Wedding Reception Preparation- The Buffet and Table

the buffet complete with the Wedding Feast menu by Joy- AKA Savvy City Farmer

a layered look of crystal, distressed woods and gilded accessories- styled by Joy

The wedding menu gives the "essence" of the feast to be served on Sunday in honor of Amy and John

Pretty little golded etched votives are sprinkled throughout the buffet

Graceful lady statue is holding a bouquet of hydrangeas and the wedding invitation 

Joy can customize these menu boards for any occasion

Old parchment tubes are used to give a sense of history to the event.

A glance from the buffet table to the buffet

Laurell painted the old urn an antique gold - before it was solid black! A huge bouquet of flowers and vines from
Twigs - my favorite florist- will sit on top and flow on to the table!

Laurell's aged mirror in the old frames will be perfect serving trays for the food.

Statues placed on the food table are deciding what to wear!

Crystal and silver bowls, pedestals and trays are placed in varying height on the table

ready for the grilled lamb chops!

 

 

embossed napkins in glass compote tied with sateen ribbon

Amy and John's party invitation cannister being used as a votive holder on the buffet, tying everything together!

 

Yesterday, Joy from www.savvycityfarmer.com , came to my home  to deliver the menu board that she had made for the wedding reception  on Sunday.  It's fabulous!  She visited a while and helped me stage the buffet with the board and all  the serving plates and napkins.  Gorgeous embossed cream and gold napkins were layered in the tall compotes, ribbon was tied on stems and candles were placed through out the vignette.  Thanks Joy - I think it looks great!  The table is complete with all the menu cards, serving vessels and utensils that will be  needed on Sunday.  Laurell did a beautiful job  painting the old black urn antique gold- it's perfect for the table.  Her aged mirrors will look so pretty with the candles and food displayed on them.  I can't wait to see the table with the beautiful flowers from Twigs and all the delicious food!

Wedding Reception Preparation Continues - Making Rhinestone Bouquets

Love this little hand dyed bird- done for me by a talented lady in Atlanta

A trophy filled with old buttons, rhinestone pins, mesh roses and vintage velvet millinery leaves.

The old silver basket on the left was my moms

 

Until yesterday, I was still searching for the unique and creative  accents for the upcoming wedding reception.  I have seen a lot of "brooch bouquets" made of old vintage pins and buttons on different wedding blogs lately.  However, yesterday at Grayslake, I found my inspiration piece- an old tarnished silver coffee pot filled with a "brooch bouquet".  I purchased it from a very talented artist who's real business is making these incredible bracelets and she uses the leftover bits of jewelry to create these "whimseys".  So I purchased one and when home to work on it.  I removed the elements that didn't work with our party decor and re-created the little rhinestone bouquet using different leaves and adding in a stellar vintage rhinestone pin. Then I was on a roll- went out to the craft room, unearthed my rhinestone treasures and got busy making 4 more of these unique little treasures.  My favorite is the tall basket that was my moms.  I used some of her old rhinestone pins in it. ( I think these will be great for the holidays too! They will be perfect for powder rooms - small and sparkley)  So I think I'll make more for the store for our Christmas open house.) I wish the photos did these justice  - but they don't pick up the sparkle and depth of each piece.

Then I had an idea and called the girls- how about everyone contribute an old piece of rhinestone jewelry from their jewelry boxes and we will make a special "whimsey" for Amy using all of our combined contributions.  Tomorrow, I will start gathering the pieces from each of the girls and begin to create a special bouquet for Amy. can't wait to see how it turns out!

Wedding Preparation - Cake Table and Flowers

Pulling all the elements together for the cake table - calling  all cupids and cherubs immediately to report for duty!



Sweet statue from Joy at SavvyCityFarmer- Had to find the girl something appropriate to wear,
so I layered her with an old piece of trim from a vintage dress.

This little cupid will be holding a plate of sweets or maybe a candle- haven't decided yet.

A killer cake plateau for the 3 tiered wedding cake

Hand embellished with vintage rhinestone jewelry.

To die for- tablecloth puddled on the floor.   burlap and tulle petals.
so romantic and available at Romancing the Home in 2 sizes - 92 inch and 122 inch rounds.
This table is 48 inches round and allows for the perfect amount of puddling.

Just look at the detail - fluffs up beautifully after 5 minutes in the dryer on fluff cycle!

reporting for duty!

salmon and rose cockscomb, white hydrangeas, queen annes lace and pink and yellow dahlias-
ordered from the flower vendors at the Lake Bluff Farmers market this morning

20 bundles of these colors coming

lots of white hydrangeas in my garden right now!

Pretty combination

another cherub box ready to hold chocolate dipped pretzel rods.

 

It's just one week and 2 days until Amy and John's wedding reception and there is a lot to do today. This morning was the Lake Bluff Farmers market, so I needed to order flowers for next weekend from the flower vendors. Just coming into season are dahlias, large specimens of queen anne's lace and cockscomb. So I placed a special order for each of these and then purchased  some of each  to take home and test  that they stay pretty and fresh from today until late Sunday.  The last thing I need on next Sunday morning - the day of the party- is to find droopy zinnia heads in the  arrangements for the porch. So this weekend is a practice run.  I love all the textures and colors together.   We plan on mixing them with pink and lavender mums and white pumpkins if I can find them.  The bar will be set up on our wrap around porch, along with a lot of wicker seating, so we want lots of fresh floral decor for that area of the party.  After  returning from the market this morning, I set up the sweets table with the fabulous new tablecloth that we sell  at the store.  I was a little worried that it would look too big on my 48 inch table, but it looks great.  I love the romantic puddles  of material on the floor.  Polished silver pieces are gathered for the table and will be labeled with post-its as to what sweet treat they will hold.  The rest of the day will be spent gathering and washing assorted vintage plates and glasses for the bar and food tables. We are using a mix of dishes, however they have to look romantic and blend together.  I'll let you know what I find!



Wedding Reception Preparation Begins

Time to repair the broken arms and wings and clean out the cobwebs!

Freshen up the front flower beds !Cut back the dying summer flowers and plant a few new perennials for next year!

Fertilize and pamper the new  roses so we have plenty in 2 weeks!

Ask Laurell to perform a "little paint magic" and make all the candlesticks look vintage!
Awesome job - this thing used to be a horrible shade of blue.

Start gathering the props- velvet pumpkins, rhinestone pins - ribbon flowers-
to enhance the silver, blush and gold  tablescapes.

Frames ready for Laurell's aged mirrors - being used as the serving trays for the food.

Little gold etched votives enhanced with rhinestones for the food tables.



Little hand colored  and glitter embellished cards to identify the food on the buffet. Graphic is from the Graphics Fairy.

We used colored pencils, rhinestones and glitter to personalize the cards.

Let the Eat Cake martini from Tori Spellings new book - CelebraTORI
vanilla vodka, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, half and half with a white icing and pink sugar rim
Angel Food cake with vanilla icing top as garnish- how cute and girly!

 

 

Amy's (one of our  Romancing the Home girls) wedding reception is  in 2 weeks and the entire Romancing the Home staff is hosting  it for her and her new husband John!  Everyone is involved in the food preparation and decor of the event.  So for the next 2 weeks, I'll be sharing our progress as we prepare for the party. It's time for me  to do those chores one puts off -like getting  the summer cobwebs down! As the party is at my home,  Mr. RTH spent the weekend in the garden, freshening up the borders. We finished  the music  playlist for the party- full of new and old love songs- with input from everyone.  Downloading the menu card from The Graphics Fairy, we typed in the names of the foods and printed them on parchment card stock. Hand colored and  glittered, they are now  ready to identify  the items on the buffet.  Laurell came over yesterday with the  mirrors that she had antiqued for the old gilded frames that will be used as  the food trays.  While she was over, we found this delightful "Let them eat cake" martini in Tori Spelling"s  new book - "CelebraTORI. We decided that they would be perfect for the sweets table - so things keep changing as we go!  We are having so much fun planning this!