The Wedding Venue and Decor

There is so much I want to show you.   I thought I would post the decor and venue on this post and then the actual wedding on my next post.  

This was a morning wedding and we were oh, so, lucky to have a clear, sunny, perfect, 73 degree day!

The wedding venue was a historical house in Winter Park Florida, a city located right next to Orlando.   This gorgeous house is owned by the city and used for special events.

This is the back patio where the reception was held 

Here's the front of the house where the actual ceremony took place. The aisle was lined with lace tussie mussies I made......

........That were filled with fresh pink roses and baby's breath

After the ceremony we moved to a small building on the grounds for the Cocktail hour

During the cocktail hour people were encouraged to write their best wishes for the Mr. and Mrs. and put them in a vintage mail box I found and sprayed heirloom white, the color we earmarked as the official wedding paint color LOL

Next to that was the table escort cards, a huge frame with chicken wire and tags made with vintage sheet music, the guests name, and the table number stamped with my vintage stamp set

Now, lets move into the house.  One of my favorite things was the vintage wedding photo's of the bride and grooms family on the mantle

This was the brides idea and I loved it, so fun to look at the wedding styles and how they've changed over 100 plus years.  The flower framed picture is my, Grandparents on their wedding day

Now moving out to the patio where the reception was held 

The centerpieces were mirror trays we found at thrift stores over the past year that I sprayed with heirloom white paint.  The teapots were from the brides Mom's and my personal stash and the rest were found at thrift stores

The teapots where filled with babies breath and light pink roses with a tea light and vintage sheet music table numbers.  I was able to pick up the little picture frames at thrift stores for .25 - .50, they were all different styles and sizes but, made uniform with heirloom white paint

The sweetheart table for the bride and groom was up front.  A special thank you to a sweet blog friend who hooked me up with the lace table runners, they added such an elegant touch

The brides Mom made the menu's.... Oh yummmm, the food was fabulous!

......Yes, dessert was the "Yum Yum cupcake truck" that pulled right up to the circle drive and all of the guests lined up to get their cupcakes

Food trucks are a hot thing right now in Orlando.   We often go to food truck events, where 30 to 40 food trucks will gather in a mall parking lot.  We bring our own table and chairs and then everyone sets off to get their food and regroups to eat together.

OOP's, it's the groom calling me from his dressing room...I have to go, the wedding is about to start!

Bridal bouquet tutorial HERE

OK.....Put on your pretty dresses and grab your hankies.....I'll be back with the actual WEDDING pictures on my next post!

Thank you for following me on this journey, your interest and kind comments have greatly increased the fun factor!

Happy Creating

Carol

The Rehearsal Dinner

It's official, my son is a married man!  

The rehearsal dinner was Friday night and the wedding Saturday morning

Oh I have so much to show you, I'll start with the rehearsal dinner and then later in the week I'll show you the wedding

Let me do a quick recap ...Just incase you haven't been hanging on every blog post for the last year lol!

I hosted the rehearsal dinner at 903 Mills Market, a little cafe around the corner from my house in downtown Orlando.   It's where my son and his wife (OK, that's weird, "Wife", OMG my son has a wife!) hung out when they were dating, and where I eat at least once a week

The restaurant closed at 5pm and as the sun was setting I set up for the 6pm dinner, the weather was perfect!

I made the tablecloths then used lace table toppers and vintage book center pieces...The tutorial is Here

We did appetizers in vintage cigar boxes, the little match boxes say "Bradley and Alicia, the perfect match" and are filled with Valentine conversation hearts

Remember the suitcase table I made..Tutorial HERE..It was a cigar bar for the "Boys"

My vintage lace covered pole lamp was used for lighting and coffee sacks for pillows on the bench, it was quite a hit!

We had a fabulous guitar player.  When I did the Fancy Flea in Lakeland last April, I went for dinner with friends the night before at a local restaurant and Brian was playing, I hired him on the spot for the rehearsal dinner.

I brought my dress form "Miss Anita Man" (Say that fast) as added decor...(I hate the pic, but love my dress)

I hinged some old shutters for pics of the lovebirds

And the puppy bar was enjoyed by all of my furry guests

The food was fabulous!  The owners of 903 Mills Market are from Rome and their pasta is out of this world! 

 I made the buffet table cover from lace curtains and hung lace curtains on a pole as a back drop.

The centerpiece was my table top dress form covered with vintage sheet music..Tutorial HERE...

I had 40 guests

And SOOOO much fun!

Oh lord, who's lap is my Mom sitting on now?  I've got to watch her every minute!......Anyway, It was the perfect night before the big day

 I'll be back with wedding pictures soon!

Thank you for all of your comments and encouragement..... You have enhanced this wedding journey more than you can possibly know!

Happy Crafting!

Carol

Final Wedding Preparations

It's finally here...Wedding week!  My son comes into town tomorrow and then we start a crazy, jam packed, wedding week!

Speaking of jam packed, my little house is bursting with all of the decor and projects we have worked on for the last 6 months

This is the corner with the rehearsal dinner decorations.  The dinner will be at a little outdoor cafe around the corner from my house...Yikkes, lets hope we don't have any crazy weather events!

This corner holds all of the decor for the outside morning wedding and following brunch reception....I can't wait for the omelet station and mashed potato bar..Doesn't that sound great!

Here is a few more wedding projects I haven't shown you, the future DIL covered these letters from Hobby Lobby with moss

And her Mom made these cute little coloring book kits to occupy the kids that are attending

And I made 15 Tussie mussies that will be filled with baby's breath and roses and hang at the end of each row

Before I leave ......

.......I had to share this with you, I found a long dress to wear to the wedding, but since it's a morning wedding I took it to Nadia the seamstress to hem.  I wanted it hemmed just above the knees, but Nadia informed me in her Romanian accent...... "Oh, no, it cannot be just above the knee because the top of your knees are WRINKLED"....What!!!!  

Come on, like I don't have enough wrinkles every where else..... Now I have wrinkled knees!!!  Oh for cripes sakes ladies, go check your knees....So, here it is HEMMED JUST BELOW THE WRINKLES!!

I'll be back as soon as I can with wedding pictures!

Happy Thanksgiving 

and

Happy Creating!

Carol

If you missed any wedding projects you can click on these links

Wedding table centerpieces

Fabric flower bridal bouquet

Bridesmaids bouquets

Signs for the wedding rehearsal

Wedding rehearsal dinner centerpieces

Doggie bags for the rehearsal dinner

Save the date

Wedding boutonnières 

Wedding garter

My Booth is ready for Christmas shoppers and meeting a blogger

My booth is almost ready for Christmas, I have just a few more things to add.  I have to admit, I cringe adding red and green to my pinks and whites but, Tis the season!  

I had help getting my booth ready for Christmas.  A fellow blogger from Colorado, Mary from Mary's Meanderings was visiting Orlando with her hubby who was here for a conference. While he was working hard, she spent the day playing with me!

She is soooo cute and sooo sweet, we had the perfect day.  It never fails, every time I meet a fellow blogger they are just as I imagined they would be from reading their blog.   She said I was more animated than I come across in my blog...Maybe I need to add more exclamation marks !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mary brought me these cute little sweater pumpkins who have made a home on my mantle

Speaking of fellow bloggers, I won the perfect giveaway from Celestina Marie, she hand paints these...Oh yes, these ornaments have Carol written all over them!  Thank you, I love them!!!!!

Well, next week is the wedding week! 

My future DIL who lives in DC has been staying with me here in Orlando for four months while working on the Florida Senator's re-election campaign  (He won, she still has a job..yea!).  Instead of going back to DC for a week she was able to work in the Orlando senate office.  She is anxiously awaiting my son's arrival.  He will be driving from DC with my grand dog (Who I'm watching for a week while they are on their honeymoon) and will arrive in Orlando on Tuesday.  The rehearsal dinner is the day after Thanksgiving and then a morning wedding with a brunch reception on Saturday.    

 Monday I'll post some final wedding projects...Breath...Breath!

Happy Creating!

Carol 

Using Rub 'n Buff, Is Gilding The New Trend?

Have you noticed that gilding seems to be making a come back?

It's showing up more and more in furniture refinishing  

Gilding refers to any metallic finish, usually gold leaf.  I heard about Rub 'n Buff, so I bought a tube at Hobby Lobby for $3.99 and decided to give it a try

I started with this estate sale find

I painted it with an "Opps" light pink paint that I made into chalk paint with a little plaster of paris and water

 After I painted and gave it a light distressing...(Yes, I'm seeing gilding and distressing together in transformations) I applied rub and buff by putting a dab on my fingertip and rubbing it around the edge...That's not my finger, it's the picture on the packaging, mine are short and stubby LOL!

BUT WAIT!  When I put clear Minwax over the whole table to seal it, some of the gold rubbed off...SO..

....I learned, the Rub 'n Buff has to go on after the wax

I'm not sure I LOVE it?   Maybe I'm just slow to embrace a new (Old) trend.  I am going to price this table at $32 and put it in my booth at Orange Tree....I wonder how fast it will sell.

What do you think, have you done any furniture transformations with gilding?  Do you like the look?

Happy Creating

Carol 

Partying with Miss Mustard Seed