I finally picked a wedding ring. I agonized over it here and I really thought that I would get this one, but in the end I chose something different.
That photo is a tad bit hard to analyze, so let’s zoom in on my hand today. You’ll notice that I’ve nixed the bridal pink polish and went for something a little more Halloween-y.
I picked an eternity band that accentuated the circular shape of each diamond. On my engagement ring, all of the diamonds line up in such a way that it looks like each side is flat. This ring forms a sort of wave. Together they compliment one another but they look different.
I liked the differentiation because it reminded me of the difference between each the engagement and the marriage. The two promises compliment each other, but still mean something different. Today I received the last of my rings.
Before we left for the honeymoon I wanted to get a travel ring. I picked the silver ring above, but unfortunately the first one I received didn’t fit. I needed something that was appropriate to wear for traveling, thrifting, volunteering, or jury duty. This plain tiny band is just a single silver stacking ring from the Etsy seller Proteales. I think it’s perfect.
And just for fun, here’s one more ring picture.
I’ll tell you all about Peter’s ring when he eventually gets it. The ring he wore in all of the photos was jus a stand in. The vendor apparently got really backed up with orders and two weeks after the fact we still haven’t received it. It’s a bit of a sore spot around here.
We got our first photo back from our fantastic photographer Mary Sledd!! Here it is.
We’re looking forward to receiving more this week!
And finally starting to feel like we can breathe again. Our wedding weekend was a whirlwind, followed by a very relaxing honeymoon, and then a rush of awaiting responsibilities when we returned home. I’m sitting in our living room surrounded by accoutrements from our centerpieces and left over wrapping paper from gifts. We have vendor issues to resolve and I haven’t exactly started on our thank you notes (Sorry friends and family. I promise that I really am thankful.). We’ve had a shocking plunge into the real adult world, but things are calming down–especially since I was dismissed from jury duty today. Yes, right before the wedding I got a letter asking me to come in for jury duty the day after we returned from the honeymoon. Thankfully that was delayed and then today they let me return to my normal life with my new hubby. Now where’s that list of thank you notes…
{Here’s a photo of my family and Peter at our rehearsal dinner.}
A couple days ago I posted a sneak peak of our boutonnieres. I originally found the idea through Martha Stewart’s wedding inspiration section on her website. Personally I thought it would have been helpful to have just a little bit more detail, so I’m providing that to you.
We made the boutonnieres because it seems like every wedding that Peter and I have attended, the boutonnieres end up getting crushed from all the hugs that the groom and attendants receive. We felt it was silly to spend a lot of money on something that so often gets destroyed. After looking for inexpensive alternatives, Peter and I felt that these particular boutonnieres would hold up through a ton of hugs, could be made well in advance, and still had an element of sophistication. Peter’s family bought most of the materials to make them this summer but after piecing together all of the receipts it it seems like they spent about $15 on 12 boutonnieres–rather than the $180 or more that it would have cost through a florist.
All in all the project was really easy! The first boutonniere that I made looked great and there was very little tweaking to be done from there on. Nonetheless there were some little bits of information that I wish I had when I started, so here’s a walk through of how to make them.
Martha’s directions called for covered button, but didn’t specify a size. Peter’s mom did a great job guessing. I think the sizes turned out really nicely. We used three different sized button covers 5/8 (pictured), 7/8, and 1 1/8. The directions provided on the box of button covers are really clear. Each size comes with a separate pattern. You cut out the pattern and trace it onto the wrong side of your fabric.
Then you cut out a circle in the necessary size. (The edges won’t show, so you don’t need to cut it perfectly.)
Below is a bad picture of what to do, but basically you hold the fabric tightly and push the button and into the mold. I tried to capture this action but you really need two hands to do it so taking a picture impeded the process.
Repeat over and over and over again until your fingers feel like they’re developing blisters from using the button press.
Create stems using floral wire.
Then wrap the ends in floral tape. The leaf is made in a similar way. You create a pattern (Peter used his art skills to do this for me.), cut them out, put a piece of floral wire in between each side, iron them together with the no sew bonding tape, and then wrap the end in floral wire.
After you’ve assembled all of the pieces then you can arrange you bouquet in any way you like. Finally, secure it with floral tape and then cover the floral tape with a pretty ribbon. I’m paranoid about things coming undone so I coated the back of the ribbon in fabric glue that make sure that my knot wouldn’t unravel during the ceremony. Can you imagine, a knot coming undone while you’re tying the knot? OK, bad joke, but it still seems like a bad omen.
So there you have it. That’s how we made the boutonnieres. It took a few hours of solid crafting, but I’m sure it would have gone much faster if I had enlisted a friend. Good luck and happy crafting!
I spent most of Saturday night making these. My fingers are sore from hours of manipulating floral wire, but I’m pleased with the end result.
I’ll be back soon with a DIY breakdown. Hope everyone had a great weekend!
