DIY Paper flowers

After sending out my invitations, I had all these encyclopedias that I wanted to use in some kind of craft for the wedding. A friend sent me a link to a blog post from Offbeat Bride, "How to pull off some awesome decor for your literary wedding".

 I loved the paper roses, so I decided to give them a shot.

I found this awesome tutorial at A Beautiful Mess. There's a great, short little video (without words) that I found super helpful (obvi., why else would I tell you about it?!). I started out by cutting out 1" x 1" and 2" x 2" squares from the encyclopedia pages. I tried 3" x 3" squares, but the flowers were too big and looked a bit ridiculous. I (and mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and hubby) ended up making about 5 dozen roses. I wanted enough for 3 roses per bridesmaid bouquet, 5 for my bouquet, and one for each of the groom/groomsmen's boutineers, with the extras going to the centerpieces. 

The hardest part is getting the flowers started. Then you start adding "petals" around the flower. I tried to depict it below, but ehh, you should probably just watch the video.

Add a small amount of hot glue to the bottom of the "petal"

Fold the "petal" for the starter (p.s. these pictures were impossible to take).

Again, you should probably watch the video.

Ta-da!

Pretty flowers ready to head to the florist.

My bouquet.

Terrible picture, but you can see the pictures on the groomsmen's boutineers

The flowers really weren't that hard to do (I mean, even the hubby was able to do it!), once you get it started, and I received so many compliments on them! You should totally try them for your wedding!

Programs

I had no idea how much time went into blogs when I came up with the idea to start this one (not that I envisioned posting daily, but more frequently than I do). 

Anywho...on to Programs...

When I come up with a theme, I tend to go a little over-board. Enter my programs...I wanted them to look like a book, so this is what I came up with.

Of course I had to include my pugs.

I added some footnotes to give the guests a couple of facts throughout the program.

After this "title page," I had the sections "Introduction", "The Ceremony", and "Epilogue". In the Introduction section, I listed out the participants (officiant, singer, musician, parents, bridal party, etc.). The Ceremony section is self-explanatory (order of events, who the readers are, yada, yada, yada). I added the Epilogue section pretty much because I needed another page. That section basically said where the reception was and to bring your dancing shoes! All together it was about 8 pages. We had free parking for our guests and they needed a placard to park there, so we included that on the back cover of the program (turns out they had to turn in the placard to park there, instead of placing it on the dashboard, so that plan backfired).

My sister is always making custom labels for gifts and other designy/crafty things like that and she told me that she uses PowerPoint to make her projects (go figure!). I decided to try it for my programs and signs that I put up around the wedding, and absolutely loved it! I don't know how to use Photoshop and found PowerPoint so easy to use. It's easy to move the textboxes around to where I wanted them. It's even easy using pictures, like the pugs I used for the "publishing" logo.

The hubs and I printed these out ourselves and the hubs put them together. We used 32lb ivory paper for the inner pages since we were printing on both sides of the paper, so it wouldn't show through on the other side. For the cover we used a 90lb ivory cardstock, so it was a little thicker and sturdier. Then we used a long reach stapler to put the programs together. I absolutely loved the way they came out!

Invitations - Part II

I started to really embrace the library theme while planning, and wouldn't have chosen any other theme for my wedding (except maybe nautical -- <3 sailboats and anchors!).

One thing I knew I wanted for my invites was to have them in some kind of envelope so guests wouldn't lose them post delivery (an enclosure envelope, if you will). The other thing I knew I wanted was some kind of "library" seal. 

This is the initial enclosure envelope I wanted, unfortunately they weren't going to work for my invites (I wanted everything to stay in the pocket on the left hand side, but the invite is meant to be placed on the flat section and the enclosures in the pocket--annoying).

From the most awesome store ever -- Paper Source! Note: this is not the color I was shopping for, but the picture shows the most definition in this color)

Paper Source was a little expensive when I was pricing out my envelopes, but you just can't beat their quality and their selection! I purchased numerous samples of enclosure envelopes and paper swatches from a much cheaper website, but the enclosure envelopes weren't up to snuff, so I was going to buy some from Paper Source and some from this other website, but it just wasn't worth it. I wasn't able to order a sample from Paper Source, but luckily for me, there is a store nearby, so I bought a pack of envelopes to see if they would work.

Anywho -- here is the enclosure envelope I ended up using. I ordered them in the luxe, cream finish, which has a little bit of texture to it. 

I found a library seal embosser on Amazon.com, which was one of the best things I purchased for the wedding (after the fiance I figured out how to use it properly).

Library book embosser on Amazon

Here's a close up of my embosser's final product (?), and the enclosure envelope with the seal:

The other totally awesome thing I did to carry on my library theme was to use encyclopedia pages to make envelope liners for my envelopes and response envelopes (as pictured above). My parents had a set of encyclopedias that were published in the 1950s (and purchased for a quarter a piece in the '90s), but they've sat on the bookshelf, untouched for years. My dad absolutely loves books, so he was a little hesitant to let me use the encyclopedias at first, but he quickly came around.

Initially I was looking for the liners on Etsy before deciding I could make them myself. I purchased an envelope liner template kit from Paper Source (have I mentioned how much I love that store?). They have a tutorial video on their website, although it doesn't need much explaining, but does help to show just how easy it is to make them. 

Here's the finished product of my invitations:

I cut out certain sections of the encyclopedias to use for the liners that were important to us such as beer, accounting, Philadelphia, etc. with every intention of giving the guest a section that we had in common, but that quickly fell by the way side. 

I absolutely love the way the invitations came out and hope I was able to inspire someone else out there!

Invitations...Part I

After scouring the internet for library themed wedding invites on the typical invitation websites, I wasn't having any luck. While the ones that I saw were "nice," they just weren't what I was looking for. If my our invitation and save the date were displayed next to each other, I wanted them to "go," and I wasn't finding anything that flowed nicely. I decided to search "library themed wedding invitations" on Etsy, and found so many more options.

The ones that tickled my fancy were the ones that looked like a book cover. Below is the one I ended up purchasing from 3EggsDesign on Etsy. I was able to make some changes to the invitation suite, such as having adding entree choices to the R.S.V.P. cards, and having an information card instead of a save the date (Kim is totally awesome!!).

I love the look of the invitation suite, and it fit in my budget, score! I received a PDF of the invitation suite and took them to Staples to be printed. The only downside was that I had to cut them out myself. After I used this amazing/awesome/miracle worker for a paper cutter:

I started out using the kind where you slide the blade to cut the paper, but I just wasn't happy with the way the invitations were coming out (a.k.a. it was the worst paper cutter ever and the invites were looking aw-ful). Luckily my dad already had the paper cutter above, so I was able to salvage the invites I had already cut. If you're printing your own invitations, you have to get a cutter like this one!

Here are some other literary wedding invitations fit for various budgets and where to find them.

BokehDotPrint on Etsy

BlackLabStudio on Etsy

HappyWhale on Etsy

PceLoveDesign on Etsy

KendraOlson on Etsy

TheBirdAndTheBeard on Etsy (I bought my escort cards from them and highly recommend!)

Table Numbers...again....

I know that I already posted about this, but I wanted to share what I chose for my table numbers.

I knew that I wanted to incorporate my dogs and I wanted to use numbers, as opposed to naming the tables. I just think it's easier as a guest to find the tables when they are numbered.

I learned about this website called PicMonkey from another blog and I absolutely love it! I do not know how to use Photoshop, so this is a pretty easy website for me to use. I've used it for our save the dates and Christmas cards, in addition to the table numbers. I haven't done anything complicated on it, mainly just adding fonts to pictures, but they do have some pretty cool fonts. The site has some free aspects, and then there are features that require a membership. The free version has been perfect for my needs.

Here is a sample of my projects.

I thought this picture was so funny, I had to incorporate it into the save the date.

I had to show off my dogs, of course.

 Around holidays they have certain features that are out for a limited time. In addition to the Santa hats and reindeer antlers pictured above, they also had Santa beards and rosy cheeks that could be added to pictures, among other things. It was so easy to add the hats to the picture, and adjust the size and shape to look as if we were really wearing them.

I also follow PicMonkey on Pinterest, where they feature different techniques that can be done on pictures. 

I am so glad that I found out about this site! Hope it helps others out there!

Table Numbers

Now that work has calmed down I can finally get back to blogging!

I wanted to show a bunch of library themed table number ideas for some inspiration.

 I personally am a fan of using numbers for the tables, since that makes it easier for the guests to find the tables. However, the obvious table theme for library weddings would have to be naming the tables after books.

Now, here are some ideas using numbers and books.

You could have a stack of books with a theme and put a number on one of the books, or on the stack of books.

I like the top left pictures in the collage below. I love the idea re-using book pages for decor. 

Similar to above, I love the idea of using a page from a book with a number on top.

This next one might be a little time consuming, but I think it's a cool way to re-use a book.

These next two are simple, yet a cool way to incorporate books into your table numbers.

All images found via Google Search.

 Hope this helps to inspire other library brides!

Library themed Save the Dates

After searching Etsy and Pinterest for inspiration, the same library themed save the dates kept popping up. I wanted to do something different; something I hadn't seen before.

There's your check out card styled ones, that highlight important dates in your relationship:

I love the handwritten look of the last one. At first, I was considering do a save the date in that style.

Then, there are your bookmark save the dates:

All images found on Pinterest.

All super cute for a library themed wedding, but not unique enough for me. Then I saw Kelly Clarkson's save the date, that was similar to the bookmark style, and said "Bookmark the date," and a light bulb went off! Of course, "Bookmark the date!" I don't know how that didn't come to me sooner.

We had our engagement photo shoot right around the corner, so I envisioned me and the fiance, sitting on a bench, reading books that said, "bookmark the date" on one book, and "04.26.2014" on the other. A bonus would have been to have the dogs on the bench also (which didn't happen, of course). I wasn't sure my photographer was going to go for it, because she doesn't normally use props in her shoots, but she was totally on board!

So, I set out searching around the house for books that would be big enough to have the words on the outside that would be legible in a picture. I have 3" stencils from A.C. Moore that I use for all kinds of banners.

Here's the finished product.

And here's the full image.

Photos courtesy of the fabulous Ashley from Wide Eyed Studios

The dogs didn't completely cooperate, but I love how the pictures came out! 

I used the second image above for our save the date, and used PicMonkey to add words and a banner to a different image. Since I don't know how to use Photoshop, PicMonkey is my go to for photo editing. The site has lots of different features, even in the free version, including everything from different filters, fonts, banners, and different accessories. It is so easy to use!

Hope this helps to inspire other library brides out there!