DIY heart garland / North Carolina Wedding Garland

  Some wedding venues are so pretty, they need little decorations. When I decided to have my wedding at my grandparents historical farm house, I knew I didn't want to go overboard with decorations. I chose to make my own garland to hang on the fireplace mantles, over the reception food table, and down the banister to add some whimsy to the family home.

To make the garland I used:

• A heart shaped hole punch 
• A small hole punch
• Two shades of green scrapbook paper
• The pages of a dictionary I found at Goodwill
• Dental floss (yes, dental floss)

I began by using the heart hole punch to punch tons of green and dictionary page hearts. After I had heart hole punched to my heart's content, I used the small hole punch to put a hole in the upper corner of each sweet little heart. Then the really delicate part of the whole project came, stringing each heart onto the minty dental floss. For each heart, I strung one on, tied three knots in the dental floss, then added another heart and did the same. It went fairly quickly and was a great activity while watching TV. 

Photos by Jeff Scott of J. Darren Photography

DIY Boutonnieres / North Carolina Wedding Planner

 When I planned my own wedding I knew little to nothing about flowers and flower arranging, but I was so pleased with how the boutonnieres my mom and I crafted the morning of the wedding turned out. During my wedding planning process I found so much inspiration from wedding blogs. Oncewed provided the inspiration and instructions I used for these. I loved the idea of making my own due to how much cheaper it would be than getting them from a florist and for the fact that they would have the simple, unpretentious style I wanted.

   To get started on mine I cut some small daisies, rosemary so they'd smell nice, and an unidentified plant (I just knew it wasn't poison ivy) from my grandmother's garden, then my mom and I got to work. We made little bunches for each. Every bunch contained one daisy, one sprig of rosemary, and some of the unidentified leaves. We then wrapped florist tape around each, put them all in a bowl of water, and tucked them safely in the fridge. While I got ready at the church my sweet mom tied green ribbon around each bunch and pinned each one  on all the guys' coats.

   They turned out so beautifully and made our wedding that much more personal. 

Photos by Jeff Scott of J. Darren Photography

Hanging Mason Jar Candles DIY / North Carolina Wedding Planner

   My wedding was truly personal and I, along with tons of help from my family, created nearly every aspect of it.  The reception was in the front yard of my grandparents old family farm house. I had dreamed of having it here since I was a girl. With this stately white house in the background, fields of green grass, overflowing flower pots, and a gently rocking porch swing, very little decoration was needed.  The only really necessary decoration was candle light. After all, how could anyone have a romantic and whimsical wedding reception without candle light?

This was truly one of the easiest projects I undertook, but made such an impact.
For each candle holder I used:

• a mason jar from Goodwill (or any jar I could find in my mom's cabinents)
• floral wire
• needle nose pliers
• sand
• a candle

   For each one I simply wound the wire around the top of the jar, made a loop from one side of the jar to the other, and wound around more wire until it felt secure. This was the perfect, mindless project that allowed me to just sit and watch TV or stare at a blank wall with a dumb expression on my face. The night before the wedding I put about an inch of sand in each jar and a small white candle. Some of these I hung from the tree branches surrounding the reception area and others I hung from black plant holders (like the one pictured above) that I found at Goodwill. I placed the plant holders on either side of the walkways leading to the big, welcoming, wrap around porch. The twinkle of all these candles truly added a magical feeling to the evening.

Photos by Jeff Scott of J. Darren Photography