We Have Chair Covers

This morning, Zac and I had a meeting at Maty's Chair Covers to discuss color choices and fabric options for our reception chair covers. It seems to funny to have a meeting about such things but different colors really do change the look of the space so we had a meeting. We decided to have white covers so that we can add a little color with the sashes and not overwhelm the space. Our choices for sashes were between satin and organza fabrics. Though we liked the look of a satin sash better than the organza ones, they only had yellow sashes available in organza, so that's what we chose. Our table linens and chair covers are white so the yellow will add a nice springtime color for our May wedding. So our chairs will be a yellow version of the ones pictured below.

We thought the overlay on the table pictured above is really pretty and goes with our color scheme, but opted not to do overlays. There was also the decision of draping. Maty's has done several weddings at our venue and they carry the materials to add drapery over the head table (seen in the picture below). It looks nice but we don't think it's necessary. The venue is pretty enough without it.

We are thinking of doing some drapery on the aisle... more on that later.



Our Halloween

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween! Zac and I had a great time getting everything together for the event. Last year we didn't do much and as a result we didn't have that many trick or treaters. We decided this year we would carve more than just one pumpkin each and make our walkway look inviting.

Zac got started on hallowing the pumpkins and carving them.

Zac is much better at carving pumpkins that I am. Watching several pumpkin carving competitions inspired Zac to try carving faces into the pumpkins by only shaving off the rinds.

I think it turned out very cool. He also used a chunk of pumpkin to sculpt a nose for his creation. He attached it to the face with a toothpick.

My pumpkin was a little more cute and friendly. I drew out a template for an owl and carefully carved out each piece to create this little guy.

Unfortunately, we carved those two pumpkins a little too early and they fell victim to our still warm central valley temperature. We waited until Halloween day to carve the rest of the pumpkins. On these pumpkins, Zac decided to go more friendly than creepy and he created these funny faces.

The kids really seemed to like these little guys.

We covered the porch with fake spiderwebs, draped cheesecloth style fabric over the window and porch light, hung spiders, placed a pile of foam skulls and bones in the corner, and lined the path with our pumpkin creations and candles.

While the kids got a kick out of the funny face pumpkins, our pumpkin lanterns were a big hit with the grown ups. We used a drill to punch holes into these mini pumpkins and lined them along the our walkway. We loved the way they looked so we've decided that next year we'll make a bunch of them and use them to line the driveway as well.

With the decorating done and plenty of candy, we were ready for the trick or treaters.

This was our Jim's first Halloween. We usually dress him in little sweaters and shirts so he was a good sport about letting us put this little hot dog costume on him. Doesn't he look so adorable? He was a big hit with the trick or treaters. One little boy was so excited to see little Jim his mom literally had to drag him away to head to the next house.

After the first trick or treater came to the door Jim was hooked. He planted himself on the steps by the door and didn't move the whole rest of the night. Jim's never been one to bark when the doorbell rings so he didn't go crazy with each group of kids that stopped by. He was pretty excited however, and we could hear him begin to whine for us to open the door seconds before the doorbell ever rang. (*By the way, our walls are not vibrant yellow :P)

Even when we attempted to lure him away from his spot on the stair with a treat he wouldn't budge. Eventually, as it got later and the trick or treaters stopped, Jim fell asleep.

Jim enjoyed his first Halloween. How was everyone elses?

Lantern Centerpieces

Now that our major vendors are taken care of it's time for us to focus on the smaller details of the wedding, like centerpieces and other decorations. Rather than having one centerpiece repeated on each of the tables, Zac and I really want to have a few different centerpieces to keep the decor more interesting and less predictable. We have a few ideas in mind including vases (like the wine carafes I got from work) filled with flowers, bowls of lemons, and tons of votive candles.

One centerpiece idea that I'm very excited about is having an assortment of lanterns on a few of the tables. I loved the way it looked in these pictures I found on theknot.com:

I think with some candles and flowers the lanterns will look fantastic as centerpieces at our reception.

Looking around online for lanterns that would go with our color scheme, Zac and I found these galvanized lanterns on the Ikea website. At 11" tall these lanterns would be big enough to hold a good size candle but they wouldn't be too tall that our guests would be blocked from seeing the people sitting across from them. Since we don't have an Ikea close to us we thought that we would wait until this fall and take a day trip to the Ikea store.

Yesterday, we headed into Lowe's to get supplies to finish up Zac's newest project. During our shopping trip we found...silver lanterns! Though not identical, they were pretty similar to the lanterns we found on the Ikea website.

Not only would we be saving on shipping by not ordering online from the website (or gas money if we decided to take a trip out to the nearest Ikea to check them out in person) but we found that we would be saving a bunch of money buying the lanterns from Lowe's because they were on clearance. The original price of $7.99 had been reduced to $4.50.

Zac and I were sold! We picked up 10 of the silver lanterns. We aren't sure exactly how the table arrangements will be just yet but we figure 10 will do for now. If we perhaps decide to use the lanterns to line the aisle or decorate other areas of the venue we'll have to head back to Lowe's soon before the clearance sale is over or the store runs out of the lanterns.

To go along with the lantern centerpieces, I picked up six small yellow wire lanterns from Joann's Fabrics back in April. The $12 lanterns were on sale for 75% off. Thanks to a coupon for 10% my total purchase (if you haven't signed up to get coupons from Joann's I highly recommend that you do!) the lanterns turned out to be a great buy. The yellow should add a nice pop of color to our reception tables.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Last week while shopping around for a new bed for Jim, I stumbled upon this beautiful mirror at Marshall's.

For only $19.99 (down from $40.00) it seemed like a great deal for such a pretty mirror and I knew exactly where it would go. Recently Zac and I have been talking about putting a mirror on the wall behind the front door that faces the staircase. The wall is completely bare and it has needed a little something to give the space some character and say "people live here".

At first we were looking at something like this:

The hooks would add a bit of functionality to the mirror, giving us someplace to hang our keys. We realized however that since we come in through the garage door and not the front door (a fact that inspired Zac during his plans to propose to me back in January) having hooks by the front door wouldn't make much sense. In addition, Zac built a spot for our guests to hang their coats when they walk in so the hooks on the mirror probably wouldn't be used anyways. So in the end we decided that functionality could take a backseat to something that looked interesting and unique. The mirror from Marshall's seemed to fit the bill.

Zac and I both think that the mirror's style and size fit well in the space. The size of the mirror isn't too big that it dominates the space yet it's not too small that it get's lost on the wall. As for the color, I really like the way that the black finish pops against our choice of paint color. I have a tendency to paint everything white. I just love the crispness of white against other colors. As a result, while working on our house we have added a lot of white elements including painting all cabinets white, adding white trim to the bathroom mirrors, and building a white desk for our office. So, when I came home with this intricate black frame, Zac immediately assumed that I was going to whip out a can of white spray paint and go to town turning it into a white glossy ornament to adorn our wall. After putting it up against the wall I surprised us both by saying that I liked the mirror just as it was and that the black really made a statement against the paint. I think Zac was more excited about this news than he let on. The few black elements we have in our living room (the trim around the fireplace and the coffee and console tables) are his favorite pieces. I think perhaps the strong look of the black pieces gives a little masculinity to the room that I have made light and dainty with all the white. In any case, I see a few more black pieces being added to our space in the future.

This summer I hope to dedicate a few posts to our house and the changes we''ve made to it. Zac and I are both very proud of the work that we've done and excited about the potential our house still has to get even better. Every change we make gives our house a little more personality and makes us more and more excited to call this place home (if that's even possible).