Hand Typed Invitation

Remember Pete and Kat’s engagement shoot that was just featured? Well crafty Kat decided to hand type each of their invitations. Um, excuse me? Soooo cute. I just died. And SUPER crafty. How creative/DIY can you get? Of course the photo on the front is by the ever fabulous Shannon Leith which makes it that much cuter!

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Real Wedding: Amanda and Eric

Amanda and Eric’s wedding was so idyllic and dreamy. The location at the Madison Hotel in Morristown, NJ really takes things to a whole new level. The chandeliers? Excuse me? To die for. And the live band? I heart.

And then of course Elisabeth Millay and Jonathan Young shot the wedding, which means the photos are that much more stunning. I can’t tell you how pleased I am to share this with you.

*Quick DIY note: check out how Amanda incorporated that bright yellow fabric throughout her decor. I can hardly imagine something so modern and fresh is often part of the options for you to choose from at most venues. Consider making your own table runners (much like you see here) in order to incoporate your colors and aesthetic. Runners are SOOO super easy to make and if you get a good deal on fabric, rather affordable. And they make a HUGE impact, as you can see here. Here’s a No Sew Table Runner How To if you’re afraid of the sewing machine.

Real Wedding: Justin and Nicole

I’m really pleased to be able to share Nicole and Justin’s wedding with you. Nicole is the talent behind one of my new favorite home blogs, Kirei Nest (which you should most definitely check out!). Her wedding was very handmade with a number of personal details that went in to making it very unique. After the photos, Nicole has shared about her winter wedding, and all of the family DIY efforts that went into making it such a special day.

A lot of brides are planning their winter weddings now, and it can seem as though there’s not much inspiration out there aside from adding mittens or snowflakes to your theme (at least, that’s how I felt!). Our December wedding showcased rich, bright jewel tones. We added a few details of berries, pomegranates and eucalyptus to keep it seasonal, but other than that we just went off and running with our own style!

We had a traditional, beautiful ceremony at the Naval Academy cathedral in Annapolis, Maryland; but we wanted our reception (at the waterfront Chart House restaurant) to really be unique!

Our family affair highlighted my husband’s Japanese-Hawaiian background and my family’s Italian-ness. My new in-laws spent six months prior to our wedding folding 1,000 paper cranes, the colors of which really inspired our palette. Our 1,000 cranes symbolize lifelong love and peace, and we cherish them. We gave a few strands to close relatives and gently string a few around our Christmas tree as modern garland, but we really hope to hang them from the ceiling of our “dream” home someday.

My husband’s grandparents flew in from Hawaii with beautiful orchid leis for all of the groomsmen to wear at the reception, and we incorporated orchids into our cake- along with winter berries, because I was afraid things were getting a little too “tropical” for December on the East Coast! We adored our cake, created by Charm City Cakes in Baltimore (just before they got their own TV show on the Food Network and became impossible to book!).

One of my grandmas and an uncle made our family’s cherished Italian cookies for dessert. Another uncle made three varieties of his famous biscotti for dessert. My other grandma sewed sashes for our bridesmaids’ champagne dresses from berry silk ribbon.

I wore my grandma’s headpiece from her wedding in 1959. It is made of pearls and glass beads- perfect, because I am decidedly not a rhinestone type of girl!) and was very intricately hand-strung in Armenia. It was beautiful when she unearthed it from her attic, but some of the beads’ lustre had dulled or chipped and a few strings were loose. So, I did a bit of repair sewing myself and painted a teensy bit of pale apricot Chanel nail polish to restore shine where needed. No one was the wiser! I can’t begin to tell you how special it was to wear my grandma’s tiara; it’s a treasure!

It’s really heart-warming to look back at our wedding, which I planned before I ever found out about wedding blogs. When I first found sites such as yours, Snippet & Ink, Style Me Pretty and such, I began to think of all the ways I could have made my wedding “better.” We didn’t even think of half of the inspiring details I’ve since learned about, nor could we have afforded most of the to-die-for vendors I see featured everywhere!

But now, I see that our day really did incorporate a lot of DIY and special touches that might have been lost otherwise. And, they are even more special to me because they are original.

Pom Kit Giveaway Winners!

Chosen at random, our winners of the Prost to the Host giveaway are…

#114 Rachel and #21 Jenn K.   Woohoo! Please email Grey (greylikesweddings@gmail.com) your address to receive your prize!

Engaged: Peter and Kat

Peter and Kat are another couple that has chosen an incredibly creative location for their engagement session. They picked the Cerritos Library,where a myriad of backdrops made for a super fun shoot. See! I’m all about the museum/hotel situation for these types of things.

Special thanks to the UNBELIEVABLY fabulous photographer Shannon Leith for sending these over. She did such a great job making the library seem that much cooler.

Gifting: Spicing up the Registry

While on the topic of bridal showers, my friend Katie complained to me about giving gifts off the dreaded registry. As she put it: It’s so boring and impersonal! Which is funny, because although it can definitely be impersonal for the giver, it is decidedly NOT for the recipients.

Registering is a deeply personal experience…that involves Pottery Barn, a gun-like scanner and limitless possibilities. But I agreed with Katie that as the giver, one may feel a little lack luster by purchasing the first item on the registry that we’re actually able to locate within the labyrinth of said store.

HOWEVER! I’ve got a few suggestions for turning what could be an impersonal purchase, into a present that has room for your gift giving flair and panache! The key is to purchase one item from the registry and pair it with related items that you love or that means something special. (Because that’s what we really want to do…share what MEANS something to us with this special person).

I decided to come up with a few examples to get you thinking:

Pair a Panini Grill:

with a Panini recipe book:

Pair this pitcher:

With ingredients for you and the bride’s fave cocktail from back in the day, such as the “Girl’s Vodka Soda”:

Vodka

and “soda”:

Or pair a few of their towels:

with a few custom ones:

Pair their flatware:

with your fave Etsy Napkins or Placemat:

Or with this lovely plate:

Hopefully you get my drift! Go therefore and be creative! (And use the registry for goodness sake!)

Real Wedding: Paul and Cassie

I don’t know what it is about Jonas Peterson, but he always seems to shoot AMAZING weddings. And Paul and Cassie’s nuptials are no exception. This wedding has such a vintage handmade feel to it…yet the simplicity and clean aesthetic is completely modern. It’s altogether lovely!

I’ve included all of Cassie’s sources for vendors and decor at the end of the, which is ever so helpful! I always love to know where crafty brides discover all of their delightful finds.

Here’s what Josie said about her resources:

Dress:  Carla Zampatti
Shoes:  Witchery
Cake:  The Welsh Lady
Cupcakes:  Carousels
Decorations:
Etsy: wall/window decals, owl figurines, hair flower, paper forest animal masks, noodle box tags, clay “love” & “forever” tags on bottles
Ebay: mexican day of the dead dolls
Ikea: white lanterns and fairy light halo
Paddington Antique Markets: Vintage bottles, milk bottles, medicinal bottles
Pinecones, leaves, tree branches collected from neighbourhood walks – for months, we never left the house without empty plastic bags 🙂
Candy Buffet: collected misc vases/jars & purchased bulk candy from Confectionery Warehouse
Tablecloths and yellow gingham table runners: handmade “with love” by mom
Wedding Tree, Wishing Well/Bird Cage, Guest Book, white chocolate candy apples: handmade by me
Photo slide show & ipod playlist extraordinaire: Paul

Napkins. Why not?

I love these numbered napkins from Betsy Grace. Aaaaand…I think maybe I could figure out a way to use them as table numbers. At least I hope so. Because I’ve got them in my Etsy cart and I’m trying to figure out how to justify their purchase.

Then again, I also love these custom monogrammed ones as well. They would be a GREAT shower gift. Or just a self gift. They’ll most definitely impress your guests next time you host a dinner party.

Giveaway Wednesday!

While I struggle with a sick computer, (oh the humanity!) I thought I’d give you a happy little mid-week pick me up. This giveaway is inspired by our DI-Why?! column and is from Prost to the Host. We’re giving away FIVE tissue poms (color of your choice!) to TWO lucky readers. Contest ends at midnight on Tuesday. Leave a comment to enter. Happy day!

DI-Why?!?

That’s right. Not DIY. DI-Why?! It’s a new feature over here on Grey Likes Weddings. Because as much as I’m all about getting my hands dirty with crafty ventures, I realize sometimes it isn’t realistic, cost-effective or worth the time spent on the learning curve to actually do something myself. And really…when I can purchase a great HANDMADE product for nearly the same price as it would cost for me to do it myself…I say, DI-Why?!

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of adding unexpected pieces into bouquets. For starters, how much did we all love this butterfly bouquet (originally featured in a Martha Stewart wedding) from Yumikuki? I heart. Ever so much.

Then there are these paper flowers from Lei Chartru, which I think would be really fun, mixed in with real flowers. Am I weird for loving this idea? I think I just love the concept of combining PRINT into my bouquet. Because it’s all about mixing prints.

Speaking of print…what about plaid? These are designed by May Lynn Flowers.

Love this…imagine it in a bright colored bouquet!

Tell me what you think? Crazy or rad? I vote rad!