Romantic Home Wedding Part Two: Dreamy Table Setting Tips

Creating a romantic mood was the goal for this backyard wedding.  Our yard

is a very small space with a series of terraces, and so each space had it's own function.  The upper level with the arbor was to be the ceremony area.  Walking through the arbor would lead to the garden shed, and that is where the musicians played for the cocktail hour and the ceremony.  The bride and groom said their vows in front of the arbor with an officiant. The bride wanted a storybook  romance for the ceremony, and what better way to do that, than to sprinkle three thousand pink rose petals on a pathway leading to the arbor.  A small cabbage and mum garden had been planted for the wedding, and two large urns were flanking the "stage".  

 To make it romantic, I placed cut roses in water vials and tucked them in between the cabbage plants.  Then I draped a swath of tulle between the handles of the urns for an enchanted effect.

 Cabbages, silver leafed Dusty Miller, Roses and trailing flowering vines from an earlier summer planting (which we didn't remove) made for beautiful and inexpensive arrangements.

 We kept the arbor simple, with a draping of two rows of white tulle for extra fullness, and tied it off at the sides with the Costco satin ribbon and bunches of white roses and silver lambs ears from Walmart.  Yes, Walmart.  They have some terrific faux flowers at ridiculous prices, less than $3.00 a bunch or stem.  From a distance you couldn't tell they were faux, and they repeated the live flowers in the urns below.

 The day of the wedding we knew to expect rain, which was a bummer.  But it had to be dealt with, and with the tent to cover the dining area, we needed a large umbrella to cover the musicians, who would sit in front of the shed.  The "cocktail lounge" was our regular furniture arranged on another level, next to the tent.  If it was rainy we decided our contingency plan would be cocktails in the living room before the ceremony. 

And that is what did end up happening, as you can see from this fantastic collage photo
by our friend and photographer, Matthew Mead.  I set a self service bar up on the piano,
leaving guests to help themselves so I could greet others as they arrived,
 before we all headed out to the tent to watch the ceremony.

 Since it was a rainy day, I never got any pics of the tent from this angle, but here you can see how tight the space was for the tent.  Exactly 15'x15' it fit perfectly next to the house, and once inside the tent you would easily see the wedding ceremony because it was raised, much like going to the movies where you can see over the people in front of you.  The tiny black and white umbrella was set up because I had engaged the services of a "live event painter" to paint the event.  So these extra umbrellas were necessary, though not ideal.  However once inside the tent,  they did not take away from the prettiness of the scene. We even purchased a patio heater. because temps dropped for the wedding day to make it the most unpleasant day of the entire month!! UGH.

But as we do tend to be lucky in life, the rain stopped right before the ceremony, and although cool, it worked out well.  Above you can see the table layout and the open tent on the far end revealing the raised lawn where the arbor is located.  My pal Matthew Mead is shooting the couple in the background, as more pics were taken right after the ceremony and before dinner.  

We rented the standard white plastic folding chairs at $2 each, and then laid 2 six foot tables end to end so we were able to accommodate the most people in the space. Two tables of 14 each, which was 4 more than if I had put in four round tables.  I recommend doing a floor plan and allowing 2 feet per dining space, per chair at a table.  

(center aisle space measured 6 feet between tables)

We compromised that a bit on the ends by adding seats at the ends but it worked out fine.  Allow 2 feet per chair to pull out and tuck in, and then another 2 feet for a walkway, so we had six feet of space for the center pathway between tables, allowing for 2 feet on each table side for the chairs, and it was plenty roomy for people to get through the tent.

My favorite part of any dinner party is setting the table.  A small wedding is just like a nice party.  If you think of it that way, you won't be overwhelmed.  I had 20 vintage French napkins with pretty monograms that I wanted to use, and I filled in the remaining needed with plain white cotton flour sack kitchen towels from Walmart, sold in a bundle of 6 for just a few dollars.  They are big like the French linen napkins, often called "Lapkins" because they cover your entire lap.  You could use all flour sack towels and stencil monograms for a very pretty effect. Our color theme was basically white and gold, but we added touches of pink.  I don't like the use of a lot of color in wedding decorations, as I think it can look too strong and garish.  So skip the colored linens and go all white and add accents of color in the flowers, the votives and ribbons, as we did for our napkins.

We cut the pretty embroidered ribbon from Joann Fabrics into strips 15" long to tie around each napkin as a pretty accent.  The embroidered pattern was certainly romantic. The pink glass votives were purchased from Joann Fabrics as well, using their coupons for an added discount.

Four patterns of gold rimmed china dinner plates were mixed and matched from my collection of vintage dinnerware.  I had to buy a half dozen extra gold and white plates at the local Salvation Army Thrift Store to give me enough to set 28 places.  Thrift stores are a great place to pick up things like fancy plates for a song.  This shot was taken while we were setting the table the morning of the wedding.  Mimi hand printed place cards to let the guests know where to sit as well as to lend a formal aspect to the wedding dinner. 

We rented all the stemware from the tent rental company.  The glasses came in cases of 25 for about $11 a case.  After the wedding, no washing, just put back in the case and the tent company took them away.  This was a great thing, as we had champagne flutes, water goblets and wine glasses for each place setting. Just look at the dining tables you see on Downton Abbey, set with so many goblets....the more glasses, the richer looking the table!  Since I had 28 diners, I only needed to fill in the blanks for 3 guests, so we had the wedding couple use my Waterford glasses and our youngest son got the "mismatched" stemware.  No one was the wiser.  

For the flatware I combined my sterling service for 18 with my mother in laws service for 8, then added two services in silver-plate for a very elegant table setting.  One could easily set a table in gorgeous silver plate, found at most vintage and thrift shops for little money.  At home we use vintage silver plate services for our everyday knives, forks and spoons.  (I hate eating a nice dinner with crummy silverware.  It bugs me!)  

 Other details that made the table setting memorable, was adding special seating for the bride and groom.  You could use your own dining chairs adorned with ribbons or a fancy settee, like this one that I have in my dining room.  I added two needlepoint cushions to give it that extra dose of romance.

I painted and gilded the bench to echo their pretty wedding invitation in grey and gold.

It made for a special  focal point for the bride and groom

And at the end of the night....  

Champagne still chilling, half filled glasses abandoned, and other detritus of the night.

Love this photo and the story it tells.

A lot of little details all add up to create a night to remember.
 One of the few pics I stopped to take, as if on the outside looking in. 

 The tent was like a magical tee-pee, making for a memorable yet affordable wedding.
So much cozier than a big ballroom, it was personal and joyful being tucked inside with one another.

We created a fairy tale wedding  

and it didn't cost a fortune.  

Next time,  Part Three

  More details on getting that dreamy fairy tale look and

 the "splurge" I couldn't resist!

Read Part One of the Fairy Tale Wedding Here

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Fairy Tale Wedding without the high price tag: Part One.

Enchanted        Fairy Tale       Magical

All these words would be the way I would describe my son's wedding this past weekend.

While many weddings are often beautiful and amazing, this wedding was created 

on short notice and on a tight budget.  A very tight budget.  

Often that leads to missing elements in a wedding.  So take a good look

at  the magical photos taken by my amazing 

friend, style guru Matthew Mead and his talented wife Jenny.

Because looking at these photos, you won't see a budget wedding... 

It was a lush, intimate and romantic affair.

Lets start with the dress. 

 Mimi and I went shopping for a wedding dress, and upon doing

that were able to narrow down the dress designer that she loved best, and the basic style that

she wanted to wear, which was the princess look.  Tight at the waist and flowing out to the floor.

The stock photo on the left was by the bridal company, and here on Mimi it looked equally wonderful.  These dresses cost thousands of dollars, and so she searched bridal shops online that

were selling their samples from discontinued dress styles.  There she was able to score a dress

from a bridal shop that was never worn, and was made by the dress designer she loved, for a 

heavily discounted price. These retailed at $2000, she got a similar dress for $500. 

The dress was a big part of the Fairy Tale.

We were shocked to find out that bridal alterations can cost between $400 and $600.

So I decided to try to do it myself and since she bought a sample in a size that

fit her best that made it a bit easier.  However she lost some weight and I had to 

not only hem it, but take it in at the shoulders and the waist.  I was a bit scared to

be honest, so I used safety pins on the inside of the dress, synching it in about an inch 

on each side and then had her try it on again.  It made a world of difference.  Then I pinched 

up a bit on the shoulders and pinned that part too.  After she took it off, I hand stitched the 

pinned areas without cutting any part of the dress, and it fit like a glove!!

So pin, then hand stitch.  We saved as much as the dress cost!!

I hemmed the bottom after pinning it up as she stood in her shoes.  That was scary too, but with tulle

fabric (the fluffy netting over the dress) it is cut simply using scissors, no hemming needed.

And you cut it a bit longer than the dress fabric underneath.  So even though I may not have sewn

it perfectly, it was not noticeable because, (1),  who is looking at the hemline? and (2) the tulle netting

covers the skirt hem and hides the stitching.  So our dress cost $500 and it would have been $2500.

We went to a fabric store and found the same nude colored tulle which I created a veil.

The veil was simple to make.  We made it hit the floor, and then trimmed it afterwards.  Two 

lengths of tulle were gathered with a big basting stitch and then pulled to shirr it tight, and then

hand stitched to a hair comb with button thread, which is a heavy duty thread.  Easy Peasy.

I had the veil made in 20 minutes. And it cost less than ten dollars in fabric and maybe five bucks for the comb.  

This was a backyard wedding in a small space, so that meant it would be 

a very small group of guests.  Cutting down the invitation list was difficult, but in the end

it was exactly the same thing my husband and I did and it lent itself to a very intimate and romantic feeling.  This wedding had under 30 guests, and the costs associated with bigger guests list will automatically drive up the cost of a wedding.  So think hard and long before inviting people just because of this or that.  Are they connected in a real way in the couple's lives?  If not, leave them off the list.  After all, it is THEIR wedding, not their parents, and it should be who THEY want to witness their marriage.  Then shop around for a caterer, as there are price lists online from local caterers that have great reputations.  We saved money on the venue, as it was our own yard.

That is a great way to slash wedding costs.  We had to rent a tent and chairs, tablecloths and stemware.  I had dinner plates, napkins and silverware, and when I was short, I borrowed what I needed from my mother in law next door.  My collections served me well, as my gold rimmed dinner

plates were finally looking incredible set up on the long tables in the tent.

The tent, tables, chairs, stemware and tablecloths and the caterer cost just under $1500. 

We bought all the wine, beer and champagne and soft drinks at big retailers to save money.

The table flowers and bouquet came from a local garden center after we visited and the bride picked out her flowers of choice.  The groom's dad works for this garden center so he was given a discount. 

I augmented the flowers with more flowers from Trader Joes to created massive bouquets for the house.  After spending $50 on roses and hydrangeas, I created many arrangements, including my favorite, using my French magazine basket as a container.  I place five vases inside the basket

and then stuffed extra tulle around the vases to hide them through the cane exterior.

While we had a connection for better pricing for flowers at a nursery, we saw amazing and 

beautiful flower arrangements in all sizes at our local Whole Foods at super affordable prices.

Talk to the manager in the flower section there to order great looking arrangements for tables,

or simply buy from their composed arrangements, of which there were many.

 This amazing idea came from Matthew himself, who suggested using the basket

as a flower centerpiece.  Truly gorgeous!

Next was the tent...I wanted to make it magical and give it an enchantment 

and that meant putting up lights and some white tulle. I ordered 50 yards of white tulle that was 108 inches wide.  It also comes in 54" width, so get the wider if you plan to do this.  The overall effect

was pure magic! In the center I had hubby hang an old chandelier.

Mimi and I did all of this OURSELVES!! 

We used an 8 foot ladder to get close to the peak of the tent and then I used 

rolls of white wired satin ribbon from Costco to 

attach the tulle and the lights one row after another, layering from one corner to the next.

The wired ribbon is easy to tie and strong, and it cost about $7 for a roll of 50 yards.

 This was pretty exhausting, it took us about three hours, but we did it!

When hubs came home from work, he rigged up the chandelier to an old extension cord,

then used zip ties to attach it to the center of the poles.  By then it was evening and 

while I had ordered perimeter lights with the tent at a cost of $50, they had a 

weird greenish color when lit up so we kept them unplugged for the wedding.  

It was coming together, and I was excited to get to setting the table.

But that would have to wait for the wedding day, which was only in a few hours.

That will be part two of this series, and I can't wait to show you more.

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A wedding wreath and live event painter

 The final week has arrived and it is all coming down to the details. This courtyard wedding is taking place outside, and there will be different areas that will host certain functions.  The little garden shed will be the place where the wedding musicians will set up to play the classical music for the cocktail hour upon arrival, and then the traditional Here Comes the Bride wedding march.  Our wedding is nontraditional in the sense of place and so it makes sense to us to have things a bit differently than a "regular" wedding.  We are having cocktails and hors d'oeuvres for guests when they arrive, much like you would at a party.  And I like to think of this as a party, instead of a wedding, as I plan out the details.  Makes it less stressful, and more exciting that way.  Who needs the stress, right?  

A pretty wedding wreath adorns the french door of the shed, and I will be hanging a pair of gilded candelabras beside the door as well.

 A fern wreath got a few bunches of silk lilly of the valley and pink roses to give it the romantic classic fairytale look I am going for.

 This morning Piper was running around the yard and I snapped a quick pic.  The gravel area infront of the shed is where the musicians will set up to serenade us....and a few steps below is where we are creating the cocktail lounge and bar to start the party off when guests arrive.  That area is still a work in progress.

This view shows the lovely parterre garden and the white belgian mums are beginning

to put on their show.  The arbor above is where the couple will exchange vows, and that

will be decorated with some tulle and a similar floral treatment, with tiny white lights

to give the storybook twinkle that every good fairy tale should have.

Two special ways we will capture this event are having an amazing photographer,

my friend Matthew Mead and his equally amazing wife, Jenny Mead.

(Ellen McHale, Jenny Mead, Matthew Mead, Amy Chalmers)

They are shooting the wedding, and in their hands, I know the story will be told

in a most beautiful way.  I feel incredibly lucky!

 The other amazing way to remember this night,

 will be a painting created during the event by the one and only

  Sheila Foley, a live event painter!

She will set up her easel and paint the wedding scene during the wedding! GASP!

 I am enchanted by her paintings and how she captures the mood

 and the people at the weddings she paints.

This painting was my favorite, the mood, the whimsy and the fairytale quality 

all portray Happily Ever After in a moment captured in time, that speaks to a lifetime ahead.

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A Cabbage Parterre for the Courtyard Wedding

A parterre is essentially a geometric garden.  

A  level space that has an ornamental arrangement of flowers or plants

 creating a formal garden space.  The beds may be edged in stone, 

or tightly clipped hedges like boxwood to contain the flowers. 

 For the outdoor wedding, I decided a small parterre would be nice at the 

base of the stone wall, as it will be a focal point during the ceremony.  

 Above the wall is the arbor terrace, which is a small grassy area 

where the vows will be exchanged.  

The wedding is best described as an intimate affair, 

with less than 30 people in attendance. 

 My wish was that even though the wedding would be outdoors, it

would still have a formality about it, and a bit of storybook glamour.

 This bed was overrun with mint, and you may recall we had an iron bench

 flanked by these two large urns filled with flowers. 

 My son and I carefully removed the flowers from 

the urns, leaving the draped greenery that had tiny white flowers.  

After we removed the colorful summer flowers, he planted ornamental

 cabbages in green and white, and some silver dusty miller.  

 The urns look quite formal now, in a garden style fashion.  We plan to have cut roses in 

water vials tucked in between the cabbage leaves for a dash of romance.  After laying out

the Belgian white mums with the green and white cabbages, and a few more dusty millers,

the bed is now ready to be filled with potting soil.  Old reclaimed cobblestones were added at 

the start of the bed to create the outline of the parterre.  

The effect should be quite beautiful when all is said and done.  

 For the dining elements, the bride and groom and I have been on a few expeditions looking for a few additions to add to things we already have for the table settings.  My French antique monogrammed napkins will be tied together with this pretty embroidered gold and blush pink ribbon.  Pink and gold touches will be the color palette for the table, set on a ground of white.  I have stacks of vintage gold rimmed dinnerware that will set the right note of elegance and formality inside the wedding tent.

Gathering elements to express the style of the wedding is such fun. 

 Having a vision, and then piecing it together, from 

the table, to the garden, to imagining how the evening will unfold brings

me much joy. 

A little side note:  I have a new computer, and it is a whole new learning

process on how to get my photos loaded and edited and placed in the blog

format.  So this post is a triumph, and I hope to get up to speed soon

as there is much to share.  I have also started watching my granddaughter Reeve

three days a week, so she is my priority on those special days. 

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Pastoral mural, heirloom roses, romantic wedding tent and Piper

 Its been exactly one month since I last posted, and there is a very good reason

for the delay.  These dogs are running my life, and its just not right. Sure Piper

looks all innocent sitting calmly on the step, but she is a puppy in hyper mode a 

lot of the time.  In between puppy and dog care, we also hosted a funeral for 

my husbands cousin right after the book shoot, started planning a wedding for the 

courtyard in six weeks, as well as getting prepped for doing daycare for baby Reeve.

 Life is getting busier by the second!  So let me explain about the wedding plans,

my son Brandon and his fiance Mimi have decided to take the plunge after almost

ten years of living together.  They recently moved back here from LA, and they

are letting me plan it!! Woohoo!! 

So I came up with the idea of an enchanted courtyard wedding.

 The vows will be said on the upper lawn terrace in front of the arbor.

We will have a tent over the courtyard down below,

for an intimate outdoor wedding dinner after the ceremony at the end of this month.

I found this magical photo of a wedding tent, with a ceiling lined in tulle and tiny

white lights with chandeliers.  Mimi and I love the look, so that is what I plan to create.

The tulle is on order, and I will dedicate a blog post when I make it, so others can do

the same if they wish.  Essentially a rod pocket will be stitched and a nylon cord threaded

through the center of it, and then it will be hoisted up to the center pole and ziptied to that.

Tiny white string lights will be run over the pole framework first, then the sheer tulle will

go over the lights to create a dreamy effect.  I have an old gilded chandelier that I will ask

Mr. Maison Decor to wire and that will hang in the center of our snug 15x15 tent.

This inspiration tent is enormous...I wouldn't be so sure I could do a tent that big, but 

our tent is going to be manageable, or so I predict.  Stay tuned.  

 All of the furniture in the courtyard needs to be relocated to another area so the tent can

be installed and the tables and chairs laid out.  So that is the first part of the courtyard wedding.

But in other areas of our lives we are trying to get a grip on how active the dogs are as they grow.

At first everything was nice and normal, but once Piper was allowed up onto the couch, the shenanigans began in earnest.  Here they are acting all calm again.  This is not real life folks.  They had taken to running circles in this room and leaping up on the couch as they ran around and around chasing one another.  OY!! The couch was taking a beating, and so was the room.  

 As I planned to start watching my granddaughter Reeve in the fall, 

I had to think of a space that we could use together, without the dogs.  

For her safety and my sanity.  So it came to me....this room would now be OFF LIMITS

 to the four legged variety. I will put a gate across from the

 staircase to the front door to keep them out!  The french doors to the dining room 
will be kept closed, with the dog beds on the other side so they can watch if they like. 

I had a practice day for several hours with Reeve and it went great!

  She is an easy baby and I really felt myself exhale and just revel in her care.  

She is a little character, smiling and making fun faces and sounds. 

 Looking forward to watching her grow right before my eyes.

 Our roses came into full bloom at the end of August, and they are the finicky variety of 

David Austin.  Finicky in that if you cut them, they don't last but a day, 

so I mostly enjoy them in the garden.  Which kind of stinks, 

because they are amazing and I love to bring in a cut flower that smells like a rose,
which actually is rare these days.  The David Austins smell fantastic!!  

 The climbing rose on the arbor is New Dawn and it is finally getting established. 

 I am not sure how to train the canes to grow up and over...

I tied some twine to long branches and attached it there, but when Nora Murphy came, 

I untied them all as it looked ugly.  Anyone with knowledge on this process?  

 Piper is getting so big, she just jumps up the rock wall and has access to the terrace and beyond.

Colby never does this, even though he easily could.  For some reason he respects boundaries and borders and doesn't cross them, which meant life in the courtyard was easy with him.  But Piper has created a whole new ball game out here....I may have to install a rabbit fence in behind the bushes and trees up here to contain her.

 Since the dogs have been banished from the living room, their hangout couch is in the family room. 

This room has new IKEA sofas, and I purposely picked the color sand for the slipcovers to match Pipers fur color. Hahah!! Seriously, I did.  Again, here they are looking all innocent. Anyway, I redid this room for the Nora Murphy Country House book shoot, painting the walls the prettiest shade of green, new beige furniture, linen draperies in a similar shade as the walls. 

All these pics are with my iPhone, just because I don't have time anymore for setting up the camera and tripod. At least not right now. But this room is so pleasant to be in, and I wanted to show the mural that I painted.  There is a door behind it that was always a decorating nightmare.  So the mural was my way of making the door disappear.  I just love the calming effect it has on the room.

And I guess sometimes it may have a calming effect on Piper too?  The walls are Hollingsworth Green by Benjamin Moore.  Its a wonderful color and it continues the Swedish color palette I have used throughout the house. I used all kinds of paints to create the mural, wall paint and colors from my stash of Annie Sloan chalk paint too.  A spritzer water bottle helped the paint to move and give me a watercolory effect.  Its just so much fun to create, and when I get the chance to do that these days, I really relish the process.  I am hoping I will be able to post more often, so I can go into detail on the wedding plans, which is going to be romantic and rustic and elegant, all on a budget.  

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