Wedding Reception Games

We want our reception to feel very relaxed and have an atmosphere that mimics a happy family gathered at a campground. We decided to incorporate some games into the reception to make sure that everyone gets involved and isn't bored (especially the large number of people in our families who don't like to dance), but we are shying away from "traditional" reception games. Instead, we want to have games that families might play while camping!

So far we have decided that we want to play wedding Mad Libs and have fortune tellers (some people call them cootie catchers). I will write up the story for the Mad Libs game and we will have a contest and give prizes to the guest who writes the funniest story and the guest who rights the sweetest story. There is a great Etsy shop called Darling Girl Paper that make fortune tellers and I think they are adorable!

We've got those two games, but now we are are stuck! What other ideas do people out there in the world have for cute easy games that would remind people of camping with family? We need your help!

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Inky Livie: Wedding Invitations

There are so many different types of wedding invitations out there that no matter what we chose it would have been the right choice, but we still felt overwhelmed. Once again, Etsy saved the day! We found adorable invitations from Inky Livie that totally fit with our wedding theme, and are casual enough that we are comfortable using them for the vow renewal. The weight of the trifold cards is substantial and the printing is spotless, plus Asa was great at communicating through Etsy conversations.  They were printed on 30% recycled material paper from Waste Not Paper, so that helps us to limit our environmental impact as we celebrate. Check it out!

I love the little foxes!

We decided to let all of our guests choose a song to be played at the reception:

Instead of numbering our tables, we are naming them after our favorite campgrounds:

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JJCraftworks: Custom Wedding Jewelry

I thought finding jewelry for my wedding would be easy. I thought I would see exactly what I wanted and purchase it. I thought that my style and taste was common. I was wrong.

Thank goodness for Etsy! I decided to requisition custom jewelry from JJCraftworks. I knew that I wanted my necklace and earrings to have some green to complement my shoes, and I wanted five pearls to represent our five years of marriage (just like the five stones in my new wedding ring). I also wanted something that would tie in to our nature theme, but I wasn't quite sure what that would be.

I communicated all of this to Jenn and she sketched up some ideas.

I decided that I liked the "leaf link" design best, and chose the pearl color I wanted.  Jenn asked me questions all along the way and kept me in the loop during her creation process.  In the end I was provided with exactly what I wanted!  My advice to brides looking for the perfect jewelry is to explore Etsy, find a shop that sells jewelry in a style that you like, and start a conversation with the owner.  More often than not I have found that Etsy sellers jump at the chance to make a custom piece, and it never hurts to ask!

PS: Have I said yet how much I love my new camera?!

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Rustic Blend: Birch Bark Frames

In keeping with our rustic Adirondack theme we didn't want to forget about the table numbers.  Many couples create table numbers that match the look of their invitations or escort cards, but we wanted to do something different.  I found an amazing shop on Etsy called Rustic Blend that makes birch bark photo frames - and the best part is that the owner lives in the Adirondacks!  This is just perfect for us, because not only are we able to keep with our visual theme, we are able to keep with our environmental theme by purchasing from a local craftsman!

I started a conversation with the owner, Faith, through Etsy and we came to the agreement that she could make us ten frames that all look slightly different but are the same size and made of the same materials.  We intend to use most of them for table identification, two will have information about favors and escort cards, and the rest will have photos from our "I Love You" photo shoot.  I say table identification instead of table numbers because we are actually going to name each of our tables after a favorite campground.

I love these frames!  They are high quality, sturdy, and beautiful.  Each frame holds a 4 x 6 photograph.  They came with little dowels to be used as stands, and can rest vertically or horizontally based on our needs.  

Faith even gave us a cute little ornament with our initials on it! ♥

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Etsy Treasury

Maybe I am behind the times, but I just discovered Etsy Treasury, and I love it!  Treasuries are listings of 16 items that a person has chosen to group together for a specific reason, such as items of the same color, theme, or search word (and sometimes for no reason at all).  An individual can create as many treasuries as she wants and then choose to share them with the public or keep them private.

I had a lot of fun playing around with it and I decided for my first treasury I would find items that reminded me of a woodland romance (just for fun).  This is what I came up with:

Then I thought - why not create a treasury of items that I love from Etsy which fit my wedding theme?  So I did!  I chose many of the items that I have already purchased for the wedding from Etsy sellers, and I chose a few others that fit the theme and I loved.  I wanted to embed the treasury into my blog, but Etsy does not have an embed code for treasuries, so they suggested that I add all of the items to my favorites list and share what is called an Etsy Mini. Have fun and create one yourself! I'd love to see what other people come up with!

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the one that wasn't "the one"

In another life, with a different budget, this would have been "the dress" for me...

Also, I love these handmade garters from The Garter Girl on Etsy!

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rubber address stamp

http://www.emiliefriday.com/

Since I am going to make my own invitations (hopefully out of eco-friendly materials from Michael's) I thought it would be cool to have an address stamp.  I saw a beautiful one in the Summer 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings and found the creator on Etsy.  Bought it today and waiting for the proof!

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