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Our wedding planner recommended Pottery Barn for all of our dinnerware and tablecloths in order to stick with our rustic, yet romantic, southern French theme.
Liar liar, pants on fire.
If you thought that some of the last wedding posts were a bit unconventional, our decor could take the cake. My mother worked hard all year to save us money on decorations and dinnerware. The key to this was having the entire year to plan and also being a tiny bit crazy. If you are having a short engagement this may not be an option for you. Actually, if you are anyone with any kind of engagement this still may not be for you. Stay tuned.
Since we had no caterer, instead of renting dishes, candles, glasses, tablecloths, etc., my mom decided to buy everything from an assortment of places including thrift stores, Craigslist, eBay and Costco. (There are so many people who want to get rid of their heaps of used wedding stuff for cheap on Craigslist!) For my mother, this was a wise investment in the future weddings of four more daughters. My parents have an entire "wedding stash" section of their basement dedicated to napkins, candle holders, cake platters, champagne glasses and more. The stash has been used for many friends' weddings as well as my sister's wedding last summer! I admire this way in which my parents still contribute to our community after our community helped us so much with our wedding.
In all transparency, it was a lot of work to bring decor and dinnerware for 250 people to the reception, set it all up and take it all down. In a recent, exclusive interview with my mom she disclosed to me that renting glasses would have been a lot easier.
Let's get down to the riveting details, shall we? The colors of the night were shades of blue with accents of gold and greenery. Keeping up with our French theme, the tables were a mix and match of different, blue Provencal-patterned tablecloths or runners on top of white and blue tablecloths from Craigslist. The patterned tablecloths were carefully picked out at thrift stores, T.J Maxx and on eBay. The tables all matched in color scheme and dinnerware, but no two tables were perfectly alike, which created an eclectic and vivacious look that I loved! It reminded me of my mom's unique, artistic French style.
Since the food was placed directly on all the tables, there was not much room for centerpieces. A simple, cream candle in a hurricane stood in the center of each table, surrounded by the different dishes of food and a basket for the bread. All of the Craigslist serving dishes were white, accompanied by plastic plates and silverware from Costco's holiday dinnerware line. (Costco has a bunch of pretty plastic dinnerware around Christmas for a good deal if you are planning ahead!) Various shades of blue cloth napkins from thrift stores and TJ Maxx added color to the plates. Dying to know where all the glassware was from? I would share a link on where to get them, but they were an exclusive one-time deal called 50% off Saturdays at Goodwill.
My favorite table was our long, bridal table. Good luck at Goodwill brought us the romantic candelabras that lit our laughter and our tears as we we toasted with our mismatched champagne glasses.
PSA- We DID wash all of our thrift store finds. Thank you for your concern.
One of our most random and favorite finds was this floral backdrop from Craigslist! We were originally going to put it to the side for people to take pictures in front of, but it ended up finding its place behind the head table and it added a romantic touch of color to the pictures taken there. Sometimes when it comes to decorations, you don't even know where to begin or what to look for! A simple search on Craigslist for "wedding decor" or "party decor" can give you ideas for things you might never have thought of. Don't be afraid to browse around; you might be surprised at what ends up inspiring you!
Twinkly string lights were provided by the Church and I swear, those things add an ethereal elegance to any room. They always look so good in pictures! Don't skip the string lights, folks.
In closing, here are my main points from this fascinating post:
1.) My mom deserved her own honeymoon to Cancun after our wedding
2.) Maybe just rent your glasses
3.) Now all my sisters have to have blue as their main wedding color
4.) Second-hand is still beautiful and it helps you pay off your student loans faster
Photography: Calley Watters Photography
