Of course I was so excited to help out, especially when she started telling me some of her ideas...right up my alley! Let me now confess, Pinterest has become my new best friend! Maele and I would post ideas we liked, and occasionally we would both post the same thing, at practically at the same moment, we were so on the same page it was great! She wanted something rustic, and vintage,yet wanted it to look warm and inviting.
The reception was being held in the gymnasium at the church, and you know how echoing and cavernous those rooms can be. It is difficult to hide the fact you are in a gym without spending a fortune. (which we did not have) We have old doors and windows from our many remodeling projects, and used those as backdrops.
*disclaimer*
Silly me, I forgot to bring my camera, so the pictures are mostly from farm boy's cell phone, so they are not always real clear
*sorry*
Maele and I both really like the bunting banners that are so popular now, and Maele had made several with fabric, but I came up with a vintage style banner.
For her shower I made a garland out of vintage hankies, and cut letters from cardstock to spell out the Bride and Groom's names. I used clothespins to hang them from a clothesline and used sticky dots to fasten the letters to the front of the clothespins. At the reception, we hung it from our old doors behind the video table. Also at her shower, I used mason jars wrapped with lace for the drinks, I knew she wanted to use mason jars for part of her centerpieces on the tables, so that was the start.
Maele decorated many, many, more jars with lace, burlap, bakers twine, and buttons, and used them on the tables, and around the gym to decorate. She filled one jar with flowers & one had Epsom salts with a battery powered candle. There were also pictures of the couple on each table. A colorful tablecloth, and a burlap runner tied at the ends with bakers twine completed the tables. Her colors were purple, yellow and gray. Looks pretty, don't you think?
As the guests entered the gym, we had a table set up with the guest book, and used a vintage suitcase to hold the cards.
Next to that, was a long table to hold gifts, see the cute "just married" banner Maele made?
Moving along the line, there was an antique treadle sewing machine, with a wedding quilt displayed across it.
The next stop was the receiving line.
Maele had made a garland with strips of fabric and lace to hang between the doors that were for their backdrop. Didn't it look pretty? I love the softnes
s of the fabric with the chippy contrast of the doors. Maele and Collin and their parents stood in front of this backdrop to greet guests.I had planned to do a word art collage on an old window,
in time for Maele's shower, but unfortunately there just wasn't enough time...(I will still get it finished, Mae) So I quickly whipped up a darling wreath to hang on the window. It is made with white felt and burlap rosettes. Isn't it darling? The denim quilt on the couch is made 
from Collin's old clothes- things from babyhood on up. What a cute idea!As the guests made their way around the gym the next thing they came to was my FAVORITE decoration of all! ( well one of them)
I have a favorite store in Preston I like to visit. It is called the Gingerbread House, and the owner, Diane always has the cutest ideas. Her store is kind of a cross between a thrift store (without the yuck) an antique mall and a gift shop. She has lots of vintage things and they are displayed in the most creative ways. Anyway, she had a plethora of vintage crates, and since Maele wanted to use crates as part of her display, and vintage crates are costly!, Diane kindly let us rent practically all she had, and look at this!
We used an old ladder found in our barn, and suspended it between the stacked crates. Jars of fresh flowers are hung from the rungs with wire. This picture was taken before we dimmed the overhead lights, and so the doors are quite obvious, but with the lights dimmed, and strings of white lights suspended across the ceiling, the doors and "gym" disappeared into the background. Below are close ups of the
displays inside the crates.
The line wound it's way around the gym, past the crate display, and the TV, to the best part, (for the attendees) the Treats!
Maele served soft serve ice cream with a choice of toppings. I found these silver trays at DI and painted them in the center with chalkboard paint. Isn't that a sweet message?
As the guests were leaving there was another table with a "thank you"
for them to take, and a display of Bridal pictures suspended with ribbon from a large "frame".
All in all, I had a BLAST! I think it all turned out wonderful, and it all looked just as beautiful as the Bride! Thanks for visiting, and grab a sweet stick candy on your way out!
We used an old ladder found in our barn, and suspended it between the stacked crates. Jars of fresh flowers are hung from the rungs with wire. This picture was taken before we dimmed the overhead lights, and so the doors are quite obvious, but with the lights dimmed, and strings of white lights suspended across the ceiling, the doors and "gym" disappeared into the background. Below are close ups of the
displays inside the crates.
The line wound it's way around the gym, past the crate display, and the TV, to the best part, (for the attendees) the Treats!
Maele served soft serve ice cream with a choice of toppings. I found these silver trays at DI and painted them in the center with chalkboard paint. Isn't that a sweet message?
As the guests were leaving there was another table with a "thank you"
for them to take, and a display of Bridal pictures suspended with ribbon from a large "frame".
All in all, I had a BLAST! I think it all turned out wonderful, and it all looked just as beautiful as the Bride! Thanks for visiting, and grab a sweet stick candy on your way out!
