I've been exploring some of the web resources for nontraditional brides, as I had my cheesy, formal princess wedding when I was 18 (50 people, $5000 budget- not bad, but the whole thing was kind of lame). This time I want to really reflect my fiance's and my personalities and tastes, especially since we're (I'm) paying for it ourselves (myself) entirely-- that means we can do things that the older folks may disapprove of. Chris is a little concerned about his conservative Italian side of the family but I think (hope) we'll win them over with fun.
My Etsy Treasury East featuring a pink/purple butterfly & pirate themeI particularly love OffbeatBride and AntiBride - Girls after my own heart! I envy the liberties some of the brides take with little concern for the reactions of others but I think I can throw a terrific party that pleases a bit more than it shocks.
My criteria for the ceremony are, in order of importance: 1) Outdoors 2) Inexpensive or Free. To this end, we may resort to a standing quickie ceremony in the Arnold Arboretum (no furniture allowed!) and then have the ceremony at a nearby Sons of Italy. But that is only if my former middle and high school doesn't allow me to hold it in their lovely Sunken Garden for a reduced or nonexistent fee (they still love me for some reason, despite my somewhat exorbitant rebellion and eventual dropping out).
A former private estate, the school is absolutely stunning and the grounds immaculate. And not too far away is a fantastic little pub, part of a chain owned by local former students, where you can rent the top floor (the Attic), complete with stage! My favorite bartender and friend Tommy's fabulous party band, the Beantown Project, will be the main musical selection, and then we'll set up an ipod dock later in the evening for people to play their own lists.
I adore the black laquer and hardwood throughout the pub, as well as the unique wrought-iron light fixtures. Wide magenta ribbon bows around the chair backs should inject a bit of liveliness to the dark atmosphere.
We'll have towers of cupcakes instead of a traditional cake, with edible sugar butterfly and pirate flag toppers by SugarRobot on Etsy (how.freaking.awesome?). For favors, I plan to have a skull with butterfly logo designed and have it custom etched on pint glasses, which will be filled with homemade fudge in bright cellophane (they will most likely sub in for bouquets on the tables, because I don't want the expense or waste of a lot of cut flowers!) and the same design on temporary tattoos (which I hope people will don during the wedding so they match the bride and groom!)
I want to do handmade, plantable invitations (paper with wildflower seeds embedded!), and wear a handmade, two-piece corset and tulle skirt combination. I'm still vacillating slightly on the color, because I think magenta would be awesome but all of my girlfriends beg me to reconsider and go white with the black trim as they think the magenta will be overwhelming and clownish... what's your opinion? Love your comments so feel free to let me know what you think of the plans!
My criteria for the ceremony are, in order of importance: 1) Outdoors 2) Inexpensive or Free. To this end, we may resort to a standing quickie ceremony in the Arnold Arboretum (no furniture allowed!) and then have the ceremony at a nearby Sons of Italy. But that is only if my former middle and high school doesn't allow me to hold it in their lovely Sunken Garden for a reduced or nonexistent fee (they still love me for some reason, despite my somewhat exorbitant rebellion and eventual dropping out).
A former private estate, the school is absolutely stunning and the grounds immaculate. And not too far away is a fantastic little pub, part of a chain owned by local former students, where you can rent the top floor (the Attic), complete with stage! My favorite bartender and friend Tommy's fabulous party band, the Beantown Project, will be the main musical selection, and then we'll set up an ipod dock later in the evening for people to play their own lists.
I adore the black laquer and hardwood throughout the pub, as well as the unique wrought-iron light fixtures. Wide magenta ribbon bows around the chair backs should inject a bit of liveliness to the dark atmosphere.
We'll have towers of cupcakes instead of a traditional cake, with edible sugar butterfly and pirate flag toppers by SugarRobot on Etsy (how.freaking.awesome?). For favors, I plan to have a skull with butterfly logo designed and have it custom etched on pint glasses, which will be filled with homemade fudge in bright cellophane (they will most likely sub in for bouquets on the tables, because I don't want the expense or waste of a lot of cut flowers!) and the same design on temporary tattoos (which I hope people will don during the wedding so they match the bride and groom!)
I want to do handmade, plantable invitations (paper with wildflower seeds embedded!), and wear a handmade, two-piece corset and tulle skirt combination. I'm still vacillating slightly on the color, because I think magenta would be awesome but all of my girlfriends beg me to reconsider and go white with the black trim as they think the magenta will be overwhelming and clownish... what's your opinion? Love your comments so feel free to let me know what you think of the plans!
Oh yes, weddings on a budget. We made plantable "save the date" cards for ours and people loved them. (I just posted information about that paper on my blog the other day!)We also gave away pint glasses as favors. Hope the planning continues to go well. Have fun with it!
ReplyDeleteThe pub looks like it could play up to your theme absolutely perfectly! You could undoubtedly have incredible fun with pirates and butterflies.... love the sound of the fudge and you're quite right - table flowers can be enormously expensive and ultimately terribly wasteful. Please keep us posted!!
ReplyDeleteWhat great locations...and if I could do it all over again...a cupcake tower ALL the way, yum!
ReplyDeleteI love your ideas! I don't the magenta will be clownish as long as it's an accent color. My sister gave away pint glasses at her wedding as favors (not filled with fudge!) and 6 years later people still have them and love them!
ReplyDeleteI like the plantable invite idea.
Also, I highly approve of cupcakes.
The pub for reception is perfect! Your off to a good start with your planning. Cupcakes are awesome!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was married, ages ago, I wanted to have the bridesmaids wear black dresses and carry magenta gerbera daisy bouquets. My future MIL threw a fit about our theme, colours, anything we liked. It was hell dealing with this woman and she wasn't even paying! All I can say is to do your own thing because years later you don't want to be looking at photos cringing.
oh, how exciting! I got married at the Arnold Arboretum :o)
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