Old to me, new to you: FOR SALE!!!

Hey ladies...I'm selling some of my leftover wedding items and decor from the big day.  If there is anything you might be interested in (especially for you local So Cal ladies) let me know.  Everything is in great condition.

27  4x6" photo frames in 3 different decorative patterns of silver - used as luminary table numbers and for miscellaneous signs - $20 total

Custom designed vintage pearl bracelet (made out of a clip on earring) - $25.00

24 turquoise paper covered glass cups (used to hold pens on cocktail and dining tables for scrapbook/guestbook at photobooth) - $10.00

Brown wicker basket (currently covered in silk red fabric) used for flip flops and/or photobooth props - $15.00

70 Glassine Envelopes (used for lottery tickets or tissue packs) - $5.00

13 Keychain 5 foot tape measures - used as favors (for bridal party or showers?) Reads "Love Beyone Measure" on label - $5.00 total

30 Large sized BLACK GLOSSY Gable Boxes (image does not show color of actual item) - $15.00

E-mail me at jkr2995@aol.com if you are interested.  Paypal and cash forms of payment accepted.  No shipping for local buyers who want to meet up (I am in Orange County, CA).  Buyer pays any shipping costs.

Wed recap: Red is so *not* my color...

...but for some reason, I totally wanted it all over my wedding.  So not like me.  It has never been a favorite color of mine at all.  In fact, I don't think I even own one solid red piece of clothing really other than maybe a t-shirt or two.  Actually, I do have a pair of super cute red velvety type pants.  I only wear them at Christmas though. 

Whenever I saw red at weddings I've been to in the past, I would totally think "Um, very original.  Really?  The best you could come up with was the color of love and Valentine's day?  Wow, lots of thought went into this one."  Isn't that horrible to be so judgmental?  But I was.

So what made me suddenly decide to incorporate red in my own wedding so much so that it is seen in everything from the flowers to the bridesmaid dresses to the favor boxes to the groomsmen vests to the favors to the votives and the linens?  I guess because it really is a deep, rich, romantic color.  That and the fact that it is always cheaper easy to find flowers in that color. 

I tried to offset this 'red' infusion by leaning towards more of a cranberry/burgundy red and not a bright traditional red.  I think I did a good job.  I loved the color.  I guess some colors are just classic and cannot lead you wrong.  Anyway, the reason I share all of this is to preface all these pics from my photog, Robert Mullins of the red details, touches, attire and decor of our wedding.  Here ya go!

Our sweetheart table.  We needed to keep it simple because we had them 'tear it down' as soon as we were finished eating to make room on the dance floor.

One of the tall centerpieces.  I loved these.  They were inspired by a much more simple version of white tulips sprayed out of a tall vase and we added more green to bring in more of the spring appeal.

A table with the low version of the centerpieces before the tables were completely set up.  I like this shot because it focuses on all the touches of cranberry red - the satin linen napkins, the votive candles, the chinese takeout favor boxes and the circus box kid's favor boxes as well as the burgundy colored dahlias sitting in the tiny little votive vases.

A closer up shot of the low centerpiece which displays all of the elements above

after the guests had invaded the tables!

I took a wicker basket from Michael's that was on sale for 40% off and bought some red silk fabric.  My mom wrapped it around the wicker basket and sewed it up to create our flip flop basket.  We now use the basket for laundry after the wedding :)

Of course, I *had* to incorporate the red throughout the stationery and favor items.  These were the little tissue packs we created as an afterthought after seeing them on several blog sites.

We were even able to have the photobooth company incorporate red as the backdrop for our pictures (favors) for the guests and guestbook!

Though not completely assembled yet, this picture shows the red elements at the ceremony area:  Tulips submerged in the vase that the larger sprays sat on top of, the red boxes that the floral arrangements sat on and the red gerbera daisies at the end of each aisle.

Again, I incorporated the red on the stationery items...like these signs we put at the end of the first five rows saving the seats for family members.  (Courtesy of Serendipity Designs)

Here's a shot of the ceremony area once the guests were seated showing the aisle adorned with deep red petals and the cranberry linen cloth on the communion and unity cross table.

Of course there were my fabulous red shoes that I so adore!!!

And the beautiful bouquet from Allison of Flower Allie that was filled with different shades of deep reds.

I was totally in love with the bridesmaid dresses (Jasmine B2) and their bouquets.

Here's the entire wedding party showing the red ties/vests, gowns and florals all together.

Just love it in this setting at the venue!

I even custom designed (with the help of my wonderful jewelery designer/maker, Jeanette Readinger) gifts for my bridesmaids that were necklaces incorporating the colors of the cranberry red and turquoise gems.

So let's hear it, ladies?  Was there something you just fell in love with regarding your wedding that you never thought you would want or use or incorporate or maybe wasn't part of your normal style?

PS:  I will go into more detail about the florals and other items I mentioned here in future recaps more specific to those items :)

I'm a big fan - of our FAN programs!

Thank you SO much all you lovely ladies who overwhelmed me with wonderful encouragement in comments on yesterday's post.  Though the rest of the day led to more wedding related frustration (post tomorrow), the night ended with us having our final menu tasting.  We do in fact LOVE our caterer, Steve of La Finestra and are excited for the yummy food he's providing as well as how amazingly accommodating he has been.  So things are moving along on the wedding front. 

The last thing I just finished were the final elements of our stationery.  Let me tell you that getting the invitations designed and done up was a LONG process - but well worth it.  The benefit is that now that I have the same girl (company) making the rest of our stationery items, she has all the colors and design elements and knows what I am looking for. 

She has just shipped the programs for the ceremony and has the place cards and some reserved seating cards in production.  For the program, again, I wanted something a little different.  When I first found these 'fan' programs on blogs and web sites, I fell in love with them.  Even though they've probably become a bit more popular, I still love the idea.  Here were the inspiration pictures I shared with Stacia of Serendipity Designs:

How cute is this program (ok, it's not a fan -

but I love the little images of guys and girls for how they listed the bridal party!)

Here's some of the great fan programs I love:

This one is actually an entire stationery set:

This one was from the wedding that inspired my color scheme:

Joyful Events Wedding Coordination

Joyful Events Wedding Coordination

And here's the proofs of what Stacia came up with for our own program:

These are the lyrics to the song that I will walk down the aisle to...we are having them printed on the back of the ceremony page of the program:

And here is our final product!!!

Did you put much thought into your programs?  Was there anything unique or significant / special about them?

100 Followers - And a giveaway!

It's official...I've been watching that little image on the right side of my blog wondering if I'd reach 100 followers.  Well, on Friday evening it happened:

YEA!

So of course, with a special landmark like this should come a giveaway of some sort, right?  I am excited to say that I have been contacted by a company to host a giveaway on March 1st.  I am in the process of finalizing the details so stay tuned next month for that one.  But for now, I'd love to give something away to a fellow blogger as a thank you for all of your support and wonderful feedback, comments and overall encouragement.

Problem is, I'm not sure what to give away!  I actually have two things leftover from the wedding (that hasn't even happened yet) that I am not going to be able to use.  I was thinking of selling them originally but figured maybe I'd just give one of them away instead.  So how about some feedback?

If you would be interested in one of the two following items, let me know.  By Wednesday morning I will announce which item I have decided to give away and will have a contest started that will end Friday evening with a winner announced on Saturday. 

Item # 1:  100 Red Chinese Take out Boxes

These are half pint size and measure 3" x 2 1/4" x 2 1/2"  I originally purchased them as favor boxes for the wedding but the red didn't match the deeper shade of cranberry that is my wedding colors.  So now I'm left with these brand new beauties.  You could use them to hold mini cupcakes as a favor at a bridal shower, birthday party or wedding.  Or for candy bar containers.  We decorated ours with colored ribbon and favor tags/stickers.  Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, they'd make a great way to package gifts for friends, a classroom, church group, etc.

Item # 2:  Flower Girl or Junior Bridesmaid Dress

                    

You may remember that I didn't feel like this dress matched the style of my wedding after we received it.  It was originally purchased for my 6 year old cousin shown above and can be worn shorter or longer depending on the height of the girl.  The turquoise sash is detachable and so it can be coordinated with any color.  You can even add some embellishments (rhinestones, brooches, flowers, etc) if you are crafty enough.  It is a size 8 and cost $85 at a bridal salon...brand new, never altered...could be an amazing prize and dress for the right bride/person.

So majority will win.  Whichever item gets the most feedback as being desired will be the one I'll giveaway.

The Flip Flop Favors! - My latest DIY (sort of)

So I posted a few months back about how I wanted to incorporate an idea I had learned about from my amazing wedding coordinator, Amanda of In the Now Weddings at our reception.  Check it out here...flip flops for your guests (probably the girls) to kick off their heels while dancing the night away!  Well, I bought the flip flops back at the end of the summer when they were obviously going on sale.  And I found a wholesale site called Dollar Days where I was able to purchase 72 pairs of flip flops for about $1.25 each.  I didn't get to pick specific colors going this route but  I opted for simplicity and variety so that if the ladies used them and then took them home, they may actually be in colors they would like.   Also got a variety of sizes, too obviously.

Well, here's the photos from my sis, mom and I putting them all together last weekend (please remember as I've said many times before, my sucky camera is not true to actual color all the time):

Flip flops in their packaging:

Wicker laundry basket I found for 40% off at Michael's that we covered in some satin red fabric:

Mom & Sis helping unpackage and retie flip flops with the aqua colored ribbon I bought at the LA Flower Market, 100 yds for $8!  It was cheap but it worked for this simple inexpensive project/favor:

Some of the finished flip flops all tied together:

The flip flops in the basket:

My scrapbooking sister is already working on a cute pair of cut out flip flops as the sign for the front of this basket.  I'll show that to you once we get it finalized.  :)  Thanks to my mom who sewed the fabric onto the basket! 

So, what do you think?  Are you doing any unexpected favors or gifts that are more for your guest's convenience than for a theme or style of your big day?