Crafty Madness: My Wedding 7.31.11 - Part 1

Before I get to all the fun, I first need to give credit to all my lovely friends and help, and give credit where credit is due. All photographs you are about to see were taken by the lovely Sarah Alston, and her best friend and second shooter for the day, Jesse Phillips. (www.sarahalstonphotography.com) Sarah is an absolute darling to work with, and I am proud to not only call her my photographer, but also  now my friend. I just love her!

Also the creation of this special day would in no way be possible with out the tireless help of my wonderful, patient mom. She was an absolute rockstar with helping and planning from beginning to end. I always love my mom, I obviously always will, but there really are no words to say how grateful I was, and still am. Also, it would not have been this beautiful with out some crafty set up help from my wonderful Dad, Mother in Law, Sister in Law, Father in law, My husband's Aunts, Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, and even some groomsmen's wives. You all are absolutely fabulous, and I cannot believe how kind you all we to help me :)

With out any further delays....CRAFT MADNESS! (All items that I did not make, I will say where I bought/got as we go!)

Let the decorating begin! Before the ceremony
at my Venue, the Marysville Opera House!

My bouquets I made! I personalized
 each of the three bridesmaid's bouquets by
picking out a brooch tailored to their likes
and putting it on the handle.

Here they are! The two feather bouquets
on each end were made for my maid of honor
and a bridesmaid. The bouquet made from
sheet music roses and ribbon was made because
I had a vegan bridesmaid, so I wanted to be considerate.
The brooch bouquet is mine!

The best part about making my own brooch bouquet:
getting brooches from friends and loved ones,
AND getting to pick out my own symbolic ones!

I used both vintage and new brooches
along with some creative repurposing
of costume jewelry rings with the
stretchy bands.

BROOCHES!

My brooch bouquet took SO long
to make. Hours to compile, hours to create
and hard work. But it was worth it.
I felt very proud. :)

A good portion of my accessories. My bouquet, which
I made. My shoe, which I bought on etsy from La Plume
Ehtere. And my dress, hanging on a custom made hanger
with my new last name from Etsy. :) 

  

My hair, done by the fabulous Tiffany Phillips.
Peacock hairpiece made by La Plume Ethere on Etsy!

More of my accessories, if you will. :) My parasol
(peacock, of course!) which we ordered from online, Shoes
again from etsy, and clutch. My clutch is a repurposed
vintage clutch from a seller, 2007musarra, on Etsy. 

My beautiful one of a kind clutch! (from Etsy)

My crystal filigree necklace :) Bought on Etsy. 

Swarovski Crysal peacock cuff :)

Okay, okay, other than my dress, this doesn't have much
to do with accessories and the wedding theme.
And I certainly didn't make it! But HOW CUTE
is this?! All the couples can sign the door in the cottage
when they get married here, and so long as it's on the white
door, they don't repaint it! I signed later after we got
hitched. :)

My blue tulle slip I wore under my
wedding dress. I had just a peek
showing out the bottom. I bought
this and it was made for me on
Etsy by Fascinating Creations.
 You can also see the bouquets
and parasol I painted hanging out
below it. 

Groomsmen Boutonnieres. Purchased from
La Plume Ethere on Etsy. (As you can tell, I used NO
real flowers in my wedding!) :)

The matching bracelets I found for the girls to wear.
Found them at Ben Franklin crafts. They were a great
deal!

My custom keep garter. Made to my leg measurement
by Pomp And Plumage on Etsy. It's got gems, a cameo, lace
and feathers. And it was blue. SWOON!

Gettin' into my garters and shoes!
Here you can see the fab slip/tulle :)

Oh, how I love these shoes! 

The feather flower boutonnieres we had for the male
immediate family members. This one is on Ryan's
Grandfather (on his mom's side!) :) 

The white gardenia style feather flowers we had for the
female immediate family members. This is being shown off on
my lovely sister in law, Ariana :)

Here we are! The wedding party all done up,
and the girls with our parasols! 

Now with our bouquets :)

Action shot! I like this one because you see the
bouquets a little closer. Plus you can tell how much fun
we're having!

Haha! Bouquet power!

We did it! This is us leaving the ceremony! We got
married on stage in the opera house. It was beautiful :)
(Of course, Ryan is giving high fives, duh!)

I love love love this picture! Just like I love love love him!
I also adore that my bouquet I slaved over is getting in on
the action!

That's it for this round folks! Coming up, you'll see all of the elements of the reception and PAR-TAY (!!!) and watch my brainchild further come to life! Thank you all again for checking this out, and thank you especially if you made your way to celebrate with us on our big day! We love you!

Stay crafty my friends!
-Shelby

The best of intentions...

Yet again I said I was going to start using this and what did I do? Get so wrapped up in moving, going on my honeymoon (which, by the way I am now officially in LOVE with the mediterranean!), and in general the craziness of my life lately that I completely forgot to write anything on here for about two months. Not that anyone reads this, but I still should be using this for an outlet I think it would be helpful.

I've learned a lot in the last two months for a multitude of reasons. Not just because I'm now married, but there have been other tests too. Sometimes life just throws you a set of turns. People you don't expect to change, throw you for a loop and they do. Sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad. If you're an adult you learn how to realize what really matters in your life and invest in that. You learn how to pick yourself up, dust off, and get on with it. Like I've said to myself in the past, "life is not a dress rehearsal. don't be a supporting role, in your own movie." Sounds cheesy, but it makes sense to me. Why should I stand by the sidelines and allow other people to determine my mood in my life, and how my story turns out? Shouldn't I be the one to do that?

Sometimes, life has it's own suttle, or not-so-suttle, way of reminding you that. And as I said I can pick myself up, find the good in the situation, and take it from here.

And once I came back from my honeymoon, and my wedding planning was over, I kept feeling like "what am I going to do with my time? how will I get my creativity out?" I had created so much over the last six months, while basically planning my own wedding (along with the help of my most wonderful mother, and some of my lovely friends) I had crafted like a mad woman. Now I was sitting at home, after being moved and unpacked going... "What now?"

Two main goals came to my mind: More crafting and making my own music.

I've always had a love for making something out of nothing. To take on a project and really see a beautiful thing to look at come out of everyday supplies. It's my creative, artsy, right-brained side manifesting itself. I always can visualize how something will look in my head when I want to make it. I really love it when I finally finish it and see it!

And music, well, I've always loved music. If you know me, you know it. You've probably heard me singing, sometimes at a ridiculously inappropriate time. Humming. Listening to music. Voraciously looking for new music. It tends to be all I can think about sometimes. I started writing some lyrics. But I have this problem that once I get them out, I have no idea how to put them into a melody, to make a song. I start to try and I sputter and psych myself out of it. Well,  this time I'm not going to allow myself to do that. I think I will also attempt to enlist the help of my cutie husband, who has guitar playing skills, and has written a couple songs of his own. I'll just have to bribe him... (not really, actually... in all likelihood). It's a good thing I'm good in the kitchen, and well, the boy loves food. :) haha

So all in all, this is only the beginning for me. I just need to remember "your life is NOW" not sometime in the future. So I should only spend my free time doing things I really love, with people I really love.

And that is what I intend to do. Stay tuned for an abundance of crafty posts in the future. I have been BUSY with fall and halloween crafts! And I can't wait to share some of the results!

Arrivederci!

Shelby