Hi there! It's Sharon here with a post combining a few of my favorite things:
Prima, Pinterest, and True Love!
My daughter, Brittany, is a scrapbooker, DIY-freak, and graphic designer (she designed the "Welcome to Paris" line last year.) When she got engaged to her sweetie, Josiah, last summer I knew we would ALL be up to our eyeballs in DIY wedding projects the whole next year!
Britt scoured Pinterest and a ton of wedding sites for ideas...then found a way to incorporate her favorite ideas to fit her wedding style, budget, and color palette.
(Of course Prima played a part.)
I'd love to share a few of my girl's wedding ideas & tips with you today! Hopefully they will inspire you! (Most of the photos are by the wonderful guests who caught sweet memories in the making.)
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Start a Pinterest board
A picture is worth a thousand words. Collect all those hairstyles, flower arrangements, color ideas, recipes, decorations, etc., in ONE place online. Not only will this help YOU organize ideas, but you can send a link to your florist, hairdresser, photographer, and baker to help them get a better idea of your style.
Pick a color palette
Once you start pinning you will get a better idea of what YOU like. Hopefully you will also get an idea of what colors you want in your wedding. Brittany chose a color palette to work from that was fun and fresh! She chose yellow & grey, with a splash of UK blue. Make your colors extra special by including your sweetie's favorite color (or a color from his favorite sport's team. Yeah-her hubby is a HUGE University of Kentucky fan!)
Brittany used the palette as the base to pull everything together: from the flowers, to the cake, to her wedding shoes. (She even had a cute little yellow Instax camera and yellow/grey cornhole bags! The palette helped everything look super coordinated without it being too matchy-matchy.)
Start making some of those time-consuming projects right away!
Start with the most important and time consuming projects first. Get those going because time slips away faster than you can imagine. Write out your top 10 priorities and start with number 1. EX: Britt ordered a custom wedding dress, then added her own home-made floral rosettes to it. She literally worked on this dress most of the year!
Her fascinator was also hand-made!
(Prima's gorgeous white fabric flowers would be perfect for this!)
(Prima White Flower Selection)
The one-of-a-kind fascinator and dress looked gorgeous together!
Custom Orders
Britt found she actually SAVED money by custom ordering certain items-like her retro-inspired bridesmaids' dresses! Search online until you find what you like. Etsy is a great place to look for one-of-a-kind items. PLUS you are supporting a lot of home/small businesses.
The bridesmaids all coordinated, but each dress style was different fitting the gals' personalities and figures!
It's okay to splurge a teensy bit on a few items! Britt/Jobes really wanted Jones Soda with custom labels in their wedding colors, but decided to pass on it. (I ordered a few cases just to surprise them! What fabulous keepsakes.)
Make some fun and easy-to-create items too!
The flower girls are near and dear to Brittany and Josiah so they had dresses made for Amariah & Sophia, created their Prima-filled hair wreaths, & decorated their baskets with Prima flowers and vines. Since most of these projects were simple in nature they were done about a month or two before the wedding. (And kids GROW...so order their outfits as close to the wedding date as possible to ensure a great fit!)
Ask for help!
Throw a decorating party for friends and relatives to help get some of those time-consuming projects out of the way. People don't have to be crafty to help make crafty items! With all of the online tutorial help available a lot of gorgeous elements can be hand-made and look fabulous.
Brittany loved the yellow and grey papers that Prima offers. She chose patterns from Prima's "Welcome to Paris", "Hello, Pastel", & "Divine" Collections for this paper rosette photo backdrop. It took a lot of work to put it together (thank you, Durham family!), but it was a big hit at the reception!
Britt painted chalkboard paint on wood slices so guests could write their own personal message while a friend took Instax
photos of the guests with those messages. Britt and Josiah will put the photos in their own personal guest book. What a FUN idea for guests and the bride/groom.
Pull out your Sizzix Machine and Dies!
Brittany used Prima's new flower dies and a Sizzix machine to make a lot of the flowers on this styrofoam monogram...which she hung at the entrance of the barn reception area! (after the wedding you can hang it in your home.) Britt used Prima's papers, cupcake liners and old book pages to create flowers, then tucked real Prima flowers all over it for extra fullness.)
Add unique elements to your wedding!
Brittany and Josiah had SO MANY ideas they wanted to incorporate for their reception! Make a list putting the most important ones at the top and include as many as time and your budget allow. Here are a few fun elements Britt/Josiah included:
FUN SLIDE
What a perfect introduction for the wedding party at the reception AND for all the kids later! This was a HUGE hit all-around.
Cotton Candy Stand
Corn Hole
It might be a Kentucky thing, but it was so much fun! Brittany used the above photo as inspiration, but added her own custom touches. Josiah's grandfather built the custom game boards, while Britt painted their own silhouettes on each one and found yellow/grey bean bags online.
Floor Decals
Brittany chose doily designs online and had a local store print decals for her. After the reception they were easy to peel up! What a cool idea to add a bit of romantic flair to the dancing area.
ENJOY!
There are so many other things I would love to share. A wedding is a huge event to pull off, but try to enjoy the process! Make memories and have fun together. Add personal touches to make it yours.
But, most of all, rejoice in the union of two people starting out their new life as Mr. And Mrs.!
(photos by Gina L., Sue F., Bethany G., and Sharon L.)
WOW!! What a fantastic collection of goodies that was!! Prima is squeezed into everything I own / make too. lol. I hope the happy couple have a life filled with health and happiness. Thanks for sharing, Sharon.
Posted by: Danielle Tilley | Monday, August 26, 2013 at 12:01 PM
wow, i want a wedding like this!
Posted by: amante del papel | Monday, August 26, 2013 at 12:53 PM
Thanks for sharing-beautiful!
Posted by: Donna | Monday, August 26, 2013 at 01:31 PM
Thats really great idea! and color combination and use of prima products! Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: SvetlanaV | Monday, August 26, 2013 at 02:54 PM
How cool Sharon this wedding was!!! Thanks for sharing some tips with us! :)
Posted by: Rommel | Monday, August 26, 2013 at 03:56 PM
Can this wedding BE ANY MORE BEAUTIFUL! WOW! The bride is stunning and I LOVE all her handmade creations. That dress is a labor of LOVE! Perfection! Many blessings to the happy couple!
Posted by: Adrienne Ford | Monday, August 26, 2013 at 05:22 PM
Oh, beautiful wedding!
Posted by: Naiara | Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 12:29 AM
Sharon, thanks for sharing such a special event and providing great tips for party planning - both wedding and any gathering. Fabulous photos and such gorgeous family. Prima can certainly make any event perfect. Here's to a long and happy life together fro the bride and groom, and many cherished family times for the entire clan.
Posted by: Jennifer JRABS | Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 05:40 AM
wow this is so fantastic!! I love all the ideas and the decorations!! beautiful wedding!!!
Posted by: Keren Tamir | Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 09:45 AM
Thanks for sharing their wedding looked like so much fun and so wonderful
Posted by: Maria Garzon | Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 11:12 AM
What a fantastic wedding! Some really fabulous ideas!! Thanks so much for sharing all the deets!!!
Posted by: Helen Tilbury | Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at 05:07 PM
Wow, Adorable photos!! I love weddings, specially make the wedding gowns. She looks so pretty and happy, love her dress! Congratulations to the newlyweds!Very Lovely wedding!TFS!!
Posted by: Marilyn | Wednesday, August 28, 2013 at 05:31 PM
Oh WOW Sharon! had to re-read and scroll several times to just soak in all the fab tips and beautiful photos. Thank you so much for sharing! xox
Posted by: Eila Sandberg | Thursday, August 29, 2013 at 12:32 PM