Bird Cage Centerpieces

For my love bird themed bridal shower , the centerpieces were pretty potted pansies inside rustic bird cages.  The hostesses made these beauties with supplies from a local craft store.  Check out how they did it as well as some great inspiration for other creative bird cage ideas.

If you are considering a love bird themed bridal shower too, keep the bride-to-be in mind.  While fresh flowers always look chic, you can fill the cage with any of the brides' favorite things.  You could add vanilla scented candles, black and white photos of the couple in fun frames, jars full of candies, and even family recipe cards.  Here are some gorgeous bird cage centerpieces I came across.  What route would you take?

Replicate the Look: How to Incorporate Your Love for Baseball Into Your Wedding

In our recent post about Emma and Aaron's wedding, we highlighted a few photos showcasing how the couple incorporated Aaron's love of baseball into their special day.  I love when couples add these little details to make the day special and unique to them.  Check out how Emma and Aaron incorporated baseball into their wedding and see some additional inspiration from other weddings here.

Replicate the Look:

Photo in front of your local baseball park - a local field is just as cute!

Baseball glove ring bearer pillow - dig one up from your garage or basement

Socks with baseballs on them - $7 (similar)

Baseball themed invitations - $8

Ring shots with baseball bat - find one in your basement or garage

Baseball themed cake topper - $48 (similar)

Ring shot with baseball - find one in your basement or garage

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Chalkboard Themed Bridal Shower

Recently I have been loving anything and everything written on a chalkboard.  I love how charming a handwritten sign looks, as well as how pretty and vintage it feels.  So it got me thinking, wouldn't chalkboards make an adorable bridal shower theme?  Picture black and white invites, drinks with chalkboard labels, an intricate chalkboard menu, and tons and tons of chalkboard food labels.  With the pretty swirl of cursive penmanship and the chic contrast of black and white, your results are totally going to wow the bride and all your party guests.  Here is a little inspiration to spark some lovely ideas of your own.

***

Stationary : Menu : Cupcakes : Food Labels : Drinks : Name Tags :  

Flowers : Advice Sign : Table Setting : Food Signs

How to Incorporate Your Dog into Your Engagement Session

Our puppy, Jake, is such a huge part of our lives.  We knew he had to be in our engagement photos.  Our photos with Jake turned out to be our absolute favorite.  He is just so photogenic!  Kate Saler Photography did such a wonderful job capturing sweet moments between the three of us.  Below are a few of my favorites along with some tips on how to successfully incorporate your puppy into your engagement session.

Tips for Incorporating Your Puppy:

Bring a puppy sitter - Phil and I brought my sister to take care of Jake and help make sure he looked at the camera.  This made it easier for us to capture couple shots as well as family shots.

Groom Your Puppy - Jake probably could have used a hair cut, but I thought of this only a few days before our engagement session.  Plan in advance and get your dogs hair cut a few weeks in advance, so it has time to even out.  

Bring Treats & Toys - Keep your puppy happy by giving him treats for being such a good doggie, and lots of toys to keep him focusing on the photographer when he is in the spotlight.

Take Photos with Your Puppy - It's best to take photos with your doggie first, so they don't get bored or cranky.

Lovely Photography from Kate Saler Photography

Replicate the Look - Blue Mason Jars and Lanterns

Remember the lovely fairytale wedding in Battle Creek, Michigan?  Well, we just love the centerpieces that the bride selected.  She layered blue mason jars, lanterns, and stacks of vintage books on top of rustic tree stumps.  For a personalized touch, she splashed coffee beans and mini bells along the burlap runners.

So you might be wondering, "How do I replicate the look without looking like a yard sale?"  The bride pulled it off because all the details worked together.  For instance, shades of blue were used in both the vintage books and mason jars.  Twine was elegantly tied around the books and also looped around the mason jars.  By using the same detail multiple times, everything felt cohesive and well thought out rather than homemade.  I am excited to share an inspiration board if you want to replicate the look for your wedding or bridal shower.

How to Create an Affordable Welcome Package

I love arriving at a wedding to find a care package waiting for me at the front desk or in my hotel room.  It is such a nice touch after a long trip to get there.  It shows your guests just how much you appreciate the time they took to make it in for your wedding.  I knew I wanted to provide a welcome package to my guests as well.  However, we ran into a few issues:  1. Our guests were spread across 10 different hotels, so tracking down their accommodations was quite an undertaking.  2. Our welcome package budget was super small, so I had to keep this in mind when gathering items.  I was pleased with what we were able to put together in a short period of time.

Contents of Welcome Package:
2 water bottles - $.20
Granola Bar - $.30
Bag of chips - $.20
Assorted Candy - $.50
Brochures - Free (local tourism office)
Kraft Bags - $.34
Map & Ribbon - $.05 (Jo-Ann Fabrics) 

Total cost of each bag was $1.59.

Accommodations Information:
On our RSVP card, we asked our guests to provide us with their hotel information, so that we knew where they were staying for welcome packages and transportation.  I was able to get all but 10% of our guests lodging information this way.  For the rest, I had my mom, my mother-in-law and myself follow-up.  Once I had this information, I created a quick word document that included:
Hotel Name
Hotel Address and Phone Number
List of all guests staying at the property
Number of care packages

This helped in making sure we dropped off the right number of care packages to each destination and also helped the hotel make sure all guests received their welcome package.  Prior to dropping off the packages, I called each of the hotels to let them know when we would be dropping them off and explain how I would like them distributed.

Assembly:
Since my venue was 2 hours away from my house, we decided to assembly the welcome packages when we arrived on property.  It made transporting them a lot easier!  I had all of the bags prestamped, maps cutout and ribbon cutout to make assembly a few days before our wedding a lot easier.  My mom and sister helped me assemble the welcome packages and we were done within an hour.  Once you get an assembly line going, it is easy to get into a rhythm.

My guests were happy to have them!  I know they all needed the water by the end of the night.  :)

Love Bird Themed Bridal Shower

Love Birds is one of my favorite bridal shower and wedding themes ever!  It is so charming to see decor inspired by kissing birds and vintage bird cages.  For my shower, some special women in my life played on the love bird theme when they hosted the event at Bravo! Cucina Italiana.  They used bird cages as centerpieces and filled them with potted pansies for the ladies to take home.  For the favors, heart shaped cookies with iced love birds were given to the guests.  Vintage menus were printed at each seat along with pretty name cards and an envelope shower game.  The gift table was piled high with generous gifts, and an empty bird cage was there to collect recipe cards from the guests.  My favorite focal point was the towel cake on the gift table - a special friend made this to replicate my wedding cake.  Here, take a look at the pretty details.