WWW - Rehearsal dinner details

As you all know, we are having a laid back BBQ for our rehearsal dinner. For dessert, we are serving pies from the yummiest local pie shop, Missy's (Ben's fave!). Because it is a BBQ, I ordered these sweet little vintage bride and groom pig salt and pepper shakers to put on the pies as a "cake topper."

 To serve the pie and ice cream, I want to order these kraft food boats with  blue gingham basket liners. We decided to go with a blue theme rather than red. 

Going for something like this: 

I think it's the little details like this that really make a party unique and memorable!  

Wedding detail - chinese sky lanterns on the cheap

I fell in love with images of couples releasing chinese sky lanterns at their wedding receptions long ago. There is something so magical about the flickering candlelight floating up and away, carrying wishes for the newly married couple. The pictures are always amazing, and it is a special, unique detail. I also think it is a pretty fun "activity" to do at the reception!

Imagine my surprise when I got an email from Groupon today that featured chinese lanterns for half off as our local deal! Sweet! I snatched that right up and plan to order 20 lanterns. I figure multiple guests can write on each lantern. I'm SO pumped about this! I'll probably try to fit this in at the end of the night, before Ben and I head out.

Heads up! Be sure to check with your venue to see if they allow the use of these lantern. Luckily, ours does! These claim to be 100% biodegradable...I'm hoping this is true. I'd feel bad if not. :)

I doubt there is anyone left on the face of the planet who hasn't yet signed up for Groupon, but if by some chance you haven't, you can do so HERE!

WWW - All In The Details I

What do you most remember about a great wedding? What sticks in your mind? A great band? The food? For me, it's the little details that make the occasion unique to the couple and make it stand out from every other wedding. We are getting married at our country club, everyone and their brother has a country club wedding....so, I think it is important that I pay attention to the details, to make our day special and different.

I'm going to start sharing some of the details I will be incorporating into our big day. At this point, lots of these things are still just plans, nothing has come to fruition thus far. With that said, of course I may not end up doing some of the things I will post about - in the end I imagine time and budget will play a hand in what will get done.

Up first, our wedding map! I've always loved custom maps for weddings. Be it for a save the date, or included in out of town guest bags, there are so many uses for them. The first wedding maps I came across (years ago) were by Laura Hooper. I loved the calligraphy and hand drawn locations...but, at nearly $500 for 100, they are out of the budget.  Then, I kind of moved away from preferring the LH style, and fell in love with a water colored map, like Designs by Robyn Love. Gorgeous, no?! Such a fabulous keepsake from your wedding! But, again, just for the design of the map prices start at $400.

I went hunting for an equally lovely, more affordable option. I found CaligrafiaBella, whose work is gorgeous, but her design fee $200 and you don't get the original artwork included in the price. So, I kept looking. That's when I stumbled up JLH Art Studio. She doesn't have the calligraphy that I love, but her artwork is fabulous! For $75 you receive the original artwork, an 8x10 size. You can then take it to a local print shop to have postcards or whatever made up and hang the original in your new home (well, mine won't be new, but whatever!) This is what I think I will do, add postcards to the guest bags with the weekend agenda and schedule printed on the back side. They will make for a nice souvenir for our guests!

{JLH}

What do you all think? Is JLH a nice compromise or should I shell out a bit more and get my beloved calligraphy from CB (who is still significantly less than the other options listed)?

{CB}

Do you like the idea of a wedding map? Did you have one? If so, how did you use it?