I don’t know if this catalogue I just received is the weirdest or best one ever. It’s such a random assortment of products, yet they all seem to kind of go together. The theme is “recycled and rustic,” and some items are pretty awesome. The At West Endcatalogue might have to go into my monthly rotation.
There’s a couple great wedding reception candelabra options in the 2011 catalogue, pictured above and below. Considering that my wedding candelabra’s cost $39/each to RENT (and that was considered a steal), at $59/each you can buy these and either sell them after your wedding, or pawn them off to family/friends as Thank You gifts.
Recycled Bicycle Candelabra
Various sizes (like this one and the one above): $59
If you’re into vintage housewares and clever ideas (I mean, who isn’t?) I seriously suggest you subscribe to Country Living magazine. I know, I’ve talked about them a million times, but I really love that mag. I find something cute for my apartment or for this site in every issue, like this feather place card holder, pictured above, which appeared in their November issue.
The feather is from createforless.com, and you can buy a pack of 18 feathers for $1.84. You would then hot glue a bar pin to the back of the feather (you can buy hot glue guns at Michael’s). Next, in order for it to stand on a table, you would need to buy corks ($16.95 for 50) and magnets. You would hot-glue the magnet to the cork, and then slide the place card between the pin and the magnet so it stays put.
It sounds difficult, but I bet once you get in the swing of it, you’ll have 100+ done in no time (said by the girl who is allergic to crafts).
I’m currently loving all the Kate Moss wedding photos that are being featured on Vogue.com. The accompanying article is great as well…if you haven’t read it yet, you should. It gives a fun glimpse into Kate Moss’s wedding day, and all the beautiful yet simple details that went into it.
Kate Moss was my favorite of the supermodels. She always managed to look effortlessly cool and comfortable no matter what she was wearing, and she was gorgeous without a stitch of makeup. Plus, she used to date Johnny Depp. They were like that painfully beautiful and mysterious couple in high school that everybody wished they could hang out with (or date). I think we should all take a moment to reflect upon Kate +Johhny and what used to be. It’s like a yearbook photo!
Now, Kate’s married to The Kill’s Jamie Hince. I guess he’ll have to do.
Moss and Hince tied the knot on July 1 in the Cotswold region of England, alongside guests such as Jack White, Karen Elson, Naomi Campell, Jude Law, Sadie Frost, and Lucinda Williams. Click here to see all the pictures and read about the Friday afternoon wedding. (She switched it from Saturday to accommodate famed photographer Mario Testino’s schedule. That’s a no-brainer.)
The beauty of the wedding was that it looks like something you could easily take inspiration from without breaking the bank. Kate Moss enlisted the help of fashion show designer Sam Gainsbury and partner Anna Whiting to design and plan the event. “Sam is a genius,” Kate told Vogue, “but this is the first and last wedding she said she’s ever doing!”
I love how Kate and her team didn’t go overboard with the details…it looks like something that was thoughtfully put together without a visual overload. The flowers were simple and so were the colors. With that many beautiful people in a room, you don’t need much!
Below is a collection of details from Kate Moss’s wedding, and my ideas for how you can recreate the look and feel of her big day on a non-supermodel budget.
Image courtesy of Vogue. Photograph by Mario Testino
Kate’s dress was designed by John Galliano, who said he was inspired by Jazz Age photographs of Zelda Fitzgerald.
Zelda Fitzgerald
I think one of the best wedding dress designers who successfully captures that vintage style is Claire Pettibone.
Cloisonne wedding dress by Claire Pettibone, $3500-$5,000
A designer named Johanna Johnson has some AMAZING veils, but they will set you back about $800. Instead, trying doing a Google search for “cap veil.” I found this antique 1920′s veil below for $129.
The tables had small bunches of apricot and lilac roses, Victorian chandeliars, bentwood bistro chairs, and vintage stemware…
Photo courtesy of Vogue.
Photo courtesy of Vogue.
Classic Party Rentals has locations throughout the U.S., and they have a fruitwood or black bentwood chair available in select locations (prices vary). Party Rental Ltd. also has locations throughout the U.S., and has the brown bentwood chair available that most closely matches the one at Kate’s wedding.
You can rent vintage glassware from companies such as Small Masterpiece, or if you’re having a smaller wedding, you can incorporate your own pieces. A search for “1920′s glassware” on Etsy can yield some fun results, such as this set of 12 1920′s glasses for $65, below.
London’s Peggy Porschen designed the wedding cake, which was a tier of six different cakes, each of which were a different flavor, with droplets of icing-sugar lily-of-the-valley blossoms. If you like to bake, Peggy’s website offers her tools of the trade…
Photo courtesy of Vogue.
Believe it or not, but Publix actually has a great selection of cakes. If you don’t see what you want, they can also copy pretty much any cake style you want. Their prices average between $350-$500 depending on size and style. The “Simply Devoted” style from Publix, below, can be decorated with roses like Kate’s cake, and you can also add more tiers.
Other fab details from Kate Moss’s wedding include:
Bar Hemingway from the Ritz Paris provided the drinks, including a signature drink called Kate 76: a combo of vodka, champagne, crushed ice, and sugar
The Palm Court jazz band provided the cocktail music
Chef Daniel de la Falaise served a dinner which included toro tartare with caviar, Longhorn veal with grilled peaches, and strawberry granita dusted with gold leaf, accompanied by Sesti and champagne.
Of the whole wedding-planning process, Kate (who told Vogue that the groom-to-be was “terrified.” I love that honesty!), said she had to rely on her friends to keep her sane:
“I don’t know how people do it. I’ve had big birthday parties, and I’ve thrown parties for other people, but this is a completely different thing. It’s the Met Ball! Because you have to look at every piece of cutlery; the details are intense. And then you wake up thinking about the ballet shoes for the girls; is the satin ribbon right? I’ve gone mental. Jamie thinks I’m mad, asking, ‘Are you gonna be all right? After the wedding, I’m hoping you’ll get back to normal!’”
It somehow feels good that even celebs have wedding freak outs…
What do you think of her wedding style? Love it/hate it?
If you haven’t figured this out by now, I’m kind of a catalogue junkie. They’re like mini-magazines to me, and…sadly, I like to take them to bed from time to time. As my husband lays there reading the latest issue of The New Yorker, I’m catching up with Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Sundance, and Napa Style. I obviously enjoy being an intellectual.
Anyway, in the latest issue of Napa Style (hot off the press!) I found a vintage European Bathtub Planter ON SALE. I think it would make a great escort card holder for display outside your reception area, or a super-cute bottled refreshment holder if you’re having an outdoor/garden-themed wedding.
Me and the words DIY don’t often go together, but one clever way to use the planter as an escort card holder is to incorporate these butterflies, below. (*If you don’t know what escort cards are yet, they are the cards that have a guest’s table number on it so they know where to sit.) The butterflies will also help the 28-31″ planter achieve some height so your guests don’t get a hernia from bending over.
You would fill the planter up with soil and space the butterflies within it. The cards themselves could be hole-punched and attached to the butterfly via the wire antennae. You have two options for escort cards:
If you want to write them out yourself or hire a calligrapher, you can order business cards (like these from Paper Source that run 25 cards for $2.00), or if you want to print them on your computer with a fun font (download a neat selection from Google Web Fonts), then go with this printable pack (Pack of 20 for $5.95).
As a newly engaged writer, I had a hard time finding the practical information I needed to plan my wedding. While the wedding books, magazines, and websites I read had pretty pictures, they seemed to just skim the surface when it came to providing helpful ways for me to create the wedding of my dreams. Now that I'm married, I hope this blog serves as a resource for all you other bride-to-be's, with unique ideas for wedding venues, wedding decorations, wedding dresses, and more!
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