WELCOME!

Welcome to Le Beau Paon Victorien! I'm so glad you stopped by!

Here you will find a variety of things that might interest you: food, books, house decor, crafty things, random thoughts, dishes, gardening and more!

Spend some time with us and happy reading!





Friday, June 10, 2011

2nd Annual 'To Have and to Hold Wedding Blog Party'

I was cordially invited by Stephanie at Angelic Accents to join her 2nd Annual Wedding Blog Party today. She has such a lovely collection of wedding things and some great inspiration pictures, so go ahead and make a visit to her and all the other participants for the blog party and have some fun!


I have had several posts over the last couple years with a few pictures here and there of my 2007 wedding, which I have mentioned also in other posts. Just yesterday, I did a 'bridal themed' lucheon tablescape for Tablescape Thursday, click HERE if you'd like to visit that post.

Weddings are times for celebration, excitement, happiness and the joining of two lives. I was 36 years old at my wedding, but I was as giddy as a school girl. I called our wedding theme "Vintage Modern" because I wanted it to have vintage elements, yet be sophisticated and trendy.




Here's a picture from my own wedding. (I also have one on my sidebar). My dress was not white, nor was it exactly cream colored. It was called ' Diamond White', kind of like an 'antique' white. It was an A-line dress, strapless, but completely covered in lace, so it had a kind of vintage look, despite it's modern silhouette.

It also had lots of sparklies on the lace. In person it was quite stunning. I always wish that wedding dresses looked as beautiful in photos as in person; it's hard to capture the details sometimes in photos. I had two veils, which I bought on eBay. One was a shorter elbow-length and the other a detachable cathedral length, which I took off after the cermony.

I did take close-up views of my dress after I picked it up from my last fitting. This is the top bodice.

And detail of the lace with all the tiny pearls and iridescent beads. The color looks more exact in this picture too.

I had some pictures from one of my fittings too, so here I am wearing it (with one of my veils). This was after work, so my hair was a mess!


And this was how the chapel-length train was to be "bustled".

As a crafty DIY kind of person who loves to make things, of course I had to do my own flowers. I didn't mind using faux flowers; today's faux flowers are so pretty and look so real. Many of my guests didn't realize that my flowers weren't real.


This was my bouquet. I had found a pretty enamel brooch at an antique store to decorate the ribbon-wrapped stems.


The brooch

Each of the bouquets had a jeweled pin with the person's first name initial.



My bridesmaids' bouquets were very similar to mine.



Here's a picture of us with our flowers before the ceremony:


I also made several flower arrangements for the reception; the name card table, our sweetheart table, the table centerpieces............

Place card table bouquet........


Small bouquets in silver mint julep cups for the centerpieces on half of our reception tables.



And for the sweetheart table:



I also made the cake topper for our wedding cake:



I used two sweet green birds instead of a wedding couple on the cake topper. The great thing about faux flwowers is that they don't die! I have them now as keepsakes, displayed in my home.

Can you see my cake topper on the second shelf? It's next to our peacock toasting glasses and the cake knife and server engraved with our wedding date.


I made a lot of other things too; the invitations...........

They were pocket fold invites. This was how they looked on the outside....


 and unfolded;




The actual pocket fold envelopes I ordered from a wonderful print shop, but the rest of it I made and assembled myself. I printed the invites on my own printer at home. The mailing envelopes were all addressed by hand (in Spencerian writing, which I did myself) and had a monogram wax seal for a fun, Victorian touch!

I also made the name place cards.........

I did the Spencerian writing myself here also. It's sort of a hobby.

I also made the wedding programs and I made them to look like fans.........


We had someone we knew who does cookies and cakes for events make cookies for our wedding favors;

But, of course, the little tags I made myself..........


To make table signs with the assigned table numbers, I used my collection of vintage cabinet cards that show wedding couples. I have a lot of them with wedding couples. They are one of my favorite subject matters in old photos.

I used a temporary adhesive to mount them on card stock so they wouldn't get damaged. I wasn't able to find a good photo of them on the tables at the reception. I don't think my photographer knew that I wanted photos of the centerpieces.


I have many of them, but here are just a few.............









Knowing my fondness for these, my mom even found one for me when she was in Budapest in some tiny little antique shop..........


Fittingly, we chose a very beautiful historic hotel for our reception. This is a picture of the grand ballroom where we had our reception:





And this is actually a post card that shows the magnificent main entrance of the hotel and the vaulted, painted ceiling.


You can see a little bit of the hotel in some of our photos taken after the ceremony.





And last but not least.....I do have a couple of bride dolls to share........


My Gibson Girl bride doll, which I bought way back in the early 90s. (In this picture she is a little rumpled from being in storage)


And the bride doll my mother made me. She used a Barbie doll with brunette hair and then made the exquisite thread-crochet dress and bouquet. She even styled the doll's hair into an up-do and made the veil herself.





Thanks for joining me! I hope you don't mind the loooonnng post!



Photobucket

17 comments:

Trisha said...

Beautiful wedding! I love being able to create things yourself-makes it even more special! Thanks for sharing!

~Trisha

Lauren @ My Wonderfully Made said...

Wow! Everything was so beautiful -- I can't imagine how you managed to create all of these masterpieces and still keep your sanity to walk down the aisle!! Love the colors and the pin you added to each bouquet -- all such sweet, meaningful touches! I'm sure it will be remembered and talked about for years and years to come!

Bella's Rose Cottage said...

Hi Katie,
I love seeing your beautiful wedding!! I have never seen the bodice of your dress up close and it is stuinning, you always have an eye for great details!
Love all those cabinet cards too, I keep an eye out ofr wedding photos but am never lucky, great collection!
Hugs,
Bella

Daphne Nicole & Lynda Cade said...

Everything is so beautiful, and your flowers do look real, their gorgeous, you did a wonderful job on everything that you created!!! Love your dolls too, so sweet!!!
Daphne

Honey at 2805 said...

You were a beautiful brid and your dress gorgeous. I feel like I'm on the inside seeing all of the elements you incorporated. Love the vintage wedding cards!

Holly said...

Katie~
How beautiful you were! How beautiful the pictures are! What fun memories! I like the vintage modern look - I think you did it.
many blessings!

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

Katie,
What a treat is was to see all of your wedding pics!!

Your gown was to die for and the floral items you created were stunning. I like the idea of using faux flowers because then you have them forever!

And the place were you had your reception is magnificent!!

What a fantastic day you created for the two of you and your family and guests on your wedding day!!

I really enjoyed experiencing it with you and thanks so much for sharing!!

Have a great weekend!

hugs,
Deb

Olivia said...

What a beautiful wedding post! Your dress is gorgeous and so are your bouquets! Love it all!
Hugs,
Olivia

Celestina Marie said...

Hi Katie,
What a fabulous wedding party post you share. I love your wedding pics. You and your beloved are a beautiful couple. Your dress is gorgeous. All the creations for the tables are wonderful. The ballroom is so grand.
Love the vintage pics too and your bride dolls are beautiful. You sure have wonderful memories and gorgeous keepsakes.

Thank you for a wonderful party and also for stopping by to mine. Hope to see you again.

Hugs from Texas, Celestina Marie
Have a nice weekend!

Anonymous said...

Katie - how lovely! What a memorable day you created for your wedding! Thanks for stopping by The Writer's Reverie to see my little collection - and I see you have a Lady Lennox bride doll, too - aren't they lovely and don't we all feel like they look on the inside on our special day! Joy to you! Miss Kathy

Unknown said...

What an awesome dreamy wedding, Katie ... & you are such a gorgeous bride. Love the vintage photos.

TTFN ~
Marydon

Gina said...

You made a beautiful bride & I think your gown was gorgeous!
I love that you made the bouquets...they came out beautifully. Your table numbers were such a unique & creative idea. Thanks for sharing!

Blue Creek Home said...

What a lovely bride you were. The wedding photos are beautiful - love all of the flower arrangements that you did!
Rhonda

JudyBug said...

What a stunningly beautiful wedding! Your gown and the intricate work is just amazing. My favorite idea....the monogrammed jeweled initials on the bouquet. Just the cutest idea ever!!

Pam of Eastlake Victorian said...

I love love love your wedding dress and all the details you put into your wedding yourself! Such beautiful and clever concepts! Your dress really does have gorgeous details close up!

You did a fabulous job with all the silk flower arrangements and bouquets. And I did our cake topper with 2 birds instead of people, too! Still have it, but our flowers were real, so nothing left of that. And the hand made invitations, table number cards, fan shaped programs... wow, Katie! You are SO talented! I think you accomplished your goal of combining Victorian elegance with a modern feel.

Thanks so much for sharing more of your special day!

-Pam

Stephanie ~ Angelic Accents said...

Oh Katie, you are a girl afater my own heart, my friend! I'm so glad you joined our Wedding Blog Party! You had the wedding of MY dreams! I love the personalized bouquets you made and how you now display yours. Your gown, veil, hair, cake, reception venue, my goodness, I just love it ALL! The wedding cabinet cards made such amazing table centerpieces, I'm sure. I think you write lovely and that adds such a special touch to your tables and to your wedding invitations!

Your bride dolls are beautiful. I love the Gibson doll, but your mother's creation is just stunning and will always be such a special keepsake! I can tell you put sooo much thought into both your elegant wedding and this post! Thanks so much for sharing with us.

Big TX Hugs,
Stephanie
Angelic Accents

RobinfromCA said...

What a wonderfully personal post! The lace on your gown is absolutely exquisite! I love that you made everything yourself. My daughter did the same for her wedding and it was just that much more special. Everything is lovely.

RobinfromCA