Monday, September 17, 2012

Jay ♥ Czacza: The Actual Setup

Vintage imagery + Typography + Heat transfer = His print
And as plans went, the winds leaned towards the tempestuous, especially when it applied to the reception preparations.  The fluctuations on the number of guests, tables, table configurations, etc. increased in the days leading to the big event, but Czacza was the picture of ease and grace.  Even as she dropped by the night before to see the centerpiece porcelain items and drop off the printouts of the wedding rules, she was composed (as she matter-of-factly told her groom that she couldn't deal with his shoe selection issues at the moment) despite relaying all of the last-minute concerns.

The Hers print.  :-)
I still don't have all of the photos of all of the handmade details (the "Just Married" heat transfer buntings, the fresh flower bouquets of the entourage), but let me share some items we were able document.

The boutonnieres looked like this!
The boutonnieres were made from canvas, hemp rope, dried misty blue flowers and pearl.  I had fun experimenting with the ombre effect.

Bouquet and a detail of the backdrop.
Instead of sticking to just blue, the entourage bouquets incorporated pink, so we added those hues to the centerpieces as well, with hydrangeas, berries and astrumeria.  The hydrangeas were more whitish than bluish, and since these aren't that easy to get (we had to reserve these about a month in advance), we had to make do.  The original plan for pink roses for the entourage had to be changed to pink and cream carnations and mums with berries (gosh, I have to get photos of those).

Detail and top view of the varied centerpieces.
We had varied centerpieces, incorporating the bottles with the decals, porcelain tea cups and bowls with floating candles, using vases and varied sizes of mason jars to hold the flowers, votives, and decorative ceramic balls.

Using embroidery hoops with heat transferred designs in the backdrop.
For the backdrop, we had a frame constructed, and incorporated printed designs hanging from embroidery hoops of various sizes, as well as doilies, lace, ribbon and string.

Embroidery hoops and doilies!
The beads from the original setup for the centerpieces were strung from the backdrop instead.

The floating candle waits to jump into the teacup.
We did the table numbers in embroidery hoops too.
Doilies and ribbon for the seats.
Enderun was a pretty venue.
All in all, we were pretty happy with how it turned out, and were glad to have been part of Jay and Czacza's special day.  And for a first handmade styling gig, we sure learned a lot.  This was a team effort, with Mom and Dad pitching in (making me go to bed at 5 AM), Lex being a sport in the sourcing of items, and Gemma and Nikki helping during the setup itself.

Here's to handmade details! 

PS: The awesome wedding coordinators were Jets and Rhona Battung of Canaan Celebrations.