and the other half were bottles of flavored olive oil that my sister made. I stamped thank you tags to hang from them.
We were able to pick a signature drink at our wedding. We went with a strawberry julep (we named it the Straw-Marry Me Julep). I bought mason jars and tied twine around them for them to be served in. They were a huge hit!
Photographer – Majestic Studios
We had amazing photographers for our wedding! Mark and Kat from Majestic Studios in Hopewell Junction, NY were awesome and so easy to work with! They were always quick with all communication and super quick to get us our photos by the time we got back from the honeymoon along with our initial album design!
Dress and Shoes were Allure and Town Shop in Poughkeepsie NY
Hair – Salon Uccelli, Mahopac NY
Classic Wedding Themes for Every Season
- Parent Category: Wedding Planning 101 18 April 2013
- Published on 18 April 2013
- Sofia Angeli
They say that June is the month for weddings. But if you think outside the box, even for just a bit, you’ll know that you can have a lovely wedding any time of the year.
Winter, spring, summer or fall – you can have the most beautiful wedding of all. Think of the different colours and scenes every season brings and grab your inspiration from them. To help you start on your wedding theme, here are classic celebration ideas for the whole year.
Winter
Although the weather is chilly, this time of the year seems to bring a lot of laughter and love to most people. Why not have a winter wonderland wedding?
Take your cue from the magnificent white that covers the whole world outside your window and add some ice blue and silver to it. You can re-create the snow and sky scenery of the season like this:
• Glittery paper snowflakes and white lights from the ceiling.
• Tables covered with white cloth and centrepieces featuring white candles and
Christmas balls or decorative jewels in ice blue.
• Silverware acts as the additional color accents.
Surprise guests with a comfort food item or two, such as macaroni and cheese served in little cups. Warm apple cider or spiced cranberry drink with a cinnamon stick stirrer will also be a delight.
Before they leave, give each guest a mug with a packet or two of hot cocoa (with mini marshmallows, if you wish). For your entourage, shawls and scarves for women and men, respectively, would be perfect for the season.
Spring
Springtime. The word alone makes you think of clear skies, blooms and gardens. So why not have a garden wedding?
If you’re not confident enough that you’ll be blessed with a day with no rain, hold it in a restaurant or function hall that you can dress up like a garden. Here are some decor suggestions:
• Oriental-inspired ambience with cherry blossoms here and there and paper lanterns
hanging from the ceiling.
• An English garden with a trellis at the entrance and roses all around.
• A world of colourful blooms including daisies, peonies and tulips.
Ask your caterer for chicken or fish with herbs or a similar dish that reminds you of spring, instead of the heavier fares served in weddings like roast beef or lamb. It would also be fantastic to have a bar displaying drinks like margaritas and martinis flavored with fruits.
Send each of your guests home with a small bottle of jam with your monogram as the label. You can also let them get those sweet souvenirs from a wooden fruit stand replica.
Summer
Since you usually have long days in the summer, consider having an afternoon wedding, obviously less formal than an evening celebration. Base your color motif and decoration on the citrus fruits found at this time of the year. Focus on lime green, orange, lemon yellow and red watermelon, for instance.
• Instead of using all flowers in your decor and even in your bouquet, substitute
some or most of it with the colorful citrus fruits.
• If you’re having a casual reception, dress up the venue picnic-style with gingham
table cloths and sunflowers.
Fresh food is perfect for a summer celebration – fruits like berries, citruses and melons and vegetables like corn and salad greens. Fresh seafood like oysters and shrimps will make an awesome feast. Granitas, fruit shakes and mojitos are some of the drinks you’d want to serve.
As your guests arrive, give them anything that will keep them cooler in the summer like sunglasses, colorful parasols, flip-flops, fans and so on. They can double as favours.
Fall
Fall should also be a favorite season for weddings, particularly due to the rich, romantic colours that nature provides at this time. Imagine having your photos taken with the beautiful hues of this season in the background. Look for a great outdoor location, like any of the following:
• A rustic chapel with a courtyard.
• An old farmhouse with a lush garden.
• A campsite that you both love.
What’s important is it has to have enough trees and plants to display the lovely fall colours.
And you don’t need to work a lot with regard to decorating. Only some rustic signs providing directions to the ceremony and the reception and a few flowers or fruits and vegetables for the centerpieces.
For your menu, pumpkin soup served in a small pumpkin shell would be a nice opening touch. A delight for your guests would be an entree of roast beef, rack of lamb or Cornish hen.
During this season of harvest, you can focus on food for favors, like candied apples, jams in dainty personalized jars or even carrot cupcakes in a monogrammed package.
It isn’t so difficult to plan a lovely wedding celebration regardless of the time of the year. Every season has its own beauty. Let the sights, sounds and wonders of each inspire you as you plan your big day.
Sofia Angeli is a PR & communications consultant for companies in various industries. In particular, she brings her writing skills and passion for travel, culture, arts and lifestyle, including wedding planning and engagement rings, to the online world.
5 Wedding Insider Secrets From Pros Who Know
- Parent Category: Featured 10 April 2013
- Published on 10 April 2013
- Amanda Hevener
Every bride wants their wedding to be the one that they dreamed about as a kid. Picking the perfect dress, hammering out every tiny detail and making sure that everything goes perfectly all fit into that “dream wedding” mold.
Although wedding magazines and other resources are excellent places to turn to when planning a wedding, sometimes they overlook tips and advice that only wedding insiders know about.
Check out these tips from experienced pros inside the wedding industry.
Tip #1 - Honor the special women in your life by having them create an impromptu bouquet for your ceremony.
If you have close friends or relatives who are not in the bridal party, this is a great way to include them in your ceremony. Ask 10-12 women (close friends, inspiration, mentors, sisters, aunts or grandmothers) to bring a flower or two of their choice to ceremony site on your wedding day. Make sure that they arrive at least a half hour before the ceremony starts.
Designate a close friend to gather all of the flowers, and then have him or her bind them with florist wire and ribbons. The result is a quirky floral bouquet with special significance. The women who provided the flowers will be glad to have been included as they see you walk down the aisle with it.
- Ron Gallagher, Your Celebrant
Tip #2 - Choose an imperfect, mismatched Alice in Wonderland-esque theme over one that is overly picky and precious.
An Alice in Wonderland-esque theme will make your wedding unique, different, less stressful and very memorable. How does it work, you ask?
Simple: take the story of Alice in Wonderland and loosely adapt it to your wedding reception. This means that nothing has to be perfect and everything can be a little “off.”
Your reception hall can be decked out with mismatched tables, china, flowers and silverware. You can even choose to have a table with several mini desserts instead of a traditional wedding cake.
- Mika Iniguez, Fantastical Sweets by MIKA
Tip #3 Assign someone the job of “Direction Man or Woman” to be in charge of helping lost guests get to where they need to be on time.
It’s your wedding day. You and your groom have better things to worry about than figuring out how to get lost Uncle Bernie to the ceremony.
Solve this by designating someone to be your direction giver. Make sure that this person is not a member of the wedding party as they have enough to deal with already!
This contact person’s sole job is to help lost guests on your wedding day, and his cell phone number should be on your wedding invitations or any information (like a map, for example) that was included with them. This person should know the area backwards and forwards, or just be really good with his smart phone, GPS, or map applications.
- Ernest Adams, Nutmeg Justice of the Peace
Tip #4 - Keep track of your guests by numbering your list and coordinating your RSVP response cards with those numbers.
When it comes to invitations and reply cards, number the reply cards to correspond with your guest list. For example, if Great Aunt Elsie and Uncle Gene are the fifth people on your list, place the number 5 discreetly on the reply card. One discrete way to do this involves writing a small number on the back of the reply card or, if it is a postcard, in the corner by the stamp.
This way, if you receive a response back that is missing information or if you can't read the handwriting, you won’t have to try to guess whose response it is.
- Mindy Rupp, Differently Designed
Tip #5 - Keep an eye on the marriage statutes for your area, and book your honeymoon in your maiden name.
Did you know that in some states there is a waiting period between applying for (and receiving) your marriage license and being able to legally get married? This can vary depending on the state and county that you live in, so be sure to look up local statutes on this to make sure you can actually get married on your wedding day.
Another thing to keep in mind is your name change itself. It can take several weeks to get a new passport and social security card in your married name, so when you are booking flights and international travel plans for your honeymoon, make them in your maiden name in order to avoid issues.
- Danielle Tate, MissNowMrs.com
These five wedding tips are provided by insiders who know the wedding business backwards and forwards. By following their advice, your wedding day and the planning process will be more relaxed, enjoyable and worry-free!
