happily ever after ... wedding inspiration

Don't you just love fairy tales and happy endings ... I do ... and I was so happy to attend the wedding of our friends' daughter recently. Breann married her Prince Charming {Kyle} and their wedding and reception was amazing.

I collected a number of old frames to use at the reception as part of the decor. We removed the glass, painted the frames white and added chalkboards. The sign pictured above was a gift I made for Breann and Kyle. I hand painted the words so that the "happily ever after" will never rub off or go away. I also made another one with the words "thank you" ... it was used in the wedding day photography and I am just waiting to see the wedding photos so that we can print the thank you notes.

One idea that we had was to set up a photo booth at the reception. Breann fell in love with this yellow and grey fabric {which ended up being our inspiration for the wedding stationery} and we knew that it would make a beautiful backdrop for photos inside the hall. We purchased enough fabric so that I could sew two 8' panels together ... we wanted to make sure that we had enough width for group pictures. We hung the fabric in the reception hall, added some chalkboards and chalk, a big white frame and lots of silly props and that was all it took to "get the party started"! This would be great for a kid's party too! ... just let the fabric and props set the party theme.

Here's a picture of myself, two daughters and a friend's daughter ... can you tell we were having a lot of fun at the wedding?

I had a case of vintage mason jars that we filled with fine beach pebbles & candles to use at the bar. I created the paper flowers using extra* papers from Breann and Kyles' stationery. A little bit of Tim Holtz's distress ink in yellow (scattered straw) and grey (weathered wood), some pop dots and a ribbon to tie the flowers to the jars was all it took to make these candles complete.

I think that these would be cute for an anniversary or birthday party too ... just remember to keep the paper decorations away from the flame!

*Just have to tell you that we had "extra" stationery because a few weeks after we printed the invitations we found out that Breann's youngest brother was going to be representing Canada in the World Junior Swim meet in Peru ... and he would be swimming in Peru on her wedding day. Long story short ... the wedding date was moved ahead by two weeks, I made new invitations and I we have 200 extra wedding invitations to "play with".

I hope that you find these ideas inspiring whether you are planning a wedding or a party!

Have a great week.