A Real Wedding: Heather and Kevin, II
And now on to the reception! Here are the pics first with details to follow…
From Heather…
The reception taking place on the lawn, our guests were greeted with a bucket of comfy flip-flops to change into. Our cheery color palette of chocolate, green apple, and lemon was portrayed everywhere, from the bright yellow flower girl dresses (J.Crew) to the key lime pie dessert shots.
My sisters and I did all of the baking ourselves, and also made big jars of mojitos and fresh lemonade for the bar. We ordered the flowers wholesale, then did all of the arranging (including our monogram on the front gate), using concept photos and the talent of my mom and her best friend, interior designers.
Kevin strung strands and strands of bistro lights and dozens of paper lanterns, which not only looked great during the day, but illuminated the yard beautifully when the sun went down. Votive-filled small mason jars, some hanging from trees, adorned the entire backyard, creating the perfect glow.
More to come!
Oh I'm always happy to read about when people do the baking themselves. It gives me more confidence about my reception. I'm working with a friend to make cupcakes and I think it's going to turn out wonderfully. But, it is a casual reception and we don't need to make a cake since we're having cake at our destination wedding.
Love the lemon slices on the lemon bars! What a nice touch.
Love this!! I am doing the flower monogram, globes, and house numbers too!! I love, love, love this color scheme!
What a gorgeous wedding! Heather, how did you order your flowers wholesale? I want to do the same for my wedding, but I'm not sure how far in advance to buy and arrange them, or where to store them (did you have to keep them refrigerated?). Beautiful, beautiful job!
Cali- Let me know if you have any more specific questions, I can probably give you some helpful hints :)
Kirby- My flowers were from theflowerexchange.com. It's really simple, I ordered about 10 days before the wedding. You enter a delivery date (should be 2 days before the event) and the flowers are overnighted straight from the grower, arriving really fresh. We didn't refrigerate, but kept them in the cool, dark garage, and did the arranging the day before and the day of, using floral foam. I was nervous about the hydrangeas wilting, but they held up great! Hope that helps!
These flowers look so so sweet. Just thought I would let you know about keeping your flowers after your big day. My sister had hers dried and preserved and are now in a frame, looks great and that way you will see them everyday for a life time after your wedding...
Thanks Heather! I think we are all set to go, our wedding is in a week and a half. I hope to submit some photos to SMP.
i love all your details. I'm using a similar theme for my wedding. How did you do the flower monogram, how many flowers (carnations?) did you need? Are those galvanized buckets for your centerpeices? What size are those? And were did you find those drink containers? I would love to pick your brain on all your beautiful details!
Hi Jacqueline-
Thanks for the compliments! For the flower 'M' I started with floral foam bricks and formed & cut them in the shape of an M, using styrofoam adhesive, floral wire, and toothpicks to piece the foam together. After it dried overnight it was sturdy enough to hold the flowers. The day before the wedding I cut the carnations (about 100 or so) so just the smallest length of stem remained. I soaked the M in a bucket of water, then stuck the flower heads in until it was really full. I left it floating in water overnight. The morning of the wedding I finished the sides with wide ribbon and floral pins, and added wire hooks to the top to hang it.
The pots are plain terra cotta from Ikea (really inexpensive), about 7-8" wide. I gave them an aged finish using garden lime powder and diluted acrylic paint, a long process but worth it. They came out exactly like I wanted.
The glass jars are from Target. They come in 3 sizes, we used the 2 gallon size for the drinks, and the smaller ones for candy.
If you have more specific questions, feel free to email me. I'd love to help! heatherhumphries00@yahoo.com
Heather :)
Hi Heather, what a gorgeous wedding and I love the dress you chose. Where did you get the dress?
Thanks!
I was just wondering...when you order flowers to arrange yourself wholesale, how long before the wedding to you start and how do you keep them all fresh?
Manuella-
Thank you! The drss is BCBG from Nordstrom.
Tiffanie-
Well, depending on the vendor, you go by their suggestions. Most ask for a requested shipping date (about 2-3 days before the event), and I placed my order about 10 days before the wedding. Good luck! Any more questions, my new email is heather.mattos@sbcglobal.net. :)
Can I just say what an absolute sweetie Heather is? Beautiful wedding... beautiful details and I LOVE that you did so much yourself!
Aww, thanks, Shannon!
This wedding is absolutely inspirational :)
So beautiful, well done.
VOTE
what a beautiful wedding! do you have a good recipe for the big jar of mojitos?
Absolutley gorgeous and so inspiring. I'm so glad to see others want to (and have pulled off fabulously!) baking their own treats! Do you have any tips or pointers for making large batches?