Invitation Inspirations

They're out there.  They're in the mail!

Jacob helped me stuff and stick return address labels on invitations last night--and they're finally done!  I took them downstairs this morning to the mailroom in a box labeled "brown kraft".  They came to rest in a US Postal Service Bin, just waiting for their little homes in mailboxes on far away streets.  We've been through so much together--me and those little #10 envelopes!

So, the giant hurdle is jumped! And the invitations came together perfectly.  I'll be posting more pictures later, because I'm quite proud of the design.  I'll just wait until all my sweet guests get them first.

I've totally enjoyed this ride of invitation development and design.  There are so many inspiring invitation ideas out there--you could hop from blog to blog and never get enough!  I finally narrowed down my concept to that of a "gig poster".  Jacob has quite the gig poster collection amassed already--some hand-screened, small-series prints.  I just love them.  And invitations these days have finally taken the hint from gigs.  Here are some posters that offered a hand in some inspiration: (And we're the proud owners of a few of these guys!)

Aren't they fun?  Bright colors, vivid imagery, an emphasis on font and type--you can see why invitations took the hint. And here are some of my favorite invitation designs.  So fun! 

These invitations really reflect the freedom I've found to make this wedding truly a reflection of our own personalities and interests.  I'll always see the value in tradition, but not in confinement or commercialism. One of my favorite art professors always said: "Art is about ideas".  And art can be anything you do--even a wedding!    

50 Lines

All things are in motion.  The greater moments in my life I have felt swept along a current--and I like to think of it as the river of God's goodness. When circumstances exist beyond my own accomplishment or activity, I can only acknowledge the Lord's blessings.  I can only step back, thankful.

We have a new house, the sweetest little Tudor Rival on the quietest little street with large oak trees shading the sidewalks.  We have a backyard full of rose bushes and a mantle with Art Nouveau embellishments.  The house was built in 1927, and I can't help but think of the first owners.  Were they young?  Newlyweds?  I like to imagine these details, the history of a home that is now mine.

We'll be flying to Ireland the day after the wedding.  Eight days there: cliffs, castles, traces of my own ancestry.

The past and present collide, affirming these days of transition and change in my own small existence.  It's a chemical change of sorts--simple and quiet, an altogether new substance of life formed by the exchange of energy.

And I can only step back, thankful.


Enjoy Sarah Jaffe, "Clementine".  Love it.

DIY Ice Cream Topping Tins

So, in addition to changing the wedding location, time, and date, there were other inevitable changes on the horizon.  The reception has now been replaced with what I'd like to call an "Ice Cream Social".  We're talking ice cream, sorbets, tons of toppings, cherries, banana splits, and root beer floats.  Oui!

I remember having these church-wide socials when I was growing up.  I remember all of the homemade ice cream makers spread out on tables in the church parking lot, so many flavors that it would take bowls and bowls to sample all of the different recipes.  Still when I think of summer nostalgia, I have to think of sharing ice cream with people I love.  And the sticky fingers are totally worth it. 

So, here's the "scoop".  Not much about a traditional wedding reception appeals to me.  After we first became engaged and I first contemplated the meaning of a wedding, I had to narrow it down to a very simplistic purpose:  to celebrate making the lifetime commitment of marriage with everyone I love surrounding me, and then to enjoy--really enjoy--this gathering.  I can think of only one other time that all of your closest friends and family gather, and it's the very opposite of a wedding.  I want to make the most of celebrating the life that awaits because the next time it will be a celebration of the life that has already taken place.

So, all of these sentiments to present...
my latest DIY project!

First, let me give props to Eat Drink Chic for this amazing post about a DIY Ice Cream Parlor.  It's definitely a major source of inspiration.  I love the creative method of displaying the toppings and making the table a very coherent visual.  Check it out, here!  Here are some of my favorite photos from this amazing ice cream creation:

So, here are my DIY Ice Cream Tins.  I want a super buffet of ice cream toppings, so these are the first in a series of projects to create serving containers for the Ice Cream Social.

I got these guys at the Dollar Tree.  Score!

And so I painted them using all sorts of colors (as all colors are "my colors"), using the most amazing little gun.  Get this thing before your next spray paint project.  It snaps on to the top of the spray paint can and the trigger applies pressure to the top of the sprayer.  No more tired fingers!

And...here are my little serving tins! 

CrossTimbers!

So, as of today, the wedding is 81 days away!  That's eighty-one!

Jacob and I found the perfect place to have the wedding.  While we love my Aunt Helen's farm and are so thankful that they would let us trample all over it, we realized the risk we were taking with an October wedding.  I just had to trust my instinct, a nagging feeling I had that the weather might be poor.

So...August 28th.  Camp CrossTimbers.  Absolutely.

It's a nice drive, tucked away on a hill outside of McAlester.  It's beautiful, quiet, and quaint.  I love the overall relaxed feeling of the place and even more--imagining all of the people I love in one place.  Hopefully they'll be enjoying some volleyball, paddle boats, and ice cream.  Perfect.

P.S. Jacob made an awesome video of the day we spent at CrossTimbers, so watch it here!