happy valentine's day!

the "formal" shots...

I think our photographer did an incredible job.

'nuff said.  enjoy!

Reception decor...

Here are some of our fun, little details. I used the scrapbooking paper as decorative backing for the seating arrangements on the log. The florist provided some extra blooms and greenery that we used in mason jaws around the room. In the next photo you can also see our little colouring books for the kiddies. They received these, some crayons tied in ribbon and crowns from the dollar store. (oh, and our bunting is below! - and above, and everywhere!)

Our sweet little receiving line. Everyone loved the old wedding photos. I collected them from family members, printed them in black and white and hung them with clothespins. A "clothesline" of them on twine was on the adjacent wall, and some were clipped to branches.

The mailbox is....my parent's mailbox. Seriously. I asked them to keep an eye out for an old one and they decided they needed a fresh one! The mason jars with sand and candles added a lot of sweet candlelight.

Have you head of this tradition? The single bridesmaids signed my shoe and the first one to rub off is the next to be married.

We sipped from my Mom and Dad's glasses that they used at their wedding, circa 1975.

The bench! My Dad's masterpiece!

Our decorator hung the lanterns from birch trees that were suspended from the ceiling. This was a surprise and so beautiful.

This was the bench by the end of the night. It's such a beautiful souvenir.

Next up - some professional bridal party shots!

let's look at the "in progress" photos, shall we?

All of the photographer's photos look so great! The photos taken along the way aren't as polished but they give you some indication of the hard work we put in!

Our programs....

....made from a variety of patterned papers.  The $40 paper slicer I bought from Staples was a priceless investment.

(my fingers are bleeding just looking at theses...)

Hair pieces in progress. Many glue-gun burns were involved. 

The "kissing game" was done like a draw. I printed and cut "tickets". Half said "bride and groom kiss" and the other were dares. So whoever came up to pick one had to be brave enough to do what was on the card.

Table numbers. I just googled "how to make a photo look like a pencil sketch in photoshop" and got step-by-step instructions. I love google. 

Found these vintage earrings the week before the wedding at the vintage store in my neighbourhood. So sad that I lost one somehow! The photo makes them look a little lack-luster but I think they were perfect!

We used the same vintage-travel-inspired scrapbooking paper on almost everything - the bunting, the programs and even to line some wooden trays my mom had that we used for chocolates and other treats on the receiving line table. 

These photo cards were great. Many of our guests uploaded photos after the wedding so we had something to look at while we waited for the professional shots!

Logs, logs and more logs. My dad worked hard for us.

Seating chart (again, with the same paper). We nailed the table arrangements to the other half of the log that my dad made the guest book bench from. Glad I didn't have to carry it!

cake time!

We are lucky enough to have a very-talented cousin who owns her own cake business. She made our wedding cake as a gift to us. Yes, we're very spoiled. 

The logs my dad cut were used to hold the cake and small votive candles around it. 

I asked my sister to make the cake topper. I wanted me dressed as a bride and brian in his ski gear. She blew me away with what she made! We also made a ton of bunting for around the venue with different scrapbooking paper. I made a mini-bunting for on top of the cake to match.

Umm...doesn't that sound delicious. It was inspired by a cake we nicknamed "chippy" that we would order for every occasion back when I lived in Toronto. I still miss chippy.

(ps. behind it you can see a ton of trays - my mom and other family members made a TON of baking.) We also had fruit and cheese at the midnight snack/dessert buffet.

the table settings...

You can see our centrepieces in the previous post, but here were some small table details.

The favours - leather luggage tags. I changed the DeHavilland logo (many of the planes have this in the museum) to have our initials and wedding date. I hope it's a fun, useful treat!

My dad slaved away cutting all of the birch trees from our backyard (he needed to clear out an area so we decided to repurpose the trees!). He also slices a ton of small and large logs to hold the cake, candles and table numbers. 

Brian researched all of the planes in the museum and each table showcased one. We took photos found online and turned them into pencil sketches with photoshop. They were printed on cardstock with all of the "specs" on the back (wingspan, top speed, history, etc.). We slid these into small pieces of birch trunks to keep with outdoor theme. 

Our menus were printed with the logo on the woodgrain cardstock that was also used for the invitations and programs.

Here's a bit of a panned out view of the reception site. The tablesettings, table cloths, napkins, etc. were all basic white (ie: no additional charge). We did rent the white chairs because the ones available were burgundy office chairs and the arms didn't fit under the table!

We had three, round "head tables". The centre one for B2 and I and our BM and MOH. The other two were for the rest of the bridal party and their dates. These three tables had different tablecloths. We didn't have much choice, but the silver was good enough.

We placed the birch trees in pots behind the head tables with some lighting to highlight them. You can see a few of the centrepieces here. B2's sister also found us a ton of vintage mason jars. We filled them with sand from our beach and pillar candles from the dollar store and placed them everywhere.
They also served as vases for the bridesmaid bouquets to decorate the tables and receiving line area.