DIY/Details ~ Paper
Bridesmaid Proposals
I chose to make my own cards to give them a really personal touch. They are a play off the sari models you might see on advertisements or websites.
In addition, I made a fun DVD slideshow filled with pictures and a fun song. Credit for this idea goes to knottie Aitirone and another random knottie from another board(can't remember :( ) who I completely stole the song choice and funny concept from. I added a few touches, like ugly hairstyles and makeup, and ugly bridesmaid dresses(Thanks Jaime and Alissa!) If I can figure out an easy way to share it/post it on here, I will!
In addition, I made a fun DVD slideshow filled with pictures and a fun song. Credit for this idea goes to knottie Aitirone and another random knottie from another board(can't remember :( ) who I completely stole the song choice and funny concept from. I added a few touches, like ugly hairstyles and makeup, and ugly bridesmaid dresses(Thanks Jaime and Alissa!) If I can figure out an easy way to share it/post it on here, I will!
Drawing Inspiration
The Making of...
Finished Product, Yay! Hope they say YES.
Bridesmaid Newsletter
I love this idea from NicoleKrish of using a Bridesmaid Newsletter to keep my girls up-to-date on things. I made one dedicated to each girl, complete with cartoon caricatures of them! Here are a few of them.
Hotel Guest Packets
We are making Info Packets for the Hotel Guests. I purchased white folders and stickers using the monogram below that we're sticking on the front of the folders. Inside the folders will contain a welcome letter from me and Dhru, a timeline for the weekend, a double-side map of the area with a list of things to do on the back, and a customized "Do Not Disturb" Sign.
Valet Tags
For the local guests not staying at the hotel, they will be receive a treat when they pick up their cars from Valet staff: A valet tag attached to their rearview mirrors.
Guest Sign-In Book
I wish I had more photos of the final product. Our photographer used the design of our invitation for the cover of our book. Inside the book were a mix of color and black & white images from our engagement session. Some of the images were faded to white in areas for guests to sign. The layout looked great!
Photo by Alain Martinez
DIY/Details ~ Ceremony Accessories
I don't have photos of everything, but we had quite a few details at both ceremonies.
Petal Toss
It's tradition to throw rice and or rose petals at the bride and groom after they're introduced as Mr. and Mrs. in a Hindu Ceremony, so this was a definite for us. Westin asked us not to have rice, as clean-up's harder...I was completely fine with this, as knowing our friends, they would pitch it pretty hard at us *ouch*...So rose petals it is!
I LOVE petal cones, but we decided they were too labor-intensive considering everything else on our plate. Individual trays on chairs was another idea thrown around, but the cost of plates/trays would add up. We finally decided to purchase a couple nice large containers, like baskets or metal buckets which we would make pretty and fill with mixed petals. Our younger cousins or siblings would carry them around after the ceremony so guests could grab handfuls.
This worked out really well! We found these oval metal buckets that we spray painted antique gold. We have no pro pics of them, but I found this photo of my sis-in-law carrying one around.
I LOVE petal cones, but we decided they were too labor-intensive considering everything else on our plate. Individual trays on chairs was another idea thrown around, but the cost of plates/trays would add up. We finally decided to purchase a couple nice large containers, like baskets or metal buckets which we would make pretty and fill with mixed petals. Our younger cousins or siblings would carry them around after the ceremony so guests could grab handfuls.
This worked out really well! We found these oval metal buckets that we spray painted antique gold. We have no pro pics of them, but I found this photo of my sis-in-law carrying one around.
Photo by Alain Martinez
Post-Wedding Pics of Other Hindu Wedding Details
The groom's side, priest, and decorator took care of a lot of the details with regards to the ceremony. A lot of beautiful details used for the ceremony! There were also few traditional games which were fun to play.
- Exchanging garlands. It's a fun tradition to try and make it harder for your fiance to place the garland around your neck
- After the 7 Steps. It's said that whoever sits back down first will essentially "wear the pants" in the marriage.
- Hiding of the shoes. So the groom has to remove his shoes before entering the mandap. A fun tradition is that the bride's sisters, girl cousins, and bridesmaids will steal the shoes and hide them. Since the groom can't leave the mandap without his shoes, either he or his side will have to pay a ransom to the bride's girls in order to get the shoes back. Nowadays, the groom's side cheats and hides the shoes before the bride's side can even steal them. But my girls found them. ;) Things can get pretty physical between the two sides as the groom's side tries to get the shoes back. It was fun watching it all go down.
Photography by Alain Martinez
Ring Bearer Pillow and Sari Tray
For the Catholic ceremony we need a ring bearer pillow, or course. It's also custom for the groom's side to give the outfit/sari the bride wears for the reception (usually a red sari, but we opted for something different). We decided to make a nice tray for this that coordinates with the pillow. Love the ones below from MichiBolooki and my cousin Julie's wedding.
Post-Wedding Pics
Photography by Alain Martinez
Unity Candle
We purchased a unity candle set from David's Bridal that already had the ivory lace and ribbon. We added gold and rosy-toffee accents and our round monogram to personalize.
Post-Wedding Update: I completely dropped my taper candle during the ceremony! There was a collective gasp from the guests, then such complete silence you could hear a pin drop. How do I handle it? I turn to the crowd, and go, "Oops!" Classy, Tina. Oh well, there's always a bright side and in this case it was that my dress didn't catch fire.
Post-Wedding Update: I completely dropped my taper candle during the ceremony! There was a collective gasp from the guests, then such complete silence you could hear a pin drop. How do I handle it? I turn to the crowd, and go, "Oops!" Classy, Tina. Oh well, there's always a bright side and in this case it was that my dress didn't catch fire.
Photography by Alain Martinez
DIY/Details ~ Photo Props
I love dress photo shots, and like the idea of getting a gown hanger cover to add a cute touch to the photos.
Post-Wedding Pic
Photo by Alain Martinez
It's inevitable that people will klink their glasses, demanding that we kiss at the reception. Since Dhru and I aren't comfortable with PDA, I got this fan to kiss behind! We repeated the theme on one of our cocktail napkin designs, which was a white napkin with a gold foil fan printed on it.
Photography by Alain Martinez
I really wanted this prop below to happen, and tried before my wedding and even for my Rock the Dress session. Unfortunately, getting it just never worked out, timing-wise.
DIY/Details ~ Amenities
I didn't think to take any photos of our amenities/gift baskets, and to my knowledge no one else had either. Every hotel guest room had one to two gable boxes filled with various snacks, candies, mints, and water, and tied at the top with the same toffee ribbon used on the unity candle set. We placed our round monogram stickers on the front of each box.
The bathroom baskets were a fun project for my little cousins. I got a solid basket/box for the men's restroom, and the pretty box below for the ladies' restroom. We will keep it propped open, with a sign on the inside of the lid with a poem to our guests.
We filled them with tons of amenities like the one to the left.
DIY/Details ~ Favors
After the really long Catholic wedding ceremony we wanted to treat our guests to a snack and water.
Slightly salty and sweet kettle corn....
...mixed with white chocolate chips...
...in pretty striped cellophane bags
EQUALS HAPPY GUESTS!
EQUALS HAPPY GUESTS!
Post-Wedding Pics
No Pro pics, but found some fun bridal party ones. Wish I got to try it...heard it was yummy!
After much deliberation and back and forth, we finally settled on these handmade elephant figurines for reception favors.
Post-Wedding Pics
This photo booth pic is awesome. :)
In our lounge area we had not only a photobooth, where guests could take home photo strips with our monogram on them(see Photography), but within our white lounge furniture set-up, we also had candy and chocolates for guests, in these fabric-covered boxes my planner got.
DIY/Details ~ Reception Details
Cocktail Napkins
I'm so bummed, because I forgot to pull samples of each napkin style we ordered for keepsakes. And there are no pictures as far as I can tell. Oh wellz....
So we ordered the following: Eat, Drink, and Be Married ones with our names and wedding date in the following colors: peony with gold foil ink; berry with gold foil ink; lavender with silver foil ink, and plum with silver foil ink. We also ordered the white and gold fan ones I mentioned above, as well as white ones with one of our custom monograms in gold. They came out so great!
So we ordered the following: Eat, Drink, and Be Married ones with our names and wedding date in the following colors: peony with gold foil ink; berry with gold foil ink; lavender with silver foil ink, and plum with silver foil ink. We also ordered the white and gold fan ones I mentioned above, as well as white ones with one of our custom monograms in gold. They came out so great!
Card Box-Wishing Well
I inherited this wishing well card box from my cousin's wedding. It was given as a gift to her. This thing is huge! We have their blessing to update it however we want, so I think we'll completely change out the fabric, and remove the fake flowers, bells, and other embellishments. Daniel Events will help to re-drape it and add florals so it ties in with our decor.
Post-Wedding Pics
We really don't have any professional photos of the card well. You can see it in the corner of the photo above of me and Dhru behind the fan (it was moved to our sweetheart table when the reception started), so I just cropped that area out so you can see. They didn't really re-drape it...just removed the green and added flowers. I liked the transformation though!
Table Numbers
I'm not exactly sure what we're doing for table numbers yet, but I love this idea of incorporating years(or even just our ages) with corresponding pictures of each of us.
Post-Wedding UPDATE: We made table numbers with pictures corresponding our ages to the table numbers. Love how they came out, but quite a few guests didn't get it, unless they walked around and saw other tables. I probably should have made it more clear. Oh well, they still loved looking at the photos and all-in-all, we got great feedback.
Dhru was such a cute baby/kid, but "what the geek..." happened to him in high school?! Holy mustache! Haha, I guess "Cousin It" shouldn't talk though, huh?
Photo by Alain Martinez
