A Very Small Wedding

Welcome to Day 4 of our Wedding Week series. You've already gotten a few glimpses of Faith and Heidi's wedding and I thought I'd show you what mine looked like.

All of our weddings were extremely different in taste and style but all of them were complete DIY projects. For my wedding, I invited immediate family only. I'm sure I offended quite a few people but I loved it and it was exactly what my husband and I wanted! In total, there were only 30 people there. We had it on a Friday night at 7pm and it was held outside on the same pergola that my dad built for Heidi's wedding.

We had red roses for the flowers and did all the arrangements ourselves for the tables. My sisters helped me with my make-up and hair and I like to think that I looked pretty good! :) 

We had it catered by friends of the family and they did an excellent job with the whole meal. Since it started pouring rain right after the ceremony, we had our food inside and because it was such a small wedding, everyone fit perfectly! 

Thinking back, there were a few things I would have changed like getting more professional pictures, but the important parts I would keep exactly the same! 

As for our sister's wedding this weekend, we were busy all day today and will be busy tomorrow finishing the decorating and all the details that need to be done. Since I'm in charge of doing her make-up for the special day, I've been pinning some different tips and tricks for making perfect wedding make-up. Check out my pins on Pinterest for some good tricks!

{Day 3} Wedding Week!

When I was planning my wedding six years ago, there was no such thing as 'Pinterest' {gasp here}. While sitting in my dorm room at college, my friends and I would pour over bridal magazines, dreaming about the day that each of us would plan our own wedding day. 

That day finally came for me, and I had to plan our wedding while at college, thousands of miles from home, making hundreds of phone calls to my mom. She was seriously the best because she did a lot of the organizing and getting things together. (Thank you mom!!) 

 My dream was to be married at home in my parent's backyard. My dad went to work and built a beautiful pergola for the ceremony. 

  From the stainless steel buckets filled with wild flowers picked that morning that lined the aisle, to my bridesmaid's and my bouquets, to the centerpieces, and the meal (which my parents and some friends from church did an excellent job with!), almost every single part of our wedding was a DIY project.

 The centerpieces were wild flowers in old mason jars with a simple ribbon tied around the top. The wedding cake was a gift from our family friend and it was delicious!

It was a beautiful day, filled with love, laughter, family and friends. There wasn't a cloud in the sky (which led to a sunburn on my shoulders). 

We didn't spend a lot of money on our wedding. We didn't need to spend a lot of money on our wedding. We may not have had all the other things that weddings these days have, but it was our day and we loved it. 

 Remember to stop by lots this week for some great wedding ideas! 

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Click here to read Day One and Day Two of our Wedding Week.  

 

Day 2 Wedding Week: Simple Decorations

As we look forward to this coming Saturday, which is our younger sister's wedding as previously mentioned here, I can't help but look back and remember the different details, decorations, and flowers that made my wedding day special. 

My husband Jason and I were wed on a quiet beach with our closest friends and family to witness our special day. 

We decided to go for a very simple, rustic themed wedding, with a bunch of DIY projects tossed in there. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day, and said our "I do's" with the sound of waves crashing in the background. 

The reception was held in an old barn, which presented a challenge when it came to decorating. I had a vision of white lights hanging from the ceiling, large white lanterns, and lots of flowers for the table centre pieces. Since I was going for a very simple look, it wasn't too difficult for it all to come together.

Even though I couldn't tell you all the names of the flowers that were used for the centre pieces, I can tell you how easy it was to arrange them together! Basically we had around 8 different types of white flowers, and a small variation of clear vases and jars. We grouped the flowers together in small arrangements, and placed them in the vases to create the look we wanted. Simple, but unique. 

Hope you are enjoying our wedding week countdown here! Make sure you check out our blog the rest of the week to see what other wedding ideas you can get from us! 

Wedding Week Countdown!

This week on our blog, we've decided to do a full week of wedding. You might be wondering why and the answer is quite simple. Our little sister is getting married this week! Yes. There is another sister (actually two more plus a sister-in-law!) and she is getting married. After four wedding in our family, we're getting quite pro at throwing showers, making flower arrangements and anything having to do with weddings and we thought we'd share! Hopefully you can use some of these ideas for yourselves.

On Saturday, we had a bachelorette party for Sara which was hosted at my house. We invited some of her closest friends, had some great food, music (Zac Brown anyone?), and an awesome time! I decorated for the party the night before and in total, it took me about 2 hours to decorate everything and make the food. We decided to keep it simple so that we weren't rushing around at the last minute trying to get things done. We like to enjoy our parties! So without further ado, here are some of our best tips:

• If you're hosting a party in your house, don't be afraid to move furniture into another room. It can free up a lot of space and you can always move it back later! In the picture below, I moved all the chairs away from the table and moved a bookshelf into another room. It allowed me to push the table up against the wall and make it my food/display area. 
• Pick a few colours for decorating and stick with them. I tried to unify things by using white platters and bowls to hold the food. I also used a pale yellow table cloth. I added colour with the pennant banner, the flowers, the food and the pictures on the wall. 

• For the food, pick a few foods that are simple and can be put together beforehand. I chose to make mini strawberry shortcakes and pizza crescent rolls. I had Faith bring her famous cupcakes (get the recipe here) and we served everything with chips, popcorn, veggies, and pumpernickel bread with dip. Everyone enjoyed the food and was full. There was still lots of food leftover!

• Make some cute little signs for the food so that everyone knows what everything is. This saves a lot of confusion and people standing around the table wondering exactly what everything is. I made these chalkboard signs by cutting out some squares of chalkboard paper and putting them onto matching scrapbook paper. 

• Don't forget to add personal touches to the decorations. I printed off some pictures of Sara and Aaron and placed them above the food table and also had them rotating on my iPad. It's another touch that doesn't really cost anything, but makes it more special for the bride. 

And lastly, but definitely not least, remember to sit down and enjoy yourself! 

All of us girls!

Remember to stop by lots this week for some great wedding ideas! If you don't want to miss any posts, like us on Facebook or subscribe to our RSS feed. 

Time to (1st Birthday) Part-ay!

We celebrated Gavin's birthday on Wednesday night with our family. A nice, simple party with only about 22 people. (We have a big family) (And two were missing).

Since the weather was nice, we had the party outside. I didn't go all out or do as much as I was thinking I was going to for the decorations. 

Ever find that when your day gets going, the plans that you have go out the window? It was kinda one of those days. 

 I made this banner out of old book pages and cut out the letters on my Cricut machine. (It really does say "Happy Birthday" not "Appy Birthday".)

One of my friends found the cutest little cupcake decorating kit at the dollar store! Since Gavin's room has the owl theme, they were too perfect for her to pass up. Thanks Karissa!

After Gavin opened a few presents, 

 It was cake time!

 I decided to make a healthy birthday cake (I know. BORING. But Gavin liked it!) and this one was easy and tasted really good too! You can find the recipe here. 

We sang 'Happy Birthday' to Gav and then he had the healthy birthday cake, 

 and we had the not-healthy cupcakes. 

 All in all, it was a nice way to end the day celebrating our little guy's first birthday. 

Now he has so many toys and books he doesn't know which one to play with...or eat. 

Have a happy weekend!