The Send Off

Now you are married! So what is the last step? 

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THE SEND OFF!

With all the different styles and themes out there in the wedding world there has come a large array of different send offs!  In this particular post we are going to look at few different ones! 

Traditional:                                          

It has always been a customary gesture to send of the Bride and Groom from the ceremony or reception location. We all have seen it whether in the movies, royal weddings, weddings we attended when we were kids and so on. I think the most commonly used traditional send off is the throwing of the rice!

Honestly I never understood the whole lets throw food at them as the walk out the door concept, but here is what it was meant to symbolize. 

The throwing of rice has always generally meant a sign of fertility. Your guest would throw it over you as you walk out in hope that you would have many children. 

Personally, I am not a big fan of the throwing of rice. There have been many venues that have restricted the use of rice mainly because the thought of the possibility of it hurting bird and other animals, which is a false pretense. I just do not small projectiles coming at me basically. 

New Vibes:

Now, lets take a few looks into a few of the newer ways to do the proper send offs!

Bubbles, a great alternative to the rice of yesterday. Bubbles are great especially for those that do not like a mess! This is also a less expensive alternative as well and usually can pick up tons of the little bubble packs from major retailers for a great price.

 

Lanterns and balloons are one the fastest growing send offs we are seeing. The magical look of the Chinese lanterns is sure to add to the romantic feeling of the day and night.This will surely brighten up the night sky!                                     

With Balloons you can opt for a different variety in shapes and colors to fit your personality and your day! Have everyone participate by releasing them into the sky! This particular couple chose the red hearts of course as  a symbol of their love!

One of my favorites is using lights to your advantage. You can do this by either using glow sticks or even sparklers. You can create all sorts of effects and when photographed they are amazing. We tend to see this with more whimsical weddings but also in a variety of weddings. Its a great fun way to get everyone involved and add a bit of spark to the night. 

Overall all these options are great! be sure to pick your exit strategy that matches who you are and what goes along with your wedding! Always be sure to check with your venues to ensure there are not any certain restrictions as to what you can and can not do for your exit send off. Also be sure that if you use confetti/ rice/ etc. if there will be an additional clean up fee. These are just a few items to keep in mind when planning your send off! I hope you have a wonderful event!

The Aisle

 

~THE ENTRY POINT~

We all know that the day of your wedding is one of the most magical moments of your life. If you have been following along in our blogs you will read great tips an advice for making your day much smoother. 

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One of my favorite touches to do on a rustic style wedding is adding a bit of decor right behind the very last row of chairs.
This is a great example of how to add this simple touch. I usually reuse this decor in the receptions but it wont be removed until about midway through cocktail hour. 

 

~THE SIDES~
The next area to look at would be along the sides of the aisle. Some of you will like the less is more look or even the more floral the better, etc. This particular example to the left is amazing in how the floral is presented it makes the aisle look as if it is built into the natural landscape of the location. What I also like about this floral is that it ties into the front alter.
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There are many ways you can line the sides of the aisle way from planters to candles, to decor items and more. 

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I really like the look of the lanterns along the aisle way it give a bit more of an elegant romance look. This particular example has petals lining the aisle for a more defined run. This is a simple look but works really well in most themes.
With a few changes in details you can customize this look per preference.







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The Mason Jar

Being from the South, the mason jar has always been a staple item in our home. We have used them for everything from a pencil and pen holder, to drink glasses, to vases, to food containment, and much more. It is within the recent years that we have seen them being used more for weddings. Although it may have started out with the more rustic weddings you see them gradually merging into other themes.
We figured why not take a look at all the different uses for mason jars in a wedding!

One of the most common uses is a centerpiece. Now these jars do come in various sizes so find one that is not to docile on your table. They are great as a stand alone with floral and minimal decor but are also great pared with other items to dress up your tables. This particular one has a burlap and lace wrap that can either be permanently affixed via hot glue or temporarily via double stick tape. I suggest a temporary adhesive if you plan on using them after your wedding. If not and you plan on selling your decor then by all means go with the permanent.

 

Here is a few examples of how you can pair mason jars with other items and floral to create a whole centerpiece. If you are going with the rustic theme you can certainly through a freshly cut slab of wood underneath for the rustic touch. If adding tea candles be sure they are in holders and far enough away from floral. Just by adding the burlap and lace look you take the rustic style to another level of elegance.

Varing the sizes of the jars used and maybe adding a long neck bottle give a little bit of a spin on your centerpiece. Also you will notice in the picture to the left you will see a blue tinted jar. You can actually find tinted jars that would match your colors if you would love for them to tie in a bit more to your theme. Overall the mason jar is an expensive alternative to more expensive choices for centerpieces. These are great for budget friendly couples, but they still look great!

The next common use for mason jars in a wedding setting is for drinking glasses. Now you can even get ones that have a chalkboard label for easy labels for your guest who are concerned of loosing their drinks in the night. These can act as great favors too. So it is like a double whammy!
Get creative with the way you display the drinking glasses though. Below are a few examples of easy set ups and a few more detail oriented. It is all about your theme and making sure the set up goes along with your theme.

 

I personally like the use of the ladders with the shelves. It goes right along with the Southern Rustic theme. 

 Here are a few more way to include mason jars in your Rustic themed wedding!

 Aisle runners or caps. You will see in both examples the jars are handing from shepherd hooks. This is a very simple touch but look amazing!. All this look takes is mason jars shepherd hooks, burlap, lace, twine, floral and water. So simple that any DIY bride/groom could do this. The shepherd hooks need to be high enough that they will either be even with the very top of the chairs or just below a few inches of the chair height. Do not over fill the jars with floral but just a few stems of baby's breath and at least one main flower. Keeping them simple is key as too much floral will not allow for the mason jars to show.


Unity Ceremony ideas >>>

What better way to start your new life together then with the use of mason jars. The top and bottom are using sand for a sand ceremony while the photo above is using them for adding dirt to a new tree bud. Notice the different sizes of jars to help show that the main one is the most important one. 


Use this chart to choose the right size!

Remember there are so many different ways to use mason jars for your rustic wedding. Take a moment and check out our Facebook and instagram for more great ideas!

 https://www.facebook.com/Southernsunshineboutique/

 https://www.instagram.com/southern_sunshine_gp_boutique_/

Thank you!

The Sweetheart Table

A great way to highlight the new couple even more is through a sweetheart table. Yes its great you would love to sit and hangout with your bridal party whom are ultimately all your best friends, but remember this day is about you and highlighting you as a couple.
Here are a few tips to make the sweet heart table simple but look great and not draw attention away.
1. If you have live floral make sure you have a vase on your sweetheart table for your bouquet. great way to make it a centerpiece and bam save a hint of money on decor. On this particular table we had placed the bride's bouquet behind an And sign to add a little bit of character. This bride chose to use real flame candles so also be sure to not place the floral too close as they can become excessively hot.

2. Tablecloth vs. no tablecloth
I would say it depends on the table, This particular one is more of a rustic table that has amazing character. Although because we chose not to do a tablecloth we wanted to hide their legs or really still give it an elegant look so we took the various sizes of logs and placed extra floral sporadically to enhance the look. Now the photo below shows the same table but this time we used a lace tablecloth to still allow for the character to show but it is still a great looking table. 

 3. The last tip is accent your table. With both of the examples you see a great deal of accents on both. What you do not see though is height in the accents. The best thing to do when you are accenting the sweet heart table is to be aware of the heights of your decor and to be sure that as the couple is sitting that they are blocked from view by guests or even their own view is blocked. It is important to keep the decor on the table to a minimal but still be elegant and match with the decor of the remaining tables.

For the fronts of the tables you could really play it up as we did in both examples. In the first look we used fresh cut logs to line the front and around the corners of the table to create an enclosed feeling. We placed the extra floral from the ceremony on various logs to tie it in a little bit more to the remaining decor. On the second example we placed the Mrs. and Mr. Sign atop of the lace tablecloth and flanked the corners with tall lanterns along with glass vases and mason jar vases to again tie in the remaining decor. 

Overall keep your sweetheart table simple. You do not want to go to over the top and drown out the couple and get lost in the decor of the table. Remember to keep decor below eye level to ensure that there is a full view for all parties.
Below are a few more photos from the examples to give you a few more looks.

The Cake

One of my favorite parts of wedding as a guest is the cake. Yes I know really the cake not the ceremony? Note that I did say one of my favorites not my only. Anyways nowadays there is so many different ways to do the "Cake" at weddings but I had to share the amazing cake done at a recent wedding I was the coordinator for.

Sweets are the best thing created ever as far as food goes. My awesome couple Sara and Mark chose to do a sweets bar filled with cupcakes and sweet treats for the favors! It was a great change of pace from the more traditional take on the "Cake."

The venue, Sterling Stables in Cocoa, FL, had the awesome back drop sweets sign which came into good use. Along with the great mixture of rustic decor this sweet table was amazing. Everything even tasted just as amazing as it looks.



Decor: Simple vintage white trays mixed with wood round cuts, pallet wood trays, with lace is a simple touch to tie it all together. The sign is made of reclaimed pallet wood with small clear light bulbs. This is a super easy DIY that any bride at any level of craftiness could pull off.

 The amazing cake believe it or not actually came from the local Publix Bakery! The cupcakes as well. They did an absolutely amazing job and everything tasted outstanding.

The best part of the great table of sweets is, as the favors if you wanted to take a sweet reminder home you were able to with the sweetness filled favor bags!. This really was a sweet tooth's heaven if that even exists.

The bags were filled with a variety of cookies and brownie bites that were sure to remind you of the sweet love these two share for each other. It was such a great way to throw a great spin on the traditional cake and make it work for their taste literally.

 One of the best things about being crafty is that I can create one of kind items for people and of course my family and myself. Recently I took on a project that had me going back to one of my favorite mediums. You see I have this knock for wood signs but I am not a huge fan of the vinyl letters or the "manufactured" look. I am big about handcrafted as I feel for me it shows my heart and passion for art much more. I love aging furniture and adding character to pieces that most of the time if you buy it from the conventional big box store it just lacks that character or even the story of where it came from. Well I guess that is my way of restoring things to new.
Well one of my awesome brides came to recently with a request for a few signs for her upcoming wedding so of course I said sure I have a ton of scrap wood in my garage that my husband has been bugging me to do something with it. So I saw this as a perfect chance. Now I am sure many of you have gone onto all the get ideas websites where you save tons of ideas but never do them. I am an addict truthfully so I know how you can get sucked right into it. So I was looking for a quicker way to transfer my handwritten  or even my artwork onto the wood on a larger scale without having to re draw it all over again. I was really looking for the outline at least so that it would be easier to proceed with the rest.
Well while on these idea sites I discovered using chalk was a great way to erase mess up etc. So bam perfect all I needed to do was get the wood together and draw out everything with chalk and no problem. Sounds simple right? Nope not at all. So I just wanted to share how I ended up with the amazing end results that I totally expected to go the other way but actually turned out much much better then I expected.  

First, find either used wood or new, you can always age it to make it look more used (that's for another blog). Sanding your wood is the key to excellence! I use a really rough high grain sandpaper on a sander (I am not wanting to do this all day so get a sander, you will thank me later). Always run the sander with the grain lines of the wood, literally do not go against the grain. Once you are happy with your sanding results be sure to clean off any dust from sanding. I usually have a shop vac that I use to suck up all the dust.

From there I will pick out a stain that will work for whatever project I am working on. Be sure not to get a stain and sealer in one. You want just a straight stain. I love using honey and espresso for furniture. For this particular project I used and espresso stain. To apply the stain use foam brushes instead of the conventional brushes. Depending on how dark you want the wood be ready to wipe off excess with a paper towel that is super absorbent. I usually do a small amount at a time and that way its easier for me to not miss any excess stain. Once I have made my way down the entire board I will access whether I am happy with the color and if I want to add a bit more I will continue to proceed and starting back at the top I will go back over the wood. Proceed to repeat as necessary.

Now you have the base for your sign. Now here starts the real challenge. If you like my idea of using chalk then you will need to paint over the board with clear chalk paint. I use a spray that I get from our local home improvement store. By the way I am in that store every day. Allow for the stain to fully dry before adding the chalk paint. Once everything is dry you can proceed with your sign. So for this one I was working on wedding signs. so my calligraphy skills come out. Before I begin to write out anything I look over tons of fonts to find ones that stand out to me or scream wedding. Once the font is determined I will practice a bit to get the right flow and then proceed to write it out on the sign with chalk. I use first a regular piece of chalkboard chalk and come back over it with a chalk marker to make it look flawless. As for the floral additives I use an awesome medium of chalk pastels that allow for me to blend and create a more realistic product. The last step once you have everything completed is to seal it. Remember this is chalk so if you don't seal it, you can experience smudges. Now for certain signs that I re use but just change the names I still seal everything else but the names and dates.
I have more signs to create so I am sure I will be posting more photos of them but I just wanted to share how this one came out.
I hope this was helpful and I wish you luck on your next project.
-SK