Reduce. Reuse. Re-wedding.

Hey y'all! Get ready for a fun post with a change of pace!

    Many of you know that I married the man of my dreams on September 1st, 2012.  Our day was literally picture perfect and I can't wait to share some of our favorite photos with y'all soon.  Our wedding was by far the best beginning to our life-long journey together, but for now I have something else to share.
    My wedding decor was the epitome of DIY.  I had a vision of exactly what I wanted and almost everything was handmade by myself or added onto from some fabulous finds that I purchased online.  I wanted to share with y'all my thought process of designing and creating my wedding and how I am now re-using it throughout our home.  Let's be honest, if us brides are going to spend thousands on a wedding that is over in one weekend, then we better be able to hold onto and re-live some of our 'I Do's', am I right?!?
    If I were to describe my style I would use the words earthy, natural, and ethereal.  Oh, and birds.  I have a problematic serious obsession with birds and you can find them tucked into every room in my house.  Seriously.  My girlfriends say that I am pretty easy to buy for because the minute you walk into my home you know what I'm about; you feel my personality.  I carried my style into my wedding by using a lot of burlap, natural wood, and simple colors such as tan and white.  It was simple, southern, and very personalized.
    While designing my wedding (No, I didn't have a wedding planner, coordinator, or event stylist), I tried to keep in mind that I was going to have to bring home ALL the decor I was creating.  We had over 200 guests at our wedding; that's a lot of repetitive decor piling up in my office!  So,  during my multiple trips to Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and Carolina Pottery, I chose things that I could envision fitting nicely into my home post-wedding.
    Nesters, here is the inside scoop on how I re-used my wedding decor and how you can, too! (No matter what the occasion!)

-Monograms-
Who doesn't love a good monogram?  Almost every bride I know is pretty excited to start using her new monogram.  For the wedding, I chose to use both of our first initials paired with our last initial in the center.  I was certain I could find a place in our house for these amazing pieces after the wedding.  So, I ordered two wood carved monograms from Southern Proper Monograms and was blown away when they showed up on my front door step! We used them on shepherds hooks to create our aisle on the big day.  I added some homemade burlap bows for a little flair :)  Aren't they gorgeous?!?

Unforgettable Memories Photography

Micah Leigh Photography

Post-wedding:
#1 I gave one of the monograms a simple white-wash and added some personalization to our guest bedroom by placing it on top of our box shelves. Paired with the bird cage and frames, it adds a nice little creative touch and is the perfect size!

#2 I got a little craftier and did some up-cycling on the second monogram project.  I kept the monogram au-natural and paired it with a vintage oval frame that was my grandmother's back in the 50s.  It has the most beautiful ornate details and I couldn't wait to use it as it has been in my closet for a while now.  I first gave the frame a coat of spray paint in Krylon's "Almond" color and let it dry.  Next, I used some artist sponges to rub on some dark brown acrylic paint in "Raw Umber".  Once that dried, I finished the top coat with a smaller sponge in a bronze color.  Once all the paint had dried, I simply nailed the monogram in the center and boy did I love how it turned out!  It now hangs in our master bedroom and serves as an everyday reminder of our beautiful wedding day.

{Nester Note: I will post a DIY antique tutorial asap!}

Ahhh...

-Vow Art-

One of my favorite personalized pieces of our wedding was our Vow Art created by Stefanie Stroman at Stroman Studios.  J and I decided to do traditional vows, but wanted to share the unique parts of our relationship with everyone.  I contacted Stefanie with the idea and she was quick to jump into the process! It was hardly any work on our end as both J and I sat down separately and wrote down a list of things we promised to keep true over our marriage; some serious, some funny, and some embarrassing.  Stefanie turned our simple words into what we dubbed 'Vow Art'.  They were beautiful at our outdoor wedding.  Didn't she do an amazing job?!?  

Visit Stroman Studios for all of your graphic design needs!

Post-wedding:

Our vow art now sits on a corner shelf in our living room and adds a sweet touch to our everyday living space.  I got the swanky wood frames from Hobby Lobby (50% off, of course) and knew they would work perfect with the wedding theme and our home decor.  Check out these beauties...

-Twine Initial Hanger-

At our wedding venue, the guests were to park across the street from the wedding site and then walk up a bricked path to the ceremony location.  To make sure our guests knew this was our wedding and they were in the right place, we used shepherd's hooks (surprise, surprise) and hung twine wrapped letter R's from them.  Anyone can make these! They are really easy; but, a tad time consuming depending on the letter.  Some twine, a little hot glue, ribbon, and a decorative piece (flower, feather, etc) creates a fabulous initial hanger.

Micah Leigh Photography 

Post-wedding:

When making these, I used a lot of white because my wedding used white as an accent color.  However, I also have a lot of white within the house and knew it would complement the house decor easily.  These simple initial hangers now serve as door hangers in our home and add just a bit more DIY-ness to our nest :)

-Simple Frames-

   Throughout the wedding I had used multiple frames to house pictures, signs, etc.  It took me quite a while to find the exact frames I wanted for each purpose mainly because I wanted to make sure they would fit somewhere on a shelf later and matched our home decor.  That paired with making it work with the wedding took me a hot minute!  Between displayed engagement photos and the multiple signs, I ended up with some great frames for the house.

At the wedding

Post-wedding:

    After the wedding, I was trying to find spots for the frames and they weren't working as well space-wise as I was hoping they would.  Then, when I was home studying one day (the story of my life), my father-in-law stopped by and said he had something for me.  He had hand-built a hope chest for me to store all of my wedding keepsakes in!  He is the sweetest man with the biggest heart, and I am convinced it's even a little larger for me at times as he has two sons :)  It is absolutely gorgeous in our master bedroom and holds the wedding frames easily!  Take a peek...

-Birch Vases-

    I saw these birch vases on Etsy in Bragging Bags shop about a year before I was even engaged and knew that I would use them somehow at my wedding.  There is something so simple and natural about them that makes them perfect.  I stuck simple with my flowers at the wedding but toned it down even more for these vases so that the vase would be the focus.  With a little added Baby's Breath and White Football Mums, I had the perfectly simple center piece for J & I's special table at the wedding.

{Visit Bragging Bags shop on Etsy to see her amazing work!}

Post-wedding:

    I now use the birch vase in our guest bathroom as a container for wash cloths for our lovely visitors.  It's still simple, yet useful.

-Chalk Boards-

   I am a big perfectionist (incase you haven't caught on) and one of my big things at the wedding was that I didn't want anything to be average.  Usually you just type up a little "Reserved For" sign and slap it on the table and be done with it.  But, I just couldn't do it!  I know, I know... Type-A personality at it's finest.  Well, my solution were these cute little chalk boards!  I left them 'plain Jane' and let them flow with the natural look of the wedding.  And, I liked the idea of having a modern sticky note around the house!

Post-wedding:

   Now, we use the chalk boards in the kitchen for daily inspiration or quick little notes!  It's simple, chic, and fun :)  Our current sentiment is below...

-Guest Book-

   When trying to decide on a guest book for the wedding, my Type-A personality came back out.  Why get a book, have everyone sign it, and then put it in a box to never look at again?  Sounds like a waste of time and money to me!  So, I went back to my tried and true Etsy and came across Inviting Moments.  This shop does amazing work and she created a piece of art for my guest book that I could frame and display in our home.  Two for the price of one in the greatest way!  I must admit, I haven't found the perfect frame quite yet... but, here are some glimpses of the amazing guest book!

-Mason Jars-

   I love Mason Jars.  They are simple, useful, and pretty darn good looking!  Half of the tables had a mason jar with a hand-sewn burlap wrap and a little glam added; these jars all had flowers.  The other half of the tables had mason jars filled with split peas and a white candle nestled within; these jars were wrapped with a twine bow at the mouth of the jar.  All of the center pieces had a twig wreath encompassing the jar.  They went perfect with the theme and I knew I would definitely re-use the mason jars!

Micah Leigh Photography

Post-wedding:

   You can find mason jars ALL over our house! We use them for all kinds of things; but, my favorite would have to be the girly use I have in our master bathroom.  I have used one of the burlap wrapped jars to hold my make-up brushes up-right after using and cleaning them.  They can dry easily, and they stay away from all the unknown bacteria that is inevitably in our make-up bags (sigh).  It also doesn't hurt waking up to a little sparkle in the mornings while getting ready!

-Up-cycled Fencing Prop-

   Last, but certainly not least, is my up-cycled photo prop for the wedding!  My husband's family owns a Heating & Air business and always has odds and ends in their warehouse.  Over the summer, they had some left over fencing that my father-in-law let me take over for this project.  I white-washed the fence, added a huge heart and our last name and had a rustic photo prop for the bride & groom, and all of our guests!

Micah Leigh Photography

Post-wedding:

   Currently, my father-in-law is working on cutting down the fencing and creating a toy box for our future children.  I can't wait to see the finished project and will share once he has finished!  Yet again, another useful sentiment from our wedding day!

   Well Nesters, those are the major areas of decor that I chose to use in the wedding and in my home!  With any event you throw; a wedding, party, or even a shower, try to use your head over your heart.  Use things you love that will be useful more than once.  If you loved it once, you can love it over and over again in your everyday life at home instead of it collecting dust in your closet. Try it out, and I promise you will change the way you think and buy from now on!  Reduce. Reuse. And in my case, Re-wedding.  See y'all soon for the antique-ing tutorial!

xoxo,

A