WOODLAND WEDDING RECEPTION

Well hello there, Friends! How's your day going so far? Please pardon all of the random wedding posts that will be scattered about for the next few months ahead. This little piece of the blogosphere that I call mine is a place where I document the triumphs and trials of this life I have been blessed to live. 

I love being able to look back on previous blog posts and reflect on the memories I have made through the years, after all, this is my digital scrapbook. The day I because Mrs. Butterfield is a memory I want to bottle up and remember forever. Since half the time I can't remember what I ate for breakfast, I want to take the time to document the details of October 17th, in hopes that one day I can share my wedding journey with my children and grandchildren. Bare with me ;)

When guests entered our reception venue we had an assemble of our engagement pictures, a hashtag sign (#BecomingAButterfield), coloring pages and crayons for the little ones, and playing cards for those who didn't want to spend the night on the dance floor. 

I made a photo book using Shutterfly for our guest book that was filled with an assortment of our engagement photos. I love the way it turned out with everyones colorful words of advice, encouragement, and signatures. 

Our wedding favors were homegrown pumpkins, compliments of my wonderful grandparents. When I was younger, one of my favorite memories was going to their house and picking a pumpkin to carve from their pumpkin patch. I thought it would be fun to incorporate this memory into our October wedding, with Halloween just two weeks after.

I picked up these little thank you tags from Hobby Lobby and they served as a great way to show guest how much we really appreciate them! 

When buying decor for our wedding, I always tried to ask myself how I would be able to use the item once the wedding was over. I justified this adorable pumpkin patch sign by telling myself I would hang it in our home every fall. 

We also used the pumpkins to add pops of color to the tables as well, along side some extra greenery, flowers, and pinecones.

I could eat trail mix for breakfast, lunch and dinner so I knew it was a necessity to include a trail mix bar at our wedding reception. I used apothecary jars that I had scattered around my home and filled each with some of our favorite treats. We included pretzels, peanuts, sunflower seeds, goldfish, m&ms, dried fruit, chocolate chips, and raisins. Guest could take it to go in a little bag with a decal that said "Maddie & David make the perfect mix" (Yes, I know! So cheesy! haha), or they could put it in a cup to enjoy their treat during the reception. 

Our chalkboard sign said: "Life is salty, but love is sweet, so please feel free to mix a treat!" 

We also had a pie bar with a variety of whole pies in case guest didn't love the flavors of our little mini pies. Let's be honest, I had to find a way to include Marque Letters! ;) 

The head table. 

We had an EXTREMELY large wedding party. We each had 12 bridesmaids/groomsmans on our side, so that called for a double decker head table. Wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

I have an obsession with wanting to be different, so mini fall flavored pies (pumpkin, apple, and pecan) it was, and of course delicious cupcakes made by my talented cousin. I made little labels for the pies and fun colored flags for the cupcakes. If you can't tell, I love details. 

Vanilla cupcake with raspberry filling and frosting! 

Caramel chocolate cupcakes. I wanted to sneak a box of these with me on the plane. 

My Grandpa cut me 2" thick logs to use as centerpieces for each table and my sweet Grandma sewed all of these table runners for me. Right before guest arrived, pies and cupcakes were placed around the vase of flowers on the logs. 

Ceiling decor above the dance floor. 

My best friend Madi is incredible at nails. I wanted something simple, but fun & I love what her creative mind came up with! 

And I can't complete a reception post without sharing a few of my favorite pictures from the evening.

My sister is the funniest human on the planet. Her Maid of Honor speech was something I'll never forget. Love that girl to pieces. 

And of course, my sweet bestie Taylor caught the bouquet! This girl kept my emotions intact during the wedding planning process. 

And yes, my Dad and I were secretly taking dance classes and surprised everyone with a little fun father/daughter dance. Will cherish this forever. My Dad is just awesome. 

And despite how much I loved planning every detail of my wedding, one quote was always in the back of my mind through it all: "I want a marriage more beautiful than my wedding." And for that reason, through all of the frustrations, selfish-moments, and good times,  I will try to live a life pleasing to the Lord, and be the best wife I can be.


Have a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by.

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WOODLAND WEDDING DETAILS

Ever since I can remember I have always been a very detail oriented person. If a picture was 1/8 of a millimeter crooked it caught my eye, if a cereal box was upside down in the isle at Target I just had to flip it around or it would bother me. I know, I'm crazy. And I know that at times I spend way too much energy stressing out about silly things. One being making sure I nailed down every last detail of every last thing while planning for mine and David's wedding.

People kept telling me, "you're the only one that's going to notice it...don't worry about it..." and looking back they were right. Sometimes during the wedding planning phase I would get way too wrapped up in what the centerpieces were going to look like, how I was going to decorate the pews at the church, how I was going to address the invitations, ect. that I would completely forget the real reason for the day.

Overall, however, I feel I settled for a good balance of adding in some corky details, while still allowing myself to sit back and enjoy that precious time in my life.

Here is a little glimpse of some of the details that composed our woodland wedding on October 17th.

Stole this chalkboard for 66% off a Hobby Lobby a few years back and thought it would make the perfect place for a little warm welcome for our lovely wedding guests. 

These floral arrangements were on the tables at our rehearsal dinner! What a great way to repurpose them for the wedding day! They added just the perfect touch of color to these old wooden crates as guest walked through the church doors. 

I used our engagement pictures to create a photo book on Shutterfly. I love that all of our engagement photos are in one place, with our favorite peoples handwritten messages layered on top. Fine print Sharpie markers for the steal! Worked perfectly on the glossy paper. 

I have a slight obsession with creating little things on Picmonkey. It has kinda become my therapy. I wanted a wedding program that was fun, smaller in size, and something that was different than anything I had really ever seen before. I added lots of random details that I thought our guest would enjoy! The back listed our bridal party, family members, and gave a few shout outs to some wonderful helping hands along the way!

I wanted a beautiful backdrop for a few family photos, and my sweet friend's mom (& our wedding officiants wife!) made my vision come to life. I want this fireplace and decor in my living room.

This picture is extra special to me for two reasons. One being that my Grandpa who recently passed away is on a charm that was attached to my wedding bouquet. This man meant the absolute world to me and I miss his sense of humor and sweetness every day.

Secondly, my Mom's wedding dress has been packed away in a preserved box since her and my dad got back from their honey money 20 some years ago. We opened it the week of the wedding with my sister and grandma and it was just too much fun.

Little did I know, my mom cut a piece off and had "love you to the moon and back" embroidered on it. It made the perfect wrap for the flower stems on my bouquet. I just love how meaningful my bouquet turned out. 

A simple way to recognized the loved ones that couldn't celebrate with us on our wedding day. I stole this "In Loving Memory" sign from Hobby Lobby 50% off! Plan to keep it for when my sister gets married next ;) 

My sweet friend & lovely bridesmaid Katie, gifted me this adorable hanger for my wedding dress. Love that it has our wedding date on it. Thanks so much, KT! This was such a fun detail! 

If you haven't noticed yet, I really like to be different. I knew I wanted the bouquets to tie in with our woodland theme, I just wasn't sure how I was going to pull it off. I landed on heart shaped bouquets with random combinations of greenery and floral. My best friend since 3rd grade & bridesmaid's talented sister, created these one of a kind beauties for me. 

David and I took communion during the wedding ceremony. Such a special time for both of us-being that we strive to put Christ as the center of our relationship. And below a close up images of the table.

Just some sheer fabric in various shades of green, thrown together with some extra greenery for the win on the isle pews. My Grandpa is a gem stone and cut me lots of log stumps that we scattered about, and complimented with different sizes and shapes of class jars filled with candles. It really set the romantic mood for the ceremony when the lights were dimmed and they were all lit ;).

I am in absolute love with the cross that was in the background during the wedding ceremony. Such a meaningful and beautiful symbol. 

That's a wrap on wedding ceremony details! Truly could not have done any of this without the wonderful help of my family and friends. They truly are such a blessing. Stay tuned for some wedding pictures and details of the wedding reception! 

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Wednesday, Friends! 

Photos compliments of Behind the Lens Photography 

Sugar Cookies with Your "Sugar"

So one of your best friends gets engaged & you are over the moon excited. What next? Throw together a cute little gift bag full of sugar cookie decorating supplies & attach this free printable gift tag. That's what I did when my sweet Laken got engaged. 

Here's how it all went down...

Oh boy, oh boy! When my phone rang late on Christmas Eve & I saw Miss Laken Lefever calling, I knew it could only be one thing....

HER & BRYAN GOT ENGAGED! 

My heart is literally overflowing with happiness for my sweet bestie & her perfect other half. I am fully convinced that God created these two with the other in mind. They go together perfectly. And the best thing about their whole relationship is that it is centered around the Lord. Melts my heart.

I can't rant and rave about the perfect couple without showing you a picture of them. So, here they are... the future Mr. & Mrs. Elston.

She is literally BEAMING with happiness. 

And nothing is sweeter than a proposal action shot, and let me tell you friends, this one does not disappoint...

Ahh the facial expressions. Pure bliss.

Oh and one last thing

... sit down for this because it's going to knock you off your feet...

THE STUNNING RING. 

I looovveee the uniqueness of the pear cut. 

All of us girls had planned to meet bright and early in the morning the day after Christmas to get all of the details in person from our newly ENGAGED Laken. I knew I wanted to throw a little something together to congratulate her. I didn't have much time & my resources were limited, so I decided to throw a little "sugar cookie decorating" bag together. You know, so she could celebrate the engagement by baking sugar cookies with her sugar. 

and yes... I am fully aware of how cheesy that is. 

Here are the things I purchased:

1. One bag of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

2. Whipped Vanilla Icing

3. A set of 4 Heart Shaped Cookie Cutters

4. One package of Candy Hearts

5. One container of pink sprinkles

6. One Icing Decorating Kit

7. A card

8. Tissue Paper

9. A bag to place all of the contents inside 

I simply placed all of the contents in the bag, shoved some tissue paper inside, attached the card to the front, and added a little bow.

My mom snapped a little selfie of me and the "sugar cookie" bag. 

And here is the finished product right before Miss Laken arrived.

I hadn't created the little gift tag when I made the goodie bag for Laken, but don't forget to grab yours. Here is the link for the free printable.

Remember, this is quick & simple and makes for a fun treat for the newly engaged couple to share together! Happy Wedding Season!