Winter, and a Wedding Update

Oh, winter. One of my least favorite words. Luckily, I'm warm and cozy inside the house tonight sipping hot cocoa from my new Anthro mug.

Yesterday was a mini blizzard driving home and twenty mile per hour winds. Today, this is the wind chill temperature that was displayed on my phone before I went to work:

No. Just no. Can I move to Florida please? I say that every year, so I think it's time, right? How can you think about Thanksgiving and Christmas and joyfulness when it's this bitter cold in the middle of November? Anyway, rant over. I'm already hating this winter more than last year! Haha.

Moving on to the usual wedding update...this week it's Save the Date time! I got them in the mail this weekend, and they look pretty spiffy!

I'm stamping each envelope with a wax seal, which takes a little more time, but since we only have like 50 or so to send, I figure it's worth it for that handmade touch.

Have you ever used wax seals? This was my first time trying it, and I love the vintage look of it, but it definitely takes a lot of patience and a little getting used to. I think I've pretty much perfected the technique by now, though! Even with my makeshift handle! (the wooden one that came with my kit was too small, so I've been using a drywall grommet, which actually works perfectly. Thanks, Trent!)

If you're looking for a wax seal kit, I found mine at Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago. I got extra wax, too, which I definitely ended up needing! You can find them at this link.

Can't believe my Save the Dates will be going off in the mail soon! It's getting real. :)

Wedding Flower Planning

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Is it snowing where you are? We're supposed to get some this weekend, and well, I'm not looking forward to it! We've only gotten maybe one dusting so far, and I still have my fall decor out! I'm not ready for winter yet!

But it's time to move on. Time to talk about flowers! So this past week, we had our first meeting with the florist. I think I kind of overwhelmed him with all my ideas.... Remember when I shared my wedding flower inspiration? Well a lot of those pictures are what I showed him - those and more. My flower style might be a little all over the place, but I know the basic idea of what I want. Big blooms, colorful, organic, and a little vintage-y. But still elegant of course. :)

I was a little disappointed that a lot of my favorite flowers are more of the spring variety and won't be easy to get in August. Like peonies, for example. But I still have lots of flowers to choose from - Hydrangeas, David Austin Juliet roses, Dahlias....

Here are some of the flowers that are going to be incorporated at the wedding:

1) Dusty Miller - The grayish leaves you see in the bouquets above are dusty miller. This will be used as an accent in the bouquets! Sources: 1 | 2 

2) Dahlias - I didn't even originally think of dahlias for the wedding, but since they are so large, they can really pack a punch and make a statement. The photos above include hot pink dahlias, and the below photos show a lighter pink. Sources: Above  - 1 | 2 | Below - 3 | 4

3) Green Hydrangeas - Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers. Mixed with the pink and peach flowers of our wedding, I think the light green ones will look amazing. Sources: 1 | 2 

4) David Austin Juliet Roses - These were the closest thing to peonies I could get in August. But I've really grown to love these. They have a really romantic, vintage feel. And the color (peach) is perfect for the wedding! Sources: 1 | 2 

 

5) Peach Spray Roses - As an accent, we'll have some smaller peach "spray roses," as the florist called them. Not as unique as the Juliet roses, but they open up fairly big. (Source)

6) Stock - I may have a little stock as an accent in my bouquet. I had no idea what stock was, but apparently it looks like the photo below (Source)

7) Succulents - I love succulent accents in bouquets, like in the photos below. Sources: 1 | 2

I'm really loving how the flowers are coming together. It may be one of my favorite parts of the planning process so far! The most interesting thing I learned that I never had really thought about - We can grow some of our flowers for the reception. Totally doing that. And it got me really excited. Trent and I have been wanting to plant our own flower garden with seeds and bulbs...we've never done that before. So now we have a new project for the spring!

Here are some of the flowers that the florist suggested we grow:

From top to bottom: 1) Cosmos 2) Zinnias 3) Green poms 4) Amaranthus

I'm sure we'll find more, too. Yep, Trent and I are about to become flower gardeners this spring! Hoping we have lots of blooms to choose from. I'm excited to put together all of my centerpieces right before the wedding. It will be a lot of work, but I'm sure it will be totally worth it...right? Wish us luck!

Chairish Style Challenge

Hello all, and happy Friday! Last week, Holly, from an awesome online used and vintage shop called Chairish, contacted me about participating in their Style Challenge. I happily accepted the challenge! I'm always up for designing a room, whether it's in real life or virtually! Especially when it involves such amazing vintage pieces like those on Chairish. You can check out their vintage furniture for yourself here.

I had never heard of this site before, but it is such a cool and refreshing concept. They sell used and vintage pieces to design lovers everywhere. And they have an awesome selection. 

So...on to the Style Challenge! I was given multiple images of pieces from their store and was to choose one of my favorites to create a style board around. Here is my style board:

The piece I chose to build my inspiration from is the vintage dresser in the center. I chose this because it's such a timeless and versatile piece I could see myself using in my own home. When I saw this, I instantly thought of a bedroom that's classic but stylish.

Every element I used in my style board is from Chairish, unless otherwise stated below.

And now, the sources for all of these wonderful pieces, and why I chose each to use for this space:

• Dresser - This dresser was the main piece of furniture that inspired my style board. With its clean lines and beautiful wood tone, it's truly a classic, heirloom piece.
• Wallpaper - This beautiful wallpaper would be perfect for an accent wall. 
• Pair of Lamps - These lamps are timeless and in the perfect blue jewel tone, which creates a really rich look.
• Brass Elephant - I always need a bit of animal decor cheekiness in a room. Antique brass animal decor is my favorite!
• Starburst Mirror - Everyone loves a good starburst mirror. Not only is this one stylish, but it would bring a little touch of gold and glamour to the room.
• "Hung Up on You" Wall Art/ Hooks - I love this cheeky piece made from reclaimed wood. The hooks would be perfect to hang scarves and purses.
• Nightstand - This nightstand is actually part of a like-new pair, originally from West Elm, but re-sold on Chairish!  It's super simple and clean and is a perfect way to mix a little modern with vintage.
• Navy Pillows - These velvet throw pillows are a great way to incorporate a little color and texture into the room. 
• Printed Pillow - I love to work in printed accent pillows wherever I can in my home. This would add a touch of style and punch with the navy pillows behind it. 
• Headboard - A lovely, plush headboard with nailhead trim provides just a little touch of elegance to this bedroom.
• Bedspread - I love the soft, pretty texture and color of this bedspread, from West Elm.
• White Vase - I couldn't resist a simple vase with some pink peonies for a pop of girly color. (Vase from Chairish, Peonies found on Pinterest)
• Wall Color - A nice, neutral wall color will make all of the other elements in the room really pop. This color is Manchester Tan from Benjamin Moore. (Image from here)

That's all, folks! Hope you enjoyed my style board! I know I had fun making it. :)

Linked to: Link Party Palooza, The Pin Junkie, Say G'Day Party, Weekend Re-Treat Party, Liz Marie Blog

Ahoy, Matey! Our Nautical Additions to the Bedroom

So this post is two-fold, but it's all related. Remember the shelving unit that Trent made by hand for his side of the bedroom? (Click that link if you forgot) Well, it's been working decently but Trent still needs to work on organizing his clothes. :) Anyway, ever since we found a striped blue and white hamper for it (you can see it in this post), we were thinking "nautical." And have been on the lookout for a little decorative ship to put on top.

This past weekend, we found the perfect one!

That's right, it was at Hobby Lobby. And it was 50% off, so that made the price tag 20 bucks. Not too bad! Trent was happy to have finally found his ship. :)

That night when we got home, we excitedly gave our sailboat its new home on top of the shelving unit. Sorry these photos are so dark - it was at night, and the bedroom is always pretty dark with the thick curtains in there.

Next on the agenda is to paint that plastic cord cover we got a few years back to hide the cords for the TV. The ultimate goal was to redo the whole wall and actually install the cords in the wall. But, who knows when that will happen, so this was a temporary solution!

Maybe the next time you see this spot, that eyesore will be a little more camouflaged! Let's hope.

In the meantime, we think our new ship looks pretty spiffy on the shelf! We have kind of a vintage nautical vibe going on Trent's side of the room. The ship now matches the Dave Matthews poster that we hung between the windows.

It's from one of the many Dave concerts we've been to together over the past few years. At each of their shows, there is an illustrated, limited edition poster commemorating that concert, and Trent has gotten one from almost every show we've been at so far.

Needless to say, he definitely has the ship theme going on.

My side of the room is kind of a different story. I guess if I had any theme going on, it would be "Love." I affectionately call this wall the Love wall, and you can see why:

Somehow I've gathered way too many wall decor items with the word "love" in them. But what can you do! That mirror on the left is the new one we got from IKEA. And the blank space to the right of that is normally where the towel hamper is. But I was washing towels at the time this photo was being taken. :)

I haven't yet showed you my new ring holder. I talked about it a few weeks ago I think, but failed to get a picture of it. Isn't it cute? It's a giraffe lifting up its neck. It's from World Market. My engagement ring is so small it doesn't fit over the giraffe's ears. Ha. Oh well.

The bed hasn't changed much since we first made over the bedroom back in 2010-2011. Same pin-tuck duvet from West Elm, which we still really like.

Right now the same curtains and everything are still working for us. Maybe one day we'll remodel, but we still really like the warmth and coziness of this room.

I also still love my necklace holder and all of the new necklaces that it continues to collect. But I've mentioned that before. :)

Those pesky closet doors have been there against the wall for probably at least two years now. Really wish we would get on that closet renovation! They were a good deal (from the Restore), so I don't feel guilty about it. But dude, it's time to get on that.

Anyway, that's our new sailboat-related addition to the bedroom, which overall hasn't really changed much over the years. One thing will always stay the same, and that's that Trent's side is always going to be 10 times more messy than my side. Why do you think I never show the floor on his side?? At least mine is always clean. :)

Milk Glass and Wedding Decor Update

Wedding stuff. Kind of consuming my life lately. After this weekend's antique shopping, I've added even a few more milk glass vases to my ever-growing collection. I've been collecting them from yard sales and antique shops for my vintage inspired centerpieces since this summer.

I've also picked up (and made) a few other random decor items for the wedding already. Even though we still have nine months to go, the more I can get done early, the better.

So here's my wedding decor loot, which is currently taking over my living room:

I've gotten quite the assortment of milk glass, and one of my next steps is to plan out the arrangements of the centerpieces.

Each will be a little different of course, but what I do know is that we're planning on having 12 guest tables (the long, banquet style), so I will probably have about 2 or so arrangements on each table, I'm guessing. And the other night I counted 40 milk glass pieces for centerpieces...all sorts of sizes, of course. So, I may need a little more but it's definitely getting close to what I need.

This past weekend of course, I found my amazing milk glass cake stand, for the dessert table. I'll need probably 3 more for the cupcakes, but don't necessarily need them to be milk glass. A little variety is always good, right? As long as it fits in with the kind of vintage look we're going for.

I'm getting really excited seeing all of the decor coming together - it's definitely one of my favorite parts in the planning process. Finding all of this stuff in various shops and collecting it all is really fun, too. You never know what items you'll find, but you're always on the hunt!

After I took the above picture, I unwrapped my Mr. and Mrs. signs from their packaging. Completely forgot that I got them in the mail last week. I ordered them from Red Heart Creations on Etsy, and I am so in love with them! They'll be on our sweetheart table at the reception. Love the rustic, vintage look.

This week is our first meeting with the florist, so I'm kind of excited about that! On the to-do list is to think about what kinds of arrangements I'm wanting and measure the vases I have. That will probably help when we're thinking about what flowers and how many we'll need. Of course, I already have my ideas. :)

I'm also thinking about incorporating my collection of vintage plates into the centerpieces. I have a little over 30 that would work! So, the planning continues....you know what I'll be doing for the next nine months when I'm not working. :)