Archive for October 2017

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Milk Glass Wedding Details for a Modern Vintage Wedding

One of my absolute favorite aspects of wedding planning and my wedding day itself was collecting milk glass for use in floral design. If you're wandering what milk glass is, it's a vintage opaque milky white glass that's made into countless types of vessels and compotes that are absolutely perfect to use for wedding flowers and centerpieces when you're after a modern-vintage aesthetic.

I was engaged for two years which left me plenty of time to collect unique milk glass pieces at good prices from antique malls and flea markets. Generally, I paid less than $10 for smaller pieces and less than $25 for larger pieces. So the cost of collecting the vessels was relatively inexpensive (especially as far as wedding prices go!), but the fun I had hunting them down was absolutely priceless! Hunting for the pieces was something I shared with my mom, dad and fiance. The whole process was so much fun; it was the thrill of the hunt mixed with the joy of working towards creating a beautiful handmade wedding day that made building up my milk glass collection so enjoyable.

I used my milk glass mostly for centerpieces in collections of 3 to 5 pieces per table. I found a "formula" of three pieces and two candlesticks to be especially gorgeous, but some centerpieces just comprised of one large milk glass piece filled to the brim with eye-popping florals. Those centerpieces were stunning too!

What I love about milk glass is even though it's a vintage product, it's pearly white design makes it look entirely fresh and modern too. That's what makes it so perfect for crating a modern-vintage wedding look that's not stuffy, prissy or stodgy. Instead, milk glass looks fresh and elegant while still giving a nod to the past.

Because the milk glass is white, it gives you the opportunity to incorporate your wedding colors in your linens. My primary wedding color was a dusty light blue. Using that color as a tablecloth set off the white of my milk glass beautifully.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and it gave you some inspiration to search out handpicked details for your own wedding! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and Bloglovin' so you never miss a post!

With Love, Katie

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

DIY Walking Photo Tour of the Heart of Paris

Before I went to Paris two things were important to me; that I would explore the city mostly on foot (rather than taking lots of metro rides and missing the scenery!), and that I would come away with beautiful memories and gorgeous pictures to match. If your goals in Paris are similar, this DIY walking photo tour will help you find your way to the most fascinating, historic and picturesque spots in what I consider the "heart of Paris," or Paris's two islands and their close surroundings. If you stop for a bite at the two locations I suggest (which also happen to be great photo opportunities and are on most people's Paris "bucket list"), and head inside the cathedrals and up to the top of Notre-Dame, I would give this tour around 4 hours give or take depending on crowd levels. If you just stop by to look at the outside of the stops I've listed, an hour will be plenty.

I'm including a list of photo stops below, along with a Google Map of the walking directions and exact locations of each here.

1.) Cafe de Flore

This walking tour starts out at one of Paris's most historic cafes, Cafe de Flore. Stop in to take part in a piece of Paris's history, and grab an outside table for a perfect people-watching view of the chic Saint-Germaine-des-Pres neighborhood it inhabits. The hot chocolate here rivals the best in Paris, so don't miss that perfect top-down photo of your table with the chic paper "placemat" making the perfect backdrop.

2.) Cafe Life on Rue de Buci

From Cafe de Flore, make your way down one of Paris's most charming streets, Rue de Buci towards the river. There are plenty of photo opportunities here to capture some of that classic Parisian architecture and cafe life!

3.) Bouquinistes

These historic booksellers were one of my favorite things about Paris! Little green stalls line both sides of the Seine river in the neighborhoods near Paris's two islands selling antique books, old maps, historic botanical prints, and vintage postcards. I could have spent all day sifting through their treasures (and I did end up bringing a few home!) but these historic little shops also make for perfect photo opportunities of something so uniquely Parisian.

4.) Place Dauphine

This charming square located on island Ile de la Cite is a hidden gem! Capture a photo or two of it's gorgeous Parisian architecture. No one was playing when I went there, but it's also a great place to get a glimpse of a favorite Parisian outdoor hobby, a game of Boules!

5.) Sainte-Chapelle

This cathedral is one of Paris's landmark tourist attractions, and for a shutterbug it's absolutely not to be missed! This church is covered floor to ceiling with dazzling stained glass windows. I've seen my fair share of gorgeous European churches, and this one rivals the best!

6.) Notre Dame Facade and Towers

Almost as recognizable as the Eiffel Tower itself, the Paris's Notre Dame cathedral has a stunning facade that's not to be missed! If the lines are not too long, a climb up to Notre Dame's towers is well worth the effort for an up-close view of the cathedral's famed gargoyles.

7.) Au Vieux Paris d'Arcole Cafe

You've probably seen this wisteria covered cafe on your instagram feed once or twice before. Just a block from the Notre Dame, it's entirely worth the quick detour to snap a photo of one of the most photogenic cafes in the world!

8.) Pont de l'Archevêché

This bridge is the perfect photo spot to snap a picture of the back of the Notre Dame Cathedral and it's iconic flying buttresses. The greenery spilling down along the riverbanks doesn't hurt, either!

9.) Berthillon

This world famous ice cream makes for one great Instagram picture, not to mention the perfect treat for the end of this walking tour! I tried both fruity and sweet flavors, you can't go wrong with either!

10.) (Bonus Stop) Shakespeare and Company

While this famed english-speaking bookstore doesn't allow for photos inside, from the outside you can capture a shot of the facade in all it's charm and glory.

Friday, October 13, 2017

9 Little Touches That Will Make Your Wedding Day Even More Perfect

1.) Have a bridesmaid’s (and father’s) first look

None of my bridesmaids saw my wedding dress before I put it on on my wedding day, but even if yours do, including a bridesmaid’s first look when you’re all done up in your gown, jewelry, makeup and hair is such a special moment and makes for such amazing pictures capturing all of your girls reactions to your bridal look. I also had this moment with my dad, and these ended up being some of my favorite pictures from the whole day. So special!

2.) Skip the receiving line to have some private time with your new husband right after the ceremony.

One of my favorite, and most memorable, moments of my whole day was the 15 or so minutes of private time I had with my husband after the ceremony. We spent the time in the bridal suite noshing on some hors d’oeuvres provided by our caterer, just buzzing, trying to let our married status sink in, and revving ourselves up for the party to come. I can’t recommend having this private time enough! Even though we had time together before the ceremony taking our bridal portraits, nothing compared to the feeling of complete elation after the ceremony we got to just share with each other.

3.) Wear Comfortable Shoes

This doesn’t mean you have to scrimp on your bridal shoe style, or go with flats. I chose to go with BADGELEY MISCHKA heeled sandals, but boy was I glad that I didn’t have to think about my feet hurting on my wedding day. Dancing, celebrating, socializing, my feet were the last thing I wanted to think about and I’m glad I didn’t have to think about them at all. If you must wear stilettos for your ceremony, bring more comfortable shoes to change into during the reception just in case!

4.) Don’t discount the popular traditions

I know some brides avoid those super-popular or cheesy traditions like the plague for fear of seeming unoriginal or cookie cutter; the bouquet toss, the garter toss, a unity sand ceremony, or a sparkler send off. We’ve all seen them a million times, and I know I had doubts that kept me from doing some of these even though I thought most of them sounded like fun. The thing is, though, those “cheesy” traditions that I chose to do (namely a bouquet toss and a sparker send off) are some of the most memorable moments of my night. The image I got when turning around at the end of the night and watching all of my friends and family standing and holding beautiful sparkling fireworks is the single moment most burned into my brain from my wedding day. Seriously! Don’t discount wedding traditions just because they’re done so often. Chances are, they’re done so often because they’re awfully fun!

5.) Practice (or choreograph) your first dance

I’m not a dancer, my husband is not a dancer, and my dad is not a dancer. None of that changes the fact that taking lessons for my first dance and my father/daughter dance was one of the most fun parts of wedding planning, and performing those dances were one of the most fun moments of the day! Wether you want something entirely choreographed (we did this, and even complete choreography can be made to look natural and graceful) or just some dancing tips, taking the time to practice or take lessons for your first or parent dances will be an incredibly fun, and once in a lifetime, bonding experience! Plus, adding in some twirls and sweeps will snag you some incredible action shots from your photographer!

6.) Take the time to add personal touches to your wedding ceremony

During the cocktail hour, the number one thing all my wedding guests said to me was how much they loved the ceremony. My husband and I spent a lot of time thinking it through, thinking of how to make it unique and personal, and I think it paid off big time by setting the stage for the intimate, romantic and celebratory night we had to come! We included a hand fasting ceremony using the poem “Blessing of the Hands” (look it up, it’s so great. Makes me cry every time!), a communal blessing (where our wedding guests joined in a reading printed in their program, and we did joint vows (where we wrote them together, and took turns reading our lines) to make our ceremony personal, unique, and meaningful to us.

7.) Include sentimental items

There’s so much to see, do and think about on your big day that when your consciousness lands on one of your small sentimental touches it’s such a beautiful, comforting moment. I included lace from my grandmother’s veil to wrap my bouquet, and my grandparent’s wedding china on my sweetheart table. While so many details escape your notice on the big day, I didn’t find myself missing these sweet, sentimental touches that made my wedding day that much more special.

8.) Choose Items and Activities That Create Mementos

Lots of people repeat the sentiment that all you have left after the wedding day are the photos. That doesn’t have to be true! On my wedding day I made a conscious effort to choose activities and items that would leave me with lasting mementos to place around my house or in shadowboxes to remember my wedding for years to come. Instead of a photo booth, I chose to have a silhouette artist hand cut silhouettes for me and my guests that can be framed as artwork. I chose a gorgeous embroidered vintage handkerchief from my grandmother’s collection to use as my something blue and to mop my tears during my ceremony that I’m having custom framed so I can admire it every day. Gorgeous vow books are another idea we used. Whatever you choose, planning your beautiful day to include beautiful items you can treasure forever is a great way to add something even more special to your wedding day and all your days after the wedding.

9.) Don’t shy away from DIY

Even if crafting isn’t your thing, making some aspects of your wedding day handmade will make you feel even more connected to the day, it’s events, and give you an incredible sense of pride when you see your vision come to life. While I did get crafty and made two custom wedding corn hole boards, one of the most fun “DIY’s” for my day was creating my own signature cocktail! In the months leading up to the wedding I mixed a ton of different drinks, trying to find one with the perfect taste, color, and garnish to match my day. I landed on a Lavender Bee’s Knees, a 1920’s drink that I garnished with a fresh sprig of lavender, perfect for my modern-vintage theme! I made the mixer myself to give to my bartenders on the wedding day. Another non-craft DIY that I still totally consider a DIY was collecting all of the antique milk glass for my wedding centerpieces. Smaller, accomplishable DIY’s like this make the preparation for the wedding day so enjoyable and gives your day a really personal feel! (Not to mention, trying fancy cocktails every weekend for months is just. plain. fun.)

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

DIY Preserved Wedding Flower Shadowbox

Hey lovelies! I'm coming to you with my best and most precious DIY to date, a gorgeous shadowbox displaying some of my preserved wedding flowers! I absolutely adore my shadowbox. I think it looks so delicate and lovely, and is a perfect reminder of the beauty that surrounded me on my wedding day. I'm planning on including this piece in a wedding gallery wall, and I know that it will add so much texture and dimension to the collection of wedding day memories!

Before the wedding I looked extensively into bouquet preservation ideas. I thought of having them sent to a professional, being made into jewelry, pressed, preserved in resin, but in the craziness leading up to the wedding all of the plans I would have needed to put in place to preserve the flowers in those ways went by the wayside. It wasn't until the day after the wedding that I finally had a chance to google one last time to see what my options for preservation were. I landed on one of the easiest, most affordable, and as it turns out, most successful ways of preserving wedding flowers: Silica Gel.

Yes, silica gel, as in what comes in those little packets stuck into pockets of new clothes that say "DO NOT EAT." You can buy silica gel meant for preserving flowers very inexpensively (especially when considering the cost of professional bouquet preservation services, which cost HUNDREDS) on Amazon. The process of drying your flowers with the silica beads is very simple; all you do is layer the flowers with the silica beads until the entire flower is covered in an air-tight tupperware container, close the lid, and leave the tupperware containers alone for about 5 days (some of my dense roses needed a few extra days to dry completely, but most were dried in this time).

The picture above is what my flowers looked like at the END of the drying process. I used this silica gel method to dry flowers from my centerpieces but did the traditional "hang the bouquet upside down to dry" method for the flowers in my bouquet. I found that the flower dried with silica gel retained so much more of their original color (my flowers that were hung to dry are much more brown) and more of their original shape (where the flowers that were hung to dry look much more shriveled). Such incredible results for such a simple and inexpensive process!

Once your flowers are dried you can move on to the really fun part, arranging it into a shadowbox! After an extensive search the shadowbox I finally settled on is actually the inexpensive Ikea Ribba Frame. I chose this because my gallery wall is going to include a number of white gallery frames, which this will blend with perfectly, and because I thought the size was perfect;not too big, not too small, but plenty deep to accommodate for the layering of flowers in your display. It even comes with a mat that you can choose to put on top of your flowers if you want to make your flower display even smaller or give your shadow box a more traditional picture frame look.

Now that we have the two most essential ingredients lined up, your dried flowers and your shadow box, without further ado, here is how to make a gorgeous keepsake preserved wedding flower shadowbox!

Materials:

Silica Gel for Preserving Flowers
Ikea 9" x 9" Ribba Frame
Glue Gun and Sticks
One Sheet of White Cardstock or Scrapbook Paper (for backing of flower display)
Pencil
Scissors
Dried Flowers

Directions

1.) Organize your dried flowers by type. I found this useful so all of my filler flowers, long stemmed flowers, and greenery that I had was easy to see making it easier to create a balanced composition in my shadowbox.

2.) Use the paper that comes in the Ikea shadowbox frame to trace onto your scrapbook paper or card stock. Cut out the scrapbook paper along your traced lines. You will use this paper as the backing for your dried flower display.

3.) Before you begin gluing, I recommend arranging your flowers onto the cardstock so you can get a general idea of the overall shape and design you are looking for. For me, after doing this step, I discovered I liked the look of the tall greenery all fanning out from the bottom center of the scrapbook paper.

4.) Begin using your hot glue gun to secure your flowers onto your scrapbook paper. I found I liked the look best when I applied many overlapping layers of dried flowers, and used smaller filler flowers to fill in most white spots so the scrapbook paper in the background was less visible. Don't be too generous with your hot glue during this step, the flowers are very light and only need a light touch to secure them to the paper or layers of flower underneath, and the overall look of your shadowbox will be better without obvious globs of hot glue peeking out.

So there you have it! A fun, easy, and inexpensive way to preserve and treasure your wedding bouquet or centerpiece flowers forever! Take my word for it when I say the pictures of this project really don't do it justice. The texture, color and dimension the shadowbox has in real life is absolutely stunning.

I hope this has inspired you to create something beautiful with your own wedding flowers after the big day! Let me know if you try this or have tried any other flower preservation techniques! As always, don't forget to follow me on bloglovin' so you never miss an update!

With Love, Katie

Monday, October 9, 2017

15 Photos Of Paris That Will Inspire Your Wanderlust

Paris needs no introduction with its many world-class, ultra recognizable monuments. The beauty of Paris, though, is not only in it's monolith attractions but in the small corners; a cafe table, unexpected street art, a beautiful sunset is where the true beauty of Paris lies! Get ready to scroll through pictures, of both the small surprises in Paris along with images of it's more well known monuments, that are sure to inspire you to start checking flight prices to Charles de Gaulle!