Tin Cantina

So I couldn't help but share the coolest idea ever! Tin Cantina is an airstream trailer which turns into a traveling vintage bar, complete with bartenders for your event....and the best news is...they're based out of Portland, OR!

I saw these pictures on Green Wedding Shoes and was super excited. I'm definitely hiring them for an event one day!

For more information on the Tin Cantina, check out their website here!

My Favorite Things

Moss Covered Tables!

Ok so I really want to find a bride that wants me to plan her "The Secret Garden" wedding. You remember the book right? It was a favorite of mine as a kid. Well I already know where it has to be held. There is a venue in Salem, OR called The Historic Deepwood Estate. It's an 1894 home, complete with amazing gardens, which are manicured by local volunteers. One of their gardens is smaller, and probably would only hold about 100-150 people for a ceremony, but it's perfect for this theme!

Anyway, so my bride would have her wedding there, and then the reception would be held anywhere on the beautiful grounds (or in their permanent tent if rain was imminent) and the guests would be seated at long rectangular tables covered in moss! Now I'm sure this would be something your guests might find awkward or wouldn't be prepared to eat off of, but I can guarantee you that they'd never forget it. Not to mention, it takes your decor to a whole new level!

I've included a few pictures from other weddings and events to give you some insight into why I love this idea. The first picture below is actually not from a wedding or event. It's from an Anthropologie catalog shoot...but it's absolutely gorgeous and innovative! I love the use of antiques here too.


The picture below is from Southern Weddings Magazine blog. I love the use of the candles, but note you wouldn't be able to light them unless it was a really flat surface. I love the few orchid arrangements on this table as well, to give it a more formal feel.

This picture is from Ruffled Blog and is probably my favorite as far as the theme I invision goes...not to mention that ranunculus is pretty much without a doubt my favorite flower! I love the incorporation of antique pink glassware and gold gilded votive holders, not to mention the antique place settings and individual ranunculus head at each.

Check your local floral supply or event supply stores to find moss to use. Checking with local florists might help as well..and they may be willing to simply include it in your floral order. I found some moss runners on Jamali Garden Supply pretty easily.

Oh and if you are the bride who wants to plan this wedding, please let me know! Even if you don't need a planner I'd love to see pictures of how it turned out!

~A

I Met You When...

So I had an amazing time vacationing in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina....so much so that it's hard to be back. I did happen to steal the Charleston Weddings magazine out of my hotel room (the Andrew Pinckney Inn-so nice!), so if I get a second to actually look at it, I'll see if there's anything worth sharing in there. As is typical since I started my new job, my life is a bit hectic, so my posts have been far and few between, but I hope you'll stick with me, in hopes that I gain a little more free time eventually.

For today, I found a great little idea on Martha Stewart Wedding that is sure to keep your guests busy during the cocktail hour. It's called I Met You When...

First download these how-to instructions and the design template. You'll then be able to create a large poster (which you'll mount to foam board) which displays every year from the year the oldest of you was born to the year of your wedding.

Then the instructions tell you how to make little pins for each guest. You can pre-write their names if you want them to look a specific way (say if you want to have them all professionally calligraphied) or let each guest write their own name on the back of their flag. Then each guest takes a moment to pin their flag to the year that they met you.

By the end of the night you'll get a 3-D art display of those people who mean the most to you and when they came into your life. An idea I think might be great, is to not only have them write their name on one side of the flag, but also where or how they met you on the other. For example, if my best friend Courtney had done this when she got married, I would write my name "Amber Olson" on one side and "Mrs. Wright's 3rd Grade Class" on the other, while sticking the pin in the year 1992. To add an extra level to this I might do one color of flags for guests/friends of the groom, one color for guests/friends of the bride, and one color for those who truly consider themselves friends of both.

If you don't like the attached template, create one yourself or find an artistic friend who'd be willing to paint or draw one for you. As far as making the flags, get your friends and family in on the action to help you or use the time creating them as a moment of monotonous peace and quiet alone.

If you have a great idea you'd like to share on the blog, just email it to me at triedandtrueweddings@gmail.com. Also, don't forget that you can ask me any wedding or event related question (we feature those as Just Ask Amber posts afterward) or you can request an inspiration board made to fit the theme of your wedding as well.

Happy Planning!

~A

Customizable Bunting!

Head on over to Ruffled Blog to see how you can very easily print out and customize your own banner! These are great for above your dessert table, by the way!

TGIFriday!

Thank Goodness It's Friday, and not only because this day always marks the end of a long work week for me, but because tomorrow I leave on a much needed vacation for a whole week! For anyone who's ever been in my shoes, calling off your wedding can have an upside....all that vacation you saved up for your honeymoon, well now it's yours to use on any other trip! And with a month of vacation saved up over two years, I definitely feel like spending a bit of it. So tomorrow I leave on a trip back to the East Coast (I worked and lived in DC on two separate occasions) with a special road trip down to South Carolina...Charleston to be exact. I am absolutely ecstatic and can't wait to share some great photos with you when I get back...maybe even some info on wedding venues. You never know!

But on a side note, in my experience most women go from reading wedding blogs to reading baby blogs...and while that's a long way down the road for me (sadly, cause I love kids!) I wanted to feature an image for TGIFriday for all of those women who have transitioned. One day a few weeks ago I was perusing Design Sponge, and they had taken an old room (oh I wish I would've copied that photos as well) and redesigned it into a nursery. While it's not your typical nursery with pastel paint and stuffed animals, I really loved it and thought it might be of inspiration to someone other than me. I mean who would have thought to do the green striped paint on the ceiling or the draperies for a window that doesn't exist? I hope you enjoy it!

My Favorite Things

Bridesmaids Wearing Sweaters!

I showed you this unique trend a month or two ago when I featured an inspiration board with a bride who while in a white dress wore a mustard colored cardigan, which I totally fell in love with. Now bridesmaids are catching onto the same trend.

It's a perfect swap out for that accent-colored ribbon trend which has long outlived itself. No, I'm not saying I dislike bridesmaid dresses with ribbon sashes, but my goal is always to find new and unique ideas so that you can have a wedding where people say, "oh who would've thought to do that?!"

Take the wedding I was planning for myself until it got called off. It was a carnival theme, and while I didn't share many of the details with all of you (trying to hoard them to myself until I could show you my great production, I know, sorry!) I was definitely working with a wide variety of colors in my color scheme. A faded red, mustard yellow, teal blue, and marigold orange were my colors, and I wanted them present in so many aspects of our wedding. I had originally thought of the idea to have each girl wear a different color dress in that color scheme or some variation of that...but my former fiancee' was going to be wearing military uniform and i worried about it all matching.

This trend might have solved my problem. If I would have had all of the girls wear black cocktail dresses with a different colored sweater, and the groomsmen wear black tuxes with matching colored ties, I could have really incorporated my color scheme without overwhelming the pictures with color and awkwardness.

While I'm on the trend of ways to incorporate color, look at this photo:

Think of accessories as another unique way to incorporate color schemes with your bridesmaids. While they also followed the "different colored dresses for different girls" theme, they also then used those same colors in their necklaces but swapped them with each other to create a really unique balance of varied colors.

And if you refer back to the first photo, they used their shoes as another way to incorporate the wedding colors. I love it!

But do beware, too much variation can make your carnival wedding look like a circus (and not in a good way) or even your formal wedding look like a mess. So vary it up a bit, but not so much that you go over the top. Also try to pick a color scheme in the first place that blends well together, because while wearing a grey dress, red shoes and black necklace may turn out looking fabulous, I might worry about your bridesmaids in an orange dress, blue shoes, and yellow jewelry.

Mom's Role in the Wedding

Before I start this off, can I just say in big quotation marks "NOT AS PLANNER". I was just listening to my morning radio show and they were having guests call in and comment on if you should hire a wedding planner or not (of course all of them said yes, and so long as you can afford it) and a mother called in with a story I've heard one too many times. When her oldest daughter got engaged this woman's husband said they should just hire a wedding planner. She declined, telling him "oh no, we can do this on our own, her and I" and yet she was calling in to say "I was wrong! Do not try to do this on your own!". A mother's role should in a wedding should NOT be as wedding planner.

Now let me also say that this isn't to mean she doesn't play a big part in the planning. But first and foremost on that very special day, she shouldn't be stressing about if the florist showed up or if the caterer has the food ready on time. The fact is that it's her day almost as much as it's your day (some mothers seem to even think it's more their day than yours sadly) and you should grant her the peace and serenity of being able to enjoy it.

Of course, like I said above, let your mom be as involved as she wishes (or you want her to be) in things like picking out invitations, registering for gifts, visiting venues, and more. She can even throw the engagement party (possibly in conjunction with your future in-laws). In some cases, if you are throwing your wedding in your hometown but you live aways away, you may need your mother to make decisions for you and be more involved in the planning than is typical.

Obviously the bride's mother (and the groom's for his side) helps determine who will be on the guest list. Parents are usually given a portion of the guest list (say 1/3 or less per side of the total) to fill with those friends and family they and you deem necessary. Don't be afraid though to have that serious conversation with mom about inviting too many people. If you give them a set limit they're more likely to follow it than giving them free range. Also, feel comfortable setting a rule, perhaps that if you don't know them, they aren't invited. Mom's often want to invite their friends, their hairdressers, and sometimes even old friends they ran into. You'll have to draw the line somewhere.

In some instances, though not common, your mom may actually be in your wedding. Mothers aren't typically considered a part of the bridal party, but sometimes a bride may ask her mother to be her matron of honor. This then gives the mother additional wedding day duties. In Jewish weddings, the mother walks the bride down the aisle along with her father. This may be a way (even in a christian ceremony) of making your mom feel more important. As a girl raised by a single mother for a great portion of my life, it was always goingto be my mom who got to answer "who gives this woman to this man?" with "I do!".

Your mom will likely attend most of your bridal showers, but it's against etiquette for her to throw any. The reasoning being it may appear that she is soliciting people for gifts for her daughter. Much more appropriate to have a friend or other family member complete this task. If you have a bachelorette party going-away-weekend, maybe your mom might help complete the arrangements.

Of course many mothers find that their most important job is helping pick out the wedding dress. I think it's likely a one-of-a-kind bonding moment between mother and daughter (having not done it yet myself). It's ok to go try on dresses by yourself at first, but if you think you're coming close to finding the right one, and you are on good terms with your mother, please make sure to invite her to this. Undoubtedly if your mom is like mine she'll have a lot of opinions (so feel free to bring other family members for additional support) but she has probably waited for this day for a long time. Don't let her miss it!

On the wedding day, you'll likely include your mom in the getting ready activities, and of course she'll take many photos with you. When it comes time for the ceremony, she will be the last one to enter before the bridal party (usually escorted by a son or groomsman, but can even be her husband who then goes back to get the bride) marking the start of the processional. If you choose to have a receiving line she will stand at the beginning of it. At your reception, should you have a head table which includes more than just you and your spouse, she often sits at the table or has her own parents table with the officiant. She'll also likely get a chance to dance with her now son-in-law or husband toward the beginning of the reception as well.

If you have any additional questions about roles for mom, please feel free to email me at triedandtrueweddings@gmail.com. Also remember that sometimes the wedding planning process may at times hinder your relationship with your mom, but it's important that you both have patience with each other and value the experience!

Happy Planning!

~A

TGIFriday!!

For the first time in I don't know how long it's 70 degrees and sunny outside here in my little town in Oregon, so I'm going to use that as an excuse to leave work a little early and enjoy an extra dose of Vitamin D!

In the meantime, I thought I'd post some pictures which put me in a cheery mood, all with a colorful array of rainbow colors. I hope these brighten your weekend! Enjoy!

The images above come from (in order of top to bottom): Project Wedding, Blum, Elizabeth Helmstetter, and Ruffled.

Baby Showers

Since many great woman I know seem to be birthing all around me (I think I can count at least 4-5 births in the last six months) and it is Mother's Day this Sunday (don't forget!) I thought I would show some great images from a baby shower I found on Twig and Thistle. You are bound to fall in love with the stationery items if not also with the great party ideas featured.

Click here to see all of the photos for part 1 and here for part 2.

Thanks Twig and Thistle and Tara Lee (who designed the stationery items) for featuring this baby shower. Tara is available to do custom work and you can contact her at hello.tara.lee@gmail.com.

My Favorite Things: Unique Guest Books

If you know me, or are getting to know me through this blog, you should know that I'm all for taking the normal/more traditional elements of a wedding and spicing them up a bit by trying something new, different, or just plain unique. Today I'm highlighting a few images that should inspire you to do something new with your guestbook.

This image below is a poster, custom designed by the couple to match their stationery suite. Guests were able to sign the poster as they picked up their escort cards, and once the wedding was over, the couple was able to frame it and keep it as a reminder of that special day.


I had a similar idea when I was planning my wedding. For our engagement photos (seen here) we incorporated the use of umbrellas from Bella Umbrella in most of our shots. I was planning on putting them all into a framed collage with a statement in the middle like, "Life may bring you rain, but always remember that afterward it brings the Rainbow" and then having guests sign around the frame border. This was a great way to use our engagement shots, while also tying into our wedding.

Below is a great idea for the musically inclined. I've seen a few weddings where they've used a guitar as the guest book. What a great way to note something of personal interest to the bride and/or groom while also creating a great focal point for the wedding. Why not frame it on the wall later in your office? Or should you choose to continue using it, you'll continuously be reminded of that great day while you play.

I always suggest people personalize their wedding in every way possible with things that mean something to them. So for me, I've sometimes pictured a ballet-inspired wedding (more in palatte than actual theme) because I grew up as a dancer, but a great way to incorporate my passion for dance if I were to have "that wedding" would be to take an old pair of pointe shoes and have guests sign them. So think of things you could use which would create the same idea.


For the foodie or interior designer I love the next idea. I would suggest picking out all of the plates for the collage first, but then making sure you have a few with plenty of open white space for writing. Then after the wedding, simply reassemble the collage on a wall in your kitchen. It then becomes a great piece of art which also reminds you of the marriage that began your home and your family.

Now for the more adventurous couples out there, you can go to the extreme. This couple took an old truck and used it as the guest book. I mean it's certainly a focal piece and it will certainly set the tone for a backyard country wedding, not to mention probably garner you some praise in a local magazine...but it isn't necessarily practical. Unless you're planning to store the truck in an old barn and come out to view it on occasion, I don't know that it's worth the cost (unless well you picked it up for next to nothing). You could continue to drive it, but don't be surprised if you get a few weird looks the next time you're in the parking lot. So overall this isn't for the faint of heart but for those looking for over-the-top, take a hint from this couple and GO BIG.

If you've done something unique for your own guest book, feel free to email it to me at triedandtrueweddings@gmail.com and I might highlight it in my next guest book post.

Happy Planning!

~A