Wedding Sneak Peak

My best friend's wedding that I have been preparing for, took place last weekend. I have to say that I did not quite anticipate the difficulty of planning and designing the event, while also being her maid of honor. I definitely could have used a few more of me. Overall, it turned out wonderfully. The rain stopped just in time for a truly magical evening. The ultimate goal was to make the bride happy and she said it was her "dream wedding come true". I thought I would share a few pictures that I have until she gets the pictures back from her wedding photographer. 

photography credits to Jennifer Oetting Photography

Going Green

Lingerie Shower

One Last Fling Before the Ring...

Floral Design

I admit that I don't know very much about flowers in general. I can only name the most common plants or my favorite flowers. Although I am no florist, I still love putting together beautiful, fresh arrangements. I recently visited a wholesale flower shop for the first time and was completely overwhelmed, not to mention, half frozen from shopping in enormous refrigerated rooms. Since I am doing the centerpieces for my best friend's wedding the end of the month, I figured I would put something together for a trial run. 

I really liked the overall look of the arrangement. I love the funky appeal added by the curly willow and hanging amaranthus. This is just one of the many designs I am using but I'm still working on some other ideas. 

Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Jennifer Oetting Photography

Although the majority of my posts have been wedding related recently, and this one is no exception, I promise this is not turning into a wedding blog. With all the wedding projects I have been in the middle of, there hasn't been much time for anything else. 

Jennifer Oetting Photography

My friend's sister got married last weekend and she wanted to give her something special. She had written her note but wanted a creative way to give it to her. We decided to make a handkerchief by printing the message on fabric. I had a large collection of vintage handkerchiefs from my grandmother that I used, giving her the "something old". Then I took a strip from my friend's wedding dress, along with a button, to create a flower and the "something new". Next, we tied her high school promise ring from her husband onto the flower with a piece of blue ribbon. That took care of "something borrowed" and "something blue". Around the printed message, I added a pink stitch and a green stitch to include the bride's wedding colors. Apparently, she absolutely loved it and adored the sentimental value. 

Monogrammed Tote

This past week has been crazy busy. I have barely had time to read any blog posts, much less write one. We are on a countdown of 32 days until my best friend's wedding and most of my days have been devoted to making sure all of the details are falling into place. Although the thought of having just a month left to everything is somewhat stressful, I absolutely love it. I love spending time with her and being part of such an exciting time in her life. I also love the wedding planning and design part in general, which seems to be leading somewhere in itself. More on that later. 

One of the projects that I just finished is part of the bride's gifts to her bridesmaids. We found these roomy burlap totes at Hobby Lobby for only $9.99 each (You could use a 40% coupon and get one for $5.99). Since she is filling them with all kinds of goodies, she didn't want to spend the money to get the bags embroidered with each girl's initials. Instead, I stenciled the monograms on each bag with fuschia (her wedding color) acrylic paint. As maid of honor, I got to make one for myself as well, and I'm so glad because I love the result! Of course, you can never go wrong with monograms and burlap.

Wedding Invitations

Being that I have had no classes or training using Adobe illustrator, I probably only use a very tiny fraction of the program's capabilities. I discover something new every time I use it and I absolutely love the software. My biggest graphic design project thus far has been creating wedding invitations. Yes, these are for my best friend and bride-to-be that you keep hearing about. I created a few rough designs before she decided that this one was exactly what she wanted. Her wedding color is fuschia and she wanted something simple and elegant. Being the monogram freak that I am, I suggested a classic monogram with the couple's initials. 

After finalizing the invitation, I created a matching RSVP card. I also added a cover card with a matching monogram for presentation. The pieces are all held together with a piece of satin ribbon tied in a dainty little bow. The invitation paper and RSVP cards have a thin pearl border. The pearl color is actually white, not yellow-ish like it looks in the pictures. Obviously, I am completely out of my element when it comes to photography. 

I was so happy that the invitations were exactly what she had envisioned. I love matching the bride's style with the elements of her wedding. I am so excited to make more invitations with different styles and themes.