My MANY Contributions...

As many of you have seen I was given the opportunity to help my SIL plan her/their wedding. Since her mother had passed and she had never really thought about what she wanted she thought that I might be able to help her. I was honestly THRILLED to. I LOVE weddings!! The colors, the flowers, the ceremony accessories, the themes, the locations, the decorations, the bride, the flower girls and the romance. I love the idea of creating that perfect moment for someone. I can pick a theme and just go crazy researching it online and getting ideas of my own that fit the bride/grooms needs. I mold it to represent exactly who the couple are and what they mean to each other. So with that said, I wanted to take the opportunity to show some of my contributions Matt & Mary's wedding. Mary is so cute, she calls me her "Martha Stewart in a bag". She can take me where ever she needs creativity. Their wedding theme was the Beach (Hawaii was their honeymoon) and her colors were Coral and Turquoise.

Mary was hoping to find some small silver M&M monogram letters for the top of her cake. But we weren't able to find any in time. So I wanted to make some for her. She was giving M&M's in her wedding colors as favors so I thought my letters would help decorate the favor table nicely.
The & sign is made of sand and on each letter it says Forever / Always.

The Unity Candle. I was happy she decided to do a candle ceremony. If you do not know the history behind a Unity candle here is a link to describe it. I had a Unity candle at my wedding, I made myself from pressed Forget-me-Nots.

The Centerpiece. We honestly had Mary's mother's spirit on our side during the purchasing process of her wedding. We found deals left and right. We found the glasses and the flicker candles at Tai Pan. We got a bundle of shells, sand and some raffia and ...Voila! There was a lot of left over fabric from the bride-maids skirts so we used them to place under the glasses.

The Welcome Sign. We wanted to greet the guests with a casual welcoming that would let them know this was a laid back family event. I looked up the Hawaiian name for Welcome...E Komo Mai. I used vinyl lettering and stenciled the decorations. We hung the sign on the gate as everyone entered the backyard.

The Floral Arrangement. We wanted to have more decorations for the ceremony fireplace. One of Mary's best friends, Emily, did all the floral arrangements for the wedding except these. We found the large vases at Tai Pan and I picked out some artificial flowers, we filled the vases with sand and sea shells. They were place on both sides of the fireplace, and then at the entry to the backyard.

Hair & Make-up. I love doing make overs on my friends. It's girlie I know, but I love to try new things and see them light up when they love it. Mary and I did 3 different practice runs before we decided on a look she wanted for the wedding. I did large curls all over her head and twisted the hair at the crown to create a gorgeous updo. Mary doesn't wear a lot of make-up usually and Matt loves the look of her natural. So I did my best to create a natural elegant look the camera would pick up. Pictures of her parents for bouquet. Unfortunately both of Mary parents had passed before her wedding day. But we wanted to make sure they were remembered and close to her heart. I found some 1-inch frames and I placed photos of her parents in them, tied some ribbon to them and had them tied to her wedding bouquet. Sign in Table. I thought a fisherman's net would be a great way to carry the beach theme. We placed the Unity Candle on there as well as the sign-in book and some photos of the bride and groom.
Wedding Invitation & Ceremony Invitation. This was my first attempt at making a wedding invite and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. For the security of the couple I've smudged their location details. But you get the idea. Mary's friend Jessica & myself took some engagement shots of the couple. Jessica went to Murray Park and got some great shots of the couples outgoing personality. I took them to the Great Salt Lake and got some cute lovey dovey shots. The colors at the GSL were perfect for her wedding colors. I really appreciate all that Matt & Mary let me participate in. I really hope I might have a future (even if it's small) in wedding coordinating. Like is said before, I LOVE weddings, and getting to participate in them is always exciting for me. And getting to use my creativity has always been a stress relieving outlet for me. Thanks for looking!