Here Comes The Bride

Last December, I was honored to fashion a garter set for my niece, Laura and I featured it in my post,  Wedding Garter For Laura.

This past June, I designed and hand sewed a garter set for my niece, Natalie.  I chose a vintage pink pearl earring as my inspiration.  I incorporated dupioni silk and recycled vintage pink pearls to create each individual rosette on the garters and then added a touch of tuille.

There are so many tutorials on how to make fabric flowers so I thought I would give you one of my favorite blogs on flowers, bows and more literally, Fabric Bows And More! You will find so many creative ways to make and use flowers in your designs at this instructional and imaginative site.

Below are Natalie's garter and toss garter....

I also had the pleasure of creating a card box for the bride and groom.
My supplies were simple....dupioni silk, pleated ribbon, strands of pearls, silk flowers and love.

I covered the boxes in silk and then wrapped the box tops with pleated ribbon.  It needed a little more style, so I added a band of pearls around the pleats (scored them at Michaels!) and finished off the card slot with more.  The silk flower was glamed up with even more pearls as shown below.

And voila.....

Let me know what you think.....

PS.  Please excuse the photo backdrops....I'm working on projects in every room in my house.

                                     

   

Wedding Garter For Laura

If you have been following my blog, you may remember the Wedding Wish Tree that I created for my 'niece' Laura's.  I also offered to design a wedding garter set for her, including a garter that she would wear and one for her to toss that was old, new, borrowed and blue.

The vintage rhinestone earrings are old and blue, and the dupioni silk and stretch lace are brand new. Laura borrowed my heart while I was hand stitching her garter....

I used Singer Lace Flat Stretch  11/4" that provided the exact amount of stretch for the garter.

 

I hand-stitched 3 delicate rosettes from 100% Dupioni silk for the bride's garter and 3 smaller rosettes for the toss garter.  I then adhered icy blue vintage rhinestone earrings to the bride's garter.  Laura was thrilled and I was honored to gift them to her.

Perfect for the bride-to-be!

Let me know what you think....

Wedding Wish Tree Revisited

You may recall the Wedding Wish Tree I made for my niece Laura's bridal shower.  She loved it and asked to include in it the wedding reception.

Given the 200+ guests were expected at the wedding, we needed a bigger tree so I decided using an actual Christmas tree would fit well with the wedding theme of natural elements. 

I first covered the iron base of the artificial tree with burlap ribbon that I pleated and then adhered with my trusty hot glue gun.  It took me less than 10 minutes to complete. 

The mother-of-the-bride and her aunt came over and together we made over 200 tags for the wedding wish tree. 

Dont' you love these darling Place Card holders placed on Burlap.  The bride's proud father, cut the birch at various lengths and then cut a slit into the top to hold the placecard.  

Here is the completed tree that I adorned with a handmade burlap bow at the top and a few 'wishes' for the bride and groom hanging from the Wedding Wish Tree.

Let me know what you think....

Wedding Wish Tree

The Wedding Wish Tree is a Dutch custom where the guests are given a piece of paper shaped in a leaf to write their wishes to the bride and groom and then hang on the tree.  This creates a gorgeous centerpiece and the tree is placed at the entrance to the reception to wow your guests upon their arrival.  It is a twist on the traditional guest book and it allows the bride and groom to turn those wishes into a keepsake for years to come.

I created my first Wedding Wish Tree in honor of my wonderful 'adopted' niece, Laura for her wedding shower this weekend.  The term 'adopted' is defined by Webster's as "to choose or take as one's own; make one's own by selection".  Our family has been blessed to be a part of a large extended family who adopted us shortly after we arrived in the US and we are the benefactors of 10 beautiful nieces and nephews as a result.  Laura is the first to be married.

I chose to design the tree in the wedding's color scheme of the cream and burlap with hints of green.  My jumping off point were fallen branches that provided a rustic theme that I knew the Groom-to-be, a landscape architect, would love.  I then headed off to Michaels and Joann Fabrics to make my ribbon, cardstock, rhinestone selections etc...just too many choices.

I then chose two glass containers.  I needed one vessel type vase for the tree itself and one to hold the cards for wishes.  I used a large selection of smooth stones to secure the branches in the vase to add to the rustic feel.  SO, here sit the arranged branches just waiting for my decisions.

While perusing Joann Fabrics aisles I stumbled upon these great handmade flowers. The ivory color and tiny rhinestones were just what the branches needed and better yet, they were on sale....I used my trusty hot glue gun to adhere them to the branches.

I then applied the layered green and burlap ribbons and monogram plates I created from cardstock and "L" stickers onto the vases using double sided tape.

The tags were my next step...you can already see them in the photo above.  I layered the same green and cream cardstock and printed "Wishes for Laura and Ben".  I adhered a tiny rhinestone onto the 'i' and punched a hole for the burlap tie to complete the design. 

Now, this is when I should have taken the time to learn something about photography because these photos really do not do my first Wedding Wish Tree justice.

The beautiful bride, Laura with a few wedding wishes...



I also included a 'keepsake' box created from a scrapbooking archival storage box in the same design for her wedding wish tags, photos and cards...

My wish for Laura and Ben, 'a lifetime of love and laughter'....